Learning the Hard Way
I sit typing this very slowly, both wrists wrapped in gauze to ensure I don't bend them back. (Reference: 11 days until...) All because I was too stupid to wear gloves for a four-hour bike ride. They're almost better, but I still don't have complete function in my right fingers. Currently when I straighten them, (for those of you cool enough to have watched "Mork and Mindy" as a kid) I'm stuck in a permanent alien salute.
I should have been more careful, I know. But I grew up with paranoid parents constantly warning me of the dangers of every activity except for breathing. Did you ride the bus as a kid? I didn't. I was the last one in the car line waiting for my mom to get off work, because if I'd ridden the bus, I would have been required cross the street BY MYSELF (horrors!). Gymnastics? I was great! But I had to quit because my mom was afraid I'd break my neck. What about getting on an airplane to go on vacation? Nope...road trip! Dad is afraid of flying. To be fair, he DID work in an emergency room for several years...I guess they'd seen it all.
So, in silent protest, I've often snubbed my nose at taking precaution. Not that I exactly consider myself a "rebel" (I mean, I like, wear my seat belt and all), but if I don't consider something life threatening, I assume I can probably get by with cutting a few corners.
Apparently, though, when you're training to propel yourself 70.3 miles by sea, bike, and foot, you need to actually....IDK...prepare as much as possible? Go figure.
Let's look at all the things I should have been doing that I haven't:
1. Taking vitamins. There's a full bottle sitting in my cabinet, untouched.
2. Wrapping my feet with gauze to straighten my alignment. My massage therapist told me my feet naturally drop to the side (like a cowgirl...yeehaw!).
3. Wearing the right workout shoes. Three year old tennis shoes, no matter how great they were at purchase, do not = the "right workout shoes."
4. Wearing the right non-workout shoes. Heels do not = the "right non-workout shoes."
5. Stretching, before and after every work out. I stretch MAYBE once a week.
6. Sitting on the bike correctly. I've been gripping the handlebars for dear life rather than crouching in an aerodynamic pose and relaxing my hands. Hence my injury.
7. Also during biking, wearing the right gloves (with gels) and wrapping my handlebars (also, hence, my injury)
8. Strength training. I'd be in a much better place with speed and endurance, and less prone to injury, if I'd bulked up more.
9. Eating better...much better. And drinking more water.
So, for the next 9 days, I'll be a vitamin-taking, orthopedic shoe-wearing, foot wrapping, gel-gloved strength trainer with good bike posture holding a bottle of water and eating carrots. I can't make up for lost time, but I can make the most of the time I have. I guess that's true of everything in life.
Meanwhile, I'll also be figuring out the exact salt, electrolyte and fluid intake I need directly before, during, and after race. This one is BIG - I could actually get something called hyponatremia (which means I take in more fluid than I lose and dilute the sodium content in my body) and get really sick or even die during the race. (Read about it here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=790). Women and/or beginning triathletes (check and check) are more susceptible to this, since they are slower and therefore racing / sweating / drinking fluids for a longer period of time.
As a result, getting a good nutrition consult is also on my list of to-do's this week. I'll need to determine how much sodium I lose in a typical workout (I have a feeling it's a lot - deer hunters could use my services as a salt lick by the end of a long run). Then I'll know what I need to do to be safe during the race.
And if I'm tempted to think, "it won't happen to me," all I need to do is look at my bandaged wrists and remember that sometimes (ok most of the time) momma knows best.
Damn...it took forever to type this post.
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