... for this weekend at least. My tooth became progressively worse and after reading about all that can happen to it if left untreated, I sought out the wisest option and went in for the operation this morning. For anyone who has ever had tooth problems, you feel my pain. I was put under, so that was fun... when I woke up I was so blurry that I told B that I saw two outlets instead of one on the wall and that I had three feet, lol. Ofcourse I don't remember saying that. Good news is that the infection was not as bad as the x ray had hinted, nothing needed to be sent off to the lab for testing (whew, saved $400), however I am absolutely not going to be able to race tomorrow. I am taking some nice hard painkillers in addition to my anti biotics, not to mention the swollen cheek.
I'm pretty sad about all this, but health comes first, and teeth are to be taken seriously, so racing on a fresh wound would be foolish to say the least, as it could cause a dry socket (super painful) and probable heart damage. So, I am out of tomorrow's race. We all go through it, I am lucky that this won't be long term and I will be able to compete next weekend up in Oregon in a race I am pretty excited about. Plus I get to see the fam for a bit. The doc said easy exercise is possible as early as tomorrow, and having sat still all day, I will probably venture outside at some point. Best of luck to all racing, it's going to be a perfect day for it!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Update: A little more than a painful tooth....
Ugh, couldn't be worse timing. By chance I walked into my friend Lauren after swimming tonight and she asked about my tooth problem. I told her the whole story and she suggested I go see Donovan, who is a kick-ass cyclist as well as dentist. I promptly called him and he was nice enough to come see me at his office after hours. It didn't take long for his jaw to drop when he saw the x-ray of what he was dealing with. Basically the tooth, or whatever is left of it, needs to come out. ASAP. As in tomorrow.
As he is telling me this, my mind kind of glosses over and I need to refocus. He just said I needed it done tomorrow at best, meaning no race on Sunday. I could possibly wait until after the race but then would risk a weak immune system, perhaps even more unable to fight off the infection. So tomorrow I am meeting with the Oral surgeon, we will sit down first for a pow wow and discuss my options. While I don't like to mess around with my health I, as an athlete have a really hard time justifying the surgery tomorrow over Monday. We shall see what he thinks. I know that I can't joke around with something like this, if it got worse it could spread into my blood stream and to my heart and do who knows what kind of damage. Add the impact of a race such as a half IM and you don't even want to know...
I will be making the call tomorrow morning at 11. While I know sitting out a race is not the end of the world, I will surely be heartbroken, as this is so last minute and I have never had to sit out a race before. It's not even an injury per se! For now I get to eat all the ice cream my heart desires, as at midnight I am not allowed to eat or drink anything until tomorrow when I go in. That is definitely going to be tough! Here's to hopeful thinking!
As he is telling me this, my mind kind of glosses over and I need to refocus. He just said I needed it done tomorrow at best, meaning no race on Sunday. I could possibly wait until after the race but then would risk a weak immune system, perhaps even more unable to fight off the infection. So tomorrow I am meeting with the Oral surgeon, we will sit down first for a pow wow and discuss my options. While I don't like to mess around with my health I, as an athlete have a really hard time justifying the surgery tomorrow over Monday. We shall see what he thinks. I know that I can't joke around with something like this, if it got worse it could spread into my blood stream and to my heart and do who knows what kind of damage. Add the impact of a race such as a half IM and you don't even want to know...
I will be making the call tomorrow morning at 11. While I know sitting out a race is not the end of the world, I will surely be heartbroken, as this is so last minute and I have never had to sit out a race before. It's not even an injury per se! For now I get to eat all the ice cream my heart desires, as at midnight I am not allowed to eat or drink anything until tomorrow when I go in. That is definitely going to be tough! Here's to hopeful thinking!
Time To Race Again
This weekend racing resumes with the 5430 half in Boulder. In the past few days the women's roster has become the most impressive out of any races I have entered so far this year. Take a look:
BAKER KAT CANBERRA AC 22 F
BASSO ANNE RALEIGH NC 26 F
BROMME ULI BOULDER CO 28 F
DAVISON BROOKE BOULDER CO 38 F
DIBENS JULIE BOULDER CO 34 F
Hummel Molly Durango CO 25 F
JARRETT KELLY BOULDER CO 30 F
MELLIAR-SMITH KAREN DENVER CO 35 F
O'HARA ERIN BOULDER CO 26 F
PETRELLA JOCELIN DENVER CO 30 F
SMITH CAROLINE MANDEVILLE CA 38 F
STEVENS AMANDA COLORADO SPRINGS CO 32 F
Sweigert Erika Victor ID 17 F
THELEN TRACY Colorado Springs CO 30 F
WELLINGTON CHRISSIE BOUDLER CO 32 F
WILLIAMS SUSAN LITTLETON CO 40 F
WITINOK-HUBER REBECCA BOULDER CO 25 F
ZEIGER JOANNE BOULDER CO 39 F
(and I'm sure it doesn't include a few last minute entries) Last year I think there were 8 Elites or so and I finished top 10 overall as an age grouper mixed in with the pros. Um, can we say that this race is pretty much close to a world championship this year? Should be a good time!
I have also been battling a bad tooth all week, so far unsuccessfully fighting an infection with antibiotics which just seem to make me lethargic and dehydrated but aren't curbing the infection. It's pretty painful and I will probably need a big procedure done in the future. The dentist actually suggested I start another antibiotic which is so strong that I will have to stay away from any and all products containing alcohol (not that I drink) including mouthwash and even deodorants that include alcohol. If I am not careful I could get violently ill. (apparently this product is used on recovering alcoholics...) I think I'll wait to use that until after the race...In the meantime I am hoping that the current drugs will kick in and do their magic sooner than later. I don't like racing with that stuff in my system at all.
Overall I am ready for the race. I am doing a very good job of tapering, including eating ice cream and reducing my workouts by alot. I have been doing some big volume lately and want to make sure it pays off in time for the race. No need to race tired, especially not with a field like Sunday's! On that note, off to swim easy for 30 mins and then get into full-on race mode.
BAKER KAT CANBERRA AC 22 F
BASSO ANNE RALEIGH NC 26 F
BROMME ULI BOULDER CO 28 F
DAVISON BROOKE BOULDER CO 38 F
DIBENS JULIE BOULDER CO 34 F
Hummel Molly Durango CO 25 F
JARRETT KELLY BOULDER CO 30 F
MELLIAR-SMITH KAREN DENVER CO 35 F
O'HARA ERIN BOULDER CO 26 F
PETRELLA JOCELIN DENVER CO 30 F
SMITH CAROLINE MANDEVILLE CA 38 F
STEVENS AMANDA COLORADO SPRINGS CO 32 F
Sweigert Erika Victor ID 17 F
THELEN TRACY Colorado Springs CO 30 F
WELLINGTON CHRISSIE BOUDLER CO 32 F
WILLIAMS SUSAN LITTLETON CO 40 F
WITINOK-HUBER REBECCA BOULDER CO 25 F
ZEIGER JOANNE BOULDER CO 39 F
(and I'm sure it doesn't include a few last minute entries) Last year I think there were 8 Elites or so and I finished top 10 overall as an age grouper mixed in with the pros. Um, can we say that this race is pretty much close to a world championship this year? Should be a good time!
I have also been battling a bad tooth all week, so far unsuccessfully fighting an infection with antibiotics which just seem to make me lethargic and dehydrated but aren't curbing the infection. It's pretty painful and I will probably need a big procedure done in the future. The dentist actually suggested I start another antibiotic which is so strong that I will have to stay away from any and all products containing alcohol (not that I drink) including mouthwash and even deodorants that include alcohol. If I am not careful I could get violently ill. (apparently this product is used on recovering alcoholics...) I think I'll wait to use that until after the race...In the meantime I am hoping that the current drugs will kick in and do their magic sooner than later. I don't like racing with that stuff in my system at all. Overall I am ready for the race. I am doing a very good job of tapering, including eating ice cream and reducing my workouts by alot. I have been doing some big volume lately and want to make sure it pays off in time for the race. No need to race tired, especially not with a field like Sunday's! On that note, off to swim easy for 30 mins and then get into full-on race mode.
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