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Friday, October 5, 2012

I'm a Triathlete and I'm Sick in the Head


So I’ve decided.
After my last 70.3 Ironman, I was pumped. This was my event. This was MY race. I wanted more.
So I decided that I wanted to do at least two 70.3s in 2012.
I registered for my first one in March. The second one was going to be in September.
Then in January, the deal-breaker: I was sitting on the prow of a boat, sailing two hours out from Cancun on very choppy water when we flew over a huge wave. Everyone came crashing down with such force that one woman went right through the windshield.
I knew I had scoliosis but that day, the condition had worsened ten fold. I couldn’t sleep on my back. I went to a physical therapist, who told me that it was not muscular and referred me to the chiropractor. I had five sessions to do, one every two weeks.
Adios 70.3 #1.
After I had healed and was reduced to just maintenance sessions every two months, I started training for a full Ironman, taking my 70.3 as a training session in preparation for the full distance. At first, it was all good: I could do the runs and the biking sessions, no problem.
The problem began with the swim.
“Do 4000 meters in 1:00 hr,” the training plan would say.
One hour? Only people like my man-turned-dolphin swim coach could do that with any sort of ease. I’m just a mere mortal and my technique wasn’t all that great. But I went at my pace and didn’t care about times.
And then it started to get worse.
I would run mid-morning so that I could get used to the sun. The beating sun that would choke us all during the marathon.
And it choked the life right out of me and so much so that I became increasingly frustrated. Three Sundays in a row where I was increasing the run time by 10 minutes per session and three times in a row where I was running virtually the same distance.
I was beaten.
But people like me, we can’t just not do anything.
So I got back into the gym. Started working out. Started getting picked up on by married men. You know the drill.
I went to cheer on my friends at 70.3 Ironman in Cozumel. The second 70.3 came and went.
Adios 70.3 #2.
I saw a lot of my friends at the event. I saw a lot of inspiring people. I even saw a lot of people who were inspired by me. And I had a lot of people ask me “why aren’t you doing this event?”
And I knew I had to go back.
So I am.
Tomorrow marks the first event I'll do this year. A sprint triathlon in what could be rainy weather. It'll be fun. It'll be a work out. It'll be going back to me and who I am.
I'm back.

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