Nothing

Well, it's been weeks since I have posted. Unfortunately I had to end my season prematurely. After Lake Stevens I was riding a high. I was still very frustrated and confused by my back problems, but happy with where my run was heading. I knew that once I joined a swim team in our new area that we lived in that my swim would return to top pack and so all I needed to figure out was the back issues on the bike. My plan was to do one final race a few weeks ago. Was going to be a flat half Ironman and the goal was to set a huge pr. I was amped! At the same time I was very tired. Actually, I was exhausted. I took a few days off post Lake Stevens and slowly got back into the training mode. I should have taken more time in retrospect.

A week post race I did a 60 mile ride with a friend. It was hot out. I was tired. We did a big climb during the ride. The next day I was destroyed. Totally worn down. Later that night I discovered a lump/cyst down by the...well...jewels. I instantly thought it was just irritation from riding. It was hot, I was sweating, etc. After two days, the cyst had increased in size and pain. I was now starting to get very concerned. By Wednesday I called the doc who put me on the antibiotic bactrim. By Thursday it had started to really become an issue with mobility. It was extremely painful and made it difficult to walk/move, etc. By Friday afternoon, I had my Dad look at it (a physician). Within 10 minutes we were in route with my wife to the ER in the small town of Florence on the Oregon Coast. Of course, 45 minutes later my Dad and Mom were expecting 40 people at their house for my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner!!!

Luckily Florence is a very small town and my Dad was able to talk with the physician on duty directly. We were pretty certain it was MRSA which is a form of a staph infection. If you have ever watched "What it takes" it is what Peter Reid had in the summer of 05. So, the doc quickly cut it open, packed it up in a way that it could continue to drain for the next few days and I was off. I felt instantly better, but I was still spooked. You never want to see anything happen down there. Ever. This was Friday night. By Monday am I was in to see the Urologist. I was immediately ordered off all activity for 2-3 weeks and no bike or swim for a month. I have an ultra sound next week and at that point I can resume aforementioned bike and swim.

This has been a very scary and educational experience for me. When I met with the urologist, I asked him how I could have developed MRSA, especially down there. His thoughts were that normally he saw those infections in the chronically ill, think elderly, disease, etc. This is due to their immune systems being so deficient that these infections are able to take hold. His hypothesis is that my immune system was so below normal that I was ripe for an infection. So, I post this to all that do our sport, for fun, competition or otherwise. Listen to your body. This, luckily, ended up being nothing, but a forced break from training (pending ultra sound), but you never know. It is important that we realize that when training for Ironman, we must take care of ourselves as most of us are balancing so many other stresses in our life.

So for now...I'm out. I'm doing nothing. Went for my first run this past weekend. It felt...hard. Hard to imagine I was competing just a few weeks ago. Next year is going to be epic. But clearly my body needed to tell me something. After 4 years of non stop training, battling through a recession at a stressful job, getting married, and moving to a different town...I needed a break. So said break has occurred. I have done nothing, but gain weight.

Stay healthy out there. Lots of sleep. Keep a balance. And treasure what you have. Thanks for checking in,

-T