May 07, 2010 – Since March 31st when I had surgery, I’ve learned something about myself; I don’t sit still. Some of the most difficult “training” that I’ve ever done happened this past month when I was told I had to elevate and ice my legs ALL DAY. It sounded pretty simple when the surgeon told me this during my follow up appointment two days after surgery. But it turned out to be incredibly hard to execute.

I had no desire to sit on a couch all day. To entertain myself for the two weeks while I was an invalid, I trie

d watching television – that was horribly boring. I listened to a lot of bluegrass music – this was entertaining, but motivated me to play along, which proved difficult in a laying down position. And I decorated a pair of spandex race pants which was time consuming, fun and captivating!

I was thrilled when I was finally allowed to walk around. I spent the last two w

eeks of April in Ohio and Georgia with my extended family after my grandfather passed away. Although it was a sad time for our family, hanging out with my cousins and relatives was a welcome distraction.

Now I’m back in Maine and psyched for the start of a new training year! I’ve been working with a physical therapist three times a week to massage the fluids out of my lower legs and to strengthen the muscles again. Dick Taylor, my coach in Maine, and I have been very creative in finding alternative training workouts that do not stress my legs.

I can spin on a bike for just over one hour on a low resistance setting, and I’ve been doing a lot of core strength, lots of double poling on a double pole erg while seated – and swimming laps and pool running. This morning I had a great swim workout that included some short speeds and threshold intervals. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the pool to test out a new waterproof iPod case I purchased! Distance workouts are going to fly by now!

In my free time I’ve been helping my mom teach a cooking class to high school students at the Waldorf School I attended through 8th grade. We’ve made sticky buns and home made pasta! Next week is baklava!

I’ll post some training pictures soon. For now, here are some photos from this past month.

Happy Training!