Big Thanks

I just wanted to give a big "Thank you" to everyone who has tried to make this recovery go a little better. Especially Tri-dog mom, for not kicking me out of the house yet. Sara for all her help, Momo & Ric for their encouragement, and Matt for calling to check on me a couple times. And a really big thanks to those of you out there that I haven't even met in person, yet you took the time to reach out and encourage me. Thank you. I'm getting better, and can almost walk around now. A few more days and I'll be ready to run again! Okay, not quite, but I'm getting there. :) Spending all this time on the couch/in bed has definitely got me longing for some of those absurdly long workouts again...

Surgery

I'm recovering from surgery today. All seems to have gone well, and I'm soon to be back on the road to IronMan. Thanks to the pain meds, I can't remember if I've mentioned this or not, but I'm signed up for Coeur d'Alene 2008! I have a run to avenge there, and I can't wait to get back on that beautiful course. My friend ironbenny summed up a bit of ironman in his post today, it's worth taking a minute to read it. I feel the same as he in many ways. And I'm thrilled he's racing here so we can support him!!!! If you've read our race reports you know that we spent a fair amount of time together on the CDA course this year. Though we were both a bit of a "mess" at the time, you can learn a lot about someone as they push themselves beyond their limits. Benny may have had a tough time training, but he proved without question that his is an IronMan, and all that goes with it.

So, for now, I'm going to try to keep the dogs from jumping on my stomach, keep the pain meds in me, and try to relax for a few days. I'm also counting down the days to when I can run again - it's been way too long...

Back in the Saddle... For Now

I went for my first bike ride after IM CDA this morning! It went okay, only a little over an hour, so it was pretty short. I could definitely feel the hernia was there, but it didn't bother me too badly. I think the race really flared up some serious inflammation, and I've had lingering discomfort in my abdomen, but it seems to have really calmed down over the last week or so. So, time to get back on the bike. :) The road bike - I don't think I'm ready for aero position yet - but it was nice to get out there. Well, it's about 90 degrees and really humid (at 6am), and it seems to have rained last night, but still is was great to get out there.

We rode with "the newbies", so it was good to see them. OKay, the truth is that I'm the only one home already, they're still riding so "rode" only applies to me. They are great friends and we haven't seen them since they went all the way to Idaho to cheer us on for the race. Thanks, guys, it was great to have you there.

My surgery had to get pushed back a week, so it looks like I'm going in towards the end of the month. I very much wanted it to be done in July, so I'm okay with that. Get it fixed and over with, then back to the training!!!! In a sick and twisted way, I kinda miss getting up before light every day to work out...

Surgery

It's official, I have a hernia. I will be having surgery in probably a couple weeks. I had one about 4 years ago, on the other side, so the dr promises that this will be it. He's a great doctor, and actually understands athletes, so I didn't have to explain why I was into tri and IronMan training, just that I was. He said it would be a few weeks before I could restart activity, then probably another month before I felt "right", and at full strength. Guess it's time for a mid-season off season break...

To be honest, I'm actually happy with the diagnosis. Any other problems causing pain in that particular part of the body sound much, much worse than a hernia.