To tri after 3 weeks off or not?

Hey guys,

So, I signed up for all of my races earlier this year, and have done an Oly (June) and HIM (May) so far.  Training has been pretty solid but I went to Europe for vacation / graduation trip for 3 weeks (just got back yesterday) and seriously couldn't get one training session in.  I was in big cities all the time sight-seeing everything and didn't have any time to train (although I walked around cities for like 6-7 hours a day).  Well, I have an Oly distance race planned on August 1st, and I'm just not sure if I should do it or not.  I feel really unhappy, lethargic, and depressed from not being able to work out for 3 weeks, and honestly I just want to skip the race and train really hard and consistent for some sprints I have planned over August and September and then my HIM in November.

My friends that I tri with are trying to convince me to still do the Oly next week, but I feel like if I can't go out there to really race it hard, then what's the point?  I don't need to do the race just to do the distance, it's not a new or challenging distance for me, but I don't think I'll be able to compete at the speeds I was training at before the Europe trip.

So, my question is, is my fitness really affected that much in 3 weeks to where I just won't be able to compete in the race?  Or, can I spend the next 5 days training, take 2 days off, then do the race and be able to compete as hard as I was training before, but maybe just have to push my body harder than I would like?

I am torn about what to do, and I have felt so unhappy for the past week thinking about this.  The fact that I planned this trip so close to a race was very dumb on my part and I won't make this mistake again.

Thanks for any help.

Ted

Edited by tkelsay 2009-07-24 8:08 AM