Sick and Tired

Three weeks ago, I was ready to crush Ironman Texas. Then, I guess all the weeks of training caught up with me and it started to crush me.

Linda and I did our last big weekend of workouts - I think it was a 4 hour ride and then a brick run, which we smashed. And after the workout, that same adductor/hamstring that had been bothering me for weeks (maybe months at this point) reminded me of its presence and I got a little nervous. That didn't stop me from running 20 miles the next day. Halfway through the run, I really started to feel some discomfort, but it's nothing I haven't felt before, so I kept on going. After the run, I could barely lift my foot from the floor and support my weight when taking off my shorts to shower - not a good sign.

Advice from Coachie - "Shut it all down for a week! Swim only! Let this heal!" Fine. I went to get a massage, which helped, and then spent a week just swimming. This would fix everything, right?

Well I guess it might have, except that what happened next, on that last day of the swim-only week, was that I started coughing. This is weird. What's happening? The next morning, a mild fever, more coughing, and I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. Oh, good timing, it's a common cold. I missed the ride that day, and the run the next day, plus two days of work on Monday and Tuesday. The cold lingered for another week. ARGH! This is now two weeks now of barely doing anything, and I'm supposed to crush an Ironman in just three weeks!

Advice from Coachie, Shelly, Robert - "Don't worry. You have plenty of time to get rid of this cold, start feeling better, and then crush the Ironman." I took the necessary days off and then tried an easy run with Shelly on Wednesday. Four little miles at an extremely moderate (aka slow) pace, and I coughed my lungs out afterwards AND limped around for the rest of the day. My leg hurt even lying on the couch that night.

Went to see my regular doctor about the cold (yes, confirmed that it's just a cold. Not anything worse, thank goodness) and then to a sports doctor about the leg (Tim Palomera, Robert's dear friend from high school, who was able to get me in quickly to see what's going on - THANK YOU, TIM!). Tim determined that I have a hamstring strain and that 3x a week of physical therapy and NOT RUNNING UNTIL THE RACE is what I need to do. He said I can still race, so that's the good news.

So now it's two weeks before the race. I have barely done any real workouts in two weeks. I am still fighting off the cold. And I'm panicking more than a little bit.

Advice from everyone I know, including Coachie, Shelly (who was in this exact position last year, and crushed her Ironman), Robert, and the Slowtwitch community (yes, I posted a question on Slowtwitch, that's how panicked I felt)... and everyone says the same thing - "Rest! The race will be fine! The hay is in the barn. You have the fitness. It will be fine."

I just have to believe them. I'd rather be feeling amped up and excited to race right now, instead of being unsure and nervous, but I'm learning to roll with it a little bit more than I'm used to doing. I just keep getting more lessons out of this journey, and I'll accept that this is good for me. May 18 is on it's way and I'll be there on the start line.

The silver lining - I've spent more time with Robert than I've been able to in a long time. We even got to ride an easy 30+ miles to Castroville and back to get a donut, and it was so much fun! Do I wish I was out there running today with the girls? Yes. But spending an entire weekend with my hunny bunny isn't a bad alternative at all.