So not any racing going on to report of, and minimal training, but I am still busy! I have tried putting on the brave smiling face but it’s just not working as well as I need it to most days.
The last time I blogged we had just lost Roscoe. I still have a hard time talking about him or mentioning his name, but there has been a good distraction lately. Heath humored me and we got another dog. Timber has a new puppy playmate named Wrigley, and oh what a sight they are. Wrigley has brought the puppy back out in Timber and it’s definitely provided some laughter in our household.
I started my training back with a new outlook hoping for the best. I was in Columbia , SC for a week for bank training and luckily had two awesome triathletes that hooked me up with some local cycling and swimming groups. I came home and tried to do my long ride Saturday excited to be with friends. I noticed about 10 miles into the ride I started having pain down my arm and in my chest. I tried stretching, but it would just get worse. Then it started to hurt when I would take a deep breath. I made the decision to head home and call it a day not knowing exactly what was going on. By Sunday it was still there and Heath suggested we make sure it was muscular and not something else. The tests all showed it was something muscular which was good news. I hoped biofreeze massage and stretching would make it better but then I would try to swim and it would be flared up all over again.
I have been to Steadman Hawkins and they say it’s something to do with my Brachial nerve bundle being pinched or something like that so we are trying some different therapy and drugs and hope it works. I am currently less than 3 weeks out from Ironman and have swam once in the last 4 weeks (I think). I will try tonight and see if I can remember how to float. I know that I can finish the swim even with the minimal training; the question is how bad is it going to hurt on the bike then carry over on the run. The one weekend I biked and ran with Forrest and it hurt he said that might be to my advantage, I think it was the fastest 5 mile transition run I’ve had I was hurting so badJ. I just wanted the darn thing done and over with!
I am going to embrace this last build week as best I can and try to remind myself that there are people out there who would LOVE to be able to do what I do. There’s something powerful and awesome when at the drop of a hat you can swim (ok maybe not right now) bike or run whatever distance you want to and your training has afforded you that. I will try to remind myself how peaceful and calm I feel while atop Paris Mountain at 6am. I will also try to remind myself how all the days worries and troubles go away as I pound them out on the pavement. Most of all, I am going to try to remind myself why I LOVE doing not just this sport, but also training this distance.
