Guess What!?!?!

I'm sick.

No swine flu - as I have no fever, however my head has been congested and clogged for days on end. Or since Saturday, but it feels like forever. I am really trying to rest up because I have a big concert on Thursday/Friday to attend.

AND my two favorite parents are coming to visit for the weekend!!!

Wish me health!

A Lot of 4s....

Sorry this took so long. I had it written in my head for over a week, just haven't had the chance to sit down and write.

Saturday Afternoon
We scootered over to the pre-race meeting that was a pretty typical meeting. They did provide snacks, including wine and beer, before we took a tour of the swim course. After seeing the course, I was quickly reminded how far 4K was, but felt ready.

Sunday
I think scootering around an island with teal waters is the best way to start any race. It's very relaxing and I highly recommend it as a way to travel. Anyway, we bused over to the swim start, were marked with our numbers - 134, loaded up with sunblock and Vaseline (helps with chafing, especially in salt water) and headed to the dock. The race had multiple distances and were on a staggered start. We heard that someone in the 10K jumped in, cut his foot on some coral and had to go to the hospital. So, I did what the person in front of me did to get in: sit on the side, shimmy down, and push off. Well, as I shimmied down - I got stuck. And as I pushed off, my new suit stayed on the coral that was on the side of the 'dock'.
Now if you read my blog, you know this is not the first time I have had issues in a swim with my back side. But this time, I couldn't help but laugh.
After Cat jumped in, I swam right over to show her what happened. Hopefully the humor helped calm her nerves a bit.
After that, we were off for the 4K. It started off pretty well and I was with the first half of the group. Unfortunately, my goggles didn't have a great seal and salt water leaking in was not great for the eyes. So I stopped, adjusted, and was quickly left behind. I did see a (for lack of a better term) a pace line that I swam right over to and was 4th in the draft. It was awesome! All I had to do was stare at someones feet, and get pulled right along. I did this up until the 2K check point.
After that, I was on my own for a bit until I caught another person and hung onto their draft for awhile. That is until I looked up and realized we were way to the right and everyone was to the left. Oops. So I left her and headed straight towards the finish. I talked to one kayker about the saltyness of the water. He said to keep going and at the end, have a beer - it would cut the saltyness (and it did :-).
I finished strong but didn't want to cut off a old lady who was finishing up her 0.8K, so took my time getting out of the water. Overall, I was okay with my time. I would have liked to have gone faster, but given my back and lack of training, I really can't complain. I was 4th in my age group. But what gets me, I was 4 minutes from 3rd. Medals were given to the top 3...
They had such great swag bags, tons of snacks, and amazing people, so I really can't complain about not getting a medal. It would have been nice though...
Oh, and Cat finished and I am so proud of her. More than double her longest distance straight in open water and I am now more confident that she will rock IM Florida in a few days.

Sunday Afternoon
We scootered our selves back to the hotel. I went around town to check out the sights and pick up a snack. After some nice relaxation time, we had a really good dinner and called it an early night. Overall, a pretty great race day!

Monday - BEACH DAY!
But sadly, Mother Nature had a different idea. She gave us great race day (with a tad bit of wind) and a very rainy beach day. However we made the best out of it with finding a cafe for breakfast, some shopping, and spa for some massages.
The rain cleared up a bit and I scootered off to the south side beaches. Only to get rained on again and again. But, it was worth it.



And of course, Mother Nature let up the rain to show on amazing sunset to say good bye to Bermuda.

I Miss Bermuda

I do. I really REALLY do.

Cat and I got back on Tuesday afternoon and it's been pretty quite since. Just getting back into the grove of not sleeping in, not looking out at the pretty waters of Bermuda, and riding Metro instead of Rosie.


Soon enough I will have a full race report of the Round the Sound Swim and recap of the trip.

Day 1 in Bermuda

Cat and I FINALLY made it here last night. 2 hour delay in Miami and an hour time difference made it a very late night. But today we found some breakfast, picked up our scooters (which are the coolest things EVER! I am pretty sure Cat is already sick of me talking about the scooters and it's only been a few hours. And mine has been named Rosie) and are relaxing until the pre race meeting at 3. Well, I am relaxing - Cat is off on a run. Ahhh, I remember those IM training days... Memories...

Anyway, tomorrow is the big swim followed by more relaxing time. Today it's super windy but very sunny and pretty. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, but hopefully the water will be calm for a good swim.

$30.60... Much Better

Thank you doctor. Thank you CVS. And thank you BCBS. By noon yesterday everything was resolved and my prescription was filled ready for pick up. YAY!

This morning I had a quick PT session for some last minute treatments before my flight to BERMUDA!!! I am super excited and know Cat and I will have a great time. I will try to blog, but you know - I will probably be on the beach. Even if it's raining. But it will be 80 and raining. Don't hate. HA!

Sunday is the 4K swim. The rest of the time will be relaxing time.

I will try to post when I am there, if not, when I get back on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!!

Stupid Stupid Blue Cross

I made another PT session for the morning. It was a rough night with stabbing jabbing pains every time I moved. Luckily, there was an 8:30 am appointment and my PT spent 45 minutes (vs. the normal 30 minutes) trying to figure out what was triggering my spasms. Of course it was in a different place than the spasms a few weeks ago. And instead of fascinating today, it was "Interesting".

It was feeling a bit better, then much MUCH worse. I had some Celebrex samples from one of my doctors visits and they seemed to work last time. So, I called, he filled the prescription, and I started taking my last set of samples. No need to ration when you have a prescription waiting for you, right...

Wrong. Stupid Blue Cross Blue Shield. And CVS. I go to pick up my prescription and apparently BCBS won't pay. There was a note and the pharmacy tech looked at me like I was nuts for not knowing. "Didn't someone call you?" Um, nnnnooooo!!! No one called me... She said they 'faxed' my doctor to call BCBS. Bbbbbooooo!!!!!! No drugs. No helpful drugs that make the back pain slightly better.
So I spent the evening sitting with a heating pad. There was nothing I could do tonight. I found all of this out at 6:30. My doctor's office closed at 4. BCBS closed at 6. All I can hope is that things get sorted out sooner than later. And sooner - before Bermuda. If not, I am tempted to pay the $175 out of pocket. Which I think is ridiculous... but I am fortunate enough to be able to pay without too much of an issue.

But still.. I know what the real meaning of BS means in BCBS...

3 days

That is when I leave for Bermuda. Why or why are the spasms starting again?!?!

I am trying to take the drugs, do the exercises, etc. Not.Fair. Really. Why does the world hate me so... (Note - I do realize I am being very dramatic. It's not the end of the world, they will get better, blah blah blah)

So I am hoping I can fight them off again before they get too bad.

And no matter what, I am going to Bermuda.

See, look how pretty!! And we are renting scooters. I will deal with it all when I get back.

Not Too Bad

Happy Columbus Day!

What does that means for me... an extra day off. Woot!

I had a good day of organizing my closets and cleaning. This was much MUCH needed as I still have boxes from the move.

I did make it to my new favorite pool for a nice 1600 meter swim. And I dragged Diane with me. He he he.

So, a bit of shopping, a bit of swimming, cleaning, and cooking. A really good Sunday.

And of course, how does it end - with spasms. !)(#*&($&(#$&#)@$(#&@

Figures

For some reason, I was really tried today!

It might have been getting up really early to volunteer at the Bike for the Heart event. Maybe it was all the late nights this week. Maybe it was all the eating out. Who knows, but I was ready to fall asleep at the bar! And it was during the early games!!!

I met Mary Elizabeth and K after my volunteering for some lunch, miller light, and football (Giants). After about 3 diet cokes, I wasn't waking up, so I left a tad after half time.

My swim stuff was in the car as I was hoping to get one more swim in at Hains Point before they closed (and yes, I know swimming might be causing some of my problems, however my PT said I could swim). So I dragged my tired butt to the pool, only to see this sign.

And yes, it was Sunday, Oct. 11.

Nice. Really nice.

So I went home. It was a good choice.

Swimming. Really?

Yesterday was another physical therapy session. I was feeling fine so instead of muscle manipulation, we worked on strengthening exercises. After a few, we moved to planks. She wanted me to do side planks, however I have never been very successful due to them hurting my shoulders.

So, we continued with a few more and there was one move, involving shoulder strength, that I just could not do. "Fascinating!" Yes, she yelled fascinating when I could not do an exercise. We know twisting motions have been an issue, but she was "fascinated" by how little strength I had in my left shoulder. Over the past 5 months, this is what has surprised her the most about my issue. Fascinating.


The culprit... swimming. All those years, I guess this was a issue.

Fascinating :-)

Nothing Much to Report

Basically just taking things easy, relaxing, and trying to calm my back down. It seems to be doing better, so that's good. Yay.

That's all I got.

When In DC, What Do You Do On Oct 4th?

Well, if not running the Army 10 Miler, you go for a swim at Hains Point! Yes, that's right, I went for a swim at the outdoor 50 meter pool. So I called up Arin and we were off to the pool.

Okay, it was a bit cold - being October and all, but only took about a 200 to warm up. Just an easy 1700 and it felt pretty good.

The best part, the back managed to be okay as well, which I was really happy about. And I also didn't take any drugs today. Woot! Hopefully this will continue.

Dang Nab It!

I thought it was too good to be true.

I knew that I should have knocked on wood when I typed that I thought 2009 could have turned around.

Augusta was awesome, but I am not paying the price.

If you haven't figured out what I am talking about yet - the back spasms have returned and returned in a massively painful way.

I went to PT today and told my therapist about the past few months of travel, moving, and Augusta. She wasn't surprised about the spasms returning, and said she would have advised against doing the race - however was proud/impressed with how I did.

So, I am stretching, doing new/old exercises, sitting with a heating pad, wincing in pain.

Boo.