OUCH! Pop, pop, pop, snap, crackle, pop, pop, pop, pop

I tore my distal bicep tendon on Andrea's birthday so we had the pleasure of spending a few hours in urgent care waiting for the Dr. to tell me what I pretty much already knew.  I need to get a MRI.

By the looks of it, how it feels, and how it happened, I'm guessing surgery within a week (If they ever call to schedule the MRI).  Then a few weeks in a cast or brace, a few months of PT, and maybe sometime around April or May I'll be able to resume cycling and swimming.  

The question is...  Do I plan on Ironman Coeur d'Alene, or do I cancel?  

I'll wait until after I see the orthopedist to make that decision.  So, for now, I'm in a holding pattern.

2015 Comes to an end

December:

December started with my friend, co-worker, and running partner Jon getting drawn in the lottery to run Western States 100 mile race, from Squaw Valley to Auburn, in June.  He had less than a 4% chance of getting drawn his first year in the lottery.  I’m looking forward to pacing him on the last leg of the race and getting him across the finish line in under the 30 hours cutoff, or maybe even under 24 hours for a silver buckle.

The next day I ran California International Marathon in a comfortable 4 hours 21 minutes.  I’m taking the rest of December pretty easy in recovery mode.  Getting ready for conditioning before Ironman training starts at the end of February.

I made a quick trip to Houston to see Andrea’s niece graduate from nursing school.  (So proud of Heather.  Not easy to graduate from nursing school with honors while raising 3 kids!) Then back home and finished up the term at school before Christmas break. 

Christmas break is here and time to relax and spend time with friends.

I’m sure the remaining days of this year will bring some thoughtful reflections of 2015.  I feel like the last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy, and I need to take time to be thankful for the life that I’ve been given.

Looking forward to that 16 mile run on New Years morning to bring in 2016.

I think that throughout 2016 this blog will become more of a blog about my journey to my first full Ironman.  (Thus one of the meanings of the title “iron”.)