Allan Beach Triathlon

Today, my friend Marilyn and I did the Allan Beach Triathlon as a team. I've been swimming a fair bit with my triathlete friends and Marilyn suggested that we do this race together so that I could stay involved in the sport despite my crappy hips. She's been very encouraging and supportive.

We were registered for the Olympic distance with another friend but she called us on the morning of the race to say that she had been sick all night. Marilyn and I went to the race anyway. We switched into the sprint distance event and tried to recruit a runner for our team to replace our missing friend. Alas, we had no takers. Then we got the sudden idea that I would do the swim and Marilyn would do the bike as planned and then we would both walk the run together so that we could finish (Marilyn is injured, too, and can't run). 

The air was very cold on race morning but the water felt warm and wonderful. I very much enjoyed the swim. When I finished, I handed the timing chip off to Marilyn and she set out on the bike. When she came back, we both went out for the run. We walked at a moderate pace and enjoyed the sunny day, which had warmed up quite a bit since the race start. Our goal was just to bring the timing chip back to the finish line so we didn't stress at all about our speed. Some of our friends thought it was really cool that we decided to do that. We joked that it took two of us to replace our sick runner. One young guy who was volunteering said to us that he hoped he'd be as active as we were at "our age"! We said, "We're injured Ironmen, not sweet old ladies!" Seriously!

This was a great day. We were pleased with ourselves for getting the race done despite our injuries and missing teammate. We were happy to be there, to be part of the race, to see our friends. It was my first race since 2013 and it felt just great to feel the race atmosphere again.

My Hips Don't Lie

Once again, it's been a while since I've posted. I haven't been much of a triathlete lately because of my hips. They have been getting worse and it has interfered considerably with my participation in the sport. I've known for a while that I have arthritis in both hips. I managed to do Ironman Mont-Tremblant on pretty crappy joints but since then, it's just deteriorated. I decided to have cortisone injections last December and when I booked that, I ended up being enrolled in a "hip study," in which the researchers were investigating the effects of steroid injections. As part of that, I got two MRIs, two ultrasounds, and a physiotherapy assessment so I benefited tremendously by participating. What that study confirmed for me was that my arthritis is severe. I guess I knew deep down that it was getting pretty bad. I just didn't want to think about the ramifications of having severe arthritis. Triathlon is important to me and I imagined that this would mean the end of life as I knew it.

The time came, though, when I realized that I had to face it and deal with it, and see what life was like on the other side. I actually began to see that it would be better to have the surgery and restore my function rather than hold on the way it is now. I started to view hip replacement surgery not as the end of my life but as a renewal of it. So today I went to the Hip and Knee Clinic and was put on the list for hip replacement surgery. The left one will be first but the right one will have to be done, too.

The surgery will probably be sometime in the winter of 2016. While I wait, I still want to see myself as healthy and active, to keep moving as much as possible, and to build my strength and flexibility as much as possible so I keep living while I wait and go into the surgery from a position of strength.

Ironically, but not surprisingly, doctors don't tend to focus on health and well-being. They are interventionists who respond to illness and they aren't accustomed to working with triathletes! The surgeon I saw today told me that people with artificial joints play golf with golf carts and maybe take up bridge or go for walks with their dogs. I said, "I'm envisioning a very different life than that after I have this surgery!" He probably thought I was nuts but I have every intention at this point of doing another Ironman. And that is completely realistic: Swimming and cycling are great for people with hip replacements. Running will wear out the artificial joint too quickly but I can train in the water for running and walk a lot of the run during the race.

This has been a time of great change in my life and I wish I didn't have to lose my ability to participate in triathlon right now. It would have been a supportive aspect of my life. But it is what it is and so, all things considered, I am happy to be where I am now with this. This surgery will help me get back on track and be able to resume a fully active life. Onward and upward!

A New Year

I always feel like September is New Year's, probably from being in school for so long and now working at a university. So, I'm taking stock at the end of the year, the end of what would normally be race season, and thinking about the year to come.

I'm still dealing with my hip issues and am not much further ahead than I was. It seems that the issue is "frozen" hip joints (adhesive capsulitis), which resulted mainly from the pelvic surgery I had in 2012 between my two Ironmans and the stress my body was under as it tried to heal and train. I didn't race at all this year. I missed Ironman Coeur d'Alene and the Lake Stevens 70.3 and I won't be going to Austin for the 70.3 there, either. I have kept up the training as much as possible though. I've ridden my bike a fair bit - about 3200 km. I've swum about 100,000 metres in the last year and my BFF and I have been out at Hubbles Lake a lot this summer having 'swim therapy' - so, so great. As for running, I've only done 200 km and haven't run since March. Now I need to regain my flexibility and get stronger and slowly build myself back up. It feels like it's taking forever.

In some ways, it's been great to have a year of training for fun and keeping the intensity low. I've had a lot on my plate this year with my separation so I didn't really need to add an Ironman to that, too! But this has been hard, too. Sometimes, I can hardly see myself as a triathlete anymore. I've only watched the races I thought I'd do. Today I rode with my club and couldn't even keep up. It was demoralizing.

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself today but most of the time, it's not so bad. I am hopeful and I know what I need to do. I worry that it won't work but I have to put that aside and just do what I can do. Spin starts in 2 1/2 months and I want to be able to do that. Next summer, I want to get back into racing by doing sprints. That would be fun and it would make me so happy to be a triathlete again!

My life is good and happy. I just get bummed sometimes. But I will press on and hope for the best and do what I need to do to get there.

Moving Forward

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been on my own for a few months now and I've been doing my best to move forward in some way every day. Things are falling into place for my new life and I look to the future with anticipation.

As for triathlon, well, that's still stalled a bit due to some lingering injuries. However, I have continued to train as much as possible. Last week was my club's annual cycling trip to Drumheller, where we are able to get lots of riding in. This built nicely on the solid bike training I did over the winter. I have been pretty faithful with swimming, although a trip to Europe in April and an ear infection in May interfered with that a little. I'm back on track now, though. I haven't run for about two months, though, since my hip is still giving me trouble.

Generally, my hip is just locked up. My muscles are so tight - it's because of overuse. I've been going to physio for IMS (needles) and to a chiro for active release therapy. I think it's helping but it makes me feel pretty beaten up. Now that June is upon us, I want to shift my focus away from rehab and think more about doing yoga and re-building my fitness in all three sports.

I was going to do Ironman Coeur d'Alene this year but decided instead to transfer that registration to a half iron later in the year. So I am now registered for Ironman 70.3 Austin on October 26. I'm also registered for Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens on August 17. These will be my two races for the year. My brother lives in Lake Stevens so I'll do that race with him and my friend has decided to come with me to Austin, which was a really nice surprise. That will be fun! I'm still going to go to Coeur d'Alene, too, to watch my brother do his first Ironman and to cheer on some friends who are also doing the race.

I am very hopeful that I will be able to get the function back in my hip and be able to train enough to finish these races this year. I still love triathlon and am dying to get back to it in full swing. However, it's not a bad thing to back off and let each season be what it should. This is a year I never expected to have in so many ways but it's good and I am letting it just unfold.

Transition

Triathletes know all about transition. It's that time in the race when you make a shift to the next phase and you try to do it in the best way possible. If you do it well, you move on to the next step with the best chance of success.

I know all about transition. I'm right in the middle of it, trying to make the rest of the race great.

The past two years have been something else. So much change, heartache, challenge, and learning. I started a demanding new job, had very major surgery, and came to the end of my marriage.

It is now the bitter end of a long, brutal winter here. I'm single and I live alone (although I see my children often and I am on very good terms with my ex-husband). In terms of my career, I've come to the realization that, even though nursing has given me a lot of opportunities in my lifetime, it is not the place for me anymore, and so I no longer feel I belong in my job as a nursing professor.

However, as I reflect on this time in my life, I know that where I am right now is a period of enormous possibility. I have shed some things that I no longer need and am ready to move on. At this time, of all times, I can be anything, do anything, start over in any way imaginable. I don't have to live in this climate anymore, I can re-shape my career easily into something outside of nursing, I can meet a new partner to share it all with.

Funny thing is, through all of this, triathlon has been the constant. It's been my joy and therapy and it has given me some amazing, supportive, fantastic friends who make my life very good. It has taught me about perseverance, accomplishment, and efficient transition. No matter where I go or what I do, it will always be part of my life for all of the ways it teaches me.

Body Project

These last couple of months have been my off-season and I've been trying to use the time very wisely. We had a long, lovely fall so I was able to ride my bike outside right up until the end of October. I did some long rides and loved every minute of it. I've been running 5 or 6 kilometres a couple of times a week and doing some technical swim training, which has been excellent. However, since my Ironman in August, what I have been most focused on is recovery and setting myself up for a strong 2014 training season.

I nearly broke myself this year. For one thing, I asked a lot of my body this year after having surgery last fall. Also, I neglected to maintain my flexibility and strength the way I should have and by the end of the race season, I was hobbling around, locked up as tight as can be. I decided I needed a "body project," a focused and concerted effort to rebuild and prepare to train again.

My body project involves a three-pronged attack on my locked up legs and hips. I am going to physio once a week for IMS (intramuscular stimulation), having nice hard massages every week, and going to hot yoga two or three times a week. My favourite yoga instructor and my physiotherapist told me that I would see a difference in a couple of months. I can already see small changes - my muscles aren't quite as sore and tight as they were. To support my efforts, I am eating well and drinking more water.

I want to feel good while I train for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June, 2014. It's exciting to be doing this. It makes me feel pumped about being able to take my training to a new level in the coming year.

I am on a mission!

Queen of Hearts

Today my friend and I drove up to Barrhead, a small town about 75 minutes away, to do the Queen of Hearts women's sprint triathlon. She did an ironman a week after mine and we wanted to do one more race while the weather held on. I have really scaled back on my training in the last month so this race was definitely just for fun.

We left the city early in the morning. The drive up was so pretty and peaceful. The sunrise was pink and orange and there was a foggy mist hanging over the fields. We solved a lot of first world problems on that drive, too.

When we got to the Barrhead pool, we checked in, set up our transitions, got dressed for the race, and then went to wait on the pool deck. One of the participants offered to lead us in some stretches so we pulled out some mats and spent about 10 minutes doing yoga. It was really a nice way to pass the time and get ready for the race. 

It took a while until it was our turn to swim but eventually we got in. I haven't done a pool race for 4 years. Sometimes you can get stuck behind other swimmers or there can just be too many of you but for me it worked out well this time. I felt good and was happy I still had 750m left in me at this point. My swim time was 19:25. Slow, but I wasn't there to do anything amazing.

The bike ride was very nice. It was 22 kilometres of fairly flat, smooth highway. There were elevation changes but I wouldn't call them hills. On the way out, I was going 38 km/hr and I thought I was freaking amazing but then I turned around (into the wind) and realized that I'm just pretty ordinary after all. It was a little chilly but the sun was shining and the racers waved at each other and called out encouragements and I thought about how much I love to ride my bike. My bike time was 48:09. The transitions were mostly captured in the bike time, although a little bit of T1 would be in the swim time.

The 5K run went through some neighbourhoods and then out onto a trail. We ran past a creek and out into the fields to the turnaround and then back the way we came. I saw my friend out on the run course. The volunteers were so friendly, as were the other racers, and it was just a fun and happy run. My run time was 31:16 and my total time was 1:38. That put me 38th out of 73. Fine with me.

After we ate our sub sandwiches and some fruit, we showered, packed up, and hit the road. The drive home was lovely. The alfalfa was baled, the barley was golden, the trees were a mix of green and yellow, and the sky was blue. It was simply gorgeous and we remarked about that often. It was such a nice day and a great way to finish the season.