Hey Gents…
Got a mild upper respiratory thing (like a cold) on race week. Oh well, that’s life. So I’m still gonna show up at Wildflower and do my best.
I took an easy ride yesterday and noticed my heartrate was a bit higher on Dayquil at a pretty easy effort. So the question is to take Dayquil on raceday or not. Any experience with this?
Thanks!
Cody
Did a sprint last month with a fairly bad cold and took dayquil and did not notice anything adverse, better than the alternative. Never niquil the night before…you will not wake up.
I wouldn’t recommend it, on priniciple, and on experience. Principle: It contains DXM and Phenylephrine. DXM is known to cause drowsiness, nausea, and difficulty breathing as potential side-effects. The bigger problem, and the reason I avoid most cold/allergy wonder-meds on race day (except my inhaler) is the phenylephrine. The most common side effect of this drug is hypertension–high blood pressure. I’m not a doctor, and I’m not saying you’d necessarily experience one, or any of those side effects, I’m just pointing out what’s on the box and potential consequences.
Now the experience. 2 years ago at Pinehurst triathlon (olympic distance), coming into the race with symptoms similar to yours, I took some Tylenol Sinus (or something generic with an active ingredient common to Dayquil), and had a terrible race. I was in the lead pack for the first 750 of the swim, then at the turnaround buoy everything shut down. I went from 21/22 min pace to finishing in 28 min. After staggering through T1 (I looked God-awful, my dad got some video of it), and laying down until my head stopped spinning, I got up and continued with the race, but it was pretty much pointless. I had a mediocre bike ride, then cramped horribly/couldn’t breathe on the run, and was 15+ min off my usual 10k split.
Look at risk vs. reward: If you don’t take the meds, you at least know what you’re up against, and you can either choose to let it bother you or make your mini-illness your bitch. If you do take the meds, you may partially or completely improve your symptoms, but you’re rolling the dice on the side effects (even if you can otherwise take the meds and be fine) since your body may react differently than it would in non-race-pace usage. I’ve raced with many a cold, but never again will I race after having taken OTC cold/sinus meds.
Hey Gents…
Got a mild upper respiratory thing (like a cold) on race week. Oh well, that’s life. So I’m still gonna show up at Wildflower and do my best.
I took an easy ride yesterday and noticed my heartrate was a bit higher on Dayquil at a pretty easy effort. So the question is to take Dayquil on raceday or not. Any experience with this?
Thanks!
Cody
If you are sick enough to need medication you are probably too sick to race. I’d recommend just HTFU for the race (it’s not like it’s a hard course…the swim is totally flat). Dayquil has ingredients that cause drowsiness, so they add some stimulants in to cancel the impact (that’s probably why your HR was elevated).
I would say not to if you have already noticed a higher heart rate from it. At most I would suggest some regular Tylenol which will at least keep fever at bay. I would use it right up until race day though to help try and kick this thing.
My experience was using it during my wedding. It was a hot day, got slightly dehydrated (outdoor wedding, jitters etc…) and I was woozy. I will assume I said I do at some point.
Thanks guys. I think I’ll most likely pass on the meds. It’s more just really annoying and struck me as a decision I’ve got to make. I’m not too sick to race, especially considering that I really should finish to validate my Kona lottery spot (!) Yes, I’m one of those guys and WTC said they’ll take WF as a 70.3.
Thanks again - cya out there!
I thought that DayQuil, or at least the active ingredient in DayQuil was on Wada’s prohibitted substance list?
Just thought I’d followup…I didn’t take meds, slept horribly the night before (camping) and had a miserable race. Probably should have dropped out several times but in the end glad I toughed it out for a VERY slow finish. Oy!