Well hellooooo there.
Its been a nice two weeks since the inagural Ironman Mont Tremblant, and things are finally starting to settle back down to 'normal'. Simon & I have been taking a much needed break from the ridiculousness of training and complete lack of a social life, to enjoy the last few weeks of Summer!
Race recap:
For those of you that didnt know, I had an injury manifest itself in the weeks leading up to the Boston marathon. At that point it was a minor ache that could be felt in my hip, and at the time nothing much more than that. A few weeks after Boston, when we began the ramp up for IMMT, the pain became much more severe, and spread itself from one hip to also include my groin. A few weeks later, and I could barely run 5k without stopping.
The frustration was mounting, so I visited a physio where we determined that my hip flexors were "shot". After much overuse and overcompensating for my complete 'lack of a core' I had effectively burned my hip flexors out. A sort of double tendonitis in both hip flexors that was agitating my right groin, and straining the the muscle that carries of my left hip. Nice. "So doc, what's the prognosis?", I said. "Stop training and rest." she said. "But I have an ironman in 3 months...there is a 112mile bike & a marathon I have to complete." I replied. Blank stare.... "yeah... no". she said. Hmmm, this might get interesting.
So pretty much since May, I was attending 1-2 times per week physio sessions, and running with my trusty "girdle" which in technical terms is a soraic (sp?) belt that when worn over the hip flexors draw up all nice and tight, essentially takes them right out of the running equation. An annoyance to run with, but emphasis on "still being able to run"... so I put up with it. There were a few weeks intermixed between May and August of completely no running, but overall I'd say the news more or less took the wind out of my sails, as knowing I wasn't going to be 100% by ironman time made me more or less not want to train at all.
I was still able to bike a bit, but I could feel my hip flexors attempting to engage over hilly parts of some of our training rides, and the frustration of them always feeling exhausted was a bit annoying. Eventually I started working a bit of running into my routine again, with the longest run leading up to IMMT of a bit over 18km.
Flash forward to race day. You never want to go into a race not ready, especially one that is as long as an ironman. The days leading up I wasnt nervous at all, not even a bit. I knew that my complete lack of training preparation was going to take me out of the top of my age group, so I decided instead to focus on the beauty of the course around me. There was a high probability that I would have to back out of the marathon, as doing so without any real endurance running training would be both stupid and put myself at risk for even more injuries.
The swim:
Its a gorgous lake. Clean, doesnt smell/taste like gasoline when you are swimming behind the boats, and a great temp when you have your wetsuit on. I didnt have the best of starts, as it was an out of water start, and the lack of any real swim training (Simon and I started swimming about 1 month before the race) left my 'get out in front' a bit more like 'wow my shoulders hurt, i think this pace might be it'. So it took me awhile to get moving, eventually evening out my stroke and slowly starting to pick people off. Exited the water at just shy of an hour. The transition was a bit long- roughly .6mi, but it was on a nice red carpet, so again- IMMT was setting itself up nicely as having checked off all of the things it could do to make racers comfortable.
The bike:
Again, we were a bit short on big training rides, but we did get an opportunity to come ride the course on a few long weekends during the summer. The city had re-paved the roads, and they were SPECTACULAR. Seriously, with the exception of a small stretch of road in downtown St. Jovit, we were riding on fresh roads smooth as a baby's bottom... minus the hills. I.HATE.HILLS. Or I should be more specific. Hills and I have a mutual understanding that unless I train on them every day, they are going to punish me. Also, my hip flexors being in the shape that they are in meant everytime I needed to climb (standing or seating) the action of pulling my leg up on the pedal stroke, meant engaging my hip flexors. They were screaming by the end of the 1st loop- which finished with a nice stretch of about 24km of the toughest part of the course. Loved the downhills, cursed the uphills. :) At the start of the chemin duplessey, Simon passed me asking, "I dont know if I should stay behind you and draft the rest of the bike, or pass you!" Butthead.
As Simon took off I figured that was the last time I would see him, as he obviously was basking in the happiness that this race was essentially in his backyard. I would later catch back up and re-pass Simon on the 117, but he would again pass me back for the final time before we hit part 2 of the chemin duplessey.
As the bike drew to a close, I started going through the 'will I or won't I' try and run. I knew that Simon's family had an aid station at about 8km on the run, and I had always anticipated running atleast the first loop, stop by and say hi, and then pull out just after 21km. When I dismounted off the bike and handed my bike to the bike catchers, attempting to run the 600 or so meters to the transition tent, my legs had a slightly different thought in mind. I could barely lift my legs up the few inches it took to swing them forward. Well, this isnt good- I havent even gotten to the change tent yet! I rounded a corner where I saw my parents & made the "cut it" signal to my Dad, who immediately understood, and nodded his head in acknowledgement.
After going into the tent I sought the medical/massage staff and had two very nice ladies stretch me out & attempt to work out some of the kinks in my hip flexors. It provided a nice relief to the throbbing, and would help me to hang out at transition for the rest of the day, to see Simon come in.
Sometimes the body knows when to call it quits. I can definitely say that it would have been stupid given my lack of run training to attempt to complete a marathon, but sometimes when you are used to putting yourself through the pain, your mind tells you you can do it, and hours later you are setting yourself up for even worse injuries. I wasnt upset about pulling out. I knew it was a distinct, almost probable possibility, and most importantly- I had nothing to prove to myself. Having completed two Ironman's already, it wasnt about testing myself to see if I could finish, that I knew wouldnt be a problem. So I handed my chip off to an official and headed off to meet my parents.
It was nice to get to spend time with Mom & Dad at the race site, grab some food, and just chat while we waiting to welcome in the overall male winner. A bit later we would stage ourselves to see Simon come through on loop 1 of his run, setting a great pace. I knew when I saw him he was having a great race!
Just shy of two hours later, we would be screaming out heads off to welcome Simon home to a new personal best by about 40 minutes, and a new 'family best'!! He looked great coming in to the finish, even having enough energy to jump up about 3 ft in the air across the finish line. Not surprised. Simon has more energy that a 4 yr old hopped up on mountain dew and espresso.
So now we are back in Toronto. Enjoying the last 'official weekend' of summer. Its been nice to catch up with friends, and also fit in meeting one of our favorite athletes of all time: Chrissie Wellington! I even got to chat with her a bit about last year's Kona, and the portalette inspection I conducted. :)
So now, a much needed break. Well kinda. We are still planning our next vacation 'adventure' which is shaping up to be a mountain bike trek through the mountains of Mexico. :) I know what you are thinking.... that isnt really a break. No its not. In the words of rapper Young Gunz, "Can't stop, won't stop, Roccafella records" :)
