Sunday, August 28, 2011

A Tri-athlete Again!

I'm swimming, biking and running! After 16+ months of dealing with a pain in my neck, I can twist my head without it hurting, and I can ride outside for 70 minutes without feeling bad the next day(s). My heart is ticking along properly, and my foot is dandy. I can't swim in the open water yet, but I feel confident that my neck will strengthen enough to do that again.

To finish up the long doctor/therapist journey...
I came back from CO. Went through a couple more sessions with the doc/therapist...still wasn't feeling good enough to bike nor swim...and my foot was still holding me at about 10 min mile pace - the pain was too much to go any faster. I found a knot in my hip (that never hurt, but was from my heart procedure when I had the catheters in my groin)...rolled that out, then my foot felt instantly better. Started running with a couple TU ladies during the past 5 weeks...loved it! I was getting towed along in the 100+ degree Tulsan summer! I have a bit more fitness now and have been encouraged as I progress in training with the TU team now, but still have a ways to go.

As a last doc before my rope was singed (after CO, I applied to some ESL teaching positions since I needed a break from 16 months of focusing on getting healthy), I saw Dr. Kelley Joy at OSU OMM...After seeing her twice, I was back to swimming and biking. I am so thankful for her!

Interesting Timing...
Another simultaneous event that happened recently is that I started working full-time at the University of Tulsa's English Institute. This job will force me to ease back into swimming and biking at a reasonable pace. ;o) In the meantime as I train in all 3 sports, I'm thoroughly enjoying the classroom! The students are great - all 90 of them!

We're also having fun with our little kitty, Tessa.

Things are progressing swimmingly. I wonder what my update will say at the end of the fall...
Ciao!