How do you even start writing a blog post after 2 months of nothing? Funny anecdote? A quote from Winston Churchill or Gandhi? No clue! Not that I ever considered myself someone who delights in preparing eloquent blog posts…
Regardless, it’s been a very long time since I wrote something substantial about the state of… well.. EVERYTHING! Sure, a guy surfing while the Men in the Grey Suits swim all around him is awesome and everything, but maybe some MEAT added to my blog would do everyone some good! You will find this post lacking all of the following:
1) Music linked from youtube.
2) Fun
3) Seriousness
4) Sarcasm
Ok… Maybe I’ll leave in all except number 1. I mean, I am most definitely not as musically cultured as some people around (i.e. check out Andrew McCartney’s blog…). Therefore you’re just getting pure, unfiltered Derek Westra-frickin’-Luney.
So where to start… To sum up my season in 3 letters… DNF. This summer was a mystery for myself and everyone around me. There had been no conclusive answers to the issues in my left leg (although a certain A.S. diagnosed the problem very early on..) and it led to multiple DNFs beside my name in results. About 2 weeks ago, I finally found out what was going on, but we’ll get to that later.
The big race of the season for me was Nationals in Kelowna. Not only was it my first ITU race/Continental Cup, it was my first Olympic distance race in a few years! Up until a year ago, training had consisted of MAYBE 10 hours a week during my heavy weeks, and that was when I was doing Half-Irons for fun. All of that said, expectations were high since my cycling and swimming had been improving steadily all summer. As for running, Noa, Linda (my physio) and I had looked at it as a sort of survival deal. We didn’t know at that time that I had a crack 2/3 of the way through my left tibia. Pain had not been an issue leading up to the race since I had not tried to run in 2 weeks prior to the August 22nd start.
Race day comes. Rain pouring, wind howling, and everybody shivering. I’ve never been more nervous in my entire life. I got in a good 750m warm up, doing 1 lap of the race course. I could barely talk to anyone due to my nerves and as we entered our starting positions, people were ditching wetsuits, parkas, and huge jackets that were keeping them warm. The start happened so fast it felt like a blur. It didn’t feel like there was any pause between me taking my position at stall #66 (of 72.. BLAH) and the gun going off. The swim was an interesting creature. I don’t think I fully understood how fast everyone would go for that first buoy, but I feel like I overestimated my ability. Before the race I never fathomed NOT coming out with the first pack. Ego: 0, Race: 1. I spent the entire first lap leading the 2nd pack while attempting to bridge the extra 10m to the lead pack. It never happened. At the run-around at 750m I nearly caught the leaders, but didn’t have the gusto to fully commit to bridging that gap. Shit.
I exited the water in 19th place with a 19:48 clocking. Not so stoked at that point. The run to transition was long and proved a little rough on the leg. I hopped on the bike after a terrible transition and made my go at hopping in the chase pack. Leading up to the hill on the first lap I was leading the chase pack, and feeling very strong. Then, boom. I mentally checked out. I got about 5/6ths of the way up the hill and just pulled over and stopped. I’m a proud person, and it’s very hard for me to admit that I gave up, but I did. My leg didn’t feel too terrible and before that point on the hill, I felt like I could at least finish the bike and put in a very solid effort. I’ve thought about that moment A LOT in the last 2 months, and I’ve been doing mental exercises to help ensure that this does not happen again. I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed in myself.
Regardless, I got back to Victoria and immediately started training again. In retrospect, it was exactly what I needed. I felt motivated, and unafraid of that same pressure I felt previous to Kelowna. Yet again, everything was feeling great. I still didn’t push my leg by trying to run, but I was riding like a madman. Every time I felt like I was getting “too” tired on the bike, I forced a smile and finished stronger. I’d say I learned more from Kelowna than I originally thought I would. There was another race just around the corner that had originally been a maybe on my race schedule..
The Vancouver Triathlon. Great looking venue, lots of great local athletes (including eventual winner Mike Adams.. CONGRATS!), and not too far from the ol’ rock! The race was also a bonus because later that afternoon I got to pick up Ally from the airport after 4 months of long-distance! It was shaping up to be a GREAT day!
I won’t go into too much detail about the race, but I had a good swim, coming into T1 20 seconds back on the aforementioned winner Mike, and felt VERY strong on the bike. So much so that by the end of the first lap I had managed to cut his lead to about 5 seconds.. For the first time I was positive and level-headed on the bike and I felt like that improved my performance ten-fold. Unfortunately, my leg acted up while climbing to prospect point on the first of 4 laps, and after a lengthy but speedy downhill, I pulled out of the race. I wasn’t disappointed though. Although it was cut short, this race proved to myself that I do have the mental capacity for this sport. I was exhilarated by the thought of coming into T2 near the front of the race, and pounding out a strong 10k. This wasn’t in the cards this time, but oh you just wait..
Time for the more recent fun. The rest of September was a blur of seeing Ally, going surfing, riding my bicyclette, swimming REALLY well etc. Now for the INJURY
The images:
There you go. The damage, the proof that I’m not a giant wuss. The pain was not typical of a stress fracture, so no one ever guessed that’s what it could be. I finally have some peace of mind knowing what it is. The radiologist report from the CT Scan was the most clear (and optimistic 
to me:
Findings: There is a healing stress fracture involving the posterior cortex of the proximal tibial diaphysis. There are no findings to suggest osteomyelitis. There are no findings to suggest an osteoid osteoma.
So there it is. In plain (sort of) English. As of right now, the recovery period is ~8 weeks. I won’t start running until January just to make sure everything is 100000% better. We’ll see about cycling…
So I guess that covers pretty much everything up to now. For now it’s going to be a swimming focus (obviously!) while doing all I can to accelerate the healing process.
Until next time.. which hopefully won’t be 2 months!
Anyways, I’ve been a bit of a surfing dork lately and it’s been great following such a growing sport. One of my all-time sports heroes, Kelly Slater recently won his 10th WORLD TITLE. A feat that many say has never been accomplished in any other sport. In his two decades in the sport, he has accomplished an incredible amount. His passion for the sport has seemingly never wavered, and he has the uncanny ability to excel competitively solely on the basis of “having fun.” He was the main subject of the documentary “Letting Go”, which was his personal journey back to the competitive peak of the sport after losing the 2003 World Title race to Andy Irons. How does he do it? He falls in love with the sport and competition again. He goes out and has fun.
