Stand down...

Okay, so the run yesterday was a victory, but I was told to stand down on it today. I got a phone call with the results of my bone scan, and I do in fact have/had a stress fracture on the upper part of my right fibula. What caused it, we're not sure, but the bike fall was probably the catalyst. Anyhow, my provider said coming back usually takes 6 weeks, and I'm at about 4 weeks since the incident occurred, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll be back going, but must not run till I'm given the green light. He said that pain level is a huge indication of healing, so the fact that yesterday's short little jaunt had no pain is a GOOD indication of healing. So, when I get home from my trip to NY it's back to swimming, biking, and aqua jogging. Must make sure I heal up properly so I can do Ironman training and racing with NO problem! Back to healing...

I RAN!

So, here just 4 days from the Boston Marathon for which I'm registered but not running (deferred to 2010--if they accept my sent in reason of injury), I am thrilled to have run slightly over 1 mile at about a 9:10 pace!! 26.2 wouldn't be possible, but just some slight soreness after doing 10 minutes on the treadmill. I was really nervous to try running, cause the last time I gave that a shot (2.5 weeks ago) it was horrible pain at about, oh 1.5 minutes. So this is GREAT news. I had my bone scan the other day, and while no official results till next week (I'm on vacation so not there), what I saw and talked to the tech about definitely showed a spot near the head of the fibula as having had some sort of stress/trauma from which it is now healing--stress fracture, bone bruise, something like that. There is very little tenderness there now, and whatever it was probably occurred from the bike fall as the fibula is non-weight bearing and it's odd to get an injury as high as I did (down near the ankle is more common). Calf-strain is the other side of the injury, but thanks to a Physical Therapist and fellow athlete at Ft. Hood taking care of me, and a wonderful sports massage therapists who gave me all sorts of specific stretches and strengthening exercises for the peronials (outside of my calves) and the two calf muscles (gastroc. and soleus) I think I'm on the mend and I'm thrilled!! Of course, I'll keep taking it slow coming back cause I want to heal, not re-injure. Since I've started running long, I never thought 10 minutes of running would bring so much joy!
Time to stretch now! Thanks for your prayers!

Happy Easter, Aquabike, Healing Up!

HAPPY EASTER! He is risen indeed!

Let me thank all of you that left such great notes on my last post about my blog entry. I haven't posted much because I've been crazy busy and trying to figure out this injury. It's now been 3 weeks since I ran, BUT I don't think it'll be too much longer until I can start it up again. There was some worry that I may have had a stress fracture and calf-strain. I am scheduled for a bone scan this next Tuesday (scheduled 3 weeks ago--that's Army medicine for you!) to rule it out, but it's just to be safe. I've been going in to the Physical Therapist (who is a triathlete and marathoner himself) and they've done some electrical stimulus to help with the pain (which is mostly gone now) and the other day he got me into see the volunteer massage therapists (one-day a week) and she did WONDERFUL things without much pressure and pretty much was able to determine that I need to strengthen the outside of my right calf and stretch the inside more. Without my saying so, she determined that I under-pronate/supinate (roll outward on my foot vs. inward)--which is exactly where my wear pattern on my shoes are. I am seeing her again tomorrow afternoon at her local massage clinic. It is GREAT to have found a local, trained sports massage therapists. There are places to get massages, but actual sports massages for helping heal up, not so much here in the land of Killeen. I'm betting I'm back to running in a week or so! Yay!

The Lonestar Aquabike went well. My swim was not stellar or as fast as I can do, that's for sure. But, I was using my new long-sleeve wetsuit (got a killer deal on it, and knew I'd want it for Ironman Florida), and I haven't had too many swims in it, so my shoulders got a little tired in the middle. Plus, my head wasn't into the game for the swim yet...I think I let my injury suck a little of my usual race enthusiasm away. However, one of the best parts of the Aquabike was that I got a BLUE swim cap vs. the ugly fluorescent pink one I was going to have to have for the normal Half-Ironman. Swim time: 39min 23secs Still good enough for 6/23 women in the Aquabike.

After I got out of the water I did what I thought was slow jog up the transition chute, got my wetsuit stripped by the wonderful wetsuit strippers, grabbed a bit of Gatorade to get the saltiness out of my mouth, then to my bike rack: shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses on, and I was off. Transition 1 time: 2:22 Actually the fastest time in the women's aquabike and would've been top 5 in my normal age group, and I thought I was going slowly!!

When I got out on the bike I hit some headwind, and my quads and hips were sore, it was really odd. I was having a hard time getting into the groove for the first 15-20 miles. The winds weren't horrid, and I'm used to them now plus it was flat. I was having a hard time getting above 20mph, and I wanted to for this bike. I hit the 20 mile mark at the hour mark and something sparked then, part of it had to do with the 79 year old guy that passed me (didn't last), but then I was FINALLY in the groove and went 21-24mph from them on out and it was fun. I think I probably should've been able to do around 22mph avg. since I didn't have to run, but those first few miles didn't let me. However, I'm still very happy with my 21.3mph avg with a final bike time of 2:38!
It was good for 2nd/23 in the women's aquabike giving me a total time of 3:19:49 and putting me 2nd place overall (of 23) for the women's aquabike and 10th overall for all aquabikers (men and women, 41).

I then cheered on a lot of my friends that were running. It was odd not to run, but definitely smart. I walked away with a nice award, my friend Anne won a drawing for free Mavic race wheels, and it was overall a great race. I definitely recommend the Lone Star Triathlon Festival to anyone! It's a top notch race. They have a Sprint, 1/4 Iron, and 1/2 Iron. They do the sprint on Saturday and the other two on Sunday. They have some deals of doing the sprint and then one of the other races. I think I may do the Sprint and the 1/4 Iron next year (easier to train for that while training for Boston 2010 vs. training for a 1/2 and Boston---I've learned that!!).

Lastly, thanks again to all of you who have already donated to the Wounded Warrior Project through my page for the Janus Charity Challenge. If you haven't yet, don't worry, there is plenty of time, so whenever and whatever you can support will make a difference!! Thanks everyone!
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