Injury and Moving On

This will be a short post about the events leading up to my preparations for Collegiate Nationals 2012. About 4 weeks before the event, I did a long run on a knee that was hurting right over the patella. After the run, the ensuing days were very painful, and I have still been unable to run/bike on a regular basis. On the bright side, I have had a monstrous swim block with all my weeks over 30K, and have seen times drop precipitously. I leave in two days for collegiate nationals in Alabama, and have honestly never gone into a race feeling like this. I am not sure if I will be able to ride/run at all, let alone at the pace necessary to win this race.

Here is a link from USAT about the race: http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2012/4/041612-collegiate-nationals.aspx

I hope to not disappoint, but am trying to prepare myself for anything. I will still go into this race with as much focus as possible, and actually am seeing a doctor this afternoon to try and find a way to race with less pain. This has been a tough time, but with the requisite time off training, it makes me realize how lucky I am that i can train, and it makes me appreciate those 5:30 AM alarms because you are getting out of bed to do something you love.

Injuries are part of sport (albeit not the best part), so I will try and handle this in the best way I can. Good luck to all those competing this weekend, I am excited because I have heard such good things about the atmosphere, so I can't wait.

Sweet picture from Taylor Knight of the lead bike pack early in the race.