I thought I would update on my road to recovery and give a bit of an insight to what I have planned for the near future and beyond.
After the crash during Giro della Donna, I took the next day off work to recover, went into work on Tuesday and to also pick up my laptop as I was going to spend the rest of the week in Perth WA for work and for a wedding.
As my left arm and shoulder was still sore (contusion), I refrained from using my left arm when packing my suitcase or lifting it into the car or onto the check in belt at the airport. The gravel rash on my thigh was healing but I still avoided wearing pants of jeans as the area was still sensitive. Luckily, the weather in Perth was warm enough that I could just wear skirts and shorts.
I worked at the Perth HQ on Thursday but didn't end up walking to the office as I wasn't able to carry anything on my left shoulder and my accommodation was 6km away. On Friday, the day of the wedding, I did a 2 hour walk around the neighbourhood which covered about 9km. It was good to just be able to move around after having a stiff and sore body for the last 5 days.
The wedding was held at Chapel Farm at 4pm. The setting for the wedding was amazing and I wore a dress which had a big bubble skirt effect so I didn't get irritations on my wounds. Due to taking pain killers and the time difference of Perth to Melbourne, I was tired at 8pm Perth time, this being 11pm Melbourne time. I kept myself awake with 2 cans of coke and a coffee. I haven't drank coke since Ironman 2014.
The next day, I slept in until about 9am (12pm Melbourne time) having only gone to bed around 12:30am the night before. I did some work on my laptop before I got ready to head out to the friends and family gathering of the bride and groom for those to travelled interstate so they had time for a proper catch up.
On Sunday, I drove down to Busselton to support my friends who were participating as part of the full and half Ironman race. The drive was about 2.5 away but luckily I rented a car with Bluetooth and I was able to not only navigate but to also listen to my audiobook. The event itself was hectic. The maximum temperature was 37 degrees but it would have exceeded 40 on the bitumen. I was swooped by magpies walking into the event area as were a few competitors. The swim was cancelled due to sharks. Due to the heat, there were many exhausted athletes as well as cramps when they stopped pedalling at the dismount line. So much carnage. During the day of supporting, I noticed that I could feel small crackling and popping noises from my ribs and it was starting to get really sore, maybe from too much exertion from cheering on friends.
Onto the run, so many athletes were just cooked from the heat and lost salts. I left the event at 6:30pm and got back to Perth around 10pm. I needed to pack as I was leaving on a 9:30am flight but I also needed to return my rental car at the airport.
Surprisingly, my arm felt much better by Sunday and I felt that I was able to put weight on my left shoulder and was able to carry my bags through the airport. I think I pushed this pain barrier too hard and by Tuesday morning, my ribs were in pain and I went to The Alfred for a check up. I ended up getting a proper Xray and ECG scan to see if there was any organ damage.
Luckily, everything is ok and the fracture is not dislocated and has not punctured my lung or caused any noticeable tissue damage. I was prescribed strong pain killers which I have not bought any due to the hectic work week ahead. Wednesday I recovered at home from the pain and I taught a professional course on Thursday - on my feet and talked for 8 hours straight.
On the weekend, I did a lot of sewing - fulfilling orders as well as the ready-made stock on the online store. On Saturday, I drove to Williamstown for LOC's Christmas ride and breakfast BBQ at which I won the Best Fall award for 2017 for the most recent crash and description on how I fell. On Sunday, I headed nto the Kit Sale at Coffee Pddler to check out what they had on offer. If Lumiere had my size, I would have snapped it up but they only had smalls. I bought a few gifts as well as a backpack for commuting.
For the remainder of the year, I will take it relatively easy in cycling and will be able to try my best at the Rapha #Festive500 again which starts on the 24th Dec.
For the start of 2018, I am going to do the 70km event during the Alpine Classic which is the Mt Buffalo climb as I have rented a nice house for the whole family from Thursday 25th until Monday 29th Jan. Other than the main ride as part of the Alpine Classic, I will probably do a few flat rides and walks around the area.
I have also signed up for Giro della Donna for 2018 (25th Nov). Again, this will be the main event for the year considering the challenge and timing.
For the next week or so, I am back with Lead Out but will not push as hard in the sessions due to the pain and lack of mobility. I will try to get back onto pilates as soon as I have the strength in my arms to be able to hold up my body weight.
