Screw Lemonade, Brew Beer.

"Your Virtual Goody Bag Is Ready"

That is what the email said.

It's race week for everyone racing USAT Nationals.  I was so excited about this race.  Not because I felt like I was SOOO awesome for getting there but because I had set the goal and truly thought that I was going to achieve it.  I was looking forward to being a part of the action (as opposed to reading about it), meeting people, being in the atmosphere that only comes with Championship events.  That was not meant to be.

I'm not gonna lie.  I have been fairly upset about it.  It's less this specific race and more just not understanding why I can't seem to put it all together.  The pieces are all there, laid out in front of me, but when the going gets tough... I shatter like glass.  I don't have an answer and there may not be one.  It may simply be that I am not ready.

Up until now, I have been trying to make lemonade from all these lemons... SCREW IT... I'm brewing beer.

My asthma started working on shutting down that party back in May and by July had pretty much accomplished the goal.  During all of that, a low grade issue with my hip had more or less flown under the radar.  It's hard to worry about a niggle when you can't breathe.  As the breathing got better, it became apparent that there was something wrong.  With no races on the schedule and being in "off season" mode, I simply shut it down.  My last run was last Tuesday and my last ride was last Wednesday.  I haven't done a thing since.

My other race machine!

Well, not exactly nothing.  I had another conference call with my coach discussing the developments and making some changes in our approach to training and racing, with the hopes of finally pushing over this fitness plateau that I can't seem to breach uninjured.  I paid a visit to a really talented chiropractor and ART guy.  I have taken an average of two naps per day.  I have replaced some of my coffee with tea.  I picked up a different band set (without handles and with softer bands) and a yoga mat, and started a program of simple PT exercises.  I rode my 1978 Schwinn Breeze around the campground a bunch of times JUST because it was fun... then stopped when I started thinking about my lines through the corners because, really, that thing is just not mass start legal and the campground is NOT a crit course.

So tired from all this resting!!

What I haven't done?  Train through pain.  I haven't made it worse.  That is progress.  Now I am hoping that I can turn this around with minimal setback.  In the grand scheme of things, if I miss a few days, a few weeks, even a month... I will bounce back from that fairly quickly.  If this spirals down into a repeat of previous years, I will be out for half a season, gain ten pounds, then spend the first four months of training crawling out of a hole.  Since the most likely culprit in all of this is the inconsistency that has developed from being chronically injured, it seems like the best solution is to try to promote healing as quickly as possible... and sometimes that means doing a whole lot of NOTHING.  And drinking a beer.  Or two.

When I start training again, I am going to be changing my tactics.. a lot.  Coach Brain is on board with the idea and I am kind of looking forward to the possibilities.  I am not looking forward to the stupid socks.

More to come...

...AFTER another nap!