So what a whirl wind four weeks its been! It seems like my wheels have been spinning and Ive barely had a chance to let em' touch the ground!
Lets see.. I left off right before IMFL 70.3 down in Orlando, FL. Let me tell you... what an experience that race was... I definitely would say that race taught me a lot about triathlon... 1st off.. that trying to come back after month of running (post stress fracture) and compete in a 70.3 race... is probably not a good idea. Ida know... I just really really wanted to do it, and I've never dropped out of anything, and dont plan on starting a trend... however, 4 weeks of build running, going no futher than 1 8mi run prior to race day is not the best formula for having a good run.
I had contemplated not doing the race at the beginning of april.. but after the successful Olympic distance race, and by success I mean running the 10k at an easy 47min split... focusing on Half Marathon pace... I felt like I could handle the 70.3.. so two weeks before IMFL 70.3 I purchased my ticket to fly down to Orlando and join Mom and Dad, who were already down there enjoying Walt Disney World. I had a great time with Mom and Dad, and Im very glad that I went down there... but I think coming off the injury, my expectations were set a little too high for recovery being 100%... and thusly racing at 100%. Simply put: lack of run training = slow run!
The day pretty much started off on a sour note, but I tried not to focus on it too much. I was one of the last swim waves to hit the water... of the over 2700 athletes racing that day. Which means no clean water AT ALL the entire swim, and literally SWIMMING over people. Not "oh excuse me, I'll go around you, pardon me".. no no... more like Right arm on their left shoulder pushing them underwater as I swim over them bc they are kicking BREASTROKE in front of me... yeah.. Im one of the mean ones... next time watch behind you, and if you see me coming- move out of the way. The swim was an average 29min split.. nothing to write home about...
The bike was kinda a weird bike.. I felt 'ok' but started to notice the onsets of dehydration around mile 30... I didnt get the nutrition right this time.. and wound up dehydrating myself towards the end of the bike, coming into T2 craving water like none other... not a good way to start a Half Marathon... but I pressed on.. because well... that's just me.
The first lap of the 3 loop course wasnt too bad.. OH WAIT... except for over 50% of the loop was over trails instead of road... let me explain something about that... its one thing to try and run a half marathon.. its a whole nother' ball o wax when you put it on trails... trail running is SO MUCH HARDER!! So here I am.. out of shape running wise to begin with, and now half the race is over trails... the fork is being sharpened... it was a complete mental breakdown when i was finishing the 1st loop.. because I was dying by the end of it... no spunk or pep in my step... only the realization that I still had two more loops to go.... o crap.
I contemplated dropping out, throwing in the towel. At this point I had no idea where I was in the standings.. but I did know I was way off pace of where I wanted/needed to be. My stride kept getting weaker, the distance between steps smaller, and the ankle started to bother a bit.. I was also petrified of rolling the already weak ankle on the grassy trail part... ankle high grass makes for spotty foot placement. As I rounded the end of lap 2.. I realized the dehydration, mixed with sheer leg pain was reaching its breaking point... I ended up having to walk most of the last lap.. something Ive also never had to do... but I started to go over the choices in my head... I could either a.) throw in the towel.. turn around and walk back to transition. or b.) walk most of the loop and finish the race, which was why I came down here in the first place. I chose option B. thankfully.
You see, it occurred to me... as I walked, the reason why I decided to do this sport in the first place. Because I enjoy it. Yeah, its great to go fast times, and always have great races.. but every dog has their day where things dont work out.. things happen, and it doesnt go the way you planned. I didnt plan on having a stress fracture and be in Das Boot for spring.. but it happened, and I got through it, and now Im on the road to recovery. But the reason I do this sport is because I love it, and because I can. I have the ability to do something that I enjoy, and granted most of the time its pretty fast... but at the end of the day, I like the thrill and the feeling of competing in multi-sport. I did the crazy pressure collegiate athletics program.. and I wound up hating it towards the end.. counting down the days until the 'sentence' was over. That was one promise I made to myself early on when I decided to give triathlon a go... I would never let it get like swimming.. this was voluntary.. I enjoy doing this sport, and I am doing it while working full time... there will be days that I wont be able to train because work will be all consuming, and there will be days I just wont feel like training.. I do it when I wanna do it, and there is no pressure to train a certain number of hours, or anything that closely resembles the college athletics stress. I have a social like and friends, and if something is coming up that I want to do more so than train.. well Im gonna do that. Maybe on down the road if I have the opportunity to put more of a focus on triathlons then things would change.. but at the moment, Im pretty happy with the full plate I have!!
So speaking of full plate... what's on tap?? Well, I leave tomorrow morning to drive up to Ashville, NC for a EJ Gallo Regional Conference from Wednesday to Friday... oh yeah, forgot to mention... Im being relocated to Jacksonville, FL end of June to take over as the Field Marketing Manager for Jacksonville/Orlando, FL!! Very excited about the promotion, but not about leaving my friends and the great support network I have established here.... it will be hard, and my friends and roommates will be missed :(
Friday, we make the trek back to ATL, where I change out bags and head down to the airport to make the overnight journey to Europe!! I fly out of ATL to DC, then fly DC to London... have a two hour layover before finally arriving in Frankfurt, Germany to meet Bryant!! We fly out to Sardinia, Italy (island off the west coast of Italy) for a week!!! Its gonna be such a great experience! Ive never been to Europe, and now I get to spend 10 days there visiting Bryant.. Im just sooo looking forward to it!!! It couldnt come at a more perfect time either... it could be looked at as a dual celebration of my promotion, and Bryant's promotion to Captain. "Hey lets celebrate by taking a vacation.. where to? How bout' Sardinia? Count me in!" hehehe.
Dont worry... I plan on taking lots of pictures of Germany & the beaches of Sardinia!
I'll blog about the travels when I return stateside.
