The Triathlon Rx

¡Hola chiquititos!

No… this not an error with your Google Reader, or a black hole. I am posting twice in the same week. (Likely only because I’m writing this ahead of time, anticipating that I’ll either forget to publish or take way longer than necessary to write something relatively simple.) You already read the title of the post, so you know where this is going… I definitely think we’re I’m due.

While there’s probably a laundry list of things I could ‘fess up to, I’m going to give you just ONE, and one I’ve been needing to get off my chest for a while.

(If you’re new to Friday Confessionals, click here for the 101. Anything and everything goes.)

running.

After my last post, when I said “Running…? Not quite ready to comment on that one just yet.” … I got some inquisitive texts and emails saying essentially, Watchu talkin bout Willis?? So to avoid sugar coating it too much… I’ll just lay it out here: essentially, my body hates running. I still love it – don’t get me wrong – but it is definitely hating me. My last “long run” was OCTOBER 30th in the Monster Dash Half Marathon. I don’t think I’ve done any runs over 10 miles since then. In fact… my total MONTHLY milage averaged over the last 4 months is what my WEEKLY mileage was at this time last year. And running was my thing! DISTANCE running!!! What I want to do is something like this:

BUT. Because I am no longer 5, and at least feel semi-obligated to act my age, I’ll take a deep breath and count to 10. It will be OK.

Right…?

Truthfully, this is the first year that I have ever been NOT confident in my running abilities. Like super not confident. And the fact that racing season is coming at me fast is not helping in the least. You know that feeling you get when you know you’re going to have to face something super unpleasant? Kind of like you got punched in the gut? That’s how I feel when I think about racing right now.

So what exactly is making me feel like this? It essentially comes down to two:

1. LOOMING INJURY

I don’t think there’s actually anything “officially” injured at the current moment. I do know that when I was in Puerto Rico in March I ran a little too much given my current mileage. And I do know way better than that. And I also know exactly what a stress fracture feels like, and upon returning from that beautiful little island, was pretty damn sure I had one in my 5th metatarsal. So I pulled way back and re/pre habbed the heck out of it until it didn’t feel like a stress fracture anymore and I wasn’t scared to run on it. Which tells me it was probably a stress reaction (the precursor to a stress fracture) and I took the right steps to stop it from getting worse. But the fact that it was definitely about to be a real injury leaves me feeling like I’m running on egg shells. Like I can’t run hard or I’m going to break something. Like there’s always going to be an injury “looming” in the distance.

2. PAST INJURY HISTORY

There might have been a time when I had convinced myself I didn’t really get injured, but that time is long gone. I’m super injury prone, and I know it. Going from being a 70 mpw runner and decent marathoner, to a pool runner with a broken femoral neck and three screws holding it together, back to a 50 mpw runner, to a refractured hip, to 60 mpw and a tibial stress fracture, to 30 mpw and another tibial stress fracture and a cut [way] short racing season, to NOW, current time, when, again, nothing is “officially” injured but oh by the way my foot hurt, and then I thought I pulled my groin again doing some stupid plyometric drill at practice, and I’m scared as %&#$ to bring my miles back up.

Actually… let’s just get it all out. Full disclosure: I’m running 48 ± 2* miles per MONTH. And assuming that each month has 4.4 weeks, that equals 10.9 MILES PER WEEK.

To say that I’m mentally struggling with this is like saying Tiger Woods is kinda hot. IT’S A MAJOR FREAKING UNDERSTATEMENT!! But unlike the many ladies who can just throw themselves at Woods… I don’t really know what I can do about this predicament. Run more? Maybe take another injury and sit out the beginning of the season? Sit out all of the season? Don’t run any more than I am now and SUCK at running for a year??

Looking back on race reports like New Bri Tri 2010 (and pretty much any other tri), the run is where I excelled. That run at New Bri was a game of road kill, and this year I feel like I’m going to be annihilated.

……….

Oh yeah, I was counting to 10. Exhale.

I ran today (or yesterday by the time you’re reading this). Four. Flipping. Miles. It felt fine, but it was FOUR miles. That – in my mind – is still a warm-up. And that make me sad.**

Then I went to work*** and proceeded to do this:

And then I thanked the Lord for ice massage. And then I went online to finish this Friday Confessional which has now turned into a full out pitty party. And NOW I’m going to stop.

I apologize/am super impressed if you read through all of that.

READER Qs:

Have you ever gone through a big slump in your training? If so how did you get out of it? Are you “injury prone” or one of those people who somehow manages to stay injury free? (And by “somehow” … I think I mean “trains smartly” …) As always with EVERY Friday Confessional, feel free to “fess up” and get whatever you want off of your chest!

Happy WEEKEND chicos, and happy EASTER! I know not everyone celebrates, but it is hands down my favorite day of the year so I’M looking forward to Sunday for sure! I’ll see you back here with that giveaway!

-E

* All values are presented in mean ± SD. I know, I’ve been reading too much research.
** For the record, my total training VOLUME has not changed at all. But the percentage that is running is obviously way down. So either I better be much faster on the bike this year, or faster in the water. Or someone (probably just me) is gettin’ hurt.
*** It actually is a legit job, and yes, I actually DO do work. But while I’m not working on any of the other athletes, I can kinda work on myself. I’ll post more on my job later!