The appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Beaule, went very well. He echoed the advice of Dr. Gilbart to "manage" the labral tears and only do surgery as a very last resort. I did learn from him however that the left side labral tear is due to FAI (http://www.hipfai.com/), a bone structure problem, whereas the right side labral tear is due to poor running mechanics. What this means is that I will be able to manage my right side easier than my left as there is not much I can do to change my bone structure. Luckily the right was the more problematic side whereas the left only flares up once in awhile. Dr. Taylor, in her constant quest to address problems and prevent them, issued tons of blood work and the bone density scan to make sure all was well in my general health (results pending).
Between the stress of my bike and running like a mad woman to get stuff done I did have a few shining moments - swimming in Meech lake, doing a late night dip in the Gatineau river, riding around Wakefield, swimming with ROCS, a bonfire - catching up with some friends. Ottawa is a special place and I am lucky to have called it home for a few years.
On Sunday I hit the road toward Austin. The road trip could not have started better. After four short hours my dearest friend Carrie and I caught up in Toronto. I then had one more hour until I arrived into Kitchener where I stayed with my best friend Carolyn. It was great to get out of my world for a moment and just be with people who know me beyond being a triathlete. The next two days are a blur of cities and highway. I started driving at 7:30am Monday and did not stop until 9:30pm. The next day started out again at 7:30 and arrived in Austin at 8:30pm. Over 3000km, numerous tanks of gas and hours of listening to podcasts, music and audiobooks later, I arrived. I have to say I was absolutely exhausted and completely "jacked-up". My left hip was bugging me.
So this is how it goes for me - I learned that sitting is absolutely the worst for me -planes are particularly bad. Running around like a mad-woman while maintaining some form of a training schedule is sure to cause problems. In other words - recovery is essential. How many times does one need to hear this to really get it? I have to admit I was scared - Six weeks of running seems to be my breaking point since the fall. It seems to happen just as I start to feel good. I start to get a sore lower back, my gluts starts to seize up and I cater to the affected hip which throws off proper mechanics, walking or running. Essentially the muscles around my hips go into overdrive causing immobility and a general lack of proper functioning. On the road toward Austin I put in a call to Kevin, the most phenomenal massage therapist, and prayed that he would see me as soon as I got into Austin. He did and worked hard providing me with much improved mobility in that hip. The mental challenge that goes with managing my hips is the constant questioning and uncertainty. I am not sure whether to back off running or whether to believe that the muscles will release and that I should keep going. I realized that this is exactly what "management" is and that no one can tell me what to do. I have to learn the grey zone.
Thankfully I played it right and am still going and getting stronger with every workout. I am ready to race and see where I am at. I am super excited to get out there and nervous too. It has been a long hall just to get to this point and so my game plan is this. I am going to soak up every moment of planning, training and racing... I am going to stay grounded in the fact that I am following my passion and my dreams and have incredible people around me that are helping make this happen. It is easy to let stress overcome these facts. So stay tuned... results are coming!
We're tuned Tenille, and we're with you.
ReplyDelete