Another Exciting Challenge

“I like to talk about managing pain, and now I have another grand opportunity.”  –Me

Have you ever quit your job, gone on your first freelance video shoot, slipped on a throw rug, and slammed your ribs into the corner of a hard wooden table two weeks before your Ironman?  If not, I’m about to tell you how that feels.

Ever since the injury I have mainly been dealing with the pain of . . . breathing, which is a great problem to have when you’re heading into a 12-hour endurance event.  The worst part is, it happened just as I was starting to feel good about the race.

I had been swimming every day (not long) and really dialing in my form.  For kicks I swam the next day and had to stop at 400 meters.

It’s not excruciating pain, but a nuisance for sure.  To make it worse, I tried a little jogging on Saturday and every time I landed it was irritating.  So, we can add bruised rib to the strained Achilles/Plantar Fasciitis questions revolving around my run.

The good news:  It happened at the start of my taper.  Maybe it’s a spiritual sign.  Maybe it’s a way for higher powers to hold me back and make sure I rest and recover.

I’ll take a little bike ride this afternoon and see how that goes, but find this to be an incredible test of patience.

On one hand I am sort of comfortable because I’ve always believed exercise should give you energy and not take it away.  On the other, I have typically been the “cram all night for an exam” kinda guy.

But I believe preparing for months is always better than jamming it all into a few days.  I have to trust the weeks, months, and last year have gotten me to a point where I am ready to cover 140.6.  And honestly, I do believe that, but the question is always, “How well will I cover it?”

We’ll find out soon.