Hi everyone! I’m doing a triathlon from a cruise ship on June 24. The Lipedema Triathlon.
June is lipedema awareness month and I’m making plans now for something I can do every day to share awareness about it. Why? To help other women who have it but don’t know about lipedema, so they can feel normal and know they’re part of 11% of women; to spread awareness to doctors and medical providers about our known, but rarely correctly diagnosed condition, and basically to make myself available to others who have questions about lipedema.
I have an amazing friend and colleague in the lipedema world, Ms. Patti Cornute, who runs one of the longest-standing lipedema awareness sites called Lipedema Fitness. She is positive, truly beautiful, amazing, and inspiring. This woman is so driven and determined, and open about sharing her really challenging fitness routines, even as a stage 3 lipedema lady. She is not giving up. Patti has hosted 7 triathlons so far. The triathlon is a sprint distance 750M (2461 feet) swim, a 20K bike ride, and a 5K run or walk. I signed up last year and frankly, I flat out chickened out. This year I’m doing it.
According to the website, and to Patti’s literally individual encouragement for me, “this is an #AllOrSomething event, meaning you can do as much as you are able to!.” I’ve committed to trying this, and, it turns out, I’ll be embarking on a cruise on the Carnival Breeze that day! So, I’m doing this thing from a cruise ship!!!
Actually, I’m doing the walk and the bike from the ship. Cruise ship pools are remarkably shallow, small, and crowded, so I’m going to do the swim part from our hotel pool in the morning, take a much-needed break while we embark, have a little cruise ship buffet lunch, and then I’m going to do 31 laps on the cruise ship’s jogging track (.10 mile’s lap), and then I’ll hit the gym and do the 12.3 miles on a bike. I may even split the bike portion up into a couple of Tylenol-driven sessions, broken up with a trip to the ship’s Thalassotherapy pool, which are filled with seawater and whose jets are intended to improve circulation and help with joint pain, among other therapeutic effects, due to your body’s absorption of trace minerals found in seawater. I’m hoping the pool is less than 94 degrees so it helps with lipedema swelling, meaning I can use it without worrying about it making me turn into a little puffer fish. Here’s a video of the secret little therapy pool, tucked away in the Cloud 9 spa on board.
Wish me luck! I’ll be making little updates and posts as I finish the triathlon, and Patty is sending me a triathlon t-shirt to wear on board. I’m hoping for a day of beautiful sun, making new friends, raising awareness, and no dislocations. Once I’m done, I’m heading to the dining room (after a shower of course!) to enjoy a beautiful meal and feel proud for what I tried. Here are the shoes I’m going to be testing out while I’m doing this experiment. Tip: I buy men’s new balances most of the time and just find good colors – they are SO much cheaper and I swear the upper is deeper for my foot.
Back in 2009, I completed a half marathon after 14 weeks of training and a lot of weight loss. Doing this triathlon, from a distance perspective, is no match, but a lot can happen to a person’s body in 14 years so I’m going to be especially happy to finish this triathlon! I usually swim as my only source of exercise, but I plan to hop on the treadmill a little bit to build up some stamina and back strength to prep over the next month.
I hope you join me!
Susan
