Yanti and Lynn, Mentors of the Manatee Melee: FULL (Page 17)

bwah ha haaaa ... um ... you HAVE practiced that before as well, right?

dang, I am such a Debbie Downer today ... you know y'all are entitled to flipper-thwack me on the back of the head, right?

BRRRRRRR chilly bang-bang ... but with such rousing endorsements from Lynn and I, you KNOW you're gonna kick some Manatee ... tail. Go gettem Tiger-tee!

I don't know of anything specific but downtown FW is fun.  Sundance Square has lots of cool restaurants and is a good place to explore.   Stockyards can also be fun.  The Mavericks might be playing Monday evening, but tickets are almost impossible to get.  And the weather should be nice - mid to high 70's.  We are having a cold spell!

So, we've got Grace and John duking it out on courses today--what's everyone else up to?

I took a 10-minute walk with Lisa Labradog! I'm so excited.

way to keep it up, Lynn! Just think--once you're in taper you'll be all cranky and itchy and wishing you could work out like you are now

I am so over the moon about you and your progress. I hear such killer things about CDA, too, I can't wait to watch you crossing that finish line

So it's just as well I'm cooped up at home with nothing to do, for once it'll be me herding the Manatee pod a bit more.

It was bad.  Actually, it was ugly.

I need to preface this by saying that I've raced for years with no issues.  No drama.  And last weeks breathing/sipe/asthma drama was huge in my world.  And now this....  Just letting you know so you all don't think I'm a drama queen. 

I crashed my bike.  Bad.  I don't remember much.  It was going into t2 to dismount.  The pavement was wet, there was gravel and I remember thinking that the stop and must get off area's weren't clearly marked and then I had to stop quickly and then, that's it.  Think I hit my head on the handle bars.  Ended up on my left wrist and right entire side of my body.  I got up, was totally bloody and EMS people were telling me to lay down.  I kept saying "I'm fine, I'm fine" but I was able to get up so I just went on auto pilot, got into transition area and said "I'm finishing"  The EMS were on to someone else by then and left me alone so I started running.  I don't remember anything after that but I finished.  Honestly, I now know I was in shock.  I passed out after the finish and when I woke up someone had called 911 and there were paramedics there.  They told me my wrist was broken and that I had to go to the hospital.  I refused to go.  After a while they gave up and I just layed there for a couple of hours until I felt well enough to drive myself to get an xRay.  Nothings broken, thankfully, but I am beat up.  I feel like King Kong's rag doll.  My entire right side is one big road rash with chunks of skin missing where the gravel was.

But here's the hysterical thing of it all.... because I was losing so much blood and hitting my head and all.... I don't remember anything of the run but I PR'd it.  Seriously, by 30 sec a mile more than my best other 5k tri leg.  I must have been in shock and my body took over on some instinctual level.  Clearly some major "fight or flight" mechanisms were at work because my last race was a week ago and I went hard then and PR's that run by a few seconds so there is no way I should all of a sudden be 1:40 better on a similar terain 5k.  Freaky, actually.

And back to last week's drama- no sipe issues on the swim.  I used the inhaler they gave me and while I didn't resolve all my breathing issues, I also didn't feel like I was going under or chocking constantly.  Someone said they thought the swim course was short and that may be becasue although I felt strong, I was suprised by 7:41.  Granted this was in a bay so no waves and no current, when I am use to ocean swims.  On the con side, it was a mass start, men and women, so I did get jostled around a little more than  normal.

It was a non transitioned time race so I don't know how to make all my split times work.  I know I was out of the water at 7:41.  I thought I was on the bike at 10:00.  My bike computer must have gotten bumped in the crash because it said 39:11 for the 11.01 miles but with a finish time of 1:11 that would only leave me less than 22 for my run which is NOT possible, because a friend was out of t2 the same time as me (post crash) and she finished exactly 2 min before me.  Her garmin said she did 7;19 miles and since we started at the same time, that would make my miles excactly 8- great by me.  But 40 and 10 and 25 already adds up to more than 1:11 and that allows no time for T1 and t2 with my big crash and fight to go on.  So logic says that the bike was faster than that but I'm not sure how or where.

The good news of it all was that I was concious by the time they did awards and could drag myself up there for my second place AG medal. 

What a weird day.

2nd place with a crash ... run PR ... ALL of it ... that seriously deserves a SUPERSTAR bike chain congrats!

Lady, you are crazy like me. "No really, I'm fine, I'll just stuff my guts back into that bleeding hole and be on my way ..."

Did the doc/clinic/wherever do anything else besides just Xray your wrist? A fall like that, with the following events you describe, sounds an awful lot like a concussion to me, and while in itself may not be that serious, makes what you do the next two weeks very, very serious indeed.

I used to certify emergency personnel in different kinds of emergency medicine (and have practiced a fair amount of it ... and have had concussions myself), so I'm not talking out of my azz like usual here.

Holy Carp Grace, you get HTFU award for sure!!!!!!!

Way to go to stick with it and keep going with a broken wrist and head injury!!!!!  Dayum girl, you are one strong, stubborn chica. 

Now you need to rest and heal from your injuries.  Yanti is right about the head injury.  Watch yourself these next several days (i.e. dizziness, headaches, ect.)  Head injuries are not to be taken lightly.  Sorry you got so beat up like that.  Not a fun way to do a triathlon but memorable for sure.

LOL, makes my bike ride in the cold rain this morning ridiculous.  And I was going to complain about it too.

You, too, sir, are a MANATEE ROCKSTAR and get the special-star bike chain CONGRATS!!!

Congrats on PRing your first duathlon , the hardware, the transitions and being an awesome example of some MANATEE HTFU!!!

Grace, Grace, Grace!  That sounds beyond crazy.  I'm so glad your arm is okay and that your swimming seemed to go well.  I have lots of fears of crashing on my bike at my first tri, so I have to say while your story is a little crazy, it was inspirational at the same time.  I'm not saying your shouldn't have called it quits after the bike crash, but hey if you are going to keep going, way to get a PR at the same time!

John congrats on your race too!

Well, my Sunday was much less exciting than John or Grace's.  But, I went and biked the course for my tri.  I've been really nervous about it and had heard that there were lots of bad hills (I train with minimal hills).  I also mostly bike on a hike & bike trail and then in a park where the speed limit is 20mph.  So this was my first time biking on major roads with lots of traffic.  I decided to bike in my tennis shoes instead of clipping in.  It might have slowed me down a little bit, but it surely helped with the nerves of biking next to so many cars.  The course was tough, but I was really happy with how it went!  Most importantly, it has helped ease some of my race anxiety.  

Now to my first attempt an an OWS.  Well, let me just say I am really scared of snakes.  It was cool out this morning (around 70), but the water was okay.  But, because of the temps, no one else was out in the lake.  So off I went.  I felt good about not being able to see.  I felt good about the little waves making me swallow water.  I felt good about my breathing.  But, as I got deeper, I started to not feel so good about the possibilities of snakes swimming around me.  I freaked out a bit and ended up cutting it short.  I'm glad I did at least a little swim, wish I had done more.  

Thanks to all for the congrats.  Grace - tough race but glad you are up and about.  I've had 3 concussions before, so don't take that lightly.

My race report is up.  I was satisfied with my results considering the conditions, but I will say:  Race plan is often just a race idea.  Always be prepared to adjust and accomidate the conditions.  The only reason to do this race - the OWS practice in competition - did not happen.  Bike was SLOW per capabilities, but OK per conditions.  Run was actually good for me, but was slow compared to others (more of the hard core guys showed up than weekend warriors due to conditions).

Overall...I have no regrets and had fun.

Congrats to both Grace and John! Grace, your mental thoughness is in place to do an IM!!! I'm glad you didn't break anything and are on your way to healing

Congrats on pushing through fears! It will get easier with more exposure to OWS.

Thanks for the above, I think it is something I certainly need to remember!

Hey Manatees!  Sorry for being MIA this past week.  4 out of my 5 kiddos were sick with colds, ear infections, strep and tonsillitis.  Fun times.

Just made it back to my Masters Swim class for the first time in a week.  It kicked my butt.  MAN why is gaining fitness so hard, but losing it is so easy??!!  :P

Hey Manatees... been a little busy so MIA on the forum, but keeping up on the training and logging. Just caught up a little on what's been going on.... OMG Grace... you are definately one tough cookie!! Congrats on your tri and thank goodness you are ok.  I'm sooo happy for you that you didn't break your wrist... I broke mine this Feb and it kinda puts a little bit of a wrench in training!!!    It's just finally starting to get back to normal.

And good job on your tri too John....sorry to hear you didn't get your OWS in!

I FINALLY did a race that I was registered for last weekend.  We weren't sure I would do it due to my Achilles, but my coaches and dr told me the week before to do it for experience BUT I wasn't allowed to run the whole thing.... had to do my 5 & 1 run/walk! I stuck with the plan and did ok... about 5min better than last year, and 3rd in AG, considering my lack of swimming and run training thanks to those darn injuries this year!

And I am slooowly working my way up to riding a 100k ride! My training partner and I got in a 60k and a 70k ride in this week.  Our 70k ride was with hills and wind.... it took us just over an hour out and thanks to our wonderful Sask. winds... about 1 hour and 40min back!   

Keep up the great work Manatees!!!

Thanks for all the good thoughts.  I'd love to take all the credit for being tough and a trooper but the fact of the matter was I was just in shock.  Honestly, I just went on auto pilot.  There's no logical way I could have run that fast, and I probably never will again, but my body was just opperating on an instinctual level.  My training partner suggested she smack me in the head and have everyone run over me at the start- just to get me bruised and bloody- since that seems to work.  I'm going to pass on that idea.

Took Sunday off.  Did 2 hours of pilates and 2- 1 hour stairmaster work outs in today.  Can't figure out how to train since I can't get the gashes in my arm and leg soaked and don't think my knee can stand the pounding yet.  The bike is in the shop- damage to be determined.  It didn't move well getting it there.  And of course this is suppose to be my last super load week before my big race of the year.  Sigh>