Recovery Blues

I'd heard that getting over an Ironman can take a while. I've been warned not to train too hard or do too much intensity. I was prepared for injuries and aches and pains and even for the post-race blues.

What I wasn't ready for was to have my immune system and GI tract go on strike!

After the race it took about three or fours days to walk properly and get over the soreness from racing. My stomach was still a little touchy after my post-race blow-up/collapse so I was sticking to the healthy and slightly bland choices, but aside from that, YAY! I was ready to take on the world.

The Friday after IMC I came down with a cold, killing camping plans (and causing havoc for a friend of mine who left her cell phone at work and only got my multiple messages after finishing loading up her car on Saturday a.m.). I spent two days in bed then was mostly over it and YAY! now I could resume normal life.

The Monday of the long weekend I went to watch my club mates have fantastic races at the Vancouver tri. A great day, except my big toe was killing me. (icky details follow, skip to next paragraph if you don't wanna know) I decided to take matters into my own hands and pierce the toenail to let off some pressure. I thought I kept it clean and that the needle would be properly sterilized when I heated it up.

About 24 hours after my impromptu procedure I was feeling good again and, yay, finally ready to get back into workout mode. When I got home from work on Wednesday, however, I noticed that the big toe, and part of my foot, were crimson, hot and puffy. Not generally the recommended state for toes and/or feet. After confirming with the BC Nurseline that, indeed, this was not a good condition for a toe to be in and that I should, in fact, get medical attention pdq I found a clinic that was open late and got myself some antibiotics.

I'd made plans to go hiking on Saturday and I was bloody well going to go! Luckily the toe seemed fine by Friday and I survived hiking the Diez Vistas trail with minimal discomfort. It was actually a great day with beautiful weather and not too many people on the trail.

We went to a bar for a dinner afterwards and either mixing beer with the antibiotics was a bad idea or the eatery itself was a bad idea because I had a hellish night and suffered the symptoms of a classic dose of food poisoning. After swearing I wouldn't touch chicken broth again after IMC, it turned out to be one of the few things I could stomach. It was kind of funny that that, bananas and flat pop (gingerale however, not coke) were my staples for two days, sort of like living off an aid station but without the volunteers.

So seventeen days out from IMC I've managed one run, one ride, one swim and one hike. I'd intended to take it easy after the race but this is a little nuts!