Triathalon trouble

I have been training for the CDA Race to the River Triathlon. It's a mini tri and my wonderful friend Katie and I signed up together (Ivy and Jeremy Wang are doing it also, yeah!) Up until I signed up, I had been really bored with my workouts, and no progression had been made. So this goal of having to swim 1/2 mile, bike 11 miles, and run 3.1 miles, in a row, has motivated me. Mostly, I don't want to die on the course, so the more I train the less likely they will have to drag my body off the course on a stretcher. Katie just completed her first marathon, which is totally amazing, so she will most likely leave me in her dust or be running around me in circles the whole time. But I love her for encouraging me and I am really looking forward to spending some time with her the few weeks before the race (she lives in Portland).

Everything has been going so wonderfully, I have learned how to time my breathing in the pool and have purchased my first road bike (so much better than a mountain bike) for my long rides, and my running pace has greatly improved. Gage (our dog) actually has to run too, rather than walk next to me. But the past 3-4 weeks have been very frustrating, my left hip, knee, and the top of my foot become painfully sore after I bike or run. So I have to take a few days off in between workouts. Nick finally convinced me to go to the Doc (I dug my heels in as much as possible). And the doc immediately sent me to Physical Therapy. She put on my referal "2xs a week for 6 weeks." The first thing I thought was "oh that's crazy, I will just have to go once for them to tell me some new stretches," Nick can attest because I told him. I had my first appointment on Tuesday and it turns out I have a bit more work to do than I thought. My IT band is extremely tight and is causing A LOT of other problems. My left hip is tilted causing my left leg to be longer than the right, which in turn causes me to overcompensate on my right leg. Weird right? She had me doing exercises on a foam roller that right now is acting more like a torture device than a stretching mechanism. I am told it will not hurt so bad the more I use it, but right now I am having a hard time seeing the light.

So.......I made appointments for the next 6 weeks, twice a week. I also decided I need to start going to yoga at my gym because I might just be the most inflexible person on earth. I am not aloud to run on the road for awhile, but there is one treadmill at the gym that I can use. The belt looks like tank tracks and it gives a lot when you run on it. Gage will miss running together.

I am not going to give up, I will cross the finish line on July 26th even if I am on my hands and knees. My PT says she will fix me, so I am completely trusting her and I am determined to do my part. Wish me luck!