So about a week before we were going to do the Mohican 100 mile MTB (in May of this year) we started catching on to the fact that it was going to be difficult. We had just picked it because it was near where my parents live and they could watch Bryce while Rod and I raced. We hadn’t really paid much attention beyond that. It was supposed to be a warm up after being off for a few years and playing mommy. The first thing that caught our attention was the fact that Tinker Juarez was racing. Then we read that Cannondale and Trek were both sending their full teams because it was supposed to be a real challenge. Then I checked out last year’s results and there were only 12 women who even finished. 10,000 feet of climbing and 40+ miles of technical single track inserted into 100 miles of dirt. I didn’t think there was that much climbing in the whole state of Ohio – but I was wrong.

About 4 miles into the race I realized I had the wrong tires. They had cut a new trail which was off camber with tons of roots and was still a bit muddy from the night before. I was slipping everywhere. About 7 miles into it I didn’t get clipped out on one of my falls and twisted my right knee pretty good. I was still fine when I could spin but on the steep single track uphills if felt like someone was poking me in the knee with a hot poker. I was also gun shy from all the slipping and the net result was that I was crawling along at an agonizingly slow pace.

At the aid station at mile 36 I had really taken a mental turn for the worse. I was worried I wasn’t going to make the cut offs and beating myself up. I mean seriously – I had been playing mommy, doing the corporate thing, and gaining weight for the past five years. Dave’s passing had inspired me to get out there and try to race again but I was really feeling foolish. Who was I to think I could manage all that and still do these wacky endurance races. It was time to quit and go home. Then I overheard one of the volunteers say "How’s it going Dr Dave?" My heart stopped – I got tears in my eyes and I turned and looked – the volunteer was talking to an older guy who I had been riding with all day. Well we weren’t riding together but we were riding about the same pace and were consistently near each other. He would always pass me on the down hills and then I would pass him on the uphills.

Then I really started crying – I mean what are the chances that I would be riding with a guy named Dr Dave and that I would be sitting somewhere so that I would hear a volunteer say his name – you know how crazy aid stations are – its just too much of a coincidence. Maybe my Dr Dave wasn’t physically there but I really believe he made darn sure that I knew he was with me – even if he just sent someone with the same name.

So of course I went on to finish the race. The race got a lot easier after that because most of the single track was behind me. Once I was on the roads I was fine (aside from one other spectacular wipeout on a downhill). I was one of the last people across the finish line – but I did it – and I will do it again.

Oddly enough a bit later in the race I got a chance to talk to the guy. I said "pardon me for asking – but I just wanted to make sure I heard correctly – did that volunteer call you Dr Dave?" He said "yep – that’s what I go by" Of course I got the tears again. I said "sorry – my friend Dr Dave died last Sept and when I heard your name it inspired me to keep going." He pointed to his seat and he had a date written on there in marker – not Dave’s date – but it was from last autumn as well. He said he was riding in memory of his friend who had also died about the same time as Dave. He said he really believed it was important to challenge ourselves but also know our limitations and stay within them. I agreed with him then said "thanks" and rode on. I never saw him again that day. It seems like Dave and that man’s friend were sitting together in the netherworld swapping stories and somehow our meeting that day was the outcome. Crazy – and I still get tears when I think about it.

Good luck at PQ. Don’t give up – but also be safe. The Badlands are called that for a reason. Dave’ll be there with you.

- Tracy

I haven’t written in awhile since I got the green light from my doctor to start riding and running again. I have been training super hard on the bike trying to get back in shape with little time on the couch to type. I have a new coach, Sean Ahmaedi, that has been training me on the bike. That is definitely my strongest event right now.  I have also increased my running to include sprint workouts on the track and I have set up a paddle simulator in my room to work my shoulder muscles.

I did my first race this weekend with Nathan. I was a little worried since I haven’t done a sprint race in a long time. The first running section was fast but I felt really good. There was one coed team ahead of us but I didn’t recognize the female. I thought if we stayed with them we would have a chance to beat them out on the bike. But they were super fast runners and it was hard to keep them in sight. They had a good lead on us going into the paddle and paddling was difficult for me since losing so much muscle in my left arm. Toward the end of the paddle the 3 place coed team with Chris and Kim passed us up. I didn’t have much left in my arms to pursue so I knew that it would end up to a race on the bikes. Chris and Kim left the TA first but we caught them on the jeep road. We hit the single track first and rode great. The bike section was only 7 miles long and there would be a mystery event at the end so we knew we would need hammer.

We finally caught the first place team about mile 5 and went into the last TA in the lead. For the mystery event we were required to run along the shore of the water for about 100m. The second place team was hot on our trail and we both came out of the water about the same time. We got a good jump out of the water and it was left to a sprint to the finish. Shaun and Jason were there cheering us on and pointing us in the right direction. They had just finished and  won the male-male division. Sprinting the last 100m reminded me of thr track workouts I have been doing with my daughter Sydney. I keep my elbows in close and pumped my arms to the finish. The second place team finished seconds behinds us. It was great to be back racing and winning again. Our next race will be the Sprint race June 27th in Huntsville.

I am finally getting back on the bike. I have two rides so far and I will take my third tomorrow. My legs feel pretty good but my left arm is weak. It will awhile before I get back to the dirt and to full power but I am just happy I can ride.

I have also been out for a few runs. My doctor didn’t want me to start running yet but I couldn’t take it anymore. And my dog couldn’t take it anymore watching me run alone on the treadmill either.

I have been going to PT twice a week now. The PT works on increasing my flexibility. Although I can bear weight on the arm I still have difficulty raising it up above 90 degrees. My next Dr appt is in 2 weeks. I hope it is the last!

The last two weeks have been going a little bit better. I haven’t been experiencing as much pain but I still don’t have much movement of my arm. I am more afraid to use it now since I don’t know if it is unionized.  I have been adapting well with out that arm by using other muscles and learning to lift with my side/body.  I have also been going to the gym to ride the recumbent bike and  lift weights with my lower body. It feels good to get moving again. I attribute my better attitude to focusing on what I can still do instead of what I can’t do. I just hard to believe it has been almost 8 weeks. I am so anxious to get the green light from the doctors. I had another follow up appt next week that I bumped up to this Friday. Next week just seemed like an eternity. i hope after this appointment I will be able to get in some therapy. I will post an update after my appointment Friday.

I got the call with MRI results. Looks like I may have a small tear of the glenoid labrum. Here is link that explains more about it. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00426 

That explains why wearing that figure 8 brace was so extremely painful. It put so much pressure on my shoulder. I will see the doctor next week. It didn’t sound like I needed surgery right now but could use some rehab. Although, I am not sure how much PT I can do with a broken collarbone. I talked to my friend Dan, who is a PT,  it was comforting talking to him since I didn’t get in to see my doctor to help fully explain the results before the weekend. Sounds like the best thing to do is just wait until the collarbone is healed and than see if I am still having the issues with my shoulder. The surgery can always be done later if I am still experiencing pain.

It just really sucks being laid up like this!  After 5 weeks of not being able to raise my arm to shave, put on deodorant, wash my hair, dry my hair, lift my kids or ride bike, it has become very difficult and frustrating. They should really make it standard issue for anti-depressants for all athletes with injuries. I’m certainly not good at sitting on the couch waiting to be normal again. Even when I broke my hand four years ago, I was able to continue to race. This is longest setback I have had in my life.

I have always admired the special and paralympic athletes, but being injured for this long really makes me appreciate all the people (especially the veterans) that have lost limbs and continue to go on with such strength. 

- Leslie

I just got back from my Doctor visit. The bones are starting to make an attempt to from a bridge but it is far from unionized. He wants me to still wear the brace (which I gave up on last week) and immobilize it for another 4 weeks!! I am also scheduled for an MRI on Thursday to determine the pain in my shoulder joint/arm. It makes clicking noises with movement and I still get shooting pains down the side of my arm. This seems to be the source of most of my lingering pain. I hope they are able to determine what is causing the pain and take care of that while we are waiting on the collarbone to heal.

It is pretty depressing to think I will be out for another 4 weeks while Lance is up and riding again already. He broke his 2 weeks after me. I have to keep reminding myself that the extra weeks of recovery was for the trade-off of not having a 5 inch scar from inserting a plate.

Feeling much much better everyday now. The swelling is completely gone and I have just a bit of yellow bruising left. With the swelling down you can really see the bones and fragments sticking up through my skin. It’s not a pretty sight. I was trying on a couple shirts last night to find something to wear to a concert and spaghetti straps and tank aren’t exactly flattering with bones poking up. I hope the Dr was right when he said that is an easy problem to correct down the road. I have to wait until the bones completely heal and than they can go in and shave down the bumps. Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen before summer season. We went to the Mighty Texas dog walk today. I brought a pack to carry all the free goodies they vendors give out. I quickly learned I am not ready to wear a pack again. I will have to start investigating larger fanny packs that only go around your waist because I won’t be wearing a pack on my shoulder for awhile. I worked out four times this weekend. Nothing super challenging but I felt really good to sweat again. Amazing that as light as I went with my work out with the weights I still feel the soreness.  It has also made me a bit tired again and sleeping is probably the most uncomfortable thing. I can only sleep on my back most of the night and on my right side a little but only in the correct angle so my shoulder doesn’t fall forward. I can’t wait to roll over on to my left side!

My Dr appt is on Monday and I am anxious to find out how the bones are healing. I am really to step it up if the Dr gives me the green light. Pray for good news to come. 

- Leslie

I have counted the days waiting for 4 weeks to pass. If I have grown any new bone it should have started by now. The four week mark was my mark to start working out again. I didn’t want to go all the way to the gym and than find out I couldn’t do much there so I decided to start on my treadmill.  I slipped on a sling to keep my arm completely immobilized. I started out walking and eventually had to add some incline. I can’t run yet so I set the incline as high as my treadmill would go. I slowly increased the pace and set a goal to walk 40 minutes. It felt great to be exercising again. I actually was breaking a sweat! I made my 40 minute goal and got off to lift some weights. It’s hard to lift weights with only one arm but I managed to find a few exercises that didn’t make my shoulder uncomfortable. I felt really good about my first workout and now very excited to try the gym this week and spin a little on a stationary bike.

- Leslie

I read in the paper today about a group of Cyclist called Road to Recovery. It’s a group of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They road from San Antonio to Austin and wll now head to Arlington on Saturday. What an inspiration to see these guys back on their bikes. Many of them in hand-cycles due to loss of their legs. The program is designed to raise money for and awareness of the issues that returning veterans face. What a great program. If you want to read more about it here is a link to an article that was in the San Antonio paper. www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_088103621.html

You can also follow the ride by joining Facebook Road 2 Recovery group. You can read the blog on Bighollywood.brietbart.com

I wish those guys all the best!

- Leslie

I am definitely getting better now. I have stopped wearing my figure 8 brace because it hurts the muscles in my back. I still can’t use my arm but I try to hold it back and straight. It’s still frustrating starting to feel better but unable to do any activities. I am so bored!!!! 

My follow up visit with the Dr is not until April 13th. That is when I will have my collarbone x-rayed again and find out if the bones have fused. Hopefully,  I will be able to start on some lower body stuff by the end of the week.

– Leslie