Its been almost a week since Red Bank and what an emotional rollercoaster week it has been. I woke up Monday morning lighter, relaxed, and more energetic than I had been in weeks. I did not realize until Monday morning how much pressure I was putting on myself and how stressed I was about the race. I think that I had such massive doubts that I would not finish the race or do really crappy. Once done, the weight was off and release was there.
I am not sure why I do this but I question my abilitities all the time and think I am almost always the last person to believe that I can truly do things. Ok...maybe a little overstatement, sometimes I may be a little cocky but mostly in jest. Really there is always a doubt in my head. Its more because even though I say differently, I dont want to do these races, I want to be really good at them. I cannot help it, I am competitive as hell.
So Monday I was on a 'I am Triathlete' high and Tuesday I was quickly dropped back to reality. I was feeling great on Monday and I mentioned in the last blog, very little soreness. In all my stupidity and with the thought that all the resting rules dont apply to me, I ran in the Wall St. AHA 5K. I signed up a while ago and was the captain for the Bloomberg team, so I had to go (well at least I said that to myself). Instead of going slowly, jogging, I told my friend Dan I would run with him. Dan was happy with 8:50-9:00 minute miles which I thought would be good to pace me.
When the race started, I was a little tight but I ignored the pain and just ran thinking that I would loosen up. The race was super crowded and the roads pretty bad. We just followed the folks in front of us. My thought was, lets run a little faster to get some space. Dan did a good job of being right behind me. When we got to the first mile marker is when I said 'Oh Crap' in my head. I looked at my watch and we had just run 7:45/miles with crowds. Not what I was supposed to do. I know what you are thinking....what a dumbass. Yes, I agree, I was a freaking dumbass. I let my competitiveness go past common sense. The best part of this is that earlier in the day, Terence told me to be smart and don't run the race. Two hours later, he came back with that one of the other girls was running the race and I should pace her so I would not hurt myself. My response to him: I will be smart. My thoughts in my head: What the hell, did he think that I was that stupid to really push myself to hurt myself' :) (there were other words in there that I should probably not post). Ok, I admit, maybe he knows me a little too well and maybe he was right.
We slowed down for the rest of the race but still finished in 24:50, so 8:16/mile. Not bad but not what I was supposed to do. Right away I was immediately reminded of why I should have gone slow. My left leg started to cramp up right away and I was in a lot of pain. My hamstring that I worked so hard to heal was screaming to me - what the 'f' were you thinking, I need to rest.
I hoped that the pain would be just for that night but I woke up Wednesday with even more tightness. I wore my lovely compression pants to work and took the night off and just stretched. Nothing was working and I had the feeling that I set myself back three weeks. If you have ever been hurt, its the worst feeling in the world, it is like you never think you are going to get better and though I tried to push it away, panic was starting to set in. I had the rest of the summer that I wanted to do things and I was starting to get serious doubts that it would be possible. Over and over in my head, I was calling myself an ass for doing the stupid 5K race.
Thursday....my leg was 5% better and I wanted to see if I could run a little. I was signed up for the Brooklyn Half for Saturday and this was going to be my test. I assumed that I could run slowly and would ok. I already set expectations in my head that this would be a slow run. Ummm, wrong. I could barely run. I ran the first lower loop with Lisa and Susanne but had a hard time keeping up. The second loop, we were supposed to head up to Cat Hill then back. I cut the run short and went back to the start to stretch.
I made the decision then that I would not be able to do the Brooklyn Half. It is the first time really in my life that I backed out of something because I was hurt. It was a frustrating feeling because I felt like I was giving up but also....a step in the right direction that I was making a smart decision. I knew that I had to think of the rest of the summer and what was my ultimate goal: Half Ironman. I decided that I was going to take off til I had no pain in my leg at all.
So at the lowest. Got out of bed Friday and my hamstring was out of control. I threw on another pair of compression pants and was able to walk gingerly to the train. Without the shorts, I was experiencing shooting pains in my leg. I dont have to tell you the thoughts that were going on in my head. I think I spent more energy trying to be positive then I did trying to complete the triathlon on Sunday.
Here is where things start to look up: When I got to work, I called the PT that Ariane had recommended a while ago that I should see. I was not really comfortable with the person I was seeing. Right away, I knew it was a fit. I got an appt for later that day, and Chris, my PT got on the phone to introduce himself and to tell me that he was doing a triathlon in a few weeks and was excited to talk to me. I really did not know what to expect when I went. Chris uses Active Release Technique (ART) to treat his patients. Not knowing what this was, I did not think it would be different from what I had done. Ha ha!
We spent the first 25 minutes talking about training, my race, and Chris's that is coming up in a few weeks. I knew that I would be taken care of correctly. Then the fun part started. I got on a table and Chris started to do the session. I was in for a rude awakening. I should have realized this when Chris said as we were walking over to the table 'I am going to hurt you a little'. Holy crap, hurt was an understatement. The actual process of ART is really painful but just for the short seconds that each exercise is being done. Then immediately you start to feel the effects of the release. I think I screamed and said ouch more times yesterday then I have in a year. I am not going to try to explain how it is done in detail but basically he puts pressure (or shortens) on a certain muscle and then uses movements to lengthen the muscle.
After an hour, we were done. Right away, the pain that was in my left leg was much less. The best part, Chris said I could keep exercising as long as I kept the pain to a 3 out of 10. This was great to hear for someone that hates rest! I told him that I was going to try to take the whole weekend off just to be safe.
So, I am back on top this am. I woke up with NO pain in my leg. I cannot believe it and pretty much amazed at what the process can do. I wish I went to him weeks ago. There is minimal tightness so I am sticking with my no exercise for today. ( I woke up thinking, hey, I could have actually run Brooklyn!) I am contemplating a little of doing a long bike ride tomorrow but will see. (yes - whole weekend rest idea has gone out the door)
Lets just hope this feeling levels out and I dont get back on the rollercoaster ride I have been on all week. I have had enough emotional excitement to last me the summer!
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