Gator got your tongue?

The cast has been removed! This is really great news. However, I don’t know how it’s possible but his arm smells worse without the rancid thing.

This type of break is susceptible to re-break. Like, very susceptible. The doctor impressed this on me. In fact, I think she spoke in italics, that’s how impressed upon I was. He has to wear a removable brace for 6 weeks and he has to have limited activity for 6 months.

You read that correctly. 6 months.

This was a smile and nod situation. I will say whatever you want to hear, doctor, to get out of this exam room and on with this day. Because there’s no way I can keep this kid limited in any capacity for 6 months. But sure, yes, I agree with you.

Actually, we will live in constant terror, because I’m going to let this kid run free. See you again, soon.

I took the caution thing pretty seriously on day 1. We did low key activities. In fact, I was puzzlin’ with Benji for most of the afternoon. We chatted about the day, the trauma of cast removal, my upcoming race, the fact there are alligators in the river, the fact my sister is going to swim with me in the river for practice, the fact I wasn’t going to tell her about the gators. (I was mostly joking…)

He then asked, speaking of my sister, if he could call that night and speak with her privately. His voice also conveyed italics. He learned a lot from that doctor.

This is not unusual. Most traumatic medical events involve a FaceTime debrief with members of the family. I said, “sure, you probably want to tell her about your arm, and new brace.”

I handed him my phone and said he could take his conversation to his room. We do not allow screens in bedrooms except in the case of a trusted family member.

He returned some time later, said they had a good talk, and we resumed puzzlin’.

The next day my sister sent me a message about the race. Some of her swim friends were talking about it, the river, conditions, the hurricane that’s coming, and were we really going to swim with alligators?

“Oh rats, your friends spilled the beans about the gators,” I whined.

“Um no, Benji did. Last night when I talked to him.”

“What! He said he was going to tell you about his arm!”

Turns out, that sneaky little squirrel connived his way into a call with my sister solely to ease his guilty conscience about the gators!!!! And then he let me assume it was about his arm!

For some reason I feel oddly proud that he felt convicted to do the right thing no matter what.

I also feel slightly betrayed.

She’s still swimming with me and the gators though. No getting out of that.

I usually give a breakdown of the race and my goal for each discipline. But to be frank, there’s a hurricane coming through GA this weekend and we have no idea what to expect. So I’m going to keep the goals pretty brief.

Swim: Hope it happens (Ironman has been known to cancel swims in dangerous conditions)
Bike: Hope the bike stays in one piece. (I have been known to have bike problems in abundance)
Run: Go under 1:40 half marathon time

In reality, if I swim under 30 minutes I’ll be happy. I hope to hold the bike as close to 2:30 as I can, and if I get that run right at or under the 1:40 mark I should be looking at a podium spot.

Goals:
Podium in my age group
Finish in the top 10 female overall
Qualify for a world IM champs slot (in Spain!)
Total race time under 5 hours

Some are realistic, some are a bit more of a reach. But I’ve learned so much over the past few races, I know there will be improvements throughout.

Follow along and track me in the Ironman app! Download it, then select Augusta, GA 70.3 race and enter my name.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ironman-tracker/id1183983404

Race is Sunday, 7 am start time.