I have been thinking about what I would like to do this year, now that it looks like I'm going to be able to start training again. Last Saturday's race was a confidence booster for me and I feel like I have been very conservative in my 'injury management'. I didn't take much chances because I didn't want to risk making things worse, but since the 5K race, I feel like my body can take it.
I'm having hamstring pain when I'm sitting right now. It is crazy painful and stops as soon as I get up or lift up my leg. My hip flexors and IT Bands also feel very tight, so I'm thinking maybe a visit to Mr. ART would be a good idea, just to make sure everything is ready to take on training again.
Here's what I think my race calendar will look like this year:
Aug. 1 - Try-a-Tri at the National Capital Triathlon in Ottawa
Sept. 13 - 10K at the Montreal Oasis Marathon in Montreal
Sept. 20 - Sprint Tri at the Last Chance Triathlon in Ottawa
The maybe's would be:
June 20 - Emilie's Run 5K in Ottawa
Oct - Rattle me Bones 10K
Those races are all tentative for now, but planning for them motivates me to get moving again! Tonight, I ran/walked 2.5K. The longest running interval I did was 3 minutes, which I find very encouraging. I'm planning on getting back in the pool and doing yoga to complement my running and keep the muscles as loose as possible. For now, I'll concentrate on commuting to work by bike to build back my confidence on the bike in order to get more serious about cycling by mid-June.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
I'm back!
This is probably the sweetest race report I've ever written.
Act 1 - some crazy numbers
13 … number of months of non-stop injuries
6 … number of different set of injuries
2 … number of injuries that were done while going down the stairs
1 ... number of injuries caused by a turtle
8 … number of bones I bruised, cracked or broke
4 … number of times my hip got misaligned
8 … number of people I've been to in my medical team to try to heal me
4000 … number of mg of Tylenol I took per day after my tailbone injury (note: this is the absolute maximum dose of acetaminophen you should ever take in one day)
300 … approximate number of 200mg Ibuprofen pills I took in the last 13 months
1 ... number of ambulance rides (should have been 2, really)
25 … approximate number of hours I spent cheering at races
15 … number of pounds gained in the last 13 months
2 … number of people who made a HUGE difference in how I approached my injuries last year, from a mental point of view
Act 2 - Signing up for the 5K at NCM
It took me a lot of time to make a decision about whether or not to participate in the NCM 5K race. I have always loved that weekend and it saddened me to miss it again this year. At some point, I thought about walking it, remembering the 10-12 weeks when I wasn't able to walk much in the past year because of my injuries. I remembered that during those weeks, all I wanted was to be able to walk around freely and without pain again. One day, JF offered to walk the 5K with me. A few days later, I signed us up both, thinking it would be great to be out walking the race with my sweet other half, who picked up the slack when I couldn't move around much.
Act 3 - What I thought would happen
I thought we'd walk most of it, but I wanted to try to run a little. I have only been on 3 training runs since January, each totalling less than 3K, so I knew I wasn't trained at all. Moreover, my running in the past 12 months has been scarce: I didn't run more than 60K!!
I was hoping for a quick and enjoyable walk. 50 minutes was my dream goal for this walk.
Act 4 - What really happened
I ran/walked the whole thing! We started off slowly and I ran when I wanted to and walked when I wanted to. After the first kilometer, I had no pain at all, so JF gave me a goal: to run until that tree up ahead. I did it! So we started setting goals and I didn't wimp out… even when I saw the RM cheering squad under the bridge when I had just completed a very tough running interval. I sucked it up and started running again with a big smile. After 4K, I was starting to really feel the lack of training: my legs were very heavy and shaky. JF asked if I could run the last 200m and we planned around it. As we neared the finish line, I knew I had left everything out on the course and I was very happy with that. We held hands while crossing the finish line and I yelled "I'm back 'sti" when I crossed the line. The 's'ti' is a French swear word and I used it to release a lot of the anger I had accumumulated in the past year.
Special thanks to JF who has been so supportive in the past 13 months. I'm not sure I would have handled everything so well if it weren't for him. I'm also not sure I would have given everything I had out on the course if he hadn't been there with me. Thank you JF. I love you.
I'm so happy! All I can think of right now is WHAT'S NEXT?
Act 1 - some crazy numbers
13 … number of months of non-stop injuries
6 … number of different set of injuries
2 … number of injuries that were done while going down the stairs
1 ... number of injuries caused by a turtle
8 … number of bones I bruised, cracked or broke
4 … number of times my hip got misaligned
8 … number of people I've been to in my medical team to try to heal me
4000 … number of mg of Tylenol I took per day after my tailbone injury (note: this is the absolute maximum dose of acetaminophen you should ever take in one day)
300 … approximate number of 200mg Ibuprofen pills I took in the last 13 months
1 ... number of ambulance rides (should have been 2, really)
25 … approximate number of hours I spent cheering at races
15 … number of pounds gained in the last 13 months
2 … number of people who made a HUGE difference in how I approached my injuries last year, from a mental point of view
Act 2 - Signing up for the 5K at NCM
It took me a lot of time to make a decision about whether or not to participate in the NCM 5K race. I have always loved that weekend and it saddened me to miss it again this year. At some point, I thought about walking it, remembering the 10-12 weeks when I wasn't able to walk much in the past year because of my injuries. I remembered that during those weeks, all I wanted was to be able to walk around freely and without pain again. One day, JF offered to walk the 5K with me. A few days later, I signed us up both, thinking it would be great to be out walking the race with my sweet other half, who picked up the slack when I couldn't move around much.
Act 3 - What I thought would happen
I thought we'd walk most of it, but I wanted to try to run a little. I have only been on 3 training runs since January, each totalling less than 3K, so I knew I wasn't trained at all. Moreover, my running in the past 12 months has been scarce: I didn't run more than 60K!!
I was hoping for a quick and enjoyable walk. 50 minutes was my dream goal for this walk.
Act 4 - What really happened
I ran/walked the whole thing! We started off slowly and I ran when I wanted to and walked when I wanted to. After the first kilometer, I had no pain at all, so JF gave me a goal: to run until that tree up ahead. I did it! So we started setting goals and I didn't wimp out… even when I saw the RM cheering squad under the bridge when I had just completed a very tough running interval. I sucked it up and started running again with a big smile. After 4K, I was starting to really feel the lack of training: my legs were very heavy and shaky. JF asked if I could run the last 200m and we planned around it. As we neared the finish line, I knew I had left everything out on the course and I was very happy with that. We held hands while crossing the finish line and I yelled "I'm back 'sti" when I crossed the line. The 's'ti' is a French swear word and I used it to release a lot of the anger I had accumumulated in the past year.
Special thanks to JF who has been so supportive in the past 13 months. I'm not sure I would have handled everything so well if it weren't for him. I'm also not sure I would have given everything I had out on the course if he hadn't been there with me. Thank you JF. I love you.
I'm so happy! All I can think of right now is WHAT'S NEXT?
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