Week 2: pain, silly pain

So week one of marathon training went well. The main thing lingering in the back of my mind throughout each run is...please don't hurt, please don't be injured...I definitely have shin splints and I'm clinging to the notion that I refuse to have a stress fracture. Basically the sharp pain in my left shin is the only hiccup in training so far. I have run all of the mileage that was on the schedule, it just hurts a little more on occasion.

Week one: day 1: 3miles

day 2: 4 miles

day 3: 3 miles

day 4: 5 miles

check, I did it!

This week it's

day 1: 3 miles (check!)

day 2: 4 miles (check!)

day 3: 3 miles (check!)

day 4: 6 miles ...must squeeze in Saturday.

So all goes well besides the injuries. Other crap rolling through my head has been the waxing and waning of motivation and realistic-ness. Many of the people I've been talking to about this either say, "OK, sounds cool." Very "uh huh...aand?" or they say. "Ha- good luck with that, everyone I know that has attempted either a marathon or ironman wanted to kill themselves after because it was so crazy."

So, I take these responses to heart for a second, doubt myself, and then creep back up to perseverance. My good buddy, Kelly has been one of the most supportive people so far. We talked about how amazing the human body is and how wasteful it would be to not use it for all this cool stuff.

There are so many patients I care for that can barely walk to the bathroom, stand up to bare their weight, or even roll over in bed. It almost makes me feel guilty for not using my fully functioning arms, ankles, heart, kidneys, eyes, lungs, mind. Working on an oncology unit gives one a warped presentation of the world where every headache equals leukemia and every surgery ends in sepsis. And when there is a bright side, we are only teased with glimmers of hope before they are completely sucked away leaving an empty, terrified, lost, and achingly hopeless person trying to crawl away from death. But this pessimism can wake you up too. We take our bodies for granted. Even the seemingly faulted parts. Even though the saying that "someone else is always worse off than you," fits nicely here, I try not to think of it in a comparative or negative light. Sure, that is how I often see it, but one has to focus on all of what there IS. As if I was just plopped on the earth with this "body." Woah! Check out these things- I have 4 long appendages full of this contractile tissue and a strong but relatively light framework that can be propelled in so many different directions. And look! I have 10 cool little digits that can grip, flicker, scratch, push, pull whenever I tell them. This body heals itself, gives itself signals for what it needs, and obeys my every command. how cool is that?

On today's run when my left shin felt like it was going to pop out, I tried focusing on how strong and solid my right leg felt. Smooth, in control, ready for the long haul. I can't ignore the negative; the signals my body is sending me that something might need more rest. But I also can't cave under one small speed bump, one doubtful comment, or one painful but doable run.

So, a little over 14 weeks to go. The plan: keep stretching, get rid of these stupid shin splints, and focus on the awesome stuff.

Day one, square one

I'm starting. Today is day one of many on the road to the ironman. The ideal plan is to be able to register for the November Ironman in Tempe this year. My triathlon experience? Swimming a whole lot since I was roughly 6 years old, biking on the same very heavy/sturdy/old-ish bike to school in 5th grade and now to run random errands. And last, running on occasion when my knees cooperate. Have I ever completed or attempted a triathlon therefore? No. But, respecting my 10 to 15 year old dreamer self, I'm gonna go all out and tackle an ironman.

The plan:

swimming- no excessive training until a month or so before, 2.5 miles should be cake-ish, but I will need to get into better swimming shape beforehand.

Biking- recovering from an embarrassing accident on my mountain bike that occurred on New Years day (hello and welcome, 2010) thanks to a few kids on skateboards who didn't feel like sharing the sidewalk with me causing me to catch my tire at a bad angle and thus flip, spill, tumble. Injuries were minor -the most annoying being a sprained thumb- also consisting of a healthy shin gash and a solid pancake of a bruise; one on each leg...yay symmetry.

So, plan is to get over myself and my fear...and my naivete regarding biking, buy a solid reliable road bike, and git crackin.

Running- I figure I'll need to be able to run a marathon in the ironman, so that is the most official and organized part of this process for now. I am registered (yes, this is one way of making myself commit) for a marathon in May- exactly 16 weeks away. A friend of mine loaned me a book, "The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer" which outlines exact running distances for 16 weeks to be able to run a marathon at the end. Reiterating my opening thoughts- today is day one.

My major apprehension about this whole thing is getting injured. A close second is boredom. I've swam long enough and been hypnotized by the bottom of a pool long enough to know that boredom can keep me from achieving what I'd like to achieve. But more real a barrier would be my history of injuries. Knee surgery in Nov. of 2008 has made my span of trouble-making so much wider. Before this surgery I couldn't run period. Scar tissue made a lovely grinding-crunching sound shortly followed by a grinding-crunching-bone-on-bone feeling....mmmmmm...

Now, I've tested it out, and so far- SOOO good:)

So here it goes. Today will be my 3 mile run. I rowed for a couple hours this morning which I think will help with my knee stability and cardiac endurance.

This weeks goal: Don't go overboard and injure yourself at the beginning...ice and stretch as my body gets used to this new routine.