Time for an update...

This month has been busy mostly due to a huge work project. I took a much needed mini-vacation to LA to visit with my dad for a week over Thanksgiving and I can happily say it only rained for a day and a half. The rest of the time I spent soaking up sunshine, hiking, running, and mountain biking. I logged 60 miles of mountain biking, about 8 miles of running, and nearly 10 miles of hiking. Now that's my kind of vacation ;)

I flew back to Seattle Thanksgiving evening mostly because of cheap airline rates and empty airports. Travel is so easy on holidays. My mom and I had Thanksgiving together for probably the first time in nearly 10 years. It was awesome!

Friday I had my final follow-up with the knee doctor concerning my IT band injury and the great news is that the MRI shows no more inflammation or swelling in either my hip or knee. Might I finally be coming around?? On the flip side though, my right shoulder has been giving me increasing trouble, so I mentioned it to the doc, who decided to take a closer look and has now diagnosed me with a very mildly separated shoulder. WTF? The funniest thing was him asking me, "Did you take a spill on that shoulder that you can recall?" Hmmm, which one of my recent 50 accidents should I point to?

I honestly don't know how I did it. I took a good fall at Tiger about a month or so ago, but don't remember hitting it. I only started noticing the discomfort mostly during bowling or lifting at the gym. It's usually sore after bike rides, but it's not horrible by any means, more of just a dull, annoying ache. I've got some reduced range of motion on that side for some reason, but I did injure it probably 15 years ago, so who knows.

Good news is the doc said it's mild and a sling probably isn't necessary. Right now I'm just icing and taking some anti-inflammatory meds. At this rate, I should probably seriously consider retiring again from bowling since it's killing me, but I think I'll try to bowl through this season and then call it quits in April. At least the doc knows me well. He said I could choose to wear a sling during periods of inactivity, but he has no idea when that would be ;)

In other news, I actually got out on the road bike today for a nice south lake loop with a friend. First time in a long, long time I felt back to my normal self, except out of shape. My knee did great and I was able to stand and climb for the first time in a while. Hopefully I'm starting to come around and I just need to slowly build back my fitness.

Good luck to everyone running the Seattle Half and Marathon tomorrow! I'll be out bright and early to cheer for folks. Wish I was out there, but maybe next year!