Memorial Day Weekend is

                                                    the time of year when I want to plant flowers

                                                            and swim outside

                                                   and ride on quiet roads in the bright sunshine

                                                      Stop and marvel at the wild Lupins

                                        and remember those who sacrificed their life and fought for our freedom               

Busy!

 It's Wednesday May 26th???  Where did May go???  The pollen is flying, (never buy a BLACK car) the weather is like mid- July and  lots going on over here on my parcel of earth. So much that I haven't had the time to update my blog or read any either.  So here's what's new:


I am fully healed from my femoral neck stress fracture   Yay!
and...


I have a new coach.  Yay x2.



 After much searching and contemplating ( more like ringing my hands)  I found an ideal match for me.


My new coach has his Masters and Doctoral  in physical therapy. VERY convenient for the injury prone TGP, don't you agree?? I  bet I don't even get a blister now that this is in place. Ha!


He's also a certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist.  (anything with  the word orthopedic in there suits me and my stress-fracture-y bones JUST FINE)
  
He only takes a hand full of athletes ( good..because I'm high maintenance Ha!)


He's been in the sport of triathlon for 20 years.   13 Ironmans and has qualified for Kona 6 times.

Just maybe.... I'll pull myself together for some sprint/OLY racing by September. We shall see!

I'm very excited to work with local (Team Psycho) team mate, Chris Ramsey PT,DPT,OCS
 He's motivated to get me back to where I want to be: focused, inspired, and hopefully speedy!
Finding a coach who you respect, admire, fully trust and who gives you a plan that is as individual as you are,  has to be the foundation for success, no?


Wish me luck!

MEET NICOLE........

Nicole Rodriguez
(don't let that smile fool you)

Nicole is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Sports Performance Coach at Mike Boyle's Strength and Conditioning gym in Winchester MA.  You should see this place...

 Nicole is slowly and progressively whipping my

weak and out of whack body into a strong solid foundation. 

Strong core, back and hips= an injury free TGP.

An injury free TGP will be a  happy TGP. Now why didn't I think
of this before?

Now I'd have some pictures here to show you how she makes me suffer but there is NEVER a second to pick up the camera. It's go go go from the second I walk in there.

That's ok though because she's making quite

sure I'm getting my $$ worth out of each session. I walk outta there all sweaty , plop myself into my car and wish someone would shift for me as I drive home, feeling like

a  noodle with  Nicole stilling yellin' in my head

LETS GO!

YESSSSSSSS! 

WATCH ME!  

5 MORE!! JUST 5 MORE!!!

YOU GOT IT!!!!!

AllRRRRRRIGHT.

arrrrrgh.........




In other exciting events.  I am HEALED (yay) and starting my journey back to being 7 pounds lighter among other things.

There won't be time for leisurely shopping,  mutiple toe nail polish changes
watching the premium movie channel, reorganizing my  closet for the  20th time
brownie baking,that sort of stuff.


Suddenly, I'm washing more water bottles, ordering bike parts and washing more workout clothes. 

ahhhhhhh... normalcy! 

SHAVE AND SAVE THAT FUR!!!

Check this out!!! These are called Hair Booms. It's a safe, non-toxic, and effective way to help in the Gulf Spill clean up. Donors from every state in the US, from Canada and beyond are sending in hair, fur and wool clippings as well as nylons and funding for the outer mesh. This fibers and tubing are used to make Booms that can protect beaches and coastal waters.

 Hair and Fur is more effective than petroleum fiber based boom materials.
Lines of boom are for beaches, stacks of boom are for between metal wire mesh and rocky barriers and The Army Corps of Engineers is engineering large floating "lobster cages" in which to use these boom at the "Living Edge" of the Gulf Spill.


How can you help?

                                   Be HAIRY like Parker here....

                                              and donate your fur!

http://www.excessaccess.com

Short And Sweet

It's almost the middle of May and I had to pick the coldest day of the spring with gale force winds to make it my first day out on 2 wheels. Yup, I'm putting on booties here and rode with heavy gloves in

May!! I lasted 1:20 for my first ride outside.

                                        Thermal noggin' protection too. Brrrrrrr

Ready to roll. All Toasty and Warm. Thank you Trakkers for my awesome new gear!

                                        All in all, just HAPPY to be out on a bike in the sunshine with a

                                         horrible injury BEHIND me.  

I Smell The Barn Door

...and it smells GREAT!

It's week 12 of a 13 recovery phase for me.  I MADE IT!  Whoooooo hoooooooo!  Well almost and you can bet your Lilly White A$$  I'm ALL DONE with this chronic injury CRAP.  

Fact:  I have not had a injury free, consistent solid performance race season since 2007.

Yesterday I took the bull by the horns and set up my very first session with a strength and conditioning coach.  Nicole is going to whip me into shape and figure out just how out of whack my body really is and stop this cycle for good. ( we hope)

She wanted to know a bit about my  history so I thought I'd share  this email I sent to her:

Ok Nicole, so here's a brief history of my injuries with my last 2 (current) MRI reports:

January 20th 2010    TGP says"  Gosh... my hip flexor is so sore"

    

MRI findings:

R/O Stress Fracture:   MRI left hip   February 17th 2010

There has been interval development of abnormal increased T2 signal intensity at the medial aspect of the left femoral neck.  Although no definitive linear hyperintesity is seen, the findings are compatible with medial femoral neck stress fracture. A small amount of fuild signal is seen asjacdnt to the lesser trochanter at the level of tendon insertion of the illiopoas muscle that likely represents tendinosis/low-grade strain of the the iliopaoas muscle.

  for over 6 months  TGP says "Gosh.. my right a$$ cheek and underlying bones/tissue ACHE all the time. I can't even sit on a stool at work"
R/O Stress fracture: MRI right hip  September 3, 2009
MRI says:
Strain/partial tear of the tendoinous insertion of the right hamstring muscles onto the left ischial tuberosity and mild
strain of the subjacent quadratus femoris muscle.
Lesser degree of strain of the tendinous insertion of the right hamstring muscle onto the right ischial tuberoisty.


February 2009
TGP says:  " Damn I think my left foot is swelling up a bit and my Plantar Fascitis  is really bothering me"

MRI reports showed:

Cuboid stress fracture and PF.




April 2008 TGP  says " Wow... My left hip on the outer aspect feels really weird. I must have pulled something"

MRI   arthogram shows:

Labral hip tear on the left.



PLEASE FIX ME!!!!!!

Mark Your Calendar for February 2011

Once again, REV 3 is flexing their triathlon muscles and has just added another race to their already  first class race series. Grab your passport, we're goin' to Costa Rica!

Guanacaste, Costa Rica to be exact.

RACE DATE: FEBRUARY 19-20, 2011

Kids Rev: Saturday, February 19th  (kids race for free!)

Sprint Rev: Saturday, February 19th

Olympic Rev: Saturday, February 19th

Half Rev: Sunday, February 20th

Costa Rica is well known as tranquil, peaceful and very beautiful. Rainforest, cloud forest, volcanoes and beaches along with Trekking, hiking, rafting, horseback riding,  are just a few  Costa Rica has to offer post race! Costa Rica comprises of seven provinces: San Jose, Alajuela, Hereida, Catago, Punta Arenas, Guanacaste (where the race will be held) and Limon.

Costa Ricans have a long tradition of Peace and Democracy. Its friendly people welcome visitors and are proud of their incredibly beautiful environment.

Among Costa Rica’s many attractions is Guanacaste National Park which offers several ecosystems including a tropical forest, cloud forest and dry forest. The diverse flora and fauna species include 3,000 plant species, 300 bird species and 5,000 butterfly and moth varieties.
The Poas Volcano, Irazu Volcano and Arenal Volcano and natural hot springs are also sights not to be missed.

How cool is that??



To read more about the race, click here