2009 In Review
I started this blog with the intention of capturing my thoughts, stories, highs and lows of my quest to conquer Ironman Wisconsin in 2010 while being the best possible husband and father during the process. I know it's not quite 2010 yet, but I've had some crazy things happen in the past couple months that could play into how I approach my training in 2010, so I wanted to make sure they were captured.

Triathlon Success

Looking back on my 2009 triathlon I season, I am so satisfied with what I achieved. Notably, I reached my goal of qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL while racing to a personal best at the 70.3 distance in the Whirpool Steelhead Ironman 70.3 in St. Joseph, MI (4:34:13; 3rd in M35-39 AG). Since I decided to take the year off from the Ironman distance I also wanted to compete in at least one "epic" race - that turned out to be the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. So all in all, a great year with PRs in the 5K, half marathon, Olympic-distance triathlon and half Ironman-distance triathlon. I can thank my wife, Andrea, and son, Drew, for much of this success because without their support and understanding of this "addiction" I wouldn't be out there putting in the kind of training I would need to be this successful. And speaking of training, without Rich and Patrick at Endurance Nation and the rest of the 400+ EN athletes around the country I wouldn't have had the tools or knowledge to reach these heights.

In the Fall I decided to do some "cool" things with the fitness that I built throughout the year. One of those things was to run the Chicago Marathon for the 3rd time. My run fitness was looking pretty good going into it so I set a goal of running sub-3:00 which would be a rather large personal best.

And the health conundrum begins...
I crossed the start line of the Marathon and was right on goal pace...for about a 1/2 mile! At that point I experienced something I've only had happen 3 times previous over the last year...I was getting severe cramps which start in my quads and very quickly spreads to my glutes and calves. This is unlike the typical "fatigue" cramps most people experience when they push themselves too hard or don't hydrate adequately. These cramps lock-up my legs to the point where I can barely walk or stand. The pain is so intense it brings tears to my eyes. I made it to the 5K mark of the race and jumped out, knowing from past experience that these cramps would not be going away - this turned out to be a very good decision.

Because this was the first race I entered where I didn't cross the finish line I was pretty pissed. So I called my primary care doctor the next day to arrange for some blood work to make sure nothing was out of whack. The blood test was done on a Tuesday. On Wednesday at lunch I went out for a run. When I returned I had several urgent messages from my doctor. I finally got in touch with him and he informed me that several blood enzymes (CPK, AST, ALT) were WAY higher than normal (a condition called rhabdomyolysis) and that he would be admitting me to the hospital that afternoon. The concern was that when these enzymes reach these levels you can go into kidney failure. Therefore, I would have to be hooked up to IV fluids to ensure my kidneys were flushed out of the harmful toxins - I spent 3 days in the hospital getting this done.

Without detailing the the myriad of tests I've been through the past couple months, I'm happy to say I was given the clearance to "race" the Ironman 70.3 World Championships, albeit very easily. I didn't have any issues at all (actually I haven't had any recurrence of the cramping since the Marathon). It was a really fun day being able to get around the course without a worry in the world about my times, what my position was compared to my competition, etc.

Once December rolled around, I was feeling pretty eager to get back into structured training again. My plan is to start the 20 week Endurance Nation OutSeason training program January 1 then transition into the 12 week Ironman training plan after that. So I started ramping up my cycling and running to prep for the very intense and challenging OS workouts. Unfortunately, I was starting to notice that some groin pain I have been dealing with for the past year was now limiting me when I was doing my run workouts. It got so bad that one morning I had to hop off the treadmill after 5 minutes or risk getting thrown of the back of the thing - I just couldn't run comfortably at any pace.

The Answer to my Problems
Since my 2010 season hadn't even begun yet I decided to get this groin issue checked out. Several running friends recommended an orthopaedic surgeon. I had some x-rays done (no issues) then an MRI. The MRI showed a "moderate grade stress reaction on the pubic ramus bone" (for you guys it's the bone that is just above your "junk") and some associated inflammation in my adductor muscles (hence the groin pain). He advised me to take 8-12 weeks off of running. This hurt! My fitness had never been better and now I was going to lose all of that - I would be starting over.

So that's where I am now. With the help of Andrea, my friends and the internet I feel better about getting my fitness back when I'm able to put those running shoes back on. I realize now that this rest is probably long overdue and may benefit me more than if I wasn't injured and kept at it. At least I can swim and bike until then. I'm also doing a lot of core strengthening and stretching (the lack of these two things is probably what put me in this state).

Once the off-season training plan starts January 1 I will be focusing on the bike with a couple swim workouts every week. I'll probably also start doing some no-impact running - deep water running, elliptical trainer, maybe even cross-country skiing. Until then I'm resting and really enjoying the family time without letting triathlon get in the way.