I probably waited too long to post this inquiry, but if anyone has advice on how to swim the 1650 when slightly (as opposed to deathly) sick and microbially-exhausted, please let me know soon! My heat is scheduled to start at 8:52 tomorrow morning.
Notes:
1) I did the hour swim three weeks ago, nice and easy pace, for a total of a less than spectacular 4825 yards, but I felt good, relaxed, and that great sense of "breathing really well" that periodically characterizes my distancy swimming, for reasons I have never quite figured out.
2) in the interlude between then and now, I got some kind of cold/malaise-virus, that left me extremely tired, prone to head rushes upon climbing a short set of stairs, and in a mood to do little more than nap on the couch with professional golf on the tv in the background. in the pool, I have really struggled.
3) the above malaise seems to be slowly receding, and since I already paid for tomorrow's 1650, I am going to go for it, but--and this is the reason for my emergency request for strategic advice--I don't want to A) HUMILIATE myself, or B) delay by several hours the expected timeline of the meet.
So, in this spirit, please tell me how to swim the 1650 tomorrow (medical fuddy duddies out there need not advise skipping the attempt, since cheapness is trumping infirmity in my psyche, and I can't get the $15 entry fee back.)
Thanks in advance!
Certainly this advice is late, but the one thing I would add is that if things get out of hand, don't be afraid to pull the plug.
There's a great adversion to being a "quitter" in this situation that is easy to understand for me. You want to finish what you start, even if you're hurting a lot.
But when you're sick (and only you really know how sick you are), it's really easy to overextend doing anything and make things worse in your recovery. Sure you might be able to afford to do that, but it's not really a good thing.
So as suggested, take that first 500 out fairly easy (you may even want to emphasize the easy part; it's quite "easy" to go out faster than you should) and see where you are. If you're feeling alright, then you might as well keep going. But if you're feeling bad at that point, especially with the sick feeling, you may be better off folding your hand.
Of course, when you wake up in the morning, as I sometimes do when I thought earlier that I was coming down with something, it blows up and is worse than originally thought. You may be forgetting the idea of a DNF and phoning in the scratch card.
Good luck Sunday and hope everything works out well.
Patrick King
Certainly this advice is late, but the one thing I would add is that if things get out of hand, don't be afraid to pull the plug.
There's a great adversion to being a "quitter" in this situation that is easy to understand for me. You want to finish what you start, even if you're hurting a lot.
But when you're sick (and only you really know how sick you are), it's really easy to overextend doing anything and make things worse in your recovery. Sure you might be able to afford to do that, but it's not really a good thing.
So as suggested, take that first 500 out fairly easy (you may even want to emphasize the easy part; it's quite "easy" to go out faster than you should) and see where you are. If you're feeling alright, then you might as well keep going. But if you're feeling bad at that point, especially with the sick feeling, you may be better off folding your hand.
Of course, when you wake up in the morning, as I sometimes do when I thought earlier that I was coming down with something, it blows up and is worse than originally thought. You may be forgetting the idea of a DNF and phoning in the scratch card.
Good luck Sunday and hope everything works out well.
Patrick King
