Part 1:

To get some exercise in, I have decided to ride my bike in to work 2 days a week or more. Due to doctor's appointments last week, I rode on Thursday and Friday. Since the university was closed on Friday but I still planned to go into work, I left later than usual. Traffic was much easier to deal with. I ride from our small development along the sidewalk to a local park with a bike path. At the park, there are posts/ballards (large PVC pipe filled with concrete) to prevent cars from entering the bike path near the YMCA. They are set about 5 feet apart and I weave in between them to shorten the biking distance. At least that is the plan...

On Friday, I went to weave between the posts but noticed a car on the street coming toward me. With my attention diverted and slightly spooked, I cut it too close to the post and caught my handlebar. This throws one to the ground very quickly. I had been clipping along at a pretty good speed too. I don't remember crashing but I know I did. A couple people asked if I was okay. I convinced them that I was but I didn't want to get up - I just want to relax and sleep for a little while. However, I got up and checked out my bike - the chain was off the gear and stuck betweeen the gear and the bike. I called Bob & told him what had happened, he decided to pick me up for lunch so that we could figure out what to do.

He was 1/2 hour away so I had some time to assess damage and discovered a really scraped up elbow and knee and I broke my helmet (thankfully I was wearing one!!). I also started confusing reality with, well...not so much reality like my dream from the night before, thinking I had done things that I hadn't and whatnot. I must have really shaken my brain bucket but hard, huh?! :bop:

Bob fixed my bike, took me to lunch and dropped both me and my bike off at work so I could 'get back up on the horse' again. My ride home was unremarkable. I even decided to weave between the posts so that I knew that I could do it again. My neck was very sore on Saturday which, of course, concerned me so we stopped by a "Doc in the box" (CentraCare). The doctor seemed completely unfazed that I had a stroke secondary to a carotid artery dissection and dismissed me after listening to my neck and not hearing any problem. Whew! :party:

Part 2:

Speaking of 'getting back up on the horse again' - Bob & I signed up for the race that I was in last year when I stroked & we were decked out with our strokenet wristbands & I wore my Stroke Survivor shirt. Bob ran the 10k that I was to run last year & I ran/walked the 5k since I'm not yet ready for a 10k. This means getting up at 6 am and leaving by 6:30 to get there by 7 so that Bob can warm up and stretch. We were late AND got lost - Bob didn't have much time at all to warm up or stretch but ran a good run at 54:39 I AM SO PROUD OF HIM :wub2:

The 10k started at 7:30 and the 5k (what I ran) started at 9:15 so I napped in the car while he ran :gleam:

Then, we walked to the starting line of the 5k and he ran/walked it with me - saying that I ran it is embelishing to say the least - I jogged for a few minutes until my ankle got sore and walked, then ran and walked, ran a little more and walked until the 3 mile mark - then I ran it in. While finishing up, we recognized a few of the spectators - quite a few of the spectators! Many friends met us at the end to cheer us in! This really upped my adrenaline and made me sprint to the finish line :bouncing_off_wall: I did it! I put that race to shame (well, with horrible time at 54:54) that beat me last year - yay!!