IMAZ Week 20: A rollercoaster ride

20 weeks down, 4 weeks to go. Officially, 1 week until taper starts. Unfortunately, my enforced taper has already started.

This week has been full of emotions - frustration, anger, sadness, apathy, you name it, I've experienced it this week. Not only did I start the week with physical injuries and complete lack of self-confidence about my upcoming Ironman, but my Dad called Monday afternoon and told me that my Grandpa, who had been battling lung cancer for the past 6 months, had passed away just a couple of hours ago. It was a shock, but not unexpected. He had been getting progressively worse for the past few weeks. I felt sad but I didn't cry. I don't know why I didn't cry. I just didn't. At least not immediately. The tears came over the next few days, at unexpected times, like while sitting at my desk at work, after swim practice, while on the phone with my parents. After a lot of thinking and talking back and forth with Gordon and Mum and Dad, we decided that I shouldn't travel back to Adelaide for the funeral. My little sister was going to be there. My older sister was going to be there. I just couldn't be there. My Grandpa was a good, kind, funny man and he had a long, healthy life up until the past six months. He was going to turn 78 this year. "A good innings", as we would say in Australia.

Coupled with the rollercoaster emotional ride that I was on this week, was the rollercoaster physical ride. I went to physical therapy three times and each time it hurt. Some days I saw small signs of progress, other days I felt worse. "All part of the healing process" I was told, which I understood. It's just tough when you start to feel better, and then the next day you feel like you've been set back a day or two. This happened on Saturday. I had a great swim in the morning (physically and emotionally this time) and things were starting to look up. Then we went out shopping for a few hours. Well, turns out that the few hours of walking around caused my left shin to flare up again. So Saturday night I was sitting at home with pain in my left leg again, as well as the continued pain in my right leg. I couldn't believe that I was hurting so much again, all after walking for just a few hours!

Sunday morning we woke up to do our 100mi long ride, we drove out to East Austin and were actually there 15 minutes before everyone else. It was pretty windy, I was feeling sore and very negative about the upcoming ride. I wasn't looking forward to getting dropped by everyone and riding on my own, and facing a headwind for half of the ride, plus, what if my shins got even worse while I was out there? So Gordon suggested that we just go home and ride the trainer for a few hours. So we did, and I ended up having a really good 3hr trainer ride, with a nice long stretch afterwards. My shins are feeling good again, the best they've felt all week! Don't get me wrong, they're still sore and I still won't be running in the next few days, but I'm feeling some positive signs of improvement right now. I hope this lasts... I see Dr. Seller's again tomorrow.

I want to say a big thanks to my coaches, Maurice and Chrissie, who have been so supportive, calling and emailing to check up on me and making sure I'm doing okay. You two are fantastic! I also want to say a big, extra special thankyou to Gordon. He has put up with a lot this week - repeated complaints of soreness and self-doubt, and emotional instability. He hasn't complained once. I am so lucky to have him in my corner.

This past week has been the low point. Things will get better!

Mon - OFF (PT)
Tue - Elliptical Trainer + Core/Stretch (1h)
Wed - T3 Swim (1.25h), PT
Thu - T3 Trainer Ride (1.25h)
Fri - Barton Springs Swim (1h), PT
Sat - T3 Swim (1.25h)
Sun - Long Ride on Trainer (60mi/3h)


Weekly Totals:


Cycling: 4.25h / 85mi (Goal: 8h)
Running: 1h / 5.5mi (Goal:5h) *Elliptical
Swimming: 3.5h / 9400m (Goal: 2.5h)