does it always have to be like this?

I keep forgetting - is this what Mr. Taper is supposed to be like? There's a little over a week left to SoMa and I am...a little freaked out.

Yes, I think that would accurately describe my state of mind.

I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better.

Let me clarify - I think I have good reasons to be freaked out.

Trust me - these are good reasons...

1) The Leg that Won't Play Ball Waay back about 3 weeks ago (gosh, has it been that long?) I had a total leg failure during the Colorado Relay. I self-diagnosed ITBS - it hurt in the right places and felt better when I wore a counterforce (Patt) strap. This failure was, by my book, totally unprovoked - I had no increase in training volume or intensity leading up to it. The only thing I had to point fingers at was the shoes.

The shoes, it turns out, were a complete error on my part. I totally bought the wrong shoes! I need control shoes, not neutral - they were neutral. Oops!

The good folks at my local shop took the shoes back.

Yes. You heard me.

Took.
Them.
Back.

Even after I said I'd put at least 30 miles in them. Even after I said to them (out loud) "I screwed up, I bought the wrong shoes."

(Of course they were so nice, I HAD to buy a new top, since I didn't have to pay for a new pair of shoes. If you saw the top you'd understand.)

So I've been good to my leg - massaging it regularly with precious oils and a big foam roller, reducing volume, clothing it with jewels and a patt strap and new shoes. Gently giving it some new exercises to contemplate - some butt blasters, some hamstring bridges.

For a while, the knee seems to be getting better, while the hip started to absolutely ache. The hip thing is weird, and most definitely related to the knee (well, they are connected, after all). The hip thing has been on and off over a long time, but it's never stopped me completely. And the weird part? The hip feels fine running - but hates sitting.

Last week I resorted to Voodoo. I turned my leg into a pincushion, I got acupuncture - with electricity. The acupuncture seemed to work so well I went back for more.

Then it stopped working.

So yesterday we resorted to hardcore voodoo - this involved the injection of homeopathic solutions into the trigger points in my hip (gluteus maximum, gluteus minimus, piriformis). So far so good - the injection points are a little sore, but they don't hurt like they did before, and this is lasting longer than just pincushion-and car-battery, so I'm going with it.

I don't know how long it will last, or if it will last through a half-iron. I go back for more tomorrow.

Prolotherapy has also been brought up. I'm not turning anything down.

2) Lack of volume due to #1. I've done some good rides on the bike, but my last long run was 9 miles up the Pino Trail, before the Colorado Relay. Since then the most I've done was 7. Last time I did the arithmetic (about 5 seconds ago) 7 miles isn't quite the same as 13.1.

The biggest brick I've done for this race was the 62 mile wind ride + 7 mi bike 2 weeks ago. That's not the same as 56 mile bike + 13.1 mi run.

Training for every other race, I've worked like a dog up to the last minute - but not this one. I've been training steady all summer, but it's been reduced since #1.

I don't know what to do with myself with "reduced" training. I go around cursing and swearing.

I'm really pretty unbearable with reduced volume and pissy leg.

3) My kids are sick. Every parent knows that when your kids are sick that means it's usually only a matter of time before it's you in the bed with the heavy drugs.

I can tell I'm getting it - I have the tickly throat, and I feel like partly digested dog crap.

On the plus side, that means I have a faint chance of getting over it before next weekend. On the down side, my already reduced volume may slow to nothing for me to properly recover.

As if I wasn't moody already.

4) My beloved has gone to New York City for the weekend, leaving me as a single mom to cope with two small sicklings, and my moody, undertrained, unwell, tapering self.

He's a smart guy.

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Warning: if TMI is not your thing, you should probably stop reading now.
***


5) Of course I will get my period for this race. Of course I will. It seems to happen for EVERY. RACE.

And you know what? When I'm feeling fat and bloated and generally unattractive, there's nothing I love doing more than putting on my tightest spandex clothes and going outside to run and race in front of a few thousand strangers.

If I wasn't already moody - from reasons 1, 2, 3 and 4- this will surely put the nail into the coffin.

I warned you.

So. Even though I'm totally freaked out, I'm still willing to get on a plane and go over there and do it.

Why?

If I can come up with 5 freakouts, surely I can come up with at least 5 reasons to go...

1. I got to watch last year without playing - I really want to play this year.
2. In spite of the crap, I am hoping it'll be fun.
3. I'll get to see about 400 of my favourite people, half of whom I've never met.
4. I like a challenge.
5. Even a bad day racing will be more exciting than a good day watching TV.