Week Twenty-Four

Oh, man, this week is going to sound way less impressive than last week's boot camp! This week was a recovery week, which means that the workouts are supposed to be less intense to help your body recover and be ready for more hard work to come. My workouts this week were a little too light.

During my rest day on Monday, I had a visit with Dr. Marcus. He is an awesome physiatrist who has been treating me for the herniated disc which I got last year. He did a great job treating the pain, with a series of cortisone injections in September, October, and November, and I have been pain-free ever since. This is a huge deal, considering the fact that last summer I could barely do simple things like sit, pull up the emergency brake in my car, or bend forward.

I was excited to tell Dr. Marcus how successful his treatment was, that I was pain free, even with long bike rides. Turns out, however, that being pain-free is not the end of the road for me, as there is still some residual nerve damage which leaves me with some other inconvenient symptoms. So, Tuesday morning, I was back at Sutter Surgery Center for a different kind of spinal injection. This one was intended to placate the "insulted" nerves, and would act as a diagnostic tool to determine if I should have back surgery or not. (It's too soon to know if surgery is in my future. I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon in a few weeks and then a follow up with Dr. Marcus in May.)

SO... Dr. Marcus and I bargained back and forth until we were both satisfied with my training schedule after the injection. I was to be off completely for 2 days, then I could bike and swim, and I could run after 5 days. That means on Tuesday and Wednesday, I did nothing at all. I couldn't have if I had wanted to because the injection left me very sore. On Thursday, I swam in the 78 degree pool, but after 45 minutes, I still couldn't warm up, and got out. On Friday, I intended to spin after going out to dinner with some friends, but by the time I got home, I was not only exhausted, but I was also feeling like I was fighting a bug. So, no training on Friday. On Saturday, I woke up with a fever, and slept all day.

By Sunday, I was going nuts with knowing I had only trained 45 minutes that whole week, so I decided to go full out and do exactly what was on the calendar: A swim, and a 14 mile run. In hindsight, this was a bad idea. I had a headache and was feeling lousy. It would have been wise to rest another day or modify the workout, but I just had to get out there.

I look forward to getting back on track next week.

THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Injections
Wednesday: Recovery from injection
Thursday: Swim 1100 yards, how embarrassing!
Friday: NADA
Saturday: Stay in bed all day with fever
Sunday: Swim 2900, run 14 miles