Tuesday, February 24, 2015

New Experience

Friends! This past weekend I had the opportunity to do some speaking when I was asked to present at the Olympic Orthopaedic Association Cycling Team's year-end function. They didn't have anything particular that they wanted to hear about, other than that they "love bike stories!".

I've wanted to get a message out there, and this was a perfect opportunity for me to try speaking with a purpose. Over the hour that I spent with the team, I was able to tell lots of fun (to me!) stories about the highlights of my first year as a professional. I also needed to mention the lowlight as well, and that's obvious what that has been.

I wanted to be able to share a sample of what goes through my head, so I put together this video with little tastes of some of the topics that I touched on.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpQ8BhevONY

Thanks to the OOA crew for giving me this opportunity!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Just doing things

I'm going to get my teeth fixed soon! This is exciting to me. Since, ya know, sandwiches and burritos and stuff.

First, I'm really proud to announce a partnership with Klean Athlete for 2015. Klean is a supplement company targeted towards athletes. Every product is NSF certified for sport, which means that everything that they offer is guaranteed to be free of banned substances. This is incredibly valuable for any athlete facing potential testing through USADA or WADA, as you can just look on the label and know what's in it- there is no risk of the supplement being potentially tainted. A tainted vitamin ruins a career, and that is something that I do not want to have to worry about.




Based on my needs in recovery, I am proud to be working with a company who is able to help me keep my health where it needs to be. I'll have a post highlighting what I'm taking and its purpose within recovering from a TBI at some point in the future. I'm glad that Klean Athlete can provide me such sanity while I'm doing everything in my power to recover naturally and safely to 100%.

Think about it. 
Check out Klean Athlete! The multivitamin tastes like caramel if you're not into the stereotypical vitamin taste....

Since I can't ride outdoors yet and Seattle has had an uncharacteristically dry and beautiful Winter, I have been meandering around outdoors much more often. Turns out that being outdoors is a fun thing to do, who knew?! Rollers on the patio is a good option, but I have been (embarrassing, I know) really enjoying going on walks around my neighborhood and other surrounding areas. The other day it was a balmy 50 degrees so I sunbathed shirtless. OK, not me, but I DID see someone doing that. Aren't you cold, man?!?!


On that sunny day, Marissa and I went on a small neighborhood exploration adventure. Recently there have been several luxury townhouses being built that I regularly drooled at while driving past. Ok, fine, I drool a lot because of the whole mouth surgery perma-numbness thing but drooling at fancy townhouses seems like a plausible event? These townhouses, on the sunny day of walking fun, were open for touring for prospective buyers. So we went down, scoffed at the lack of closet space, and continued on with our day. I now know what million dollar townhomes look like! We decided to not place a bid for one of them. Since, well, the... closet space.

Continuing on with our adventure, we ended up at a park where there was a basketball hoop and several basketballs. In the unlikely event that 10 year-old me were to challenge current me to a game, I would definitely foul out to avoid losing. I am TERRIBLE at basketball.


I've been doing things other than walking, luckily. The next step for me is another MRI to continue to track how my brain is healing, and I see the dentist soon since my last surgery helped get some mobility back in my mouth. Lots of good things! I've been doing what I can to take care of my body in the best ways possible, so shout out to Peter S. (Acupuncture), Jim C. (Chiropractic) and Trevor G. (Massage) for their roles in helping get my body, especially my neck, back into working order. Thanks guys!

Also, I want to give my buddy Brooks a big GOOOO, he's starting his race season off this weekend. Have fun, man!