Shift

You know it’s bad when you find yourself googling “IT band miracle cure”. No surprise, I didn’t find any, really. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. Things are progressing pretty slowly with my leg and running is still a no-go, but otherwise, training is going well.

I raced my bike yesterday. Although it was a hill climb, so it’s probably more accurate to say that I slogged uphill for 5 miles on my bike yesterday. And got my ass handed to me by a guy on an old Peugot steel frame with shifters on the downtube and that classic old brown suede LeMond seat. Mortifiying, really. I was a little disappointed with my time, but it was a great experience and fun to race with roadies for a change. It was also fun to draft, which I don’t get many opportunities to do. Sadly, I am lacking in drafting tactics. I went out hard to chase the first pack (which was beyond stupid but gave me a little bit of a high), got stuck by myself, and then was too tired to stay with the next bunch for very long, so my drafting advantage was sorely limited. My legs are nice and wasted today, which feels good.

My new work schedule has me doing some longer days and only half days on Wednesdays. Thus I have renamed Wednesdays as Rehabdays. Today I have my first ART therapy appointment. People around town have raved about this woman, so I’m very excited to see what she can do for my leg. I also have a possible hour in between appointments today and I’m considering using this hour to sit in a coffee shop and read a book. How novel! (like the pun?)

My coach and I had a wee discussion yesterday where I considered the possibility that I may not be able to run on my leg prior to my next race. I am learning so much about attitude this month. Learning to make peace with the fact that I have an injury is an interesting process that some days feels good and other days feels like I have failed somehow. I have big dreams of a career as a triathlete one day and I know that this is just another thing that will help prepare me for that. Fortunately, it’s starting to feel a little less like a roadblock in my training and a little more like an opportunity to shift my thinking. With swimming going so well and feeling strong on my bike, I’m feeling pretty confident in my training and my body otherwise. In fact, one of the riders last night who I know from various cycling events asked me how I was doing. I was pleasantly surprised to hear myself say “Great! My training is going well and I really don’t have anything to complain about”. I was also pleasantly surprised to realize how true that was. Now I just have to learn to love water running!!