​Well I had a computer mishap that delayed last week's update, and since I was seeing the doctor soon I just pushed it off to today.  So, today I had my first follow up appointment with my surgeon. After a near 45 minute wait followed by a three minute chat with the Doctor, my immediate prospects for returning to athletics have been given a huge boost!  Over the last two weeks, my rehab sessions have been becoming more and more like a workout, complete with dripping sweat and me having to wipe down machines and tables (ALWAYS WIPE DOWN WHATEVER YOU SWEAT ON AT THE GYM).  My brief foray into dieting was obliterated over a couple of beautiful weather weekends, and a general lack of self-control.  I eat when I’m bored or frustrated, and I’m bored and frustrated all the time because I can’t exercise.  Despite my best efforts, this has been my cycle for pretty much ever, and even though I’m testing the limits of my wardrobe, I’m tired of beating myself up over it.  Let’s get to the good stuff!

The last time I finished an athletic season without an injury was in 1997.  Since then, literally every year I have competed in an athletic sport has ended with an injury.  Triathlon has been no different.  2014 - herniated disc, hip pain.  2015 - severe hip and butt pain, rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo as it's colloquially known), and a friggin' heart attack.  I had the same goals for 2016 that I had for 2016:  don't get injured, break an hour in a Sprint, and win the 2016 Clydesdale National Sprint Championship.  Well folks, it's looks like the streak is still alive.

In 2014 I completed my first triathlon and achieved something that I really thought I'd never do.  My earliest triathlon memory was sometime way back in the 90s when I was in ridiculously good shape.  I'm pretty sure I had stopped swimming and was really getting into wrestling at the time, and I just remember my Mom saying to me "You should really do a triathlon."  I remember saying something profound, like "Ok."  I had never ridden a bike for exercise before, and I pretty much only ran to stay in shape or cut weight, so basically no interest in 2 out of three sports, which is not the ideal state of mind.  I still remember my first training session:  I went out and rode a bike (a road bike I won in 1984 that I still actually have) 10 miles and then went for a run.  I'll never forget that feeling in my legs.  I told my Mom, "nevermind," and that was the last time I thought about triathlon until I signed up for one around 3am on a random night shift in December of 2014.  I really have to credit my cousin Pat, who does a couple of races each year, and he brought it up the weekend before at a family gathering.  He bet me that I wouldn't do one, and something in me clicked.