Life and Injury Update

Sorry I've been absent for the past month, but it's been CRAZY!! So I'll give a brief overview of what I've been up to and some thoughts:

April 21: Ironman 70.3 New Orleans
              Race went relatively well. Few gripes here and there, but I finished which is important. More detail                           to come in a monstrous post-race report.

April 27: Rock 'n Roll Nashville Half Marathon
             RAIN! Hilly and pouring but a great time. Again, more to come.

May 5: Rocketman International Triathlon (1500m swim, 36 mi bike, 10 k run)
              Possibly the most fun I've had in a race. Great day all around. Last portion of the debriefing.

After those three weeks, I was utterly exhausted. Took a (deserved?) rest week. Was ready to get back in the pool and really start working on getting my swim times down during a period with no major races.

Monday May 13 (first workout back from break): Tragedy strikes. I'm over-exaggerating a bit but that's how it felt. I was turning in the pool and pop goes the knee! I knew right away this wasn't good. Once I got out of the poll, my knee slowly but surely deteriorated. Finally accepted the fact that I probably retore my meniscus and made it to the doctor last Friday. MRI is tomorrow and decision on where to go from there occurs next Tuesday. Only saving grace is that I don't have a major race until August. Speaking of racing,

This Memorial Day weekend, I am heading home to MA to see my family. So stoked! I haven't seen my family since January so this will be a great visit. While home, I had planned on doing a 5-miler. After my injury, I knew this was a terrible and stupid idea to think I still could. However, with a meniscus injury, your knee is still stable so running theoretically is allowed. Of course, it'll be painful as hell and might worsen the injury. But as long as I do it before anything is fixed, then my twisted brain thinks that mine as well. So for reasons I will try to lay out here, I have chosen to try and "race." It will be more of a "get to the finish line" race not a "I want to PR" race. The race is Boston's Run to Remember. This race in an annual race put on by the Boston Police Association to honor fallen first responders. Obviously, after the tragic events on April 15, this race took on a whole new meaning and I was so happy to be a part of it. Beyond that, this will be the first race I'm doing with my sister, who completed her firs half marathon last weekend (woot!). So to not disappoint my sister and, even more, to honor first responders and the Boston Marathon, I will hobble my way through the race this Sunday. I'll let you know Monday if I still have a knee.

Again, more to follow regarding most things in the post, just wanted to remind everybody that I'm still alive!

Fight On my friends! (Especially those in Oklahoma right now. We're all rooting for you!)

The Aftermath

Before I start this, I just want to say that everything written here is my opinion and interpretation. I'm sorry if you do not agree with me, but it is certainly not my intention to offend or hurt anyone.

Like so many, when I first heard there was explosions at the finish line of Boston yesterday, I hope it was some malfunctioning equipment or power lines and no one was injured. Tragically, that was not the case. I was born and raised in a town outside of Boston and I felt this rock me to the core. The majority of my high school friends went to college in the city so I spent a few frantic hours making sure everybody close to me was okay. What I got back was that while they were okay physically, they certainly weren't okay mentally. One of my friends works at the Mandarin hotel which was right at the epicenter of the bombing. He is truly shaken and has seen things that will never leave his mind. Another of my friends finished the race about 60 seconds before the first explosion and is trying to grasp how such a small amount of time over hours saved his life. Regardless the tragic events that happened shook the state of Massachusetts, the running community, and the entire nation. We will never forgot the people who died or the act of courage by countless running towards the chaos.

What will really define this event, I think, is not how we reacted to the moments right after, but how we pick up the pieces and try to move on from this. Very telling of this is that the majority of runners spoken to after the event insisted that they would be back next year running again. They proved that one act cannot overcome all this event means and the spirit of thousands of people. So, I say, keep running Boston. Keep running America. And, keep running world. Prove to whoever did this that we will overcome this and we will run for those who sacrificed their bodies and lives in this senseless event. And, always, pray for Boston.

The reason I love USC's slogan so much is that it applies to almost every situation. Especially here:

Fight On my friends!

I will be racing Ironman 70.3 New Orleans this weekend with my home in mind. I truly hope I can push through my injuries and make to it the finish line for all those that weren't able to yesterday.

Rolling into NOLA!

11 days until the race. My ankle has held up while running but my achilles tendon is another story. It becomes painful and ever present around mile 2 of a run. Kinesio tape has thankfully abated the pain a decent amount making running possible. Physical therapy starts next week so we will see how that goes. Regardless, I have faith that I will make it through the race. How fast is another question. I'm so excited for the trip and the race though. My parents will be meeting me down in New Orleans for a mini-vacation!! Let's get this party started.

Fight On!!

P.S. Try to stay away from the tornadoes tomorrow and be extra careful.

Forever Injured

Yesterday, I decided to go on a 5 mile trail run. I wanted to shake up my surroundings a little and just run for the love of running instead of worrying about times and such. About a quarter mile into the run, my foot caught the edge of a rock and twisted over completely. I didn't immediately panic, because this happens to me quite often. Normally, there's a dull pain for about 10 seconds and then I'm fine. That didn't happen this time. It was a sharp and constant pain and I couldn't put any wait on it. And the pain didn't go away. I managed to be able to limp a little and decided to try to walk/run it out (probably not the best decision). My ankle continued to deteriorate. After a mile and a half I had to stop. About an hour later, I could no longer walk. I haven't had this kind of injury in a while. Today I'm still limping.

I have two main concerns at the moment. Luckily, I already have a doctor's appointment Tuesday for my knee so I'll be able to get my ankle looked at. My biggest concern is Ironman 70.3 New Orleans. The race is in less than three weeks. It's supposed to be one of my bigger races of the year and I am concerned this may screw over my running plan. My other concern is that this is the ankle I have had previously reconstructed. I sincerely hope I didn't do any damage to those tendons and ligaments.

Ice and advil are my best friends right now. I'm praying that it gets steadily better and I can run by late next week. I'm praying that my race will be able to go on as planned.

Fight On!

Foreigners Say the Darnedest Things

Okay, I just have this quick note because it was too long for Twitter but I thought it was hilarious. I was speaking with my friends who is from India and the conversation went as follow:

Him: "How's the boyfriend?"
Me: "He's good. Just visited actually."
Him: "I don't know how you do the distance thing."
Me: "It's just temporary."
Him: "When are you going to get a permanent one?"
Me (after attempting to compose myself several times): "I was talking about the distance, not my boyfriend!"

Oh gosh. Fight on my friends!

What Motivates You?

Nobody can stay motivated constantly. There are always moments when you want to stop. There are moments when you feel disappointed with your performance or are wondering how you’re supposed to make it 30 more miles to the finish line. To combat this, I’ve begun writing phrases on electrical tape and putting them on my bike. It’s a combination of things I know will make me laugh and things I know will make me motivated to keep going. After all, they say smiling makes even the worst of pain less. Often I don’t even have to read the words; just knowing they are there is comforting. I wanted to share some of the phrases that I have used and see if there are any that you would like to share.

“There are two reasons to stop: a broken left femur and a broken right femur.”

            This one both motivates me and makes me laugh at its ridiculousness. Obviously, there are other reasons to stop but it shows that most triathletes will stop for almost nothing. I've seen firsthand people get stung by sting-rays during the swim and refuse medical attention until after they finished. I also saw someone crash so bad during a race that they need stitches to repair the muscle, yet they still finished.

“If you have to ask why, you don’t understand”

“Smile if you’re not wearing underwear.”

            A classic really. Instantly makes everybody (who wears underwear during a triathlon) laugh and feel better.

“Live for (insert name here)”

            Everybody has lost someone that means a significant amount to them. Remembering them at down moments during racing and training always makes you motivated to keep going to finish it off for them.

“The only easy day was yesterday.”

            Slogan of US Navy SEALS

And then there is the ever popular,

            “Pain is temporary but quitting lasts forever.”

Feel free to share your thoughts and your favorites.

Fight on my friends!

Book Review: The End of Your Life Book Club

"I wanted to say so much more -- about the book club, about all she'd done for me, about how grateful I was for everything -- but it didn't seem like the time, it just never seemed like the time. And I knew I would start to cry and didn't want to. Not then. Maybe I didn't want Mom to have to comfort me. Or maybe I was scared that once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop."

One of my passions I indulge in is reading. I find that less and less I meet people that love reading as much as I do. Every time I meet someone, they speak of how they have been meaning to read this or that and how they wish they had more time to read. But in the end, they never get around to it. I, on the other hand, make it a point to make sure I read at least a little each day. Most of my reading is non-fiction. It ranges quite greatly from books about triathlon to mountaineering to political and historical events. I just really love the feeling of getting sucked into a good book and not being able to put it down. However, I am very familiar with the sorrow that can sometimes come with the end of a book. You have just been on this emotional journey and all you want to do is have someone look at you and know how you feel. With book, that doesn't really happen. Writing about them and the involvement they have in your life may help me release this feeling. For this reason, I've decided to include reviews of books I'm reading from time to time. To start, I've just finished The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe.

I've posted a synopsis (taken from Amazon) below:

“What are you reading?”

That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less. 

This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying. 

Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page. 

Now, my thoughts on the book:

-To begin, I thought it was a very well written book. As a true book lover, I also enjoyed being able to read about all these great books (and getting titles to read). One part of the books discusses how one of their favorite books is a book that loves books, and I found the same thing happened with this book.

-Everybody experiences disease and illness in their life. Therefore, another great aspect of this book is that everybody can relate to it. My grandmother had a long and painful battle with Alzheimer's disease, so I found myself at times thinking about how much I related to the author. One of the unfortunate aspects of terminal diseases is that people generally don't enjoy discussing them. Often that leaves those who are dealing with them feel like no one really relates to them while in actuality millions do. This book made me realize that and made me feel like I wasn't alone in the feelings I had experienced.

-The anecdotes in this book are simply great and show you how good of person his mother was. There should be more people in this world like them. Her work not only involved talking about the issues within the world but actually doing something about it. This book provides a great biography of an amazing woman.

-Lastly, one of the most poignant messages of this book is the people surrounding those with terminal illnesses. A lot of the time, all the focus is on those who are actually sick. But sometimes, it is actually harder for those who are surrounding them. Watching them suffer and knowing you can't do anything about it can be like torture. Knowing someone you love is dying and watching that happen is very difficult to process emotionally. And they are the people that are still there after their loved one is lost trying to pick up the pieces. The best lesson from this book (I personally think) is that we need to focus on the people surrounding those with illness and make sure they are just as okay as those that are sick.

Fight on my friends!