For the first time in 3 years, I was healthy.
My foot had been bothering me for much of that time. First I broke it. After the doctor discharged me and I finished the Nike Women's Marathon I still had recurring numbness on and off. I would stop running, rest, run a bit more, race, stop running, repeat.
Finally I saved enough money to buy a wetsuit and bike, thinking the time of running would be excellent time to get better at the other two disciplines.
I found a local store team (The Unlikely Cyclist) of ladies I could keep up with on the bike, and started cycling with them to learn new routes in the area, techniques, and generally accountability to learn to do longer, hillier rides. I pushed myself there, to make up for the workout I was not getting since I could not run.
I did two triathlons. One sprint to test the transitions (I was rubbish! I did everything wrong!) with a short run that I manged, and then the Oceanside 70.3 in just under 8 hours. I fell apart on the run due to the no training due to the foot. I ran 2 miles. Then pretty much walked a slow, brutal, humiliating 11 miles to the finish.
So I had done a half iron. I still couldn't run, foot still was not getting better. This was what was holding me back from the full iron. I had to be healthy to train properly. I did not want to do everything else right, and then have to WALK a full marathon. I kept cycling and swimming and hoped for the best.
On some bike hill repeats in Laguna Niguel, the foot actually got worse. Finally the team leader of the cycling team (owner of said cycling store) told me to just go see this triathlete podiatrist who was pretty close to where I live now (closer than the first podiatrist I saw.)
I went to this doctor and relayed a three year epic on how I broke my foot and it still felt like it hurt. I told him I did multiple races and it was fine, but sometime after, it would always come back and nag me. My greatest fear was it was a malunion and I had to get surgery.
The doctor told me there was no way the foot was broken. He had maybe glanced at it a couple of times as I told the story. No touch, no x ray, no MRI. There was simply no way, he explained, it was broken, and I could do three half marathons on it without it hurting. He explained it was a classic compartment syndrome.
Okay, so I was ecstatic the foot was not broken, but what the what was wrong with it now?
Apparently I was irritating the nerve on the left side of my left leg that goes down the leg, and right over the cuboid area of my left foot.
Solution: No more minimalist shoes. Get some nice, padded shoes. Start running. Come back in a month.
Running? O___O I can run?
I bought both pairs of shoes he said to get. The Brooks Ariel and the Hoka One One Stinson Tarmac. I ran.
One mile start. Check! Foot was fine. Three miles. Check! Five miles. Check. Eventually 10 miles. Foot was fine.
Went back to the doctor, He heard my story. He discharged me.
I was healthy.
So nothing's going to stop me now. I still have a lot of work to do to get more presentable times for the races. I need to be able to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. I also have to finesse a spot into the 2015 Arizona Ironman.
Journey of a 100 (plus 40.6) miles starts with one step.
Time to dive!
