Ramblings about nothing….

Been keeping busy lately w/ working, finding a new job (yes, Trane doesn’t have a role for me so they’re letting me go Aug 15 L) , working through an injury, volunteering at RCO events, travel, blah blah blah.

Riding had been going well….up until early late June, early July. Shortly after doing my first patrol ride at Mill Mtn., I was riding at the Cove w/ hubby on a weekend. It was after we had some rain so there was a lot of wash out on the trails. We were descending the fireroad where Jacobs drop & ??? (forgot the name of the trail) intersect. I got caught in rut & couldn’t pull out of it. I crashed hard….bruising my hip, and landing partially on my head….. got back on the bike & kept riding…didn’t think much about it.
The next week, I was on a road ride. We entered the Greenway near the hospital. Upon entering my hubby turned around & exclaimed “hey , that’s not allowed on the greenway”…I turned to see what it was & a dude on a moped was cruising along beside us. When I turned back around, hubby was stopped dead in front of me. I tried to avoid him but I crashed into the back of him..flipping over the bars, landing on my head & shoulder..yes…same side as the Cove crash…the only thing which hurt was my thumb.
Got back on the bike…continued the ride….blah blah blah.

The next week or so was good, no crashes or incidents, feeling fine. Worked the RCO ID3 races. Hubby & I rode on a Sunday up at the back side of Dragon’s Back…lots o climbing but felt good. That following Monday I was reaching for something & felt this awful muscle pull down my left shoulder blade in the middle of my back. I couldn’t move…..It hurt to turn my head in either direction. Took some advil, iced it down…figured it would heal. That Tuesday, I went to ride w/ my buddy Jen. As soon as I got on the bike, instant pain. I rode about 50 feet, turned around, loaded the bike into the Jeep, muttered a few choice words, bid Jen adieu & pouted all the way home.

The next day I contacted a chiropractor friend who races w/ us. He did some temp/muscle scans…my middle back was way messed up. The pain was where the rib cage & spine come together so it’s a slow spot to heal b/c the ribs are constantly in motion. He did some work on the area….scheduled a couple more visits & sent me on my way. I was sooo sore after that.. Lots of ice & massage would be in order.
While all of this was going on I was having a super stressful week at work too. I’ve been helping in a dispatching role for the past month or so…but never had a headset. So that meant lots of holding the phone against my shoulder w/ my ear…not a good position to be in. I finally begged for a headset.

In the meantime, the RCO Mountain bike events were coming up. I desperately wanted to race them…however, it was not to be….the neck/back were still really stiff. I decided to rest to reduce the risk of further injury. A couple of more adjustments from the doc were in order.

We did some travel to PA last weekend to visit w/ family. Hubby & I played golf…..this was the first real activity I had attempted since the weird injury 2 weeks prior. I felt surprisingly ok. A little twingy here & there but nothing major. The next day I was a little sore again but had more range of motion.

Hubby & I did a patrol ride last night. I was waaaaay slow b/c I didn’t know how I would feel. Climbing was a chore b/c I had lost a lot of my fitness and I didn’t want to stress those muscles. We rode for close to 2 hours. I felt awful afterwards & thought I had taken another 4 steps backwards. I iced it down & had hubby massage the muscles again. This morning I felt surprisingly ok….a few twinges here & there but had good range of motion & little pain…. Gonna ride w/ my buddy Jen this evening. We’re gonna do a road ride…so hopefully there will be less stress on the affected area.

Hopefully I’m back on the road to recovery. I’m trying very hard not to be so tensed up in that area. I tend to hold all of my stress between my shoulder blades. It’s not pretty. We’ve only got 3 weeks until the 18 hour race..so hopefully I’ll be good for that.

I’ll try to keep this updated to see how I progress.