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November 3, 2005
Starting Over
So here's the situation.
My feet hurt. They aren't good. They actually don't hurt as badly as I thought they would this morning but regardless, I know they are headed back to their usual PF pain cycle.
I was pretty sad about this fact last night (in anticipation of the PF pain today) and this morning. I realized that I can't continue to run for now. I need to give my feet a break. A serious break. This is definitely the longest injury I've had. Over 5 months now, but likely to be many more. I figure I need a 3 month minimum of no running to even hope for this to get better. I'll cross my fingers that that's it.
But I refuse to mourn the loss of running. Quite frankly, it's not something worthy enough to mourn. I spent many hours of my life (in my younger years in HS and college) mourning running and it's no way to gain friends, that's for sure. Allow my relgious convictions to sneak through - running is not and will not be the Lord of my life as it has been in the past! (I'll leave that up to God :)
So my new plan is this - train for a triathlon next summer. I'm truly not someone who can just go to the gym day in and day out and work out. I need something competitive on my mind for motivation. Competition drives me, what can I say?
Potential problems:
(1) I don't have a bike
(2) I don't have access to a pool
(3) the triathlon requires running - of which I'm incapable of doing right now
Lucky for me - I've already thought of answers:
(1) I can "train" on a stationary bike in the gym until the spring. Come spring time, when you would actually be able to ride a bike outside, I can buy a bike. I'm not trying to be a world-beater in this triathlon, I just want to finish it. Therefore I don't need some fancy bike. One with 2 tires and a seat will do.
(2) After some looking at the budget, some playing around with numbers, my supportive husband (who would give up eating if he had to in order to afford something I wanted) figured out that we could afford for me to join our YMCA. I can use the pool facility at Pitt but their pool hours for the general student population (literally) are noon to 1:30 pm Mon-Fri. You can see how that might be a problem for me. The YMCA also has spinning classes, the pool, cardio equipment, weights, etc... It's 3 1/2 minutes from our house. And for not much more O can also join as a "basic member" and play all the pickup basketball that his little heart desires.
(3) Now the big one - how in the world will I run? For one, I'm picking a triathlon at the END of summer. I'm really, really, really hoping that by giving my feet 3-4 months totally off, I can start running again in March or April. If that is indeed the case, I can get in enough "training" to finish a 5K at the end of a triathlon. I figure my natural running talent and my 15 years of running background can at least buy me a 25 minute jog. Over the next 3-4 months I can totally focus on swimming and biking - both sports that I could definitely use some help with. I think it will be fun to try out new sports. I was looking at some triathlon training plans today and I realized that before I could even start them, I need to get in the pool and be able to swim for longer than 10 minutes!
And that's that. My ever supportive co-worker told me she would do the triathlon with me next summer. She too is a HS/college athlete with volleyball as her sport and she understands sports injuries and all that jazz. She's an awesome biker, okay runner and questionable swimmer. We agreed that if we don't drown in the swimming portion, we should be okay. :)
I will be looking to my fellow bloggers for triathlon training advice - especially Audrey and Leilani and Blondie (for the swimming). (by the way - I was looking at some "swimming workouts" and I didn't even know what they meant - um...is there a Swimming for Dummies out there? :)
I am excited about my new adventure. And I'm trying not to think of the possibility that my feet may never get better. I was wondering last night what in the world I would talk about in my blog and if I should continue doing it. Now I think I have my answer.
Posted by beth at November 3, 2005 8:18 PM
Comments
First of all, I think doing a tri sounds like a ton of fun. I've done a few in the past and every summer I think about doing one again, just for the fun of it. Joining the local Y is a great idea. At our Y, it is cheaper to join as a family, so you may want to look into that. It was something like $44 a month for me, but for my mother and I it is $63 a month. They are very flexible about what they define as a family as well. Spinning is an awesome workout, I like to do it when I take voluntary time off from running. I can definitely help you out some with swimming. Swim workouts are soooo different from running workouts. I hope that your foot is feeling better soon. Seriously, seek out as many opinions as you possibly can-there has got to be someone out there who can make it so you can run without pain. Do you have any running friends in your area? If you do, ask who they have been to-sometimes our doctors don't refer to the docs and PTs who support our running.
Good luck and keep us posted!!!
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at November 3, 2005 9:20 PM
I don't know if I'd give up eating COMPLETELY for Beth....maybe everything EXCEPT pizza!!!
Posted by: O at November 3, 2005 9:33 PM
1) I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!! YOu totally rock and you will do awesome at your triathlon.
2) Since you probably won't swim every day you can work out at that as hard as you want and not have to worry (as much) about hurting yourself (unlike running where workouts and recovery have to meticulously planned). It's cool to just go out and workout hard if you feel like.
3) While your feet will probably thank you with all of this time off, I am sure you will be able to run 5K even with minimal training if necessary. I didn't practice biking b/c it was too much for my recovering knees to bike and run this summer, but I knew I could go out on that one day of the race and do it all since it was just one day :) (While I wanted to do at least respectable in the tri, I also wanted to just finish the thing b/c it was SOOO cool to do something new).
4) My school friend who I keep referring to in my blog can't run (ever) b/c of a complete knee replacement she had a few years ago following a skiing accident. The previous tri she did (Sprint distance) and the one she and I are doing together in the spring (Sprint distance) she plans to walk the run portion. How hard core is that?? So, worst case scenario...you are no less hard core for finishing the darn thing however you can. (On tv i saw a guy in the Ironman walk the bike portion-carrying his bike-b/c his bike got hit by a car and destroyed.) Sometimes it's all about however you can finish!
5) You, L, and I will all be training at the same time! Yeah! I am so glad to be able to read about another person's (in addition to L's) swimming workouts.
6) I am hopeful for your feet. I am thinking good feet vibes for you and I know you will most likely do much more than "just finish" the tri. You're obviously a natural athlete and your competitors better watch out!
Posted by: Audrey at November 3, 2005 10:23 PM
does your husband have a single brother :) ?
Posted by: lilly at November 3, 2005 10:34 PM
Good luck in your new adventure. When I first started doing tris I used a pink beach cruiser and entered in the "fat tire division". I didn't care I was just happy to do them. I will tell you after I finished my 1st tri I got the same great feeling I had after I finished my 1st marathon.
Posted by: Dawn at November 3, 2005 10:37 PM
That is very exciting news, Beth! I look forward to reading about your training. I hope your feet respond well to the time off.
Posted by: Barb at November 8, 2005 3:35 PM