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I think it was BPN CEO and hybrid athlete, Nick Bare that inspired me to create my own backyard triathlon. He has a whole series on youtube dedicated to his second iron man prep in addition to training for a sub 3 hour marathon.
I appreciate his content a great deal, because he is one of the few fitness influencers out their delving into new exercise science methodology, which in many respects is quite different than the draconian approaches of yester-yore that are unfortunately often still employed today especially among youth in high school sports and even at the University Level.
When COVID hit it's zenith, the Ironman was cancelled. But, Nick was already seeking out alternatives to holding his Ironman. Likewise, I noted many of the ultra marathon documentaries I was watching had runners participating in more than a few of their own backyard Ultra's. Some, like the Barkley Marathons have been happening for several years.
In short, more than a few elite endurance athletes out there have realized they don't need a committee, and aid station, a show, an arena, an audience or even a silver, bronze, or gold medal to showcase their fitness.
Keeping safety in mind, one can actually do it anytime, anywhere, and in any context they want too. I think the new term for it is "Game -a-fying" fitness.
An Olympic standard triathlon includes:
.93 mile (1.5 km) swim
24.8 mile (40 km) bike
6.2 mile (10 km) run
For a grand spankin' total of 31.93 miles of pure blissful movement :-)
The first thought that came to this mind was, "Oh my goodness - this is actually doable for me", but of course I can't run with numb, stiff legs.
However, I can walk!
The other thought that immediately accompanied this one was, "well maybe, in another lifetime." I don't like crowds and I don't even know of any triathlon events local to this area.
But, when I saw that Nick Bare was looking to hold an unofficial marathon for himself and his team after his events had been cancelled due to COVID I thought,
"Why wait for another lifetime?! You already swim upwards of 2-3 miles in your backyard pool every summer, walked 1.8 miles with a 20 lb weighted vested in 90 degree weather numerous times, and you're already up to 18 miles on the bike...this is a hop, skip, and jump to a full blown triathlon. Do you honestly need it to be official?"
And, the answer was easy of course. There is nothing about my blissful pursuit of fitness that requires a competitive, certified, stamp of approval. I can be my own "aid" station and my mother is excited to "crew" me on the chosen day.
I'm fond of saying my inner being is my Coach and the Universe is this girl's training coordinator. Both have brought me this far without harm or injury - so onward we go! :-)
The next hard decision to make was whether or not I should tell my Mom. It would have been challenging to hide it from her, but having her support would really mean a lot.
I didn't care if the MS neurologist was okay with it. At this point, I'm well aware this body and it's central nervous system is a part of a very rare percentage of MS'ers out there doing hard things that we are technically not supposed to be able to do. This is one area among a few where I am quite content not to fit the standard :-)
But, my Mom is a different story and the bottom line is any kind of endurance event is going to entail a certain amount of suffering. It comes with the territory. How much unnecessary suffering is incurred depends solely on one's perspective when it comes to what they can endure.
I here a lot of ultra marathoners state, "The body will give out before the mind".
And, from this girl's perspective I have found the complete opposite. The mind will definitely give out before the body does. I can't tell you how many ultra documentaries I've seen at this point where the participant gets to the 60 mile point, wailing about blown quads, stiff flexors, fatigue, blisters, vomiting up calories and their uncertainty about whether they can go on.
And, yet even as they are complaining one leg is moving in front of the other. Muscles, tendons, joints, heart, and lungs continue to function and propel them towards their final destination.
Train the mind...and the body will not only follow, it will throw down and kick some serious a$$.
But, the mind is fickle, rebellious, temperamental, emotional, and volatile in addition to being quite an elaborate story teller about all things true and untrue. And as one can surmise, it is going to run through all of these states in a marathon.
How was I going to tell my mother this is the kind of event I want to train for and hold in my own backyard? Especially, because she knows how I am.
If I can't run, I will walk and if I can't walk - I will crawl to a finish line. I will go until I collapse. It's that kind of "will" we're dealing with.
The conversation was held over dinner and wine and to my delightful surprise, my mother is fully on board and willing to "crew" me. Her only request is that I keep the phone near on the walking portion in case something happens and she needs to pick me up.
At times, I get the feeling she, like myself is curious to see just what endurance thresholds I can push through since it's a bit of an "untapped well" but definitely and gentically in my wheelhouse.
The next part of the journey was going to entail research and some pre-training conditioning. I can't start swimming yet until our pool opens in June, but I am still able to work up my endurance on the bike and walking.
The irony of all ironies is the walking portion of this triathlon is quite technically my "Achilles heel". And, it's been a journey trying to figure out what the best compromise is between proper gait, walking speed, and legs that only have partial neuromuscular control over how they react in any given situation.
We learned very quickly about 2 weeks ago that power walking or walking intervals is out of the question. That was the closest to injury I've been in a while, but the experience yielded some good information moving forward.
Because, I don't have full neuro-muscular control from the waist down I also have little control over how tight or stiff hip flexors and abductor muscles get. This can happen at anytime for me, whether I'm laying, standing, sitting, walking or running. However, walking really fast or running will further aggravate the circumstances because as many know the hip flexors and abductor muscles tend to fully activate when we're moving at a fast pace or even a slow jog.
Walking fast/and or jogging can create stiff flexors and abductors on their own without having MS. But throw Multiple Sclerosis in the mix and things get a little untenable and downright disabling to be frank.
There's nothing I can do about spastic abductor muscles or hip flexors when walking a fast pace, but if I walk at my own natural pace with the cane - I do quite well. In the past few weekends I've already gone from 1.8 miles to 5.9. It's about a mile/per 24 minute pace. Perhaps I will be able to whittle that down through training, but if it doesn't happen it's okay.
This is not about competing or "winning". To be frank, my fitness level within the MS community given the impact of the lesions on my CNS is already considered elite. This is about reminding the mind over and over again that it can do hard things. And, if we add a dash of optimized approaches to training, this body may even go places this mind never dreamed it might go. It has certainly been the case thus far.
Anyhow, have a blessed weekend everyone and Happy Friday!
P.S. Just to note: The neurologist is on board with my pursuit and wants to know my time afterward and confessed that she didn't think she would be able to actually do a triathlon. I laughed and said, "You most certainly can. You would have train really hard for it, but you could definitely do it if you wanted to.
Talk about switching roles. You know reality is upside down when a mobility impacted individual is offering encouragement to an able bodied professional with regards to movement! LOL
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