#trustforlife

[titaniummanblog]

3-30-2018

This post is going to be a recap of the things I have some since my 2017 posts. I can’t seem to find a way to incorporate these very easily so I’ll just list them. Well, the night before the Gift of Life 5K my wife and I learned we would become parents in 2018 so that’s a big one. We had been trying for a while so that was a true blessing. 3 weeks later, on my 31st birthday I competed in the WinSprint Triathlon in Winchester which had a similar run course to the Gift of Life 5K and I ran a little quicker. The weekend after that, October 13th  and 14th,I participated with 11 of my good friends in the Bourbon Chase. The Bourbon Chase is a 200 mile relay along KY’s Bourbon Trail where 12 team members split the mileage over 36 different running legs. I had the shortest mileage at 13 miles over 3 runs. In November I competed in a 5K at the KY Horse Park with some friends from my therapy clinic, and to wrap the year up Chrissie and I ran a 5K in Frankfort. She almost beat me, but we tied to the tenth of a second so she is yet to have that claim.

In anticipation of our son being born in late May I am continuing to train, go to therapy, and stock up on sleep. My race schedule has calmed since the end of ’17, but things are starting to ramp back up. To signify getting back to what I used to do I have signed up for the 2018 Derby Marathon and will trudge along for 26.2 slow miles in about a month. Last weekend I ran with my sister’s relay team to complete a team marathon at White Hall in Madison County through the sleet, snow, and rain. All in all training is going well. I have backed off to 3 days a week of therapy and ramped back up to full time work of slinging beans for Shuffle Bean Coffee. Life’s busy, but whose isn’t!

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Finally, the heat has broken and it’s not too miserable outside. I’ve started cycling every Tuesday night from Keeneland with a group of riders from the Bluegrass Cycling Club and am looking forward to getting my workout in this evening. Today has been an unusual day, in that I normally go to physical therapy first thing, but I had a follow up appointment with my Sports Medicine doctor this morning, and everything is looking great. In fact, my doctor expressed that he has never seen anyone come back from such a devastating injury as quickly as I am progressing.

I have to give most of the credit to everyone else. I have had so much support over the last ten months from friends, family members, and long-lost acquaintances to make my good days great and my bad days few and far between. Without great nurses, PAs, and doctors at UK I could not have been set up for such a successful recovery. Without my therapists, initially at Cardinal Hill, and the whole team at Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy I couldn’t have made it this far. There’s still a long way to go and hurdles to cross, but everything is going great. Thanks for the support and prayers. Keep them up please, they’re working!

[titaniummanblog]

I was at physical therapy this morning and my mind started to wander off while I was on the recumbent bicycle. My therapist, Jim, was working with another client, and I got to thinking about my body like an automobile. My surgeons have been like the mechanics at the body shop who have put me back together, but without a good technician my motor would never be the same. I believe most folks view therapy as their exercise for the day, but I try to view most sessions as a small tune up for my evening routine. When I get home I like to test my progress and make sure the small tweaks Jim has made at therapy are transferring to my improvement at the activities I enjoy like running and biking.

 Last night I biked twenty-three miles. It wasn’t fast, but it didn’t hurt. My heart is getting used to the increased cardio, and I am starting to feel better during my exercise sessions. At therapy I can feel my legs getting stronger and my calf waking up to ensure a more normal running form. I’m getting there! We are just over two months until the Gift of Life 5K. Lots of people have told me they are going to participate and nothing makes that more concrete than signing up. Go here https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Winchester/GiftofLife5k and use LISLEADAMS as a discount for $5 off. See you there.

[titaniummanblog]

At physical therapy I see all sorts of folks; young, old, fit, out of shape, able bodied, disabled, but the most distinguishable trait for recognizing someone who will truly recover is attitude. At this point I have been going to therapy since early December and I have been attending with my current therapist since mid-March. To say the least I have developed a very good relationship with my therapists and their techs as well as with the other patients. At the end of my therapy session I stretch, get stretched, and ice my joints, which in total takes about forty-five minutes to an hour. In that time I am able to see the other patients and talk with patients who are also in their stretching segment.  This is a wonderful time to me to discuss progress with my peers and notice the effort being put forth by the patients doing their exercises on the floor. Witnessing everyone work toward recovery is also a daily reminder of the gains I have made since beginning therapy.

  Last night I ran a mile straight. It is probably the slowest mile I have ever completed without walking, but taking into account I was bed-ridden only seven months ago, I consider that mile a miracle. Each day I wake up, and my ankle is tight, and my knee sometimes hurts, but I am thankful. Therapy reminds me of how far I have come, and getting out for a jog keeps me motivated for how much further I have to go. In just over two months I will see everyone at the Gift of Life 5K. Please go ahead and sign up so we can adequately plan for snacks, shirts, etc. Remember, use my name in all caps and get $5 off. Discount code LISLEADAMS

https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Winchester/GiftofLife5k

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The link to the article is in the post below.

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On most of my non-injury posts I try to specifically talk about running. However, today I think I’ll head a different route and discuss diet. When you are training for anything, whether it be a 5K or Ironman, the goal is to increase fitness and maintain or lose weight. For me, I can make some slight tweaks to my regular diet to achieve the desired weight, usually by cutting out fried foods and sweets, but that doesn’t always make me feel great. A couple of weeks ago my wife went out of town for a Midwives’ conference in Chicago. I consider the physical therapy I am doing to be training so I try to stay mindful of my diet. With Chrissie out of town I maintained a good caloric measurement of calories burned versus calories consumed, but I did not do very well on nutritional value; lots of beer cheese and pretzels, popcorn, and hardly any vegetables at all. I felt terrible by the end of the week. Basically, we all know the deal, if you want to feel good and maintain/lose weight you need to eat nutritious meals throughout the day and be conscious of caloric intake. I’m working on it. But, if you need a cheat day, come visit the Circuit Clerk’s tent at the Beer Cheese Festival this weekend (downtown Winchester) for some more information on the Gift of Life 5K.

[titaniummanblog]

In the last few weeks I have had a lot of successes. I have lost my walking boot and gone to shoes, swelling is dissipating, and my leg is actually starting to feel strong. When I feel good I feel like being the “old” me. Over the weekend I had family in from Texas so I made an effort to come and visit with the family. As a result of being in Winchester I ran into a lot of friendly faces who were happy to see me up and about. Many of them read this blog and I hope this can be helpful for instruction or inspiration or anything useful. As a result of being the “old” me, I have been able to spend more time back at work, going to meetings and actually producing instead of sitting at my desk all of the time. I have been able to ride my bicycle outside to get some exercise and have recently gotten back into the pool for laps. All of this being said I still have a long way to go and lots of work ahead of me. My goal is still to run every bit of the Gift of Life 5k in September and with everyone holding me accountable I will be able! Please sign up and come run with me. The link is https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Winchester/GiftofLife5k and you can receive $5 off by using my promo code: LISLEADAMS

[titaniummanblog]

Triathlon days.