“And my heart felt like a lump of lead,…..” Lorna Doone, R.D. Blackmore
Monday
Clearly splitting the cycling session on Sunday into 2 was a wise idea. Despite doing few kilometres extra than the previous week, I felt virtually no pain in any of my extremities on the next day, or even the day after. So much so, that I’ve not had the desire to document any of the non-events of the week. There is one thing, however I wanted to mention. Something came up which momentarily put my training jeopardy, and put any thoughts of training out of my head for a couple of weeks.
Shortly before Christmas – and already after my cycling trip was booked – I started to experience great amount of chest pain. As chronic sufferer of costochondritis, initially I put the pain down to that condition. However, something about it started to feel different. Couple of weeks and a visit to a GP later, I was staring down the barrel of a gun and facing screening tests for possible breast cancer.
Needless to say it was a very depressing and traumatic few weeks, as anyone who has gone through this can testify. Even though the doctors tell you, there are many reasons why, as women, we may have lumps and bumps in our boobs, lets face it – going through such checks gets your head going to the worst possible outcomes. I tried, over the days as I waited for the test, to not focus on the negative; repeating to myself, it’s probably nothing. Everything will be ok, etc, etc, etc. In between that, I was also planning my own funeral party, and trying to figure out how I would tell my friends and family.
In all of that, however, there was one other thought, that kept popping into my head time and time again: will I be able to cycle and how soon, if the thing in my boob turns out to be something that needs taking out. Being a major surgery or just something that needs lancing.
In a strange twist of fate, whilst I’ve not yet fully embraced the new healthy, training life-style, and cycling has not yet become part of my daily life – it’s been a refreshing thought, that my mind turned towards cycling at such terrible time and worried whether or not I’ll be able to do it.
Long story short, however, no funeral party required. The test came back clear. Barrel of the gun, firmly pointed in another direction, wherever that is; and the pain and associated lumps turned out to be part of the pre-existing costochondritis condition. Though I’ve never had one this bad, causing such symptoms.
Trauma over, time to prep for next cycling session this Sunday. Only 2 more Sundays to go, before I’m due to add a cycling session during the week. Oooh, I’m not looking forward to that. And I need to catch up with posting my diaries.
But the emotional hit of the events meant that cycling was far from my thoughts, so I couldn’t even be bothered to make any notes during the week. Besides, splitting the last training into 2, mean that there is nothing interesting to report. My bum don’t hurt. My arms don’t hurt. My legs don’t hurt. Only my head hurts – but that’s just from stupidity and worrying too much.
- Days left: 367
- Weight 90.1 kgs
- Distance travelled: 35.5 kms
- Total distance travelled: 67.9 kms
- Stupidity Level: High beyond description
Hate To Exercise 