*Right: 27 week surgery anniversary*
*Left: 47 week surgery anniversary*
Update: It took me until after my workout today to figure out how far I have come. See the Reflection section.
Swim
100m warmup
PT drills
walking
6 shallow lengths (half the pool) of running
50 single leg heel raises
30 squat jumps
Side to side over lane line (to practice rapid change of direction)
Cariocas (grapevine drill)
high knees
walking
Swimming
2 x 100m
4 x 50m
4 x 25m
Cooldown
Total yards: 600 m
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Reflection
Today I felt not only like an athlete, but like my old self. My stroke is smooth again. I can feel my whole body in sync. My shoulders and arms are stronger. My core is stronger. I can feel the power coming from my legs again, and my feet are no longer sore with kicking.
The way I felt in the pool today led me to the discovery of another silver lining to this journey. Not many with my training background have had what I call, "the opportunity," to go from negative, as in lower than untrained (since I had to go through two major surgeries) to a trained state again. I have lived in a trained state almost all of my life. I can't remember ever being untrained. As such, I have never noticed major progress physically. Sure, I have shaved seconds off my race times, and lifted more weight, and been so close to obtaining my lifelong goal of having rock hard abs, but still, the changes are so small, almost untraceable. It is discouraging if you don't have the mental fortitude to stick with your training. I am not back to a trained state yet, but I am heading there. Every day I can tell that I am getting stronger. My small efforts are adding up to major progress. [More Evidence: Stairs no longer frighten me. I am not concerned about not being able to dodge obstacles or flee anymore. I know that if my life depended on it, I could run at this point. I am intentionally holding back to give my feet ample time for their comeback.] Things are falling in to place. I am going to keep working hard the rest of December on basic skills, and in January I am going to start TRI (swim-bike-run) training again. I may be the slowest one in my first race back, but with endurance training, I have learned that:
Thinking about TRI training and the possibility of racing again made me ponder exactly why I love to TRI, so here it is:
Why TRI?
Ultimately, you are racing yourself. I want to race again for the thrill of competing...against myself. I love that fierce determination and commitment are minimum requirements. To TRI, you have to follow a training plan for months and months. During training, you have to make sure that you have all the necessary skills to succeed and that you have practiced every phase of the race, even when your bed is calling your name. For TRI, you not only have to practice the three sports, but also the transitions. Alongside the training, you have to monitor your food intake closely to make sure you have enough calories and the right calories to sustain the training. And that you have practiced your race day nutrition. I love the gear. You get to wear brightly colored, skin-tight, water-repellant singlets with padding in the butt area for the bike leg. Who wouldn't want to wear one of those? And don't forget the goggles, swim cap, helmet, sunglasses, cycling shoes, running hat, and tennis shoes (and that is just what you wear, not including all the other gear that you need to make racing happen). It takes quite a while to get packed up the night before race day. I love the excitement of race day. The tossing and turning in anticipation for your alarm to go off at 4 something so you can get yourself to the start line on time. Going to get marked with your race number. Setting up your transition station. Lining up at the swim start with your swim cap and goggles in tow. The rush that goes through you when you hear the sound of the start horn. Seeing the buoy marking the end of the swim and realizing you made it through the swim without drowning or getting knocked out by a competitor. Climbing out of the water, and racing up the shore to the transition area. Changing your gear and hopping on your bike. Fighting through the mid section of the bike leg when you start to feel some real fatigue. Seeing the last cone on the bike course pointing you back to the transition area. Dismounting your bike (takes serious skill when your feet are clipped to the pedals) and haphazardly running in your cycling shoes back to your transition station. Changing into your running gear, and heading out to the course for your last leg. Checking the clock over and over again, making sure that you are on track to set a PR. As long as you're close, you will give it all you've got on the run to beat your former self. I love crossing the finish line. You've made it and you're happy, you feel like you are on top of the world. You realize that you just pushed the limits of your capabilities higher. Then you rush to get your official race results, celebrate what you've achieved (by pigging out on all the post race food), and then you just....GET BACK TO TRAINING.
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