P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E

Yep, a little perspective never hurt.

In the realm of things (still assuming this is hocks. Won't it be "funny" if after all these posts about hocks, it ends up being something else? Like, *shudder* stifle problems? Bad Melinda! think positive!) this is fairly minor.

Two weeks after I purchased Farley, she bowed her tendon (it was a minor bow, but still!) when her brain briefly left her body during a trail ride. Just like that I was faced with a 3 month rehab (I know - insignificant in comparison to a "real" bow). I completely OCD'ed about it. Would she ever be completely sound? How well would it heal? Could she still do endurance? 100 milers? Of course, now it seems silly. It was a minor setback, although at the time it felt like my world was ending amongst the doom and gloom (non-vet) advice being given in the endurance community when I asked....In hindsight, because of that bow I was extra careful bringing Farley along and I took longer to get to the LD and 50 mile distance than I might have, so it was probably a good thing in the long run!

Then some time after that, Farley got a sore splint as a result of me pushing too hard to get to my 65 last year (big lesson - after a gradual year of legging up, do NOT GET IMPATIENT!!!). Again, most of the feedback I got (non-vet) was doom and gloom. "She'll need surgery", "she'll never be the same", "she's probably going to end up with tendon problems"....I agonized over whether to take her to the vet. Again - the issue resolved itself with a couple weeks of easy work and some time off from rides.

Based on my history of giving myself needless ulcers every time something goes wrong, I need a 48 hour rule for these kind of situations.

Melinda's 48 hour rule
(to be followed henceforth and enforced by her BB's if necessary)

• I am allowed to OCD about a potential Farley problem for exactly 48 hours (for major issues. For minor issues I give myself an hour and for potential major issues I give myself 24 hours) in which I imagine worse case scenarios, lament the end to all my endurance dreams and hopes and vow I shall apply 40 lashes to myself to in order to punish myself for such ignorance that let this happen. You may or may not chose to read my blog during this period. I understand.
• After the 48 hour grace period reason shall prevail and I shall have decided either to wait and see, or schedule an vet appointment. In this time I am not allowed to either assign blame to myself OR make dire predictions for the future. After all, I'm going to pay the vet for their professional opinion so my time is better spent developing the questions I want them to address during the appointment.
• AFTER the vet appointment, armed with his advice, I am allowed to dissect that last 20 years of my life and lament my inadequacies that led to this condition ONLY if I also develop a plan for preventing it in the future. So far I have good luck with this - I rarely have the same injury twice if it was preventable by some extra effort on my part.

So, my 48 hour period for this problem is officially over. Not a peep about it until after my Monday 9am appointment.

Endurance News Articles of Note

If you have gotten you EN for the month, check out the article on joint therapy by Melissa Ribley (DVM). Probably not very interesting for someone not agonizing over what to do, but I thought it was great timing for me! I thought it was interesting how she categorized arthritis in the hocks/joints as being acute from overuse, or chronic from wear and tear. Maybe fusing of the hocks isn't the inevitable thing I've been reading about? Definitely something I need to think about and consider. Makes me very very glad I decided to stay a mid-pack rider. I mentioned picking up the speed this year and a very well done comment by Karen C. made me reconsider. Glad I don't have to add THAT to my guilt load right now!

Also, there's a decent article on preparing for a 100 or moving up distance. It covered many of the things that I have thought about (I was preparing a similar article for the blog but scrapped it since this article in EN basically covered the same material), including that I thought what prepared me the most for riding 100 was a mid "step-up" distance of 65-75 miles, and a 2 day 100 (2 50's in 2 days). In my opinion, I don't think riding progressively faster 50's would have done a whole lot for me - the challenge of a 100 is how long you have to spend on the trail and the step up distance and the 2 day 100 both helped me with that.