Help. I'm two days out from an A event and have a sniffle

Hey team! As per the title i’m two days out and have started to come down with a bit of a cold.

Some background.

I’ve been training pretty hard for the last couple of months (mostly unstructured), and unfortunately work during this time has been particularly stressfull with long hours and generally pretty grim in the office with lots of burnout and people coming into the office whilst unwell…

I’ve managed to avoid getting sick up until yesterday when i woke up about 3am with a persistent sniffle and some light congestion. That leads me to today… tomorrow we leave for the toughest event i have undertaken so far… 250km on gravel over 36 hours, and 4500m of elevation. So its less than ideal for me to feel less than perfectly rested and tapered at this point.

Any suggestions from you guys that’ll help me get back on track for kick off in two days time?

Edit: i should also add im expecting atleast one 12 hour day in the office today

You should get a lot of ideas. My opinion is you know your body better than anyone. Experimenting a few days before an event is a big gamble. I would rest. Get a massage. Stay off my feet. You won’t lose fitness by missing a a few days off the bike.
Disclaimer: when I get a cold from someone I feel bad for a day maybe 2. I’m lucky and spared the congestion part. By day 3 it’s gone.

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I had light congestion and a sniffle two days ago that turned into one of the worst colds I’ve ever had, almost covid like but have had 3 negative tests. Take as many zinc lonzenges as you can tolerate and pray.

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Call in sick for work and rest up. Drink lots of fluids, I’ve gone into a few races with the sniffles and have surprised myself how little it sometimes hinders performance. If my muscles are sore like flu symptoms I’ll give the race a miss.

The old rule of if its above the neck go ahead is pretty solid I reckon.

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If you’ve caught it early I genuinely find something like First Defence really works and stops things turning into full-blown colds.

I’d rest as much as I could, take a covid test for peace of mind, and try to adjust my time expectations for the race.

I was in a similar position for a half ironman awhile ago. Race went ok but not great.