Women Cyclists! Take this Survey!

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals are asking women to take a survey about what supports and prohibits us from cycling. After taking the survey, I continue to realize how bike friendly Albuquerque is. They are collecting data for a study and will use the information to improve cycling for women. Please take a few minutes and check out and fill out the survey. Sorry guys! They may have a survey for men in the future!

"Writing Women Back into Bicycling" Survey
Cece

Come Join us In Moab!

Come join us for the Moab Century Tour in September. This is a skinny tire event so all you roadies..come and meet us in beautiful Moab! There are several of us going and then there are some from Women Riding Well, our cycling club, going too. We would love to meet you there if you are on Team Fatty , Team Clydesdale or ride with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society too! A portion of your entry fee goes to support cancer research. Let us know if you will be joining us!

Have you heard that my favorite coach Troy Jacobson has been named official Coach for IRONMAN? It is true. Check out his new blog!

Today at work, someone asked me if I have been back on my bike since my surgery. I told them that I only missed one week off the bike and have been on it ever since. It really is amazing when I think of it. I have been doing lots of PT and strength training and am working my mileage back up! I went back to yoga again last week and was so happy to return. I am practicing with Anil Poovadan at his studio in Bernalillo.

This weekend, I will be sagging for the Team in Training as they increase their mileage for their century rides. It should be a lot of fun and I will see lots of friends and try to take lots of pics. Stay tuned!

Cycling Rhythms

If you cycle, you will know that there are familiar rhythms to it. There are rituals and routines and things to do..to prepare for... things to gather, hair to fix, tires to pump...IDs and medical cards to gather...water bottles to prepare...clothes, shoes and socks...all must match...we are all divas you know...male and female!

I was reunited with all these rhythms today as I took my first ride outdoors post-surgery. It was a very sentimental rhythm for me today. One that I appreciated and sort of bathed in...even the drive to the bosque was meaningful. Once on the path I felt the familiar headwind...that really should not have been there according to the weather...I felt the silence that was so full of miniatures sounds...rustling leaves, honking geese, the river, lapping down , stomping horses, cattle, dogs galloping with their masters who are rollerblading....and the multitude of cyclists who I wondered...were they all playing "hooky" with me on this beautiful and warm day in Albuquerque?

This was a test ride...to test the shoulder. It was so nice to finally be moving on my bike...rather than attached to my trainer ...the wind on my face...the smells...all made me know that I was finally home...at home...with the freedom of my bike. I took pics and tested the newly designed shoulder...yes I could hold on just fine !I reached for the water bottle with either arm. Still doing well. Standing up cycling...doing well! Took pics and held on just fine! All is well. I sauntered on... Absorbing the road shock and feeling the movement to create balance. All is well. At last!

I always sprint the last mile and as I threw it into the big chain ring and went fast..heart rate in zone 4...I thought WOW..a new beginning...12 miles down only 78 more to Go! I will be in Moab in September for the Skinny Tire Century as planned and as a matter of fact...my recovery is right on track! HURRAY....and thank you to my wonderful surgeon / cyclist Dr. Pachelli, my PT Char and my deep tissue massage therapist Stephanie! It takes a village!

cece

Back in Business!

Many have been asking how my recovery is going and I know I have not written much on this blog...so here is the latest and greatest news!

On Monday afternoon, I saw the surgeon and have finally been released! This means that I am free to ride my bike on the road again! HURRAY! I am very excited about this! I have been getting itchy to do so...and I knew I would, so I put an orange Continental trainer tire on my back wheel so I COULD NOT ride it on the road. This helped a lot and I have been riding indoors 40-50 miles per week (still cursing at Troy Jacobson) including the famous Cement Factory spin class on Thursday nights!

The camaraderie in this class is fantastic and we are all having a blast! Nothing like 80-100 cyclists in a cement store...all jammed in and rowdy!


So, I am back in business again! I have been doing some easy pilates (which is still difficult due to the whiplash ) and losing weight (10.4 pounds) and beginning to lift some light weights and get back into strength training.


Monday, which looks like the best day in the next few, I will get on the bosque and do a flat perhaps 12 miles and see how I do...beginning to get those shoulder/neck muscles going on the road. It always surprises me how different the actual road is from the trainer. On the road, you have to steer and balance and deal with road shock...on the trainer it is mostly legs!


Many of you know Yun and we are writing another blog together which is keeping us both out of trouble. It is called The Two Whos Check it out!

As I said to my wonderful surgeon, "See you on the Road!"
Cece

Choose Your Destiny! Flawless Victory. FIGHT!

Life is not always happy, happy, happy. We all have bad days that get the best of us. I had a day like that yesterday.

First. Let me begin by saying that my PT was also my sensei in karate and she is also my trainer. She and I have known each other many years. She is a dynamo and I always forget the power that this woman holds in her body! She is a ferocious but loving warrior woman who is really a peacemaker and healer…but she knows me sooo well that she can kick my butt..no holds barred. I respect her for that ability. When I need to get rid of “Miss Weepy” I ask her for advice. Then I buckle my seat belt! She tells it like it is and reminds me of who I am and how I am.

She has rehabbed my knee that was kicked back in karate and then has helped me to rehab the shoulder from the actual car accident. Now she is helping rehab the surgery that resulted from the very same car accident. She knows my body and me very well.

Yesterday, I was in agony when I walked into her door and said, “I don’t know why I am here because I am already in pain.” She said, “Because you are a masochist and love pain…and you also want to get better faster.” I said, Well, let’s set the record straight…. if I am a masochist, then you are a sadist.” She said “I can accept that role. Shall we begin?”

And so we did. She read the post –op report from the surgeon on what had actually been done…. Needless to say as the tears welled up in my eyes and I sweated profusely and she pushed me to literally purge the anesthesia, she kept telling me that my recovery so far was amazing! My range of motion was great, she felt no glitches when she rotated my shoulder every which way…and I cried from pain….she was very pleased. When I got dizzy she gave me a cold towel around my neck…let me sit down for 20 seconds…then up for another circuit. URGH.

Anyway, I lived. I have exercises to do at least 2x a day for now….also she wants cardio (even though I cannot wear a bra) on the light side and to drink lots of water. We had a quick and useless chat about her bra size and mine and the difference the bouncing would make…to no avail of the sympathy I was trying to get…..and off I went into cardio land…mild …to purge the anesthesia…but still bouncy!

I bought some dark chocolate with orange to soothe myself after this work out..and it helped…..then I slept for 4 hours….that really helped….then I did some of the PT exercises from today’s work out…..and realized that that phrase no pain no gain…is a good one.

We all have difficulties in life that we have to work through…and sometimes those difficulties recur…and we have to continue to work through them and hope to learn from them. I had to muster up the willingness to rehab an injury post surgery that I had spent the last year rehabbing pre-surgery. That was more an emotional willingness than a physical.

But today...today was another story....I was empowered by yesterday...already felt stronger....and I began to do my first workout on my own as part of my rehab for the shoulder surgery. I heard these words in my ears as I plugged in my IPOD:

Choose Your Destiny!


Flawless Victory!



FIGHT!

I Betcha Superman Didn't Wear a Bra !

If you recall, the one thing that weakened Superman was kryptonite. If it came near him, he would become very weak and non-functional.

Well, yesterday, I discovered that putting on a bra, post-surgery had the same effect on me as kryptonite does on superman.

Sometimes, I think I am superman.

I can do anything. Nothing can stop me. A friend told me this morning that I am an eternal optimist.

But the bra....it conquered me!

I had shoulder surgery on January 7th. That was Thursday. By Friday, I had done so well, the surgeon took me out of the sling. I was supposed to be in the sling a week.

I was pretty non-functional for the next few days....resting and in not too much pain. By the way, I had a pain block and could not feel any pain....and started taking aleve right away...so I was in good shape.....happy... and looking to the future and doing my PT exercises. Signed up for the Moab Century Tour in September.... the surgeon told me I could do cardio the next week and by the 16th could be back on my bike indoors on the trainer. so, that was my plan.

When the next week came....that was Monday, I woke up and determined that I could go to the gym and do a VERY Light cardio...perhaps 10 minutes on the elliptical.

Well, let me tell you how short lived this thought was! I undid the surgery tee that was given to me. It had velcro on the neck and side seam. I carefully moved my arm and felt good that it was so functional. I chose a wide strapped sports bra and carefully hooked the back in the front and then turned it to the back where it belonged. Then I carefully put the surgery arm into the left strap and the right arm into the right strap and pulled the bra on up and over and onto the shoulders.

OMG! The pain from the strap on one of the surgery sites was unbearable! Somehow I got it off and went to get some ice. ... Iced my shoulder and put myself to bed. Horrible, horrible, horrible. BRA= kryptonite for Cece.

Well, today is Tuesday, and I remembered I have a strapless bra! That is perfect!

So, in a little while, a friend is coming to take me out for a walk...not some cardio. I am determined to be a bit more moderate in my approach to rehab.

Wednesday? I will see my PT and trainer and begin my rehab in earnest...in my strapless bra!

Amendment to above post: I lasted about a 1/2 hour in the strapless bra...and then went into agony. Now in a cami and we will see how that goes. What's next?

Happy Gene vs Grim Reaper Gene?

On The Two Whos blog, Cece told a story about her sister Kristen:

“I am Glad You’re not Planning to Die! Thank you!” This was the 2 sentence sarcastic email I received from my sister after she received all 13 pages of my advanced directives, my living will and the “how tos” of fish and cat care. …also my plans for the funeral in case the worst happened in surgery.

You see, my sissy prefers to look on the bright happy side of life. She often says “I like to have denial.” She inherited my mother’s gene in this area of life. The Happy gene!


However, everyone seems to tell my sister about their dying. She told me, “This is the story of my life…including the calls with dad.” She swears that every phone call to my dad, she gets a death reference. So, she gets a lot ‘death reference’ in her conversations. It must be her ultra cheery attitude…The Happiness gene! Could it be that we are all just trying to temper it!

“Why not in denial? Grandma used to make me buy her very small bottles of vitamins because she did not think that she would live long enough to use them all and she did not want to spend money on a bigger bottle….but she made me keep buying the little bottles for years and she kept telling me she was gonna die soon….but she lived well past 100!,” she rants! My sister is on a roll! …..

Me? On the other hand, I inherited my father’s gene in this area of life. My sister calls it “The Grim Reaper” or ”Doom and Gloom” gene. I prefer to say that I see the pothole in the road and make a plan to go around it! I do not think it is doom and gloom…just taking a look at reality and what could possibly happen…and being prepared for it.

Possibly being a Girl Scout all those years taught me to “be prepared” ……but my sister was a Girl Scout too! Go figure! Gene pool?

For whatever reasons that we are different, it matters much less why we are different than the fact that we are different! So, then, does it matter that we see things, even the matters of life and death, differently?

No and yes! Different perspectives are just the way of life in our mind, no matter how we see life, life happens regardless. Like the ‘death’ Cece has been consciously preparing “in case” in past few days, or how her sister has consciously chosen to “have denial”. As long as we are conscious about what we are thinking, perspectives become our choices. When this happens, we can consciously choose the perspectives that serve our life for the better.

The happy happy or the grim reaper? The point here is not which perspective (attitude) is better than the other. Rather, can we see our perspective as perspectives, the product of our thoughts? Do we have the power to choose our perspectives to serve our life? Can we see the other person’s perspective as their perspective?

PS from Cece…as she is editing, she is back from surgery. All is well! Thanks for your well wishes! She developed ” the happy gene ‘ as she read the anesthesia disclaimer…and decided it was better to have denial than to embrace all those scary side effects…including death! She just signed the paper