The Triathlon Rx

Well heyo kids. By the time you will read this, it will either be the night before race day, or the race will have already come and gone. And hopefully, I will have actually been there. ¿Por que, you ask? I have spent the last five days being mistaken for a 2-pack a day smoker on the phone, hacking up a lung, and trying to keep my hands out of the candy jar sudafed. I am starting this on WEDNESDAY and I will update each day until the RACE on SATURDAY… trust me, I’m sendin’ a prayer! So here is my somewhat un-conventional pre-race report for the New Bri Tri:

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WEDNESDAY 06.02.2010

I first started feeling bad last Saturday. Or Friday? Ahhh, it’s all a blur now. (Looks like my sense of humor is one thing I actually can keep down right now.) Made it through the memorial day weekend and work, and actually thought I was feeling pretty darn good on TUESDAY (yesterday). Even had a stellar workout, swim included (!!) and a nice night out with el chico. Yeah, I still sounded like a teenaged boy in puberty who lost his voice at a football game (do boys lose their voices at football games ever? Now that I think about it……), but I was feeling better. So I thought.

Today (Wednesday): Fever, and killer pain that feels like its literally JUST superficial to my frontal bone. It’s not deep in my head.. it’s like it’s right on the surface. And I feel it any time I cough/sneeze/lean over/stand up/breathe (ok, drama – done). I skipped practice. I went to work, was turned right around and sent home. I have been trying to drink lots and lots, and really get in some vitamins and solid nutrition. But I’m not going to lie – I took home a cookie from work and ate that for “breakfast”, and am currently seeking solid comfort in the form of my couch, a blanket, a movie, and Loaded Waffle Cone ice cream. No joke:

However, I am fully confident that by Saturday morning, this junk that’s overruling my system will be GONE. Let’s GO t-cells!! B-cells, get your butt in gear! I will be racing on Saturday dagnabbit!!

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THURSDAY 06.03.2010

Hmmm… I’m not so sure what to say, since today’s events gave me mixed messages. On the sickyness scale, I am definitely feeling better. I went to bed at 9:00 last night and slept until 9:15 this morning…. 12.25 hours? Ammmen to that my friends!! But judging by my runFAIL this morning… I’m a little nervous. Here’s how it went down:

I set no alarm, because I figured if my body needed sleep, it’d take it. So after a little putzing around in the morning, I was ready to head out for an easy run. I wasn’t sure how far I’d go, but I figured at least a lake or two. Good thing I went the short way first, because at two miles, I literally could NOT go any farther. Not because I felt sick, or my cardio was off or something. My fracking SHINS and ANKLE MUSCLES were literally wound so tight it was like I was club footed. I was definitely feeling the tibialis anterior muscle (think “shin splints”), but it was like it was also in all the tendons around the ankle (peroneus brevis, peroneus longus… for all my fellow anatomy lovers!), and felt all around not good. So I walked a little, turned around at two miles, and went home frustrated beyond belief.

And jumped on my bike.

30 miles to be exact. It was a gorgeous day, and I didn’t want to waste it inside, but at the same time I didn’t want to overextend myself two days before my race. There was definitely a day when 30 miles sounded “so far”, but at this point it’s a NBD. Not to mention I didn’t have any of my “fast friends” riding with me to burn me into the ground.

You know you’re a runner when you fold over your bike shorts, because their “too long.” C’mon guys… I already have a permanent shorts tan. I don’t need to make it two-toned from two different length shorts.

So the ride was good. Felt strong all throughout, and even played with some mile intervals for the last 1o miles. I actually have a running job on Fridays (and Wednesdays, although this week that was canceled due to above sick-cell-infestation), so I don’t really have a choice about running tomorrow! We’ll see how it feels…. bed time!

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FRIDAY 06.05.2010

Race. Tomorrow.

Run? Meh. I ran slower than a stampede of turtles running through peanut butter, but luckily my doggy sidekick was OK with that today. She is a Weimaraner for the record, and this girl can RUN. 20 miles? No problem. But today we only did seven, and seven slowly. The shins/ankles were obviously not debilitating like yesterday, but they were also not just “normal.”

I rubbed a pack of muscle relief gel (thanks you very much Mr. PT!!) into my shins and calfs, and thighs for good measure and then headed to work. While at work for about the first hour, my left tibialis anterior actually “hurt.” Standing on it was painful. And let me tell you, we do some standing in the waitressing world. Standing and walking. It slowly faded after a while though, and I didn’t notice it too much by the time my shift was over.

Now we’re sitting on two minutes to 7:00 pm… I’m planning on going to sleep around 9:00, and I AM waking up tomorrow to race. Got the checklist out, and just need to do a once over, pack up some food for the morning, and set up the coffee.

This is a sprint triathlon BTW. Honestly, worst case scenario I just decide I can’t do it. More likely scenario is I’ll spend about an hour and a half of my life in the not-most-pleasant state, but I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with much worse for over and hour and a half… it’ll be fine. Were this a race I was more invested in, maybe a different story, but this one I am doing really to just get my feet wet this season.

I’ll take all the prayers and good vibes I can get, and I’m not too big to ask for them! Over and out!

-E