To DNF is "did not finish" and for those who know me, this is not in my mantra. You FNMW "finish no matter what" Walk, crawl, take a nap... get it done. But an IDNF is "intentionally did not finish" as in the plan was not to finish. Why? My hamstring is not 100%, and I have an Ironman in October.
To digress, "the injury" Hamstring tendinopathy. A literal "pain in the butt" Not that is diagnosis was easy to come by, I have seen 6 + "people" and have had multiple diagnoses. My insurance, which I pay $700 a month for PPO denied the MRI request by my Dr. until I did 4 weeks of "approved PT" They would not accept the 3 weeks of ART, Acupuncture, Estim, Shockwave therapy... as "accepted" treatment. I call BS. I found a cash pay MRI and had it done, I needed to know was it my hamstring, my glute, my piriformis, my adductor, or something no one identified. And was it pulled, strained, torn, etc. No, it's just inflamed and pissed off. Treatment? Time off, okay I will be doing that 10/13/19.
I took 3 weeks off running - I know not enough time, but it is 90% better, and I can run with a dull ache vs. severe pain. The caveat is I cannot run fast. New plan for Kona, LSM, long slow miles, get the time in with a low HR and see what happens... 10.12 we shall see. Smart? Not sure, but if the pain were worse or terrible, I would shut it all down. It the risk was a significant injury, no go but I have been increasing running, and the pain is decreasing as long as I am SAF. slowasfuck.
So Boulder 70.3? I was coming out to the coach, see family anyway and just train but last Sunday I was able to run 1 hour so we (coach and I ) decided to swim/bike and run 1 + loop. I swam and biked as I would in any 70.3 - same effort and since I was not tapered and I am at 5000+ feet this was not easy. I ran 1 loop 6.5 miles without pain. I would lie if I did not consider walk/running loop 2 for the finish! But my eye is on October, so I stopped, turned in my chip, chatted with Mike for 10 min and then knocked out 2.5 miles for a 9-mile day! WIN-WIN! I had the fun of swim/bike, and I got in 9 miles, and I am NOT hurting today. So to say I am happy about my IDNF- yes!
What will the big dance bring in October? Not sure but I am going I am racing and am thankful to have the opportunity. After being told, "you are not made for the heat" " you should consider cool races, physiologically you cannot perform in the heat" It's hard to go all-in with high expectations. Add the hammie and let's go to Kona to have fun, enjoy the day and do the best I can. More on my "heat issue" in this article ( 1/2 way down is the recap on my Korey Stringer testing."
On a side note, since I am spending $ right and left on treatment, I added the Hypervolt to my arsenal. Expensive, yes, worth it yes. I use it twice a day on my hamstring and a good 10+minutes on sore legs. I think it's fantastic!
