Under two weeks to go

A week from Sunday I'll be doing my first tri. May 16th in Effingham IL. I'm well prepared for the distance, it's only a 0.25 mile swim, 13 mile bike and 5k run. What I'm not prepared for is swimming in a wetsuit, open water swimming, swim to bike transition, etc. I don't have access to a lake so that is just how it is going to be. I guess I can look at it like practice for my second Sprint the following weekend.

The biggest concern at this point is lower back pain. It has been hurting for a few days now. It was so stiff and sore this morning that my run before work turned in to a walk after about 100 yards. The good news is that it doesn't bother me much on the swim. I swam my fastest 100 and 400 ever last night. The other good news is that it doesn't hurt much when I bike. Tonight I managed a bike/run brick and had only minor discomfort (besides the normal discomfort of running off the bike).

I've had bouts of this lower back problem before. Two times ago it was really bad and I decided to try a chiropractor. He gave me some back exercises (and of course adjustments) to do and after a couple weeks, my back was fine. Of course once my back was better, I quit doing the exercises until it hurt again. Note to self: Keep doing back exercises even when your back doesn't hurt. So of course I'm doing the exercises again. I saw the chiropractor Friday (new guy) and he gave me some new exercises. I have a second appointment tomorrow.

Over the next few days I'll finalize my equipment list, make sure my bike fits in my car (if I take the wheels off) and practice getting my wetsuit off in a hurry. I really dread practicing that since it is a workout just to get it on. Oh well, I need to do it.

That's all for now.