All week this week, I’ve been at Diabetes Training Camp; and because of an injury I brought back to life during my second triathlon and then further aggravated in my first half marathon, I’ve not been able to do all I wanted to do.
So, I’ve been kind of bummed, and I was thinking that because I was injured camp was a waste of money. I just haven’t been doing all that I wanted to do and therefore wasn’t getting my money worth. But then, I had a thought the other day, and it was one of those fleeting thoughts that I’ve been trying to focus on because it actually turned what I perceived as bad into something positive. And really, I teeter totter between the negative of my injury and the positive of me having it, and what it really boils down to is Laura and the PMA that she’s been demonstrating and filling my mind with.
So, what the deal is, it’s that I have a knee injury, and it originally occurred when I was 16 when I was swimming. I have in my left knee chondromalacia with patellar femoral dysfunction. Simply put, my knee cap doesn’t track properly and it hurts a lot. Because of it, I’m currently unable to run, I’m in pain when I cycle for long distances, and even swimming is hurting it right now because most of my kick is coming at my knee and not so much from my hip.
As a result of this, my training season has come to pretty much a complete stop. I’m not allowed to run, which very much goes with the “I can’t run” thought process. I can cycle, but I gotta listen to my body, and basically, my knee bruises just above the knee cap when I cycle and it starts to hurt after about 20 miles, so cycling will be very limited. I’m allowed to swim, but not great distances. I can start swimming for distance after I get my technique down (which I’ve been working on all week and will discuss later in another entry).
So, that’s the bad and the disappointing. But then, here we go with the positive side of it. If I had not had this injury, this particular week, I probably would not have spent the time to talk with the various peeps available to us here at camp this week. I’m surrounded by DR’s, nutritionists, a sports psychologist, physical therapist, coaches, and more that I can’t list because I can’t remember titles and my brain is exhausted. I most likely wouldn’t ever have listened to any of the lectures with the great interest that I’ve had this week. I’d have filled my schedule with as many sporty sessions as possible.
I’ve learned so much from the lectures, mostly, it was a lecture from Rick Crawford (who coached Lance Armstrong years ago). It was as though his lecture was tailored just for me. It hit me hard. (you’ll get more about that later). And the one on one consultations have been immensely helpful. And realistically, the one on one consultations and listening to the lectures most likely wouldn’t have happened if I had been uninjured.
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