Breakfast of Champions

Here it is, folks, race day!  I'm trying to force down my 1000 calories:

Oatmeal - 250 cal
Justin's Maple Almond Butter - 200 cal (Best nut butter on the planet, by the way!)
Wallaby key lime yogurt - 150 cal (Best yogurt...)
banana - 120 cal
WF mini bagels (2) - 200 cal
honey on the bagels - 75 cal
(plus some terrible hotel coffee that tastes like the grinds are on their third go round)

Not exactly a gourmet brunch, but I'll look forward to that next weekend!

I slept pretty well last night, and I'm feeling good and excited about what the day will bring.   Let's do this!

T3 Toes and Training Buddies

Since Sunday was supposed to be a rest day on our training schedule, my T3 girls and I decided to go get T3 blue pedicures for the race.  The women doing the pedicures were horrified at our many calluses but managed to do a fine job on our feet:

For those of you coming to watch the race, keep on the lookout for these awesome ladies.  I've told them to be ready for cheering from strangers!

Paulina and Teresa

Jessica

These gals are all going to rock the race this weekend and have been fantastic training friends and much more along this 6-month journey!  

There's a whole slew of other T3ers that I don't have pictures of - Tammie, Chris, Kevin, Jennifer, Mallory, Matt, Bill, Chelsea, Buddy, Clay, Cole, Dustin, Lenora, Mary and I'm sure a few others that I'm missing.  They will be wearing T3 jerseys, and their names will be on their bib numbers.  They'd love to hear you cheer for them too.   Matt's a pro and one of the head coaches of T3.  He's racing for hard-earned money and points to qualify for a professional's spot at Kona.  He'll be close to finished by the time I start the run, but you might get to see him on his last lap if you're there when I expect to start.  Other folks to watch for are Chelsea and Cole, both of whom are likely candidates to qualify for Kona in their respective age groups.  Chelsea is one of 5 women under 25 competing, and if she's having a good day, she'll be on fire.   She may not acknowledge your cheers because she'll be working so hard, but I guarantee she'll appreciate them.  Cole, on the other hand, will probably be smiling the whole race and giving high 5s.  Up until 2 weeks ago he had dreads down to his waist.  Our coach finally convinced him to shave them off so that he wouldn't overheat.  He runs like a mad man and is great fun to watch.

Managing Expectations

If I go back and read my first blog entry, it says:

"My hope is that with consistent training and mental stamina the tortoise within me can finish, which for me will be a big, fat WIN."

I've had to remind myself of those last words recently.  Despite the lack of a stress fracture in my foot, it has been very slow to heal.  I can walk on it okay, but my first effort at running on it night before last was not a success.  I didn't make it to the end of my street before I had to stop and walk due to the pain.  (Snippet, however, was very grateful for the slower pace.)  My sports doc warned me that I should be prepared to run/walk this race and to erase any time goals I'd set.  Yesterday's experience has me convinced that there's a very good chance I will walk the entire 26.2 miles, and it's possible that I may have to drop out at some point due to the pain.  That is not how I foresaw this race.  I've logged a lot of long miles with the plan of crossing the finish line running.  At this point I just hope that my foot holds up for walking that far, and I'm not at all convinced that it will. 

The time goal that I had set for myself was to finish in under 13 hours.  My swim and bike are largely unaffected by the foot problem, so I should still be able to finish those with no problem.  Knowing that I won't be running, I'm going to hammer the bike as hard as I can.  A reasonable estimate is a 1:30 swim, exiting the water around 8:30 a.m., and a 6:30 bike, which would put me on the run by 3:00 p.m.  If I'm having a really good day, I'll do the swim in 1:15 and the bike in closer to 6.  Either way, that leaves me with 9 hours to finish the "run." 

I'm trying to keep my chin up, but this has been an emotional roller coaster.  I'm pretty much a basketcase.  I embarrassingly started tearing up at the pool this morning when my friend Stella asked me how my foot was.  I couldn't even talk to my coach for fear that I'd start bawling.  But this injury puts the whole thing into perspective.  Why do I do these triathlons?  Sure, the racing is a blast, and of course I like to have as fast a time as possible.  But I started doing them because I wanted a goal to keep me healthy and in shape.  I'm in the best shape of my life.  And walking the 26.2 rather than running - or walking only part of the 26.2 - is not going to take that way from me.  The truth is, I was going to walk some anyway.  How much, I'm not sure, but if the 70.3 last month was any indication, it would be more than just the water stops.  So now I'll be walking the whole thing.  My time will be slower, but the good news is that for those of you coming to cheer me on, you'll get to see me for that much longer when I pass you by!  

Spotting the Blue Streak

Well, it may be more like a blue slug than a blue streak, but "slug" wasn't as catchy.   For those of you coming to The Woodlands next Saturday, I thought I'd post a pic of what I'll be wearing on the run so that you can be on the lookout:

Let's hope that the smile and thumbs up are part of the running attire too.  Just as an FYI, there will be 24 of us wearing the blue T3 jerseys.  All are friends, and I'm sure all would love to hear a "GO T3" when they pass.  Our names should be printed on the bib numbers too, so there will ample cheering opportunities. 

#184

Bib numbers are posted!  I'll be wearing #184 on race day.  Along with the postings comes some interesting information that I thought I'd share:

• 2686 participants are registered for IM Texas.
• 90 of those are women in my age group, females age 30-34.
• The female age group with the largest number of participants is age 40-44.
• 11 physically-challenged athletes are registered to race.  (They are, by far, the most inspirational athletes to watch!)
• 80 professionals are registered.

Two Dirty Words

The triathlon world has its own language.  Transition is a place, not a phrase.  A brick is a workout, not a building material.  A draft is not a wind, but an illegal means to improve a bike split.  And a bike split does not mean that your bike broke in two.  It's the amount of time it takes you to complete the bike portion of a triathlon. 

We also have our own dirty words, specifically an "s" word and an "f" word.  Stress.  Fracture.

Last week, I started to notice some significant pain in my right foot arch.  I chalked it up to wearing heels a couple days in a row and ignored it.  Then on Sunday, my friends Michelle and Brandi joined me for my long run, which was supposed to be 12 miles.  The arch pain was there from the beginning but was very mild.  Around mile 7, the top of my foot started to hurt badly too.  I stopped running, and then I really started to feel the pain.  We were about as far from my house as we could be, and none of us had a phone.  We borrowed a friendly guy's cell and called Michelle's husband Chris to come get us.  He graciously plopped his kids in their truck and drove over to pick us up.  Thank you, Chris!!! 

Meanwhile, I started to panic.  I couldn't put weight on my right foot without a sharp pain shooting through the top of my foot.  Brandi has run a number of marathons and indicated that the symptoms I was having were similar to the ones she had when she was diagnosed with a stress fracture.  $#@*!

I got home and immediately called T3 Coach Maurice.  He recommended an asap visit to a sports doctor and also recommended 10-minute ice sessions at least 4 times/day plus a lot of ibuprofen.  He also was incredibly reassuring, convincing me that even if this was a stress fracture, I could *probably* still race the whole thing as long as I rested completely between now and race day.  I believed him . . . for about 5 minutes.  Then I went crying to Jody and told him it was all over, that this thing that has consumed me for the past six months was not going to happen.  It was a complete and total pity party, and despite my irrational sobbing and dramatization, Jody was wonderfully supportive.  He reminded me of what I often say to him - no sense worrying about things you can't control, or in this case, something you're not even sure exists.  So I tried to keep my chin up and not think about it, which was easier said than done. 

Fast forward to my appointment with Dr. Sellers this morning.  After about 20 minutes of tests for stress fractures, he confirmed that I DO NOT have one!  Amen!  He did determine that I have a collapsed arch and pointed out a number of differences between my uninjured foot and injured foot.  Then he spent about 30 minutes manipulating the foot to get my mobility back.  It's not perfect this evening, but it is better than before.  At least one cause of this problem is apparently some sort of imbalance in my hips and legs.   I've had a number of problems with my right leg over the past few years, and Dr. Sellers proved today that my right leg is much weaker than my left.  He had me use resistance bands to see how far I could lift each leg, and my left leg is about 20% stronger than my right.  Until this imbalance is corrected, he said I would continue to have problems with the right leg and foot.  So, I've got some butt-burning exercises to do 3 times a day, plus more ice and ibuprofen, plus some rest until the bruising on my foot heals.  But all in all, the prognosis is good, and I should be well, if not perfect, on race day.  Crisis averted, although not without a whole slew of dirty words that would be crystal clear even to the most novice triathlete.