My first biking accident

Well my back is doing great, and my hair is now a nice mahogany color, (it only took about 8 hours at the hairdresser's to fix it), and I have gotten over a major milestone, Falling off my bike, and I did not even have to leave the privacy of my own home to do so. I picked up my updated bike at Wheelworks. I got a tune up, new handlebars, slick tires, and pedals that fit my new clip on shoes. I thought that I was getting ahead of myself by reading up on how to attempt to clip in for the first time. They are shoes that snap into your pedals like bindings. So I read people's websites and laughed at their expense about their horror stories, and how they attempted their first ride. Some did it in the middle of a doorway, some on a soft surface, me, not so much. I attempted it in my kitchen next to the kitchen table. So I snapped in one foot, pushed my foot down so hard to get it in the pedal, that the other pedal went flying into my other leg. This startled me, and the bike quickly swept under me. I went flying onto the bar (a major ouch even for a girl) and tried to break my fall with the kitchen table. All the while I was still clipped into my bike. Luckily Bri was there to help break my fall. All I could do was laugh, but really I wanted to cry. I have spent all week at the acupuncturist and finally my back is doing better. I now have a bruised hand, wrist, knee, back, and parts that I cannot disclose on the world wide web. So I am going to attempt to use the shoes on a stationary bike at the gym, and get on the bike when I feel like I am not going to break my neck. On a brighter note, I had a great swim on Saturday morning with my team. We are continuing to learn drills that follow the total immersion model. You can read up on how to be a better swimmer and see some helpful videos at www.totalimmersion.com . It is quite helpful I have to say. Hoping that the back continues to hold out. I am doing well on my acupuncture diet, although watching friends eat pizza, or anything with cheese is difficult but I am feeling pretty good. I will do anything to stay healthy all over. Well enjoy the Oscars tonight, and for all us teachers, its back to the real world tomorrow!

Big Red

Just wanted to update on my status. I have gone to acupuncture twice this week and still have another appointment on Friday. They put me on a special diet that is supposed to make me more balanced, which in turn will translate to less pain. HOWEVER this diet means no cheese, sweets, sugar, or red wine. Going to give it a shot if it helps with the pain. After my last appointment in which they told me not to submerse myself in water or do anything strenuous, I went swimming. Felt good while I was there, then I was in more pain that night. So I am going to take it easy until I get ahead of this. So since I am just sitting around right now, I got a bit bored and went to the hairdresser. I now have flaming red hair. Do not know exactly how this happened, but i'm sure it will cost me some money to get it looking semi normal again. When the hairdresser washed it out and said "I hope you are ready for St. Paddy's Day!" I knew I was in trouble. He compared it to Debra Messing and Marcia Cross. I am going to go with it for a little bit, so if you do not happen to see me before then, here is a picture!

Pokey

Well after my last post, we had our very first homeowner crisis. I was cleaning and kept hearing a surge of water, and thought "wow our dishwasher is really loud." Eventually I decided to shut the dishwasher off and go down into the basement. I quickly realized that water was shooting out of a pipe. Sweet. So I played the old damsel in distress and ran over to a neighbor that was shoveling and asked him to help me find the water shut off. Well alls well that ends well. The plumbers came out, had a good chuckle and our pipes are now insulated. Maybe it was all that stress, but I managed to throw my back out again. Saturday I woke up and was in agony. Brian was on the phone all morning trying to locate an acupuncturist in the area. Finally the lovely people at Plum Blossom told us to come right in. I have to say I am a total believer now. They stuck me in the hand, and put balls in my ears, and I instantly felt a release of pressure. I have been holding my own today but still playing it safe. I have set up 6 more times, so that I can hopefully have some pain free days and not have to worry about being sidelined like I was in August. Hopefully I will be back to training soon enough. I am going to take it easy and keep up with the swimming and biking, but it may take me a while to feel comfortable running. Good thing it is school vacation week!!! I was planning on turning the heat way up and having some dirty monkeys and pretend like I was back in Mexico like last year's vacation. But then we were told that we are heating the unit above us, so that is out. Oh and the acupuncturist told me no alcohol or caffeine, so that plan is out.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Happy Valentines Day to all. As I sit here on my comfy couch on this fantastic snow day, I figured I would be somewhat productive and update my friends about my triathlon training. First of all, I am already halfway to my fundraising mark and am looking forward to once again, surpassing that number. I had my first training last Saturday at Simmons College. It was rather nerve wracking, about 100 people, with our pasty white skin, trying to squeeze into our bathing suits and caps. We basically jumped in and had a swimming test. Had to swim one length of the pool while the mentors and coach watched us and told us which lane to swim in. I was told lane 4 and quickly realized that it was the super duper "competitive" lane. Not having ever been a "competitive" swimmer, I felt a bit out of place, but I totally faked it. We learned some interesting drills to help us move more freely through the water. Since we had to fit about 7 people in a lane, I was trying to be careful not to injure any of my teammates by kicking my gangly legs. All in all it was a productive first training session. Hopefully I will learn some more drills so that I can amp up the swimming since I know I am not so much "competitive" when it comes to running.
My team is quite an ecclectic group of people, and I am looking forward to getting to know them better and to add people to my TNT family.