A question -
When is it a good idea to miss a planned comp ?
I’ve spent the last two weeks taking my Dad to the hospital for tests and worrying as well as the usual grind of study / work etc . I got a full weeks training in last week but with a comp planned on saturday I’m suddenly feeling exhausted and not particularly keen .
I’d scheduled the 7 day taper but reduced it to one speed session , one 80% upper body weights session and a couple of light tempo sessions 'cos of being so wacked .
Should I go ahead and risk performing badly ( I’d hoped on some improvement from my last comp ) or just forget it and recover ?
Am I woosing out ? :help:
It’s not like I’m gonna make the nationals even but I do take this pretty seriously .
I dont think you are wussing out. With everything else you are going through, that is added stress which does not allow for proper recovery or awareness. I would suggest taking that day you planned on competing and doing a special endurance or race simulation.
gloop
you can look at it 2 ways:
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like dlive said, dont worry about it. out door season is right around the corner or
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good performances come out of nowhere sometimes and it may be a nice distraction from real life. one thing i love about football, when i step on the field, the real world doesnt cross the line with me. if the work is in there after a productive off season, a good race also could be laying in the weeds.
Gloop
I’m with Dlive, Nightmare makes a good point and you may or may not race well. BUt the extra srtess is not worht the risk.
I would even look at getting away from all the stress for a day or two. If possible forget about your Dad’s heath (if he is ok), study and athletics. Do something you like doing or tey something different.
When I’m stressed I clean the house (if you knew me, you would I don’t normally like it 
) or surf, bushwalk or do something arty (music or drawing)
Hope your father is okay to by the way
Cheers Fella’s
A surf trip would be wicked as I haven’t been in a while specially in the winter - when it’s cold and wild , but it would be a fair old journey , and I gotta be close at hand .
I’m gonna see how I feel friday , the day after a few starts , form runs and just 1 95% 60m - I had a real light weights / abs session this afternoon and still a bit lethargic - weird - no sign of illness pulse rate fine etc must just be stress .
Cheers
Pete
Well if only I learnt to listen :sing:
My Dad improved somewhat ty 
- and after a mediocre session on thursday I thought I might chance it and run -
well - I had no reactions / no determination / no result 
I decided to skip the 2nd race , retreat and take a rest b 4 the next meet in 3 weeks time .
A few days of no cns and some nice soothing tempo seems in order .
Preparation is everything . and I might try some power drive next time too .
This brings up a point about competition. There must be a benefit for you to make it worthwhile. -a better time, a tune-up before a major race- perhaps money, if you’re lucky- something! If it turns out cold with a 5 meter headwind, what will you accomplish? If you’re not ready, same thing. this is all part of the planning process- reactive though it is.
Charlie
What you are saying is that don’t compete for the sake of competing.
Sounds fair.
I haven’t trained for 2 weeks due to injuries - 2 different ones :mad: and I have my state champs in 4 weeks. I’m at the point whether I compete. I will win the comp except for unforseen circumstances. So the only things I get out of it for competing is winning, distance isn’t likely to improve.
When do you know to pull the plug on competitions.
The mind is willing but the body is struggling. At 29 with 15 years of hammer throwing, I’m thinking of taking up an easy sport - such as sprinting or drinking.
Believe me - drinking isn’t an easy sport :sing: - it clobbers ur body and ur wallet - contrast showers do aid recovery tho
I’ve noticed alot of my competition in the drinking stakes get alot of facial injuries, they also very good with there mouths before the injuries occur. Any correlation in that :o
Sprinting though would mean I have to lose at least 12kg.
I only ever sustained injuries through falling over / post-pub gymnastics / climbing expeditions / UN style interventions - or a combination of all
I gotta say I don’t miss alcohol at all .
I’ve never sustained an injury from alcohol, but a mate broke a leg jumping a parking meter.