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June - Injury Update

Not a bad place for some soul searching...

I figured I owe you guys a bit of an update on this injury of mine. I don't use the term injury lightly. I've had niggles and issues here and there. Some more persistent than others. But in 20 years of triathlon training and racing, this is the first time that I am truly injured. The first time that I've missed a race due to injury, let alone half (or more) of a season. So when I tell people that I am injured and their next question is So when's your next race? or Are you biking this weekend? I am a bit confused and realize that the word injury doesn't mean to them what it means to me. 

I am not going to sit here and whine. I am also not going to be philosophical or introspective. Maybe in another blog post... If you know me, you know what NOT being able to ride my bike, run on beautiful trails, or hop in a lake for a swim means to me. As G. Melton says: Life is brutiful. There is much suffering (on many different levels) and yet so much beauty! 

Here is what's been going on: 

The last few years

Some high hamstring tendinopathy coupled with chronically tight piriformis and gluteus medius. Thanks to Dr. AJ Gregg at HYPO 2 and my massage therapist, Stephanie Del Giorgio, in Flagstaff, I was able to mostly stay on top of this and train/race fairly well. 

December

I injured my back while doing some off-season weight-lifting in the gym. It was pretty serious and I was unsure about what to do and how to treat it until I ran into a friend at the gym* and she suggested I see her father-in-law Dr. Ron Nuttall who is retired and lives up the hill. He has been able to help me a lot and I am grateful for his knowledge and treatment. (He has since come out of retirement because he is simply too good and popular.) I wasn't sure I would make a full recovery anytime soon but I did and training went well in February and March. 

* I was NOT at the gym to work out, I was there to sit in the hot tub and see if maybe a lap or two of backstroke would loosen it up.

April 

I was rather suddenly in a lot of pain (from my low-back all the way down my leg) the last few days before Oceanside 70.3 but decided to race anyway. You can read about my race and the lead-up to it here. As soon as I got home I started seeing a LOT of different doctors. A sports medicine doc, two physical medicine and rehab docs, a chiropractor, and an athletic trainer. I did physical therapy, had a cortisone shot, tried ultra sound and electrode therapy, and am doing dozens of specific  exercises a day. We worked on a lot of different things and made progress in some areas but not enough overall. I still have the issues I've had for years but now my low-back is bothering me and the pain that shoots down my left leg is simply more than I am willing or able to train and race with. I need to take care of this fully now and get body healthy again before I resume training. 

May 

I finally got on MRI. And then another one. I had been undecided about whether I need an MRI or not but when no treatment were making a significant difference and I wasn't improving overall, I simply wanted to rule out some things like a stress fracture. I told them right away that I want one that covers my lower back down to my hamstring. But that's not possible. I had to choose between a pelvic and a lumbar MRI. So I went with pelvic. It showed no fractures. But it did show mild bilateral trachanteric bursitis. And a partial  hamstring tear on the left side. It is unclear how old that tear really is. I wouldn't be surprised if I've had it for quite a while. As we looked at it, the doc also noticed a L5/S1 disc issue but we couldn't see the whole thing, so he ordered a lumbar MRI after all. The report says that I have mild degenerative disc disease and facet arthropathy, which is is greatest at L5-S1 followed by L4-L5. There is mild impingement of the left S1 nerve root in the lateral recess which could be causing the pain going down my leg. 

The MRI is only as good as the doctor that read it and I don't really trust any of them. How could I? I've never even see the radiologists that write the reports. They don't know me. I can't ask them any questions. And I know that MRIs don't show the whole picture. Who knows what my back looked like before I ever had any pain in that area? Maybe it looked the same. Maybe it didn't. The PM&R doc that I looked at the pelvic MRI with was so wishy-washy about the results that I know no more after than I did before. I had my PT look at the images and he says none of it is terrible news. Whatever that means... I am planning on having someone (or several people) that I really trust look at it. Until then, I will continue to go on long walks, do the prescribed exercises that seem to make a small difference, see Dr. Nuttall, go to PT, and stay hopeful

Now

So that's where I am at. I missed two races (70.3 St. George and Ironman Texas) that I had already signed up for and am not registered for any other races this season as of now. I was going to wait and see where we end up moving this summer before making any plans deciding on the rest of my season but it has now been mostly decided for me. If things improve rapidly and I can get back to training soon, I would love to do another 70.3 and a full Ironman in the late fall but I am not getting my hopes up quite yet. 

Thank you for following along on my journey and checking in with me to see how I am doing. It means a lot to me. I have been taking a little break from social media in regards to triathlon because I struggle with knowing what to say. I don't want to pretend that all is well but I also don't want to appear to be complaining. I know that other professional athletes deal much better with this but - for me - this is a good time to take a complete break from triathlon and focus on my family and my recovery. Of course, that doesn't mean that I don't love to follow my friends and teammates and see them crushing it on a weekly basis. I am genuinely happy for them! I went to St. George to cheer for my friends at the 70.3 and had a GREAT time. I will always be a triathlete at heart - racing or sidelined - but it has been good to step back a little and make room for some other things in my life.  



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