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June 15, 2007
SunChips are Good
I couldn't really think of a title for this post so I decided to let you all know how I felt about SunChips. And yes, I did have to google "sunchips" to see if it was one word or two and if the "c" was capitalized or not.
Nonethless I've got lots of news to share!
News item #1 - Yesterday I had a pretty good day of training! I started things off with a 1:15 pool run with 2x(5,4,3,2,1 hard w/1/2 of the time for my rest). It was good. The lifeguard on duty was the young kid who listens to the good music on the radio and doesn't even realize that I'm there. He is much preferred over the older lady who listens to the bad music or no music at all and tries to talk to me the whole time. I guess I'm just not very social in the morning. Anyway, I also rode my trainer for 1 hour after dinner last night.
New item #2 - At the urging of my coach I set up an appointment with a chiropractor yesterday after work. He had suggested this to me when I first had my accident but once I started back into training and felt okay I sort of disregarded the suggestion. Then I tried to run. Then I knew things weren't quite right with my body just yet. My coach warned I was setting myself up for some sort of compensatory injury which I think it exactly what is developing along my tailbone on my right side. That and my left hamstring were really sore after I ran on Tuesday. So yesterday afternoon I went to my very first chiropractor appointment ever. I didn't know what to expect but I have to say it's very much like PT or going to an athletic trainer. And this doctor seems really good. Yesterday after asking me about a bazillion (yes - a whole bazillion!) questions to figure out what my issues were he had the therapist work on my soft tissue (hip, back, knee, etc...) and then he did some sort of laser treatment. Today I went back for another appointment and this time he did more what I expected out of a chiropractor - some bone cracking! :) He is of the opinion that my back and hips/pelvis are off-kilter due to the impact they took from the truck. The hamstrings and glutes apparently anchor the pelvis. And so because I'm sort of out of whack my body is trying to compensate and that's why when I tried to do that little 4 mile run last Tuesday I woke up the next morning feeling like I had run 24 miles instead. It really does make perfect sense.
So anyway, this chiropractor is quite nice and very helpful and he seems quite excited to work with me. He said more than once that he likes working with athletes more than the general population. :) I will see him a couple more times next week and maybe the week after until we can get me running healthy. I do have faith in what he is doing because it makes a lot of sense and truthfully the overwhelming feeling I had when I did try that run last Tuesday was not one of pain but rather one of just being "off". Hard to explain but my stride just felt so restricted and tight.
News item #3 - I am still up in the air about whether or not I will compete at USAT age group nationals. I feel like I could get through the swim and do fine on the bike but obviously the running is a little up in the air. In the past 2 weeks I've run 4 miles. And I'm not really sure how much I'll be able to do in the next 2 weeks before the race either. Luckily I seem to have the best coaches in the world that have been working with me on a daily basis. It's truly unbelievable to me - I email my coach what I did for the day, how I felt, what the chiropractor said and then he emails me back what to do the next day. We take a day at a time. And I am so thankful for his time and effort in getting me back out there. He likely coaches 100s of athletes and trust me when I say I am no where near one of the best (some of my teammates are absolutely amazing!) so it's not like he is just giving special treatment to the top athletes. Regardless, I think within a week or so we both will be able to determine if traveling out to Oregon for the race is a good idea or not. It's my only chance to qualify for the ITU age group worlds which was one of my top goals of the season, but it is what it is and if I'm not ready I will just have to come up with some other goals. Definitely not giving up hope just yet though. Time will tell.
News item #4 - I rode outside again today for my first time since my accident! And what a beautiful morning I was blessed with! I met my friend and her coach at a park. Unfortunately my friend was having mechanical issues with her bike so she had to turn back early but I rode with her coach for about 50 minutes and then by myself for another 1:25 (2:15 total). I wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I would be being back on the roads but it did help that (a) I started with someone and just wasn't by myself and (b) we rode in a low traffic park. I think the hard part is going to be riding by myself again back on the roads around my house that have a good amount of traffic. And I think it will be really hard to ride past the site of my accident. But I'm taking baby steps. My friend's coach told me that she thought it was great that I was back out on the roads so soon because she has known a lot of people that have had bad crashes or accidents that just don't get back on the bike again. That's not even an option for me. But I certainly did appreciate her comment.
News item #5 - After spending about 90 minutes trying to get a chest x-ray at my PCPs office I went for a swim this afternoon! I need the x-ray for my follow-up visit to the trauma clinic next week - to make sure those holes in my lungs are gone. Turns out my doctor at the hospital didn't write out the script for the x-ray correctly though. Bugger. They threatened to make me come back next week but darn it if I wasn't leaving that office with a picture of my ribs and lungs if it killed me! After some haggling we got things worked out and I finally walked out with the goods in hand. I hate when things that should take 5 minutes take 2 hours but what can you do? Nevertheless I got to the pool for a cool 2000 yd workout that included 10x100 on 1:30 and 5x50 on :50. I have to say, when I first start my swim workouts my ribs hurt. Bad. But they feel better as I go. I asked the chiropractor what the deal with these ribs was - like why aren't they feeling any better? He started off his answer with a "well, I'm not going to lie..." which is NEVER a good thing. But he basically said they will take a long time to feel better because they never get a rest. Since we use them when we breathe, 24 hours of the day, they don't get a chance to heal like say my hip when I'm sitting or sleeping or not using it. When I told my mom this on the phone today she told me the solution was simple. Stop breathing of course! Gotta love moms you know?! :)
Nevertheless this entry is far too long for any normal human to read. See what happens when I don't blog every day? Information overload! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I think mine is going to be delightful - especially if I get to run. But I'm not holding my breathe...unless of course that would help my ribs to heal...
PS - I keep forgetting to mention that this is going on right now in my neck of the woods. Yes, that's right, Tiger and the gang are in town! Oakmont is about 10 minutes from where I live - I pass it every day on my way to work and I literally ride through the town on just about every single ride from my house. I'm not a huge golf fan but who can't appreciate someone like Tiger Woods? Anyway, Oakmont is a pretty nice place although I will say I'm still a little bitter about the time that O and I went to a wedding at the golf club there and they confiscated my jean jacket. (okay, maybe I shouldn't have worn something so casual to such a nice place but I had a very nice dress on underneath the jacket - I swear!) O and I then proceeded to get lost in trying to find the room we were supposed to be in and we were quickly reprimanded and escorted to the correct location. Geez people - take a chill pill! I guess after the jean jacket incident they were keeping close tabs on us... :)
Posted by beth at June 15, 2007 6:38 PM