Highs and Lows

Over the last two weeks I have had some good races that have really helped get my season off to a great start. Two weekends ago I placed Fourth Overall and First in my Age Group at Duathlon Regionals in Greensboro, NC behind Glenn Thompson and two Pro Triathletes- Albert Harrison and Mike Starkey. Mike blew by all three of us on the bike section and we were like "who the heck was that?!?" We later found out- it's the same Mike Starkey that won the Beach 2 Battleship Half Iron.

 

 

So after that I was happy to get back in the water to start prepping for my upcoming set of Triathlons that are to include the Chasing Chicken Reverse Tri, Angels Tri , and Smith Mt. Lake Tri over the next two months. Well that may be put on hold AGAIN this year. After my swim workouts on Saturday and Tuesday everything seemed fine, but during Thursdays workout I had to stop due to numbness and weakness in my left hand and shoulder. Immediately Thursday evening I was able to see Dr. Henning at Roanoke Orthopedic to get it checked out and I have an appointment at Balance Wellspace this week to check my alignment. At this point it appears to be a nerve impingement causing the issue and I have to just wait it out. I am able to swim all be it... it definitely feels weird and I am sure it looks just as bad as it feels. I am still day by day on competing in Tri's for now.

After the disappointing week in the water, I really needed a moral booster. I had the RV SPCA Tail Chaser 5K this past weekend and after looking at the race times posted last year was hoping it would be a good speed workout. It didn't disappoint! As I lined up I noticed Joe Cotter seemed really excited and ready to go and sure enough... when the gun fired he took off like he was chasing the bullet! Our first mile was a 5:14 pace and I knew that if he kept that up I was going to have to let him go. Luckily for me he did slowdown... a lot, actually too much so at the turnaround I attacked and instantly had 20 yards on him. I held tempo for the rest of the race beating Joe by 22 seconds and finishing in 17:02 which is a new PR for me and just the pick me up I needed!

 

So my running and biking are coming along nicely and that is very good news. I am a bit frustrated with the shoulder, but will do my best to be patient and see what happens. If it doesn't show improvement this month my plan is to scrap the Triathlon's again for this season and after finishing up Long Course Duathlon Nationals in May and Short Course Duathlon Nationals in July I start my training for the Masters 5K Championship in Syracuse NY in October. So... seeing as how swimming is my weakest link and I have a game plan in place I am still super excited about the rest of the season and, God granting, I have a lot to look forward to!