I have bad knees...blah, blah, blah. You've heard it, I like to deny it. Well, it's getting a little harder these days. Recently, I accompanied Rick on part of one of his long runs. I ran nine miles (I am NOT supposed to do that) and well....felt great. I chuckled quietly to myself thinking, "All those so-called orthopedic specialists misdiagnosed me - even the guy who has seen the inside of my knees. What does he know?" It turns out, he knows a lot. Yes, I can run some longer distances, but I pay dearly the week (or two) after the run. Very swollen right knee, mystery stabbing pains in both knees - really not ideal.
So, like a rational brat, I went into a little funk this week. I moped. I had conversations with myself about quitting the whole silly triathlon thing. I pictured a fall season without long training rides. I was starting to convince myself that this was just what I wanted. (Clearly, I was out of school and had way too much time on my hands).
Luckily, I tend to voice my worries out loud. I think it's healthy, Rick may think it's just annoying. His advice: don't worry, if you have to, just walk the (insert curse word) marathon at IMFL. He pointed out that many very nice people end up walking the ironman marathon - and they actually trained to run it. He talked about his experience of walking almost all of Coeur d'Alene's marathon last year.
This whole notion of "not worrying, just walk it" has taken a big load off of my shoulders. I just have to be sure my swim and bike times are decent enough that I give myself enough time to stroll through the streets of Panama City Beach in November. Am I racing for an overall PR? Obviously not. That's okay. I'm just hoping all the stars align so I can hear "Susie Leahy, you are an Ironman" one more time.
