6 days to go...

I can't believe in one week it will all be over. I've been thinking about this race since that day in September I hit send and entered. That's nine months of wondering whether I can actually come from being a 210lb couch potato to a half ironman finisher. To commemorate my journey so far, my incredibly thoughtful husband (sorry for embarrassing him since people we know read this) spent all week creating a scrapbook for me.





In it he included some before and after pictures, stories and pictures of these famous people that inspire me - Lance Armstrong, Sarah Reinerston and Team Hoyt, my biggest fans (my two boys) and my triathlon history so far. It was really touching that he took the time and really thought about what is important to me. It will be something to think about when I'm out on the course. I'm sure there will be a lot of reflection out on that course.

Now, it's down to things I can't control - my shoulder (feeling better but still sore), the weather (they're saying a balmy 28c!), and whatever else race day throws me.

I want to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone that has listened to me whine, gave me advice, supported, encouraged and most of all BELIEVED in me!!! I hope I can cross that finish line for all of us.

Trip to the RMT

Nothing training related to talk about today, since I haven't done any since Sunday. I figure the only way I can get through this with my shoulder is to give it plenty of rest beforehand.

So, my RMT was gracious enough to get me in right away. I went in today, and this is what he did to me:



He really worked my shoulder and then used the suction cups - which does this! It's supposed to bring the scar tissue to the top, which allows for increased blood flow and removal of toxins. He said I've pulled a muscle in my neck and strained my deltoid (I think that's what he said). He was telling me that because I'm an athlete (still don't think of myself that way though) that I keep training and hurting it, then it heals, then I go out and injure it again and then it heals. He said he will do the best he can to make it feel better for the race next week. He is really understanding and would never just tell me to quit unless he thought I really couldn't do it.

Can my shoulder make it?

For the last few months I've been having problems with my shoulder. This was the week that I finally couldn't make it through a workout because of it. So far I've been able to tough it out and keep going, but during the swim I only made it about half way back before I had a pain along the outside of my right arm. The pain was bad enough that I couldn't lift my right hand out of the water. I made it back with sidestroke and dog paddle.

I know it's my fault because I've put this off for so long. I'm sure if I go see a sports dr the first thing they are going to do is tell me to stop training. It's not the best attitude but I figured if I could just make it past this race I can get my shoulder fixed after. For 10 months I've thought about this race almost every day. I didn't want to give up attempting it. So, what do I do now? I have an appointment with my regular dr for a checkup next week, and I would like to a referral to a sports dr (because I don't trust her with sports related issues.) I won't be in to see a dr before the race. I could go back to my RMT and see if he can do anything. Maybe accupuncture? I think the plan is to call my RMT and hope he can do something. I would like to still try the race and see how it holds up; it may mean a DNF in the water but at least I tried. It will be a bit of a heartbreak but it's only one race. There will certainly be plenty of others (if I take care of myself so I can continue to do this).

Training for this week:
Wednesday - ran 5km (37mins) and felt pretty good
Thursday - ultraconditioning workout
Friday - skipped swimming because I thought my shoulder couldn't take 2 days in a row
Saturday - swam for an hour and then biked for 2 hours in really high winds (it sucked). The biking didn't bother my shoulder, as soon as I got out of the water it wasn't too bad. I was surprised at how tired my legs were from the swim.
Sunday - ran 16km (avge pace 8:40), did a little trail running (walking up the large hills). It was really nice but slowed me down. Had some stomach (dry heaving) issues again. I think it's the gels because I always have this problem over 10km which is also when I start taking gels.

This really wasn't my week!

Is it really coming together?

Went in Monday for new shoes, but they have to bring in my size and they "hope" they will be in by Sunday! Lucky they came in on Saturday.

Training for this week:

Wednesday: ran 6km (with a hill thrown in for good measure) felt pretty good but I really need new shoes!

Thursday: ultraconditioning, felt ok but a little tired today. I tried some "real" push-ups but still don't really have the strength to do them very well and it aggravated my shoulder.

Friday: skipped training, my legs felt sore and I felt really worn out.

Saturday: rode with the "big boys" and they wanted to make sure I could handle GWN so we did 4 hours, 85kms with 5 big hill climbs. Two of the hills I struggled to get up and my quads were burning. By the last 10km (and all of the hills) my legs felt tired but ok. My shoulder was in agony though. It's the right shoulder that has been giving me problems. Gripping the brake on the downhills put a lot of stress on that shoulder (I'm a big wuss on the downhills!). Right near the end I moved my thumb to change gears and there was pain shooting across the top of my shoulder (hmmmm probably not a good thing). I got back to the store, picked up my new shoes and went for a 10 minute run.

Sunday: ran 10km (1:22) my legs were tired but not too bad today. My shoulder is still a little sore but better today.

I don't have time for a long training ride next weekend so that's it - as they say, the hay is in the barn. I'll do a couple of hours next week (or break it down and do a brick instead), hopefully another open water swim this week and a few more runs. The ride on Saturday was the first time I thought I'll be ok on this ride. I still have no idea how I'm going to manage it all but at least I know I can do all of the distances individually. Now I just need to take it one sport at a time.

3 weeks and counting....

True to my Scottish heritage

Running this week was a bust because I'm too cheap to buy new shoes before I get my coupon for speaking at a clinic on Monday. I went out Wednesday, made it about 20 mins and walked back because my ankle and shins were hurting. For my Sunday run, I decided to put my orthotics in and see if that would help, but forgot to put on the duct tape to prevent blisters. Same result - 20 mins out and quit because it hurt.

I know as soon as I have pain in my shins that I need to replace my shoes, but I always seem to push them a little further. I know better, but my Scottish half just took over this week and now I wasted two workouts.

The rest of the week:

Thursday - ultraconditioning day. I'm not managing a lot more reps during this workout but I feel a lot better afterwards. Friday I only felt a little bit tired in the legs. A big improvement from the first few times I did this workout and had to rest for two days afterwards.

Friday - swam for an hour. Did part of the swim with fins and tried some drills. Then ladders (but I haven't mastered the timing). At the end I decided to try 50m as fast as I could. I left on the 30 and couldn't believe my eyes when I got to the other side and it said 48! I was aiming to try and get there in under 30 seconds. I thought maybe I had messed something up so I tried it again and got the same result. I'm no speedster in the water, but I'm fine with my times. For me, I don't want to spend 3 days a week swimming to take 5 or 10 minutes off my time. I would rather spend my time on the bike and gain some time there.

Saturday: I don't know exactly what the wind was blowing at but it was at least 25km/hr. The plan was to ride for 2 hours and include a decent hill in the middle. I got out and felt really tired and grumpy. Pushed on and did ok but I started dry heaving at the halfway point. I went to get a friend to drive me home but there was no answer at their house so I decided to try and ride home. I soldiered on, straight in to the wind, and managed to get back. Just as I was turning in to my neighbourhood the dry heaving started again. I really should have eaten something more substantial after swimming on Friday. I made it home and managed to put in around an hour and a half.

As my friend puts it, we have duelling blogs; each week one of us is quitting GWN. This was MY week!