To Tri or Not to Tri

Training

All day yesterday I grappled with my decision to officially register for the Columbia Triathlon in May.

I honestly couldn’t tell you what I was going to do until I went to sleep late last night. {I’ve always been a good procrastinator.}

 

I was encouraged by your positive comments…

tri-comments

…and even took a poll.

side of sneakers facebook poll

But ultimately, I was the one that had to make the decision.

 

And I decided…

 

Not to do it.

Sad smile

 

Not my favorite decision. But in the end it came down to being smart and realistic, and realizing there’d be other opportunities.

 

Why I Decided Not to Race

  • In the past 10 months, I’ve only been running for 3 weeks. A 45 minute 5K laden with obstacles and delays was the farthest I’ve run since last June.
  • The race is in 5 weeks. {6.2 miles for the run}
  • The run I hurt my knee on was 6 miles. I’d run two half marathons leading up to that 6 mile run- I was well-trained, and still got hurt.
  • I knew I couldn’t ask people for money and not fulfill my obligation to complete the race.
  • Knowing that, I might not have made the wisest decisions for my body come race day. {I.e: drop out on the run.}
  • I don’t have a bike yet
  • I already have a full race calendar, with tris in June and August, and a bike ride in July. I don’t want to blow a whole season on one race, no matter how much that’s the one I really want to do.

and ultimately,

  • If it were any of you asking me for the same advice, I’d tell you not to do it.
  • I’m keeping mom and the husband happy. Smile {Hey, they’re the ones that’d have to listen to me complain about my hurting knee and not being able to run. Kind of like they have for the past 10 months…}

 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence my inbox was full of race registration announcements this morning. I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines, and I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure I don’t have to anymore. It felt fantastic to write that race recap this weekend, and I want to write more!

 

So, while I won’t be doing the Olympic tri next month, I’m still in training mode- just for a shorter race 4 weeks later. Shorter + more time to train can only = good things. Right?

What If…

Training

I’ve been sitting at my desk since I woke up this morning, staring at the computer screen as I absent mindedly flip between the blank white screen of Windows Live Writer and the taunting registration form for the Columbia Triathlon.

columbia tri registration

{I’m already signed up through a charity team, but I have to make my entry official. By today.}

I thought I’d have a clear cut answer after Saturday’s {awesome} run. But here I am, still wavering.

During and after the race my knee felt great, but I’ve been around the block enough to know that post-race is hardly the time to make an educated decision about an injury. Whether it’s the after-run endorphin high or just delayed-onset pain, I know from experience it’s not how it feels after the run that matters.

It’s how it feels the day after the run that matters.

And frankly, yesterday, as the day went on, my knee started to hurt.

But I was thrown for a loop. Caught off guard. My IT band didn’t hurt. At all. {Victory!!}.

However, my kneecap….that hurt.

To be honest, I was expecting my IT band to be killing me. I was fully prepared for it to hurt…to scream as I walked down the stairs Sunday morning. To tell me exactly what to do about racing. But it didn’t. I didn’t know what to make of my kneecap hurting instead, and I went to bed not knowing what decision I was going to make in the morning.

I still don’t know what decision I’m going to make. My knee feels great today. IT band? Check. Kneecap? Check. All systems go…

Except I still don’t know what I want to do. I know what my brain says and I know what my heart says- only what they’re saying isn’t clear cut; the lines are blurred.

I feel great today, but the what ifs are bothering me. What if I train and I get to 5 miles and I can’t do anymore? What if I train and it all goes well, and then come race day, I can’t do it? What if I have to resign to a DNF? How does that make the people that donated money to the team feel?

And what if I train and it goes fantastic and I get to do the tri I’ve wanted to do since I knew what a tri was?