Quitcher whining!

I'm making a concerted effort to not feel as crappy about my training and conditioning as I have for the past, oh, six months. Despite feeling like an out-of-shape wimp, I'm still able to swim 2200 yards in fairly good form, still able to run a few miles at track while doing some of the drills, still able to ride my bike for at least an hour. All that while my knee is aching and my back is screaming and my lungs are wheezing and my nose drips. Instead of feeling bad about how things are now, I'm trying to feel good about how great my performance will be when my knee heals (and I still firmly believe it will heal magically on its own), when my back relaxes and when my asthma and allergies improve. And when I start to sleep once in a while. There are too many others out there who can't run at all (and my heart is with you, my dear friend) or who have cancer or another life threatening disease where getting out of bed is an effort. Enough is enough.

That's not to say I won't slip and let out a whine here or there. Forewarned!

The swim last night went much better. I joined Phil, Claudia and Jeanette at the San Ramon pool. It was hot out, somewhere around the low 90's, and the pool was crowded in a big way. Nevertheless we scored two lanes next to each other; Phil and I in one and Claudia and Jeanette in the other. I think I do better in the pool when my effort is at 4 or below. When I jack it up to 6 I think I'm trying too hard and I start flailing around and my form goes haywire and I feel like crap. When I do the higher intensity drills for long lengths it gets even worse. Resulting in meltdown. I'll have to keep an eye on that and maybe just not go that hard for that long. At least I'm not swimming into the lane markers now, a significant improvement.

Although I felt good swimming, when I got out of the pool my back tightened up and each step felt like a sledgehammer to my lower back. Nice. It's too damn hot for a heating pad so I treated it with advil and wine. The wine acted nicely as a stress reducer and at least helped with my neck pain, if not so much with my lower back pain. I'm finding that after a long swim my range of motion in my neck is highly reduced so I may have to see someone about that. Or maybe just drink a hecka lot more wine!

Family stress levels are off the charts this week. My mom decided that the pins and wire in her elbow are causing significant pain and she wants them out, stat. She saw the doctors and scheduled the surgery and decided she'd take a bus there (!!). The day before surgery we were told that she was being sent directly home afterward and she'd need 24-48 hours of constant monitoring. Since she lives alone that meant either I'd have to stay there, my bro would have to stay there, or we'd have to hire someone. We went with option 3 and after several calls I managed to find a good company that would provide an care assistant for 24 hours.

I took my mom to her appointment, helped her with all the paperwork, waited, stayed with her in pre-op while she got an IV and filled out more forms and signed more releases, then met her surgeon and anesthesiologist. Whereupon it turns out that she hadn't discontinued a medication in time and surgery would be canceled. D'oh! Everyone was very nice about it, it isn't clear whether she had actually been told to discontinue it, she was scheduled for surgery with a whole 3 days notice, so it really isn't anyone's fault. Next week we get to go through all this again.

Less than 24 hours from now I'll be swimming with the fishies at the start of my very first ever triathlon. I've managed to find something to wear, a nice sausage casing trisuit that I can swim, bike and run in. It's not beautiful but hopefully it will be functional. I'm wondering how I'll manage the run with sand between my toes and whether I should carry a bottle or use my waist pack and how much I'll need to eat and drink and if the air will clear up a little and if it'll be 80 degrees when I start cycling and will I get any sleep and how will I feel afterward and will I fall over going up the hill and will I get kicked in the water and will I trip on the gravel road and what, me, anxious? Oh yeah. You'd think I was doing more than a sprint, that I'd never been in a race, that I haven't been swimming and cycling for months, let alone running for years. I'm very anxious excited!