Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

II have had my sights on racing Ironman Coeur d’Alene (CDA) since November. I know that the average Ironman athlete signs up and prepares for an Ironman for over a year. However, about 3 weeks prior to the race I had been training very hard and my left hip flexor began acting up on me. Initially it simply felt tight, then painful, then VERY painful. I was pretty pro active, immediately skipping a run when symptoms began to see if I could let it heal before it became more of a problem, however, it did not help. I took 2 days off…still painful.

I had diagnosed myself, however, that is a big “no no,” so it was time to see a sports med doctor. The good news is that my self-diagnosis was correct, and it was tendonitis, simply a soft tissue injury. However, the bad news is that it would simply take time and rest to heal.

After a week of rest, I tried running at Rev3 and again the hip was not happy. Ok another week of no running. I saw Jeff Wells, my massage therapist, several times over these weeks and finally this week he sent me to an acupuncturist and with some trepidation I had acupuncture. It was incredibly helpful and I was feeling much better and very optimistic about healing in time for Ironman CDA.

It had been 6 days without running (keep in mind I was swimming and biking throughout this injury with minimal discomfort) and 2 days of almost no pain. So I decided it was time to try running and I was feeling very optimistic. I did a extensive warm up, with some self massage and stretching and 5min walk warm up and with my first few run strides I knew this was not good. The pain immediately came back and my stride noticeably had a limp.

At this point I some deep thinking to do. In the back of my mind I knew that I should not race IM CDA, however, I was yet to admit it to myself. That afternoon I had an appointment with Jeff Wells and the first 15min of my massage was simply talking about my hip and the race. After that I had a good conversation with Ashley and then with my coach who both lead me to the conclusion that Ironman CDA would have to wait.

The best case scenario would be a sub par performance at IM CDA and then at least 2-3 more weeks of dealing with my re-inflamed hip. It certainly is a frustrating situation and really the first time that I have ever had to deal with an injury that has limited me so much. I have decided that I am going to take a week entirely off from training and set my sights on Ironman Lake Placid where I certainly have thrived before.

This week will involve no swimming, no biking and certainly no running. The goal is to focus all my energies on physically and mentally refreshing myself and healing. Psychologically it has been a struggle the last few weeks and this week may be the biggest test yet, however, I know this is the best decision so that my hip does not turn into a chronic problem and I am not dealing with it for the rest of the season.

Of note I had run out of Base Amino and Recover Activator a week or two before this problem developed and I cannot help but wonder how much of a role that played. This injury was caused by multiple different factors and I cannot blame one aspect of my training or recovery.

I am certainly very disappointed, but I am feeling better and better about this decision knowing it will give me the best chance to rebound faster and stronger than ever.

I decided to make the trip up to Middlebury, CT to race the inaugural Rev3 triathlon. I was planning to race Ironman Cor d’Alene in just 2 weeks and decided to approach this race as a practice race/learning experience, especially given the depth of the pro field. Additionally this was my 3rd half Ironman in 5 weeks, on top of the fact that I have not officially taper for any of them due to my focus on Ironman CDA. In retrospect this may have been a bit of a stretch, however, you are never really sure where the line is until you cross it.I flew up to NYC where my mother-in-law picked me up and then lent me one of their cars to drive up to Middlebury. An easy drive on a Thursday afternoon and I arrived at my homestay with plenty of time to relax. Gina, her 2 dogs and cat were great hosts! Also, for those of you who do not know, Middlebury, CT is the headquarters of Timex. Keith Meyer and several other folks at Timex hosted several of us on the team on Friday and it was great to not only see several teammates, but also the Timex staff.Let me start by saying how well the Rev3 staff was at taking care of the pro athletes who were racing. We were provided complimentary pre-race massages, and personalized banners at our transition spots, just to name a few. For example, the shifting on my bike was a little off after the plane ride and I had no idea where a bike shop was in the area. I e-mailed my contact at Rev3 about the problem and 2 minutes later, literally 2 minutes, I got a call back from them.As for my race I knew it was going to be tough. I had been nursing a hip injury and was pretty sure that I was not going to run in an effort to save myself for IM CDA. As I said I was approaching this as a practice race so I was not too concerned or putting too much pressure on myself. However, I perhaps was not putting enough pressure on myself and I found that I was mentally having a hard time getting “psyched up” to race. I think another factor in this equation was the cumulative fatigue in my body from 2 months of solid Ironman specific training and 2 halfs. Unfortunately, this mental flatness translated into physical flatness on race day as well.I have been very happy with how my swimming has improved over the last several months, yet I am still having difficultly mastering the race tactics and sprinting involved at the beginning of a race amongst the pro field. I really wanted to have a good swim at Rev3 like I had at Cali 70.3 earlier in the year. I sprinted as hard as I could for 5 minutes and then my arms and shoulders seemed to decide that they were done. I had nothing in the tank and it was all I could to simply keep moving forwards on the course. The thought of simply quitting did enter my mind and right up until exiting T2 I was debating whether or not I should even ride. However, I decided to approach the bike as an up tempo training ride.The bike course at Rev3 is beautiful and very challenging. It seemed I was either mashing up a hill at 10mph or coasting down at 35mph. I focused on keeping a steady up tempo effort and felt ok a moments but the flatness in my legs remained.I rolled into T2 in 12th place, much to my surprise and decided that I would at least practice my T2 and try to run. After running out of transition and 500 feet down the road the pain in my hip was not horrible, but I did not want to set myself back for IM CDA, so I pulled out and headed to the massage tent.Although this race was probably one of the worst of my career thus far, the lessons continue and I certainly learned a thing or two about the mental aspects of racing. I found that racing without a goal, or without any pressure on myself that there was nothing pulling me forwards or encouraging me to dig down and find the energy and strength to fight on. This is really the first time that I have mentally given up in a race and it is a slippery slope. I find that when the pain and desire to quit creep into your mind during a race it never lasts very long. However, when it is coupled with self-doubt or lack of self-expectation is very easy to give in and say to yourself “you’re right, I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough.” This begins the negative downward spiral that in many ways becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is to give yourself little goals, such as “one more hill” or “1 more mile.” Most importantly, however, stay positive, no matter how much your doubt yourself and your body is screaming to stop, smile, focus on staying relaxed and stay positive. It really does wonders and soon you will feel better, I promise.In summary, my race a Rev3 was pretty horrific, yet is certainly an organization where I will considering racing again in the future, only hopfully under very different circumstances.