It's a Long Way to the Top if You Wanna Rock'n'Roll: IM Choo and my 6th Cancerversary

Today is kind of a big deal.

1. First of all, it's Martin Luther King, Jr. day.  
2. Second of all, it's my 6th Cancerversary.
3. And 3rd - it's IMCHOO 70.3 week 3.  See what I did there?

I haven't been around much because of my Now Year's Resolution to streamline, do less, and simplify my life. So I've been busy not being quite as busy, so I can just focus on training and trying to keep things organized and stress-free.

That means hanging around the house a lot.  (It also meant a road trip to beautiful Savannah, GA for our 7th Anniversary and New Year's.)


One of Savannah's beautiful squares

Some wonderful anniversary dining

All three of the things I posted above share a common theme: how much good can come from something terrible.   I'll focus more on the third thing.  You no doubt have heard a good amount of the first one, which is the most notable, and the second I've blogged about many a time.

Also, the 3rd thing relates to my training, and this is supposed to be a training blog, after all.

Dr. King's death brought additional awareness to race relations in the United States and the importance of equality and inspired a wave of Civil Rights activism that continues today.

My cancer diagnosis, while far from the solution to my many chronic health issues, did resolve a large number of them and brought perspective and closure to the most difficult time in my life.  It also brought me the strength to handle many of those recurrent health issues.

And IM Choo training . . .well . . .it is actually my stress fracture that is the "bad" from which "good" arises.

One of the reasons I've been away is that, while being treated for the femoral sfx, the ortho and my amazing PT discovered that the biggest part of my discomfort is a somewhat uncommon bone tumor called an osteod osteoma. It's benign, but they take years or decades to go away.

So that certainly appeared, at least initially, to throw a wrench in my training.

Then I discovered that I am having some minor liver issues which may lead to some other concerns in the future. The only real solution, I was told, is to lose weight down to a number so ridiculously low that I'd probably need surgery to attain it.  And that definitely threw a wrench in my attitude.  (Thank God that doc suggested I go by body fat% instead of "ideal weight" because of my high muscle mass.)

But a bizarre thing happened over the last 8-10 weeks. I tried really, really hard to focus on eating well (even more than usual). I kept up my PT, strength, stretching, and swimming (then cycling - and, next week, a little running.)

And I got stronger.  Despite the tumor and the injury, I found myself increasing my upper body weights over the last few weeks, almost as fast in the pool as I was without my kick (had to take the kick easy until recently since it's very hip-driven).  Then I found myself only having to decrease my watts in cycling class minimally, then the very next week, increasing them minimally.

I got injured, I discovered I had yet a few more bizarre health problems, and I still somehow became #betterthanme.

I've planned for YEARS to make my off-season a Strength Fest.  I wanted to do drills and lift weights like a beast and focus on my limiters.  But, every off-season, I get kind of lazy.  This off-season, the injury forced me to be lazy for a few weeks.  Being lazy for reasons out of my control pissed me off.  And you know what happens when I get pissed off.

I take action.

Like this morning. I went to the pool for a nice Cancerversary workout and the aqua fit class was taking over the pool. I had to change my entire workout, outfit, and plan for the day.  But it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock'n'roll.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm far from my old bike pace and I can't even run yet.  But this is the best start to base training that I've ever had.

So I thought again about the power of language, especially when faced with a frustrating situation.  The struggle is not real.  The snuggle is not even real.  Those expressions insinuate that life is a struggle.

It's not.  Life is a series of situations that repeatedly teach you to re-evaluate your ideas - especially of what's good and bad and how hard you're willing to work to be #betterthanyou.  But, at the end of the day, whether the result is what you did or didn't want, you hopefully learn that wherever you have landed is still light years from where you started.

In other words, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock'n'roll.

And now you can listen to AC/DC sing it.  (You're welcome.)

Just Keep Easin' Along

By now you know that this blog is equal parts ranting about my chronic health conditions, my thankfulness I'm doing anything physical anyway, and my appreciation for my parents.  This means it is peppered with my transparent desire to do and be so much more than I am, my gratefulness for what I have, and Dad Quotes.

I mentioned in my Race Report for Chicago that a serendipitous decision prompted me to carry my phone on race day, which I don't usually do.  During that time, Dad started messaging me on Facebook, asking how my race went, and asking me to tell him how I did when I finished. 

Imagine his surprise when I was still there and started sending him selfies from the course.

Ok, maybe don't imagine any surprise. The dude has known me for 36 years, so I'm pretty sure he can predict my every move...

Anyway, I would periodically give him an update, and sometimes it would be about how bad my leg was hurting. (I'm still having a hard time walking straight, if that tells you anything.)  And he would sometimes tell me

Just keep easin' along

 

My Dad knows I am a Type A.  My dad is NOT a Type A.  My whole life,

this has been his response to me any time I have gotten overambitious and impatient.

Which is a lot.

Some awesome things happened to me this weekend because of that injury and because of that race. First, I finally met up with one of my virtual buddies of nearly a decade and a half. I have mentioned before that a lot of people I've met in person were not what I expected. Well, Jenn's been one of my best friends for a long time, and I was so excited to finally connect with her and to find out that not only is she exactly who she is online but that I loved her every bit as much in person. Maybe more.

 

Next, I am headed into the off season feeling relaxed.  I won't be able to run for weeks, if not months. That means getting this damn weight off is going to be nearly impossible. And I'd be a liar if I told you I wasn't pissed about missing my chance to PR again this year. I only do one marathon a year, and I and still haven't broken 5 hours. And having the injury and the physical issues and the cause I was fundraising for and the extra weight would have made that PR 100% more glorious. 

 

But I had SO much fun and I was honestly just so surprised I was even able to make it that I didn't care.  I cannot believe that I had it in me to finish an entire marathon feeling the way I did. 

 

All I had to do was

Just keep easin' along

 

 

Here comes my favorite part of the year: making goals and resolutions and plans for the next year.

I know better than to hang a bunch of expectations on ol' 2016 (no nickname for it yet, get back to me on that). I do know that this is my time to reflect, recharge, yoga my face off, enjoy unstructured training, connect with friends, celebrate IMOF and enjoy life.  And I know, as long as I do that and then work hard, I can make 2016 into something awesome. 

 

I'm sure I'll share some of those plans with you. Until then, just keep easin' along.



Choo-Choo, Baby

This may come as a shock, but we are actually returning this blog to training for a bit.

While I have been wallowing in my pity party and shaking my funk and getting the fuck over it, I was also working through my training plan for 2015-2016.

I had a couple things I had to reconcile within my training plan, which typically goes like this: go short in the spring, do a marathon in the fall.

The truth is, I LOVE marathons, but they don't always GO with sprint training. No matter how mentally and physically tired I get while training for a marathon, I love having part of the year to just run, and I love the spiritual transformation I experience only when I run 26.2 miles. I need to make sure my year ALWAYS includes a marathon as long as I'm physically capable (according to the experts, some day my body may not go that far any more).

I also realized that my goal of qualifying for nationals a third time - and going this time - is only going to happen when the sprint distance once again becomes something I totally own. Not just something I do a few times because it helps me to stay training. And, for me, totally owning one distance means it has to feel EASY most of the time. Which means I need to be doing something that feels HARD part of time, so that I can really own that Sprint in the face.

The truth is I can usually only afford to do a few BIG races a year, as well. So I have to choose carefully and focus myself.

So. I was thinking about how I can blend these things together.

And this was the result.

In May 2016, I will return to the 70.3 distance.

This is one of the most momentous announcements I've ever made, training-wise.  Not I'd like to BQ some day, not I am signing up for my first 70.3, not I want to qualify for Nats a third time.

Nope. Not even close.

7 years ago, I attempted my first half iron triathlon.  I did not finish it.  I made it all the way to the last loop and I did not make the time cutoff on the run. The truth was that I did not really respect or understand how much it took to train for IM, even IM 70.3, and I had been pretty sick for a while and somehow always managed to pull races out of my ass despite my training being spotty, so I just assumed IM 70.3 was going to be the same way.

I was MAD.

You see, I thought the culmination of all efforts of all triathlon training were Ironman. I thought everyone was supposed to go longer and longer and longer until they were at the 140.6

And that is just not true.

I took some time off from multi-sport, I got sick, I got well.  I did some bike racing, some long-distance swimming, and even went on a full Ironman plan.  I did more than someone would need to do in order to be mentally and physically prepared for 70.3 - in fact, I was so trained at long distances that my friends started to ask me The Question.

You know The Question: When are you going to do a 140.6?!!?  You're pretty much trained for it anyway.

My training volume was high, and strong, and I was comfortable, and well, and uninjured. At any point back then, I could have signed up for a 70.3.  I was so well-trained at long distance that, to this day, I still feel like I deserve to say I am an iron-distance athlete, despite that pesky 70.3 DNF. 

And throughout this I said to myself - several times - one day, just for my own mental clarity, I am going to sign up for another 70.3 and add the legitimate hardware and finish to the books so that I can feel like I did not let a race distance beat me.

And I think I am ready.

I am not ready because I have something to prove. I am not ready because I think I'm a Bad Bitch. I am not ready because I think that you have to go 70.3 or 140.6 to be a "real" athlete.

I'm ready because It Makes Sense. 

For one thing, some of the Oly tri's I considered for off- and early-season races cost almost as much. For another, this allows me to blend what I'm doing now back into multisport. I'm already training for the run and I have almost a year to enjoy a small off season and add the swim and the bike back in. I will have unlimited opportunities to train with others who share the goal. Also, when I'm sick or tired, I can ALWAYS find one of the 3 sports I can tolerate. I feel better than I ever did when I first tried this distance, and I'm way better conditioned.

I'm also ready because I have good support around me from the tri club and my friends and family. My parents live close enough to come to either see Choo or meet me afterwards. The club will have a HUGE presence at the race.

It Makes Sense, and I am BEYOND excited.

Choo-choo, baby.