I think it was after White Lake I started with the plantar fasciitis issue. Probably from a combination of things, but nonetheless, it was with me. I struggled through the month up until Latta, sort of knowing in the back of my head I had an issue. Then by post-Latta, I was faced with the reality of having to address it. I had also started working with friend, coach and local pro, Lance Leo. I’d hooked up with him to help me better prepare for my next half and ‘A’ race in November.
I’d actually started with Lance before I had to come out with the plantar issue. The first few weeks of the schedule were not fun. Or at least the morning after any run workout was not run. Overnight, my plantar fascia would tighten up and when I woke up and tried to walk, it felt like I had a knife in the bottom of my foot and heel. I found myself hopping or scooting to the bathroom in the AM due to the pain. I love racing, but life and walking is much more important. It was time to address the problem.
Long story short, this put me out of running for 11 weeks. As a substitute, I ramped up the bike volume and was working in water running, which was very, very not fun. I also started hitting our chiro/active release doc regularly to really stretch and work out that plantar area. The combination of all these activities seemed to be helping, however I knew I had a bit of a long road ahead of me.
A couple of months into this process was the local Lake Norman Triathlon race. This would be considered the ‘home race’. Part of the NC Triathlon Series. Two day event. At the Y where we are members/regular attenders, Sela’s preschool. 3 miles from the house. Where I swim train. You get the picture. I talked with Lance about the race, my chiro and my ‘other coach’ (Allyson) and the resounding answer I got was no way. After this much hard work and healing, it did not make sense to go out and hammer this race. So I didn’t. Sort of.
The agreement was that I could do two-thirds of it. The swim and bike. No run. This also meant no barefoot 200 yard run from the water to the transition area. So the plan was go hard as I could on the swim, exit the water, walk slowly to the TA, get on the bike, go hard as I could on the bike, and park it. This was going to be tough to do, but I had coach and family eyes watching me.
I worked my way toward the front of the swim wave and the horn went off. Luckily, no traffic at all in the water. Must have found a good pocket and line, as well as got off to a fast start. I felt great on the swim. Of course there is the blinding sun that hits you on the long stretch back to the shore, but that is a LKN race norm. I came out of the water, hit the mat and my split button on the watch and gasped. 13:10! Holy cow. This same race last year was a 15:20. Two full minutes. Since I was in no hurry whatsoever to get to the bike, I stopped to high five Lance who was there at the exit. Also said hey to Allyson and the girls, and patiently made my way to the TA. Smiling, of course. I learned later that just about everyone in the field had demolished their times from last year, which meant the course was probably a tad short. However I did certainly improve, because as a percentage of the entire men’s field, the LKN swim was the best swim finish I’ve ever had.
So onto the bike… which this year was shortened by several miles due to some construction on the course. This was a quite a bummer as we train often on this course and looked forward to seeing what we can do on it. The course ended up taking us down the familiar and very, very hilly Grey Road. Since I had no run to save for, I pretty much went out and rode as fast as I could for the 13.3 miles. It was fun. And a blur. Felt like I was out there for 10 minutes. I got passed late in the ride by a couple of guys from the age group that started behind me. Other than that, it was quiet, smooth sailing. I didn’t pay any attention to stats on the bike. Just pedaled hard. I pulled in and snuck a peek at the Garmin and again was shocked. I’d improved on last year’s mph average by a mile per hour. So I was certainly pleased with that.There was a very brief, hard rain shower just as I was finishing the bike. Allyson and the family were there cheering. I parked the bike and the day was over. Given the good efforts on the swim and bike made not running more palatable for sure. Until the awards ceremony, which was a bummer. It ends up that if I had just matched last year’s run split, I probably could have placed in my age group. It’s not about winning or awards. It really isn’t. But the chance to place in an NCTS race at the ‘home track’ would have been really cool, especially in the very difficult 35-39 age group. But it wasn’t meant to be. Not on this day. But no big deal.
The day was a blast. So many friends out there racing. Great to be with them and the family enjoying a near perfect day in Cornelius, NC. And probably the best moment was walking back to the car when Allyson told me she was more proud that I didn’t run than if I had and placed. That made the decision all worth it. And I would live to see the next race. And hopefully pain free.
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