I’m staying at Winks house tonight in Huntsville. Tomorrow  Nathan, Ric and I will be racing together for the first time as a threesome. I have raced once with Ric before and ended up sending him on a long run from a misplotted point. Even with that mistake, they have picked me to do the nav during the race. I hope Ric has more confidence in me tomorrow when I lead on the nav. Nathan and I have raced together before at PQ but this will be a much faster paced race and its going to be hard to nav and keep up with him on the bike.

I also hope my lack of training over the last few months won’t slow us down as a team. Best think I think we can do is stay calm and focused and learn to work together.

The race was going fairly well and we were in second place until the long section on the bike. The single track trails we were riding on were really meant for dirtbikes and four wheelers. They were hard to ride with all the loose sand. However, I knew that would be to our advantage since we are all used to racing mountain bikes in every type of condition. I hoped that this would be our chance to catch Vignette. I gave Wink the map to Nav since he was up in the lead. I concentrated on pedaling as hard and fast as I could through the sand. But, all it took was one small drop off and a big pit of sand. My front tire landed in the sand pit, it turned sideways and my bike threw me to the ground. I didn’t even have time to let go of the bars. I knew the second I hit I broke my collarbone. I had heard it snap. I held my head up off the ground as it felt like the bone was pushed into my neck. Nathan and Ric came immediately to my help. It only took a few minutes to find my bone pushing up through my skin.

It was the first time I have ever been happy that we had to carry a working phone during the race. Nathan biked to the road to call the race directors. Ric stayed with me and made a sling out of bike tubes. I cried and moaned and hoped the pain would stop. I had never been in so much pain before with every little more.  As much pain as I was in, I still knew I would have to walk out of there to get to help. Ric helped to my feet just as Shaun was arriving in a 4 wheeler. There was no way I was going to ride on a 4 wheeler. Every step I took on the bumpy trail caused me pain. We reached the truck and they started to load up all our gear. I encouraged Ric and Nathan to go on now that I was in good hands. They were reluctant to continue but I knew there wouldn’t be much they could do to help. The truck was a rough ride and I thought I would throw up. Every small bump in the road made me cringe in pain.  Bonnie and Meghan meet us at the main road with my car so I would have a smoother ride to the hospital. It was a long wait at the hospital and I left a dirt pile behind at every stop, bed or chair I left behind. Sand was still coming out of every where. Finally I get the meds and they sent me on my way. I stayed at Winks house again that night and slept in the recliner chair. The pain was incredible and very hard to sleep.

I am so mad that this has happened. I was just over my pain of losing Dave and ready to get back to building our team and doing some racing. I see the orthopedic today to find out if I will need surgery to repair the bone.

I went to see the orthopedic today. He didn’t have to do much except look and my x-ray and bulging bone to tell me what the ER dr had said. It is a mid-clavicle break with butterfly fragments. Surgery is an option to put the bones back together but most of the time (90%), they will heal on their own. Surgery would help it heal a little faster and get me back to my bike sooner but it would also leave a scar. He said if I was like the Lance Armstrong of biking he would probably do the surgery but If I was his wife he would not recommend it. I thought to my self, but doesn’t he know I am like the female lance Armstrong of adventure racing?? I want to be back in the saddle as quickly as possible but I really don’t want the scar. Surgery would involve using a plate to put the bones back together. Most likely you would see the plate through my skin and I would still have to go back for a second surgery to remove the plate. we decided to wait and see if the bones will heal on their own before any surgery. My next appt is in three weeks. Time to just go home and heal.

The pain is so intense. I know the first Dr said the first two weeks would be the worst but I just feel there is more to my pain. It feels like my nerves are pinched and I keep getting shooting pains. Since my first Dr wanted me to just take more pain meds and wait it out, I went to get a second opinion. My Dr at Austin Sports Medicine gave took more xrays and examined my arm. Turns out I tore my deltoid muscle and that is what is causing so much pain in my shoulder. He says to keep wearing the figure 8 brace 24 hours a day and come back in three weeks. So back to the wait and heal.

Wow, I never thought I was going to get over the pain hurdle. I can actually finally sleep in my own bed and am weaning from the Vicodin. This is my first week alone since without any help. The first week Noel was in and out during work and last week I had Sydney here on Spring Break. Its also my birthday today and I still can’t use my arm any so I am going to get my hair and nails done so I can start feeling human again.