I can't remember how old I was when I first wanted to go to China. Margaret lived there on and off for so many years and the timing, money or marriage wasn't right for me to get there...until now. Last fall I competed in all 3 National Championships and qualified for ITU Worlds at all 3 distances. Even then I knew I had a hamstring problem but I thought for sure I would be able to rest and heal it over the winter so that I would be revved up and ready for Beijing and Vegas. Clearly that little 55K I did in February didn't really help in the healing process. So I took May, June and July off completely and now it is August 26, 2011 and I am one week from getting on a plane to China. I decided to take the shot(s) of cortisone to see if it would not only allow me to train for China but also "fix me" completely after 3 months of PT. Well, I can honestly say I think I waited to long to take the shot.
I have been "training" since the first of August and I am happily pain free. Exhausted but pain free. I am really out of shape. Much worse than I expected. Partially because I am accustomed to being REALLY fit this time of year and I can't even workout hard enough to load my hamstring to see if it is better. When I quit training in April I was doing speed work and hitting some really sweet times I just couldn't restart each set because my hamstring wasn't working...details!
Now I am healed to some degree and hoping to make it to the finish line with some degree of dignity. I am thinking about perfecting my parade wave and maybe carry candy so I can throw it to the crowd as I cruise past! Ha! I am very grateful for the fact that I can ride and run at all. I don't intend to taper...I tapered all summer! I am going to keep working on my fitness knowing that the speed and power are temporarily on holiday and won't be joining me at the start line. I will however bust my ass and race as fast as I can because this is not really about me racing. This trip to China is twice what the trip to Australia was! I will be with John, my father, my sister, amazing friends and seeing a part of the world I wondered if I would ever see! And now I get to see it with Margaret and Walt who have both been before, speak the language and actually are my greatest fans! I never imagined my father would care at all about my racing...and maybe he doesn't. If World's were in some remote part of the world that he has no interest in seeing then I am sure he would expect a call to hear how my race went. That's cool. I am so grateful that he has grown to at least appreciate how I live my life. I know he doesn't really get it but he tries and that is pretty cool.
I am going to blog from China regularly as it will be a fun way to keep my friends who couldn't make the trip close!
Beijing here I come!
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