Monday, March 23, 2009

Doctor, doctor! Gimme me the news . . .

As you may or may not know, I have some pretty bad, kinda severe back problems. I have been battling with them since last August when I found out (after the Santa Barbara Long Course) that I had a sacral fracture. I did that triathlon in lots of pain!

I was told not to run while the fracture healed, not to ride out of the saddle, and go ahead and swim but no flip turns. (Thanks for that last one, doc, since I don't freakin' do those anyway.)


So, I abided by the rules and got that sucker to heal. I had an MRI taken of my lumbar spine & my sacrum - that's how I found out it was fractured. It was also noted that I have severe degenerative disc disease at L3-4 & L4-5.

Which translates to bone-on-bone, no cushion, disc dessication & arthritis!!! I know, I know: hang up the damn running shoes & just ride the flats, right? The problem with that? . . . I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. I want to keep on training & racing even though it is really kicking my ass! Well, my back, actually, which then radiates down to my butt cheek & hamstring. Especially with the running.

So, just walk . . . right? Yes, that is a possibility, especially given that I am not really a runner anyway. . . it just means I will be that much slower during the "running" portion of my triathlon - also known as My Quest Not To Be The Last Person To Cross The Finish Line.

Are these all crazy thoughts? Maybe, but it is how I feel. . . but I do suffer after a training run/walk.



So today I went back to see Dr. Steve for some updated radiographs of my lower back & sacrum.

It still looks crappy!

Again, I was told that running is not that good for me.

Again, I feel like crying & feel like I really picked a bad sport to fall in love with.

Again, I decided that I don't want to do that. After all, I am signed up for my first Ironman! Remember that is what this blog is all about! My road to Ironman. . .

So - keep taking my anti-inflammatories, go to physical therapy, ice my ass, take narcotics & alcohol together. . . ooops - maybe not that last part, but it sure does help. There's nothing like a Darvocet & a Bloody Mary. ****kids: don't try this at home.

K - that's all for now. . .

Peace & love, TracerX

2 comments:

  1. that's a cute hospital gown you have on...hahahahahahaha

    How's that for dysfunctional sibilings???????

    ReplyDelete
  2. So dysfunctional, bro!!
    Yeah, loved the gown. . .you should have seen the paper shorts :-)

    ReplyDelete