Derrick's ongoing journey

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Derrick said:
Had a bad week. Somewhat my fault but somewhat circumstances. I did manage to jog 3 miles yesterday outside for the first time ever. I ran 8 min, 40 second miles which is great because the treadmill has been telling me 10 min miles. A lot of people told me I would be faster on land. Glad they were right. Unfortunately I may be in big trouble. I feel shin splints coming on. I hope they are not bad. I will lay off running for 3 or 4 days and see how they heel. The last time I had shin splints they lasted for 4 weeks and I could barely walk let alone do a triathlon. My triathlon is in 2 weeks and 1 day so I am freaking out. I wanted the triathlon to be hard but not extremely painful.

Also, I bought a bike on Monday but have not rode it yet. I will do so tomorrow if it is not raining. I have one week of riding to learn the bike and then I will buy pedals and shoes for clipless riding. Then I have one week to learn to ride with clipless pedals. Yes, I know I am really cutting it close...too close, but I do not have lofty goals for this first triathlon.
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Oh no!
I hope you don't have shin splits. I had them once and oh man did they ever hurt.
We'll just have to pray that everything will work out and you will have an enjoyable triathlon.
And yeah your right, you are cutting it close on time. YIKES! Then again who am I to judge others on time management. I stink at it! LOL
Have a great day.
 
Weighed myself this morning and luckily I have not gained weight from the past week of not eating well. I swam 2200 yards this morning by myself just to get 30 minutes in my heart rate zone. I also did body flow. Mid back is sore where my spinal curve is. Hasn't been too bad the past few months but was a big nuisance when I first started swimming in August and especially when I started doing kickboxing in November. Apparently my scoliosis doesn't like twisting actions. It has gotten better as I have lost more weight and improved my flexibility and overall fitness. Just something I have to live with. Ice and Advil seem to help. So, there's my right knee, my mid back where my curve is most pronounced, a small rupture in one of my neck disks, and sometimes leg pain from a possible rupture in lower back also. Oh and sometimes my wrists hurt so bad I can't even do one pushup. Probably pretty normal nowadays. What are we doing wrong? Or have we always had these problems but now we are all just bigger babies about them? :confused:

Feeling pretty good mentally today. Also glad that my shin splints aren't any worse than yesterday so maybe they won't be bad this time. I hope to resume jogging by Tuesday or Wednesday. Guess I will have to do treadmill only from here on out. When the triathlon is over I will just slowly train myself to jog outside. Maybe I'll do another triathlon in the summer or fall.

Derrick
 
Swam 3100 yards this morning. I was surprised I was able to wake up at 4am considering I didn't fall asleep until a little after 11 last night. Had a pretty good swim workout with the master's group although I did get out a little before the last set was complete. I am basically going until I lose my form. Once my muscles get so weak that my form is lowsy I am getting out. Usually that is after about 1 hour. The workouts usually last 1 hour and 15 minutes so hopefully I will soon be able to go the full workout with good form.

Less than 2 weeks until my triathlon. Going to ride my new bike this week and jog on the treadmill a lot.
 
Glad to see that you are getting back into your routine after having a week off.
Happy to hear that your shin splints are feeling better as well.
I can't imagine swimming for an entire hour. Whew!
Just reading about it wears me out...LOL
I don't think we are all big babies when it comes to our aches and pains. I think it is more likely that we never had them before since we were never really using this muscles.
I get the same thing with my wrist hurting and have been told by a physical therapists that I shouldn't do standard push-ups due to having degenerative arthritis in my shoulders.
So now I just do them on a stabilty ball. I swear sometimes I get a better workout from that thing than if I had done them the regular way.
Have a great day Derrick!
 
Walked/Jogged 2.0 miles today. Lungs are feeling a little burning sensation so hoping I am not getting a cold right before my triathlon. I feel ok right now. Still not losing weight but I know it is my eating. It would be nice to get to 191 by my vacation in May but it might not happen. Either way I have to remind myself that I am 57 pounds lighter than I was a year ago and I am doing things I have never done in my whole life, even when I was an all-state swimmer in high school.
 
Well last time I posted was last Tuesday. Since then I have not been eating good at all but I have still been keeping up with cardio workouts. I have walked and jogged a lot and I rode my new bike. I actually really enjoyed the bike ride and think I may get into it quite a bit. I like jogging now too. I can honestly see myself really getting into triathlons. Speaking of which, my first one is in six days.

Last week I traveled some but still managed to ride a stationary bike, jog on a couple treadmills and even jog around on the farm with my dog and the farm dog. It was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately I took a nose dive off my dad's 4-wheeler and was lucky I didn't break my neck. I landed about as ninja style as I am capable of but I still messed up my back a little bit. I have a bad back to begin with so this just made things worse. I now have neck stiffness, mid back pain and low back pain that is causing pain down my right buttocks, hip and leg. I loaded up on ice and Advil for two nights in a row so I was able to sleep but I am not 100% yet. I am still a little sore but I did go workout this morning. I actually had a really good workout too. I did a very light complete body workout with weights and then I biked a hard but smooth 7.5 miles, got off and immediately went and jogged a hard but smooth 2.1 miles on the treadmill at 6.1 mph. Total workout took 95 minutes and according to my watch I burned 1155 calories.

I think I will be just fine for my triathlon but I was joking that maybe I should try to pig out and drink a lot of water before weigh in so I can qualify for the clydesdale group. You have to weigh 200 lbs or more. I have been weighing 197 to 198 during the day and evenings without clothes and 200 to 200.5 with clothes. I don't really care one way or the other but I would place better in the race if I qualified for the clydesdale group. I am not going to worry about it though. I'd rather weigh in at my normal 194 or 195 weight. I'm not in it for the competition this time, just to compete with myself rather.
 
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Wow Derrick!
I am glad that you are okay! Holy Cow you could have gotten really hurt.
It's good to hear that you are feeling better. I hope that you are 100% by the time your triathalon comes around.
I myself have not ran in nearly a week and a 1/2. I will most likely have to start back at doing 1 minute runs when I get back to it.
It has been emotionally draining here at home in the last week. Our Senior Ministers wife passed away early Friday morning. She had been battling a brain tumor for nearly 2 years.
With having to work over the weekend and then helping out with all the funeral stuff I just haven't been feeling the running thing.
Here's to falling with style! lol :biggrinjester:
 
Hi Bellaryna. Sorry for your loss. I have already said a prayer.

LOL about falling with style. Maybe a year ago I would have really been hurt. Who knows. I am still battling a stiff neck and pain in my mid back, lower back and right leg and knee. However, ice and lots of advil sure do help. I am also going to treat myself to at least one massage this week if not two. I am sort of tapering in the sense that I am just trying to swim, bike and run smooth and not all out. However, amazingly I am going faster than ever right now so that is a good sign for my triathlon this Sunday. Who knows how I will feel on race day but I think I am at least mentally prepared and don't have many doubts. Sure, I could have bought a bike sooner and worked a little harder on the running but I think I have a good chance of achieving my goal: Kick butt on the swim, don't fall on the bike and jog the whole run. The only thing I am a little concerned about is the possibility of rain. I am nervous enough biking on dry pavement let alone wet pavement.

This morning I weighed in at 197.0 for the third day in a row so I guess the last two weeks of eating bad did put 3.0 lbs back on me. I am not going to pout about it though. I know I just can't eat bad for so many days in a row.

I swam at 5am with the Master's group. 3100 yards in total. Did pretty good but I did get whooped by a 25 year old girl in the longer freestyle sets. She is fast and in really good swimming shape compared to me and most others. She had a Huskers cap on and said she graduated a few years ago. Division 1 swimmers are darn good. I am sure she was even faster a few years ago when she was swimming all the time.
 
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Well it is just before 4am my time and I am awake now. Not because I am ready to go swimming but because I am in pain and can't sleep.

I mentioned that last Friday I got thrown off my dad's four wheeler. Well I was hurting the rest of Friday with pain and stiffness in my neck. On Saturday my neck felt better but I had some leg pain and lower back pain that stayed with me for the weekend and even a little on Monday. Despite this I was trying to get through workouts and even had really good workouts except for a little pain and discomfort.

Yesterday morning when I posted I didn't mention that at the end of swim practice I took a practice start off the swimming block in my lane. I dove correctly as I always do but when I hit the water I felt pain in my neck, mid back and right shoulder blade area. I was hoping the pain would go away with ice and advil but it did not. As yesterday went on the pain got worse and I developed a very stiff neck.

At that point I became concerned I might have further ruptured a disk in my neck. A few years ago I had quite a bit of pain in my neck and right arm and a MRI showed a small disk rupture in the lower cervical spine of the neck. Physical therapy helped and ever since the pain has been mostly non existent, showing up every now and then.

I went and saw my orthopedic doctor yesterday and he said it's usually not a good sign when diving into water causes that much pain. He said if I have further ruptured that disk and then let's say I fall off my bike on Sunday, I could paralyze myself.

He ordered a MRI and we were lucky to get one scheduled and done already. I had it done last night at 5:45pm. I will find out the results today from the MRI place and then I see my doctor on Thursday to hear the official results from him.

Please pray for me that my neck is just sore and not injured and that I will be healed and feel better as soon as possible. I have come so far and I am so close to my triathlon. I would not have been all that competitive in this first triathlon but it means a lot to me to just do it and accomplish something that one year ago I never thought I would ever be able to do.

I did get some pain medicine and muscle relaxers but I am trying not to take the pain pills. I took one last night and two muscle relaxers, plus a hot bath. All of those helped and I did feel better for a while and was able to get some sleep but right now the pain is back and my neck is still stiff. I was hoping to feel a lot better this morning. Not quite there yet.
 
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I will definately be praying for you Derrick.
That would really stink for you to have some so far and be told you can't finish thru with your plan.
Take care of yourself and keep us posted.
 
Thank you, Bellaryna. :)

I got the results from the doc today and I guess it is good news. It is not a ruptured disk. I have narrowing of the nerve at the C3 and C4 vertebrae on the right side due to bone spurs. The four wheeler incident must have caused swelling and the bone spurs are aggrevating the nerve causing muscle spasms and loss of normal curvature of the spine. In other words, I am in pain and my muscles are locking up my spine as a result.

I am on pain pills and muscle relaxers. He also prescribed some anti-inflammatory pills today and I will start taking them tomorrow. There is a chance I could have my mobility back by Sunday morning but my doctor said if it were him he wouldn't do it. I will have to see how I feel. I am praying I will be 90% by Sunday morning and able to participate.
 
Good News!
It is not a ruptured disc!!! YEAH :hurray:
Somewhat Bad News, you may not get to do your triathalon. :angelsad2:
We'll just have to pray that you are better enough by then that you can do it.
However keep in mind that no matter how much you want to if your really not up to it you probably better not. There can always be another triathalon, but not another Derrick. :)
I know it sounds like a major bummer and I am just as stubborn as you when it comes to things that I have set my mind to, but if it came down to being able to compete and possibly be injured or heal and compete later, I would choose to heal and compete later.
But like I said I will be praying that you will be feeling better before Sunday.
Besides that anti-inflammatory stuff works wonders. I bet you will be well enough by Sunday.
Keep your chin up!
 
Thanks Dawn! I am feeling pretty good this morning so I'm pretty optimistic right now. I am about 70% and getting better by the minute. I haven't even picked up my anti-inflammatory meds yet. I'm leaving right now to go get them. Also, in 45 minutes I have my first physical therapy session. Finally, I might try to get a massage this afternoon. I am going to try everything to be loose and ready by Sunday morning. If I feel bad at all, either before or during the triathlon, I will not do it or drop out. I really really want this but not if it means hurting myself even worse. Besides, my family and I are supposed to go on vacation this month. Partly because we are due for one and we want to and partly to celebrate my weight loss.

I will keep my diary updated today, tomorrow and Sunday...hopefully with my finishing time! :D
 
The massage really helped today. For a while I had almost no pain whatsoever. Right now I am feeling pretty good, about 75 or 80 percent. I hope to be 90% tomorrow and 95% by Sunday morning. I think I might be able to do this. My wife and I leave tomorrow morning for the event.

I'm starting to get nervous like I used to back in high school before a swim meet.
 
Thanks Brawny! I am just about to hit the hay. Been up going over everything I need to take with me tomorrow morning when we leave. I think I will feel up for it. Not too much pain right now and just a little stiffness.

Good night everyone. I will post again on Sunday.

Derrick
 
4:50am on Sunday morning. Less than 3 hours until my start time. I have to leave here in about 20 or 30 minutes for check in. Yesterday I was in considerable pain. I biked the run course and I swam 400 meters. The swimming was really hard. I couldn't even keep my head in the proper position. I am in some pain this morning but my neck mobility is not all that great. I think it might be a painful experience but I am at least going to try. If I feel horrible I guess I will drop out of the race at any given time but that will be hard to do. The only bit of luck I have had is I am weighing 200.5 lbs fully suited with shoes on so they are letting me race in the clydesdale division for men over 200 lbs. So instead of finishing almost dead last in the age group class, I might actually finish around the middle of the pack for the clydesdale class. Or maybe not. I'll just be happy to finish in one piece at this point.

Derrick
 
I DID IT! I did far better than I thought possible. It was an incredible experience and I will never forget it. My wife was there taking photos in several places we discussed before hand and the photos turned out great. I will try to get some loaded at a later time.

The swim went well of course. I decided to seat myself with some swimmers that were just a little bit slower than me because I wanted to take it easy because of my neck. I felt good in the pool though so I did have to pass a couple people. It turns out they don't stop your swim time until you get out of the pool, jog out of the rec center and jog all the way to the transition area in bare feet. So instead of like 6:10, which is what my actual swim time was, my swim time was shown as 7:40 because it literally takes about 1:30 to get out and get to the transition area. So that explains why the times were so slow from the results archive. So no, I was not one of the fastest swimmers, maybe just the top 10%.

The 1st transition went great except I took about 15 or 20 seconds to get my shirt on. I had rolled it up like everyone told me to but for some reason when I slid it over my head it got all messed up and I couldn't figure out what the deal was for a while. Other than that it went well.

The bike was an awesome experience and not all that bad. I was breathing hard and it was a heck of a workout but I survived. I did get passed a lot, as predicted. I have only owned this bike for 3 weeks and had less than 10 miles on it! And before that I had never rode a 10 speed in my entire life! So 52 minutes on a 15 mile course was pretty good I think.

The next transistion was really fast. I pretty much hung up my bike and left. Although I did have to pick up someone elses bike who had fallen over my spot. And I also stuffed some of my papers back under my towel.

The run was bitter sweet. At first I was really struggling to go very fast. My legs were toast and felt weird but I have read many times that you just have to keep moving the first mile. So that's what I did. I had calf cramps the first half mile but at the 1st mile marker they were gone. Then I felt great and was getting a 2nd wind. I looked down at my watch and realized I was going to finish in under 1 hour and 30 minutes unless something disastrous happened. That's when something disastrous sort of happened. I got a horrible side stitch under my right rib cage and it just kept getting worse and worse until it was crippling. I had to stop and walk and try to stretch it out. I had no choice. I was really upset because I knew time was ticking and I was unsure of whether or not I would even be able to jog at all anymore. I was praying very hard and God sent me an angel. This girl in her 20's slowed down and asked me what was wrong. I started to jog beside her even though it hurt and I asked her what to do about it. She told me to breathe slower and deeper and pierce my lips. So I told her "I'll try, thanks! Keep going now. Good luck!" After about 30 seconds to 1 minute it went away. I had to jog slow and concentrate on my breathing but I was jogging again. When I passed the mile 2 marker I realized I was going to make it so my last mile was by far the best. My final run time was 3.1 miles in 29:40. I had never done under 30 minutes in my entire life and to do so after swimming 1/4 mile and biking 15 is quite an accomplishment for me.

I finished with a total time of 1:32:05 for my first triathlon. I would have surely gone 1:29:?? something had I not had to walk for 2 to 3 minutes but I am not upset about that at all. I far exceeded my expectation of 1 hour 40 minutes. I think I finished around the middle of the pack for the clydesdale division.

I think I am hooked now. I had so much fun and it was an incredible experience. Can't wait to lose another 10 to 15 lbs, learn how to bike and run and do it again next year.

P.S. I actually did not have neck or back pain during the triathlon very bad but my lower back and right leg hurt quite a bit right now. Small price to pay for the wonderful experience and sense of accomplishment.

Derrick
 
The results are up. I got 22nd place out of 39 clydesdale finishers and 403rd place out of 660 overall finishers. Just 2 minutes faster would have made a big difference but that doesn't bother me. Next year I want to go faster than 1 hour and 20 minutes. I can't wait! :D
 
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