Better to ride well and lose?

So Coach Chuck Noll always told his players that its better to play well and lose, than it is to play poorly and win. Right on Chuck! I'm with ya. Don't get me wrong, I love winning, but it just never feels quite the same as when you have a great day no matter what the outcome. I won a race today at the Drt Winona TT and even though I posted a decent time, I had a poor race. I happened to win since I was the only gal out there, but I felt I could have beat a few more guys on the list. Even though I had a full minute improvement on my lap from previous tests that were not as muddy, I just didn't put it all together. It was kinda like I had planned to make an awesome red velvet cake, went to the store and bought the best ingredients and came home and put it all together, except it just didn't come out quite right. Yeah, my cake was a little flat today, but I guess that gives more all the more reason to try the receipt again- I have all the stuff, I just need to get it right... and one of these days it will go perfectly again and I will stand on that top step with my head-up and not down as above. I would truly rather race well and lose, but I know there will be wins too that I will also win as a result of racing well.

So I've had a blast here the last few weeks training, or maybe just blasted by some rain while training. I have also had some testing on the ankle last week with Dr Porter. I know I haven't updated on it lately, and since I've been getting a lot of questions how its been doing, here's the low down:

I am now rounding the 6 month mark since the major reconstruction revision and about 9 weeks since the scar debridement surgery. What I fooled myself into thinking would be a quick recovery, I'm learning is not quite the case at all. I'm doing really well on the bike since we don't rely on lateral movement much, and I've been training hard, but ask me to play a little B-ball or walk on uneven ground and I am handicapped. I had a cool opportunity to take part in some testing of the ankle's and surgery leg's dynamics, ROM, and strength at the Methodist Sports Med facility last week. It's all kinda involved with lots of details, but basically, I still am only at 30- 40% strength and function on the surgery leg. That may be okay for an old lady who walks at Walmart, but not for a elite cyclocross racer. As is obvious, I have some major work to do still. And so I will. Since I'm a number person, its nice to see the deficit with software and we are going to test again in 2 months to see how I've improved. It's gonna take time, and lots of it! Projection from DrP has me working on this for another year minimum to get back to normal, but I'm no stranger to hard work, and I will just have to commit myself to the therapy and let my body do its thing. The good thing is that, come cyclocross season, I should be strong enough to not fracture my ankle from the weak muscles (please take time to knock on wood now), and be able to perform at a higher functional level than last year! Rad.

(The ankle now at 6 months is much smaller than the first month as shown in pics! I've lost about 4.5 inches off my calf muscles. I'm always surprised how dead my ankle looked right after surgery compared to now... yes, that's the same leg)

As far as the thorn in my side, the nerve pain and damage, it continues to be a big issue. DrP injected the area with steroids to see if that can calm it down. Whowsers! That totally was not fun! It was very painful and even though I've had a lot of injections in my life, this topped the scale. Its still super sore 5 days later, but hopefully in a few days I will see a improvement in the nerve pain and swelling. Regardless, I'm sure we will figure something out, and I'm just thankful to be able to train and race through it all!

Anyway, that's a quick update. As always, thanks to everyone for the well wishes and thoughts. Its funny to think how we focus so much on the "day" of surgery, but the repercussions of some surgeries to recover from can take so long and encompass a lot of what you deal with every single day. I didn't "go" through this injury and leave it behind the day the cast came off; I'm "going" through the work of getting better every moment still 6 months down the road. There is very few times in the day that I forget that I have a rehabbing ankle. That being said, I'm totally thankful for such a cool support crew that has helped me with it! I know its been a long process, but everything is so worth it!

Otherwise, I'm back to work, life and training this week before heading down to the French Lick Drt race next weekend. Looks to be a fun venue and I suggest everyone try to make it to preview the DINO race there later in the year.

But bring your A game, I'm gonna try to put together a receipt for success, and win or lose, I'm going to strive for a good race.