Reverse Marathon

When I first woke up in recovery, they asked me how I felt.  I was in a lot of pain, extremely nauseous, dizzy, confused and exhausted.  I told a friend I felt exactly like I had just finished a marathon!  This recovery is like the journey of a marathon but in reverse and instead of lasting just over 3 hours, it's taking several months.  I think I'm at about mile 18, it's getting better but I'm still in the challenging part of the race.  I know it'll get easier as I go, but with a ton of physical and mental obstacles tossed at me.  I never know when they will pop up, just like in a race, but I know that they will appear and I have to keep my mind prepared to not freak out when they show up.

This morning is a bit of obstacle day, I'm tired since I could not fall asleep last night and the rest of the house was up at 5am, which means I get up as well.  I'm also a bit sore from yesterday (not in the joint, but the surrounding muscles).  Luckily, I'm back on the Alter-G today so I can avoid the bike trainer.  I guess I feel about the bike trainer how others feel about the 'mill.  I get bored out of my mind on that thing, time crawls and I start searching for excuses to stop early (I don't though!).  In my defense, I'm a runner not a cyclist, so I don't feel too badly about complaining a tiny amount over the trainer (it also causes anterior hip pain, so I fear that when I'm on it and would much rather get a workout doing something that doesn't hurt as much!).  I will not complain about any form of running, no matter the setting!  I have never minded the treadmill, it's an amazing tool when running outdoors isn't an option (be it the weather like I had a lot in FL or, now, a repaired hip that can't handle real weight yet).  I LOVE running, I'll take it and embrace it anyway I can get it :)  The doc at the Alter-G place said I was lucky since they are putting a TV in front of it soon, I said I'm totally fine without it right now.  I'm just glad to be "running"!

Yesterday was a "dedicated to the sport" kind of day, not because of physical issue but because of momma nature.  We got a ton of snow up here during the night and it was still dumping and the wind was blowing when I needed to try to get down the mountain and to the Alter-G and then PT.  Matt was not thrilled about me trying to drive in it, but dammit, I grew up in Northern MN and a Colorado storm wasn't going to keep this gal down!  It was a bit dicey, I made it out of neighborhood okay (that's the scary part, if you go off the road up here you don't go in the ditch, you fall off a cliff several hundred feet into the reservoir...I don't know what they have against guard rails up here!!).  Anyway, it took me over 2 hours to get to Boulder when it should have been just over an hour.  It was slippery, snowy and the drivers were not exactly making the best choices out there.  I made it and it was worth it.  Every day, every exercise, every choice I make shapes my recovery.