My Body VS My Will

So I absolutely hate to be writing this but... I got sick again!!!! From Thursday night til… well actually… I’m still not 100% better but maybe 90% better…. So from all those days, I was basically (sorry this is gross) peeing out my butt with stomach cramps. Ughhhhhhh. Friday night around 4am I was up for a good half hour straight on the toilet, sweating, achy and then cold. I knew my long ride Saturday was not going to happen with the way I felt. My friends went biking... I slept in and went to the bathroom some more. I tried and tried to replace fluids and ate bland things to not upset my stomach again. I was upset and disappointed but with Monday being a full rest day, I figured I could make up the 4 ½ ride then. I did what you normally do on sick Saturdays…. Felt sorry for myself, caught up on Real Housewives (NY & NJ versions), ran to the bathroom, tried to drink ginger ale, coconut water, plain water, tried to eat, ran to the bathroom. Yeah, it was not the Saturday I was hoping for! AND – I had a super early Sunday morning wakeup call….


Sunday the alarm went off at 5am. Why would I get up at 5am after 2 days of crappiness?!? For a 2.4 mile open water swim of course! I think I went to the bathroom about 3 times, still runny, popped some Pepto and prayed that I wouldn’t have to stop during the hour plus drive down the shore. Or worse… have to go in my wetsuit! I picked up my tri friend and off we went. Surprisingly, I felt really great swimming! My stomach didn’t hurt even after unleashing more liquid in the porta potty before the race. I made sure to drink lots of water because I knew I was dehydrated. The race was well organized and with a 1.2 & 2.4 mile swims going on I wound up in the last wave. It was two loops in the Navesink River. So my wave went off and I felt fine, no stomach cramping, I didn’t do my normal open water panic, I just swam. I cruised through the first lap in 35:45, I was psyched! This is a good 4 minutes faster than any 1.2 mile open water swim I've done in the past.

I wanted to negative split the 2nd loop since I felt so great. The course was an odd shape. I don’t even think it is a shape. You basically had to swim out from shore, hook a left around a dock, keep heading left then hook a right around a buoy, keep heading right then loop around the far buoy. The swim back from there is much easier to navigate. Got all that?? So I was cruising on the second loop, hooked the left after the dock and I felt my body going up and down in a wave. I literally got pushed off course from a boat wave! So I had to get back on my straight sighting line and my 2nd loop was a tad slower because of this. Despite that, I crossed the mat in 1:13:55 - I'm really happy about that. I didn't feel too taxed and I knew I could have hopped on my bike right away for a little 112 bike. I wound up coming 5 out of 10 in my age group, which isn’t so bad considering I was dehydrated and sick the day before.

We drove home and by the time I got back to my apartment it was around 1pm. Hot, hot, hot. I still had adrenaline from the swim, so I geared up for my 3 hour run with my fuel belt filled with gaterade and water. I ate some toast because I was hungry but didn't want to eat anything crazy before a 3 hour run. Off I went. The first step I took, I knew it was gonna be a tough run. But I was still in good spirits. As the run went on, I got slower, and slower and hotter and hotter to the point where I got a headache and had to stop and walk. I sprayed my cold water on my head but that didn't help. I just felt like I couldn't keep anything inside... all my precious water was being sweated out. After 1 loop on Central park (about 6.2 miles), with 2 walk breaks, I called it a day. My body and my will were battling it out for those painfully slow 6 miles. I really, really wanted to finish my run, but my body said no way! I knew being dehydrated was going to make me slower but I didn’t think I would have to cut the run short by 2 hours! Ugh. The heat on Sunday didn’t help either. I finished all 4 of my fuel belt bottles before I finished 6 miles… I never do that. Even though I was extremely disappointed, I knew I made the right decision. I knew that if I felt this way out on the IM course, I would do anything in my power to finish. Sunday was not race day. If I pushed it and got even worse it would have been bad news. I can live with that. (even though I’m still angry!)

So Monday rolls around and I get all my biking stuff prepped for a 4 ½ hour ride. I set my alarm for 645 to get an early-ish start without losing too much sleep. My alarm goes off and my stomach is rumbling. I went to the bathroom 4 times in 30 minutes!!! This is just not normal. I knew my ride was gonna have to be scrapped. I was too dehydrated to put in a solid long ride. I immediately started crying and crawled back into bed and woke Simon up to show him how pitiful I was. My Coach wound up texting me right when I was in the middle of my meltdown. I felt like I lost a HUGE weekend of training. But she told me to keep my eyes on the big picture… it’s one weekend of many. Very true – this is why I have a coach.

So my body won for the second day in a row and I was just so upset. After crying it out, I felt a little better. I was going back and forth on whether or not to head to Central Park for a couple of loops before the tourists took over. But I decided to make Monday a complete non-triathlon day (sorta). I got my hair cut and highlighted, I went shopping, I may have bought a new pair of tri shorts and a HR strap, but that was the only tri related things I did. I didn’t even stalk people’s blogs! Well… until last night, but by then, I was ok enough to re-enter my tri world.

This weekend was frustrating to say the least. I’m feeling better today and even knocked out my fasted 36 miles on a bike ever! Take THAT BODY! I guess when you don’t run or bike for 3 days, your legs feel like they have superpowers! Hopefully I’m on the mend. I feel about 90% better. My tummy still rumbles and I’m still eating bland food, but the bathroom stops have been cut down dramatically. This weekend I have my Rev3 half iron race… and after swimming so well on Sunday, I’m really looking forward to it! Happy Training!