Onwards and upwards.

Real success is not about never having a bad day. What is important is how fast you

can turn that bad day around, how quickly you can form a strategy to overcome 

any obstacles that may appear on your path and how fast you can recover 

from a disappointment or blow to your confidence.

~ Dominique Bertolucci ~

A couple of posts ago I had disclosed that my shins had been giving me grief. Well pretty soon I was told to rest by my trainer and physio till I got some scans done to diagnose exactly what was going wrong in there. My physio, whom I have aptly named now as "Stef the tenderiser" was quite concerned with the amount of pain I was in everytime she went anywhere near my bone. After a few sessions the pain which I only felt in my shins (which was quite localised) had dropped to below my ankle. I had also told her that my first few steps of a morning are painful and now kicking when I swim was starting to hurt in my ankle too. Hence the reason for a bone scan.

Jen (SpartaPT) my coach rearranged my training program to exclude running and crosstrainer and to include water running till diagnosis and future plans for rehab were discussed with my physio. Going for my bone scan was a bit - ALOT - nerve wracking. Not only was I kept waiting for forever, but I could hear my name being whispered as well as terms like "ankles, scan higher, her shins" only then to have the Doctor come and speak to me about where my pain was and he then stated "I can definitely see shin splints but want to investigate a bit further". I started crapping myself right then and there. In my head I had already been diagnosed with something horrendous. Panic stations were on high alert and I was sent off to wait for Part B of the scan.

With Part B done and what felt like a lifetime of waiting, my results came through. Shin splints. But not just in my right shin, although that was the worst - it was in both. But my right showed definite stress changes especially where most of my pain had been. With there also being uptake of the radionuclide in my feet. And whilst the news was upsetting, in a way - I was glad to hear that I wasn't imagining my pain. 

Thank goodness for my family and friends with their supportive words. Cause if I had to just sit and wallow in my own misery it could have been tragic. 

And whilst the road to IM will be more challenging to say the least - I can now go on focused with the things I need to do to make sure I will make it across that line. And that is lots and lots of swimming, cycling and water running. When it comes to water running - I think I have found my new love. There is something about it that I absolutely find extremely relaxing. And maybe it's just because I am in the water, but doing something that hurts so much in an environment that feels so nurturing really makes me want to go do it everyday. And that is not something that I can say so freely when it comes to running on land.

Check out that beautiful form. Not something I can boast about when running on land, but in the water, surprisingly I look graceful and feel just as graceful. And as I am running and doing my efforts I imagine that this is what it must feel like for my friends who are seasoned Triathletes or long distance runners. For once in the water I can pretend I am fast even though I am moving at a pace that closely resembles that of a sloth. And I know I am getting a good workout because I finish with heavy legs and arms thanks to the waters resistance. Bring on more water running I say. I really do enjoy it. And because I know I am going to be in there for the long haul, I purchased an Speedo underwater MP3 player so I have some tunes to sing to during my workouts.

So even though my direction has been re-routed, Im still getting there, just via a different path. And it's a journey I am enjoying.

So tomorrow, I do my first Open Water 5km - Bridge 2 Bridge swim. Looking forward to it with slight trepidation. Not quite sure how to pace myself for that sort of distance. Nevermind, I will just keep swimming.