July 28 Triathlon, I Will Rock You (or At Least Show Up)

The past few tri seasons just have not been ideal:

2010: Recovering from pneumonia is not a good way to enter a training season. But, I still managed to finish Chicago Triathlon. Despite, the chest cold, asthma attack, and 20-min. stint in the medical tent, I had a better time than healthy people in my wave -- and still came in 17 of 219 for swimming in my age group. 

2011: Thanks to the wedding and my dad's health, there wasn't a lot of time to train. Yet I had my best tri ever at Pleasant Prairie, coming in with a PR on a beautiful day. I needed it. That said, I couldn't get in a second race -- just too busy, and not willing to risk skidding off my bike 1.5 weeks before my wedding.

2012: I can't say that my April ankle sprain completely derailed my training because I was able to spin (mostly), but it did sideline me from running for 2 months. OH, and breaking my arm Memorial Day weekend did not help matters either.

Now that I am just getting back to running, swimming, and cycling (I think -- I was just about to get back on the trail...) I have a head cold. The South Shore Tri is two weeks away. I'll be there, but I just keep thinking: it's not as bad as I came into the race in 2010.

If I've proven anything, it's that I'll still show up. I'll get you, triathlon, just you wait.

The 'Hot Racing Mess' Who Finished

I present to you my divisional results (Women 30-34)  for the individual legs of the sprint distance Chicago Triathlon, which took place along the lakefront yesterday. Can you guess when I had the asthma attack?

Swim (1/2 mile): 17th of 219

Bike (13.7 miles): 22nd of 219

Run (3.1 miles): 215 of 219

I guess it was a sign I wasn't in tip-top shape when, right before we started the race, a spectator heard me coughing and joked to me that I should have laid off the cigarettes the morning of the race. 

As soon as I got in the water, I could tell I couldn't inhale to full lung capacity. That said, it's really easy for me to control my breathing in swimming, so I just plowed ahead and got on a roll! The water was 72 degrees, and I had fresh arms. It felt like last year: a perfect swim. 

I passed nearly everyone in my wave and started to take on the next; by 14 minutes, 33 seconds, I was out of the water (if you look up my time, it includes the 2? 3? block run to transition area, during which I saw a few people sprint past me -- still came in 17th though). 

After transition, I hopped on my bike and dealt with the same southwest headwind both directions --a pain in the ass on any day. A quarter of the way I could tell my lack of lung strength was starting to take a toll. I was also shivering, despite guzzling water all morning and an already-warm air temperature. 

The last half of the bike race I didn't feel like I was "racing" anymore, just getting through it -- and not because of muscle fatigue, which is typical: just my lungs and that shivering thing. I began to think of quitting, which felt like a brilliant idea -- until I imagined having to tell people I quit the race. Do I listen to my body? Or am I being too sensitive and not strong enough mentally? Will I get pneumonia again if I keep stressing my lungs?

By the time I got off the bike, I felt dizzy and sauntered to my transition spot to get my run gear on, coaching myself on breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. Three minutes and something-seconds later (a long-ass transition time) I slowly walked to the start line of the run portion, feeling dazed. At this point, I was 98 percent of the way to giving up.

A woman saw me walking (still on the course), stepped in front of me and said, agitated, "Did you finish the race?" The look I gave her answered her question. By the time I saw Brian, maybe about a city block-length, I was taking off my race number.

The first thing I said to him was, "I don't feel good. I don't want to get pneumonia again." Then I started crying. And then I felt like a loser. 

Brian told me I could quit and he wanted me to be healthy, and getting that confirmation made me not want to quit. So, I put on a long-sleeve T-shirt he'd brought along to warm up and began walking the 3.1 miles.

Thing is, Brian wouldn't let me do it alone. He spent the next 3 miles at my side, walking or trotting with me with a backpack on, which isn't easy. He later told me it wasn't just for support but to make sure nothing happened to me, which was good, because the next 47 minutes featured me gasping for air, stopping, breathing in through my nose deeply and out through my mouth, coughing, then trying to run/trot once my breath was regulated, only to have to walk again -- a hot racing mess.

I didn't mention Brian has been fighting a cold too. What a guy... 

I picked up the pace toward the end when I saw the finish and actually had to stop short of the finish line to try to breathe. I crossed the finish line, went into full-blown attack mode, heard my dad call my name, waved to him, then was ushered by triathlon medical staff into the medic tent, where an awesome and very nice crew gave me an Albuterol treatment and oxygen.

I had an easy time -- someone finished the race and began having seizures. You can see the medic team that worked on me working on that person here.

I summarized the race in a Facebook update and got kudos from several friends, one even calling me inspirational. It's really touching, but honestly, I call it stupid more than anything. I'm glad I started the race, even if I wasn't in the greatest shape; I tried. But once the asthma kicked in full-force, I shouldn't have continued. It's not healthy! And if I grew worse, the chaos on the course could have messed up other people, too, or taken resources away from more serious cases. 

In case you're wondering, I didn't bring my inhaler because I didn't even think of it. I use inhalers temporarily when I'm fighting something like bronchitis or pneumonia, and although I should have taken one with me, just in case, I didn't even put two and two together that a chest cold from last week could trigger an asthma attack during a race. Again, stupid.

It's a race I'd rather forget; I finished almost a half hour after I normally do. Brian says he's more proud of me for finishing this race than any other. I'm trying hard to forget the time, even if I still managed to finish ahead of a lot of people who were perfectly healthy. 

There's always next year. :) 

A special shout out to:
* The medic team. So sharp and on the lookout, I have been taking their standby assistance for granted each race.
* Brian. Duh. Not only did he do a 5K with me spur-of-the-moment, but I thanked him by leaving in the medic tent his Oakley sunglasses he lent me. Sheesh. Yes, I probably could have crossed the finish line without him, but I would not have been as strong. He's there for every race I do.
* My parents, who not only came out to the race but had to watch their daughter gasping for air and disappear with doctors. They also waiting a long time while we collected my gear to drive me home.
* The random people who saw me struggling and called out my race number, cheering for me to "stay strong," "keep it up" and "walk through it." Admittedly, I was annoyed when, while coughing and heaving, some of 'em yelled, "You're lookin' good!" but that's my problem: they were trying to be nice and pry didn't even realize the irony of the cheer they chose to yell.  


And to the fellow racer who looked at me and Brian as she passed and said, VERY snarkily, as we walked, "You know you're in the middle of a triathlon, right?": 

I finished, bitch.

Gait Analysis with Bill Leach: Visit 1

Yesterday afternoon I had my first appointment with running coach Bill Leach for my gait analysis, and I'm eager to find out the results.

When you go see Coach Leach, he videotapes your running on a treadmill from the side; your running directly from and to the camera; your running to and from the camera at an angle; and all sorts of posture positions, which can include standing normally with your shoes off and balancing on one leg while touching the other foot with your opposite hand. All on video. I wobbled a little on the balancing stuff, and I'm bummed about it because I have better core strength than that -- and core strength is what he preaches. Oh well, we shall see what his detailed report says. (He actually hands you a small binder.)

Couple things:

1) To best view your body as it runs, he needs you to wear contrasting colored tops and bottoms, and they have to be situated on your body so he can see your hips. That means I had to tuck a loose -- not baggy, but loose enough -- shirt into stretch running pants. It all looks atrocious, because a) the baggy shirt bulges from underneath the stretch pants, and b) I have a very high waist. Nice visual, huh? And it's all on camera! Thankfully, only he and I see the video.

2) We watched the video, and the initial assessment of my running is that my foot strikes far in front of my body, which is bad. I was expecting that, b/c it seems that most runners have this problem. The other thing is my feet somewhat cross over each other when I'm running. I'd never have known without that video!

We'll see how he treats the latter. As for the former, I already have homework of exercises to do to get my body comfortable with my feet landing further back.

More homework. I'm balancing so much right now -- freelance projects, ad class homework, working out, another side project, quality time with my man, and more -- that the last thing I wanted was more homework. But here we are. And I'll get it done.

My next appt. is Tuesday. To be continued!

A 5k Should Be Easier Without the Swim and Bike, Right?

Before the heat of the moment passes, I wanted to tell you about this Sunday's Run for Chocolate, which is by far one of the best races I've done in a while because of the location, organization, route, and perfect amount of chocolate. It was my first 5k since October 2006 because of the strain running has put on my knees and having to essentially ditch running. I stopped signing up for 5ks to instead "conserve" my knees for the 5ks in triathlons.

So I wasn't sure what to expect from Sunday's run. I went in realizing I didn't care about time. As we lined up, I loved not having the pressure to gut it out. I was calm and relaxed.

Of course, I spoke too soon. Brian and I took off, and I felt my adrenaline and the energy from the crowd of 12,000 people all moving down the same path propel me. I decided to push myself and not hold back -- I always have to hold back b/c of my knees, and did I really know how far I could take it? Besides, I figured, wouldn't it be a helluva lot easier to push the limits not having swam and biked first?

The good news is that I have a new personal best time for myself, 3.1 miles in 27:27, which is I think an 8:51 pace. I really pushed it toward the end, too! And it felt great. Bonus: amazing hot chocolate and the perfect portion of chocolate fondue (pictured) post-race. [Update: Not everyone had it so lucky -- especially if you ran the 15k. Read Flour Girl's account here.]

The bad news is my right knee is killing me. It's two days later, and in the pool this morning -- the three laps I did -- my knee hurt while I was swimming. It's as if all I built up -- being able to run sporadically -- has crumbled and my workout routines now affected, all because of my stupid knees. I think I do better at triathlon 5ks because my joints and muscles are completely warmed up by the time I get to the run and, at that point, I don't have it in me to go all-out, which is bad for me knees. I do the light jogs my joints will allow, and it seems to work well.

I need to rest and lay off the workout for another day, which does NOT make me happy but at least allows me the opportunity to work on all the other stuff (resume, homework, my own Web site, getting enough sleep, etc.) I need to accomplish. But it sucks to do so well and then get taken right back to injury.

I did schedule that appointment with Coach Leach I mentioned earlier, btw, and meet with him in two weeks. I wonder where I'll be then?

90% Decided on the Olympic Distance Tri

It's been a week since I resumed my workout routine, and I'm already sore. I'm also almost done convincing myself to commit to an Olympic-distance triathlon, which is double the distance I usually race.  Considering my bad knees, it would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Here's my reasoning: I've already done an aquabike (Olympic distance swim and bike) and just need to nail down the 6-mile run. That's it! I can do a 5k (3.1 miles) now, but here's the catch: I have great days and really sucky days. Some days I'm flying and feel great afterward; other days, I have to stop 10 min. into it b/c of the pain. And if I do get solid run in, the recovery is iffy, too: sometimes I'm totally fine and can do a heavy lower-body workout again after a day of rest without problems. Other times, I might be able to continue to work out but will have significant knee pain for several days -- or a week -- after.

That's where I'm at after this past weekend. Because of my Olympic distance dreams, I jumped back into working out by incorporating a run into my week, so I can see how it feels to regularly jog (the past two seasons I basically winged it on race days). I've figured out that I'm much more successful and pain-free if I run when my legs are well-warmed up, either after biking or swimming or at the end of the day, so that's what I did on Sunday. (Icing, taking Aleve and massaging/stretching my muscles well is a given.) But lo and behold, pain. I squeaked out 3.2 miles in 32 min., which I'm really appreciative of being able to do, but I was in pain and basically kept going until the adrenaline covered up the pain. That's how I got to where I'm at now, so it's not a practice I want to keep up. (For the concerned friends out there, just know that if the pain doesn't go away, I do stop. It ain't worth ruining my knees entirely).

So that's where I'm at: the test-phase. Perhaps I should see a running or tri coach...

***

By the way, being back at the gym is great. I really like seeing the people I've come to look forward to in the mornings, and it feels good to slowly build up to where I was at the end of August. That said, I'm not breaking any records. I swam much more slowly today, barely getting up to 70 percent of my heart rate, and really tried to focus on my stroke. I did a few laps of the breast stroke and backstroke -- I stick to freestyle normally -- to shake things up and didn't worry about my calories (300 burned during the same time I'd normally do 400). I'll kick it into higher gear in November or maybe the coming weeks, but for now, this is good.

Another Season Down, Almost Injury-Free

I found out today that I have ulnar neuritis. The name sounds a lot worse than it is, but basically the nerve that runs on the outside of my arm from my elbow to wrist has been aggravated, and I need to rest it. It's a common sport injury from tennis, cycling and swimming. I do two of the three.

The good news is that it isn't painful, per se, but it does make the top of my wrist, fingers and forearm tingle and ache. When you're a writer like me or finishing up a triathlon season, like I was when the problem started, it's hard to rest it.

The timing is good, b/c I go easy in September, but it's bad b/c I'd really like to be able to get outside more for fun rather than just quit altogether. I don't have to go cold turkey, but if I want to jump back into a routine in October, I need to lay off. I need exercise to keep me happy, so this'll be a challenge.

Most athletes get injuries of some sort much worse than mine, and I'm amazed that they're able to push as hard as they do until something does pop up. I don't consider myself a die-hard athelete. I do work out regularly and push myself, but I'm not going hard-core distances. I'm above the casual athelete but not much more serious.

I feel like as soon as I get into something and push myself, my body reminds me that it's just not cut out for going hard. When I got into running faster and farther -- up to 5 miles regularly -- that's when my knees freaked out. Even physical therapy and strengthening my muscles didn't cure me enough. I basically can run 3 miles with minimal pain.

When I cycle, I'm cardiovascularly able to go farther than I do. But then my knees kick in and remind it's time to take it easy.

If I swim too much, no matter how much or what variety of stretching I do, I start to get muscle damage.

So I feel stuck in this range, with improvement in going harder but for shorter periods, or going longer but not as hard. Can't do both. I'd love to be able to train for an Olympic Distance triathlon, but considering the small increments I'm able to push myself, it seems like it would be more painful than fun. And it's always supposed to be fun, right?

But I'll try! I'll keep at it. And in the meantime, I'll rest up. Gotta listen to my body to stay injury-free.