Don't Call it a Comeback.. : June 2019

Road to Recovery.

As an athlete and a coach I am constantly on high alert for anything that can make a person better.

I am always chasing that knowledge. I’ve been studying the brain, the connection that it has to the gut.

Ultimately how we can perform better.. Studying the mind set , and our “psyche” for so long.

Toby said it to me best, as I knew it was true, That.. out of all the people I know how to do this the best. That’s it. I will do this come back from injury better than ever. I will set a new standard for bone healing.. ;coming back to the sport.

I have to walk the talk, practice what I preach. So I did just that. Well. of course I had some help.

April 26, 2019 Spartanburg, S.C. The first night of speed week and the night before Athens usa crit race #2. I am going well right now. I am fit; I am fast.

I took cross season off this past year to have a break - and for the first time in 5 years I went back to the gym to build muscle !

One of my first goals for the year was to podium at Marathon Mtn bike nationals in May in Palo Duro Canyon, Tx. I felt prepared this year compared to the last two years racing- so close to the podium without proper training in the past. This year.. I was putting the time in on the bike, heat training with infrared sauna.

My goal here quickly vanished . As we came around the final corner in spartengburg I thought there was going to be a crash and at this time I had all of this momentum and came around as i could see the finishing line focusing on pulling as hard as I could on those bars was the same time a rider landed in front of my front wheel- the next thing I know Is I could hear my helmet crushing sound on the pavement.. and thinking, "I am going down". I come to and I am on my back holding my mangled hand and feeling my broken ribs as I lie there just a 100 meters from the finishing line.

I ended up shattering my elbow, breaking my collar bone and ripping the ligaments off of the clavicle separating the AC joint , broke a couple ribs and a finger. I flew home the next day and scheduled to see my Ortho that week and Surgery was planned for Friday May 3rd.

I hate taking meds, I don't like the way they make me feel ‘out of control’ . So we found that tramadol doesn’t make me feel groggy, or drugged up- just eases the pain a bit.

After the crash, I took it upon myself to go to Cryotherapy to get some of the swelling down prior to surgery. Then again a couple days after surgery I went back to cryotherapy. I know too much inflammation is not good.

I had recently purchased a joovv , a hand held device Its red light therapy, studies show many health improvements. One of the Claims is that it promotes bone; soft tissue growth/ repair.

Thanks to My mom I’ve been using her bone stimulator. I’ve also had a few treatments of Bemer therapy, thanks to my friend Kim.

My attitude has been good from the beginning. I know this is only temporary and I will soon be back racing. I am enjoying my time spent at home with my husband and my dogs. I am continuing with my daily meditation twice a day. I end my meditations with gratitude. I say to myself what I am grateful for and ending it with seeing myself riding off the front and winning Nationals.

I rehearse this type of imagery a few times a day.

I had to ride the trainer which I despise riding the trainer. However, I was so anxious to get back to riding I was fine with the trainer. It was tough initially as I was restricted to keeping my arm in brace locked at 90 degrees. So riding sitting straight up but at least I was riding. I watched crit races as I rode the trainer.

So now I am back riding, and doing intervals as I began my physical therapy. Initially this was only assisted range of motion. The pain from the physical therapy was pretty bad . Luckily if I kept busy, I didn’t feel much pain at all. It seemed to hit when I went to settle for the evening. So this is when I would take the tramadol if needed in addition to cbd oil.

I decided that I would eat healthy during this time of healing. I already eat pretty healthy- but I was going to take this to the next level. Part of my daily intake MCT oil, Omega-3 , Vit D with K; Vit C, mag-Calcium supplements. In addition plenty of dark leafy greens, pasture raised eggs, avocado healthy fats, lots of fish !

I want to set my own standards for how long it takes to heal the bone to repair the soft tissue damage.

I just had my last ortho follow up and I am about 6 weeks out from surgery. Everything is healing and I got permission to race at the 8 week out which is Nationals. I still have a lot of hard work ahead, every day with physical therapy I know it will get better every day and I will return stronger.