It’s possible I’ve become dramatic in my old age

During the 70.3 race last month, I sprained my ankle. Self-diagnosed as a sprain. I’m going to blame the tall stack height of my carbon race shoes, and the unnecessary amount of 90 degree turns on the run course. It was like trying to sprint on stilts. It contributed to my latter half run break down.

I got home from the race and realized all was not as stable in my ankle as it used to be. Not to mention, it really hurt. I was scheduled to race again in 10 days. I had a choice, I could pull out of the race, baby my ankle, but continue lightly training and building strength. Or I could still race and just not train at all in the hopes it would heal in time.

It’s fairly obvious that the first choice is the mature option. I went with the second. I had a pretty light training week anyway, swimming felt fine, biking was mostly okay, but running was out. I immediately ordered a brace, a wobble balance board, and 2 ice packs. Because if we’ve learned anything the last 4 years, it’s that Amazon’s 2 day delivery is always the answer.

I did some of my scheduled swims. I did one of my scheduled bikes. And I did .5 of a scheduled run. The first run, I walked, because of impact. The second run I jogged slowwwwwwly. That was week one, done.

It seems important at this point to make you all aware that Grey Grey the cat has taken a real interest in the blog. These are two separate instances of her editing prowess.

I feel for the poor thing, it’s really quite exhausting for her. Oh wait a minute, that’s Bob. Same goes for him, they’re always tired and full of dignity.

I did race that weekend and crushed it; the race, well, my ankle too. It was pretty sore. But worth it! I placed 2nd overall but more importantly I raced in some incredible heat and managed to hold everything together. It took place in the Potomac River and despite the race director insisting there were no jellyfish, let me tell you, there were jellyfish. I did a practice swim the day before and made it halfway to the first buoy when I felt like I was swimming through, well, jelly. I quickly realized what situation I was in, freaked, and spun back to shore. I don’t think my heart rate has ever gotten that high that fast during a swim and probably never will again. I decided ignorance was bliss, and if I spent the next 12 hours dreading the experience I wouldn’t perform well. Going into it with no clue what it feels like to be stung by a thousand angry creatures kept my mind blissfully blank.

I then hopped on my bike to pre-ride the course. I made it about 2 miles and decided ‘yeah, it’s a road, it’s got some turns, but mostly it’s really hot’ and turned around. I’ve done this race before and remember almost passing out near the finish line. You run along the river in the blazing sun and there’s no shade. That’s a really hard way to end a hard day. The water is hot and brown, the bike has no shade, you get the idea. I was please this time that I’ve learned enough to control my pace (and my sodium intake!) enough to survive and be able to sprint the last half mile finish or so.

I’ve been doing some more sweat tests (gross). The data is fascinating. I did an hour run outside about mid-morning and I lost 3 pounds of sweat. That is a ton. Twice as long of a run inside on the treadmill I lost 3 pounds as well. Goes to show how environment affects performance!

I’m racing again next weekend, then the kids have their event! We’re all excited and training has been sporadic but intense. The other day I threw toys in the pool for them to fetch and I timed them. After I called it quits and congratulated them on a good workout, they looked perplexed.

“We thought you were playing a game?”

“I never play games. You were doing a swim workout and you didn’t even know it!”

The key to my success as a parent (self-proclaimed success) is never being the fun one. That role lies 100% in Hubs’ court and he knows it.

I am also excited to debut my new race helmet! My favorite triathlon shop, LoCo Tri, in Leesburg, VA carries these along with a ton of other cool stuff. This is the shop where I purchased my bike. They’re under new ownership and I’m happy to say they’re just as awesome and knowledgeable as the previous owners. I love staying in touch with them and keeping my ties to my original start of this sport.

Last week was an off-week as we were at the beach. It was filled with fun, friends, and sand. Three things that last forever. Sand in the car, sand in the washing machine, sand in my shoes, we brought it all home with us.