Stress (fracture?)

After Tuesday's track workout, my left thigh started hurting a bit-- like a Charlie-horse. I didn't think much of it. The pain wasn't near any joints, so it was probably just muscular, and muscles heal. Wednesday was a swim, so it didn't much matter and didn't much come to mind. It became more persistent and, hence, more worrisome as Thursday wore on. Placing too much weight on my leg, making a sudden turn, even twisting my knee in a certain way, meant increasingly worsening surges of pain.

I've a bad hip and probably shouldn't be running anyway, but I feel like I know what the problem there is, know how much damage I'm doing to it and can, therefore, manage it. I'm so used to paying attention to what's going on there, that I'm afraid I forgot that I could get injured in other places too. Shooting pain from the middle of my thigh, whenever I put weight on it, could indicate a stress fracture. A few self tests, performed in my chair at work, didn't rule this out. Now, three days of rest later, without any improvement and I'm getting worried.

Well... I'm getting a little worried. If I was a real triathlete-- as in, if this were something that I was going to keep on doing-- then I would probably be upset, but I'm not. This is my first and last triathlon and, while it's disappointing that I might not be able to do my best during my one and only, I'm going to do it, get it over with and not look back. I could wimp out. I've met my fundraising goal and I could probably still go to Hawaii and cheer on my teammates, so it's not about the trip. I made a commitment, is what it is, and that commitment was more than to raise money. That commitment was to put myself through this training, to work as hard as I can, and then to throw everything I have at this race.

I promise I won't do any lasting damage. If an X-ray confirms a fracture, then It's to the pool for me for the next four weeks, but I'm doing the race if I have to bike one legged and walk the whole 10k.

I'm doing this because people with blood cancers are fighting for their lives and I'm not about to tell them that I give up.

Thank you for your support. Please help my teammates in their fight to raise awareness and funds for LLS:

http://www.tinyurl.com/find-a-cure or http://www.tinyurl.com/cure-blood-cancer
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This week's tragedy:

Day 54 of training: (Tuesday track workout)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 8
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 9
Pool Swims: 9
Maintenance Runs: 14
Ocean Swims: 9
Track/speed run workouts: 5
Bike/Run Bricks: 3

Day 55 of training: (Wednesday pool swim)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 8
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 9
Pool Swims: 10
Maintenance Runs: 14
Ocean Swims: 9
Track/speed run workouts: 5
Bike/Run Bricks: 3

Day 56 of training: (Thursday 3 mile run)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 8
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 9
Pool Swims: 10
Maintenance Runs: 15
Ocean Swims: 9
Track/speed run workouts: 5
Bike/Run Bricks: 3