Range of Motion Vacation

After enjoying last Friday's vacation day, I decided that even though I was staying in town, I'd still take my planned Tour of California vacation days. It seemed a waste, especially with crummy weather in the forecast, yet it was the best decision I could have made for my body and mind. I'm heading back to work this week feeling mentally refreshed and physically ahead of schedule.

The focus this week was on range of motion. It was the 1st full week without the sling so everyday tasks plus rehab have brought significant improvement. Granted, I'm still very limited but compared to the last 6 weeks, I feel like my wing may fly again. For example, this coming week, I'm going to try washing my hair and closing the car door with my left arm.

I worked a couple days, but otherwise dedicated my time to physical therapy, pilates, and hiking. I alternated days of PT and pilates, then each day added an hour or more of hiking. I had a rough patch on Friday where the extreme ache in my arm caused me to question my vacation schedule, but everyone said that's part of the rehab and to keep going because my range of motion was definitely improving.

With Terry sticking to our vacation plans in California, I was home alone for my stay-cation, but not lonely. My friend and I did all the pilates and gym sessions together and most of the hikes, plus a few lunches. PT is more friends and laughs, when they aren't inflicting pain. I was able to attend a girls lunch that I've missed in the past due to work travel and catch up with friends I haven't seen in a long time. There was even a neighborhood party to keep me busy. Otherwise, I caught up on podcasts and finished a couple books.

Terry enjoyed days of riding and sunshine and most importantly took a break from work. He felt bad about going without me, but I pushed him to do it as I hope he'd do the same with me. We are looking forward to this week (and maybe next) of no travel and getting the house ready for summer and several weekends of guests.

While I made gains on rehab and range of motion, the Tour of California women's race made gains for women's cycling particularly in the US! The coverage wasn't live, but there were several people giving online updates and a daily recap video. Megan Guarnier (Boels Dolmans Cycling Team) took the win on Stage 1 and kept the yellow jersey thru Stage 4. She won the overall, the sprint jersey, and was 2nd in the mountain category. She also earned enough points to go on top of the UCI Women's World Tour standings by over 100pts. She is now officially the best in the world! The Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling Team did great for their 1st UCI race and Nina Laughlin was best placed in 26th. We are so proud of all the women! For replay videos, results, etc - check out the Tour Tracker and the team links above.