Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A Painter for Memorial Day Weekend

That's what I've been. Between hanging out campsites and seeing old friends, I've been doing nothing but painting in my house and not a lot of working out. I'm a tight wad, and I elected to repaint my bedrooms and bathrooms myself instead of paying someone. Let's just say I'm not a good candidate for any job openings at Paradise Painting yet. I am so.freaking.slow. I still have two bedrooms to go, and I am actually entertaining the idea of calling a painter to finish it up for me.

I've been in a funk. A training funk, that is. It all started with this foot injury. I've told you before how all or nothing I am...well, I went to the doc last Wednesday and he told me I had a "stress reaction". Evidently I put too much stress on the outside of my feet while running, and I probably aggravated the tendons and ligaments on the outside of my foot while training in my racing shoes on uneven surfaces. So he gave me some heel cups to help build up the outside in my shoes and said the dreaded words "give it a couple weeks before you run again." I'll be honest, that nonchalant "give it a couple weeks" lingo doesn't work well with me. I looked at him and said "14 days? You're saying no running for 14 days starting today?" He nodded his head somewhat indecisively and said the same thing again. I needed a definitive answer if I really needed to stay off it for 14 days. So I gave it 6. I feel like I really have been off of it since Gulf Coast anyways. I mean, 6 days after Gulf Coast I ran a 3 miler and it started hurting after 1 mile. I waited 4 more days and tried it again, and it hurt after 2 miles. So then I waited the full 7 days and tried a 4 miler this morning and Ta-da!! No Pain!! Anyways, the past two and half weeks of worrying about my foot have depleted my motivation. I've done a short bike ride here and there, and a swim here and there, but other than that I haven't done much. The open water swim and bike on Saturday rekindled some fire, and the pain free running of this morning got it going nicely...so hopefully I am out of the funk. But I promise (Steph) that I will not overdo it... I will continue to take it easy with the running until I am for sure out of the woods.

Another thing is Tom. Tom is a fellow triathlete, a good friend of mine, and a great training buddy. If I was Harry Potter, he would be my Professor Dumbledore. Well, actually he's not that old or anything, but is very much that wise in the sport of triathlon. He is one of the "guys" that I talk about riding with at lunch that push me so hard I think I can't breath and have no doubt made me a much better cyclist than I ever would have been otherwise. Tom was out riding last week and became dizzy and then proceeded to lose control of the left side of his body and fall off the bike. He was rushed to the hospital and found out that his carotid artery in the right side of his head had torn, clotted, and blocked the blood flow to that part of his brain. Basically, it caused a stroke. Thankfully, the clot passed on through the bloodstream after a couple of hours, and no permanent damage was done. But Tom is going to be on the sidelines for a while. It may not sound like a big deal, but for someone who has been doing this stuff for 30 years, it's a big deal. I feel terribly sad for him. He was signed up IMFL '08...and it's not going to be the same without him. The good news is that once that artery heals, he will probably be able to ease back into his training. One thing is for sure, you can't keep a guy like that down. My guess is that he'll be back for IMFL '09.

And the winner is.....Don Rogers, Manchester TN!! That's right...Don and Amy went up to the GJCC triathlon in Nashville yesterday and Don brought home the 1st place award for Male 45-49 Beginners. Not only that, but he has been suffering from a pulled hamstring and was going easy on the run to keep from hurting it worse. Keep an eye on this guy, he's super competitive and he's ripped like Rambo...I dare say this is only the beginning of a serious triathlon hardware collection for him! And Amy gets the mental toughness award for avoiding a complete meltdown. She had a great swim, and then set off on her bike looking like a pro only to have the freaking crank fall off at mile 3.5. Can you believe that?! She had just had her bike tuned up - what a bad break. She brought her bike back to transition and went ahead and did the run like the trooper she is. A DNF stinks...but a DNF due to bike failure completely sucks, but congrats to Amy for making the best of the day anyways!

Last but not least, Briar got his cast removed this morning and he is good to go for tonight's game.
"Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play!"

Here's to getting out of funks, getting 1st places, and getting casts removed...have a good week of training!!!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The funk will pass. You trained so hard for the GC Tri and rocked it. Now, it is only natural to have some down to do some of the things you sacrificed during training. Soon, you will be looking forward to waking up early for runs, bike rides and swims.

Glad to hear the foot is doing much better and that your son got the cast off, he must be thrilled. Also, I'll be thinking of your friend Tom and hoping for his speedy recovery. Good luck with the painting.

Phil said...

You've certainly got a lot on your mind. Hope your friend recovers from his stroke soon. Fortunately he was in great shape or wouldn't be walking around any time soon.

As for your injury ... I'd like to tell you that this will be the last time you'll be down with an injury, but, I can't. We all get injured and it's hard to believe that we'll ever get back into the same shape again and the funk sets in. Fortunately, it's transitory; especially for a strong athlete like you. Hang in there and try to take the long view. Read through a few of your fellow bloggers that have worked through significant injuries and put them behind them. You’ll see that most of them went through the same cycle you’re going through.

Good luck, you’ll be up and running stronger and smarter in no time.

Lisa said...

I got the email about Tom and my heart sunk. Such a great person & I hope he recovers well.

So happy your foot is well.

....and Go Briar!

jahowie said...

I hope that Tom recovers well. I'm also hoping that you can get out of your funk. Seeing Briar get that cast off must have helped lift your spirits a bit. Keep your chin up. :-)

Missy said...

I hate it for Tom, that's a tough one. You're always thankful b/c it could have been so much worse BUT when that novelty wears off, you're just pissed.
Glad to hear the foot is better. My motivation has just returned..now, if it will just last!

Benson said...

Hey, a little recovery time is a really good thing. Embrace this time.
I love painting and if I was your neighbor, I'd finish the job for food and drink. Seriously.
You and Tom need to take this time to heal up and come back better than ever. My thoughts and prayers are with you and Tom.
The same goes for Briar...better and stronger now.

momo said...

lana, that sounds a lot like what i had going on with my foot awhile back. if you're back running so soon, you are LUCKY. it took me six weeks!! i'm still a little scared now and then - just ramp back up slowly.

i'm so sorry to hear about your friend, but it sounds to me like they diagnosed him quickly and he's going to be ok. things like that are so very scary and truly help you to put things into perspective, don't they?

the funk will pass - do not worry. and you'll probably have another before imfl. just warning you. :-) i've SO been there.

big hugs, girl!

triguyjt said...

lana...
I hate doing the detail work around the windows...don't mind rolling..and of course the toughest part of painting for me..is just getting started...


best to tom.. I am glad it was not catastrophic..but I am sure it will be tough coming back am counting on him.

You don't do pout pictures very well...LOL

good luck getting back in it.

Christine said...

Hey Lana! We all get in a bit of a funk! Hope Tom recovers quickly. The medical field is amazing at healing people! Put your faith in them (us) haha.

Jumper 2.0 said...

Your friend Tom had a carotid artery dissection (it sounds like) which blocked the blood flow, causing what was left sitting there to clot. It's a good thing that he exercises as that probably caused the symptoms to show up earlier thus an earlier intervention. Very serious, but as you said, with healing (and I imagine a stint is already placed?) he will be fine.

Hey, the good news about your funk is that it happened during a recovery period. You are so going to rock Ironman.

Marathoner in Training said...

Glad to hear that Tom is doing well now. So, is bike riding is bad for your health? I am sure that some wacko would point that you, like someone having a heart attack during a marathon and they say that running is bad for your health.
I am also glad to hear that your food is doing better.

Cliff said...

Lana,

I would say injury is a great time to get creative on how to train. Unfortuantely I tore my shoulder 4 weeks out from my first Ironman and I wasn't doing much.

Curious, have you consider pool running? it could be an alternative to sitting around and donig nothing?

Keep you and ur friend and i hope you get well soon

IronTriTim said...

Certainly can sympathise with the funk, take a break and I am sure the urge to train will return. I got into the same state last year but from overtraining in the first half of the year. Took a 2 week break and came back with a real want for training.

faithrunner said...

Hey, so you're a painter these days too? I've been painting for a month now because we're selling our house and everything has to be "neutral." Yuck! I'd hire someone if I were you, it's way too time consuming.

I hope your friend heals well and is able to get back into training at some point. It sounds pretty serious, I hope the healing is quick.

Your son looks ready to take on the world again! :) I hope there are no more broken bones this summer. Boys will be boys, won't they??!

Stephanie said...

A little birdie told me you ran at the JCC tri last Monday! Shame on you, but glad to hear that you have no pain any more.

Blood clots seem to be all the rage right now - Ashley's stepdad is in the hospital with multiple ones in his lungs, and I just got home from my Puerto Rico trip that ended with a 2-night stay in a Miami hospital due to a blood clot found in my leg. Ugh!!!