My Back!!! and The Race

A few weeks after completing the half marathon, I was involved in a bike crash while out on a training ride with a group of triathletes. We went down pretty hard, leaving me with some major road rash, a banged up but repariable bike, and some general soreness. One of the other guys ended up with a broken collar bone. I felt really bad for him since his season was pretty much over. I began to resume full training a few weeks after the crash. Then one morning while getting ready for work, I bent down to pick something up from the floor and had an excruciating pain in my lower back. I had experienced this pain in the past from time to time, but nothing approaching this severity. I hit the floor in agony. The pain was so bad I could not breathe. Huge beads of sweat began to cover my head. DJ came running into the room and thought I was having a heart attack. I was barely able to get out the words to let her know what was happening. After 15 or so minutes, I was able to crawl to the couch where I sat in agonizing pain. DJ called the doctor and they were able to get us in immediately. The diagnosis, a herniated disc. The treatment, no running for six weeks, physical therapy for six weeks, chiropractic adjustments, and mechanical disc manipulation. I was disappointed that I’d miss so much training, but I was happy I'd be able to eventually resume training.
Over the next six weeks, I did lots of swimming and a good amount of biking. I completed every therapy session and followed doc’s advice. After six weeks of treatment, I was given the green light to slowly resume running. I began running 1 very slow mile at a time and increased from there. In a matter of weeks, I was back at a respectable level of running. I continued training for the upcoming triathlon and continued to progress in each discipline.

Race time finally rolled around. I arrived at the race early, signed in, received my race pack and readied my transition area. I made my way down to the lake for the start of the swim. As I looked around, I could hardly believe it had been a year since I’d stood on the dock as a spectator. The dock where DJ and KJ now stood to watch me begin a race I’d been preparing for and thinking about for almost a year. Suddenly it was 1 minute to start. The gun went off and I was in the middle of a churning, splashing, mass of hysteria. After the first turn of the swim, the crowd thinned and the going got a little better. I finished the swim and was amazed with my time, it was two minutes faster than I’d expected. On to T1 and out on the bike. The bike went by in no time and once again, I did better than I’d expected. Through T2 and out on the run. I pushed the entire run and hit my time goal for the run. As I neared the finish line, I heard my name being announced over the PA. I pushed through the final yards and crossed the finish line in just over one hour and twelve minutes, good enough for 4th place in my age group. I received my finisher’s medal and felt like I’d just conquered Mt. Everest.