Recently in Workin' It Out! Category

With 7 months to go til the big triathlon, I've started getting my training on. I'll post some progress and stuff here, but I don't want to bore anyone with running stats and blah blah. But I will say that I started swimming again last week (the lifeguard gave me a hard time about only swimming while training for something, but she was sweet about it and asked when I would be back) and I did 25 laps in a half hour. Not bad for my first swim since August! My shoulders/ uppper arms were hella sore the next day. And I am back running again! I am scheduled for a 5k at the end of February, and my goal is to be able to run the whole thing. Fuzzy and I tried to run last Saturday, but it was too damn cold, so it was a big disaster for me. This week has been a lot warmer, thank goodness, so I ran 20 minutes on Monday with a quick break halfway through. Today, I ran for 27 minutes (yay 7 more!) but with little breaks of 30 seconds or a minute every 6-9 minutes (I would stop the running clock--I only counted time that I was actually RUNNING). From my rough Google Maps calculations, it looks like I ran about 2.8 miles, but that seems like too much for the time that I was running. Hmmm.  It was a little too cold for me, though---45 might sound warm (that's the most midwestern sentence I have ever written), but it is hella cold when you are a dummy and left your gloves and hat at home. But it was lot easier today--I just kept trying to think "lighter lighter lighter" cause this week I am an exhausted heavy slug of a person due to lady cycle things--gotta love it (not.) I am going to try to swim once or twice a week, too, so I am going back on my lunch break tomorrow.  The biking...well, thats going to be the hard part. Getting up to 25 miles? Yeesh. So I HAVE to start getting some bike training time in a few times a week to make it not be so hard. Will keep you posted.

My hardqore amazing husband has signed up for The Triple this year: the Super Sprint, Sprint, and International. DAMN! Go Fuzzy Go!

Also! Today's running soundtrack was Radiohead's The Bends. So great. I am seeing Radiohead for the 3rd time in March (Fuzzy's 1st!) and I can't wait!

Song of the day: Just. One of the greatest and creepiest videos ever made:

I just signed up for the International Distance* Chicago Triathlon!!! Guess who starts training tomorrow?!

 

*1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6 mile run.

I am VERY excited to report that, after 6 months of rest and physical therapy, I am back on my feet again--literally! Yesterday, for the first time since July, I WENT FOR A RUN! WOOOO! I can't tell you how happy this makes me!  It sort of just hit me that I was ready (I've been too scared to try previously), so yesterday I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and put on my new cute running top, a hat, some pants, my robot knee brace, and my new running gloves Fuzzy gave me for Christmas, popped on some Soundgarden on my iPod (Down on the Upside is a GREAT running album) and went for it! I walked for 5 minutes as a warm up, then RAN FOR TWENTY!! Without stopping! I just ran around the neighborhood, up and down the streets. I probably could have done more, but I didn't want to overdo it on my knee. I then walked 5 more for a cool down. I felt like a rockstar afterwards, and still do! Today, I am a little sore and my knee is a little weak, but just a little! I feel like I am back!  We've signed up for an indoor 5K in February, and now I am positive that I will be able to do it. It feels so good to be back! Look out, 2012--I'm coming to get you!

 

My physical therapy is coming along nicely. I have to go twice a week, and also do exercises during the week on days I don't go to therapy. It's really an eye opening experience. Everything is hard! I am so out of shape, I have no stamina and not a lot of strength, so I struggle a lot. I am really frustrated that I can't do more right now, but I know it's one day at a time. My physical therapist is awesome, and I am learning pretty much how to properly use my knee for the first time in my life. The way my legs are built, my knee wants to always roll in, so I am learning to keep it pushed out. Building up those muscles. Again, I must say--it is hard. I've also learned that you are supposed to not have any pain when you do PT, but yet, I don't know how I can bend my knee or use any of those muscles without any pain. It always hurts. I just have to keep up with the exercises and keep icing it.  I also have this weird tape that wraps around my leg and knee to help strengthen it and keep it in place. I helps with the pain, too--I can go up and down stairs a little easier with it on. But it is weird--it is tape. On my body. Fascinating, right?

There were a lot of kids at PT on Thursday, and it made me wish I had gotten a little bit better treatment of my knees when I had my first injury when I was a kid. I was given some exercises, but I didn't keep up with them, or have a therapist that I went to work with. I wonder how my life would have been different if I had. BUT! What matters is that I am getting help NOW so that I can run, dance, do triathlons, take pilates, etc. I need to reclaim that part of my life. But for now, I understand that I am healing, and "letting the crops rest*." No one is putting any pressure on me but me. It's ok to take some time off.

*Rebecca told me the other day that she saw an interview with Neil Young, who said that every now and then, you have to "let the crops rest." So so true, and just what I needed to hear. 

I had my first physical therapy today! It was great. And hard. I'm worn out.

It started with an evaluation. My therapist is super awesome and I already love her, and she was being observed by 3 Northwestern students. So in the evaulation, we all got to learn a lot about my body. About my sweat, my infection, my hyperextending knees, and the fact that one leg is longer than the other, my femurs rotate inward, while the lower half of my legs rotate out, my pelvis is uneven (all 4 ladies got to feel the power of the ENRG pelvic bones...by which I mean all 4 of them mashed on my pelvic bones), my left IT bands are super tight, and my left thigh muscles have atrophied a good deal in the 2 months since my accident. She then taught me some exercises that I am supposed to do daily, and she taped my knee with kinesio tape which feels wonderful. I am supposed to go twice a week. It was hard for me to tell what was hard because of my knee injury and what was hard because I haven't been active in forever. I have no stamina or strength right now.

I've been toying around with some new career changes that I am not going to talk about just yet, but they are physical and active, so I am excited to get my body back in shape so that I can honestly pursue them. I see a new life of health and fitness in my future! It's exciting. Baby steps, though...

On Sunday, Fuzzy completed his THIRD International Distance triathlon!! That's 4x the distance I did on Saturday. He is so amazing! We started the day at 4am, and he rocked it out from start to finish. You can read his round-up here!  Here are some photos!

Fuzzy and Shaun, pre-race, looking adorable. Fuzzy trimmed his hair and beard for the event.

Ready to swim!

Swim!

Go go go!

Lookin Good!

Shaun, post swim. He zoomed through the water!

Fuzzy and Shaun running!

Almost done!

Success!!

I saw a lot of my friends there, who were amazing and did the Sprint!

Roger, Holly, Scot, Kat and Erin!

Jon completed his 2nd Tri!

Here is Jess, whom I referenced before--she did 3 triathlons in 2 weeks!

Ryan, whom I made the Triathlon 2011 pact with. He did great!

So! I did it! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It was amazing. Truly. I am so incredibly proud of myself and so glad that I decided to try it in spite of my knee problems. It was too good for me to miss. I loved every second of it, and I am ready for more.

For those who don't know, the order in a triathlon is swim, bike, run (most risk to least risk.)  There is a transition area, where you set up your stuff--your bike and bike gear and running gear (which for me was the same as bike gear just without bike helmet and gloves)--that you run to between each segment. There are entrances and exits for each segment to ensure that there are no collisions in between. The Super Sprint triathlon has a limit of 1,000 people (the Sunday triathlon has about 10,000), so it was nice that it was never super crowded.

PRE-RACE
Last night, we went to the expo for packet pickup, body marking, and to get last minute supplies. You pick up a timing chip that you strap to your ankle, so that when you walk over each of the timing mats at each event, can can know how long each segment took you. We had fun looking at the vendors's booths, and came upon a booth for Tri Tats--temporary tattoos for body marking. When you do a triathlon, they write your race number in huge black sharpie on each arm, and your starting wave number on your right calf. Fuzzy, Ryan and I had been making jokes about getting these as real tattoos to show how hardcore you are, but that each year you'd have to cross it out with new tattoos to write your new numbers on and eventually you would run out of skin. So when we saw the booth, we shared this with the vendors and told them that the temp ones were a good idea. Then I saw that they had "in memory of" and "in honor of" temporary tattoos, so you could write in the name of the person you are running for underneath. Well, nothing gets me emotional faster than thinking about doing things in memory of my Dad or thinking about the fact that he isn't here anymore, so I instantly teared up and ask Fuzzy to buy a couple. The guys were so nice that they gave us a small stack of them to take. It was really sweet. So when we got home, I was prepping the tattoo, and I remembered that I was dedicating the triathlon to Christopher and Katie, so I asked Fuzzy to write "DAD" on my calf and "In Honor Of Christopher and Katie" on my right forearm as inspiration. That way, when things got tough, I could say "dad never gave up, so I won't either. Christopher and Katie are taking a risk, so I will too." When that was done, I said "oh, but what about Mom?" so Fuzzy drew a heart on my left shoulder with "MOM" in it like an old-school tattoo. Perfect.



After the expo, Fuzzy worked on my bike, fixing the brake issue and making sure my tires were good, etc. I had not ridden my bike outdoors since my wreck, so I went out to the alley and rode it back and forth a few times to see how it felt. I was nervous about braking--sense memory and all--but ultimately, It didn't hurt my knee too badly and I knew that I could take my transition turnarounds pretty slowly if I wanted to. In hindsight, I should have gotten on my bike before the night before the event, but I didn't even know if I was going to be able to do the damn thing, so it's ok.

RACE DAY
The day started at 5:30am. I got up, put on my swim suit and ate a cereal bar and a tomato. I drank some water and did a last minute check of my stuff (yes, ok, so I did almost leave without my timing chip, but we saw it before we left) and then headed out to Foster Beach. Kristen was also doing the super sprint, so she and Shaun were awesome and gave us a ride. The weather was perfect--kinda breezy in the morning, but super clear and in the mid 70s for the race.  We set up our stuff, then went down to the beach for a course talk. The night before, I ran into my friend Jess, who I used to perform with, and we were in the same wave, so I hung out with her as we got ready to begin. Sidenote about Jess: That girl signed up for the Sunday Sprint, then heard that the Chicago Triathlon shouldn't be your first triathlon, so she did one somewhere else last weekend, and also won an entry into the Super Sprint. Yes, that's right, she's doing 3 triathlons in 2 weekends. SHE'S AMAZING! But anyways, I wasn't nervous at all about the swim, or the race even--I was just a little distracty. But I was ready.

SWIM
They advised that if you are a fast swimmer to go to the front of your wave, and if you are slow to go towards the back. Well, I am a fast swimmer, but I can't run, and since you had to run into the water, I didn't want to get in anyone's way. No one in my wave, however, wanted to be in the front of the pack, so the announcer commented that there must have been a lot of first timers in wave 9. Then the airhorn sounded, and off we went. The water was super warm, but I wore my wetsuit anyway, and was ready to take off. However, the water was super shallow and everyone was WALKING! They walked for a really long time, and it was hard to swim past the pack. Finally, when we rounded the first buoy, I was able to maneuver around everyone and pass a lot of them. The swim felt like it was only 8-10 minutes long, but my official time, due to my slowness in and out of the water was 18:44. It was great and invigorating! And I saw Fuzzy on the way out, and that was awesome. The swim distance was 1/4 a mile.


(my signature pose)

Stuck behind the walkers.

Me "running" to transition.

BIKE
I wore a 2 piece swimsuit underneath my wetsuit, which was a smart idea, cause it was essentially underwear and a sports bra. So in the transition area, I dried off, applied sunscreen, put on a tank top and shorts, socks and shoes, my knee brace, bike gloves, helmet, sunglasses and had a snack and something to drink. The bike distance was 6 miles, and we were to do 3 loops from Foster to Montrose and back. The bike went fine. I wasn't super fast, but I pushed myself. My knee feels ok until I have to tighten up and use the muscles and ligaments on it (I can bend and straighten it fine, but I can't tighten it or go up and down stairs, etc, without pain), so on the flat and downhill segments, I was fine. Where there were hills, however, it was kind of rough and I had to push through the pain. On lap 2 I got really tired and achy, so I thought about Dad and C&K and pushed through (although my wetsuit and suitjuice had completely erased all the sharpie and even the temp tat with my inspirational words--I knew they were there, though.) At the course talk, the announcer had said to call out to people when you were passing them and to communicate with each other. I always thanked the person passing to let them know that I had heard they were passing, and one time when a woman passed me she said "How's it going for you?" and it made me so happy! I replied that it was great and asked about hers, and she answered and zoomed off. That gave me an added boost. Having Fuzzy, Shaun and Ryan cheer me on at every Foster turnaround was pretty amazing, too. My bike time was 31:41.

 
Is that the wicked witch of the west? Nope, just me.

RUN
At the end of the bike transition, I encountered my only gruff person--a volunteer who said to me "Quickly quickly, this is a race." only it was impossible for me to go any faster with my knee, which was hurting pretty badly. Ah well. I went, dropped off my bike things, and headed to the run exit, with what was probably a pretty strong limp walk. The volunteers on the way out were amazing, saying things like "You look great!" "You're still moving!" and "Great job!" It really made me well up with tears. I saw Fuzzy and gave him a kiss and then hobbled onto complete the mile and a half. Kristen and I walked together for a minute, then she took off running. I knew I wasn't able to run--my knee buckled 3 times within the first 5 minutes out of the gate--but I would try it every now and again. I would lumber along for about 5 seconds and stop. I decided that I would run through the finish line. The walk was really lovely--again, the weather was GORGEOUS, and the turnaround was up by the dog beach at Montrose. Athletes making the return trek would say amazing things to me like "Keep going--you look great" and cheer for me and that was incredible. Jess approached and cheered for me and gave me a high five.  When I got to the turnaround point, it was shady and gorgeous, by the lake and under the trees. It was quiet and there weren't a lot of people around, so I took a minute to look around me and take it all in while I was walking, and thank the Lord for allowing me to be a part of that moment. To push myself to do something that I didn't think I would be able to do. For my health and my life and to be able to have an experience like that. It was beautiful.

When I approached the finish line, Fuzzy was there and I told him to run ahead so he could watch me finish, cause I was going to run it in. I did my best, with my weird Frankenstein run, and they called my name as I approached--ironically, another Erica was finishing at the same time!  Once I crossed--I did it!--they gave me a metal, and Shaun, Kristen, Fuzzy, and Ryan all came to meet me. It was amazing. My "run" time was 29:47.

Lumbering along.

Kristen and I together! Then she promptly left me in the dust.
Ryan cheering! Me in the distance!

Run Erica Run!

WOO!

WRAP UP
I am SO thankful that I did the triathlon. I loved every single second of it. It's a shame that my knee is still not healed, cause I would love to do the Sprint distance tomorrow, but it was really smart of me to do the Super Sprint instead. It was all within my reach and in the realm of what I could realistically do being a month out of my training. Now, my knee is sore, but it is ok. I've iced it today to help with the swelling, and I will give it a little while to rest and then try to rehab it.  

Me with metal, Gatorade, banana and bagel.
Fuzzy and me!

Me and Kristen--WINNERS!

What a journey it's been. I went from someone who never thought they could run or bike, to someone who can, then had a major setback with my injury, and now a newfound determination to get better and stronger.  I can see how these get addictive...I am ready for more! But for now, I am incredibly proud of myself and feel like I am on top of the world!!!!

(All photos by the amazing and wonderful Fuzzy Gerdes, the greatest man in the world.)

And they aren't terrible, but they aren't great.

Basically, the doc says that underneath my kneecap, there is a lot of inflammation, bruising and scar tissue, and it is hard to tell what is old and what is new. She said it looks like my knee was recently dislocated or hyperextended (which it could have quickly been when I hit the pavement.) Nothing is torn (hooray!) and everything is in the right place (double hooray!) but she said it looks really angry and funky. I don't need surgery (BIGGEST HOORAY) which is a relief--she said she thought sure they were going to have to "cut me open" and she is happy that isn't neccessary. Since my knee is improving, the next steps are just to keep resting it, icing it, and taking ibuprofen (I haven't iced or ibuprofened in a while) and taking it easy. If in a week or so, it isn't where I want it to be, we can consider a steriod injection or a referral to a knee specialist. But if things are better, she said she hopes that it can get back to its regular operating condition, which she said is "not normal, but something you know how to manage."

As for the triathlon, she said to still wait and see how it is feeling in a week or so. She said and since I am now so far off my training, that it will probably be rough and there is a risk of reinjury during the race, but that I am a "smart person" and know my body, so if I think I can do it, she says then there's nothing stopping me.

So....yeah.

I sort of walked up a step with my left leg today!

I had my MRI this morning. I thought it was going to be no big deal, but it turned out to be more nerve-wracking than I expected. The machine was really loud (I had earplugs) and they said it was going to be 25-30 minutes, which is a long time to be still, and my left knee was put in this sort of archway little thing and foam cushions were positioned all the way around it. I wasn't supposed to move, but of course, my knee kept having spasms and I shifted some (the technician said it didn't mess anything up.) The thing I was laying on was jerky, too, and everything sort of got my heart racing, although my head wasn't in the big tube at all, so it wasn't really a claustrophic thing--or maybe it was. I kept trying to take deep breaths and focus on the soothing undertone pulses of the machine and not the the loud rattles, but instead kept thinking about the night Dad was supposed to have an MRI for his spine had had to go to the emergency room instead for bladder stuff. That poor little guy was in so much pain. But anyways, afterwards, while having breakfast in the hospital with Fuzzy, I got a little overwhelmed about all the sickness in the world and how many people are ill---I am SO blessed that all I have to deal with is a silly little knee injury I got while doing something awesome.

Also, when the MRI was finished, I was amazed that freaking magnetic fields can give you an image of something on the inside of your body. SCIENCE AND MEDICINE ARE INCREDIBLE! God bless those who work in those professions. I wish everyone around the world had access to the technology that we have in the states. We are lucky.

SO! I should have more information by the middle of next week.

You know, it all makes me feel like this: