Week 41: The curse of Ironman.

I don't know what it is about me and registering for Ironman M-Dot branded events and the resulting bad luck I have in the days afterwards.  My first experience of this was when I signed up to do the relay for Augusta 70.3 last September.  I was running pretty well with a few aches and pains here and there.  Once I signed up to do the run, BOOM, my IT band went into full force daily cranky pain yanking on my knee making me feel like a 90 year old.  I babied it as much as I could, foam roller, blah blah blah, and made it to the race and ended up doing well.

Then last fall, I register for my first Ironman while I'm at the event, go out for a 15 mile run later than day and BOOM, once again, have an overuse injury of my left ankle and foot that took about 8-9 months to get under control.  Notice I do not say HEALED as both my IT band and my foot are now injuries that I just manage.  I sincerely hope that when IMFL is over and I take a long time off to rest and start doing shorter distances that my legs will fully heal.

But both of these injuries are really overuse type stuff that tons of runners speak of when they discuss "pain management".  I do truly think they will heal once my IM is over and I rest.

I got back Sunday afternoon from the Richard B Russell Olympic race this weekend feeling really good about life.  My plans were to go into IMFL NOT having done any tris this year.  And after a couple of friends suggested I should do an Olympic and a HIM before IMFL, I signed up for RBR because I loved it so much last year.

The race was fun and exciting  and I loved every minute of it.  Ok, maybe not the swim this time.  But the bike and run went well.  And a stroke of luck bumped the top 2 females in my AG to Masters so I ended up with FIRST place in my age group.  I truly did not expect to podium AT ALL in this race so it was a pleasant surprise but truly not the highlight of the weekend.  The best part was laughing and having fun with my teammates.

So when I got back on Sunday, I signed up for Augusta.  This will be my FIRST half ironman as the two I did earlier this year were without the run since I was injured at that point.  I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday because I have had the feeling of a rock in my throat for about 2 weeks.  I almost cancelled the appt since it wasn't bothering me as much on Monday but figured to go ahead and see him.

I guess the Ironman curse is still with me.  As it was far more serious than I imagined.  I had an ultrasound today and got a call from the doctor within hours telling me I needed surgery right away since I have a mass on my thyroid and a lymph node.  This could be normal or it could be something really bad.  Until I know otherwise, I'm going with normal.  There is no point in panicking or blowing it out of proportion.  Perhaps it explains why my energy level has been so up and down...I have been blaming this on my training schedule.  Maybe it doesn't explain it.  Maybe I AM tired from so much training.  

Most likely the surgery is next week.  I'll know Monday.  I thought perhaps I shouldn't share this info with y'all but I have shared pretty much everything else that has happened to me over the course of the last year and to hide it would make it more serious than it is.  And it's not serious.  Except I think you know that, yes, I am a little scared.