Another Comeback ???

    I know I'm long over due on updating my blog,  but as I wrote in my last published post in 2008,  it was never my intent to write about being injured and create  a pity party.  In fact, within months of my last post, I was back on my bike when another cyclist, who was descending a hill in front of me, made a u -turn and I struck him going about 25-30 mph and flipped over my handle bars. 

I have no idea if I will write anything that anyone will read or if anyone will follow me. but I have a lot to share regarding what has happened to me the past 4 years and what is going on now in my life. I'm healed and have started racing again but the path back to health was long and filled with many detours.

My injuries were numerous with the most severe being a compression fracture of the back at T-11/T12.  I spent the better part of the past 3.5 years in various states of despair, feeling sorry for myself, hurting and generally doing very little athletically. It was one of the worst phases of my life. I felt lost with which direction life was taking me.  I didn't know if I should fight through the pain and forge ahead or find a new direction.. At one point I had convinced myself I would just start hiking. After all it was just walking and I could still do that.   It would keep me in relatively good shape and  I could see some great places in the state of Colorado. I never acted on this impulse.

During this period of being out of commission I vowed to be  a supportive husband and father,  growing Mile High Multisport and catching  up on chores around the house that had been neglected during my triathlon years.  I took the kids to swim, golf, hockey, guitar... you name it. If they wanted to go somewhere the answer was always yes.  Kathy continued racing and I'm glad she did.  In 2010, on her 50th birthday. she took 3rd in the world at the Ironman World Championship (http://www.milehighmultisport.com/category/training-tips/race/).  I was proud of my role in supporting her and the victory was all of ours as we really worked well as a family during this journey. But something was still missing from my life but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was getting through each day but I wasn't fulfilled in the least bit with anything I was doing except work which was going very well. Perhaps Gods plan for me was to be supportive and live vicariously though my clients?

I continued to see different Doctors and therapists in an attempt to make a return to being active. On occasion I would feel better, attempt to run 1/2 a mile  only to have the same aching feeling in my body.  My back throbbed, my head ached and I knew something wasn't right.  I saw acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapist etc.  My pill box rivaled that of my grandmothers in her 80's. I got to the point where I was photocopying the sheet which contained all my medicines so it made filling out medical questionnaires easier.

At the end of 2010, I started to feeling pains in my stomach and my throat hurt.  I was convinced I was dying of cancer. The number of aches and pains throughout my body was increasing. I asked myself what was the purpose of all the medications and herbs I was taking if I continually felt worse. I made the decision to see two Dr.s I had been treating with.  One suggested I take more medicine and the other questioned why I was taking some of medicines prescribed.  A full blood panel was ordered which came back clear with the exception of a very high Iron count.  I took a special blood test and was sent to a specialist who told me that everything was fine.  During that meeting, he questioned why I was taking some of the medicines I was prescribed.  So now, besides myself, I had two Dr.'s asking why I was on certain medicines.  I knew immediately what I would do and as soon as I got home I threw away everything with the exception of my sleeping pills.  I felt better, but I still wasn't "living life" so my mind continued to search for what was my next course of action would be in my quest to be happy.

 I turned to an old friend whom I hadn't spoken to in years. We had reacquainted via face book.  Michel Herskovitz, Performance Acupuncture and Lifestyle Medicine ) is an Oriental Medicine Dr. out of Las Vegas, Nevada.  When I last saw Michel she was on this crazy "Raw Food Diet" and quite honestly I thought she was out of her mind. Something inside of me said to reach out to Michel and before I knew it, I was on my way to spend 10 days with her at her residence which doubles as a retreat for people like me who are searching for a better way. What happened over the next 10 days changed my life.  When I arrived she confiscated my electronics. There was no tv in her house and I knew immediately I was just unplugged from my normal day to day living. When I went to visit Michelle I couldn't run 1 mile without experiencing pain. I wasn't cycling and I could swim 2000 but with no intensity.   Since then, I've completed a half marathon (one year to the day after I left her retreat) and am signed up for various triathlons throughout the summer, including a 70.3 race in April.  I'm happy to report that I am feeling a lot better than I have in years and take no medications, herbs, supplements at all!! Not a single thing!  In my next blog, I will report more on what Michel did with me that changed my life.....