Week 36: The good vs. the bad.

Taking the bad with the good.

In the 18 months that I have been training for and competing in triathlons, many changes have taken place in my life.  Some of these are good, some bad.  I thought I’d highlight the best and the worst.

The bad:

1-     My fingernails have disintegrated.  Yes, they really have.  They are as thin as paper and they shred like potatoes on a box grater.  In addition, my thumb nails have chunks missing.  I have my theories on this and I bounce back and forth from thinking it’s the pool chemicals to thinking it’s a vitamin issue.

2-     Money.  Let’s face it, this is an expensive sport and sometimes money is wasted on items you think will be good and turn out to be crap.  I have goggles and clothing and gadgets that weren’t useful but you don’t know this until you buy them and start using them.  Zoomers?  Really?  What stupid tri book told me that short fins were a great idea?  Can I have my $30 back please?

3-     My poor house.  I have gotten to the point where I completely ignore my house.  There are so many things I don’t know if I could list them all.  Cleaning, organizing, maintenance, decorating.  Washing clothes, watering plants.  All of it takes a second place to training, eating, and recovering.  I once had a magnificent collection of over 25 orchids.  They are all dead now.

4-     Oh my poor body.  Hmmm, let’s see, you’ve already heard about my fingernails.  I have also lost toenails, had IT band issues that were so painful I would go to bed crying at night.  Issues I won’t go into detail about adapting to the tri bike position including numb hands, painful sit bones, lower back problems, and other painful areas.  The ongoing bout of tendinitis that made me think I would have to withdraw from IMFL.  Knee pain.  Hip pain that had me do “needling” where a PT stuck 3” needles into my glutes.  Shoulder pain from swimming.  And overall a tiredness and malaise that often had me question why I was doing this.

The good:

1-     Number one is absolutely the improvement in my relationship with my parents.  Not that it was bad to start with but it has really been a place for us to bond.  I call them all the time and share with them my successes and failures.  My mom and dad have been so supportive and loving.

2-     The friendships I have made.  You spend so much time with your fellow athletes and although we razz each other about all of the “tri talk” we do, it’s really just a starting point for discussions that often times become much deeper than that.  As we help each other through our life struggles, we get to deepen our friendships and learn as much about ourselves as we do about them.

3-     Finally, something shallow.  Yes, if my body was one of the things I complained about, well, it’s also going to be one of the things I celebrate.  There are muscles and tendons and ligaments I did not know existed.  And I can relax a little about what I eat and have a couple of “bad” meals a week and not sweat that I’m going to gain weight from it.  I starting lifting weights when I was 15 and NEVER saw the muscle tone that I have developed from training for triathlons.  I turn 47 on Sunday and I’m extremely happy with the shape of my body.  It’s far from perfect and I don’t seem to care anymore. (Ok, that is a bold face lie) It’s strong and it gets me where I need to go.  Now, can it just get me there a little faster so I can hop on that podium one more time? J