Sometimes Things Work Out Exactly The Way They Are Supposed To

I guess it's no secret that my season hasn't quite worked out the way I've planned but the way I look at it I think this is what was meant to happen. No one wishes to be injured or hurt but I've been having a rough time again this year trying to stay healthy and I think it's just my body's way of telling me, slow down- we did A LOT last year and I need time to fully recover. It's true I probably went a little overboard last year, I started training hard in January for Puerto Rico 70.3 in March then geared up for the season in April, trained and raced hard right through to IMC and then continued until Kona in October. Those last few weeks between the end of IMC and Kona I was completely spent, I couldn't get through a long ride and my longest run was 28k. So I did the smart thing and planned to have a 'down year' only racing 1/2s and focusing more on speed but wouldn't you know it, the first race of the season and I tear my achillies. It's really tough to take mentally when summer comes around and I want to be out there running and riding and I just have to be patient. The type-A triathele in me is not great at waiting to heal but I'm doing the smart thing, listening to Amber and waiting until I'm back completely. It's been 4 weeks and I still can't run, I've been going to acpuncture, taping, cold and hot packs every night but the blood flow to that area is very limited so it's a long slow process.

If this injury is supposed to teach me to be patient then I've learned my lesson, the GP Tri is this weekend and I would love to go out there and kill it but I'm happy to participate as a team and do the swim- yes who would have thought that I would be the 'swimmer' on a team but it's true. Then GWN is two weeks away and I've already decided that I'll do the swim and bike but drop out after that. It sucks to not be able to compete in that race but if I want to have any hope at healing completely this year I can't go out and run a hard 1/2 IM, I'll tear my achillies completely and be out for the rest of this year and possibly next year. So maybe things are working out the way they are supposed to and this is my 'down year' and hopefully I can be ready for Calgary at the end of July and perhaps Vegas in September.

Learning Life's Lessons the Hard Way

It's been a challanging couple weeks, I've never really had to overcome an injury before and having to do it right smack in the middle of prime training season is tough to take. This achillies injury is still preventing me from doing any sort of running but that's how I know it was a bad one. I was concerned before the race about my achillies and I even asked a massage therapist what I could do to insure I wasn't going to be injured- unfortunately I did get injured and now I'm probably not going to be able to run for a full 6 weeks. At least I can be thankful I didn't experience a full tear and have to go through surgery and no running for a year! That would be unbearable. However I'm listening to my voice of reason (Amber) and not rushing my recovery, she knows what I need to do to get back to full health and hopefully I'll be able go full out at the Calgary 70.3. I've already determined that I don't think I can recover in time for Great White North 1/2 but I still want to do the swim-bike and I'll drop out at T2. At least I'll get something for my entry fee and I'll have a good time hanging out, racing part of it and watching part of it. I look at this as a good character builder and hopefully I'll come back from this stronger and be back in action later this summer.