Why you get sick after a race
As I am writing this I am sick in bed, struck down with fever and a nasty cold. As annoying as it is, it should not come as a surprise. Three days ago I ran my biggest and hardest race so far and of course I got sick after a race. It was a 50 km obstacle race with 3000m of elevation gain in the hills of Scotland, which took me over 12 hours to finish. But the worst bit was not the distance, the elevation gain or the obstacles. It was the nasty weather. Cold, windy, with fog and heavy rain, just as typical as Scottish Summer weather can be. This is already the second race in 2 months that has taken me out because I have gotten sick afterwards. And this is no surprise, because I have committed every possible mistake that leads to post-race illness.
So here is what NOT to do: