The following is an email I sent to my friend Geoff Clark, who was checking in after he hadn't heard from me these past few days after the Zof. It's not as well written or clever as some of my usual posts, but clever and cute doesn't seem as easy right now.
Haven't been able to put it into words yet...3 simple letters, DNF. My first ever. Got off the bike after 5 hours, started the run, my right knee wanted nothing to do with it. Walked a bit, tried to run again, same thing. I was tired, upset , didn't want to fight, frustrated..pulled off my number belt and called it in.
I've spent the last few days trying to figure out what went wrong..still trying to figure it out. On paper, I was ready for a big day, all the numbers looked good. But numbers aren't results and now I've got some time to ponder all the hard work with nothing to show for it. Tough to finish the season this way.
Kira did great, finished the short course in 3:41, easily beating her goal of sub 4 hours. She's going to have set some goals next year other than simply finishing these races.
Thanks for all the encouragement and support Geoff, it's really meant a lot. Fortunately, it looks like the 2010 Zof is in May, so I won't have to wait too long for another chance. Full details...and some discussions, perhaps, on where things might have gone wrong...to follow.
Thanks again to everyone who offered their support these past few months...and particular thanks to Kira, who is now dealing with a husband suddenly questioning his ability and mental strength. I wish I could go out and give it another shot tomorrow, just to erase some of these doubts in my head. Instead, I'll try my best to sort out the good and bad and figure out what went wrong. It makes for a far less satisfying end of the season, but it makes me look forward to erasing these thoughts from my mind when 2010 gets rolling
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
What's on my mind...
1 comment:
Ah, my friend, I'm sorry to hear about it. DNF in no fun.
Training for and racing an endurance event as tough as the Zof is a fine balancing act. You're always trying to push your limits, make incremental improvements, push yourself within millimeters of injury, and manage a whole milieu of rest, stretching, strength work, diet, speed work, endurance work, etc. That, and being a new dad, working in the city, taking care of a house . . . it all adds up.
Likely you will never know what went wrong. Maybe tighter than usual hamstrings and glutes from racing to a half-marathon PR just two weeks ago put extra pressure on the ITB and caused a bit of tendinitis? As I've gotten older, I've had to weigh all those elements more carefully, and err on the side of resting too much, and being too cautious.
The bright side is that your recovery time will be shorter. You'll be ready to go have some fun on the bike in this gorgeous fall weather. When you're ready to go, let's get out and explore some terrain.
All the best,
Geoff
Post a Comment