NXN Attendees: How many of you got sick while in Portland or within a day of getting home?

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

Maybe it was the Rajneeshees making a comeback.

hart crane wrote:

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

You’ve obviously never run a muddy wet cross country race in 40 degrees.

Found the Californian wrote:

hart crane wrote:

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

You’ve obviously never run a muddy wet cross country race in 40 degrees.

I'm from NJ. I ran plenty.

hart crane wrote:

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

The food at NXN was pretty simple, yet very nicely prepared. I don't see that being an issue.

It seems reasonable that waking up before 3:00am so you can be at the airport by 3:30am may have an effect on the immune systems ability to fight off all those germs on the airplanes you speak of.

Johnny Pollman wrote:

Quite a few kids got sick while up in Portland and I was wondering if it was related to flight times and/or changes in weather compared to what one is used to.

Anybody know when the Manlius kids flew out? It seems they were hit especially hard.

CA Individual: 5:00 am flight to Portland - sick within a day of getting home

CA Team: 5:00 am flight to Portland - at least one kid got sick day before the race

CA Individual: 9:00 am flight to Portland - no sickness

Oh my God. More excuses from the CA.

The Manlius team was hit harder than any other. How is this an excuse from CA? Believe it or not, some people prefer to look at actual data rather than stereotyping millions of people that live in certain regions as being p.ssies. Does anyone know if the Manlius team had a pre-dawn flight?

moist wrote:

Oh my God. More excuses from the CA.

Johnny Pollman wrote:

Quite a few kids got sick while up in Portland and I was wondering if it was related to flight times and/or changes in weather compared to what one is used to.

Anybody know when the Manlius kids flew out? It seems they were hit especially hard.

CA Individual: 5:00 am flight to Portland - sick within a day of getting home

CA Team: 5:00 am flight to Portland - at least one kid got sick day before the race

CA Individual: 9:00 am flight to Portland - no sickness

Yeah I was there this year (not gonna say with which team) and I've been sick this last week and so have some of my teammates. One of them actually missed school Monday and Tuesday she thought she had strep throat. I dont really think its from being at nationals for sure, cuz a ton of my school is getting sick right now too, but it probably didn't help travelling so much and getting no sleep Saturday night. The Manlius girls got sick apparently too, and they're used to cold weather

hart crane wrote:

Found the Californian wrote:

You’ve obviously never run a muddy wet cross country race in 40 degrees.

I'm from NJ. I ran plenty.

Then you should understand that a wet cold XC Meet is harmful not while you’re running, but during the time you spend waiting around before and after the race.

Found the Californian wrote:

You’ve obviously never run a muddy wet cross country race in 40 degrees.

Newsflash: cold weather doesn't make people sick. Neither does mud or rain.

Anytime you fly somewhere your chances of getting sick go up a lot. We had one boy get the flu after the trip and he missed the entire week of school. Another one of our boys got a cold later this week. As a teacher I can tell you I've had a lot of regular students out sick over the last week, more than my NXN athletes who 12 our of 14 stayed healthy following their trip and their is no real evidence showing my 2 athletes actually got sick from NXN or the travel.

I do agree that any team flying in to Portland early (meaning getting up at 3:00 am to get to the airport) ups their chances of getting sick and not feeling ready to race. We were able to get that 9:00 am flight and I believe it helped us health wise over the weekend. Nike travel actually does a great job listening to what type of flight situation you want (if you have multiple options like we do here). Not sure if you only have one local airport...

Hand sanitize like crazy.

Doug

Found the Californian wrote:

hart crane wrote:

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

You’ve obviously never run a muddy wet cross country race in 40 degrees.

Viruses and bacteria make you sick, not cold weather.

hart crane wrote:

Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

Airplanes themselves? Yes, they carry a lot of germs.

Unusual foods? Yes.

People from different parts of the country exchanging germs? Yes.

Yes, the food in Portland is so exotic...

David Nieman did a study on marathon runners showing that the stress of the marathon increased the likelihood of getting an upper respiratory infection. I know that XC is not a marathon, but the high stress from travel, competition, etc could impair the immune system.

Lack of sleep does not help.

Being in a tube with a couple of hundred other people does not help, not to mention the germs on the plane itself.

Toss in that winter is here when we are inside more so diseases spread faster.

Sometimes it is just bad timing.

Have any of you 15 year olds traveled by plane before? You are on a contained vessel, rubbing elbows with everyone from every inch of the United States. You are lucky if you don't get sick.

And I'm sure your hygiene isn't 100% either. Wash your hands maybe once over the course of a 12 hour travel day.

moist wrote:

Johnny Pollman wrote:

Quite a few kids got sick while up in Portland and I was wondering if it was related to flight times and/or changes in weather compared to what one is used to.

Anybody know when the Manlius kids flew out? It seems they were hit especially hard.

CA Individual: 5:00 am flight to Portland - sick within a day of getting home

CA Team: 5:00 am flight to Portland - at least one kid got sick day before the race

CA Individual: 9:00 am flight to Portland - no sickness

Oh my God. More excuses from the CA.

A CA kid got top 3. As a junior. They don't need excuses.

Thanks, Doug. Appreciate the input.

I ran NXN and my first two days home I had an upset stomach but wasn’t sick. Don’t know if it was related to the trip. As always when flying I recommend taking Airborne in the days leading up and just hoping for the best since you can’t help it if you get stuck next to someone who is sick on the plane.

hart crane wrote:Weather and flight times aren't going to make someone sick.

You don't think getting up at 4am to catch a plane after an all-out race the day before, after getting only 5 hours of sleep wouldn't contribute greatly to getting sick? Your body is at its most vulnerable in that period just after an all-out effort. Poor sleep inhibits the immune system for sure.