a seasoned athlete i’ve known for years is asking me about my new race coming up this weekend. he is seemingly coughing up a lung between every few words.
prompts the question from me about what is going on and he offers… “oh, its just pneumonia but i’ll be ok by Saturday”.
huh?
should i have:
told him to stay home?
laughingly offer that i only have one ambulance planned to be on site?
welcomed him with open arms in his weakened state?
wwyd? i’ll come back with what i did after a bit but curious about your thoughts.
Let him sign the waiver and race. Probably more ticking coronary time bombs in the field than you could possibly know. If he’s a friend, maybe suggest he doesn’t race but don’t bar him from racing.
Ummm…I’m not a doctor, however, it’s my understanding that pneumonia can/will migrate to the lining of the heart, and kill you. If he’s still hacking NOW, my guess is he hasn’t been on anti-biotics very long, and could really f-himself. I would be curious what any of the MD’s who read this say.
I think it was Friel who recounted a story in one of his books about racing in similar circumstances; ended up with serious medical problems that kept him from serious training/racing for a year. His bottom line advice was that it’s okay to push it if the cold is above the neck, but NOT below. Death may not be a big deal to your friend, but losing a year of racing…
my wife is susceptible to pneumonia and we don’t take it lightly at all. too many bad things can happen if you don’t do the right things right away. when it escalates it’s scary shit.
sometimes i think triathletes are the dumbest people alive. who in their right mind would race with pneumonia. not trying to get flamed here, just exaggerating to make a point.
if something happens you’ll have to live with the fact you let him race. if nothing happens he’ll be mad for a week and get over it.
September 2008 I raced my First 70.3. I had trained like crazy for 6 months to get there. You all know the drill.
In the process I lost 25lbs and had not been fitter since I was 21. Following a great race I took 5 days off and started riding and runnign again. I decided to do my own version of the ST 100 day run. I was going to run 5 miles each day in Oct and Nov.
On Oct 5 I started coughing and ignored it.
Oct 8 - my wife wakes me up and tells me that I am wheezing in my sleep.
Oct 10 - I can’t stop the gurgling sound coming from my lungs (But I’m up to 60 miles for the month)
Oct 11- I go for a 5 mile run…it takes me twice as long as normal. 2 hours later my HR is still over 140bpm. I am hospitalized with pneumonia in both lungs and my broncia (sp?) I am sedated to try and reduce the HR. My fever is spiking over 102f. My Dr. asks me what I’m trying to prove.
It took me 6 weeks to recover to the point that I could breathe without medication and I am still not back to where I was nearly 2 years ago.
Exercising with a bacterial or viral infection in your lungs is absurd. I almost learned that lesson too late.
but the dynamics change radically once i become aware don’t you think?
Not particularly. I would only worry if you knew he had a contagious disease where his behavior could affect the safety of others. There are degrees of pneumonia and what he is saying may not even be correct. To some any cough is a pneumonia. Tell him you think he should consult with his physician as racing could affect his safety but you are not going to be his mommy and the decision is his. If he asks for you advice, tell him not to race without doctors clearance. If you ask him to specifically get doctors clearance you should ask everyone IMHO.
let him race… Last summer I was very ill the week going into the race. It was awful. my training came to a halt and I was extremely sore all the time. Race day came on Sunday and I maybe felt 75%. I was coughing a lot too. I ended up winning and setting a course record. The body is weird. I have ran some of my fastest track times during the winter when I have been well under the weather.
Frank, I still use the logic, above the neck, take it easy, below, stop, fever, stop.
You can use whatever logic you want. I simply don’t think it is the race directors job to make medical decisions regarding whether to race or not for the various participants.
