Recovery Update
My last post came just a few days after surgery #1. My 2nd surgery was scheduled for February 27th, 3 weeks after the first. To be honest, those 3 weeks of waiting were absolutely horrible. The combination of not being able to train or work out, the anxiety of not knowing the expected outcome, and the side effects of the stent were all mentally and physically draining. I really struggled.
Finally the day came to head back to the surgery center. When the urologist stopped by before surgery, he discussed 2 possible outcomes. The best case would be that all of the damage was healed, in which case they would remove the long-term stent and replace it with a temporary stent that I could remove myself in 3 days at home with no more restrictions or issues after that. In the worst case scenario, if my body hadn't healed, he would replace the long-term stent with another one and we would discuss other options, all including at least 1 more surgery. After he left the room, I cried at the thought of this dragging out further.
Surgery went quick, and I woke up in recovery about 45 minutes later. I will save you the details, but as soon as I woke up, I was able to determine that he had put a temporary stent in place. The feeling of relief that came over me is indescribable. Erin met me in the second recovery room about 20 minutes later and she relayed the information that I already knew. Everything went perfectly. My body had healed itself which meant I would be able to remove the temporary stent in a few days later and it would all be over.
The side effects of the temporary stent were not as bad as the original, but it did make walking as well as the act of sitting down and standing up a little uncomfortable. Luckily, it would only be hanging around a couple of days. On Friday morning, I removed the stent and have been doing great ever since. Over lunch on Friday, I went out for my first run in nearly 4 weeks and it put me in a good mood that has lingered ever since.
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| 1st run in 4 weeks! |
Tri for a Cause Recap
It feels so long ago now, but on January 28th I competed in my 1st race of the year. An indoor triathlon held at the Walnut Creek YMCA as a fundraiser for Girls on the Run. This was my 2nd year racing and I went into it with a lot of confidence.
The race included a 400 yard pool swim, 7 mile ride on a spin bike, and 2 mile treadmill run. I was in the first swim wave at 6:40am and arrived with plenty of time. I knew that I would be able to finish the swim, but I hadn't been in the pool since October, so I really wasn't expecting much there. I ended up with an official time of 10:04 (2:31/100) which is almost identical to my time last year.
Even though transition times didn't matter for this race, I quickly changed and made my way upstairs to the cycling studio. I was the 11th person out of the pool but the 2nd person on the bike. I hit the bike very hard and finished the 7 mile bike ride in 18:10 (23.1 mph) which turned out to be the 8th fastest bike time of the day.
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| Crushing it on the bike! |
I was the first person on the treadmill, but was joined by a couple others within a few minutes. I used a lot of my legs up on the bike, but was determined to put in a good time on the run as well. I finished the 2 mile run in 21:06 (10:33/mi) and was happy with that.
My overall time was 49:20, which was good enough to finish 33/75 and was 7:14 faster than my time from 2023.
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| Proud finisher! |
Wellmark YMCA Red Flannel Run 5k
I mentioned in my last post that I didn't think I would be able to participate in this race on February 17th. A couple of days before the race, I was feeling pretty good, all things considered, so I went on a long walk to see how I felt. I handled the walk well, so decided that even though I couldn't run, I will walk the race with Erin.
It was an extremely cold morning, so we huddled inside of the Y as long as possible before heading to the start line. After a short delay, we finally got underway. Once we got out of the building shadows, the sun felt quite nice and we kept a fairly steady pace throughout the entire distance. I felt pretty good for the first 2 miles, but dealt with some flank discomfort for the last mile.
We finished with a time of 58:14 and had a good time walking together. Even though I couldn't run, I'm glad that I decided to do the race. It gave me a little moral boost to get through the last week before surgery #2
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| True love |
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| Beautiful morning for a walk along the river |
Time to Paddy 5k
With this race being 4 days after surgery #2, on March 2nd, I wasn't certain if I would be able to race until the day before when the temporary stent was removed. I originally was registered to run the 10k, but with everything that had taken place in February, I updated my registration to the 5k in the slim chance that I would be able to race at all.
Over lunch on Friday, I went for a 1.5 mile run. It was hard, but felt good, so I decided to go ahead with racing on Saturday morning. My friend, Adam, was running the 10k so we rode up to Big Creek together. It was a little chilly, but otherwise a beautiful morning to run. After a kids fun run and the national anthem, we were off and running.
My legs were tired from the short run on Friday, and my heart rate was much higher then normal, but I ended up running better than expected. I finished the 5k run in 34:28 (11:06/mi), which was good enough for 31/56 and 3rd place in my age group. This is another race that I had done in 2023, and even though I was coming off a month without running, I was able to cut 4:39 off of my time from last year. I am very happy with that.
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| Wearing green |
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| Adam finished 3rd overall in the 10k! |
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| Very proud finisher! |
Redefining Success
There are certain things in life that we can control, but there are a whole lot of things that we cannot. A kidney stone threw a wrench into the year for me, but I am determined to make sure that it does not derail the rest of the year. With little else to do, I spent a lot of time thinking throughout the last month. One thing that was clear is that I missed running. Having both running and triathlon as an outlet is so very important in helping me to be the best person that I can be. The fact is, I lost a month of training in a season that I could not afford to. It is because of this, that I have made some small modifications to my racing schedule as well as my focus for the season as a whole, at least for now.
As mentioned previously, I was supposed to run the Time to Paddy 10k but ended up racing the 5k instead. I was also scheduled to run the St. Paddy's Day Half Marathon on March 16th. I have opted to change my registration for that race to the 5k as well. Beyond that race, I am hoping to get back on track with my original schedule. By some miracle, it appears that I won't have to miss a single race, just adjust the distances. For the next 2 weeks, I will be gradually easing back into running by doing a 50% training load next week, and 75% the week after that. I will also begin to incorporate strength training, cycling, and swimming back in over the next month.
Going into the year, I put a big emphasis on setting new PRs at various distances throughout the year. While I may change my mind later, for now, I am just going to focus on getting back into shape, cutting some weight, and having fun.
Wrap Up
It sure has been an interesting start to 2024, but I'm doing my best to go with the flow. I'm so relieved and happy to be running again and look forward to what the rest of the year will bring. I want to end this post giving a huge shout out to everyone who stood by my side throughout the last month. It was a very difficult month for me and I would have never gotten through it without the love and support of so many people. I'm certain that I will unintentionally miss some people, but will try my best
- My parents and mother-in-law, Mary, for spending time at our house helping out with the girls so that Erin could be by my side for both surgeries and all the hospital trips
- Adam, Megan, and Kyle. Quite possibly the best friends a guy could ask for. From Adam taking me to the ER, the care package that they put together for me, and all of the words of encouragement throughout those 4 weeks. They truly kept me going those 4 weeks, even when I didn't want to.
- My manager, employees, and a whole host of coworkers at John Deere. They supported me and filled in for me during all of the unplanned time off. So many of them reached out to check on me and showed genuine concern. I feel very blessed to work with so many great people.
- The Boys Basketball coaching staff, especially Coach Juhl. Missed games and practices along with an inability to be very mobile or do much at practice meant that they all had to cover for me as well. They also checked in on how I was doing often.
- Finally, and most importantly, Erin. Erin has been going through a lot of her own medical issues the last couple of years, but even through all of that, she stepped up in a big way to take care of me both physically and emotionally these last 4 weeks. She managed to keep everything running in our house while working and handling her own school work. She listened to my fears and frustrations every day and continued to give me reassurance. On top of everything, her birthday was in February and we weren't able to do anything special for her. She didn't even complain a little bit. There is a 0% chance that I would have gotten through all of this without her
Thank you for reading!
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