Big cycle after sickness - wee question

[Al]

hi,

 

i'm not very good at the health/nutrition stuff, so wee question.

 

i did the etape caledonian 1 month ago and felt superb, pushing quite hard for the whole 73 miles. however, last weekend i did the Cairngorm 100 and had a terrible time, felt totally dead, legs like jelly with no energy at all .

 

i did have a 24hour sickness bug 3 days before the Cairngorm event, where i was sick (both ends ) and lost half a stone in weight.

 

would being sick like this have been the reason? i must admit that i wasn't in a very positive frame-of-mind for the event, due to being sick, but anytime i tried to push it during the event, i got zero response from my body.

 

i also know i didn't try because my average heart rate was only 136 for Cairngorm whereas it was 157 at Etape, but i honestly couldn't push myself any harder.

 

should i have not taken part at all?

 

anyone out there into this health stuff and can give some advice, in case i need it for future events?

 

big ta,

al.

 

ps. going to try the Chocolate TT tonight, so will see how i feel at that.

[Kenny MacDonald]

You shouldnt have ridden Al , your body wouldnt have recovered from the illness. The lower pulse was an indication all was not well , your body is quite resourcefull and knows when to shut down to stop serious damage. Most people worry about high pulse rates but lower than normal and failure to reach normal is also an indicator alls not well. You should be fine now hopefully. Lots of young sports people ruin there careers through training /competing during illness.

Kenny MacD

[Hertz Van Rental]

As a guide to your general wellbeing, note your pulse rate in the same condition every morning. The best way is before actually getting out of bed, to give your true resting rate.

 

If you are unwell, you will have a higher resting heart rate. If you have been unwell - look for your resting heart rate to return to very nearly normal before you think about strenuous exercise again.