This is me feeling sorry for myself:
I am sick to death of my hip injury. It's been 7 months now and there is no overall sign of improvement. I did seven weeks of physio and a month of anti-inflammatory meds to no avail. I have tried doing little or no activity and that just makes me stiff and I've tried light to moderate training and sometimes that's OK and sometimes I can't walk afterward. Now I've done two weeks of ART. It seems to be improving my range of motion but the pain is still always there and I am limited in my daily activities because of it. I find it hard to get dressed, go up stairs, get in and out of my car, and, worst of all, paint my toenails!
Everyone has told me that this will be a long process but I had at least hoped to see gradual improvement over time. Instead it seems I am just stuck where I am, spending heaps of money on rehab and getting nowhere. Back in March, when I finally realized how bad my situation was, I never imagined that my planned sprint triathlon in Banff in September would be threatened by this. When I registered for it, I thought I'd be in great shape after a season of training for Great White North (which of course did not happen). I have been doing some biking, which is sometimes OK, and I will get back in the pool this week. But running is still out of the question and I feel like I'm starting at square one (or negative one) with my fitness. It won't be the race I had hoped for.
All in all, I am feeling pretty ripped off. Poor, poor me.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Watching Great White North
Today was the Great White North half iron triathlon. This great local race was my first and, thus far, only half iron. As you know if you've been following my blog, I had planned to do it this year until my hip flexor injury changed that. Because I couldn't race it this year, I decided to volunteer and then hang around and watch my friends race.
Last night, my daughter, Chloe, and I went to the volunteer dinner. The food was OK but we met the people who would be working at our aide station and they were friendly and nice. We also both won door prizes, which was a little bit exciting. This morning, we reported to the first aide station on the bike course, about 10K from the lake where the swim takes place. It was really fun! The athletes are still fairly close together at that point so it all happens pretty quickly. I managed to see some of my friends go by but missed a few, too, in the pandemonium. After our shift, we drove over to transition so we could settle in to watch people come and go.
It was interesting to watch the race, having done it last year, and see where the pack is compared to where I was last year and where I might have been this year. Oh boy! Do I have work to do! With an 8 hour finishing time, I knew I was nearly last but I had no idea just how far behind the pack I was. Many, many people finish at the 5:30 and six hour marks! There are still plenty of people out there after that but it really starts to peter out at 6:30 and 7 hours. Amazing! What I really need to do is work on my bike time. I still don't really get why I'm so slow on the bike. My dad, who is 72 years old and a bit overweight and rides a 40 pound recumbent bike, can do 90K in under 3:30! So why does it take me 4:00 on my road bike? I rode 1300K in training prior to GWN last year including time trials, high intensity spinning, and long endurance rides. Perhaps I am still weak. Maybe I really need to do more strength training. Losing weight couldn't hurt either (although there were some chunky racers pulling in some pretty good times). I'm sure I can cut a few minutes off my swim time and improve my run time just with another year of training but my bike time is my main mission for this next training year.
The hip flexor is not much better at this point. It comes and goes but right now it's fairly troublesome. I am going to go get some ART and exercise therapy and see if that gets me somewhere. I want to be healed in time to commit to serious training for next season. This season, I still have the Banff sprint tri in September. Swim training will have to wait a couple more weeks until the tattoo is healed and running will have to be minimal. But I can still focus on the bike. Generally I have to try not to embarrass myself in Banff!
Watching GWN was a good learning experience for me. I feel a little overwhelmed but I am also very motivated to do what I can now and commit to another solid training season in the coming months. I still have big plans and my revenge on GWN is one of them!
Last night, my daughter, Chloe, and I went to the volunteer dinner. The food was OK but we met the people who would be working at our aide station and they were friendly and nice. We also both won door prizes, which was a little bit exciting. This morning, we reported to the first aide station on the bike course, about 10K from the lake where the swim takes place. It was really fun! The athletes are still fairly close together at that point so it all happens pretty quickly. I managed to see some of my friends go by but missed a few, too, in the pandemonium. After our shift, we drove over to transition so we could settle in to watch people come and go.
It was interesting to watch the race, having done it last year, and see where the pack is compared to where I was last year and where I might have been this year. Oh boy! Do I have work to do! With an 8 hour finishing time, I knew I was nearly last but I had no idea just how far behind the pack I was. Many, many people finish at the 5:30 and six hour marks! There are still plenty of people out there after that but it really starts to peter out at 6:30 and 7 hours. Amazing! What I really need to do is work on my bike time. I still don't really get why I'm so slow on the bike. My dad, who is 72 years old and a bit overweight and rides a 40 pound recumbent bike, can do 90K in under 3:30! So why does it take me 4:00 on my road bike? I rode 1300K in training prior to GWN last year including time trials, high intensity spinning, and long endurance rides. Perhaps I am still weak. Maybe I really need to do more strength training. Losing weight couldn't hurt either (although there were some chunky racers pulling in some pretty good times). I'm sure I can cut a few minutes off my swim time and improve my run time just with another year of training but my bike time is my main mission for this next training year.
The hip flexor is not much better at this point. It comes and goes but right now it's fairly troublesome. I am going to go get some ART and exercise therapy and see if that gets me somewhere. I want to be healed in time to commit to serious training for next season. This season, I still have the Banff sprint tri in September. Swim training will have to wait a couple more weeks until the tattoo is healed and running will have to be minimal. But I can still focus on the bike. Generally I have to try not to embarrass myself in Banff!
Watching GWN was a good learning experience for me. I feel a little overwhelmed but I am also very motivated to do what I can now and commit to another solid training season in the coming months. I still have big plans and my revenge on GWN is one of them!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Adventures in Vancouver
This past weekend, I drove out to Vancouver with my sister to see her daughter, my niece, who is a triathlete. It was a very impromptu trip for me; I decided to go with my sister so I could be there when Stephanie (niece) saw her new bike. But I have to back up a bit here. Stephanie had been looking for a good used road bike for a while and I had been helping her. Both of us had been searching kijiji, pinkbike, and craigslist for several months and then I happened to find one here in Edmonton. We decided to go for it and then worry later about how to get it to her. After it waited in my garage for a few weeks, my sister decided to go out to see Stephanie and planned to take the bike with her. I couldn't resist going along!
Even though Stephanie is only half my age, she and I get along like friends. She is so fun and happy and so enthusiastic, especially about triathlon. It's great to spend time with her. I took my bike along, too, so we could ride together there. On Monday morning, we went for a wet but wonderful ride from downtown, along the seawall in Stanley Park, continuing up the north side of False Creek to the science center. The clouds were very low and it was raining but it was warm and just so pleasant to be riding such a beautiful route in my most favorite city. Just before we got back on the Skytrain to head home, we saw a hot dog vendor outside the station and decided to "refuel." It was the most delicious hot dog ever! While eating, we had a nice conversation with a homeless man about bikes and how much he loves his and depends on it and the time he rode over ice and fell and broke his hip. After eating, we headed toward the station. Stephanie looked at her bike and said, "I don't think I've ever loved a thing so much!" I am so glad she's happy with it!
Much later that day, Stephanie and I went out for gelato. While standing on the sidewalk licking our cones, she just casually mentioned that her favorite tattoo place was open until midnight and that maybe we could go down there since we were already halfway there. She knew I had been talking about getting a tattoo for some time. I agreed to go and take a look at books and maybe get some ideas or advice. Well, I ended up finding exactly what I wanted in one of the books and they just happened to have one last opening to do my little tattoo so at 11:45 pm I finally did it! It's a little lime green daisy with five petals and three leaves coming off the stem. I love daisies and it's just a cute tattoo but it has some symbolism, too. The daisy represents simplicity and lifelong growth. The five petals represent the five members of my family. The three leaves bring in some of the threes that I had been thinking about (and wrote about in a previous blog entry) - three kids, triathlon, and three (almost) degrees. It is totally the right one for me and I am so happy with it.
I flew home on Tuesday and waited a couple hours at the airport for my daughter to arrive from her month-long trip to India. It was so nice to see her and to be home again with my little family. My heart is wherever they are but I would love it if someday we could live in Vancouver.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
MS Bike Tour
I did the Leduc to Camrose MS Bike Tour for the fifth time this past Saturday and Sunday. Here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (in reverse order) on the weekend:
The Ugly:
* 26 km/h headwind on Day 1
* Fresh tar on the road and construction that we had to be bussed around, cutting the Day 1 ride short by 14K. We felt ripped off but didn't want to ride our bikes over the tar.
* Me in the pictures of the tour. Seriously. I'm not being attention seeking here. I looked awful. So fat. When will I ever get a grip on myself?
The Bad:
* Pounding music at dinner after a long, hard, windy, hot day of riding. We all just wanted to chill out and chat and we had to scream at each other just to talk.
* So many people riding two and three abreast making it very frustrating and dangerous to try to pass.
The Good:
* A little bit more money raised that might help some people live a better life.
* 170 kilometers of riding on my trusty road bike, which feels so perfect for me.
* The massage at the end.
* The sore hip I started with feeling better at the end. The ride did it good.
* Quiet, comfortable dorms.
* Doing the tour with nine wonderful friends and family members - Kim, Ken, Tracy, Becky, Frank, Larissa, Dan (husband), Thom (brother) and Les (Dad) - so much better than doing it alone like I did the first year!
The Ugly:
* 26 km/h headwind on Day 1
* Fresh tar on the road and construction that we had to be bussed around, cutting the Day 1 ride short by 14K. We felt ripped off but didn't want to ride our bikes over the tar.
* Me in the pictures of the tour. Seriously. I'm not being attention seeking here. I looked awful. So fat. When will I ever get a grip on myself?
The Bad:
* Pounding music at dinner after a long, hard, windy, hot day of riding. We all just wanted to chill out and chat and we had to scream at each other just to talk.
* So many people riding two and three abreast making it very frustrating and dangerous to try to pass.
The Good:
* A little bit more money raised that might help some people live a better life.
* 170 kilometers of riding on my trusty road bike, which feels so perfect for me.
* The massage at the end.
* The sore hip I started with feeling better at the end. The ride did it good.
* Quiet, comfortable dorms.
* Doing the tour with nine wonderful friends and family members - Kim, Ken, Tracy, Becky, Frank, Larissa, Dan (husband), Thom (brother) and Les (Dad) - so much better than doing it alone like I did the first year!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Was That a Good Idea?
Yesterday, I did the Vulcan Tinman Triathlon - a 500m swim, 15K bike, and 5K run. It was my fifth time doing this particular event.
Because of my hip injury, I wasn't sure if I was going to do it this year. Besides the fact that it hurts quite a bit, I haven't trained much at all for the last two months. I tried to sell my bib but there were no takers so I took my stuff with me just in case I decided to do it when I got there. I was going anyway because Dan was doing the race, as were several members of my extended family.
With five little nieces and nephews doing the kids' race and six other members of my family doing the adult race, it was a long and crazy day of running around and cheering for everyone who was coming and going. My swim heat was at 2:40 pm so by the time that drew closer, I was already having trouble walking and almost decided not to start. But I had already picked up my souvenir race hoodie and I wanted to earn it if I had it. That may have been a stupid reason to decide to do a race with an injury but that's exactly what I did.
The swim was just about the worst swim I have ever had in my entire life. It sucked royally from start to finish. Halfway through, I was about to tell the volunteer that I was getting out but instead she said to me, "You're halfway!" in such a cheerful voice that I couldn't tell her I was quitting so I kept swimming. My time was 15:15, a royally sucking time. I had predicted 12 minutes for my swim. That time includes about a 100m distance to the timing mats at the transition, which I walked half of in a totally demoralized state until I pulled myself together and got on with the race.
The bike, on the other hand, felt totally exhilarating. The soul sucking wind is pretty much par for the course in Vulcan so it was an effort just to keep the bike upright but I still really enjoyed the ride. I love my new tri bike! It is such a pleasure to ride! When I arrived back at T2, several family members were there to watch me and I shouted out, "I love this bike!" when I got there. They laughed and then I felt silly but I was just feeling the love at that moment. My time was 42:59 (including T1 and T2), which wasn't as fast as I felt like I was going but I can live with it considering the wind and my sore hip.
When I got off my bike, I found it very hard to walk because my hip had stiffened up on the bike. I hobbled to my transition spot and changed into my runners, deciding that I would see how far I could make it on the run. The run actually felt OK. I jogged slowly, taking it easy on my hip, but it was pleasant. It was my slowest 5K ever but it was faster than I thought it might be and I did make it to the end in 39:51 for a total time of 1:38:04.
After the race, my whole family met at my dad's trailer and we had a BBQ and visit. It's a nice part of the day. My family is pretty stats oriented and loves to analyze and it gets to be a little much for me, especially when the non-triathletes start analyzing your race for you. But I try to stay away from that kind of conversation and just enjoy the visit.
Today, I am evaluating the day and the race in my mind. I am in quite a lot of pain today and feeling quite disabled so I'm not sure that I was really good about followng my doctor's and physiotherapist's instructions to "let pain be the guide." I definitely overdid it in terms of my injury. But I am not enjoying these months of being sidelined and so limited in what I can do. I'm not happy that I sucked so bad at Vulcan when this was supposed to be my big year. Once again, I'm not happy that everyone else in my family can do their annual triathlon, barely train, and still go faster than me (except Dan, who did train and did do really well, even though he ran 100K the weekend prior). I keep wondering when my time will come when I actually get fit and fast(er) and have a great year. In some ways, doing the race made things worse from a physical and mental standpoint.
On the other hand, despite the suckage on the swim and the sore hip, I did get to go out there and do a triathlon and I was reminded yesterday about how much I love it. It renewed my desire to aim for bigger things when I am able to return fully to training and it made me happy to see how other members of my family have come to enjoy it, too. In a couple of days, when I can walk again, I'll probably think it was worth it!
Because of my hip injury, I wasn't sure if I was going to do it this year. Besides the fact that it hurts quite a bit, I haven't trained much at all for the last two months. I tried to sell my bib but there were no takers so I took my stuff with me just in case I decided to do it when I got there. I was going anyway because Dan was doing the race, as were several members of my extended family.
With five little nieces and nephews doing the kids' race and six other members of my family doing the adult race, it was a long and crazy day of running around and cheering for everyone who was coming and going. My swim heat was at 2:40 pm so by the time that drew closer, I was already having trouble walking and almost decided not to start. But I had already picked up my souvenir race hoodie and I wanted to earn it if I had it. That may have been a stupid reason to decide to do a race with an injury but that's exactly what I did.
The swim was just about the worst swim I have ever had in my entire life. It sucked royally from start to finish. Halfway through, I was about to tell the volunteer that I was getting out but instead she said to me, "You're halfway!" in such a cheerful voice that I couldn't tell her I was quitting so I kept swimming. My time was 15:15, a royally sucking time. I had predicted 12 minutes for my swim. That time includes about a 100m distance to the timing mats at the transition, which I walked half of in a totally demoralized state until I pulled myself together and got on with the race.
The bike, on the other hand, felt totally exhilarating. The soul sucking wind is pretty much par for the course in Vulcan so it was an effort just to keep the bike upright but I still really enjoyed the ride. I love my new tri bike! It is such a pleasure to ride! When I arrived back at T2, several family members were there to watch me and I shouted out, "I love this bike!" when I got there. They laughed and then I felt silly but I was just feeling the love at that moment. My time was 42:59 (including T1 and T2), which wasn't as fast as I felt like I was going but I can live with it considering the wind and my sore hip.
When I got off my bike, I found it very hard to walk because my hip had stiffened up on the bike. I hobbled to my transition spot and changed into my runners, deciding that I would see how far I could make it on the run. The run actually felt OK. I jogged slowly, taking it easy on my hip, but it was pleasant. It was my slowest 5K ever but it was faster than I thought it might be and I did make it to the end in 39:51 for a total time of 1:38:04.
After the race, my whole family met at my dad's trailer and we had a BBQ and visit. It's a nice part of the day. My family is pretty stats oriented and loves to analyze and it gets to be a little much for me, especially when the non-triathletes start analyzing your race for you. But I try to stay away from that kind of conversation and just enjoy the visit.
Today, I am evaluating the day and the race in my mind. I am in quite a lot of pain today and feeling quite disabled so I'm not sure that I was really good about followng my doctor's and physiotherapist's instructions to "let pain be the guide." I definitely overdid it in terms of my injury. But I am not enjoying these months of being sidelined and so limited in what I can do. I'm not happy that I sucked so bad at Vulcan when this was supposed to be my big year. Once again, I'm not happy that everyone else in my family can do their annual triathlon, barely train, and still go faster than me (except Dan, who did train and did do really well, even though he ran 100K the weekend prior). I keep wondering when my time will come when I actually get fit and fast(er) and have a great year. In some ways, doing the race made things worse from a physical and mental standpoint.
On the other hand, despite the suckage on the swim and the sore hip, I did get to go out there and do a triathlon and I was reminded yesterday about how much I love it. It renewed my desire to aim for bigger things when I am able to return fully to training and it made me happy to see how other members of my family have come to enjoy it, too. In a couple of days, when I can walk again, I'll probably think it was worth it!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Patience, Grasshopper
I just thought I should provide an update to my faithful followers, although, sadly, there isn't that much to report.
I am still in physiotherapy for my sore hip and am a bit discouraged at the lack of progress there. I am being faithful with my exercises and obedient about my training restrictions but recovery remains elusive. It seems that I am OK if I do very little but if I try to do very much at all, I get into trouble again. Oddly, enough, walking seems to be the worst thing I can do. I went for a 1K walk on Wednesday night and paid for it the next day. That, together with walking around campus more this week because I started teaching a spring course, has set me back quite a lot.
I cancelled the trip to Pentiction that I was planning with Jordan and Sara. We were going to do some cycling on the Ironman course. I am also going to have to get rid of my entry for the Vulcan triathlon in June. It's not an A race for me but it's something I do look forward to so it's a bit of a disappointment.
I am trying to be patient and approach my situation as an opportunity to set new and different goals for this summer. My plan was to focus on weight loss and strength and flexibility training. It's hard to lose weight when you can't burn any calories, though. I am working on my upper body but can't work on anything below my upper abs at this point - even though that's what needs the most work! I wanted to go to yoga, too, but, honestly, my hips are so tight I can hardly get a stride going just to walk from the front of the house to the back! I'd look ridiculous in child's pose, with my butt way up in the air!
I do worry a little about things. I have to keep telling myself that injuries heal and that I won't be like this forever. Sometimes I feel like a decrepit old woman and I wonder if I'm kidding myself to think that I can ever be a long distance triathlete. I am trying to enjoy what I can in the short term and have a longer term vision of the future, after this is behind me. I've had to talk to myself a lot to keep it all in perspective.
I am still in physiotherapy for my sore hip and am a bit discouraged at the lack of progress there. I am being faithful with my exercises and obedient about my training restrictions but recovery remains elusive. It seems that I am OK if I do very little but if I try to do very much at all, I get into trouble again. Oddly, enough, walking seems to be the worst thing I can do. I went for a 1K walk on Wednesday night and paid for it the next day. That, together with walking around campus more this week because I started teaching a spring course, has set me back quite a lot.
I cancelled the trip to Pentiction that I was planning with Jordan and Sara. We were going to do some cycling on the Ironman course. I am also going to have to get rid of my entry for the Vulcan triathlon in June. It's not an A race for me but it's something I do look forward to so it's a bit of a disappointment.
I am trying to be patient and approach my situation as an opportunity to set new and different goals for this summer. My plan was to focus on weight loss and strength and flexibility training. It's hard to lose weight when you can't burn any calories, though. I am working on my upper body but can't work on anything below my upper abs at this point - even though that's what needs the most work! I wanted to go to yoga, too, but, honestly, my hips are so tight I can hardly get a stride going just to walk from the front of the house to the back! I'd look ridiculous in child's pose, with my butt way up in the air!
I do worry a little about things. I have to keep telling myself that injuries heal and that I won't be like this forever. Sometimes I feel like a decrepit old woman and I wonder if I'm kidding myself to think that I can ever be a long distance triathlete. I am trying to enjoy what I can in the short term and have a longer term vision of the future, after this is behind me. I've had to talk to myself a lot to keep it all in perspective.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Good!
I haven't done any workout longer than 10 minutes for the last month and I was starting to go stir crazy. I decided to go for a bike ride today and deal with whatever fallout there was.
Dan and I went out to a quiet secondary highway by Half Moon Lake. I was pumping up my tires before we left and broke the valve on my rear tire so I had to change the tube before we could go. While putting my wheel back on, I must have bumped the sensor for my computer because it wasn't registering anything. I couldn't figure out what needed adjusting to make it work again so we just got on with our ride.
There was a pretty serious crosswind, which felt like a headwind both out and back, but I rode in aero for most of the ride so that made it easier. My hip was burning a little bit into the ride so we decided to turn around at that point. I wanted to ride but not totally undo all the healing that has taken place so far.
After we got back, we clocked the distance in the Jeep and it was 15.4 km.
I love my bike! A couple weeks ago, I rode it about 3K, just lollygagging around the neighbourhood, so this was almost its inaugural outside ride. I felt like it was easier to go faster but of course I don't really know what my speed was.
Anyway, the flat tire, sore hip, non-functional computer, and wind were nothing at all compared to how wonderful it was to do this ride. It was very, very good for my mental health.
Dan and I went out to a quiet secondary highway by Half Moon Lake. I was pumping up my tires before we left and broke the valve on my rear tire so I had to change the tube before we could go. While putting my wheel back on, I must have bumped the sensor for my computer because it wasn't registering anything. I couldn't figure out what needed adjusting to make it work again so we just got on with our ride.
There was a pretty serious crosswind, which felt like a headwind both out and back, but I rode in aero for most of the ride so that made it easier. My hip was burning a little bit into the ride so we decided to turn around at that point. I wanted to ride but not totally undo all the healing that has taken place so far.
After we got back, we clocked the distance in the Jeep and it was 15.4 km.
I love my bike! A couple weeks ago, I rode it about 3K, just lollygagging around the neighbourhood, so this was almost its inaugural outside ride. I felt like it was easier to go faster but of course I don't really know what my speed was.
Anyway, the flat tire, sore hip, non-functional computer, and wind were nothing at all compared to how wonderful it was to do this ride. It was very, very good for my mental health.
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