Marathon Monday: Injury? Please No.

This week’s Girlz N Gear-sponsored Miami ING Marathon Training Report is about working through the kinks.

TRAINING: I substituted this week’s long run of 6 miles (it goes up and down every other week) with a sprint triathlon because last summer Coach Joe said I could.

So.

At the final triathlon of the season last Saturday, the Suncoast Tri in St. Pete, everything went off as usual.

I got there at 5:15 a.m., it was 53 degrees out (brrrr!) and of course I got out of the car and realized I had my husband’s keys. Which means he no longer had his keys which is a problem because we’re snacks this week and he still had to get the snacks and take the kids to soccer.

But this is all very normal, these are the things that I do.

I take the wrong keys, I accidentally throw the keys in the trash while my husband’s in China, I toss the cutlery out with the pizza box, I plug in the wrong pin on the ATM card three times in a row and lock us out of our account before my husband leaves the country on business, I leave my ID in the bank teller vaccuum the night before I travel to San Diego, I tear my cartilage while crawling around in the closet and cleaning it when I’m pregnant, see? This is what I do.

I really don’t surprise myself anymore.

I do strive for excellence. If that counts.

So after he decided to “figure it out,” and we hung up, I set up my transition spot, I got my wetsuit on (the wetsuit crouching is never an attractive look for me), headed down to the beach, saw a swarm of people and paramedics helping a girl who was having a seizure (which was scary and so I said a prayer that she would be ok) and then I went in the water. I repeated to myself that these were not jinxes and that all that other stuff was going to have to get pushed out of my mind for about an hour and a half.

My offseason was going to start in less than 2 hours. And then I would rush off to tiny soccer.

There were very few people I knew at this race so it was solo me-o except for a couple Tri Warrior buddies.

I practiced. I felt good. I wasn’t even nervous. It was cold outside but the water was warm.

I felt good.

The horn blew and I quickly got into my rhythm. There were a lot of people bobbing around me and it fueled me. For the first time, I did NOT get passed by the wave of people starting after me. (YAHOO!!!) The swim was over before I knew it. I ran up, hopped on the bike and felt DAMN GOOD. It was 1/5 of the ride of Augusta (this race was only a 10 mile bike) so I was pretty sure I was going to nail it.

I had a good ride. I hopped off the bike and got out on the run and felt FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC.

I was averaging 9:15 minute miles. (YAHOO!!!!)

I was trying to beat 1:20 for the whole race. I was pretty sure if I hammered out the last mile of the run and got all uncomfortable, I would do it. It was going to be close. I repeated to myself, “IT’S A RACE. YOU CAN REST WHEN IT’S OVER.”

At mile 2.5 with just over a half-mile left, my right knee seized. I mean, I came down and it was a searing pain. Searing. In my head I’m yelling, ‘NOOOOOOO MUTHER F*&ER.”  I cursed a lot inside. It wasn’t very ladylike.

I tried to keep running and I’d get a few steps before it was unbearable. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS SPRINT. My body felt sooooo goooooooood! Why why why why why couldn’t I just end this season on a high note?!

I’ll tell you why.

Because that’s life.

I’ve had a few crappy races this year and that’s that. Some of it was me, some of it was circumstances, it is what it is.

I walk-ran the last 1/2 mile and did this weird gallop across the finish line because that’s the fastest I could go without running and/or collapsing and I hobbled to the medic tent to get ice, grabbed my stuff and went to transition. I won’t add the part in which I missed my 3 year old scoring his first goal because if I actually acknowledge that I missed his first goal I will completely lose it.

Anyway.

I think it’s sort of ironic that it’s my right knee that’s giving me problems because my LEFT knee is actually the misfit. It has no cartilage (I’ve had two surgeries on it — one while pregnant after aforementioned closet incident) and there is a black hole where my ACL should be. Yet, I haven’t had a single problem. I’ve waited for it. But nothing.

I think it’s my IT band in my right knee that’s giving me the problem and I’m going to have to see someone about it.

And I’m just going to act like this was just another race because there will be plenty more.

I just have to maintain focus. I’ve finally found my rhythm again after struggling for so long with training over the summer and with school starting and the new business starting. Finally I had found my rhythm. Sure, my rhythm was going at 4:30 a.m. or at 7 p.m., the two parts of the day when I’m the most tired in the whole world, but it was working.

I was getting in the workouts when I could and it wasn’t necessarily my favorite time of day but I wasn’t missing them and that’s something. And I’m back into weight training, my nutrition has been in check, I’m obsessed with lowfat plain Chobani with honey, lowfat granola, dried cranberries and chia and back to meal planning.

I’m on the WAGON. It took me a long time to get to this place but HERE I AM! And actually now I’m not really sure what to do. I guess I just have to see someone and figure it out from there. Hopefully it’s something I can work through. But no matter what, the whole reason I’m doing this anyway is to maintain a healthy weight and I have done that. That was the whole point at the beginning. It wasn’t to try out for the Olympics, it was to be healthy. And as long as I can do that, I’m fine. (Right? Please say yes.)

Because I can gain 20 pounds just by thinking about being on the couch.

Anyway, so goes the story of my final race in a year riddled with, *cough* let’s call them, “learning experiences,” shall we?

2012 will be a new year.

I’m trying to remain positive here.

Girlz N Gear is sponsoring my Miami ING Marathon because they rock and they believe in midpack America (i.e. ME!) Love them a little by “Liking” them on Facebook and following them on Twitter, woohoo! Better yet, check them out on the web and buy something because their tee-shirts rock and so do their slogans!

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