I Have Never Cried So Much

Last night was awful! Just awful. My ART doctor said I have a very inflamed sacroiliac joint (SI joint) and there isn't much we can other than ice and ibuprofen. He knew right away based on the way I was walking (swinging my leg out because I can't lift my leg) and where the pain was. Oh, and the fact you can feel the heat from the inflamed section of my back. He said that sometimes these things happen, especially if they have been bothering a person for awhile. So he did some electric stimulation and manual manipulation.

After the appointment, I called the Personal Cook immediately after and just started crying. As much as I didn't want him to see me cry and in pain, or ask for help, he met me at my apartment - with fixings for chicken soup. As he was in the kitchen I tossed and turned in on the couch trying to find a position that was as comfortable as I could get. Which just didn't work. I lost it probably about 5 more times. The pain I felt was just off the charts. The chicken soup helped. All the facebook messages helped. But only so much.

Coach called, after I sent him a frantic email, and we are now on an hour by hour, day to day, plan. There is so much unknown right now, and I hate it. I HATE that I don't know what's going to happen and I how I am going to feel in a day in a week in 3 weeks.

I am taking some meds from my back spams and ibuprofen which is how I got some sleep last night. I haven't moved much today and so the pain is more bearable. I have PT in a little over an hour so hopefully that will help too.

I am trying to stay positive and not play the "what if" game. I keep thinking I should have done that extra 12 miles last week or that extra hour on the bike the other day or the extra 1000 meters in the pool or ran a bit harder - anything that would make me feel more comfortable about the fact I can't train right now. Something to hold onto that I can hopefully still Attempt Ironman Wisconsin.

I just don't know. And I hate it.

Getting Worse

I am not one to cry because of pain and I have tears in my eyes. I could be frustration. Anger. Being scared. All reasons I do cry. But this really hurts. Every movement I make hurts. And that is why I am crying.

The Personal Cook and I had lunch plans and we decided to take bikes. I figured this would be a good test to see how bad the leg/butt/hip really was. I actually thought I would be okay.

Not so much.

And when the PC saw my eyes fill up with tears over Mike Isabella's chicken thighs in a pepperoni sauce at Graffiato, he knew they were not tears of joy.

I am trying really REALLY hard not to panic. I have emailed my Coach. I am going back to the ART Dr today at 4. I have an appointment with a PT (my normal PT is on vaca until mid Sept...) tomorrow at 3. I am freezing my butt, literally - I am sitting on an ice pack. And I have taken a few more Motrin. I am also thinking about my LAST long ride/run I am supposed to do this weekend. And really hoping the past 5 months haven't been for nothing.

$H*T!

And It Was Going So Well

I was super tired the past few days, but embracing the fatigue. Yesterday's brick was a slug fest and my legs were not happy to be spinning (nor was my undercarriage happy to be on the bike). However the 4:1 run/walk went surprisingly okay. I was happy knowing that I am breaking down my body one last time so I can rest and taper to peak on Sept 11.

Yesterday afternoon I headed to my second round of Active Release Treatment (ART) for my right side issues. My hip, hamstring, quad, etc all on the right side have been giving me some issues. Not too bad, but not normal. I didn't want to take any chances, so I went to my trusted ART Dr. After my first session, it was painful but in that good way. My right butt (or gluteus maximus if you will) was bruised, but again, it felt better. So, I had high hopes for yesterday's session. I have been stretching, rolling on the foam roller, all the things I should have been doing.
During the session, he hit one spot where a sharp pain went straight through to my right foot. It was the pain I had described at the beginning of my session that I felt the day before when I rotated/turned to the left. You could feel 3 knots in my glut. He worked on them and things felt a lot better when I left his office.

Then later that evening I went to bed.

Then I woke up do to pain down my right side. And it still hurts. It's that type of intense dull pain that almost makes you nauseous. And when I move my right leg, it often becomes an intense sharp pain. And I don't know what to do. I sent an email to the Dr. I have taken Motrin. I am icing. But it hurts. I know it's muscle. And this is not good. I'll take today off from workouts and hope tomorrow feels better. But if anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE let me know.

And if you have voodoo doll of me, please remove all the pins until after IM Moo. PLEASE. Thank you.