I’m still not feeling great even though I spent literally all of Thursday through Sunday in bed. I went back to work this week and have been going home in the evenings to eat and crash. It’s like my body is just completely refusing to be whole. I want to be well and get to back to my routines. Desperately.

January has come and gone and I am no more ready for the race than when it started. I’m probably a bit worse off because I’ve been missing so many workouts. Between the bike crash and whatever this sickness is, my month has escaped me. I need a fresh start. I’m hoping that will come in the form of February.

I woke up Thursday morning barely able to speak, so I went to the doctor. She gave me something to try to help clear my throat and lungs and told me to stay home until at least 24 hours after my fever broke. (I had a fever of 102.) So I came home and slept. All day. All night. And all of today. Finally, I feel like I have joined the land of the living, though my throat is still icky. I’m hoping that if I stay in bed tonight, it’ll be totally gone tomorrow and maybe I can run the half marathon on Sunday. I’m a little skeptical, but I’d like to try if I can.

So after I got my clearance to work out again on Monday, I went to yoga that evening. It was tough, especially the moves that really stretched the arms, but I loved doing it. And I bumped into Jeanie, which is always a treat! She was doing the class that followed mine.

Then on Tuesday morning, I jumped back into the pool and swam 2100 with Nitro, a program in Cedar Park. I really enjoyed it. Because of my arm, I didn’t complete the workout (which called for a total of 4100 meters), but I’m proud of what I did. And the coach and other swimmers were all really nice. I was most impressed that the coach offered to help me out of the water without my having to ask. I had been wondering how I was going to get out of the water water hurting my arm given that there were no ladders or anything. As soon as I took my cap off, he was right there offering to take my good hand and pull me out. Now that’s attentive!

Then Tuesday evening I had my fourth session with Jake. Again he hurt me. We focused on my legs and did many many variations of a squat. My body aches, but I’m so glad. I’m just thrilled to be working out again.

I went to the doctor this morning and was “cleared” to run, swim and even bike, though he said not to bike for miles and miles at first since biking is a weight bearing exercise. I can also go back to working out with Jake as long as I start slowly on the weights and don’t do the fast twist/rapid fire/explosive movements for another few weeks. The doctor said the discomfort should go away by early February and then I should be able to do all that I was doing before. But for now, I’m clear to do much of it already.

So I’m picking back up with the plan I had set for this year, which means I’m doing yoga tonight. Poppe and I will make a class together. I’m looking forward to the time with her and the workout!

Yesterday morning, I “rode” with Fred and MJ in their garage. About seven of us set up trainers and had a really good workout without having to endure the 20 degree temperatures. (Plus, if they had decided to hit the road, I wouldn’t have been able to given my arm.) I only rode for about 95 minutes because I had an Exeter interview I needed to get to, but I got in a nice workout and enjoyed hanging out with that group. Fred and MJ are good for me.

I go back to the orthopedic specialist tomorrow morning to find out if I’m clear to run and do other things again. Say a prayer for me if you think about. I REALLY want to get back to my regularly scheduled programming.

Tonight I went to a birthday party for Judy, a friend of mine who did Coeur d’Alene a couple of years ago. She is so my inspiration. Her friend Ainsley hosted the party. Ainsley also did Coeur d’Alene and had the coolest memento from it. She took her swim cap, her race bib, her finishers medal, her finishers photo, and her shoes and framed them in a display box. It looked very cool. I look forward to being able to do that one day myself…

Last night, I went to a “brick” workout with Texas Iron. For those of you who are non-tri geeks, that’s a workout where you both bike and run. Of course, because of my arm, I didn’t run. I just stayed on my trainer while the group ran, but it was a good workout. The unusual part was that we set up our trainers in a parking lot in Zilker, just west of Barton Springs pool. So you had something like 30 people on trainers under streetlamps in the middle of a parking lot. We were all bundled because it was cold, and the coaches were wearing heavy jackets, hats and gloves too. It was a sight to see. Frankly, we all looked a little nutty, but it was so much fun.

My range of motion is starting to come back. I took it easy all last week. Then yesterday I went for a three mile walk and followed that with a pretty tough spin class at Pure Austin. I tried hard to minimize the pressure I put on my arm during the class, but it felt tender after the class and is slightly more tender today. I think I’d be better served this week by just riding a stationary bike without the added up down pressure of a guided class.

The good news is that I can tell that my arm is getting better in that I can reach my head with it to wash my hair. And I can hold a phone up to my ear. And I’m able to pour coffee, as long as the pot isn’t entirely full. I can start my car and release my parking break. I can open a twist off water bottle. I can do lots of things! I’m seeing bits of progress, so I’m encouraged. I just need it to heal so I can get back to my regular mode of operation.

I’ve really missed my routine this week. I didn’t realize just how much my life and schedule had revolved around my workouts and the people associated with my workouts. I will be thrilled to get back into that routine.

The orthopedic surgeon I saw this morning said that it’s not broken. It’s just very badly bruised and will be tender for a while. He removed the cast and instructed me to practice bending at the elbow and then straightening my arm and also turning my hand from palm up and palm down to help restore the range of motion. I’m not supposed to jog or put pressure on it for a couple of weeks. I’m just supposed to move and stretch it. Hopefully, when I go back in two weeks, the range of motion will be there, and I can go back to running and beginning to bike and swim. For now, I’m limited to walking and doing spin classes (so long as I don’t put any weight on my arm). I’m okay with scaling back my workouts for a couple of weeks. I just didn’t want my plans totally derailed!

Thank you for everyone for your concern. I’ll be bugging you to run with me again soon!

…and may have broken my arm. We were riding down Old San Antonio Road when I moved slightly to the right to ease into a Walgreens parking lot. The curb wasn’t level with the street, and it didn’t register in my head that it was so unlevel that I should come at the curb more perpendicular. I eased parallel into it and went down on my right side. It hurt my arm and elbow, but I didn’t think it was terrible so we rode another half hour. After I got home, it really ached and hurt to move, so I went to a nearby Urgent Care. They are calling it a fracture, but they are sending me to an orthopedic specialist to confirm the break. It’s apparently on the edge of the bone at the elbow.

I’m hopeful that maybe the specialist will say something different. Maybe it’s just sore and needs a few days or weeks to heal. That’s my prayer. I would consider being benched for any amount of time a setback in my training, but that doesn’t mean the game is over. Let’s see what the doctor says on Monday.

Tonight I had my second run workout with Texas Iron. We did a hill off 10th street and Meridian, a few blocks off of Lake Austin Boulevard. We ran up and jogged down six times, the idea being that the first two would be conservative, the middle two faster, and the last two fast. My times were 1:36, 1:34, 1:28, 1:30, 1:26 and 1:26. I was pretty pleased with that, though I’ll be interested to do the same workout a month or two from now to see how those times change.

Then I came home and watched a YouTube video of a recent Ironman finish by one of the girls in my training group. Go here if you want to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB1LysIhxTM. Hopefully that works. If not, search for “Learning to Fly: An Ironman Journey” within YouTube. I dare you to watch it and tell me that you’re unaffected by it – that it doesn’t make you want your own journey, whatever the source. I love that she’s smiling so much of the way through, and I hope and pray that I will look so comfortable on June 22, 2008.