Never Give Up (Updates, Williamsburg Challenge Race, and Lake Logan Recap)

Never Give Up

I know it’s been a few months since I’ve blogged, I meant to do a race report on Lake Logan Half however work took precedence and my ongoing tests and anniversary/son’s bday continued to overwhelm me. I’ll first start this update with a lowdown of the races and tests that have been going on since I last blogged:

Best Home Stay Ever!  3rd place age group

Best Home Stay Ever! 3rd place age group

6/13/15-Williamsburg Challenge Olympic Distance Race

The swim was typical for me, bike felt awesome (new Quintano Roo!), and the run was all about survival on a humid thick hot day. I placed 3rd in my age group, and was pleasantly surprised with my performance.

 

7/14/15-Meet with physiatrist (sp?) who happens to already be a dr. of mine for my shoulder/neck issue over the years. Primary care thinks she may be able to get a bigger picture of everything b/c although I’ve been feeling better I still have bad days. This doctor orders iron testing just to see where we are in that process and then mono test since everyone’s talked about ordering it but no one has.

7/22/15-GI Doctor decides he wants to do gall bladder ultrasound and a more in depth look at my lower intestine to see if they can locate the blood loss causing the iron deficiency. All of which require fasting and few other unpleasant things all while working and Ironman training.

2nd Place Age Group

2nd Place Age Group

8/8/15-Lake Logan Half Iron Distance Race

I love this race, and it totally deserves its own blog but long story short. Swim-felt slow, arms weren’t as tired as have been. Bike-hilly, technical, and my new Quintano Roo had me a little skittish on some portions but felt strong (again!!!). The run is always the telling portion of racing for me these days, and although it was warmer than anticipated and a very tough bike (3,000ft gain in 56 miles) I felt surprisingly strong. It’s literally been years since I can remember feeling that way on a long distance race. Just awesome.   I had my moments, but to feel strong (not fast) was a great feeling.

8/11/11-fasting and gall bladder ultrasound (test back week later showing clear)

8/12 and 8/13/15-video pill test of small intestine, more fasting and ugliness. I was hangry to say the least, still working during all of this, and stressed. 5 weeks later I find out results showing stomach inflammation but small intestine was good and no bleeding there. At this point I told the doctor I’m done with tests.  I have a demanding job and everything has taken its toll.

8/16/15-Greenville Sprint Tri

DNS. I emailed my coach the day before, and even though I felt great a week ago, my body decided to show me once again how quickly things can change. I woke up Friday feeling bad, and Saturday still felt weak and overall fatigued. This was pretty devastating due to hometown race, and the tease of feeling strong a week prior. Time to refocus, remember it’s about Ironman, and control what I can. Never give up.

8/17/15-Labs for my hematology appointment (takes 3 months after Iron IV to truly have accurate numbers)

8/19/15-appointment with hematologist to go over blood work. The good news is that although we still don’t have answers on why my iron is low, the Iron IV’s worked. Not only is the iron good, the other questionable numbers in my blood work have miraculously evened out. She also notices in my chart that the mono test that was ordered by the physiatrist came back as showing I’d had it at some point. There’s no way to tell when, but they’re guessing that in the off season at some point is when I actually had the mono in combination with the low iron just made things extra worse. Hematologist orders a few more blood tests to make sure there’s not an autoimmune blood disorder causing the blood loss, and they all show negative

In the meantime, my attitude becomes one of thankful to have the answers I do, yet putting out of my mind the questions still there. My main focus becomes getting my training in and listening to my body. Training runs begin to show some speed again, and slowly I feel like I’m managing things

9/8/15-out on a training run I basically break my ankle. Avulsion fracture. I heard it break, and knew instantly it wasn’t just a sprain. My husband took me to MD360 where they confirmed my suspicions. I’d rolled my ankle and the force of the tendon being pulled broke off the bottom piece of the bone. 8.5 weeks from Ironman. Ortho assured me we’d get to ironman, and after lots of laughing (instead of crying) I said whatever it takes.

When life hands you lemons, you can choose to have the sour outlook or see what ingredients are needed to make lemonade out of it. I chose lemonade. I knew staying off the ankle until my Light The Night Walk was over was not going to be possible, so my goal was to do everything PT asked knowing I just needed to make it past 10/1/15.

Week of 10/4/15-stayed off ankle doing office work for most part, ortho wasn’t impressed with the state of my swelling. The good news is the bone was healing. Now my focus had to change to staying off of it as much as possible and making smart choices all while continuing to test the boundaries of PT.

10/8/15-flat out told by PT they were not sure if I’d be able to run before the day of ironman. Focus now goes to dramatically increasing time doing the aqua jogging, or at my coaches suggestion find an alter g treadmill. Also finally allowed back outside on the bike, all my previous time had been spent on a trainer.

all smiles after 100 miles in the rain

all smiles after 100 miles in the rain

Here I am weeks out from ironman, and it’s amazing that despite my injury, the moment I’m allowed to ride outside I nail a 100 mile bike ride and follow it up with a 1:45 minute run on an alter g treadmill (this enables you to run w/o your whole body weight) the next day. I believe the result of those 2 workouts is due to NEVER GIVING UP, and my awesome team of helpers (Proaxis, Brad and Scott; Dr. Cassas, and Katie Malone). I was working out in the pool a week after I broke my ankle. Not everything has gone smoothly, but I can honestly say the aqua running, trainer rides, strength training, yoga, and PT exercises and constant FIGHT to make this happen now seems possible. I’ve done things I swore I’d never do, all b/c I trust the people around me (Malone Coaching and Katie can’t be thanked enough).  I want my goal bad enough, and I refuse to give up.

I’ll end this with an awesome dream I had the other night. I had a dream I qualified for Kona at a 70.3 race (never even done an Mdot 70.3), and some guy mentioned I’d had a good pace on the run. My response to him was that I was just pissed enough not to let it hurt. The sentence resonated with me the whole day, I’m one of those people that when doubted, told no, or produced with a challenge I tend to dig deeper. Yes, this injury pissed me off after all I’ve been through this year, but that anger does nothing but fuel my desire to dig deeper, make things happen, and never give up. I challenge each of you when faced with life’s road blocks at work, with family, and/or sport take that moment to find the ingredients to make your lemonade and get the best possible situation out of it you can. Despite what happens at Ironman Florida, I can honestly say I’ve done all I can to make it to race day.

 

 

 

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