This ain't your mommy and daddy's DISCo

I apologize for having taken so long to write an update; the past month and a half have been more than weird and interesting to say the least. "Let me sum up..."

Before my third race of the season, which was an ITU developmental race in Tuscaloosa called 2012, I had to take roughly eight days completely off, as I woke up one morning unable to get out of bed because of something going on with my back. Yes, I did write about this in an earlier post, but I shall elaborate. Following a few words of advice from my network of friends (aka the smartest and most versatile group of MA's, Ph.D.'s, PT's and M.D.'s alive) I was back into the swing of things within a week and was able to race the 2012 event. I had a good swim, was part of the three man lead bike group, and was able to put :50sec on the chase group. Upon dismounting the bike and completing T2, I had to pull up limp because "somethin wudn't right." I still finished the race, but was reduced to a jog...

Following the race I figured I better get some definitive information; I went to get a CT Scan of my lumbar spine, which revealed a herniated disc. "Disc" is not the best word to use to describe this part of your anatomy, but rather image your disc a delicious jelly doughnut or Boston eclair if you choose. And this is no herniated disc as I managed to extrude almost all of my gooey filling out of the dough. What does this mean? Well, basically I will be able to regain most of my range of motion with consistent physical therapy and time. It has caused loss in range of motion, loss of power in my legs and mega pain occasionally. Tolerable, but I can definitely see the light at the end of this tunnel. The aforementioned is issue number one I am dealing with.

Now the fun part. A few weeks ago, I noticed a funny bump in the top of my left ear, just underneath the top of the ear under the fold. I figured with all the cycling, swimming and sweating I do, I managed to get stung by a bee or whack my noggin of something. As days and weeks progressed, this bubble grew to engulf the entire upper fold of my ear so that I started looking like a wrestler or Ultimate Fighter who forgot to wear his headgear. Sans black eye and bloody knuckles, I looked the part of a tough cookie. I decided to finally go see an Otolaryngologist (ENT) to have him take a look at this weirdness. Initially, the general practitioner I saw advised me to "leave it alone and it will go away." I am glad I went to the ENT because he told me that if left alone, the auricular hematoma that formed in my ear would calcify and I would have a bona fide cauliflower ear and look like a wrestler that couldn't keep his face off the mat.

Disclaimer: What you are about to read is graphic in nature. I will try to use big words and sound scientific so it won't sound too gross. Use Google if you want photos of what I am describing ;)

Next thing I know I am having a 1.5cm incision made in my ear and letting the fluid drain. As of now, it looks fine. A compression dressing was made, which was "supposed" to keep constant pressure on my ear as to not let the fluid build up between my cartilage and the skin. I looked a cross between Bjorn Borg and Princess Leia. This head dressing did not work, as the hematoma refilled and I had to go back to the ENT two days later. The doctor re-incised the incision (read: pain) and drained the fluid again. This time, he stuff a gauze strip into a pocket that was made on the south end of the incision as to not let the hematoma form by keeping the wound open. I was instructed by the doctor to remove the gauze strip the next day and swab out the pocket with a Q-tip. He failed to mention to me the pain involved. I had my coach who is a PA in Pathology perform this duty which took the better part of 20 minutes. This was Saturday. The following day the wound had healed and the hematoma formed again. Why wouldn't it? This is rhetorical, don't answer it. Starting to write some sarcasm due to frustration and pain.

Ok, I'm back to normal again. Monday, yesterday, I went back to ENT for a re-incision of the re-incision with no numbing agent. Pain. Hematoma grew back. I went to the ENT this morning for round four, and following the visit I was able to fashion an amazing clamp which will keep any fluid from accumulating. I am going to patent this product and make a million dollars.

Somewhere among this insanely long blog I managed to compete in the St. Anthony's Triathlon on April 27th. I had a good swim and bike which landed me only :45sec behind the leader and a quite confident second pace heading into the run. Disaster struck due to the aforementioned myriad of the weirdest injuries/goings-on with me and I had to walk part of the 10k and ultimately finished the race, but not not in good shape mentally or physically.

Here we are now. I am Humpty Dumpty who is off the wall and in the process of being put back together again. I am biking and running moderately, but cannot swim due to the huge gaping wound on my ear. Thanks for strapping in and reading my epic tale, recapping my past two months or so. I will keep you all updated much better as days progress, but please understand I was not of the mental capacity to write so beautifully as I have just now (cue humor. Cheap way to mask neglecting an overdue update). Oh yeah, and to recover properly, I am taking the months of May and June off from racing.

Til next time, try to keep your DNA inside your body.

Green Week

There exists an interesting dichotomy in the world of triathlon; most folks work so hard to live fit, nutritious and healthy lifestyles for our bodies, yet we neglect the land that enables us to have chiseled calves and stunning jaw lines (cue humor). We simply throw old products in the garbage, clean our greasy bikes in our yards and driveways, throw innertubes in the dumpster, etc. What can you do to live a more green life? Why should you?

Over the past couple years, I have had the pleasure of working with Pedro's, a bicycle maintenance company, in an effort to use environmentally safe degreasers, chain wax and cleaners. In addition to maintenance products, they provide every tool, kit and saddle bag imaginable with a new line of Eco-friendly fibers and plastics. There are so many bike and gear manufacturers who use toxic products in their fluids, and guess what happens to that cute little garden down the driveway from where you clean your bike with these fluids? That's right, mutant weeds and death galore. And let's not even imagine what will happen to that family of fuzzy, cuddly cute bunny rabbits...

In addition to Pedro's products, their site contains a wealth of knowledge and "green" tips. For example, what do you do with those old tires, innertubes and bike parts? See Pedro's for disposal tips! They are doing an amazing job of changing the cycling and active community's environmental habits and helping folks save a few bucks in the process. They are great people and I wish we could all be a little more like them. Thanks guys.

Go here: PEDRO'S. They have a great online shop with fun accessories such as bottle opener that I exclusively use for every beer in my home.

"Recycle, reduce, re-use, and close the loop..." (We had to watch these recycling videos in middle school and listen to these jingles that are permanently tattooed on my brain. Kudos sir marketing person, or whoever created that song. It worked.)

Also visit Chris Lieto's green website. He is quite the activist and sets a great example for how we can do more. Not only does he recycle like a champ, but he can give most thoroughbred horses a run for their money on his bicycle.

Wile E. Coyote

The past couple days of recovering from my back injury have been going well. Today I was able to knock out a steady 10 mile run followed up by a nice 5,000m swim. So enough training talk, everyone does it, so I'll chat about something that happened to me yesterday...

I am on a jog, or it might be "yawg." I'm not sure if it's a soft "j" or not, when I look up the trail ahead of me roughly 100yds or so. I thought for a second that I had let out a "Beep beep," as I was staring directly at a coyote (or rather, he was staring at me). No, he wasn't toting an ACME anvil or TNT blasting kit, but he was looking at me like I had no business on his turf. I just so happen to see another one on the side of the trail. They are much bigger in real life. I always thought coyotes were little critters, roughly the size of a fox, but au contraire. I'm actually making a bigger deal of it than it actually was, but it at least was an interesting wildlife experience here in Florida. Now, you must be riveted to your ergonomic chairs as to what happened once we made eye contact!

Absolutely nothing. I wondered what they were doing playing in the heat of the day; they were wondering why I had no hair on my body and was exclusively running on my hind quarters.

This capped off my week of wildlife viewing as I was on my bicycle Thursday and happened to see a bald eagle. I didn't think they were indigenous to Florida, but sure enough, it was legit. They are huge. The white head was finished off by an impressive yellow beak. The tail feathers were also a beautiful stark white, which made this bird's flight impressive and effortless.

Until next time, this is Bear Grylls signing off. If you don't know who that is, google him and watch his show.

Back in the saddle again

...not only was a great composition by iconic Aerosmith, but it accurately describes where I am in my training as of today.

Prior to today, well, Monday, I had done absolutely no physical activity for about eight days due to a back injury. Through a network of great friends, who consequently happen to be orthopedic surgeons, urologists, pathologists, physical therapists, and just about every "ist" you can imagine, it was determined that I tore some muscle in my lower back with some damage to some sensitive tissue around my L-4/L-5 area. Lots of Ph.D.'s and MD's said a lot of big words that I really didn't understand, but I liked the way they sounded to my ears, so I listened for a while, and determined all of it sounded good. I've been following their advice for therapy, and the pain is slowly but surely subsiding (another word I heard them use...not quite sure what it means, but it looks pretty). I just today am able to bend at the waist forward and achieve a 90 degree angle. I can't properly stretch my hamstrings yet, but I'm gaining more range of motion every day. Today I was able to knock out an 8 mile run followed by about 2100m in the water. Flipturns are still a bit iffy, as I have to modify my ninja stealthy flip by performing what can best be described as something you would see an arthritic, pregnant woman do. No offense, but it is fairly accurate, I think ;)

As Inigo Montoya said to Wesley after awakening from Miracle Max's miracle pill, "Lemme 'splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up..." If I am able to recover from this nuisance in a reasonable amount of time, then I will next compete in the 2012 Olympic Development race in Tuscaloosa, AL on 20 April. If not, then I will still go to Tusca-paloosa and spectate, as I've already purchased a non-refundable plane ticket; all the while continuing to prepare for St. Anthony's Triathlon on 27 April in St. Petersburg, FL.

Until next time, watch The Princess Bride, if you haven't already, to understand my humor in the above paragraph.

Z