Tough Calls

So the verdict is back. Probably some sort of debris in my joint, but also a rotator cuff tear. And I found out the reason I can't see the pin is because it's made of an absorbable protein. That is just beyond cool. I really want to see one they haven't put in yet, but I think that might be the last straw for my orthopaedist.

So I'm having surgery in 5 days. Figure two weeks at least until I can run, and another good month until I can swim.
I made some decisions after realizing that if I don't take care of myself I will miss another entire season.

So I bailed on the Shamrock half.
Transferred my Cherry Blossom number.
Bailed on Columbia.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to maintain overall fitness enough to run the GW 10 miler. And maybe the Frederick half marathon.

I'm frustrated to be going through this again when I followed all the rules. I'm worried about recovering in time for crew. And I'm worried about putting on weight while I'm recovering.

Adding to the stress is one of my roommates has decided to buy a house and is moving out and I need to find a replacement.

My plan for now is to work out like crazy until the surgery since I know I'll have a forced rest day or five. My trainer has promised to come up with a plan of attack for my recovery. I'm just upset because my list of can't seems so long right now: no swimming, no rowing, no biking outdoors, and no biking where there's pressure on my shoulder. No elliptical with arms.

Add to that: crew registration is next week. Our season starts in a month.

The seven people you meet in blogland

I hate chain mail, and I'm not into putting that much personal information on a public forum, but I will stop whining and play along.

So I was tagged by DC Rainmaker to share seven random things about myself. Here's my seven pieces of random information that you likely didn't know.

1. I am double jointed in most of my joints.
2. My ancestry is French and Lebanese
3. I'm named after my paternal great grandmother, yes it really is my name.
4. I went to Montessori school.
5. I once kept a LOST Netflix for 2 years.
6. I knit in my spare time.
7. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian.

Here were the rules are as follows (I'm required to post them):

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
• Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.
  

In return for my little blessing, I've tagged (required to) the following people to receive their own little present. Kevin, Dan, Jenniferlyn, Holly, Jess, Nikki, and Teen

Just remember - don't hate the playa, hate the game. Although...if you had to hate a specific playa...Ironmatron started this thing. Just sayin'...

Opposites and Results

My plan for the weekend had been to essentially eat, sleep, and train since New Boy was out of town. What actually happened was I spent 36 straight hours in my pajamas watching movies and bridal shows. But I did make it to Rob's 3 hour spin class.

We were at a new location in DC this time. It was clean, sparkly, and the desk attendant didn't look at my boobs while talking to me. Everything was modern and sort of spa like, and the spin room had a disco ball. Things started to click: this was a gay gym. The 2Exist boxers for sale, the well-groomed men in abundance, oh yes this spin class would be FABULOUS. I only wish I would have worn my "I train to meet boys" t-shirt.

Our usual location is sort of a fishbowl and it's not uncommon for some guy to decide to conspicuously do his ab work right outside the window. I find this hilarious.

Anyways, the new spin room has not only a disco ball, but power meters and a flat screen tv. So we all got to watch tours of California from a bike-centric view. Not completely representative since the Bike-O-Vision didn't take an unplanned detour and get lost, or fall over after being able to unclip their feet, but it did make the time go by faster.

This week was a fundraiser for a bunch of clubbers who are doing Ride Across America. Now I'm all about environmentalism, but it seemed a little ironic that this race involves four team members and like 14 crew members flying across country to the start, and then the 4 riders are followed across country by like 2 support cars. Isn't that itself kind of a little bit of a carbon footprint. They're buying alternative enegry credits to off-set, but wouldn't the truly environmental thing to do be just doing a series of local races?

Anyways, even though I'm not sure I see the point, I'm supporting them anyways since that's what you do for team members and friends.

The theme this week was Opposites so the music was "Homeless" followed by "Our House", and stuff like "Love to hate you". And as always heavy on the disco.

The bike meters had a distance function which was revealing. I had vastly underestimated my miles during spinning. By nearly 50%. I feel like less of a loser knowing that I spun (span?) 62 miles.

Magnetic personality

I had my MRI today, I forgot how awesome they are.

First, they put you into what is essentially a coffin.

When they start the tests it sounds like an orchestra of jackhammers that are trying to tune to each other. This is what I picture life with children is like.
Meanwhile, the coffin is vibrating.

And like on the LOST island time slows down. A supposedly 2 minute test takes a very long time when you can't move.

Good news: I remembered to take my ring off at the last minute, and my belly ring did not come flying out and attach itself to anything.

Bas news: I looked at the films and found where the stitches are, they look like a seam splitting. I couldn't tell where the pin is, but then again, I'm not a doctor.

Wednesday I go back to the doctor for a go/ no-go decision.

Training and homework

Today I worked out with trainer Blaine.

I am already sore. Very sore. Usually I'm sore the next day, and even worse the second day. No delayed onset today, just immediate punishment.

This is partially my own fault. I didn't take care of myself over the weekend, resulting in another near-shock episode. Not enough protein and food in general, too much exercise and stress in general, my body's refusal to lose weight, and bam! I nearly pass out while driving.

Today's workout was mostly shoulders and squats, trying to fix both my shoulder, and the quad/hamstring inequality every runner has. However, now my calves and hamstrings are so tight I'm looking at another injury if I don't work on it. So I'm supposed to stretch. A lot. And do yoga.

Functionally, yoga is great. It cures a lot of various athletic ills, but damn is it boring. I'm not a quiet introspective type of person. I like data, and action, and pain. Yoga is torture. I cannot sit still and think about my feelings for that long. And that chanting music makes me want to kill someone. I can do a long run or spin for hours so long as I can tune out, but I can't do that in yoga. And don't even get me started on the instructors wanting to help you ease into poses. Paws off. I barely trust my doctors and PT's. You, an unknown person of questionable qualifications are not allowed to touch me without permission and a full explanation of what you are going to atttempt.

I might try bikram yoga, that might be extreme enough to keep my attention.

I have a screw loose?

Wednesday, after utter disaster, I had my follow-up appointment with my orthopaedist.

I explained my difficulties with the PT, and my frustration that my shoulder STILL isn't right, and that the annoying burning pain was back.

He tried to torque my arm some, clearly expecting that I would have full range of motion, and expressed concern over it being painful. I'm guessing it shouldn't make me grit my teeth and growl. So I got an x-ray, which showed no bone fragments and no ... pin?

The story I got was not to worry since it is a very small pin. There was an odd flash along the same side in my upper back that they claimed was something I was wearing, maybe the reflective stripe on my UnderArmour tank top. Hmmm. I remember getting the x-ray for my broken leg and the crack was pretty clear (as was the obvious moved bone), and I once forgot to take my lavalier off when I had a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia and the greek letters came through clear enough to read. So where the hell is the pin in the picture?

Thursday, I get an MRI, which I expect to reveal absolutely nothing since all it showed last time was "inflamation" and when they got in to do the surgery my shoulder was dislocated and my labrum shredded. I fully expect a third trip to slumberland to fix it. Please let it heal in time for crew season. I could live without doing a tri this year, but I miss the water.

I *love* spinning

This was the Valentine's Day edition of the three hour spin class. I wore my pink striped cycling shorts for the occasion. Rob wore his red cycling jersey. Cubby made cookies. I did not throw up or pass out. It didn't suck.

Music:
Love Doctor- It's not how good I make it, it's how I make it good.
Oh Isaac Hayes, if only you weren't a crazy scientologist.

I'm in loooooooooooove, I'm in loooooooooooove, I'm in looooooooooooove.
Donna Summer, you know I love disco.

Looooooooove shack! Tin Roof, rusted!
Spin class kareoke.

A few new treats for this class:
Power intervals.
30 seconds of all out sprinting as hard as you can as intense as you can. You know you're doing it right when your legs are on fire and you feel nauseous.
The rest of the time is spent recovering.

Monkey in the Middle
First song- steady work pace, second song- push it hard, third song- steady work pace.

And to keep us all entertained: logic problems. The class never did figure out what happened to Romeo and Juliet.

Taking today off so I can stop walking like a human Barbie doll what with my calves being so knotted.

Nausea Heartburn Indigestion

So last Tuesday I showed up for my first session with trainer Blaine. I had been feeling kind of weird, but okay. I got about halfway through before the random rolling nausea got too intense. Oddly enough, it was only really bad when doing things standing up, the ab work felt great.

The rest of the week I missed both crew workouts, missed my second trainer session, and had to shorten my PT sessions since even those brought nausea faster than stop and go traffic in a manual transmission truck.

Saturday, no spin class, no long run, no doing anything that started the world spinning.

This week I'm back on track with PT mostly, still feeling a bit weak, and made it to crew yesterday. I swear erging at an 18 is more frustrating than trying to run in Z2. I will never race at an 18, why do I have to practice in it? And if I'm at Z2 at a 22, why do I have to practice there?

At any rate, I made it through 30 minutes before discretion became the better part of valor and I left for the sake of the new burning pain I've been getting in the shoulder. According to the PT, it's sort of a lactic acid attack from bad posture and trying to stabilize the weak shoulder. So I'm supposed to lean back in my chair while working on the computer and keep it stretched.