No More Crutches...After Lunch

Woohoo! I get off the crutches today! While I've been shuffling around my apartment sans crutches, I haven't dared walking distances without them. I've been the best impatient patient I can be. Going into this whole thing Big Mike warned me to not be stubborn or stupid and I think I've done a pretty good job of walking that line. But today is the day I get my freedom back and I'm EXCITED!

Tomorrow I start PT & then Wednesday I'm headed to party in the city where the heat is on, all night, on the beach, till the break of dawn. Yep, I'm headed over to South Florida for the Annual Mid-Winter Getaway. Emil & I started this tradition 5 years ago and I'm super excited to pick it back up. I was always anti-Florida until Emil took me down there and showed me around. Miami is like a foreign country! I love it! But, I love to travel and be in unfamiliar places so it totally fits me. I still toy with the idea of moving there.

Anyway, wanna know what our vacations used to resemble? Fast cars, fast boats, lots of pina coladas or champers, dancing, surfing, adventure courses, gorgeous views, and designer sunglasses...this trip will be WAY more low-key but one day the upgrade will be standard again!

Gimpy Adventures

Usually when I go to the apartment gym, I get funny looks and no one except the Gym Mayor talks to me. That is no longer the case thanks to my Gimpy-ness. Just like the peacock feather I wore to parties at Christmas time, the crutches are a conversation starter. It's like the male mind translates crutches into: "Captive Female Audience: She can only crutch away from me so fast." I never, EVER get hit on and I've been hit on:

• In the grocery store
• After church
• Getting my mail
• At the apartment gym (twice)
• and while crutching my way to the gym

One time I was offered a ride...the guy got into his truck, started to drive away, reversed, then asked. He was cute but that was creepy. Another time, the guy said "I feel like I should just scoop you up and carry you wherever you need to go." If that guy hadn't been outside of Church, I would have been afraid. Instead, I took it as he was filled with the loving spirit of a higher power.

Point is: no matter how annoying these crutches are, they may be really good for my dating life...which, as most of you know, is non-existent (a little by choice, a little not). I mean, all those instances within one week's time? Sarah Larson was on to something. I'm totally putting on my party dress and hitting the town this weekend. Maybe I'll even run into a George Clooney look-alike who also owns a home in Italy, rides a motorcycle, and loves to travel with me? Preference is George with beard...there's something fabulous about well-groomed beards. And yes, I know that's weird.

Anyway, dating revelation out of the way, I really did have a very strange workout last night. Until I can move a little bit more I'm restricted to upper body. And, only upper body that doesn't cause me to balance on both legs (push presses and the like) or swing/bend at the hips (kipping anything). So, I just kind of puttered around without a plan last night, testing out what might work and what wouldn't.

I did:

• Tabata Push-ups (yes, again): Score of EIGHT (8)!!! PR!
• Deadhang pull-ups: 3, truly deadhang, in a ROW! PR!!! Did this 4 times. Stopped because I accidentally started turning them into L pull ups & that hurt the hip.
• Benchpress @ 45lbs: 3 x 25 just cuz
• Sitting strict press with 25lb dbs: 3x10 I felt kinda silly...but not as silly as the dummy who asked me how long I was going to be using that bench. I told him it was the only comfortable bench for me to sit on and that I didn't know how long I'd be.  A few minutes later, I let him know I was done...then, he saw the crutches and offered to help me put my dbs away.
• Ring* Rows - used the barbell on the smith machine since I didn't have rings - 3 x 15 with rest being contractions of the quads while sitting down. Yes, sadly, that counts as working out at tht moment.

I just felt kind of ridiculous the whole time but I needed to get the blood flowing at least a little bit.

RVA

I'm feeling a little homesick for Richmond today. Why Richmond? Because it's an amazing town. It reminds me of how Austin was 20 years ago.



Today's WOD:
Tabata push ups...

Day 2 Post-Op

I can't remember if I wrote about this but just before New Year's I had a terrible sore throat. Thought it was strep but it wasn't. Anyway, the Dr. called it an Angry Throat and gave me a Rx for Vicodine at 500mg. I still have several left because I just didn't need that much. Now, after surgery, I've again been Rx'd Vicodine...at only 325mg!!! For real! They gave me a weaker version for my SURGERY than for a stupid sore throat. Lesson: if you want knock you on your butt drugs, go to Urgent Care in Cedar Park. Jeez!

Today's WOD:
I'm attempting no pain meds aside from the 800mg Ibuprofen (3x/day) that I need to help keep the swelling under control.

Usually, I'm against Ibuprofen but my whole body is swollen right now. Seriously, my hands, my face, my boobs...everything is bloaty. My positive nature says, "at least when the swelling dissapates, you'll feel skinny in comparison!" Anyway, the pain is there, and centralized where I can only assume the stitches are located. I haven't undressed the wounds yet as I'm still following doctor's orders to ice for a full 48 hours and I'm not supposed to shower until Sunday. Thank goodness for washcloths (sponge bath) and Pssst Dry Shampoo Spray ($5 at Walgreens)!

I'm back on all of my supplements now and doing a Zoned Paleo diet. Since I'm not doing much of anything, I'm not very hungry...which is good for going Zone. Goodness knows that makes me hungry. At least when I get back to the box I'll be lean. (Fingers crossed I'll be lean!)

Post-Op

Feeling good, kids. Ok, not awesome but good enough. I'm not too out of it today and the pain isn't too great. It pretty much feels like it did after the MRI but a tad less mobile and a tad (ok, lots) more sore. I'm on crutches, which I can't quite figure out yet. And I'm not supposed to go anywhere or do anything until Saturday afternoon.

They weren't able to do the type of repair for which I was hoping. Instead, they did a debridement where they just shaved off the torn bits. Then, they found the real culprit: a small, but damage causing bone spur. They shaved down the bone so it no longer bumping against the cartilage in an unfriendly way. There was also some cracking in the acetabulum which (I think he said) is the very beginning of arthritis. He took care of that too. In the end, it's a good thing I went with the surgery instead of the PRP because I would have just continued to have had repeated tears due to the spur and this way, it's taken care of. Good stuff.

Thank goodness my mom is here to take care of the Wonder Pup and to help me get some stuff done. (It's like having a butler!) She did a great job of feeding me a Zoned Paleo meal this morning, too. Ginger is doing a fantastic job of just being snuggly and cute.

The two biggest problems I'm having at the moment are sleeping & control issues. I like to sleep on my tummy and with my left leg bent...that's just not possible right now. And the control issues...well...I'm used to taking care of myself and doing things my way. I'm also not used to having someone ask me so many darned questions (because she wants to do it my way but she can't read my mind). It's really strange to have someone else around. Fortunately, I had a visitor last night who brought dinner for me and mom. He is a very laidback guy so he's a good influence on me and calmed my nerves immediately. How sweet, huh?

I'm off to do some reading and take it easy...maybe find a more comfortable seating position. Speaking of sitting, the best news is that I can sit comfortably on the loo! That was kind of a concern so I'm happy to report, it's a non-issue!

Yesterday Vs Today

Yesterday my brain was clogged. Did it have to be? No, it didn't. I was just succumbing to weakness, anxiety, and laziness. I was determined to not let another day of my life be wasted. Enter: Tuesday. Oh, Tuesday. You knock my socks off.

It's not even 11:00 AM and I've already accomplished everything on Monday's to-do list, plus cleaned the kitchen, made breakfast, put on makeup, and did all my Tuesday morning reading.* What's the lesson here? Procrastination sucks. While I may be a rock star procrastinator, my life, my career, and my self esteem are all WAY better when I just go all Crossfit on it and 3, 2, 1...Go! So, I'll mark yesterday as an unscheduled rest day and just continue to attack today with the zest that I'd attack any other Crossfit WOD.

Crossfit: It's not just a workout, it's training for life!

Today's WOD:
Final pre-surgery PT session with Devlin

WOD 2:
Handstand walking/hold/HSPU WOD in the Riata Gym
Probably followed by a little Sauna time to release some toxins

*I am hopped up on two servings of Spark but only because it killed Monday's leftover headache.

Gonna sleep like a baby tonight...

I've been a pitiful employee today. I lead some great conference calls and got some stuff done but nothing that makes me say, "hot dog, I was productive!" No, instead I'm counting the minutes till I can take a nap. The perfect storm of a busy weekend, no caffeine this morning, and body pain has me exhausted.

Body pain: My hip freaking hurts from sitting all weekend. We are talking constant, throbbing pain. It hurts to sit, lay down, or walk. Awesome, right? Oh, and my upper body is wrecked from my gimp-ster wod: 30 muscle ups for time. Only, I am not yet able to do a muscle up (notice I didn't say Can't? I hate the word Can't!) so I did 45 scaled muscle ups in 9:07. Afterwards I did some attempts. I feel a million miles away but I keep hearing that I'm thisclose. Gonna keep on plugging away at those. After class I got in some extra work on the GHD with 3x12 sit-ups and hip extensions.

No Caffeine: I just don't know what I was thinking. Apparently, I wasn't. Even decaf has just enough trace amounts to get me through the morning.

Busy weekend: I went to the Level 1 Cert at Alamo Crossfit this weekend. While I sort of feel like I've already been through a cert multiple times (That's from having great coaches!), it was great to have the opportunity to hear new cues, be able to watch other's form, and speak up about the issues that I noticed. Another cool part of the weekend was getting to meet 2-time Olympic Weightlifter Chad Vaughn. While Chad might have been born into unfortunate circumstances (born in Oklahoma), he is an incredibly decent and smart human being (he got to TX as fast as he could). Ladies, he also has super adorable curls to cap off that great personality. Just sayin'. Wanna get in on an Olympic Weightlifting Seminar with Chad? The guys at CrossFit Austin are holding one on Feb. 28. You know I'd be there if I wasn't going to be all post-surgery gimpy still. I may ask to just observe anyway...never hurt to ask, right?

Check out this video of Chad setting the American record for the Clean & Jerk, 190kg...that's 418lbs!