I knew going into training for a half ironman I would be facing challenges. My body still recovering from a hip stress fracture, the reason this crazy adventure started, would be the biggest challenge itself right? Nah. Not at all. I am going to go back to grade school now and draw my bubble with stems off of it to create my intro, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion here. Haha just kidding! Funny however being a triathlete that I am going to group this into the 3 (get it TRI) areas that have really just been trying during this adventure. Was that an accurate thesis statement? :)
So when I started I was mainly worried about my hip acting up. At the beginning of the year when I was training for the marathon and got to the 18-20 mile runs I felt the pain come back so I backed off and did the half marathon instead, and the pain went away. Woohoo! Smart girl! Well my half IM training was going smoothly and without silly pain until I decided to go out and conquer Mountain Goat hills with my bike and let's just say the hip and hamstring did not agree that Mountain Goat was a fun, good idea like I thought. When training for a half IM and you are 4 weeks out you can't really just back off and I am sure not going to skip it. I am already one wetsuit down and I am not going to add a paid half IM and 6 months of training to it. But I was once again a good girl and went and saw my PT and she told me to roll and stretch. I have been like a freaking superstar. And the pain is....yah, nope it is still there. It is less and I am working through it but it is still there. I can't really expect it to go away putting 80 miles on the bike and 15 on my feet in two days though. I will be a good girl and take some time off....starting July 20th :) That is the first challenge, on to stem number 2.
Money. I am broke. I do not mean I am missing out on area races because I decided to do a big race broke, I mean I am flat broke. Yes I took a slight pay cut to be in a happier job position, but holy crap being a triathlete is expensive. Notice how running is more popular, it isn't because it is easier, it is because it is cheaper!! Ok I am kidding here, I respect all of my triathlete friends MORE than anyone can EVER know. I respect their wallets too. I know a guy that does 3, IM a year. That is $750! FOR ONE OF THEM...and I mean just race entry. That doesn't include travel, board, food, and all the upkeep on race equipment. I remember my friend Mike and me adding up our races a few years back and we had spent like $700 on race fees and were all proud and could not believe how much we had spent. I spent that on equipment. I have done 4 races this year and spent over $700. WTF!!! So you can only imagine the B***H that I became when my wetsuit was stolen 2 days after I bought it. You have got to be F ing kidding me. I will tell you what, the person who came up with IM is probably one rich son of a genius. So yah I am broke. Who wants to buy me a beer tonight? Ok, the last stem, the one I did not expect, the one that has been the most trying...
Relationships. Time. I remember one friend telling me that doing an IM is the most selfish thing you can ever do to a spouse. Another told me she spent 20 hours a week training for her IM. 20 freaking hours. Yes folks, you train like it is a part time job because an IM is not an easy task and if you do not train you will not finish. I am afraid I won't finish the Half IM and I have trained well. Very well, I am very proud of myself. It is very straining to your relationships. This weekend I trained for 5 hours on Saturday and 3 hours Sunday. I was a tired mess. Cory wants me to hang out with him, go on bike rides, stay up and watch movies. It is not his fault I am tired but week after week of going through this gets to him. I do not want to clean or do extra stuff because I have already done so much. I do not feel like going out for drinks with friends or going over to my moms for dinner. I mean, I have fun once I get my butt up and go out but it is trying to even put on makeup and do my hair sometimes. I definitely have used training as an excuse and some friends and family have been hurt by it, mostly Cory, because he gets a front row viewing of it all. He sees when I am tired, hears when I am hurt, helps me because I am broke, and still cheers me along the way. I definitely have him, my parents, and friends to thank once this is all said and done! For helping me and putting up with my grouchy ass! :)
Ok this isn't another stem, I just wanted to separate it because it is the most trying of all the tri's... my relationship with myself. I do not know how many times in the past 3 months I have told myself I CAN NOT do this. It is a constant battle in my head. I am so pessimistic about this race, For each Olympic we have done in preparation I have had a constant battle in my head the week before. I have been so down in the dumps and hard on myself. I think this has taken the toughest toll on my relationship with myself. I know that half of the bike and probably most of the run will be accomplished with my brain. I need to be able to be positive, not compare myself with others, and do the best I can. Sadly this is also the hardest part for me. I have voiced my worries and had several friends who are IM say that I am fine, and I will surprise myself, and this and that. I remember when my friend was doing his first half marathon and he was freaking out and I kept thinking, "it is only 13 miles dude." Yah I was an ass. He had never done it, of course he was nervous and worried. Sometimes I want to say, "HEY IM, this is my first too!" I am sure a half is easy to an IM but it is daunting to me. I just need to remember that it is my race, not my friends, not the person next to me in the swim/bike/run. I hope to come back with an awesome The Terrific Tales of the Triathlete afterwards haha. I just need to calm down and race my race. Regardless I have learned a lot about myself through the training, mostly that I am a heck of a lot stronger than I thought I was and that I can go a lot longer and harder than I thought I could. I just need those happy thoughts for my race.
Happy thoughts! :) (Yes that is my closing paragraph) That says enough!
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