Triathlon Training and Emergency Rooms - My Public Service Announcement
It's been a while since my last update, but I have had quite a bit happening.
I went to a mini-retreat last weekend, and we worked on a Tuscan room box. We stayed up late, giggled, drank lots of wine, and generally had a fabulous time. In spite of working on it 4 days straight, I still have a lot of work to do so I'll post pictures later.
This week marks 14 weeks before my big Half-Ironman training event. Since I've been sporadically training (i.e., not at all), it's crunch time... not a moment more to procrastinate!
I went out Wednesday for what was supposed to be a 20 mile ride. It was hot, but I had on my cute sleeveless jersey, bike shorts, and two ice-cold bottles of water. I was having fun, and looking forward to pushing myself to see how quickly I could get the mileage in and get home.
Barely 3.5 miles into the ride, I was riding about 25 mph down a slight incline. Breezy... yay! I started to slow down to make a left turn, looked behind me to be sure no one was driving up, and leaned into the curve.
Next thing I knew, I was down on the ground. You know it'll hurt when it happens so quickly you don't have time to brace yourself, but at the same time you have enough time to think "oh man, this is gonna be bad".
Apparently, I'd hit a seam in the road that was uneven, my wheels caught, and I was flung onto my left side.
Being a self-respecting bicyclist, the first thing I did was check my bike. The handlebar tape is torn and will have to be replaced and I scratched up the brake lever and pedal clip pretty good. Overall though, I was happy to see that nothing major was wrong with the bike.
Then I started feeling dizzy. And nauseated. I sat down on the curb, took off my helmet, and had a few sips of water. I debated going on, or riding back home. Riding back home started sounding pretty good, other than the fact that my head was killing me.
Then, I saw my helmet. It was cracked in not one, but two places. If you crack a helmet, just know that: a. you hit so hard you definitely won't be feeling well but are lucky you aren't brain dead, and b. you shouldn't EVER ride with a damaged helmet -- if you fall again, you won't have head protection.
Valuing my cranial wholeness, I wouldn't be going any further with my noggin exposed. I called the hubby and had him come get me.
Long story short(ish), we went to Care Now, who took my money and made me wait an hour only to do nothing but tell me to go to the emergency room (sarcastic font: boy, glad that all happened quickly so I wouldn't be risking a brain bleed... thanks, guys!). Once at the ER, we waited some more, and finally got into a room where I had x-rays, a CT scan (determining I have a concussion), and the oh-so-fun process of getting my road rash cleaned (I'll spare you the details, but I may or may not have called the resident a "son of a biscuit").
My PSA: always, always, ALWAYS wear your helmet. You never know what could happen (or when), and these two cracks could've been on my skull. I am so happy and thankful to have walked away without worse damage.
More dollhouse updates later, I promise.
P.S... much thanks to the three cars that stopped to ask me if I was okay while I waited for Larry. I really appreciated your caring concern.
I went to a mini-retreat last weekend, and we worked on a Tuscan room box. We stayed up late, giggled, drank lots of wine, and generally had a fabulous time. In spite of working on it 4 days straight, I still have a lot of work to do so I'll post pictures later.
This week marks 14 weeks before my big Half-Ironman training event. Since I've been sporadically training (i.e., not at all), it's crunch time... not a moment more to procrastinate!
I went out Wednesday for what was supposed to be a 20 mile ride. It was hot, but I had on my cute sleeveless jersey, bike shorts, and two ice-cold bottles of water. I was having fun, and looking forward to pushing myself to see how quickly I could get the mileage in and get home.
Barely 3.5 miles into the ride, I was riding about 25 mph down a slight incline. Breezy... yay! I started to slow down to make a left turn, looked behind me to be sure no one was driving up, and leaned into the curve.
Next thing I knew, I was down on the ground. You know it'll hurt when it happens so quickly you don't have time to brace yourself, but at the same time you have enough time to think "oh man, this is gonna be bad".
Apparently, I'd hit a seam in the road that was uneven, my wheels caught, and I was flung onto my left side.
Being a self-respecting bicyclist, the first thing I did was check my bike. The handlebar tape is torn and will have to be replaced and I scratched up the brake lever and pedal clip pretty good. Overall though, I was happy to see that nothing major was wrong with the bike.
Then I started feeling dizzy. And nauseated. I sat down on the curb, took off my helmet, and had a few sips of water. I debated going on, or riding back home. Riding back home started sounding pretty good, other than the fact that my head was killing me.
Then, I saw my helmet. It was cracked in not one, but two places. If you crack a helmet, just know that: a. you hit so hard you definitely won't be feeling well but are lucky you aren't brain dead, and b. you shouldn't EVER ride with a damaged helmet -- if you fall again, you won't have head protection.
Valuing my cranial wholeness, I wouldn't be going any further with my noggin exposed. I called the hubby and had him come get me.
Long story short(ish), we went to Care Now, who took my money and made me wait an hour only to do nothing but tell me to go to the emergency room (sarcastic font: boy, glad that all happened quickly so I wouldn't be risking a brain bleed... thanks, guys!). Once at the ER, we waited some more, and finally got into a room where I had x-rays, a CT scan (determining I have a concussion), and the oh-so-fun process of getting my road rash cleaned (I'll spare you the details, but I may or may not have called the resident a "son of a biscuit").
My PSA: always, always, ALWAYS wear your helmet. You never know what could happen (or when), and these two cracks could've been on my skull. I am so happy and thankful to have walked away without worse damage.
P.S... much thanks to the three cars that stopped to ask me if I was okay while I waited for Larry. I really appreciated your caring concern.
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