Oh that 'multi sport athlete' feeling again!!...

There is just no words to describe how I am feeling right now! One of the biggest milestones yet for me was getting back on the bike! And... I finally did it! I have to say, there were a lot of feelings swarming around that moment. The surgery that I had directly affected those most precious parts down there and my surgeon told me that getting back on the saddle again may be the last thing I will want to do for a very, very, long time! Much to my surprise it went a lot better than I expected. (the saddle part that is) The part that was so hard was my tolerance to the actual activity itself! I cannot tell you how hard that was. I have not felt that "out of shape" on the bike in years. Very humbling to say the least. Just spinning to warm up the CompuTrainer felt like the end of a 6 hour ride. Once I set the computer, I inserted some seated and standing low cadence work for around 20 minutes and then called it done at 45 minutes!! My legs were shaking, my sugars were in my boots, but I WAS SWEATING AGAIN!!.. Boy, do I have some work to do!! It was again, another 'bitter sweet' moment. I can only go up from here, and that is a beautiful thing! At least I know I can tolerate the general discomfort of the saddle again. Just need to work on that endurance again.

The next part of my day consisted of a fantastic snow shoe up at Mt. Washington with my Mom and Aunt Dianne! We only covered around 4 km, but the snow was lovely and we completely enjoyed every moment. I know a lot of people are getting really sick of the snow, but the last time I was up on the snow shoes was just over a year ago when I raced the Yeti 10km snowshoe race. Another humbling experience for me. I did that 10km race in 1:21. Today, we covered 4km in just over the same amount of time. Granted we were stopping for 'photo ops', but still... I would not say it was easy that's for sure. I was feeling it by the end of the day. Another 'hurts so good moment'.

This is Hana, my amazing run partner. She has NEVER been so happy to be also getting out to run her hind off. The poor girl has been having sympathy post op surgery laziness too and is ready to get the running going again!! She is having a hard time going at the snails pace that I have right now and keeps looking at me like "come on, let's get this going already"!!!! Soon, my friend, soon!

Setbacks, Sunshine, Support and Six Weeks Post Surgery!!...

"If you set a goal for yourself and you are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, improve your performance, or just finish the race. It's up to you"

~Dave Scott, U.S. Triathlete

My road to recovery hit another speed bump last Friday (over a week ago) when a post op infection set in to my incision!! Not sure if it was going to the public pool that instigated the whole process, or if there was something brewing in there that was beyond my control... I cannot dwell on that or wonder "what if" because it does not make the situation any better. When I saw my surgeon on Thursday he seemed genuinely surprised that an infection had set in 5 weeks after surgery. Something he does not normally see. The other interesting issue that he noted was my slow metabolism of the suture material that he used... He said normally the sutures that were still there should have been gone 3 weeks ago!! He said I was having an "atypical response to suture material, and should make note of this for future surgeries"... Anyhow, this speed bump had me down and out on the sofa again!! I am so looking forward to the days when I am using the sofa for a nap after a 6 hour ride or 2 hour run!!! I am also looking forward to the day when I can stop taking all the antibiotics, stool softeners, pain medications, etc.!!!

Now that the antibiotics were working their magic, and I had given my body another week of recovery on the sofa, I was able to get back outside again and attempt some sort of exercise to start moving this body (with my surgeons approval of course)!! On Friday, I walked 9.3km in 1.5 hours. I tried my "jogging legs" out and attempted some "power pole repeats". I was able to pick up the pace to a light jog for 20 seconds, running power pole to power pole. It was a very weird feeling attempting that first repeat. I had that same feeling that you get when you are about to tackle something scary, like jumping off a cliff into the ocean. I was so afraid that "something" might happen... Thankfully, the repeats went so smoothly and felt so good, I was able to insert 10 times 20 second repeats every other set of power poles with the biggest smile on my face!!! It was definitely not stellar, but it was something!! So on Sunday, Shawn (he was so supportive and encouraging), Hana (our pace setter dog), and I set out for another walk in the slightly sunny skies. My goal for my walk this time was to hit the 3km mark under 30 minutes and I did that with 3 minutes to spare. Then I wanted to hit the 9.3km mark under 1.5 hours and I did that too with 3 minutes to spare!! Whoot! Whoot!! We ended up going 10.44km in 1:37!! I was able to insert some more "power pole repeats" and actually some of the repeats were more like 2-3 minute jogs. At the end of my walk, my legs felt like I had just completed a marathon. It was that "hurt so good" kind of feeling.


Today marks 6 weeks post op!! I am going to give myself a few more days before I get in that pool again, making sure that there is no way of picking up any more bugs to bring this girl down again!! The sun is shinning super bright and Hana is sitting at my feet, desperate to run her legs too.

Happy Monday!!!!!!

Progress!

Well.... It wasn't stellar, but I met and exceeded my goal for my first walk this week (4.5 weeks post op)!!! That was one of the hardest walks "mentally" for me in a very long time. My belly was full of fire and I could feel every nerve ending in my body just screaming to feel the burn again!! As soon as we started out onto the Seal Bay trails, my instincts were to start running!!!... And I couldn't!! So hard to hold myself back. In the Ironman training season, sometimes I come to these trails to do my long runs (like 2 hours plus!!) My mom and I ventured out in the freezing rain, that would eventually turn to snow and get this.... Drum roll.... I walked 3 km in 38 minutes!!! Seriously slow, but it was something.

Then I was off to see my Chinese Medicine Doctor!! She had me all needled up for over an hour of pure bliss. She always checks my tongue first for a variety of symptoms. Apparently in Chinese Medicine we show everything about our health on our tongues. Today my tongue was revealing that I was "stagnant"!! Ha Ha!! Oh, and my eyes were puffy and I looked very tired. So, I received the extra attention and was told to go home and drink my Chinese herbs in my tea and put my feet up for the rest of the day! Sounded fantastic to me, and I won't argue with that order.

Yesterday I made it back to the pool again for my longest session yet. 40 minutes of swimming and I was done. Maybe that is why I looked "stagnant" today. Swim yesterday and a walk today. Could also have something to do with the weather!! It has been grey, storming, and raining since we arrived back home January 1st!! No wonder I look grey!

Here's hoping for sunnier skies and tomorrow I will head back to the pool to try and add on another 5 minutes!!

Have a great day!

Baby steps!

In my happy place again!!

Well... I did it!! I saw my surgeon this week and he gave me two big thumbs up to return to the pool again. But... I would have some restrictions. "No kicking, no flip turns, just pull ONLY, and push off easy". I was all smiles and I felt like a little kid that was just told they could open the biggest present they had ever seen!!

Now, I needed to keep my enthusiasm in check... Baby steps!! At least I am able to do something. It is definitely better than nothing!! I want to make sure I do not screw up any of the surgery.

I swam three times this week!! It may not have been as far or as fast as I usually swim, but I was in there doing it, and that made me very happy! I was able to get in 1500m in 30 minutes each time. Each week now, slowly, I will build up to a little more time and distance. Still will be a few more weeks before I test the running and the biking. It seems like it is an eternity away, but really in the big picture, it is peanuts!!

Remember that 1.5 km walk I did? Well, my goal tomorrow will be, "to beat my distance and time that I did last time"!! I might even get another swim in tomorrow too. Whoot, Whoot!! I will keep you posted on my progress.

"If you believe, you will achieve"!!

Have a great Monday!!

"My Speed Bump Year"!!

OK, do I have some catching up to do or what???

Sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day!! I got lazy and I let my blog go. Like really go, since the first weekend of July 2010!!... No Ironman Canada 2010 results, no pictures of boys back to school, no stories from our trip to Maui in December. Oh ya, including the dirty details of the car crashing into me on my bike 2 days before Christmas while in Maui!!!... I could go on, for months about it all. But, I won't! I can imagine there will be very few people even looking at my blog now since there has been such a big time lapse from my last post.

There is no way I can catch up on everything that has happened in our lives since then. I have thought about it many times over the last three weeks how I could compose my return to the blog world. Goodness knows why it has taken me three weeks to finally sit down and do it. It is not like I have had the normal new year schedule of training for my long course triathlon season, raising three teenage boys, cooking, cleaning, working, husband that works out of town, etc... Nope!! All that seems so easy to me right now. If only...

I have spent the last 3 weeks on the sofa mending from major surgery!! And when I say "on the sofa", I am NOT exaggerating!! Today I walked outside 1.5 km and it took me 24 minutes!!! Normally that would be about a 5 km run time. I am supposed to "take it easy" for another three more weeks!! It is absolutely killing me, but I know that each week I give my body the proper healing time, the stronger it will be for me when I do start up again.

So, this is my "Speed Bump Year"!! That is what the psychic told me when I had my cards read at our monthly "girls night out". In the beginning of January, Sarah from ELM had a card reader come over to add a little spice to our afternoon get together. One of the very first things the psychic said to me when I sat down was "Last year was a good year for you... Unfortunately, this year is going to be a 'speed bump year'. It is not going to be anything that you cannot handle, and you will get back on your feet again". "But, it will be a bumpy road and be prepared to have lots of speed bumps to get over". I did NOT tell her that I was booked for major surgery in two weeks, so I kinda had a little giggle when she told me that.

Today on my 24 min walk, I decided it was time to start the blog up again!! If I am going to have some speed bumps to go over this year, I thought I would share my experience of "getting back on the horse" so to speak with everyone. I want to share my progress back with all the women (or men) out there who are potentially coming off a recent set back, surgery, lapse in activity, etc. I know that I am going to need all the support mentally and physically that I can get. I also know how inspiring it is to read and learn about other people's stories of "making a come back" after going through some kind of "life set back". I know that it is going to be a long road and a lot of hard work getting my body back to the Ironman physique and fitness that I had last summer. I also know that when I do come across the finish line at my 6th Ironman Canada event. I will be very proud of the effort that I put in and it will be that much more rewarding, knowing where I will have come from at the beginning of the year!!!

So, this is to everyone out there that is stuck on that sofa, wondering how the heck you are EVER going to get off!!! Get up, and tomorrow put one foot in front of the other, and "let's do this"!!!!

Anything Is Possible!!!