I have heard this a lot. "Trust your training". Being a disciplined athlete when it comes to training throughout the summer and winter I have never really thought too much of what this really means, until now.
With just over a week left until the start of the 2014 Minneapolis Duathlon, a race I have been excited to do for over a year and since the start of my duathlon racing endeavors, I caught a pretty nasty cold. For the entire weekend before the race I had no ambition to train. I had been training all summer and decided the best thing to do was get some rest and take it easy until race day. Sunday night I came down with a nasty cough and what, to me looked like some swollen lymph nodes on the right side of my neck. I called the hospital for an appointment on Monday morning to get the swelling in my neck looked at. Within a half hour after calling I found myself sitting in the waiting room. The nurse called me in and did the standard weight, height, blood pressure, etc.. All of my vitals looked good except I had a slight fever of 100.5 degrees.
I had felt a little head cold coming on when I woke up that morning, but nothing that seemed too bad or unbearable, but then again I'm a guy and tough it would get better as the days went on. After the nurse left I waited for the doctor to come in. A few short minutes she walked in and asked me some questions and was a little concerned about the lump in my neck. She poked around the lump in my neck and decided to double check with another doctor as to which antibiotic to prescribe me. A few minutes she came back in with the other doctor and he took a quick look at my neck and wanted to get a CT scan to see what exactly was in my neck, as it was too large to be my lymph nodes.
By this time I was a little worried. I had never been to the hospital a lot, especially for potentially serious issues. Before the CT scan I was given an antibiotic shot in my hip which I think helped me feel a lot better towards the afternoon. I checked in and almost immediately was directed to the room for the scan. After I was done they told me they would call once they had looked at the images and let me know what to do from there. I returned to work and within a few hours I received a call from the doctor telling me I had a mass of some kind in my neck on my corroded artery and they were going to set me up to meet with a specialist on the issue and possibly surgery. I called them back immediately and they were in the process of getting a hold of the specialist.
A few nerve wrenching hours later the specialist called me with some good news. He said as long as I did not have any pain, which I didn't, he wanted to meet on in a few days and prescribed me some antibiotics. I held off from training until I met with him on Wednesday and planned on basing my decision to race on Sunday on the meeting in a few days. Wednesday came and I still had somewhat of a cough, but I could tell it was slowly making progress to getting better. After meeting with the specialist he concluded I had a Branchial Cleft Cyst in my neck which is a lump that develops in the neck or just below the collarbone. It is a type of birth defect and would probably need to be removed surgically in the future once the swelling recedes. I was relieved to finally know what was going on and even though it was pushing on my corroded artery it would still be okay to race Sunday as long as I felt good.
Race Day
The real test
I finally felt like a whole new person since the previous weekend, but was still a little concerned since I hadn't done any biking or running for a week an would really find out if trusting in my training would work. My girlfriend had been sick the night before at her parents and was planning on running the 5k on Sunday, but did not feel up to it in the morning and stayed home. Her parents and I packed up our bikes and headed off. As we were driving we could see some lightning off in the distance and thought, since it was quite warm already, it was just heat lighting. We arrived a few blocks from the starting area, parked the car and got our bikes ready. Just as we were pulling out of the parking ramp it started down pouring rain.
After a few minutes it had stopped raining and we were on our way to the start. My girlfriends dad and I walked to the bike transition area. I was excited to still see a lot of good spots to pick from to put our bikes. After meeting back up with his wife we walked around the transition and start area and made our way towards the 5k and duathlon finish area which was just around the corner. We took a short 10 or 15 minute jog and headed back towards the start corral to stretch out a bit.
We worked our way to the start and talked about where we were all going to meet after the race. The first wave started right on time and minute by minute each section was released onto the course. Before I knew it we were the next group to go. Standing in the front of the corral with a clear running path ahead of me I shot off the start feeling good and quickly found a good pace. Since this was my second duathlon I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but hoping the heat later in the day would not get too unbearable. Springing though the first 5k course with a time of 22:41 I felt good going into the bike section.
The Bike
I can't feel my leg!
A shortened 14.5 mile bike course due to some road construction on the normal 16 mile course was a bit rough. Only three miles into the bike ride riders were challenged with a huge hill to climb. After reaching the top I figured I had at least went about 5 miles by now. Nope, only 3. As I rode on I tried not to look at the miles as how much I had left or how much I had completed and to just take everything as it came in the moment. Towards the half way point the residential roads were a lot rougher than the rest of the course. Dodging pot holes and bumpy concrete I made it to the turn around to head back to the transition area.
The other side of the road was no better, but seemed to fly by as much of it was down hill. With about a mile or two left to go on the bike I came to the last big down hill section, which proved to be a major problem and crash site for a few other racers. At the base of the hill a rider was being helped by race officials and paramedics as riders were adverted around him though a narrow riding lane. A lot of the section from then on was a no passing zone and other riders in front of me were alerting oncoming bikers of the accident at the bottom of the hill.
Sweat was pouring off me toward the end of the bike and as I crept closer to the transition area to start the third and final leg of the race I could definitely feel the change in temperature rising. Coming up the last hill and around the corner to the last stretch on the bike the sun had finally made it's way out. From previous experience after getting off the bike and running again is a whole new ball game. Sluggish legs, exhaustion and other factors start to catch up and could result in a disastrous finish.
The Last Leg
Just keep running
Coasting toward the dismount area after about a 47 minute ride I was hoping my legs were not in too bad of shape to finish strong. I got off my bike and to my surprise I felt pretty good, except for my left foot which was completely asleep. As I made my way to racking my bike I shook my leg to get some blood to flow into it and get rid of the tingling feeling. I no more than mounted my bike and took a quick drink of water before the circulation was back in my leg. The first half mile after the bike is where I like to gauge myself for the last run. After 17 or more miles and about an hour or more of pushing your body can take it's toll.
Making my way out of the transition area once my legs were somewhat back to normal I did not feel like I was running through quick sand and decided to take the first couple miles easy. After about a mile I was slowly catching up and passing some of the other racers who had passed me on the bike, which helped give me a little boost and pick up the pace a little more since I was feeling surprisingly good at this point. I eventually came to the turn around which I knew there was only about a mile and a half left to go. I quickly drank some water and wiped the sweat off my face with towels the volunteers were handing out.
From the beginning of the last leg my goal was to not stop running. I knew if I could keep that thought in the back of my head I would be able to finish strong. As I came up on the 3 mile mark I knew the finish was just around the corner. I could hear everyone cheering the runners on as they neared the finish. A slight smile and indescribable feeling of accomplishment came over me as I neared the finish. I knew then what trusting in your training meant, but more importantly I knew what trusting in yourself could do.
The ER
Good news and a few hours later
After finishing and walking around drinking as much water as I could and scarfing down some cookies and chips. I had been looking for my girlfriends dad who should have finished shortly after me, but that was not the case. I heard my name being called over the speakers to go to the medical tent. I made my way over and received the news he had crashed and was brought to the ER at a nearby hospital. My girlfriends mom was at the tent we we went to get my bike and made the short drive to the hospital. He was in good spirits when we arrived and with a few scratches to the face, a scraped up right leg, a deep, all the way to the bone hole in the other leg's shin and what we later found a HUGE bump on his hip/ butt. My girlfriends mother and I waited patiently for about 5 hours as the doctor fixed him up and make sure everything would be okay.
A few hours after waiting in the hospital the police officer who had his bike called and told us we could pick it up. Surprisingly, hardly any damage was done from the crash. The handlebars were bent to the side a little, but nothing serious was broken or bent on the bike as far as I could see. We went back to the hospital and a while later he was cleared to leave. A few stitches and scratches are better than broken bones any day in my book.
After thoughts and other fun stuff
With this race being my second duathlon I have learned a lot from training, racing and the overall experience. My training for this race was not necessarily just for a duathlon like I previously did for my first. Throughout the summer I had focused a little more on running and mixed in biking on my days off or when I felt like I wanted to just ride. I found a lot of times when training on a schedule I would become a little stressed or focused on each workout that was scheduled. If I had a busy week or missed a day in previous training I would feel somewhat uneasy and stressed. This year, and from keeping a fairly consistent training schedule I have had better and what seems like stress-free training, which has kept the fun in what I like to do. I do not recommend newcomers to try this style of training as it was good to have a schedule and guide as to what it takes to build up my endurance and body for races like this. I have found doing what I feel like doing on a specific training day has worked for me and a lot more enjoyable.
Now, a few weeks after the race my health problems that I was dealing with before the race, I have since had the cyst removed from my neck. Surgery went well and healing fine. With a week of recovery, no running and minimal exercise I feel this is a good time to reintroduce myself into enjoying running and exercising again after a busy and fun summer. It has been nice to just take it easy and enjoy the fall weather at a slower pace. Being trapped inside on a treadmill or shelling out money on a gym membership is not really my thing and I have some new and fun ways to keep myself outside and busy during the upcoming winter months, which I am excited for.
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