The path of a Broken woman to become an Iron man - post 1

And it now begins...this tale is my journey to becoming an Ironman - after a long and painful hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. That in layman's terms means the uterus and both ovaries, as well as Fallopian tubes are removed. 

A hysterectomy is becoming quite common... can you imagine, it being common for a woman to have all their most important body parts removed ? Have you ever heard such nonsense, in any other creature, man or otherwise ? Yet, we do it.  I chose it.  It was my solution.  The doctors have been treating me for years now for multiple fibroids in my uterus which I was managing, painfully.  Monthly bloating, extreme cramps, bleeding that would chase me out of meetings, and mood swings that would have my team looking for answers.  I wanted my uterus removed then, perhaps I willed what happened next.  The universe often gives me exactly what I ask for! Must always be careful what we say we wish for.

Early last year they found a cyst during an ultrasound on my right ovary.  When I returned for a second pass, the cyst was growing, fast.  By the time I had met with my surgeon, just a few weeks later, and agreed to have the ovary and cyst removed by open stomach surgery, the cyst had grown to 9cm.  Baseball sized.  When faced with the dilemma to have the uterus and other ovary removed, my husband and I met with a few experts and determined the best decision for me to prevent any future cancers was to remove it all.  I was ready.

The surgery was a grand success, my doctor was able to open me up and remove the entire cyst whole, as well as the rest of my parts...ensuring no spillage of any cells into my cavity.  The next weeks were pretty much by the book, so unless you ask, I'll not go into too much detail here.  All I can say is I was sleeping, and on my back, a lot.  I was in a lot of pain, I suffered from swelly belly, and still do.  I gained weight and my former athletic muscles depleted.  I was so afraid of deterring the healing I barely walked anywhere, never really left the house.  So I did heal... My body is returning to normal, now after 2.5 months I'm ready.  I'm ready to go back to work on Monday, and I'm ready to begin my training for the Ironman Canada.  With 49 Weeks to go, I've got a lot to accomplish.

I've scoured the internet and found an excellent back to running training plan on the women's running site by Matt Fitzgerald that I intend to follow.  Its a couch to 5k to start, then 5K to 10K,, then 10K to 1/2 Marathon, then Marathon.  By February next year, when the full on Ironman training begins, I should be back to full speed on my running.

Additionally I'll be incorporating Yoga, and some free weight strength building in this plan.  Bike rides will begin on the trainer on the off days and a one hour weekly swim to practice form.  I'm going to log all the workouts here in detail, so that you too can use them.

Whether you are a woman or man, this plan would work for anyone starting out from scratch.  Ensure you talk to your doctor, to make sure your needs are being met with any physical training.  I can only speak for me, so I do not profess to know what you may need. 

Today's workout ? A 30 minute, 2 min walk and 1 min jog.  

Wish me luck!!