I felt a little better last night, but then felt really crappy this morning. I was coughing and had chest congestion. So, I bought some ‘Tylenol Severe Sinus’ to try – the kind with real Sudafed in it that you have to sign your life away to get from the pharmacist.
I decided to do my planned tempo workout on the treadmill doped up on the cold meds: 36 minutes with 16 at LT. I also decided to make it an extra hot workout by keeping the windows shut and NOT using a fan. I have this theory that raising the core body temperature will kill off my sick germs, much like a fever. I’ve been debating testing this theory all week, but erred on the side of getting rest. Today, this felt right.
I was really really hot and thirsty. I chanted “Quick feet, quiet feet, hot hot heat” inside my head. (I bet Ginger will like that mantra). My HR numbers were higher than usual, but I expected that (meds + heat). The workout went great and was a great confidence boost for me! I was able to hold the hard pace for the full time, and my breathing felt good despite some chest congestion. And the ‘practice the pace’ set I did after the LT set felt right. Pace of 9:30 felt not easy but not hard either. Pace of 10 felt easy.
Of course, I realize that a long day of racing may play out differently, but I am going to race it…GAME ON!!!
Still planning on using the Four Keys to Ironman Execution strategy. I will go by feel, not heart rate since I will probably take the cold medicine (unless I feel a ton better on Saturday morning).
Oh, and my legs feel totally fresh today, even after this workout. All week they felt heavy and I had all kinds of unusual aches and pains: ankles, right groin, right IT band. I always get weird pains during a taper.
Update later in the day: I’ve been researching cold medicines and safety during endurance sports. The best article I found was here: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/1064-cold-flu-remedies.htm Sudafed can raise heart rate. I already figured that out. It can be bad during a race if you have problems with high blood pressure, which I don’t. Acetaminophen and Guaifenesin both sound like they are pretty safe. Ibuprofen is not in my Tylenol medication, but I thought I would mention that is very bad to take during a race because it can interfere with water absorption and also damage kidneys.
Wish you good luck from Madrid!!!
You´ll do fine on the race
So glad you’re feeling better, good luck to you!!
Good luck this weekend Carol. I think that your ability to step into B2B under less than ideal circumstances is an awesome feat. A likely testament to your level of training, commitment, constant experimentation, acceptance of what’s real rather than what “should” be. I’m thankful that you decided to share your tri journey with us and will be pulling for you and the rest of the local B2Bers this weekend.
🙂
Rodney Yee is calling to you…. he’s probably not saying “quick feet” though….
That article on the Four Keys is great. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your day, you earned it.
Yea! You can race! This is great!
Enjoy this reward, this is gonna be great for you.