Race the River Triathlon is in six and half weeks and I’m really half-assing training. The worst part? It’s all self-inflicted. Some of my skipping training has a positive in it – self-care, tending to what needs to be done – but it’s worrying me, nonetheless.

I haven’t run in about four weeks. I have an appointment with an orthopedist next week to check out my knee. I believe I injured it back in February, but I continued training for the Badger Mountain Challenge. Both knees were on fire after the turn-around point in that race. I spent the next four weeks doing a lot of walking and short runs. I thought my knee was fine.

And then I ran Bloomsday – 12 km on asphalt. Three days later, I did a cadence interval workout – again, on asphalt. And that’s when my knee quit wanting to play. I didn’t run again for a few weeks, and I was nudged to go see the doctor – thanks, CC!

The preliminary diagnosis is bursitis in my left knee – that’s the pain I thought was an injury to my MCL. I’m also having discomfort and some pain at the back of my knee, which the doc fears may be a cartilage tear. And so, off to the orthopedist I go.

My right knee is also complaining, but I believe it’s just an IT band issue. And the crazy part? I’m doing two minutes’ worth of clamshells every night. I should add back in the exercises the ART chiro gave me when my IT band flared up right before Titanium Man 2015.

Bottom line: I’m not doing any running while training for Race the River. That’s not a deal-breaker – I just need to make sure I’m ready for the swim and my bike leg is solid. Unfortunately, six months off the bike took its toll. I crashed the first time I got on the bike – I didn’t have the rear QR tight enough, and I fell over when the chain pulled the hub out of the dropout. That vastly increased my skittishness. I’m still getting over it. On the plus side, I’ve commuted by bike a few times, and it’s making me  happy. I worry that I don’t have the saddle at the right height, and I really need to get this bike into the shop for a tune-up and perhaps a fitting. (I think I need a new saddle and new pedals.)

I’m doing okay with the swim. I haven’t been swimming as much as I should be, but other stuff has come up. I’m feeling relatively confident, though. The test will be my first open-water swim of the season. The Columbia is up to the high-50’s now. I’m going to delay that OWS until July, though. There’s no reason to rush into it. I’m not looking forward to trying to squeeze into my wetsuit, either.

I’ve done better this year with strength training. I managed to do five workouts in May – I’d prefer two a week, but this is a start!

Ah, but my diet. It’s always the fueling end of the equation with me! On the plus side, I’m not working out so much that I’m having to be careful to do post-workout fueling. But I’m back to my “oh I can eat this!” lies, immediately followed by regret. Every day is a new day, though, and I’m trying to re-start each day with renewed dedication to fueling well.

On the plus side, our garden is going like gangbusters. Most of the cool-weather stuff is done, although I have a bunch of turnips to harvest. We’re getting strawberries now, and the sweet cherries aren’t far behind. We’re going to dig up one bed that’s full of potatoes right now and plant corn in that bed – we’re hoping for a bunch of new potatoes. And the cardoon that overwintered needs picked – here’s hoping the wait and the work is worth it! I’ve started eating brown rice – on purpose, even – and I’m still limiting my intake of refined grains.

I may never conquer my food-related self-delusions. But I can continue to honor my body and fuel it wisely.