Still waiting...

a little OWS at Keystone Lake

Every day, I get a little better...as I simultaneously take leaps backwards...
Just when I'm able to spend a little longer on the trainer and swim a little more, I somehow dislocated &/or broke my toe. [Insert (more) vibes of frustration] 
As un-smart as it sounds, I still don't know exactly how I accomplished this, although I do know that my little piggy toe got hooked on a rock in our yard as I was going from the car to the front door Sat night...and pulled it back/sideways...and about 2 minutes later, I was on the couch holding ice to my foot and taking an extra anti-inflammatory pill...
We started laughing at how bad it looked, which led to me crying about it when I fully realized that the one thing that I could work hard at right now (ie, running) was going to (also) be impossible. I thought about posting a pic of my purple toe/blue-green foot, but I'm sure you'd rather just take my word for it ;o)
The pic is from Keystone Lake (pre-toe-catastrophe), where my hopes of using a snorkel [to reduce neck stress while breathing] were dashed when the snorkel broke as I was putting it on my head...So I decided to try it with my goggles, which...worked better on land ;o)
Stephen read the cyberknife manual while I swam...and then he joined me at the end for a bit :o)

Good News from MRI Results!

I don't need surgery, I'm just reeeeeally tight. Thank goodness!
My injury probably goes something like this:
I pinched a nerve in my neck 4 months ago...and during the first month of recovery (when I could barely move), all my muscles got even tighter and more knotted...I also somehow got a rib to pop out of place...so then my nerve heals, my rib is pushed back into its correct spot, & I start getting back into training, but my muscles continue spasming...so I let up, not wanting to force anything, and catering to the decreased range of motion for fear that I'm pressing against my spinal cord...but maybe all this time (ie, 3.5 months after my nerve healed), I have just needed a series of deep tissue work + PT + ART + chiro. The Dr. also gave me a prescription pain killer/anti inflammatory.
I'm thankful that it's not more serious! :o)

Tick....Tock....Tick....

I went to the sport med doc earlier this week...He took x-rays and found that my neck was as straight as a board = not good! ...means that there are some muscle spasms holding it that way...so, off to the MRI machine I went...

It's supposed to have a natural curve. I should measure myself - maybe I'm 5'10" now! ha.

Now, I am waiting to hear back from the doc about the results from the MRI...hopefully tomorrow! He will be on vacation all next week, so if he doesn't return any of my calls tomorrow about the results, I think I might go on vacation with him & his family to find out what's going on with my back/neck! (just like Bob in the movie What About Bob?) hehe.
...well...seriously.

Firecracker 5K

This past weekend, I had my debut post-injury race - woohoo! There was a little 5K road race in downtown Tulsa, and I thought it would be fun, convenient, & a good workout. :o)

All of the above were accomplished, & it was especially fun to share it with Stephen & my parents, who were in town for the weekend! 

My time wasn't the best, but I won in 19:13. Truth be told, I'd rather not win and get a better time, but...I'm thankful that I can run and still be healthy. It's sort of embarrassing that I can swim 1.5K, bike 40K, run a 5K, and then start the race last Saturday & still run faster than 19:13, but...it is what it is. I will figure out how to run a road race at some point! :o)

My neck/back is slowly but surely still improving. We went to a local lake today and enjoyed swimming in the open water - fun fun. My neck behaved, so maybe I will push it a little more this week. 

Early last week, I made an appointment with a sport med doc - the earliest appt was this Thurs...Hoping to find out how (or if?) I could help speed up the recovery, and especially how I can avoid this ever happening again! ...but I'm also thankful now to still be improving, even if it's snail pace.

Happy Independence Day!! 

...the saga continues...

I've had some bright moments in the past couple weeks. Fixing the out of place rib did cure a lot of pain, but my neck still gets angry whenever I'm on a bike. I biked a few times - the first was the best, and then it got worse and worse...And these outings were ranging from 30 mins to an hour, just spinning, so it wasn't like I crushed a 4 hour mountainous tempo interval session or anything!

There are several pieces of good news to report though...the list could extend a hundred fold into cyberspace, but here are a few...

1. My back is getting a lot more even thanks to Dr. Zoellner, and my heel's bursitis has almost vanished as a result. Double yay! In addition, for the 1st time since I was 7 years old, it is easier to hold my shoulders back than to slump. So exciting!
2. Cannondale (via Steve Schlegel) gave me a new Slice TT frame! Much lighter, faster, and...did I say faster? Huge thanks to Schlegel Bicycles for building up the bike, fitting me on it, and of course adding all the components!
3. 2XU (also via Steve Schlegel) is another new sponsor, giving me great compression tights, socks, racing suit, and shorts!

I'm so thankful(!), and also so ready to be healthy! Our new insurance kicks in on July 1st...I might just have to knock on the MRI room's door next Wednesday at midnight... :o)

An unruly rib surrounded by a sea of tight knots...

After seeing Dr. Zoellner twice here in Tulsa, I already feel a thousand % better!! Turns out I have a lot of problems in my lop-sided, tight back...including a completely out of place rib (that might've smashed a nerve a while back)! No wonder I was hurting so badly - but I'm so excited about getting evened out and loose...and the tri season isn't over yet! I might even get to bike this weekend :o)
It's frustrating that it's taken this long to figure out, but...I'm thankful to (finally) have a sound plan. I've known that my back has been uneven since high school, but every doctor usually just mentions it as an FYI type comment and sort of leaves it as an info point rather than attack it as a we'll-get-it-fixed type problem. Yay! I can't wait to be looser and evened out!
Stretching my neck...(sad that i can feel a stretch if I just move my neck that little...)

PS - being married to a nuclear physicist has some advantages - I am becoming more neon lately... ;o)

Fotolog...

Back in 2004 when I lived in China, I started a Fotolog that I had a lot of fun with. A few months ago, I switched over to this blog because I wanted more options for blogging (ie, general format, places to link to sponsors, etc)...but I've come to realize I'm not a true blogger.
I might update this blog every once in a while about triathlon stuff, but fotolog is much more my style :o)
http://www.fotolog.com/bethanylin
I'm still rehabbing my back/neck, & will be a thousand percent healthy sooner than later, but exactly when that will be, not sure... :o)
Cheers!