A few things have happened since June, most of them were less than ideal. But it's not all bad news - some great stuff has happened too. So, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.
I've had to pull out of both Ironman 70.3 Yeppoon and Ironman NZ. I've had an ultrasound on my shoulder at the end of June which found two tears in my supraspinatus, one MAJOR and one a little less significant. At the same time, a doctor injected some cortisone which flared for two days and since has settled the aching and most of the pain first thing in the morning.
Since that needle episode, I've seen a shoulder specialist and was told I need an MRI to help him assess the extent of the damage and then surgery to reattach my supraspinatus back to the head of my humerus with plastic anchors - and that with 4-6 weeks in a sling and then 4-6 months before I can swim properly, it is curtains for Ironman NZ next year.
I was gutted. I immediately declared three days of mourning, which turned into seven. I cried, I was angry, I tried bargaining and denial, then I just accepted the fact that I can't do my dream race in March, the one I've been training for, oh well, HOW LONG, yeah, only for THE LAST TWO BLOODY YEARS!!!!!
I've spent a huge amount of time, money, blood, sweat and tears on getting to IMNZ 2012 and sadly someone decided to close the road to glory. I'm still angry - that may not change for a while, but I'm being constructive and doing constructive things about it like smashing the few weights I can still do with my upper body like theraband curls and rows and pulldowns. I haven't been able to walk for the past two days, BTW :-)
So now for the good news.
I'm off to do Zumba Basic 1 Instructor training on 19 August. I finally had the opportunity to do it, and so I'm doing it. A friend bought me new dance sneakers for a birthday present, and I can now fit into all the pretty dance pants I bought in Sydney in 2009. Woohoo! I have to get strapped up and not do anything overhead with the bad arm/shoulder but that's okay.
I'm moving house next Friday to the unit right next door to my current one. It's $50 a week cheaper and has brand new paint and if the carpet guy ever turns up today, it will have brand new carpet too. Score!
What else...?
I'm going to teach Zumba to make some extra money, which was going to pay for my dirty Triathlon habit but now it's to help pay the bills while I'm off after surgery and to replace the time I was spending doing my tri training. Clearly there's no need for four hour bike rides when your surgeon has banned you from your bike, so I needed a gap filler.
Between the few hours a week of training and work, I'm doing okay - it's starting to take my mind off the fact that the next 9 months are going to be really, really challenging. My attitude is better than a week ago and although I cried when I emailed the IMNZ race office to withdraw, I found out yesterday that there's going to be an Ironman in Melbourne from 2012! Yay! Maybe I can do 2013 or 2014...and I don't have to necessarily go to NZ to do my first race. I will still do NZ, it may still be my first one but we'll see.
So, if you want a personal trainer, want a Zumba class near you or want a new weights program, give me a yell!
