Eileen Swanson's Tales

It’s been a crazy 4 weeks. I have been hit with everything I could handle in a short amount of time. The good news is that I am “down but not out.” For those of you that read my blog back at the end of March, you would know that I was feeling on top of this world I was having a series of great luck and success in all of my running and swim races and I was training better than I ever had. It was this fire and desire that made me realize how important my health and happiness meant to me. It is something that we all take for granted every now and then. Of course it is in the low moments that we realize how great we had it.

I have had a foot injury for a little over 4 weeks now which forced me to stop running and training on the bike the way I used to. I am one who loves to do it all and when something is out of whack, I get pretty hard on myself and frustrated. I know I need to work on this. So, what better timing to work on this and focus on my swimming, right? Of course. But 8 days after hurting my foot and organizing and coaching our 3 day Alcatraz Camp, I came down with a wicked case of bronchitis. I was trying as best as I could to stay positive and think that I would still be able to race WF. I still was going to race up until the night before the race when my fellow pro friends and coaches told me that it would not be wise with a hurt foot and still coughing up stuff. So, as you all know I opted to cheer everyone on and have fun! I was still smiling and letting go of my frustration by thinking that my foot and sickness would be all better soon.

A week after WF and I was again feeling so happy and alive while I was on my first run in 3 weeks. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to be running almost pain free. Since I didn’t want to overdo it, I waited another couple of days before I ran again since my foot was just a little sore. I ran just a couple of miles and felt a little pain. So again I backed off and waited a couple of days before I attempted another run. My 2nd and 3rd runs were all of 15-20 mins. So nothing spectacular but it sure was nice to get that feeling back.

A day after my 3rd run we were back in SF coaching our 3rd set of Alcatraz clinics. It is super fun and rewarding but also quite exhausting to be honest. We are doing all the sports with each participant and talking, giving lectures and answering questions all day for several days. This clinic was actually the most exhausting for me since I had to swim with the slower but gutsy swimmers and I ended up being in the bay for a lot longer than I ever have and I was just treading water and encouraging the swimmers to keep moving forward. They did awesome and were super happy. And I was frozen solid But that’s my job and I’m happy that I can help people accomplish their dreams of swimming across the bay. The next day I was toeing the line at a local triathlon with amazing athletes and great friends, including Macca, Lieto, Gina Kehr, Kelly Couch, and Kristin Hilger Iavarone.

I was racked next to Lieto and Macca and this was super fun. Macca asked me why I haven’t raced in quite a while. Ha! The last time we saw each other was a year ago at WF. He is an amazing guy and it was cool that he was racing at our local tri. Lieto’s kid Kaiden was helping me set my transition area up. He became a fan of mine (as Karis his mom says) after learning that I ride with his dad on Wed and race pro too ) So funny! At the swim start I lined up right next to Lieto and Macca was 2 people over to my right. It was such a fun and relaxed swim start with Belle swimming in the water a couple of feet away from us. She finally got out with 3 mins to go, everyone LOVED her I told Lieto not to kick me and told Macca that I was going to try to stay with him. He said “sure mate, let’s go.” And then the gun went off and we were on our way. It was pretty mellow and I only had one person hitting my legs over and over for the first 20 strokes, but then it was smooth and comfortable. I think I got too comfortable by just sitting in and drafting. I was feeling just ok so I thought I should just hang there. It was a just ok swim, I came out tied for 2nd with Kelly Couch, and Gina was just a couple seconds in front of us. My time was over 30 seconds faster than last year. For a 3/4 mile swim my time was 16:28. I headed up to my rack and Gina was about to run out. So I stripped my wetsuit off super quick and was off on the bike in 2nd.

Here is where everything leading up to the race decided to show itself. I was fatigued. There is nothing else I can say except that my legs were wobbly and I felt weak. It was such a bummer, but I knew deep down that I had not rested, I have been super stressed, and sick. So what could I ask for? My body was not responding as much as I tried so hard to go fast, I just couldn’t. I kept thinking about all the great rides I have had, but it was a no go. I got passed by the 3rd and 4th place pro women and I just didn’t have it and mentally gave up a bit. I stayed with it and kept trying but my legs would not respond. So, I just did what I could and when I came into T2 I saw Reid and Belle and I told them I was pretty dissappointed by the look on my face. I wanted to call it a day since I knew I hadn’t run in several weeks other than a total of 45 mins. So it would have been really hard to make up what I thought was 4 mins. Now looking back, I shouldn’t have given up, 3rd place was only 2 mins up. But I gave up enough to not have a chance to catch her. UGH, what a mistake. I really need to work on my mental game and not letting this injury bring me down this much. It really is not worth it and I know better. I ended up in 5th place with a slower time than last year on the bike for sure. Faster on the swim and about the same on the run. I let 4th place go too, but having a “pity party” with myself attitude. This REALLY isn’t me!! I really knew something was wrong. I was just feeling awful. Literally 20 mins after the race I started having this weird flashing in both eyes. I couldn’t see more than a couple of feet in front of me. It was scary. I knew a migraine was now coming on. We rushed to get out of the race area and into the car where a full blown migraine took over. I was in SO MUCH PAIN!!! I have never had a migraine this bad ever. I had to throw up several times, I thought my head was going to explode and my eyes were going to pop out. That is how much pressure I was feeling in my head. It was unbelievable. I kept telling Reid I was going to die. Seriously the worst feeling ever. I am just getting my vision back today and my headache has subsided a bit. If I bend over or lean down to pick something up, I still get an awful pressure filled pain. I’m hoping it will go away very soon…

Lessons learned: RECOVERY IS VITAL. Stay POSITIVE throughout 100% of ALL races, ENJOY being HEALTHY, DO NOT taking anything for granted!!