I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:45am and hopped in the shower even though I'd still be getting lake-ified, but I needed to loosen up my muscles and take the edge off of morning stiffness. I was on my way to Lake Michigan to attempt my first half mile swim in open water. I was meeting Kajal, a super cool lady from the tri-club, and we were off for an 8am ish start. Fleet Feet was awesomely renting wetsuits for $10 bucks/ 2 hours, so I thought, let's try it!
Damn, it's hard.
Kajal took off, she was going to do the mile, but all of my breathing technique quickly evaporated as I struggled in the current. Lake Michigan has got some waves, y'all. It does. I wore my knee brace under the wetsuit, and with the compression from the brace PLUS the suit, my knee wasn't an issue at all. Though Kajal had told me that if she were my physical therapist, she would be telling me not to be training for the Tri right now. Good thing she's not my PT! I said, "BUT I SPENT SO MUCH MONEY ALREADY!" To which she said, "Ok, start strengthening!" She's a physical therapist and has given me some good advice on getting back into run mode eventually. Which means NO RUNNING right now. But soon.
The point of this story is that I swam that 1/2 mile. I swam it slowly, but I swam it. And out on the water I saw my new tri friend Dave attempting his 1st mile. Friends! Tri friends uniting in spirit and one common goal! I have also met an awesome para-triathlete who has similar pain issues in addition to only being able to use one arm.This dude gives me inspiration! We're all doing this!
I only just told Kajal the day before that I had fibromyalgia. I didn't want to necessarily set myself apart from everyone else, but I have to be honest with my limitations and I know it's nothing to be ashamed of. It just means I have to go more slowly and listen to my body with extreme precision. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea about this syndrome. I don't want people to think that fibro doesn't actually limit people, that it doesn't limit ME, and that I'm able to do this kind of thing all the time. I don't want to misrepresent what this disorder does to people. But it's either staying sick or taking it into your own hands to do everything you can to feel healthy. This took months of flares to get to the point where I'm at now. It's no easy task to take your body from negative activity to massive activity without going through the inevitable modes of 'overexertion.' But I've done it. And sure, I've had days where I've felt like someone has pulled my plug out of nowhere. Those are the days I stop. It just depends how forcefully that electrical outlet has been tampered with.
Kajal's response to my fibromyalgia?
"Way to go, girl!... Way to go balls out with the International distance as your first race!"
Sometimes I can't believe I'm doing this.
But I have to admit, I've noticed more energy and I've felt a surge of spirit. I took a broken body and a broken soul and started weaving the pieces back together. And you know what?
I'm more proud of this than almost anything else I've attempted in my life.
I have about a month left to get things in gear.
Like Kajal says, I'm going balls out.
~K.xx
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