Tediocity

I enjoy the plasticity of words ;)

Recently my therapist said that he thinks my progress is beginning to slow down. He said it's to be expected, and it doesn't mean it's going to stop. and not to worry. My first thoughts were shock and anger and disbelieving - I mean, what is he basing this off anyway? Then I started thinking about this blog and how there's not too much to add every week, and I got sad. BUT my Pilates instructor made it all make sense to me. She said progress in anything is like building a house, at first it seems to go faster because you're putting up the major structures such as walls, windows, doors. But when you start having to do the cabinets, or the crown molding, or all the little details, that's still progress, it just takes longer to complete. It's the final details, the finishing touches, that take the most time. That makes TONS of sense to me and everything is alright in my world again. And I guess not everyone needs crown molding, but it''s my house and I'm going to make it as awesome as possible no matter how long it takes.

SO
Swim: The program I swim with is off for 2 weeks, so back at it the week after next.

Bike: 2 miles and a fall. The first road rash since getting hit, ha! My right ankle tires quickly, and it's hard to hold it in place after a while. It hit the chain and I went over. That pedal's pretty worn, too, so I'm going to try new pedals before I blame my ankle just yet. Yeah, yeah, I got back on.

Run: Well, walk. 5 miles on the treadmill, both a distance and speed PIPR of 28:34 min/mi. Got a month before my goal of 18 min/mi, hmmmm. Treadmills I know are easier than the road, but since I can hold on to the front or either side, it offers better form. I hate the elliptical. It's tedious, and doesn't do much for me for strength or proper movement. But it's good for cardio, and works faster than the bike. Sigh. One of those things I don't want to do and is boring, but guess I'll keep it in my regimen for now. Rowing - I'm going to try this for cardio too.

Hands: The most tedious of all. So many little tiny muscles and takes so much to make a little change. Easy to give up on. Just started strength training with a vengeance so we'll see what happens. I got paddles for swimming so that should help my extensors. Also pushing putty out with each finger, sliding a card across a table with each finger, and wearing hair or rubber bands on my wrist and constantly stretching it out with my fingers - all extensor work. My grip needs work too, especially for weight lifting. And my wrists. So, tedious! But doable.

New road rash, old road  rash, and finger exercising with putty.

First Post-Injury Off-The-Trainer No-Hands Bicycle Ride

I've been down. I didn't even blog on Friday because I've been down. Sometimes reality sets in and it's just too much. I lost so much! My profession and my brand new obsession with racing, and even just being an attractive girl. I went from being larger than life to BROKEN. There's no guarantee I'll get it all back. Of course I'll keep trying, and with the gym and Pilates I'm getting noticeably stronger every day, but anyway sometimes things are overwhelming. I know, I know, I can still accomplish great things and yadayadayada, and I know so many people are worse off than me - I get "survivor guilt" fairly often - but none of that means I don't get sad.

BUT yesterday, my friend Jen Steele hooked me up with a bike small and light enough that I could try to ride it. AND I have an awesome boyfriend (you already knew that). So today (just now) I did it. I needed help getting on and off, and Nic jogged by me holding on. I was nervous because I often can't get my right ankle to stay in place and I didn't know if I could pedal fast enough, and then of course balancing... I was shaking and crying and sick to my stomach. But I finally asked him to let go - I mean what the fuck sometimes you gotta live. And I lived. And there's a lot more to go but it's one more milestone.

Documented by Snakebyte ;)

The Better Late Than Never Post

Well, I almost forgot to post today! Ashley, owner of Smoothie Factory, had told me how when she found out I was hit and heard I didn't have family in the area, she called all the hospitals looking for me even though we had never met. She just hated the thought of me being alone. And when she finally found out where I was they wouldn't let her in to see me because she wasn't family, and she nearly had a meltdown until an unknown lady approached her out of the blue and said God wanted her to know everything was going to be okay. Her life changed for the better after that, and she told me I should always know that something positive came out of that awful experience. I was pretty out of it, I know she and a few other triathletes had come to visit but everything's kind of fuzzy. This incident also prompted John Hebert, head of my triathlon club the Tri-Cajuns, to push for the "Share The Road" signs that were finally placed. And while I will never say this is good what had happened to me, John Hebert has decided to resign, giving me the opportunity to take over leadership of the club that has done so much for me, and keep them going in their already positive direction. I wouldn't have had the time to dedicate to it otherwise. Luckily for me, John isn't going anywhere and is a huge help, and Marcus Dudoit, a fabulous athlete in his own right, is co-administrating and helping me tremendously. Check out the website: Tri-Cajuns Triathlon Club

So that's the big news of the week that's taking all my time! I didn't accomplish much aside from that, unless you count muscle soreness and bonking! I'm doing heavy weightlifting right now, 2-3x/week, 6-8 reps max. I need to get my nutrition more in-line and eat more carbs. I'm slowly upping distance and endurance and hopefully speed, so it's one of those forces gathering weeks for me.

That's all I got, have a fantastic week!

Calvary Baptist Turkey Trot - I can totally say I raced this because I won a prize!

This has been a fantastic awesome amazing two weeks. We did the "Rawson Family Tradition" of participating in the annual Turkey Trot, and it was definitely memorable! It's my second time racing it. I had PR'd the first time, and it became my PIPR (Post-Injury Personal Record) 5K.. The day started off in the 20's, being the coldest Thanksgiving Day on record in the area. I planned to get there early and do the thing myself but Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike decided to join me and I'm entirely grateful for their company! We started 45 minutes early, and I really was slower than I had hoped because of the cold weather. I was hoping for a 1:30, wanted to beat my old PIPR from this year of 2:05, and came in at 1:45. I was awarded a cooked turkey for coming in last, woohoo! ;) Nic's sister Laura Zaunbrecher had a "slow" day and came in 2nd OA, and Nic was 5th OA whilst still recovering from an illness. Then we ate a lot of food and passed out. It was great!

Great company the whole way!

I *might* have cried here, overcome by emotion of all the people cheering etc, and had to bury my head in Mike's shoulder to hide.

Our awards!

This week I started training with Damian Living with Anytime Fitness Upper Lafayette. It was a great surprise to me to find someone as knowledgeable as he is about strength training, including muscle groups and concentric vs eccentric training, and basically how to train muscles to remember what they're supposed to do. I've been incredibly impressed with Anytime Fitness and their support; as a company with web support from work outs to nutrition and a knowledgeable personal trainer, to the specific experiences I had with the people at this particular location. Also BIG thanks to Aileen Bennett for the hook up! She's here: Creating Clever. I already see this becoming a vital part of my recovery. Totally excited to see how much this is going to change things!

It's been a week of PIPRs, starting with the Turkey Trot. I'm up to 3000 yards swimming (Swim Log) with a 4s/100y PIPR on Tuesday, breaking it by another 7s on Thursday. Wednesday I had a 27:59 min/mi walking PIPR (the cleaner and improved Training Log). It's been great to be able to get back on a bike trainer again! Pilates has been awesome too, Alyce (my instructor) has really been a major influence on me mentally and physically. She told me about "Groove Church" which is a freestyle dance session once a week, and I attended it. It's so much a different scene for me, but I really like her thought process that I have to work out in all planes, not just linear such as running and biking, and especially swimming. Also, to do something not structured since the rest of my workouts are very structured. I have officially started training for the 1/2 Marathon (I was unofficially training for this 5K up until now) and honestly I'm not sure I can do it in the time limit. Wulf had said this would be the case, but I only have 2 months to go and would need to increase my speed by about 1/3. Meh, I'll figure it out. AND the Competitor Group said they'll work with me, so no worries!

To end with two Nelson Mandela quotes:
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
"Does anybody really think they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?"