Primary race stopped by illness

Sunday was supposed to be my last A race of the season. I got sick with the stomach flue Friday night & still wasn't well enough to race by Sunday. The same thing happened in April for my last A race. Obviously the problem is my training &/or my taper. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Since I messed up this taper so badly I've decided I'm going to train for another A race Dec 7th.

My work started a weight loss competition. The people who has the best results in each of 3 divisions get 4 hrs leave on in on Nov 8th. & 8 hrs leave for each division on Nov 30th.
1) lose the most weight
2) lose the most body fat
3) people to gain the most lean mass

Unfortunately a few weeks ago I fell off the diet wagon. I gained much more weight than I'd like to admit. This work competition is perfect timing for me to got the motivation lose weight. I'd do anything to get time off from the prison!