I went to an orthopedic doctor yesterday. He was very thorough and really seemed to know what he was doing. He also feels that my injury isn’t serious. He said I needed to strengthen my ankles and glutes, and who knows what else. He has me off of running for about a month while I get some therapy to correct what’s wrong. He does say it is ok to compete in the tri this weekend as long as I don’t push it on the run.
He wants me to cross train in the meantime with a focus on biking swimming and even rowing.
Last night I went for a swim, the first in weeks. I did 4×250 at a medium pace with one minute rests. I managed to swim them in 20:42 including several stops to fix my goggles which kept leaking. I was pretty happy with it. During the last set I got so into the groove that I think I could have gone forever. I’m pretty happy with that performance considering how long I’ve been out of the pool. I plan on getting another swim in before the tri and maybe a bike or two on the trainer.
I’m not expecting much this Sunday, but I am going to enjoy the race since it is the last one for at least a couple of months. I’m a little sad about having to cut back on races and training, but I am trying to keep the long term in perspective. I will have plenty of time to race, and it’s much more important to get healthy right now before I really mess something up.