Sickness-Induced Stress

As athletes, most of us try to keep are bodies as healthy and ready to perform as they can be. It is as if they are cars that must be well fueled and taken care of before they can perform to their maximum capacity. Our bodies are our performance machines, which is why we try to have them in tip-top shape before a race. This is why it can be so stressful when you are sick before a meet.

As I am typing this, I am stopping approximately every 2.5 minutes so that I can cough over my shoulder as my body is racked with the force of the abrupt exhale; I also have my first meet of the season tomorrow. So when I am talking about how stressful it is to be sick and know that it will inhibit your upcoming performance, I am speaking in the moment.

Even having a slight cough or runny nose can make it difficult to inhale, which prevents you from properly filling your lungs, something that is clearly not ideal while trying to race. Any sickness at all can physically drain you and mentally fill you with doubt and dread about the prospect of your next race. Racing while sick is no easy task, though it usually doesn’t turn out as bad as you it will, it usually doesn’t promote the prefect conditions for you to hit a new personal record either; this is the notion that makes being sick stressful. You know that you have to race, and you want to do the best you can, but the best you can do at this point in time is certainly not the best that you can do on a normal basis. Acknowledging this usually makes one resent the fact that they are sick and feel awful about their chances of doing well at the next meet.

However, in the end there is nothing you, or anyone else can do about being sick, and the best thing that you can do is go out and try to have the best race that you can while also keeping in mind that you are a little weaker than normal, so you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself if the race doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped!