This past week was supposed to be the one I kept my conditioning up so I can be ready for the NJ State Sprint Triathlon which is this Saturday.  There’s only one problem.  I ended up with a case of food poisoning last Monday after I ate some cocktail shrimp as a snack the day before.  I never went to the doctor for it because I was feeling a bit better after two days.  The day after I got it though, my mom ended up with it as well.  That’s how I know – we were eating the same leftovers from the party.  I’m betting the shrimp wasn’t chilled enough when we had it out for the party (and it was outside on a pretty hot day – an evidently dangerous oversight).  I wasn’t feeling up to working out at all last week and just tried to focus on recovering.  When we went to Philadelphia for The Color Run which my brother ran (I think I’m definitely doing one next year since it looked too fun), something kicked back up and I felt a bit sick again.  Despite that I managed to swim a bit at the hotel’s rooftop pool, some very short laps, and I ran a 5K on the treadmill on Saturday.   I’m still not feeling 100% well today.  The one race I’ve been anticipating all year is coming up this weekend and I’m hoping I’m well enough to race it.

For Discussion:  Have you ever had to battle an illness the week before a race?  What are your surefire tips to help overcome food poisoning?  And at what point should someone decide to pull out of the race?