I guess I spoke too soon ...

... my doctor called this morning about my bone scan. Good news is that I don't have a stress fracture, bad news is that there was increased uptake on the bone scan consistent with stress periostitis in my tibia (= inflammation of the bone lining, an overuse-type injury, often referred to as "medial tibial stress syndrome" (MTSS)). I had thought that perhaps it was MTSS, but didn't realize that this actually causes inflammation of the bone and shows up on a bone scan :-( . The treatment is rest, ice, anti-inflammatories ... I've already been "resting" (in terms of no running) for almost 3 weeks since my last triathlon, I didn't ask my doctor how long I should be resting for and whether it was ok to do my next triathlon on the 25th as I didn't really want to hear her answer. (She continues to use the term "shin splints", which sports medicine specialists are trying to avoid because it is too non-specific and actually refers to a number of conditions - but then, apparently the radiologist also used the term "shin splints" in their report as well ... sounds like I'm not dealing with any sports medicine experts here, not that I'm one myself lol).

So, I figure I'll rest until next week, try an easy short run (or two) then do the 5 km at the triathlon (walking lots or entirely if I need to) ... then no more running until it's completely better afterwards. I might even request a sports medicine referral if it doesn't seem to be settling properly ... with what I'm reading, apparently over-pronation is potentially part of the cause and orthotics can help, so perhaps my current orthotics aren't quite right, and the podiatrist I got them from is usually so quick with visits that I'm not sure he'd actually do a thorough analysis of my gait and whether there's too much pronation or similar.

(and "overuse" in my case would be too much too quickly, in terms of increasing distance, not that I'm doing too much running in general because that certainly wasn't happening with me ...)

A side benefit though is that I will be able to claim at least 1 or 2 continuing medical education credits for all the reading I'm currently doing about tibial periostitis/MTSS/stress fractures :-) .

Some articles:
-simple version from about.com
-an article from a podiatry perspective

More riding ...

I did another "long" (for me) ride yesterday, 32.3 km including 3 hills - Keillor Road (or what's left of it, it's now a multi-use path with switchbacks after the vehicle road fell into disrepair and caved in), and twice up my usual training hill in Laurier up from the zoo. My route took me almost all the way to the university, so it's possible that I could bike to work when I work there (though not practical).

And I haven't heard anything from my doctor yet, so hopefully that's good news - had a bone scan last week to rule out a stress fracture in my leg, since I've had recurrent shin pain and swelling every time I try to do more running. It may still end up as a swim-bike-walk triathlon for me in less than 2 weeks now ...

Too good to be true???

I'll believe it when I see it - found out Friday night that Ed and I (hopefully) will be able to buy tickets to tomorrow's Stanley Cup playoff game, at face value, from some friends that Ed met doing the Bell City Chase series (we were in Calgary this weekend for the event there, and he did the one in Edmonton two weeks ago - "The Bell City Chase is a unique urban adventure that requires participants to exhibit teamwork, resourcefulness, determination and the ability to make decisions on the fly as they search for ChasePoints scattered in unknown locations throughout the city. ChasePoints are designed to test teams with a variety of physical, mental, and otherwise adventurous challenges").

Like I said, I'll believe it when I actually see the tickets, but it sounds like it's going to happen. Considering that a quick check of E-bay shows tickets for tomorrow's game in the thousands of dollars for a pair ...

Which then makes me reflect on hockey in general... how I was so ticked off last season with the lockout that I made no effort to go to any games at all this year. How I really got into pro cycling as a fan since last summer and have spent way more time reading cycling news and watching cycling races than I have paying attention to hockey until recently. How until the playoffs I don't think I actually watched an entire hockey game this season except the Vancouver-Phoenix game we watched at Geri's when we visited last November. But hockey fandom must be deeply entrenched within me I guess, even as I rationally think of reasons not to watch ...

As for hockey playoff games, I think I've only ever been to two - one was in high school when I got a free ticket to Edmonton-Vancouver in the first round, memorable because a) it was back when Edmonton fans looked down condescendingly on the first round and often didn't bother to show up (this was probably actually 1986, before the Oilers lost to Calgary in the 2nd round thanks to Steve Smith's own goal... then the Oiler fans learned not to take things for granted), and
b) I was cheering for the Canucks, hadn't been in Edmonton long enough at that point to get over my hatred for the Oilers ...
Apparently I also went once to one of the Edmonton -Dallas games a few years ago, but those weren't all that memorable because the Oilers generally lost. (Now that I think more about it, I do remember walking up to the arena and seeing someone selling "Belfour sucks" buttons outside - and the chant "Bel-four, Bel-four" just to get under the skin of the Dallas goalie at the time).

When we found out about the tickets, the Oil were down 2-0 in the series with things looking pretty bad after a 5-0 loss and the loss of star goalie Roloson in the first game. But we figured either the Oilers would be playing better and back in it, or else we might get to see the Stanley Cup presentation. With Edmonton winning last night there's no chance we'll see a Stanley Cup presentation (phew!), hopefully they'll play well and tie the series!


ADDENDUM (June 13) - we lost. A let-down in a lot of respects, yeah it was an exciting atmosphere but in the end it's just a hockey game, and there are a lot of more important things in life ...

A Published Writer Now ...

well, sort of - I wrote an article about the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine conference that I recently attended, for the Daily Peloton, a website devoted to pro cycling news. You can see the article here: part 1 and part 2.

I was already feeling despondent yesterday morning, about the fact that the Oilers blew a three-goal lead in the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, lost their star goalie to injury, then had the backup goalie make a stupid mistake that caused the winning goal for Carolina ... then I read something in the paper that just made me feel ill. I won't go into details or even link to it, those in Edmonton who know me might figure out what it is and the connection (and if you really want to know, e-mail me), but it doesn't seem right to post details about it at all.

What I wanted to say, though, was that although I'm certainly a big advocate of the justice system learning how to properly deal with people who have mental illnesses (let's just say I know from other personal experience that the justice system doesn't always treat such people well), it doesn't mean that I think those with mental illness should get away with violent crimes by virtue of being "not criminally responsible" - if it gets to that point, the system has already failed them miserably, but they still need to be accountable for what they've done (even if that means confined to a psychiatric institution long-term rather than prison, but at least something). What made me feel ill was the idea that 2 years after an incident, on the morning a trial was about to start, only then does it come to light that perhaps someone has a mental illness and needs psychiatric evaluation/ possibly can't stand trial?? Yeah, right ... nice delaying tactic there. And that's all I can really say about it.

Training ...

I figured that since I have some time off work, I could start doing some longer bike rides (my usual route is about 20 km) ... for example, ride to some of the parks, sit and read for a while/enjoy the outdoors, then ride home. So yesterday, I did just that ... was aiming for Government House Park via McKinnon Ravine, ended up riding all the way along River Valley Road to the LRT bridge (ie. almost downtown), 15 km. Then I came back a bit and sat and read for a while ... until I noticed that it was starting to cloud over in an ominous kind of way. So I started heading home, at a faster pace than on the way out.

As I reached Westridge (about 10-15 minutes from home), it started to rain. I still thought I could make it back before any downpour, until a few big wind gusts hit me and my nice light road bike didn't like them very much. I figured that the combination of wind, slippery wet road and traffic on skinny tires wasn't such a good thing, so I headed over to my parents to take shelter until the storm blew over.

After visiting with my dad for about 20 minutes, with the storm looking to be more entrenched rather than simply blowing over, he offered to drive me home. So, I had a total of 27 km for the day instead of 32 or so ... still my longest ride on my own (or actually perhaps ever), and once again almost doubling the odometer on my new bike (from 30-something to 60-something).

I made the mistake of joking to my husband that I "hitched a ride in the team car" (aka my dad's 1987 Chevy van) ... and now he won't stop teasing me about it. It's not like I called someone to come pick me up out of the rain :-) .

(and I had another minor crash, getting too cocky with my pedals I guess and not taking proper care, I remember thinking "gee, this seems easier and easier to click out of the pedals" as I was slowing down, when I leaned too far to the other side and went over... more bruises, oh well).

Swim ... Bike ... Run ... (Coronation Triathlon)

Edmonton Folk Festival - to go or not to go?

We used to go every year (from 1989 to late 1990's sometime) to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, that's where I first heard Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams, where I heard a number of Canadian musicians before they hit it "big" (Crash Test Dummies), where I've heard a number of Canadian bands that were never really "big" but I loved anyway (Junior Gone Wild, Spirit of the West, Moxy Früvous, Captain Tractor), and Canadian music staples like Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden, Colin James/Colin Linden, Great Big Sea. Then there are the musicians I might not have gone to see otherwise, but I can say I've seen live - Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Cockburn, Randy Newman, John Hiatt, Ashley McIsaac, Oysterband (a highlight in 1997 was seeing Oysterband and Great Big Sea on stage together to sing "When I'm Up I Can't Get Down", originally by Oysterband and covered by GBS). And all the world music performances over the years.

So, the 2006 lineup was released the other day, and I've been trying to decide whether I should go again after missing a few years (it got so competitive trying to get a good spot on the hill, and so tiring trying to see everything possible, that we just kind of gave up for a while). Here's my analysis of this year's lineup (trying to help myself figure out whether or not to get tickets):

would like to see (haven't before) - ***Sarah Harmer, Bedouin Soundclash, Jason Collett (has sung with Broken Social Scene), Feist (has also sung with Broken Social Scene), Hawksley Workman

would like to see again - James Keelaghan, Paul Kelly, Bruce Cockburn

big names but I'm not really a fan - Neville Brothers, Linda Ronstadt

and a whole bunch of names where I have no clue who they are ...

Coronation Triathlon

And speaking of triathlons, I guess I should post something about my experience last Sunday (I was waiting until my husband had his photos ready as well, but I guess I'll just add a few photos later).

I entered (and finished) the Coronation Triathlon last Sunday - was a little bit worried the days prior as the weather seemed to be getting worse and worse, on Saturday the forecast for triathlon day changed from sunny and 18 C to rain/cloud/high of 13 C. But when I woke up (before 5am :-( ), it was clearing up and didn't look like any chance of rain. Mind you, it was only 6 C out, not pleasant in a wet swimsuit or tri suit.

The organizing team had changed for this year, and they still have a few bugs to work out ... it was good for safety reasons that they decided to close the transition area at 7 am rather than letting competitors wander in and out during the event, but they didn't really seem prepared for everyone to be checking in between 6 and 7 am as a result. So, the first swim heats got off to a late start (about 20 minutes), and being in the next heat by virtue of being in the mountain bike category, I got off to a late start as well. At least I don't get nervous right before the event - I did all that in the week prior :-). By starting us off into the pool at only 5 second intervals and by adding 2 faster swimmers to our heat just prior, we ended up with severe lane congestion - I think I managed only a single flip-turn, the rest of the time at the ends we were all stopped and bunched up trying to figure out who should go out first for the next length. And the lane counters got confused IMO - they advised me I had only 1 lap to go when I knew I had 2 left, I think they let some people out of the pool early, but at least I know I did the right number of laps. Despite all that, I had a PB in the swim by about 25 seconds from my time 3 years ago (when we did it as a team so all I had to do was swim).

Then out into the brisk Edmonton morning in a wet triathlon suit. I was quite warm from the swim so I decided against my long-sleeved shirt and/or jacket and just put on a t-shirt ... and then thought I'd made the wrong decision as I froze on the first section of the bike course, downhill into the wind. But I warmed up after getting to the bottom and turning to go back uphill again. I made good time on the bike, 14-15 minutes per lap (compared to 16-18 minutes last year), wasn't worried about the fancy road bikes that passed me as long as I didn't get passed by too many other MTB'ers (which I didn't), and I even managed to pass 2 roadies at various points! Ed and my parents were at the top of the course to cheer me on for each of the four laps (and I think Ed convinced my parents that it would be greatly appreciated by the competitors to cheer for everyone who went by). I finished the bike leg about 9 minutes ahead of last year...

...which meant that my legs were dead going out onto the run. Instead of my usual 10 :1 run:walk pattern (a la Running Room), I found that I was picking out landmarks about 5 minutes ahead and just struggling to run to them before taking a quick break ... first to the water station, then down the hill, then to the turnaround point, etc. On the way back, I figured that if I could get to the "flamme rouge" (=1 km to go marker in cycling, they didn't have it marked that way but that's how I thought of it lol) I could take another quick walk break and then be able to run to the finish. Then I realized that because I was so much slower on the run than last year (and because my T2 transition time was slower as this was the first time I've had bike shoes to change out of into runners), I was in jeopardy of not beating last year's time despite my PB swim and bike ... so I really pushed it the last km and it hurt, but I beat last year's time by just under 2 minutes!

So, I came home and signed up for the Leduc Women's Triathlon in late June, a bit shorter than this one so I should have no problems with the run even if I don't train :-)

(photos to follow, maybe)

Health problems of the "geek lifestyle"

Hmm, good thing I do triathlons I guess - last winter when I was off work for a few months and spent entirely too much time on the computer, I suffered some of the symptoms apparently "unique to IT workers... insomnia and altered sleep patterns, headaches, back pain, and poor attention span" (don't think my attention suffered at all, but my sleep cycle certainly was out of whack and I had a lot of back pain then).

Tidbits from the Journal

There has been some interesting stuff in our paper recently. The other day, there was a column comparing the excitement over the Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup run to a religion:

Watch fans gather in great dancing circles on Whyte Avenue after a victory. Look at their painted faces, their display of sacred icons. Notice their use of consciousness-raising substances, their expressions of rapture. Is this not a religious experience? ... "One definition of religion is a functional one, that says religion is what gives meaning and order to people's lives," says Kent. Hockey, therefore, "comes close to being a functional religion."

And last weekend there was an article about how researchers are planning a study at UBC to determine whether the long shifts (up to 28 hours when I was a resident) that medical residents endure cause a significant number of medical errors.

Ayas considers it a coup that the Canadian Patient Safety Institute awarded his group a $100,000 grant to study the issue.
The institute was formed in 2003 with $50 million over five years in funding from Health Canada and a mandate to support the development of safety initiatives.
One of its goals is to support health-care professionals who want to improve patient safety.
"When you think about it, the people who pay the bills for health care may not want to know the answers to the questions we are posing," said Ayas who is ideally suited to conduct the study since he is also on staff at the sleep-disorders program at the University of B.C. Hospital.

And then after I mentioned the $25 million home for sale in Victoria, there was this article about an almost-completed home in Edmonton rumoured to be worth $20 million - you can see it from Hawrelak Park across the river and it really stands out (but didn't realize it was that big/worth that much).

A Revelation and a breakthrough...

I had a revelation about my work the other day ... I've been off for a few weeks, and was to go back on Tuesday (after the long weekend here) for 2 weeks, to "clinic C" where I was working in April and will be working for July and August. On Thursday afternoon, I got a desperate call from "clinic B", where I worked January to March and where I will be working again from September, asking if I could come in Friday as they were really short of doctors. So, I agreed to help out and worked Friday on short-notice.

All the staff seemed quite happy to see me again, as did the doctors who were in, and not just in terms of "thanks for helping us out". And I got a number of nice comments and thank-you's from patients, eg. "this has been the most productive doctor visit I've had in a long time" was one comment that I actually heard a few variants of, in only one day.

So my revelation was that I really feel appreciated at clinic B (and therefore think I've made a good choice to go back there in September), by both my co-workers as well as the patients :-) . Not that I need or expect everyone to thank me and show appreciation constantly, but I think a little bit of appreciation and recognition goes a long way. I realized that in the situation of clinic A (where I worked for 6 years before) or clinic C, with mostly long-term, chronic patients, I didn't really get a lot of appreciation ever and usually unrealistic expectations, complaints and demands more than anything else - tends to wear on you after a while... (I found it ironic last October in my last month at clinic A, when I seemed to get more appreciation then than in my entire 6 years previously at that clinic - little bit too late). I felt really good after work on Friday ...

Then a breakthrough yesterday, I've really been struggling with my running and with my triathlon now in just one week that was starting to worry me a bit. What with not running much over the winter, then my bike crash slowing me down for a while, I'd only done 5 km runs so far and need to run 8 km for the triathlon. I never seemed to get to the point of enjoying any of the runs I was doing, they all seemed to be struggles where I was focussing on how high my heart-rate was getting or how much my legs were hurting or how hot it was out or how much time did I have left before my walk-break (I follow the 10:1 run:walk scheme taught by the Running Room). So yesterday, I ditched my watch with the heart-rate monitor and interval timer and just went out with my old stopwatch. It was a good temperature (low teens C) and really windy (though it makes the running harder I love windy days in general unless it's minus 30 :-) ), and I just went by feel instead of constantly watching my watch. And I had a great run - was aiming for 5 km and did 7.5 km instead, felt great afterwards, and actually not even stiff today, so I have renewed confidence that everything will be fine next week for my triathlon. I may not beat last year's running time, but I should beat last year's overall time (as well as I'll likely blow away my bike time from last year) :-).

Winter to Summer in 2 weeks or less...

When we picked up our new bikes less than 2 weeks ago, it was rainy and cold (near freezing) and even a bit of snow mixed in. Yesterday it was 31 C here, a new record for May 17. You just never know around here with the weather, for now it almost looks like we skipped spring entirely ...

(see, it's lack of familiarity with such warmth that led me to go running yesterday in the late afternoon, the hottest part of the day, needless to say it didn't go too well.. actually it was more desperation that I have the Coronation Triathlon in just over a week and need to do more running to get up to 8 km beforehand.)

Interesting how prior to my recent trip to Victoria late April/early May, I remember thinking how brown everything was here in Edmonton - snow melted early, lots of gravel still on the roads from winter, grass not greening up yet and leaves not yet coming out on the trees. Therefore, Victoria was quite the contrast - the friends I stayed with were apologizing that a recent storm had blown all the blossoms off the trees, and that the deer in their neighbourhood generally eat all the tulips. And I'm just thinking to myself, "Green leaves... green grass... flowers... wow... "

But when I returned from Victoria, in just a week there was much more green here - to the point now where it's actually quite green, the lilacs are blooming, and the blossoming trees are starting to bloom as well (including our crabapple). Even the really slow-to-leaf-out ash trees the City planted on our block are starting to turn green ... I have really noticed the change on some of my bike rides recently, now if only they'd clean the gravel off the roads :-)

Bike update - still getting used to the new bike but went 10 km the other day, mostly still using the mountain bike because that's what I'll be doing the triathlon on, impressed with myself that I've made it up a couple of hills this year that I hadn't been able to do before (going north on the old country club road from Westridge to Rio Terrace, going south on the old 184 Street through Wedgewood Ravine), and a few that I hadn't been on before (Keillor Road, bike path beside the Whitemud Freeway down to Rainbow Valley and back up again, going east). So maybe I will get the courage to tackle Emily Murphy Hill, and thus perhaps enter the triathlon in conjunction with the World Cup here in July.

One other comment about Victoria - contrasts! Like between the $25 million house for sale in Uplands that we drove by (or even the Gordon Head area where I stayed one night with friends), and the derelict building and homeless people across the street from the hotel where I stayed during my conference.

Good few weeks for Davitamon-Lotto...

(which is the name of my favourite pro cycling team, btw). First, Robbie McEwen (top) won Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie, a one-week ProTour stage race in Switzerland. Then Chris Horner (middle) won Stage 2, with one of the most jubilant victory-line photos I've seen. Finally, Cadel Evans (R) won the final stage (an individual time-trial) and thus won the overall race!

Then, the Giro d'Italia started last weekend - this is one of the three "Grand Tours" (the best-known being the Tour de France). There have been 6 stages so far, and Robbie McEwen has won three of them - go Robbie!



(and notice how Nick Gates, another Aussie rider on Davitamon-Lotto, even made it into the finish-line photo sort of, having helped Robbie to the win)



(photos from www.davitamon-lotto.com and www.mcewenrobbie.com)

New bikes! :-)

It had been something we were thinking about for the future, but for a number of reasons we decided to go ahead and both buy road bikes now:
1) taking 2 months off work in 2005 meant I paid too much ahead of time in income tax so I got a nice refund recently,
2) kept thinking we'd need more savings for a "maternity leave" but so far it doesn't look like that's happening any time soon,
3) Ed's thinking about riding to work this summer (save money on gas plus better for overall health and fitness),
4) I'm thinking of doing more triathlons this year and tired of everyone blowing by me on their light road bikes compared to my heavy mountain bike,
5) with road bikes that means we can actually put the stubby mountain bike tires back on the MTB's (instead of the slick tires we've been using) and ride off-road with the MTB's again...
(is that enough reasons?)

Ed was nice enough to wait until my bike came in so we could pick them up together, which we did today. Apparently, it's a really good time for the bike industry these days and Trek is behind in shipments - usually it only takes a few days to order one apparently but mine took two weeks...

Unfortunately, the weather hasn't co-operated so we haven't had a chance yet to ride outside (which would involve initially just going up and down the nearby minimal-traffic cul-de-sac in order to get used to clipless pedals), but hopefully tomorrow there will be some breaks from the rain. (Actually, by tomorrow I'll likely be so eager to try it that I'll go out rain or shine).

Some pics for your enjoyment - Ed's is the dark grey Trek 2100, and mine is the white Trek Pilot 2.1 .