I texted to ask the other woman how it went. She said she fell off her bike, broke her wrist, and didn’t finish. Holy crap. Why hadn’t she contacted me, the only person she knew in the area? She hadn’t brought her phone on the course with her and because she didn’t know anyone’s number, she refused the paramedics insistence on taking her to the hospital, accepted their painkiller cocktail, and instead gathered her things and drove herself to the ER. I felt so awful for her. If I’d known, I could have taken care of all her gear and bike, could have called my roommate to pick me up and put the bikes in either the truck or the SUV they have.
She was worried about not wanting to do the Memorial Day triathlon for which she’d won a free registration that had made me silently insanely jealous because I could never afford such a thing and it was all a random whim to her. I told her not to worry about that now but to rest and heal and think about it later, that some events allow transfers in case of severe injury, and that I might be able to pay whatever fee for it if they allowed it. Later in the day, the x-rays showed the wrist wasn’t broken. She said she didn’t realize how fast she was going and lost control on the mile 8 downhill and hit her head 3 times when she fell. Fortunately, it was right at a turnaround with volunteers and a police officer present to help her, and her helmet did its job. She got some ugly road rash on her legs and shoulder but avoided any notable bruising. She later said that she'd done the whole ride in one gear since she didn't know how to change the gears on her sweet $1200 rental.
My aforementioned fall left me with three scrapes and a goose-egg of a bruise on my knee. After eating and about halfway through the movie, I took a long, hot bath and soaked my aching back and shoulder/pec, realizing only then that I must have twisted my upper body during the fall and sprained my freaking tit. How the hell does one even do that? I took a lot of Tylenol and a 2-hour nap, woke irritated to be hungry again so soon, ate, grabbed an ice pack to hug, and went back to sleep til about 6 p.m.
She was worried about not wanting to do the Memorial Day triathlon for which she’d won a free registration that had made me silently insanely jealous because I could never afford such a thing and it was all a random whim to her. I told her not to worry about that now but to rest and heal and think about it later, that some events allow transfers in case of severe injury, and that I might be able to pay whatever fee for it if they allowed it. Later in the day, the x-rays showed the wrist wasn’t broken. She said she didn’t realize how fast she was going and lost control on the mile 8 downhill and hit her head 3 times when she fell. Fortunately, it was right at a turnaround with volunteers and a police officer present to help her, and her helmet did its job. She got some ugly road rash on her legs and shoulder but avoided any notable bruising. She later said that she'd done the whole ride in one gear since she didn't know how to change the gears on her sweet $1200 rental.
My aforementioned fall left me with three scrapes and a goose-egg of a bruise on my knee. After eating and about halfway through the movie, I took a long, hot bath and soaked my aching back and shoulder/pec, realizing only then that I must have twisted my upper body during the fall and sprained my freaking tit. How the hell does one even do that? I took a lot of Tylenol and a 2-hour nap, woke irritated to be hungry again so soon, ate, grabbed an ice pack to hug, and went back to sleep til about 6 p.m.
I had scheduled a massage for the next morning, and though I hated waking up for it, I was SO glad to have gone. I mentioned it to my massage therapist, and he tenderly worked on the muscle, remarking on the swelling and heat that the injury produced. It really hurt to let him at it, but it felt better to be a bit looser, and I knew it would aid my healing and comfort over the next few days. It’s difficult to take it easy with daily tasks for one’s dominant arm. I was still on the fence about whether I should see my doctor for the pulled muscle. It was a weird, new pain to me and I couldn’t tell how serious it was, but I also doubted the doctor could do anything for it that I couldn’t from home. I decided not to.
I found my race results online: I finished 207 out of 209 finishers, 59/60 women, had a miserably slow 9:11 swim, just barely hit my sub-60 bike goal with a 59:22, didn’t at all believe my 39:54 3.2-mi run, and hit my total 2-hour goal with a generous 1:54:26. I am very excited to have baseline numbers for future events and have already registered for an April 14 swim + run event and an April 19 sprint tri!
Overall, it was challenging but fun and I’m glad I did it.
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