Tracy's LP AquaVelo
The Perfect Storm!
So, many of you know that I am coming back from injury. In 2009, had to scratch all my races due to knee issues. 2009 was also a health issue problem, part of the low thyroid club. I was born with a non-functioning thyroid. I am very lucky they found it when they did, otherwise I would not have developed normally- Was on the same dose for years, but in 2009, things needed to be adjusted. finally started to feel myself again about February of this year. Training was a start/stop/start cycle. Finally things started to improve and was able to start running gradually end of March/April. Still had to be careful though. I had good and bad training days depending on which knee showed up- Happy Knee or Mad Knee. Kiniseo-taping really seemed to help, especially on the bike. The issue was a combined patella femoral syndrome and Pes anserine tendonitis ( basically the hamstring tendons and insertion into tibia)
As time was getting closer to LP, felt as though I was running out of time. I was tolerating longer rides and runs, but for a July IM? To bad I did n't sign up for AZ. I still wanted to go for it though. I had no time expectations, just was happy to toe the line and see what happens. I had a good RR on the IMWI course during rally. It was slow, but I was progressing.
Move ahead to about 10 days before the race, started with a little cough Thursday, July 15. The humidity and air quality in Baltimore was not good, hoping it was that. Started up my advair and singulair again. Friday, had to work 12 hrs in the OR, really not feeling good, coughing a little more, occasional wave of nausea. Came home that night, fell asleep on couch. Saturday, still not feeling great, took it easy, rested, fluids, airborne. Sunday, had to work again, just one more shift and I'm off ( also really couldn't call in- weekend, one of the other CRNAs that was supposed to work was in hospital with serious eye infection) Still coughing, waves of nausea
, ugh. what timing. 
crashed again after work. Anyway, that all continues. Monday, up later than I wanted, behind on packing, cough not sounding good. finish packing and head up to PA to Mom's place. Tuesday, mom and I head up to my aunt's house in NH. Mom keeps asking " Are you sure you don't have pneumonia?, you don't sound so good." I just love it at my aunt's house, overlooking a lake- good place to recuperate. I hear the same thing from my two aunties and uncle and one of their neighbors every time I cough." Wow, that does not sound good, Are you sure you should be doing this?" It really didn't sound good, not making any decisions yet, I want to start and see what happens. Wed am get up, thought i felt a little better, decide to do a couple loops around the lake and short run. Did a 1 hr ride and 15 min run/walk. Wiped the rest of the day, asleep by 9pm that night
Thursday head up to Lake Placid via the the Champlain ferry from Burlington VT- love that ride, got to go by my alma mata- UVM
Beautiful campus!
Went to team dinner Thursday. It was great to see everyone, and meet new people. ran into David Martin aka DocMartin, he was kind and called in an antibiotic prescription for me since it was now over a week. I was thinking of going to urgent care in am- so it saved me a step. Thanks David!!!!
Friday, went to 4 Keys, great reinforcements by Patrick. Went to athlete checkin, went for swim a little a little later, didn't push, swam easy. Still feeling a little run down, went back to the house and chilled rest of day with family. My sister and niece and nephew arrived.
Sat am- mom is sick now ( no one told me at first) we are hoping a 24 hr thing- she tends to have these 24 hr puking/fever dealios, which is what it was. Still kind of stressed, trying to stay within my box. I'm still coughing, but sounds a little better, now my nose is running. I am basically a big bugger/mucous factory- man was does all this stuff come from? Took my bags/bike down to transition. Trying to figure places to park in am with mom for wheel chair, where she would be able to see. My mom was really looking forward to this trip, especially since she missed the Couer D'alene trip in 2008 when my day was very sick. It was like a jail break from the senior community that she lived in. after showing my aunts around, go back to house and chill.
Took my last anitibiotic, during dinner, my stomach was not very happy, even though I took it with food. Friday, I had a little stomach cramping, but it only lasted 15 min. After dinner went to lie down for a bit, stomach eased up, finished making infinit bottles etc , last minute stuff for special needs. Went to bed, was able to sleep pretty easily, awoke at 2ish to take naked juices. hard time getting 2nd one down, never really able to go back to sleep.
SUNDAY
Got up about 4:30 ish, dressed, took another 2 Naked juices, again, hard time with the 2nd one, did not happen during race rehearsal. Tried a dry English muffin- again, not going down as i would like. Also that am, coming out of room, in the dark, forgot that step that was there, slight roll of my ankle, crash, big F-bomb, foot stung a few minutes- good thing about Lax/hypermobile joints, it would take a lot for me to sprain it. Head down to transition, a little later than i wanted. got things taken care of. although i thought my chip was in my morning bag, got there it was not. Announcer at that moment announce if you forgot/lost your timing chip......I am usually pretty organized with these things. very unusual for me not to have it The lines for a portapotties very LONG everywhere, it is becoming an emergency at this point, stomach cramping up, feel like I am going to puke. My sister and niece take my special needs bags down to SN area. I see Suzanne and Dana, hugs, it was so good to see you guys! Also saw Keith, Eric, David- who else? get my timing chip situated, stomach a little better for a bit. Get in water.
Swim (1:33:02)
Seeded myself half way across lake , maybe 10 rows back? saw David Martin again, he was like my angel. He then moved back a bit. Wearing my favorite goggles, they never leak or fog, no problems Thursday. This am, leaking
. Finally get them so don't seem to leak. Gun went off. becomes a clobber fest/washing machine. Got an elbow to the eye, made the goggle that was not leaking suck hard against eye, didn't want to mess with it cause they would leak again, but pressure became to much, flipped on back, adjust, flip back. take a breath, inhale a bunch of water. get going again. Counting strokes. Despite clear water, people can't seem to swim straight, or have a feel of body presence. People keep swimming against me, into me. I just don't get it, I see someone around me and adjust my hand entry. Do people swim with their eyes closed? It seems that way. One guys keeps hitting my calf/foot and grabbing. i have no other choice but to do a few vigorous flutter kicks. it stops. My cap comes off. SERIOUSLY? put it on, 123, counting strokes. get to turn around, not as bad as other events. get back after first loop, 43 minutes, ugh, that is really slow for me- stay in my box, focus, I said i would not think about times, but that is really slow for me. Start 2nd lap, more of the same, able to get closer to cable, still seem to be around people that are all over the place, hit turn around, left goggle leaking all the way back, have to keep flipping. start coming back, about half way back, wave of nausea came upon me suddenly, stop, tread water, dry heaving, making God awful noises, Kayaker at my side before I know it. He tells me to hold on as long as I need. get things under control, won't be done with swim unless I swim. Swim back. See my time, not thrilled, slowest time ever! wet suit stripped, run up shoot, see my aunts, they grab me so my mom could see me, kiss me- whats wron?- tell them I'm nauseas- what happened to your eye? Its red, goggles leaked and i got punched- probably small blood vessel broke from goggle sxn- corner of right was all red, vison ok in that eye. My aunts tell me its ok to stop. I say no, i want to keep going. I see my sister and niece.
T1-11:22-
the theme of the day- everything was going to be slow. Mostly due to talking to family? I jogged slowly to transition, grabbed my own bag, shoes, helmet, sunglasses belt, arm warmers.no volunteers immediately available, packed up stuff, and left. had to get my bike, mount line was not to bad. got on and left for bike
Bike-
started just riding along. As climbing first hill hearing a funny clicking noise. get off to check things out, not a problem on sat before turning bike in. there was some grass and stuff, clear that up, get on ride adjust gears a little, no further noises. see all the people hammering by. trying to keep slow and steady, but I know I'm going slow. Just don't have that spark. there was a very light rain, which stopped . Road was dry for descent. I like the thrill of going down hill. On 9n,still everyone passing me, my stomach still giving me issues,, light cramping. my nutrition was a 3 1/2 hr bottle of infinit. Did ok with it in training, ot tired of it at end of training rides. As theday went on, stomach was cramping taking both water and infinit, so started taking in less, but taking some in. Start the climb back to placid. I was thinking, maybe I should stop, just not feeling good. I got to pappa bear, and the EN folks cheering me up the hill-Thanks guys! I decided to go for 2nd loop, maybe i'll feel better in 10 min or so. Get my top secret weapon from special needs- WATERMELON!!!! It saved me in WI, took 2 pieces,rest in pocket refilled speedfill & aerobottle with infinite. I made the 1;30 pm cut off by like 17 minutes, not a lot of time. again on climb out of town people out of saddle, let em go, down hill fine again, when i got to 9n munched on the rest of watermelon. Stomach seemed to take that ok, my energy picked up a bit, started to feel a little better, my cycling stroke became more smooth, next think I know, i'm starting to catch up to people, start 2nd out and back, catching more people- feeling good until the ausable forks turnaound. My one thing now was make the bike cut off, Then I tried some more infinit, wouldn't go down, spit it up everywhere, I'm sticky everywhere, even water cramping again, start the climb, keep looking at watch, its going to be tight. The winds were really picking up around whiteface, just ridng as smooth as I can. My speedfill was getting low, finally saw some blue shirts,- more water, chain drop. Its really getting close, pass river rd, and knew then I was not going to make bike cut off. had about 8 minutes to make it back and the bears to climb. Made it up papa bear, made my way back to transition. I heard a bunch of people yelling, it was my family, i did not see. I missed bike cut off by about 10 minutes. The hard part was not having the choice to go on. Having my chipped removed. Most likely, because of how my stomach was, I probably would not have continued, but I wanted it to be my choice. The volunteer by the transition bags was so nice and comforting. She had a similar thing happen with a respiratory infection and not making bike cut off. She helped me until my sister found me. She helped me get my shoes and socks on, got me water. My sister found me and gave me a big hug, helped me with my stuff and met up with the rest of my family. Probably had a fever. That night I was warm and had chills for a bit. Next day, still was warm to touch. oh well. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger
So this was not my year. I have completed 2 other ironman events, and I know I will do it again.
I am so happy to be part of Endurance Nation!
I have learned so much and have met some really incredible people!
Thanks to everyone cheering from near and far, it makes a difference! Also thanks Leigh Boyle for taking time to give me suggestions, watching video of me running. i'll get this happy/Mad knee thing figured out eventually. Also again, special thanks to David Martin for calling in scrpt for me. The whole thing took a full 2 weeks to resolve, energy is coming back finally. thanks to the EN Chicas! You guys rock. A special thanks to Rich and Patrick for getting this whole thing started- you guys are amazing!
It was great seeing people the next morning at breakfast.
What's next for me? I plan revenge on Lake Placidin 2012 . I decided to do the Half- Full triathlon in Columbia MD on 10/3/10 It is a 70 mile triathlon raising money for young adults with cancer for ulman cancer fund and livestrong. Taking it easy, with a little activity the rest of this week, then start up next week. I really need to be focusing on my strength & flexibility, more regular massages. A massage therapist told me recently if i were more consistent with flexibility, a lot of issues will go away
I also need to figure out my nutrition. I realize that i don't do well with concentrated infinit. Need to work on that
Thanks everyone for your support and kind words. Thanks for reading this, sorry it is so long!
Comments
Freakin Sounder!!!! Ya know, I knew how this story ended and you still made me cry! Damn you!!!
Tracy- I may just have to put IMLP 2012 on my calendar just because I gotta be there to see you get your revenge. You are gonna kill those bears next time around!!!
Tracy,
I'm so glad you wrote this. One thing I never mentioned to you at breakfast was that I saw you standing at the entrance to the oval as I came into finish and I was so bummed because I knew you weren't able to finish.
You deserve a lot of credit. I know I would have had a hard time hanging out at breakfast listening to everyone talk about their day. You still came and hung out and I was so glad you did. It could have been real easy to throw a pity party, but I guess that's just not you.
You'll be back and I look forward to following your progress as you begin your assault on LP 2012.
Dave
I'm so sorry it wasn't your day. There are so many things that our out of our control, being 100% healthy on race day is one of them. You were so thoughtful about making sure you didn't pass on any germs. You made the most of what was going to be a less than perfect day. It's a shame that you were unable to make the decision to continue on your own. Your day will come in 2012.
Cary
I hope you are feeling better---not just your lungs and belly---but also in your heart. I know that you shall come back and have your day in the IM sunshine. IMLP 2012, huh? Kevy and I just might join you for that one...
I read this and started thinking, I may have to join Tracy for the revenge of Placid in 2012. Chicas think alike!
Tracy, I was thinking of you this morning while I was running. I knew this story and was thinking about how you did your absolute shining gold star best with the day and conditions you were given. I aspire to race with such grace.
And yeah, there will be the crushing of Placid in 2012! Can't wait to see you do it!
When you're in town for IMWI next month, I will make sure I set aside some time to work with you on your knee issue... Let's make it happen.