Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

My first day running since surgery on Wednesday. My arm has felt strong and recovered since the surgery, and I am eager to get back to training, but I was convinced to hold off a bit before doing any strenuous exercise. The main danger, apparently, in running soon after the surgery is that an increase in blood pressure can be a detriment to the healing process for the recovering bone.

Anyway, for my first outing I was excited to go collect some hittaut points with Boris and Alli. We planned a loop that was about 16 k of running and I was assured that our pace would be quite gentle. It was a beautiful day, and I was happy to collect points with good company.

The arm felt good. I ran without my cast, since it was on the flat. I was sleepy enough to want a nap afterward and since I was unable to bend my elbow fully, my running form felt a bit strange. Still, a really good sign that I will probably be able to train quite well these next few weeks for WOC.

Surgery day. So, today I had an appointment for an elbow surgery, but I didn't really have much more information about what was likely to happen. Boris, was an awesome friend today and stuck with me the whole time, going with me to the hospital in the morning for translation and companionship and coming back to take me home when it was over.

The surgeon, when I met her, did a check to see if surgery was necessary. I needed to lift my arm over my head and try to extend the hand upward. This is a task that I failed spectacularly, indicating that the bone fragment seen on the X-ray was where the triceps muscle was inserted. Surgery, therefore, was a go. I asked about training, and she got a little bit wary as she explained that there wouldn't need to be a cast, and so I felt obliged to divulge that I was planning on running races in a few weeks if possible and then I added sheepishly that I would almost certainly run the races regardless of whether she approved them or not. She thanked me for being honest and said that I could probably get a splint that I could wear during competitions. so I got lucky on this one.

So then I waited until it was my turn to go into the operating room and then a whole slew of super friendly doctors and nurses came over to get me set up. Each one needed to ask me my name, personal number, allergies and whether I had eaten anything since midnight :) They were also really nice about speaking slowly in Swedish because they knew that I was trying to practice my Swedish.

Then there was an IV added, and it flushed a little with really cold saline and then an injectable anesthesia.

I woke up and was surprised to see how late it was, I guess it took awhile for the drugs to wear off, and I was super disoriented and groggy at first. I recalled that after my last surgery, when I was in middle school, I was not allowed to leave until I had eaten and drunk something although that time, mom was there to help me finish the cup of ginger ale, which made her my hero :). In Sweden, the process is similar except that instead of ginger ale I got a glass of strawberry puree and reindeer on polar bread sandwich.

I started clamoring for release and so they let me change back into my clothes and then go back for post-op X-rays. I guess I passed because I was free to go.

Arm feels a little tender and is wrapped in a bandage, but tomorrow I am really looking forward to making a test run someplace flat and safe. Switzerland, here I come :)

C • Yay! 16

C • update? 3

Wander.Lost A quick life update!

C • Life update! 5

So, I managed to catch my foot as I jumped over a fence. In the process of falling on the grass, I broke my elbow. A chip of the bone has shifted and I am not allowed to run until that has been fixed, possibly Monday.

I am not going to be able to run the WC this weekend. More details later.

C • ouch 31

Run to work in the morning. Knee is a little stiff still, but feels pretty good to be moving. Weather is starting to be nice again.

Running home. Somehow the backpack was not adjusted properly, and when I got home I discovered that I'd managed to rub a spot raw on my back. I guess I need to be careful with how I load the various things, my guess is the corner of my book is the culprit.

Warming up/cooling down in conjunction with today's club festival day sprint. I joined Sam for a loop before we set out on the sprint, and then we jogged back from the clubhouse after the race was over to shower, change, and grab our bikes before spending the rest of the evening enjoying grilling, learning a new summer dance, playing soccer and brännboll at the Linné party.

A sprint style race around Eriksberg and Norby on a definitely not sprint standard map. I was caught off guard at the start, and didn't make any sense of the field. I tried to match things up and eventually decided that it would just be safer to run towards the buildings and come in from that direction once I relocated. Mostly clean and picking good routes, lost time on 7 when I was surprised to see a wall on my route (just didn't read well enough) and then 12 and 13 when I didn't bash through the forest very well. Stayed on the road to the finish, which I think was probably better for me than cutting through the field.

Splits

C • Excellent run 4

Event: Jukola 2012
 

The second sprint today. 3 mistakes. I read my descriptions wrong on the 4th, and thus navigated to the wrong side of the fence, then there was a new construction area that made my route to the 9th a very poor choice. And then on the way to the last control, I was aiming to cut through a patch of white down to the bike trail, but it wasn't very easy to see a good way to go.

More later, but yet again it seems to be past bedtime and I haven't gone back to backlog the past several weeks.

Yesterday I was pretty wiped still, so today the plan was to be very relaxed. Sam even let me sleep in as long as I wanted. Our two excursions for the day were a) to take a nice walk to the grocery store mostly as an excuse to get some fresh air, and b) to bike down to gympa with Lisa and Sebastien. I think those were the only two times today that it rained/hailed.

Gympa was good though, all my muscles were still a bit sore from Friday, so it felt really difficult.

Wow. I was not feeling good at the start. Whole body was unhappy to be awake, and the weather was perfectly crummy. Johan had planned out a nice long trail run through Nåsten, some tiny trails and some more major ones. My calves were especially sore, and the damp aggravated my cough, and my shoes were slipping in the mud. So, not a great time.

Johan and Erik went off ahead and I trailed behind Sam and Hannah, and tried to keep us on the right trails using the 1:19,000 map that Johan printed. Especially bitter and cold as we ran back through the valley. Tough to stay grumpy the whole way when Nåsten is so beautiful.

Sam convinced me to get up relatively early and go to the track for some speed work. Legs are still a bit tight but I am happy to get started on more regular track workouts now.

Conditions a little chilly and windy, threatening to rain. Last night I was thinking to do 10 x 400 @ 70, but the first interval put that idea to rest for me quite quickly. I instead settled on 8 x 400 and the pace I could manage was about 73. 2 minutes of mostly stationary rest between intervals, which I normally wouldn't have liked but I was feeling pretty tired and being lazy was fairly appealing :)

Felt good to roll into the lab at 9 having already done my workout for the day.

C • morning workouts 1

The last Immunology Genetics and Pathology (IGP) department Innebandy session for the summer, so there was a good turnout, and that meant a lot of substitutes. I generally like to spend more time on the field, but my calves were stiff enough that I could appreciate the frequent breaks.

I scored a couple of times and didn't make any truly bad plays. My most valuable contribution still is running at the player with the ball and causing them to get flustered enough to make a bad pass.

My coworker Mimmi overheard the girls in the locker room afterwards chatting about how I was so fast :) that's a great kind of gossip to hear...

C • Valuable contributions 2

Man, we haven't been to gympa in a really long time. It was a nice session tonight, and not so crowded, I guess many of the students are stuck in the library or already home for the summer. I miss the old routine, though it hasn't really changed that much.