In the Locks of Old Man Winter...

I'm taking Randall's advice and posting from the Morgan world! I certainly hope that this post finds the rest of our team in good health and riding/running strong!! I am so sorry that I have not been able to send in or post updates and certainly hope that this LONG post does not bore you:)
First of all, back on Dec. 23 (yes, 2 days before Christmas 2010) my 7 yr. old, Max, was sick and I had taken him to church to literally lie in a pew while I help many of the ladies decorate the sanctuary for the Christmas Eve services the next day. As he rested, we worked. Then, when it was time for us to go, I leaned down to help him up and picked him up the wrong way. I did not realize it immediately, but as the day went on, my lower back began to really bother me! After running a few errands (last minute gifts), the evening came and I was loosing mobility quickly. Somehow, by the grace of God and complete will power, I made it through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, hearing my daughter sing at church, going to family dinner, setting up presents, etc... THEN IT HIT!! The day after Christmas, I was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee and I collasped! Somehow, Scott carried me to the bedroom and all I remember was that the room was spinning and I was dry-heaving and sweat was rolling off of me! The kids were in a panic and I knew something was seriously wrong!! I have never had pain make me nausiated, and I've birthed 2 children and had several injuries... This was scary!! So, I called a family friend, who also happens to be a spine surgeon... After several tests, a herniated disk was the culprit! So, 12 days of steriods later, the inflammation was decreasing! side note: Prednosione (sp?) is awesome!! I didn't sleep, and if you think I have lots of energy without the Pred., I'm sure you would have been scared of me on this stuff! Let's just say that my house has not been cleaner! I called our housekeeper and told her to take the day off! I was scrubbing the oven, cleaning out the refrig, going through the kids' toys and old clothes... Good Will loved me!! Anyway, back to my injury... so, the treatment was 6 to 8 weeks of NO RUNNING and NO RIDING except on a stationary bike!! I could do (and now love) hot yoga, but I have NEVER NOT RUN in the past 25 years!! So, this was an adjustment, but let me tell you that I will do whatever I am supposed to do so that I do not go through that pain again!!! Needless to say, Hot Yoga and Christina's (Teenie's) inversion table have become my friends!! When a hard-core runner cannot run, life for family members can be difficult (haha!) but, SouthernOm is awesome and I've been going 3 and 4 times a week! I always blew yoga and pilates off as "softie crap!" but boy have I eaten those words!! Seriously, I lost 3 pounds without meaning to and have built core strength like you would not believe! Forgive me for ever thinking yoga is not a heart-rate-accelerator!!!!

My back?? Well, I am not 100%, but I feel 99.9% better and this Thursday will be my 6th week "anniversary" so I'm going to give a light jog a try! Last week, I had a horrible head cold and am looking so forward to warmer weather.

Saturday, Sam and I spent the day getting certified / re-certified for indoor spinning classes and then I taught for Gis. for 2 hours yesterday! My legs were fine and I'm thankful for many things: #1) To have had this injury during the Winter months, #2) To still be able to spin my legs and do hot yoga, and #3) to read and keep up with all of you and your strength pours into my spirit!! I hope to run in the Reedy River 10K and would love to be able to ride in at least one of the Spring Series races, but this week will be the test week and I will play it all by ear.

Sorry again for the long post, but as Randall said, the blog is a great way for us to keep up with each other! Hope this is OK! Have a great day and a healthy week! Old Man Winter can kiss my...