Apr/May ’24: Don’t let the cold stop you

As the thermometer drops, we are now just a few weeks away from one of South Africa’s most famous endurance sporting events and the winter sporting season is ramping up.

It is hard to miss the arrival of Comrades Fever as runners all over the country pound the pavements and roads, desperately trying to prepare for their 85,91km date on June 9. And there is plenty of other sporting action taking place during the short days and cooler months, ranging from the World Ocean Day Swim in Durban on June 8, to the SA MTB Marathon Champs on May 26, to the Ironman 70.3 Durban on June 2, to Spar Women’s Challenges in June, July and August, and a host of other events across a wide range of sporting codes.

However, while Comrades Fever ramps up, there are other fevers which we need to be concerned about as the chilly weather heralds the onset of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI,s) – or as we plebs know them: colds and flu.

URTIs are not something to take lightly. A couple of years ago we all went into a worldwide lockdown due to Covid, and while most colds and flu are not in the same league as that, there are too many cases where flu has led to something serious for sportsmen – and it always has, even before the conspiracy theorists started blaming vaccines.

So what is the right thing to do when you are faced with some key training sessions and you get a URTI?

The first piece of advice is surely to be conservative. URTIs can be very serious, so get somebody who knows what they are talking about to give you the go ahead to train. The old saying is that “you cannot take every cold to a doctor”, but you most definitely should get a medical professional to check you out if you plan on exercising with an upper respiratory tract infection.

Training Peaks, the “all in one training platform” used by many sportsmen and women worldwide, has some interesting tips when it comes to training and illness.

Firstly they quote a 1994 study which found evidence to support the “J-curve relationship between risk of URTI and increasing exercise workloads”. Effectively that means there is evidence that people who do moderate exercise are the least likely to get sick – a little less likely than those who do no exercise at all, and a lot less likely than those who do heavy exercise. As Training Peaks put is: “… athletes training lightly are better protected from coughs and colds than couch surfers. But those training very, very hard run an increased risk of getting sick.”

With the old adage that prevention is better than cure, Training Peaks’ Andy Blow offers some advice to minimise your chance of getting sick (https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/how-to-avoid-getting-sick-while-in-training), and this falls broadly into two categories:

1. Minimize your exposure to sources of infection; and
2. Keep your immune system strong:

In a separate article (https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-athlete-s-survival-guide-to-the-cold-and-flu-season), coach Lynda Wallenfels, reinforces these and offers a few more snippets of advice, and then also offers advice on returning to training after illness.

Her advice for prevention includes:

• Execute all your recovery protocols post-training;
• Maintain optimal nutrition;
• Avoid crash diets;
• Avoid over-training;
• Minimize contact with sick people;
• Keep a distance from people coughing and sneezing;
• Wash your hands regularly;
• Carry hand sanitizer to use when hand washing is inconvenient;
• Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes with your hands;
• Use clean, disposable tissues to wipe your mouth or blow your nose;
• Do not share food or drink with anybody;
• Use a face mask;
• Wear appropriate clothing to avoid getting cold and wet;
• Consistently get at least seven hours of sleep per night; and
• Keep life stress to a minimum.

And her guidelines for getting back to track after being sick:

• Wait one day after below-the-neck symptoms have resolved before resuming any training;
• The next day resume training with a recovery-paced session;
• Continue training at a recovery pace until all above-the-neck symptoms disappear;
• Stop training and return to rest if any below-the-neck symptoms return;
• If you were sick for three days or less, resume your training plan after your one “wait day” plus one recovery day;
• If you were sick for more than three days, resume training with one “wait day” and two or more recovery days. After two or more successful recovery days, gradually ramp up your duration first, then intensity, to full training loads over the course of four to seven days; and
• Use a face mask to protect respiratory mucous membranes if exercising in very cold temperatures following a respiratory infection.

“So there you have it. Avoid the bugs at all costs, rest when you do get sick, and come back to full training gradually. It all sounds like the stuff your mom told you to do when you were eight years old, right?”

And finally, good luck to all of you taking on some winter events over the next few weeks, especially those crazy runners aiming to complete 85,91km on June 9.

The FinishTime sporting calendars below come with a warning to check with the event organisers to ensure events have not been postponed or cancelled.

More event information, a regularly updated events calendar and results of all events timed by FinishTime can be found at www.finishtime.co.za and all results of events timed by FinishTime at results.finishtime.co.za

IRONMAN 70.3 DURBAN: June 2, 2024

The Ironman 70.3 Durban is the perfect peak-season race for international athletes, and mid- to late-season race for South Africans. A fairly flat and fast course, this race is a favourite for first-timers and club riders. The 2024 Isuzu Ironman 70.3 Durban offers age group qualifying slots, plus an additional 15 Women For Tri slots, to the 2024 VinFast Ironman 70.3 World Championship in December 2024 in Taupō, New Zealand.

SPAR WOMEN’S CHALLENGE – Durban: June 23, 2024

Two down, six to go. The Cape Town and Namibia legs of the 2024 Spar Women’s 10/5km Challenge are packed away in the memory banks, and the Durban event is next up on June 23, followed by Mbombela, Tshwane, Maritzburg, Gqerberha and finally Jozi in October.

COMRADES MARATHON: June 9, 2024

The Comrades Marathon is the world’s largest and oldest ultra-marathon. The 86km event attracts up to 23000 entrants each year to compete in a tough run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The 2024 run will be the first up-run since Covid disrupted the event in 2019.