About Me

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I’m a cycling fanatic in the information technology and security field with a bachelors in Social Welfare and a some training in the visual arts. I’m a son, a brother, a husband, and a father. I am good with my hands, still consider myself an artist, and could stand to lose a few pounds.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Clavicle Break: Week 10 (August 25, 2018 - August 31, 2018)

Pain Level: 1
Discomfort: 1
Attire: Normal.
Sleeping: Bed.  Sleeping on my left side becoming possible.
Nutrition: Weight loss caloric intake, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around normally, but still being careful.  Starting to use the left arm almost as much as the right.
Physical Therapy: 5lb range of motion exercises plus some additional strength related movements.

Pain and Discomfort


Pain and discomfort continued to decline this week. Saturday was a little rough, because that was the day we took Dawson to Kill Creek Park for his first Triathlon (which he completely rocked, by the way - holy COW that boy has a competitive streak!). There was lots of walking and moving around, and it took its toll. Still, it wasn't too bad, considering how bad it was just a few weeks previous.

There continues to be minor pain in other areas around my chest.  It's mainly on the left side (go figure).  Under my arm about midway down it's sometimes sore when I breathe deeply.  It also shows up under and around my left shoulder blade towards my spine.  That's diminished somewhat if I can stretch and pop my back with the right twists (which do not aggravate my clavicle anymore).  This could be simply post-event-trauma that's going to need time to work itself out, but if it persists until my X-ray appointment on 9/19, I'll ask about it.

I think it's worth noting is that, while the clavicle itself appears mostly fine, with only a hint of "stickiness" now and again, there is still some discomfort around the joint every now and again - on both ends of the bone, actually.  Again, if that persists, I'll mention it, and maybe go for an MRI to see if there's anything there.

Most promising is that there have been multiple times this week when I've gotten up to do something, and only after I've finished what I wanted to do (go to the break room for more coffee, go talk with someone, etc.) did it occur to me that my collar bone hadn't occurred to me.  There was no pain or weirdness to notice.  That's a great thing!

Physical Therapy


I started adding a couple of additional weighted exercises into my physical therapy.  I'm still sticking with 5lbs until the doc clears me, but I think it's safe to add some curls, and bent-over dumbell rows.  I also ramped up my leg exercises with lunges, squats, and deadlifts.  I started planning additional cycling specific strength training, in addition to the structured plan I'd already committed myself to.

I skipped Saturday and Sunday spins, but got back on the saddle Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Good rides, and productive.

Equipment


I got a new saddle to replace the one that snapped during The Event. I went from a Fizik Aliante R1 Versus Evo Large, to a Fizik Arione R3 Versus Evo Large. The Arione is designed for someone with a little more flexibility than the Aliante was, and the R3 means it has their k:ium rails, rather than carbon. I used their saddle fit wizard to find this one, where before I'd been winging it. I went with the R3 k:ium rails because I just didn't feel like messing with the carbon rails this time around.  It was an immediate comfortable fit.

<-- Week Nine | Series | Week Eleven -- >

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Clavicle Break: Week 9 (August 18, 2018 - August 24, 2018)

Pain Level: 1, occasional ibuprofen.
Discomfort: 1-4
Attire: Normal.
Sleeping: Bed.
Nutrition: Weight loss caloric intake, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around normally, but still being careful.
Physical Therapy: 5lb range of motion exercises.

I skipped my Saturday light intensity spin session - I just wasn't feeling it, and we had a late night with our 5 year old anyway.  I did get up Sunday and rocked a 60 minute session after a careful night's sleep.  As hoped, there was no pain Sunday morning after Saturday's soreness, though the collar bone still felt "sticky" as they say.  I think that's reasonable evidence that how I sleep makes a huge difference.

The rest of the week saw my normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday sessions, each one going very well.

I have to admit, at the beginning of the week I was starting to worry about how well was healing. I would have expected the stickiness to dissipate more by this point.  I  started wondering if the regular daily movement I'm subjecting the shoulder to, including physical therapy, was getting in the way of hard fibrous material forming.  So I did some additional and closer reading of what I could find online, and decided to relax a little.  8 weeks is too soon to start getting impatient with healing.  I'd know more during my final follow-up X-Rays on 9/19... unless something happens to cause obvious re-injury, that is.

Towards the end of the week the pain and discomfort continued to slowly dwindle.  It's hard to say it's getting better day to day, but the 2-3 week rolling average shows improvement.  Maybe there's nothing to worry about, and things are going the way they should be.

More than my actual shoulder, it's the ribs and back I'm worried about.  I can't tell if it's tight muscles, or something else.  Either way, by the end of the day, laying down for the night is a notable relief.  It's like there's something there that, if I were only to stretch it out just the right way, everything would snap back into place.  I'll keep monitoring it and ask the PT about it if it continues.

Aside from that, as I'm looking forward I think I'm going to try to plan some strength training back into things as well.  I'm not interested in taking my cycling to a level that would require me being emaciated except for the legs.  Rather, I'm interested in being generally fit all around, but with an emphasis on cycling performance.  Upper body mass, frowned upon by the more elite cyclists, not only won't phase me, but is actually (especially now) that much more attractive.  I don't want to sacrifice my cycling fitness... I just want to add more body strength.  That balancing act will be the tricky part.

<-- Week Eight | Series | Week Ten -- >

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Mommy, what's a "tour"?

Dawson: Mommy, what's a tour?
Jami: It's like a trip. Like a tour of a country, or a tour of a factory...
Dawson: Like the Tour de France?
Jami: Yes.

... beat.

Dawson. Those boys oughta be done by now, don't you think?


Dawson is 5.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Clavicle Break: Week 8 (August 11, 2018 - August 17, 2018)

Pain Level: 1 to 2, occasional ibuprofen.
Discomfort: 4 to 10
Attire: Normal.
Sleeping: Bed.
Nutrition: Weight loss caloric intake, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around normally, but still being careful.
Physical Therapy: 5lb range of motion exercises.

Work continued as normal.  It's basically a desk job, so there isn't much physical strain to be had.  The most physical stress I put on myself this week was moving a monitor from one room to another.  I don't think that was overdoing it.

I continued riding the indoor trainer this week.  I'm sticking to the low intensity recovery sessions - and plan to until I get fully released by the doctor.  The previous week, all my sessions were 30 minutes.  This week, I stuck (mostly) to the plan I mapped out, calling for me to substitute 45 minute sessions in for the sessions that would have been high intensity.

That said, my motivation wasn't great.  I skipped Wednesday (30 minutes), but did ride Thursday evening for 45 minutes.

I did have a bit more general pain this week than previously.  The pain in my chest, most noticeable when breathing full deep breaths was back and worse than last week, and my collar bone seemed to be a little more upset at me as well.  Based on the timing and the fact that I haven't done anything physically strenuous this week tells me that I'm probably sleeping on it wrong - or the indoor training is to blame.

I'm going with sleeping habits for now.

If it doesn't settle down soon, I'm going to reach out to the doctor and ask them what they think.  I hope that it's just general aches and pains from the fairly intense trauma from the crash, but it may be a good idea to get a more professional opinion if it keeps up.

I did re-watch the video of the crash.  Call it morbid, but I wanted to watch the actual event frame by frame to see how things went down.  I was also interested in the conversations.  I've considered transcribing it... maybe it's just my way of continually processing it.  Fun stuff...

This week was also interesting from a mental standpoint: it was the first time a sense of unreality set in - that feeling that "this didn't really happen to me, and I'll wake up completely back to normal."  It wasn't a deep feeling by any means, but it was there.  I'm not sure why it took so long to happen, but there you have it.

<-- Week Seven | Series | Week Nine -->

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Clavicle Break: Week 7 (August 4, 2018 - August 10, 2018)

Pain Level: 1, no pain medication.
Discomfort: 1 to 10
Attire: Normal.
Sleeping: Bed.
Nutrition: Transitioning back to weight loss caloric intake, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around normally, but still being careful.
Physical Therapy: 3lb range of motion exercises.

This marks my return to relatively normal life as I return to work.  My first day back was Tuesday, August 7th.

Tuesday, August 7th was also my first day back on the trainer.  On Monday, the 6th, I moved the bike down to the basement and was able, without too much trouble, to get it reconnected to the Tacx Neo Smart trainer.  On Tuesday, I attempted my first short and easy 30 minute ride to test the waters and see how things felt.

They.  Felt.  Awesome.  I was grinning from ear to ear nearly the whole time.  I cannot describe how great it felt to be back on the saddle.  There was a very slight level of discomfort in the shoulder that came and went, and wasn't affected by my position.  All in all, this first session green lit future sessions without question.

I rode indoors again Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I posted to /r/TrainerRoad about my plan, and got some good feedback.  The plan was basically to follow the same workout schedule I was previously on, but replace every workout with a very low intensity workout.  I wanted to avoid anything that could cause me to pull to hard on the handlebars.  Furthermore, I'd start with 30 minute sessions only, and increase the time for what would have been intense sessions to 45 minutes and 60 minutes over a few weeks.  Everything would still be low intensity, but where the previous plan called for high intensity, I'd just increase the duration to 45 minutes, then 60 minutes as my body allowed.

Perhaps (hopefully) coincidentally, the latter part of this week saw an increase in pain in other, previously unnoticed areas, specifically between my shoulder blades, and at various areas around my rib cage.  Hearkening back to The Event, where I felt some distinct pains at various points in my back and sides, I became more and more convinced that I had done some ribs as well.  There wasn't any constant ache, but I felt some distinct soreness when breathing deeply as well as a curious NEED to breathe deeply.  I decided to weather it for another week or so.  If it stuck around through the 17th of August, I'd call the doctor about it.  The pain was minor, and wasn't preventing me from doing anything - call it a weakness, but not a limiter.

My replacement bike shopping landed on the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Movistar 9.0, with Campagnolo Record groupset.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) it won't be available in the U.S. until early 2019.  I took the time to see how it might compare to my Torelli, may she rest in peace...

Physical therapy continued this week, and I increased the weight from 2lbs to 3 lbs.  As before, the only movement that continued to cause some difficulty was the palm up front raise.

<-- Week Six | Series | Week Eight -->

Clavicle Break: Week 6 (July 28, 2018 - August 3, 2018)

Pain Level: 1 to 2, no pain medication.
Discomfort: 4 to 10
Attire: Pretty much normal.
Sleeping: Bed.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around fairly normally, but still being careful.
Physical Therapy: 2lb range of motion exercises.

I continued living Diet-Life this week, but started preparing for the trip to Colorado.  A friend and I drove out on the 31st.  It wasn't the most comfortable ride, but it wasn't horrific, either.

Physical therapy continued throughout the trip, and I was able to keep my nutrition levels up at maximal healing levels.  The palm up front raise continued to give me a little trouble this week as well.  Somehow, I figured this would be the case, and would be something to bring up to the physical therapist.  I'm using 2lbs weights at this point.

Since this is about the healing process, I won't go too much into the trip itself, other than to say I'd accepted the fact that I couldn't ride, so I enjoyed the time with friends.  I continued to focus on the Seven 622 SLX as my replacement bike, but the cost was starting to look practically out of reach.  I started looking around again, and was told about the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX by a friend.

Discomfort and pain levels had pretty much leveled off to about a 4 on the discomfort scale, ramping up to 9 or 10, then moving into real pain if I exerted myself too much.

The last day of the trip was, for some reason, the worst as far as pain goes.  I think the cumulative effect of the trip caught up with me.  This was the first time I'd taken pain medication since ditching the narcotics.  OTC Alleve for the win.

<-- Week Five | Series | Week Seven -->

Clavicle Break: Week 5 (July 21, 2018 - July 28, 2018)

Pain Level: 1 to 3 no pain medication.
Discomfort: 5 to 10
Attire: Getting back to normal, so long as it goes on without much strain.
Sleeping: Bed.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Getting around fairly normally, but still being very careful.
Physical Therapy: Body weight range of motion exercises.

I had my first follow up Orthopedic visit on the 26th of this week.  Until then, it was business as usual.  I had full range of motion nearly immediately in my shoulder, though there was stiffness and some pain that didn't seem to come from the clavicle itself.  I credit my small attempts at movement a few times a day in the days prior.  The X-Rays showed no sign of calcification, but that's completely normal.  The doctor was able to (gently) push and pull on the clavicle with no obvious movement, indicating that the bones were definitely knitting together, even if it didn't show on the X-Rays.  He gave me the go ahead to ditch the sling and start physical therapy.

He also released me back to work, just in time for my trip to Colorado (where I would have ridden the Copper Triangle with friends).  I felt better about taking PTO for that time, rather than doing it while still on medical leave.

Physical therapy consisted of body weight arm movements, including side raises, front raises (palm up and palm down), "coke can" raises, low resistance theraband cross body pulls, and finally shoulder blade compressions followed by toe-touches meant to stretch the back (that last one felt absolutely phenomenal).  I was prescribed these 3 times a day for 30 seconds, building 15 seconds a day until I reached two minutes.  After that, I could start adding light weights, starting with 2lbs, then 3lbs, and finally 5lbs, incremented weekly.  I could postpone the additional weight if the pain dictated it, but I was advised not to advance the weights.  This is recovery - not strength training.  The idea is to explore and identify problems, not exacerbate them.

The only exercise that gave me any trouble is the palm up front raise.  Something is stretched, torn, ripped, or otherwise damaged that catches at the top end of that movement.

I was very diligent with physical therapy this week.

A lot of time was spent in the recliner, though not as much as previously.  I continued with the YouTube videos, the cycling documentaries (having exhausted what I could easily find on Lance Armstrong), and followed the Tour de France through Thomas' win in Paris.

I was able to get out into the garage this week and really cleaned the bike up.  It was easier with both arms available, but I still approached it very carefully.  I didn't repair anything, but I did get all the dirt off of it and realigned the handlebars.  I found a couple of new things, though.  A barely noticeable, yet still worrisome deformity in the rear wheel, and a snapped rail in my saddle.  The rear wheel is concerning, but the saddle is toast.  The dent in the top tube is still a concern, but I was confident that neither it nor the weird deformity in the rear wheel would hinder any indoor training efforts.  Since that's all I planned to do for the foreseeable future, I wasn't that concerned.  However, I didn't have confidence in the frame (as awesome as it's been) for outdoor riding, so I started gathering info for my next bike.  I focused on aero road bikes this week, gathering a list of about 20 potentials.  The point of this is that through my injury, my love and passion for the sport hadn't diminished.  I was mentally, if not physically prepared to go all in, full gas, 100%.

My bike research settled on the Seven 622 SLX custom bike.  I started to think about how I could afford it.

All in all, this was the first week that things started feeling relatively normal.  I still did everything slowly, deliberately, and carefully, but I was able to do pretty much everything within reason.  It was living Diet-Life.  Life-Light.

Just in time for the trip to Colorado, where I wouldn't be riding the Copper Triangle with my friends.

<-- Week Four | Series | Week Six -->

Clavicle Break: Week 4 (July 14, 2018 - July 20, 2018)

Pain Level: 1 to 4, no pain medication.
Discomfort Level: 6-10
Attire:  Shorts and a sling.  Occasional button up shirts.
Sleeping: Recliner, then bed.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Slow, but able to move around much easier.
Physical Therapy: None

Week four saw more improvements in pain level, mobility, and nutritional intake.  I also moved back to bed, and out of the recliner.  It was with no small amount of satisfaction that I removed the sheets from the recliner, and largely put the living room back to normal.

That said, I still spent the vast majority of my time in the recliner.  I continued watching YouTube videos on cycling, documentaries about Lance Armstrong, and following the Tour de France.  Richie Porte - Ugh.  Makes my problems look small...

I was able to get up and spend more time at the computer, but only in short stretches due to the position required of my left arm.  I had about 15 to 20 minutes at a time before I had to take a break.  I'm not sure if the pain was from the break, or the tightness in soft tissue - I suspect the latter.  Most of my time on the computer was spent narrowing down the list of bike replacement candidates.

I was able to spend more time with my son playing Legos and Hotwheels.  He'd been very very good through the previous weeks, and seemed to understand that I just couldn't do some of the things I'd previously done.

I did attempt some time without the sling.  I didn't try moving my shoulder much, but I did let it hang free.  That lasted about a day and a half.  I called the doctor's office to find out what they recommended for physical therapy.  They answered that they recommended I stay in the sling 100% and save physical therapy for later.  I resisted for a day or so - convinced I knew my body better than they did, then went with their advice and went back to the sling as the discomfort mounted into pain.  I accepted, eventually, that maybe they had a little more experience with this than I.  My elbow was pretty well seized up though, so I worked that until I could at least open and close it fully, even if it did hurt some.  I continued with this even after putting the sling back on... I just saved it for when I was sitting down, or changing the sling out for shower time.

I did notice this week that I could rest some weight on the arm.  Sitting down, I could lean forward and relax with my elbows resting on my knees.  This was very encouraging, as it resembles the position I'd be in on the bike.  Also, simply relaxing in a different position felt great.

<-- Week Three | Series | Week Five -->

Clavicle Break: Week 3 (July 7, 2018 - July 13, 2018)

Pain Level: 4 to 7, weaning off Norco 5/325.
Discomfort Level: 10
Attire: Shorts and a sling.  Occasional button down shirts.
Sleeping: Recliner.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Slow, but getting more comfortable moving around.
Physical Therapy: None

Week three is more of the same as week two in terms of mobility and eating.  I did, however, stop taking pain medication.  True to what I'd been told and most of what I'd read, the constant pain dissipated during week three to the point that I was comfortable ditching the narcotics.  I still had to be careful though, b/c pain could easily ramp right back up to 10 if I moved wrong.  The constant ache was gone, but the bone and surrounding tissues were still very much broken.

I tried a night in our bed this week, but found it to be too uncomfortable, so I went back to the recliner.

To pass the time, I watched YouTube videos on cycling, Lance Armstrong documentaries, and followed the Tour de France.

I did find the motivation to head out to the garage and take a look at the bike.  I didn't clean it, I was only interested in a visual inspection.  I identified the following areas of damage - the handlebars were very much out of alignment, the handlebar tape on the right side was shredded, there was a dent of about 1.5" in the side of the top tube about halfway between the head tube and seat tube, and the rear tire was flat.  The dent wasn't deep and didn't appear structural, but it did cause me no small amount of concern.  I started gathering a list of potential replacement bikes.

That sharp pain in my right side seemed to resolve itself.  It was nowhere to be found this week.  Also, I didn't note any ribcage pain.  That was curious, and promising.

Showers continued to get easier and less painful, but I was still very very careful.

We went back into the doctor's office and they were able to remove those final two stitches.  They had to dig around a bit, but they got them.  They advised we keep it bandaged for another week or so, if only to avoid ripping it open by bumping it on something.  The skin was holding firm, but wasn't necessarily as strong as it would be when 100% healed.

All in all, healing appeared to be progressing fairly well.

<-- Week Two | Series | Week Four -->

Friday, August 17, 2018

Clavicle Break: Week 2 (June 30, 2018 - July 6, 2018)

Pain Level: 1-8, and tempered by Norco 5/325.
Discomfort Level: 10
Attire: Workout shorts and a sling.
Sleeping: Recliner.
Nutrition: Higher than normal calories to maximize healing, with supplements geared towards bone regrowth.
Mobility: Very low.
Physical Therapy: None

Week two is honestly a bit of a blur.

We did make it to my doctor to have the stitches removed.  This happened later in the week.  Getting there and back again was... unpleasant.  Not terribly painful, but certainly unpleasant.  Once there, they were able to pull all but two stitches, which were too deeply embedded.  They advised continued use of the bandage, wrapping, and antibiotics.  Another appointment was scheduled for the following week.

I lived in the recliner again this week.  Getting up only to shower and use the restroom.  It was very easy to aggravate the collar bone, shoulder, ribs, and arm.  So I just avoided moving as much as possible.

I binge watched The Office, Seasons 1 through 9, and then moved on to Supernatural.  I tried to go upstairs and build Legos with my son, but I couldn't take the position for long before I had to head back to the recliner.  I wasn't able to do this until late in week three.

Showers were easier because my wife found a waterproof sling that I could use.  That stabilized things enough that the pain was less than it had been, though I still dreaded them.  As such, these first two weeks saw me in the shower every other day, at most.

We continued to change the bandage on my arm daily.  Every day, the old bandage was a little less stained than the previous day, and there was no sign of infection.  It was looking like the doc did a decent job.  It's going to make for an ugly scar, but it didn't look like it would be infected.

I was also able to shift my thinking from weight loss to recovery this week.  I ate a lot more for every meal than I had since I started training, in hopes of sufficiently feeding the mechanisms involved in bone healing.  I'd read multiple places that bone growth requires at least an additional 600 calories.  I intended to provide.  I did some research on supplements and good foods to promote bone regrowth.  For foods, I basically landed on lots of whole foods, including fruits and vegetables (dark leafy greens).  For supplements, I landed on Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM, plus multi-vitamins to round things off.

I also started practicing the concept of front loading the day with a relatively big breakfast, smaller lunch, and even smaller dinner.  While it didn't really apply to my current sedentary state, the idea is to provide more calories for the active day, and reduce calories right before bed.  So, I started aiming for a percentage of calories per meal at about 45/35/20.

The cramps in my left deltoid did not return this week, though the sharp pain in my right side remained - again, only when I moved my right arm in a specific way.

I started looking forward to the Tour de France, which started on July 7th.  I not only hadn't given up on cycling, but I started to feel all the more determined to get more involved and knowledgeable about it.

<-- Week One | Series | Week Three -->