These Are The Breaks

Okay, so you may have noticed (or maybe not) that I've been MIA for over a week. I took some time off from training, mostly so I could wallow in my self pity that's been brewing for some time now. But I can also justify my 7 day hiatus with the fact that last week I had a sinus infection, accompanied by some wretched allergies. It was also "down week" with my work out classes here at work, meaning it was the week off between the 8 week sessions. So, with feeling crappy, having no classes available, and not being able to run while waiting to see the orthopedic surgeon, it all equated in me not working out for a week. After the Mother's Day 5K, I realized I had worked out every day for a week straight and needed a day of rest. Well....that day turned into 7. But I returned to my regimine (sort of) on Monday of this week.

Let me start off by saying that I have not gone 7 days in a row without training/working out in some manner since I was on maternity leave after having Harper and was not yet released by my doctor to work out. Yes, I've taken a few days off for being sick or whatever, but not a full week. That's just not me. But I've been down, stressed, concerned about injury, and, well, just not myself lately.

Last week I finally saw the ortho about my left leg. He took x-rays, which turned out fine, and then we discussed my injury. He said it sounded like your typical text-book description of a stress fracture and referred me to get an MRI (this past Monday). I finally got the results this morning and that dreaded call confirmed what I've been fearing for weeks: I DO, in fact, have a stress fracture in my left fibula.

What does this mean? Well, it means that the olympic tri that I have been training for all year is a no-go. It means a walking cast for the next 6 weeks. It means no running, or even biking, for the next 6 weeks. It means that I ran a half marathon with a stress fracture...and then 3 more races the following 3 weekends in a row, with a stress fracture. It means that everything that I have been working for this year is on hold. And yes, I do realize there will be other races. I realize that I need to take care of myself so that I can heal properly and so I don't re-injure myself. I realize it's not the end of the world and I realize that things could be a lot worse. But for right now, in this very moment, I am devastated. I feel like my dreams just got yanked out from under me. I'm disappointed and upset, and not a whole lot is going to cheer me up right now.

In addition, this means that I will be transferring my event, and the next olympic tri that our local chapter of Team in Training is doing is the Nations Triathlon in DC in September. The one I was supposed to do is in Des Moines in June. Des Moines is just a few hours away. Soooo...this means more fundraising since it will cost a whole lot more to FLY to DC than to drive to Des Moines. I'll have to ship my bike and everything. It means that I won't get to do the Hy-Vee Tri with my team that I have trained with for the past several months. Instead, I'll be doing it with a new team. AND......since it is so far away, I won't have my family there to cheer me on. We can't afford for Randy and the girls to fly to DC for this. My mom, dad, and sister can't afford to either. Even all of Randy's family was going to go to Des Moines to support me. Now, I won't have a single familiar face in the crowd cheering me on.

Everything about this right now sucks. Yes, I know that I will move on. And yes, I know that these things happen. But it doesn't make me feel any better.

In the meantime.....just hitting the pool as much as I can. I need to maintain my fitness level so I can do Nations in September with full force. Oh yeah, this also means that I won't be doing the Redman Half Ironman in September either....

I'm pretty blue. But like I said, these are the breaks. And in this case, literally.