Week 48

New Jersey State Triathlon

When I think back to last fall when I was trying to get back on my feet, the timeline is a little fuzzy. Sometimes I reread this blog to see where I was, at certain points of my recovery. When I sat down to write this weekly recap, I was trying to remember when I set NJ State as a goal race for this year. I searched back through emails I exchanged with my coach, Alden. It was 10 days after my accident only 9 days after my surgery…my first day at home. That’s when I emailed him to tell him I was registering to race the Rock Hall Sprint Triathlon. I guess even when I couldn’t walk, I knew there was no way I was going to sit around for twelve months waiting for my body to heal. In January, after I was able to complete a 3 mile run, Alden laid out the goals for the rest of the year. He included the NJ State Olympic distance triathlon so my multisport training would progress and build into fall marathon training. Even now, I still don’t know how my hip will endure an increase in mileage. I’m taking small steps forward, checking off each new milestone along the way. First double digit run, first two hour bike ride….

That whole period of time from August - December is very dark for me. Of course there were bright lights that shine out - the incredible daily support from my community, for example. I still wake up in the middle of the night and think about how I physically could not move from flat on my back, how I couldn’t sit up in bed without someone’s help. I have a trapped feeling, as if I’m still stuck in that position. Every single day I walk up or down the stairs to my apartment, I flash back to how difficult a task it was for me 10 months ago.

I remember writing about my overwhelming sense of gratitude during the first of my workouts back on the track and of my hope that the feeling would never go away. It didn’t.

Thursday afternoon, I got word that the NJ State Olympic was downgraded to a sprint because of the heat. I hastily decided not to go. For me to get to a race is a logistical feat which often requires upending the kids, the bakery and everyone around me. I feel selfish every time I stand at a starting line. So why bother if it’s just a sprint? If it’s in crazy heat? If I could have another week of intense training instead of a recovery week? I reached out to Alden and he told me to sleep on it before I decide. I didn’t have to. That was all I needed to hear to jolt me out of my defeatist attitude and remember the gratitude. It’s not that I don’t get to race the distance I trained for but rather I do get to race at all.

I’ve spent the last six weeks, since my race in Maryland, trying to prepare myself to swim a mile in a lake without a wetsuit. As it turns out, I only had to swim 750 yards. I took what I learned about myself and my shortcomings in these races and came up with a plan to conquer this one, with Alden’s help. During the last race, the swimming part didn’t bother me like it had in the Chesapeake Bay but I couldn’t keep my head down for more than a couple strokes without getting kicked; the pack was so dense I couldn’t get through. This time, I started as far away from the course buoys as I could while everyone else clustered around them. I added ~100 yds to my swim as I stayed far away from the pack BUT I was able to swim the entire time I was in the water…no backstroking, no breaking to find a new path through the people, just swimming. I passed the first buoy and then the next and before I knew it, I was already at the turn and then the next turn. My heart didn’t beat out of my chest. I could actually breathe as I ran up the beach to find my bike. After the race, I discovered that not only did I manage to stay calm but I kept a pace that I’m seldom able to, even in the pool. I cut 12 minutes off my swim time from the race six weeks ago. To put this in a different perspective, it’s like running a 60 minute 5K in the first race and dropping down to 30 minutes in the next….I’m still NOT a strong swimmer but I can get done what I need to in order to stay in the race.

The bike leg is my favorite part. Getting on the bike means that I was able to get out of the water. It’s also when that sense of gratitude is in full affect. I may even shed a few tears of joy and I was told by a volunteer on the course once that I didn’t have to smile so much, it’s a race.

I probably went a little too hard on the bike in this race because I didn’t have a lot left for the run and the heat was mounting. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other urging myself to keep moving forward. I walked through the water stations, trying to cool down and hydrate, just enough to make it to the end. With a half a mile left to go, I realized that the quickest way to the finish line is to run faster. I started out the morning hoping to finish this race in less than 2 hours. When I stopped my watch and saw 1:34, I truly could not believe it.

Weekly Training Log

Monday:

TRX

Tuesday:

SWIM: 1400

Wednesday:

SWIM: 30:00 OWS

BIKE: 1:00 Tempo

Thursday:

RUN: 2x.5@5K

Friday:

OFF

Saturday:

SBR: 10:00 each