70.3 World Championships

Leading up to the race:

As most of you know by now (due to my constant complaining), I went into this race with an injury to my achilles/heel. In the weeks leading up to the race when I would ask myself why this injury had to happen now, I thought about how many people would have the perfect training leading up to the race but unexpectedly wake up sick on race morning and have their race plans screwed up. Little did I know I was foreshadowing my own fate!

The week leading into the race I continued to receive treatments at Altus (http://www.altushealth.com/elite-wellness-programs) and I also had diagnostic imaging done that revealed a bursa sac near my Achilles that was causing a lot of the pain. I had that sucker drained (not a fun thing) and then injected with Traumeel. I wouldn’t be allowed to “test” my foot until the day before the race. In the midst of rushing to doctor appointments and therapy sessions, I was also working a TON. I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep and I was starting to feel run down. I told myself that I wasn’t getting sick and that I would feel better once I was on a plane to Vegas.

Thankfully my mom flew out from Philly for the race and we met at the airport. She hadn’t been to a race in 4 years, since my first 70.3 Worlds, so I was determined to show her a better race! Having a Sherpa with me made all of the pre-race stuff super easy. After we dropped off my run gear in T2 on Saturday we went to lunch and that’s when things started to go bad. I had chills, starting feeling feverish and my throat was on fire. In the next few hours things quickly got worse. My coach called that afternoon and based on my “hello” she said, “holy crap what’s wrong with you?”

By dinner I had my head in my heads at the table and had to cut the meal short in order to get home and get to bed.

I woke up Sunday feeling bad but not horrible, so I thought I would be ok. Within an hour the chills, fever and nausea started and then I saw it was raining. If this were any other day I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. I was having trouble keeping anything down and I just wanted to curl in a ball and pull the covers over my head. Instead, I gathered my stuff and told myself I was going to see what I was made of.

I quickly got set up in T1 and then I got a message from Joanna saying “Be Strong." I am typically not good at having race mantras but these 2 simple words would prove to be invaluable in the course of my day. I also felt bad for my mom who was having to find her way around the race site in the dark and pouring rain. She was doing all of this to support me and I didn’t know if I would even make it to the start line! I tried to not think too far ahead and told myself to just get my warm up done and see how I felt. I had to take everything in increments as I was feeling worse and worse as the minutes clicked by.

Ok enough dramatic build up, onto the actual race:

Swim:

It’s an in- water start and girls were already clobbering each other so I kept moving farther and farther back. I heard a familiar voice next to me, Audra Adair, who I met running side by side in Oceanside this year. She’s a great competitor and someone I knew I had to keep an eye on during the race. The gun went off but I found it hard to get into a groove. The nausea was a lot worse swimming than when I was just standing around and I couldn’t shake it. After the first turn buoy my left foot started cramping just like in Vineman. I had to stop kicking and without a wetsuit that’s bad news. The cramp started moving up my lower leg and I knew if my whole calf cramped I would be done, so I swam slow and didn’t kick at all. I really need to figure this out! I exited the water in a horribly-slow time but I was just happy that I made it through.

T1: The run from the swim exit to T1 took us through muddy grass and sand, which my Achilles did not appreciate. I grabbed my bike and got to see my mom on my way out. She was standing in the rain with a trash bag over her head-there was no way I was quitting this race! (Although if I had known I was in 35^th place coming out of the water I may have debated it).

Bike:

The first few minutes on the bike were brutal for me. I thought for sure I was going to puke and my fever and chills were in full force. By the time we exited the resort I was thinking how I could drop out of the race now and still be close to the hotel. I backed off my power, took some Tums and water and then had a little talk with myself. BE STRONG. If I could just be strong for another 4.5 hours this would all be over. So this became my anthem for the day thanks to Joanna. I was literally saying it over and over and out loud at times. After 10 miles I started feeling a little better. It was raining hard but that was the least of my worries. I tried not to punk out and I took chances figuring if I crashed it wouldn’t matter that much anyway. Soon I started passing girls who have beat me earlier in the season so it gave me the confidence and the kick I needed. Then a new mantra popped into my head  “I’m droppin bitches!” I know it sounds ridiculous but sometimes you can’t help what gets stuck in your head during 56 miles on the bike. Despite the rain, nausea and chills I started having a little fun. I figured if I quit I would still be sick so I might as well see how far I could go feeling this bad.  Joanna told me that around mile 30 nothing should feel good and she was right.  I had to get out of aero more than I would have liked due to my stomach and my legs were starting to feel the pain. The last 5 miles seemed to take forever, but I was afraid to get off the bike! I hadn’t run in 4 weeks and I had no idea how my foot would feel. Also the rain had stopped and the sun was out so the idea of running in the heat with a fever and a bad stomach was not appealing!

T2: My first step off the bike and my Achilles screamed at me. I got into the changing tent and just as I was about to leave Audra sat down right in front of me! I have to admit it gave me a boost and made me think I wasn’t too far behind!

Run:

I had prepared myself to deal with the flu symptoms I was experiencing all day but I really wasn’t prepared for my foot/Achilles pain. I had planned on attacking the downhill out of transition but had to back off a little and let everything settle down.

My training for this run course had been perfect up until my injury. Every other weekend I would do my long runs in Mandeville Canyon (5 miles up/5 miles down hard/3.5 miles up/ 3.5 miles down hard). This proved to be key as my run actually wasn’t too bad. I was slower on the uphills than I would have liked but I think this was due to being so sick. I was able to keep all of my downhill miles between 6:24-6:31, which was right on target. I think I was so focused on how bad I was feeling and trying to keep from puking that I didn’t really pay attention to the miles.  Thanks to Tyler I have proof of what it looks like to run when you really just want to throw up!

As the miles ticked by I just kept telling myself it would all be over soon and I could go to bed! Around mile 10.5 a girl who beat me at Oceanside came up and passed me. We continued to go back and forth until she opened up a gap I couldn’t close during the last uphill. As I made the turn around for the last mile I wanted to cry I was so happy. I spotted a girl ahead of me in my division and figured I had to try to run her down. I passed her and held her off in what turned out to be a 5:46 pace for that last half mile and I came into the finisher chute happy but feeling broken.

I told the volunteers I was ok and didn’t need medical but that was a mistake. I guess when you race for 5 hours with the flu and then suddenly stop your body freaks out. As I walked away from the finish line my body started shaking, then I felt my cheeks and lips start quivering and within a second I was crying. But it was a strange uncontrollable cry. I found a trash can and stood over it just in time for an asthma attack to start. My inhaler was in T2 and I started looking around in a panic. I couldn’t get any words out. I tried to control my breathing and at that moment my mom found me. I made a motion to her that I needed my inhaler. She found a volunteer who told us that the medical tent was on the other side of where we were standing. I didn’t want to walk so I just stood there and hoped I would get a breath soon. Everything calmed down and I was able to hobble to T2 and get my inhaler. It’s weird but I have heard multiple stories of people having the same experience that day at the finish (the asthma attack and the crying fit).  In the end, I feel like I made the best of a really rough day. I finished 16^th (and it looks like 12^th-16^th were all less than a minute apart)! I now know that I can push myself beyond anything I thought I was capable of and I have definitely improved my mental game! As it turns out, my power file on the bike was the best of any race to date so that’s one good take away. Thankfully I made the decision last year not to race Kona in 2013 so my season is done and I couldn’t be happier. I am still not over this flu thing and my Achilles is on the mend so it’s time to just chill for a bit! 

Lastly, it takes a village… this saying doesn’t just apply to raising a child. Any triathlete who tows the line at a major race has not gotten there on his or her own. I owe a huge thank you to my mom who came out to the race, my coach Joanna who prepared me and gave me the mantra that kept me going, the whole team at Altus who worked around my crazy work schedule to get in me for treatment everyday. Also my sponsors: Tribike Transport, Athlete Octane, Cynergy Cycles, Rudy Project and Ero.

Injuries Suck. The end.

I tried to come up with a clever or inspirational quote about overcoming adversity, blah, blah, blah, but the honest truth is that injuries just plain suck!

My training for the 70.3 World Championships had been going perfectly and coming off a win at Vineman, I had high expectations for Worlds. My coach had come up with a great running plan to prepare for the suffer-fest of a run course that is Vegas. We built up slowly, did everything right but after a weekend of what I thought was great training I awoke with pain in both heels. I figured it was inflammation due to all of the downhill running so I didn’t panic. I acted conservatively and took a few days off from running and did lots of icing and stretching. I would soon find out this wasn’t an easy fix and I had done quite a number on myself. It all stems from some biomechanical issues that I have been trying correct (with the help of everyone at Altus Sports Institute). My mindset quickly had to shift from trying to heal fast enough to get some running in before the race, to trying to be healthy and pain-free to even consider racing.

This past Saturday was my first attempt at running. It was supposed to be an easy 30 mins off the bike. Everyone was confident that it would go well (including myself). My run lasted 1:30 (as in 1 minute and 30 secs) before the pain stopped me in my tracks. I was devastated, pissed off, and just plain sad. If I couldn’t run 30 mins today how would I run a really difficult run course in one week? The pity party continued into the long weekend and I stopped stretching, etc. and basically just ignored my lame foot. And then something interesting happened-it started feeling better! After 3 days of just leaving it alone I saw massive improvements. A diagnostic ultrasound on Tuesday showed that nothing was torn and the culprit was a stupid bursa sac sitting in my heel.  This was the best news I had heard in weeks. This meant we could “fix” it and I could run.  

This morning I did an easy 30-minute run and even though it wasn’t totally pain-free it was something. I followed this up with my acupuncture treatment (which has been amazing) and I am feeling good. Tomorrow I will have an injection of Traumeel into the bursa sac and that should knock out the rest of the pain. Fingers crossed. That still means my first potentially pain-free run won't be until Saturday (the day before the race). I am hoping I can make up for my lack of training with heart and determination! I've worked too hard to not fight til the finish!