Let me start off by saying IF YOU DO NOT LIKE NEEDLES, DO NOT WATCH THIS. This video shows first hand getting Trigger Point Dry Needling done to my lower leg.

In late May, I strained my soleus in my left leg. I sort of let it heal for a couple of weeks, not really doing much to it or for it. Thinking that a little rest was enough, I attempted to race the XTERRA East Championship on it. That was a mistake! I not only strained it worse than the first time, I wasn’t even able to finish the race. Wow that felt like a waste of a trip!

Now I was really in deep do do. This was my first major injury since turning pro in 2005, and the mental side of the injury was a real battle! Watching all my friends race and train in full swing was brutal. I hadn’t had to deal with something like this before, and I was having to learn how to cope with it. It really helped to toughen me up and teach me a few things about myself.

I saw Erin Dunham and Scott Swan on a weekly basis at Alta Physical Therapies. We did lots of manual therapy, ultrasound, and exercises to help strengthen the issues that caused the strained soleus in the first place. The final method of treatment that we used was Trigger Point Dry Needling. I had had a bit of experience with TDN previously, but it was only for recovery. This would be the first time I used it to help correct an injury. I had always described TDN as “an extreme discomfort” feeling previously. It wasn’t painful, just uncomfortable. That statement has been revoked when it comes to hitting an injury. I still wouldn’t call it “incredibily painful,” but rather “an extreme discomfort, with a bit of pain.”

So was it worth it? HELL YES! The very short amount of time of discomfort/pain was well worth the amazing effects of the needling. I was sore for the following day, but after that I was making leaps and bounds in my recovery. It really helped move me along at an accelerated rate. Wow what a difference! I have to highly recommend seeing the physical therapist at Alta for some TDN if you are looking to fix this type of injury asap! I can’t say enough good things about how well they have taken care of me and got me ready for my around the Earth trip.

Last night, Barry Siff, Christine Anderson, Brian Schaning and myself helped out at the West End 3K which is the second race in the Run Boulder series.

Before the main event, there is both a kid’s race and a mascot race.

We helped lead the warm up and stretches for over 125 kids so they would be ready to jump off the line like little rockets!

It is always so much fun to ride your bicycle downtown for an evening of good mingling and lots of smiles. Boulder truly is one of a kind :)

I can’t wait to see these myself… My husband and I have training camps to facilitate here in Subic so I have not been to Manila since they have been put up and apparently they are all over the place according to my friends. Coolness! I felt clumsy having this shoot next to a real hotshot actor like Piolo but it was a great experience!  

Now to make sure I get my pre-pregnancy body back post-delivery…haha!

Let me begin with rewinding a few years back. In November of 2009, I not only had my second knee surgery of the year, but I also fractured my pelvis from a really silly cyclocross crash. Many of you got to see me wear a seatbelt-like girdle to help it heal during the winter months of 2010. When I returned to training, running was the last to be incorporated into the mix and it honestly never felt quite right. I was somewhat able to run in May and June but then I got struck with Epstein Barr and Chronic Fatigue in July that left me on the couch until February. Although those 8 months might have been some of the hardest times I had to go through both mentally and physically, I was really excited that I was finally going to be able to heal up my pelvis and be 100% structurally ready to go when the doc gave me permission. As I eased back into exercising, swimming, biking and walking were the first things on the agenda as my body was nowhere ready to endure the impacts of running. However, things progressed well and I was able to start doing several walk/runs and eventually made my way to the track in late April. I had not had any signs of pelvis pain until the first time I did a few openers. It was like deja-vous all over again with the same exact pain in the same exact spot. My first reaction was to completely ignore it and believe it was all in my head. After getting extremely sore, I took a few days off from running and attempted an easy jog which didn’t bother it at all back in March/early April. However, I only made it 20min before I broke down into projectile tears. Not only was it extremely painful, but I couldn’t believe this was happening when I was finally starting to feel healthy after 2 years of surgeries, injuries, illness, etc. I JUST WANTED TO RACE XTERRA!!!!!

After several good discussions with my coach, family and friends, I decided to take the next couple months off of running and focus on the most important part of XTERRA which is the mountain bike. I planned on attempting to run again in July then go forward with another MRI to reveal what the true problem was if the pain still existed. Deep down I really hoped there would be no pain but, as I expected there was, and back to doctor I went to have another 8 inch needle jammed in my pelvis then into the tube for lots of images. As the hip specialist predicted, I have a tear in the labrum (see above) as well as a possible separation of labrum from the bone itself (see below) that most likely happened at the same time of the crash but just never found because they were more concerned with the fracture. They say that pain in the groin with a snapping noise suggests something is torn or loose inside the joint or possibly a muscle is snapping in front of the joint itself. Pain that is sharp, stabbing or has a catching sensation in certain positions may be due to a torn labrum or an impingement. Sometimes a torn labrum will make a loud clicking noise. These are all the symptoms I’ve been having since February so they pretty much nailed it to a T.

What does this mean? Sometimes a labral tear can be repaired with minimally invasive surgery using an arthroscope. Other times, there may be a fracture or the socket itself may need to be deepend or re-positioned by dividing the bone around the socket. Unfortunately, either surgery will require an overnight stay in the hospital with a 4-6 month recovery period. As much as I want to be able to run right now, I am not mentally ready to go under the knife and be out for another season. I can get by with minimal pains when riding my bike so I’m 100% okay with being a bike racer until I am ready for the big surgery. It is definitely not my #1 choice, but the women who are at the top of the XTERRA circuit today came from a mountain biking background so I guess it can’t be that bad of a thing :) I’ve been holding back writing this post for a while because I’m still struggling with the whole thing, so I apologize for leaving everyone in the dark about why I’m not racing XTERRA this year. That’s all for now, happy and safe training to everyone!

So Ironman Austria was a cracking races for times on the day, with a new world record time being claimed (at least for a week). My race day went somewhat less smoothly than most. Despite exiting the water 12^th Pro, and getting into the groove on the ride, I wiped out at about 40kms on a downhill as my back wheel slipped against the frame and locked out. My fault entirely for not tightening it up enough that morning when changing a punctured rear at 5:30am in the transition area. Incredibly, I managed not to take anyone else down with me (Jerzy narrowly missed me taking him out!) and didn’t break anything. It could have been a lot worse. My aerohelmet went straight in the bin thanks to the large crack on the left side and the road rash down my right side and impact bruising down my left a reminder of how badly things could have turned out. The team Sugoi tri kit also saved me a lot of skin – and survived pretty much intact. Thanks Sugoi!

The upside, I got to see Kelly’s (amoung many others!) amazing finish from the VIP section where I nursed my wounds and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. From the comfort of a restaurant street table later I also saw the fourth member of Timex racing that day , Luis, run past in high spirits. So good job to all of you guys!

One thing I do remember thinking as I flew over the handlebars that morning was “NOT THE FACE!” … this isn’t just because of my vanity, but also because I was getting married the following weekend and didn’t want to mess up the photos with a black eye and bruising or worse : )

It took a while for my left glute to go back to normal size and functioning but all that’s left now is a few scabs. SOOOO lucky to have come out of that day relatively unscathed. Phew!

Highlight: getting to go onstage to represent GBR at the parade of nations at the event opening & pasta party