Bump in the road.

I can tend to be a bit...dramatic. Especially when it comes to aches and pains and bumps and bruises. However, after not being dramatic ENOUGH about an ache that turned into a serious stress fracture, I learned the hard way to err on the side of caution when it comes to my body.

Saturday, I took a spill. Spill may not be the right word. Topple? Collapse? I had one foot clipped in, pushed off on some gravel going downhill, all while chatting away - leading to my falling over on my clipped side, directly onto my knee at about 0mph. It stung at the time, and was a bit bloody, but a quick clean with some wet-wipes and I got through 2 more (not-so-pretty) hours of my scheduled ride (I had already done 30 minutes before the fall).

Stopping about an hour into the ride to refuel, I could immediately feel my knee stiffen up and it continued to ache the next 15 miles back to the car. It actaully felt better when I pushed the pace a bit, so I tried to settle into the prescribed 70.3 race efforts. Proceeding straight to Rite Aide for alcohol wipes (BAD idea), followed by a second purchase of baby-formula no pain cleaning solution, the gash looked quite bad and my knee was starting to stiffen up.

While on Saturday I was worried about the gash and the blood and the potential scar on my knee (vanity trumps all) - Sunday morning I woke up and realized what I should have been worried about was the bruising. Turns out, falling with all your body weight [plus your bike] directly on your knee is quite traumatic, no matter how fast [or slow] you're going. As the day wore on, moving my knee at all became agony, and the pain radiating behind my knee started to really make me worry. Google confirmed I cleared had ripped, torn, or shattered something. Boyfriend confirmed I was a hypochondriac and told me to just let my knee heal up.

So two days of pretty complete immobility, an easy 30 minute run and an easy swim this morning - and it definitely still hurts. And the damn scab is in the perfect spot on my knee that it rips every time I bend my knee, so pretty much all day every time I move. However, I am in no rush. My next race is still about 2 1/2 weeks away, I have time to get in some solid training, and if it's not the race of my life - who cares. I signed up as a bonus and to keep me training through the fall and there is no urgency. My knee still feels a bit 'twisted' and hurts behind the knee cap, which continues to have my worried, but also is getting a little better every day.

So, in summary, I fell over going 0pmh and am being a drama queen. But this did in fact, hurt. And it continues to hurt. And yes, it has forced me to change my expectations for my race, but I don't think I am down and out and could possibly still have a great day.