Happy Valley 70.3 Race Recap
Hi friends!
When limited on time I like to rely on using content I already have drafted up to share some of my race experiences. For those who like to read, below is a quick recap of Happy Valley 70.3 I sent to my coach (un-edited). For those who like to listen, I recorded my post race thoughts a few hours after the race and linked the audio file at the bottom of this post.
As always, I appreciate the support of my little village…you all!
xo
Jen
Race Recap: I think "I cramped the whole race starting at mile 15 of the bike" pretty much sums it up, haha. I managed ok on the bike with it but starting at mile 8 on the run it was cramp central. I did A LOT of walking to try and alleviate the cramps. But honestly I was just happy to be out there after so much adversity since having Emi and being diagnosed with dystonia.
After the race I was just more frustrated than anything else that I had all this fitness and I was not really able to use it so I set out trying to figure out why the cramping. I looked at my taper and what I ate and drank to carb load/hydrate the days leading in and everything was on track. I was feeling REALLY good physically and mentally going into the race. It did rain (HARD!) the ENTIRE race so the humidity was at 100%. I wondered if that had anything to do with it. And in part it did after I discussed it with my neurologist. So here's the deal:
Remember I told you I was tapering off of a dystonia medication? Well it turns out that medication can help control muscle spasms and so putting myself in an extreme situation with very high humidity and high effort meant those spasms (what I thought were cramps, but essentially they are the same thing) can become almost debilitating- which they were, haha. The solution is to get back on a very low dose of the medication (it is on the approved WADA and USADA list, btw). So I started back on that yesterday, 6/18. We won't really be able to see if it works unless I am in similar conditions but I thought it would be good to add in an OLY distance a few weeks before the next long course race just to test the waters and make sure we are on track. It's local and up in the mountains so it won't be humid but at least we can see how the body is responding to the low dose meds.
As for training, I am loving it and don't see the need to change anything. I am confident in the progress we have made and will continue to make. I also recognize we are still very early into this journey so even on good days when the body is going well I will still need to keep an open mind regarding what I am capable of with where I am at with the dystonia recovery process. To me it's fascinating to try and put the pieces of the puzzle together of how to work with, essentially, a new body/physiology. It's a passion project and something that brings me joy outside of work and motherhood. Most important though, I am having fun and loving triathlon and THAT is a great place to be in terms of longevity in the sport :)