Any issues with doing an Ironman with a headcold? Air temp will be 45 to 75 and water temp will be 65.
I got a head cold 2 days before Kona this year. No fever, just a cold. Half way through the swim I felt so weak that I quit. Maybe if I’d been a stronger swimmer I could have done it, but I probably would have faded on the bike, where the winds were brutal. I can’t believe my bad luck, after all that work. That’s only the second race in 36 years that I’ve DNF’d.
If I’d been younger, the cold might not have knocked me for a loop. I’m 68, unfortunately.
I’ve had a cold for the last 2 weeks - haven’t been able to do anything. Starting to feel a bit better now and did 20 mins on the treadmill yesterday and will try and do same today to ease back into it - but colds really sap the energy
I had a nasty cold for Chatt this year. I drank vitamin c packs leading up to race and made it a point of dropping off my bike and race bags as early as possible the day beforehand so that I could spend as much time resting in bed as possible.
Also, I took Claritin and Tylenol before the race and had some in my transition bags for later on just in case. Claritin doesn’t speed up your HR like a sudafed and Tylenol filters through your liver so no extraon strain on the kidneys.
I made it through the race just fine. The only downside being that I had to take like 6 pee breaks on the bike since colds always make me have to go a lot. Lol.
Good luck!!
I got sick on the Wednesday before IMFL. The temp that day I think was like 45-60F. Throat hurt bad, coughing up all kind of colorful stuff. Also lost my voice. I’m sure it slowed me down a little, but still finished well. Didn’t have to swim so that might have made a difference. I did have to pee alot on the bike like the previous poster mentioned. Just go for it. You paid, you trained, what’s the worst that can happen?
You have to ask?
Seriously? It’s a IM, not a local Olympic distance event.
Unless you do 3 or 4 IM’s a year, if your like most, you trained 6 months or more to do the race…and your going to let a head cold cause you to DNS?
Ask yourself this:
- Could I reasonably be killed because of the decision?
- Will it cause permanent injury?
- If there is a risk of permanent injury, is the reward worth it?
- Will my performance be reduced so severely that it’s not worth racing at all or prevent me from getting even close to my goals?
Unless I have a fever, my answer is no to those.
If racing an IM is such a trivial thing, then why even do it. It’s too damaging, costly in time and resources and mentally challenging to race that distance to not be almost fully committed.
I got sick on the Wednesday before IMFL. The temp that day I think was like 45-60F. Throat hurt bad, coughing up all kind of colorful stuff. Also lost my voice. I’m sure it slowed me down a little, but still finished well. Didn’t have to swim so that might have made a difference. I did have to pee alot on the bike like the previous poster mentioned. Just go for it. You paid, you trained, what’s the worst that can happen?
I had similar symptoms for IMAZ in 2012, including having very dry sinuses and throat. Ended up having one of my best IMs with no ill after effects other than the remaining cold symptoms.
I got sick on the Wednesday before IMFL. The temp that day I think was like 45-60F. Throat hurt bad, coughing up all kind of colorful stuff. Also lost my voice. I’m sure it slowed me down a little, but still finished well. Didn’t have to swim so that might have made a difference. I did have to pee alot on the bike like the previous poster mentioned. Just go for it. You paid, you trained, what’s the worst that can happen?
I had similar symptoms for IMAZ in 2012, including having very dry sinuses and throat. Ended up having one of my best IMs with no ill after effects other than the remaining cold symptoms.
+1 on the same race. Total lost my voice at the pre-race banquet and felt like crap. I had a good race but I did have a bad cold upon returning home. I have done a few IMs with a head cold and did fine. I wouldn’t do an IM with a fever but have done a 1/2 and paid the price. Sit in the sun today, drink, and bake it out.
Thanks guys for the encouragement and stories. This is my second IM, but nerves are still pretty high… probably not helping matters.
normal rule is if it is above your shoulders, you can still race. Below the shoulders, probably better off sitting it out.
while not an ironman, I had an olympic distance race a few weeks ago and had a head cold going into it. Once i got started, everything cleared up and I had probably my best race ever.
If you have never used a neti pot before, I highly recommend it. It will help clear out all the crap from your sinuses.
No fever = I’m racing. I may adjust my goals though. If I have to drop out/dnf then so be it but I’ll toe the line
Thanks guys for the encouragement and stories. This is my second IM, but nerves are still pretty high… probably not helping matters.
Do try to remember thru all those nerves… this is where your recreational hours are being spent, so there is supposed to be a level of FUN inherent in it. So go out there and just try to have some fun.
Push it, watch your power/HR, etc…
but remember to smile and enjoy it.
Well you already have your “excuse” for your result on Sunday at IMAZ, so now that you have it out there, no real issues that I can see Richard…Your fiancé is flying down to watch you, don’t disappoint her.
I got the flu before IMLP this year. 3 days out, with a 101+ fever night before…
No way in hell I wasn’t at least giving it a shot after the 6 months of training. I felt better during the beginning stages of the swim, the water temp helped. but after a half a mile I was done. I had absolutely no energy at all. I could barely pedal and couldn’t run. But finished it all and kept moving forward. Albeit 3 hours slower than even my “if everything goes wrong predictions”.
I wouldn’t do it again in that condition, but I’m glad I did (if that makes any sense at all).