Aw S**t!!

A Diary of Injury Recovery

It’s been eight weeks since I went THUD and cracked a rib.  The rib only “twinges” a little bit when I exert.  Good progress indeed.  In the past week I’ve added a good  bit of harder work, more stretching, more core strength work, and some harder climbing intervals on the bike.  That last bit is both rewarding and frustrating.  The rewarding part has to do with being able to tolerate doing it at all.  The frustration derives from realizing how much I’ve lost in the last eight weeks.  On any climb worthy of the name, either my legs catch fire, or I run out of air.  (Sometimes both at once!)  It’s all very much to be expected after such a long enforced lay-off.

In fact, in a perverse way, it felt good to feel so bad.  Not that I have ever enjoyed being out of condition, but rather because I was starting to move forward again.

On Saturday, I did  “full commute.”  By that I mean I didn’t “cheat” and truck clothing and stuff to work the day before.  I did the ride on the heavy commuter, with a full load of clothing, cleanup stuff, foods, rain gear, lighting, and all the other paraphernalia.  Carrying that load was tough going, but I did manage it.  The rib didn’t protest.  I had the thought that I was now doing it again, “for real.”

And then…

Saturday was one frantically busy day in the bikeshop.  The weather was great.  People were coming in for repairs, or to pick up their club clothing orders, or to chat, or to look at bikes and gear.  It was hopping.  That wasn’t enough.  Thanks to a an odd artifact of the vacation schedule, we were short-handed.  So we were all just dashing about the place.

It was in the midst of that dashing that I tripped over something in the Tech Department.  I started to fall, and I was moving forward at a good clip.  In the floundering attempt to catch myself, I managed to kick something.  Kicked it hard.  The instantaneous breathtaking pain radiating from my left big toe, told me I’d done something not good.

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I’ve been around for a while.  In a busy and active life, I’ve sustained a fair number of injuries, some quite spectacular.  Over the years 58 years since I first broke a bone, I’ve developed a personal scale of pain.

1 = Background irritation, bee stings, mosquito bites, paper cuts

2 = “The Ouch Threshold”  It hurts,  but it won’t hurt for long.  Keep going.  This category includes things like inadvertent cuts, barked knuckles, fingers pinched in doors, blisters, and minor sunburn.

3 = Better stop and attend to that.  Deep cuts.  Hard hits.  More serious sunburn.  Plant toxin irritation.  Big wasp stings.  Things that require first aid and/or prompt minor medical attention.

4 =  GASP-YOWCH!!  Hard fall.s.  Big cuts.  Serious burns.

5 =  Stop right now and go to the ER!  This level of pain usually indicates a serious injury, a broken bone, something that must be attended to and/or stitched promptly.

6 =  Don’t ask, you don’t want to know.  Gunshot wounds.  Knife stabbings.  Falls from 20 feet or higher.  Dropping a motorcycle at speed.  Hitting a tree whilst riding a motorcycle.

If there is a pain level 7, I wouldn’t know, as I’m sure I’d be unconscious.

Unavoidable Digression Ends>>

My Saturday toe-kick injury was somewhere around a 4.5 on my personal scale.  Sharp enough to make me believe I just might have broken my toe.

I hobbled my way through the rest of the day, and then prepared to ride home.

I have good coworkers.  They were concerned about me.  I was offered a ride home.  I want to thank them now.  (Thanks you two!)  I told them, “Usually, if I can make it into the saddle, I’ll be alright.”

I made it into the saddle.  (Although pulling my shoe off, and then shoving my foot into a riding shoe took me up the the gasping 4.75 on the pain scale.)  Oddly, once into the stiff riding shoe, my toe felt a bit better.  I did ride home.  All the way I was thinking,  “Please don’t be broken!  Please!  I do not want to extend my layoff any longer!”

Given the level of pain, there was a very real possibility that I had broken at least one bone in there.  I was as close to depression as I ever come.  The thought of prolonging recuperation and further deconditioning was just miserable.

I’m happy to report that the toe is not broken.  No broken bones at all.  The swelling has gone down, and the toe has turned some really impressive colors, but it’s getting better by the hour.  (Sweet relief!)  I’m good to go again.  So this will be the last post in the injury recovery series.  Time to move on, and get stronger!

Bon Chance, et Bon Route!