The Accident...

So those of you that follow me on FG/IG or Twitter saw my post about cutting off my fingertip on Christmas Eve last week. What a way to celebrate the holidays right!? Amy and I were late as usual getting out of the house. I decided to help out by cutting the veggies with our new Mandolin Slicer! The cucumber didn't fit the guard so I decided to just use my hands...literally! That thing cuts so fast. You can't even feel if it's cutting or not because its so sharp. Before I knew it I hit my right ring finger slightly and then hit my middle finger really bad. [This is about to get descriptive so go to next paragraph if things gross you out!] As soon as I cut myself I didn't think it was that bad until I moved over to the sink and saw my fingertip fly off into the sink and down the hole. Blood started really coming out. I stopped the blood immediately by pinching down on below the cut and that's when I saw how bad it really was. My bone was peeping out of my nail. The cut was a diagonal cut so the bottom of my finger is fine. Imagine a clean cut through the nail down to the bone and out.

In the heat of the moment I did not get pictures. Only my lucky wife, kids and neighbor who brought over his medic kit and saved me from bleeding all over the place and saving me a trip to the ER. Why didn't I go to the ER? Well there's not much you can do with a fingertip. There's nothing to stitch, It's too deep of a cut. I decided to kill the pain with Ibuprofen and beer for the rest of the day and keep an eye on it to make sure it stopped bleeding which thankfully it did. The last thing I wanted to do on Christmas Eve was to go wait in line at the ER for them to just do exactly what my neighbor did - stop the bleeding. During those few minutes of staring at my finger while I waited for some help the first thing that came to my mind was no swimming (like the sick triathlete I am). I've been making some big gains in the water recently. 5 days/week I've been in the water putting in 3-5k each time. Flanny has incorporated a lot of specific drills which has really help me be more efficient in the water. And then...I cut my fingertip off...1 month - maybe more away from the pool while I watch my swim fitness float away :(

[caption id="attachment_2530" align="aligncenter" width="224"] The damaged goods..[/caption]

However, I'm not going to let it get me down. I'll take this time to really focus on biking and running and get better that way. I'll start the season a little behind in swim fitness but hopefully ahead in B/R fitness so it doesn't hurt me as bad. In the meantime I'm practicing my pain tolerance for the season. Flashing back to it, after loosing a good amount of blood, my neighbor was patching me and my exposed bone up and my wife instantly felt me get warm and sweaty. I was starting to pass out haha. Unreal. I laid down, took in some water - toughened up and went back for more. Before we knew it we were down seeing family in San Diego, enjoying Christmas while my finger throbbed with my heart while all the good beer made me numb.

This was all a good reminder to be thankful when you are swimming, biking and running because any day a freak accident like this can happen or you can get injured and it can be taken away from you. One of my goals next year is to really appreciate the fact that I get to do this - not HAVE to do this. Sure training seriously can take a lot of the fun away from the sport but I will use this accident as a good reminder that I am lucky I get to do what I do.

Well next week officially kicks of my "Kona Journey" with LAVA magazine. I built this site and have blogged months ago to help build some interest leading up to January. Hopefully it will provide great exposure to my sponsors and inspire those that want to be fast even if you are juggling a full time job and family with kids. I'm a little nervous to show the world all of my workouts - 1. It will be boring 2. I may be too slow and have no business qualifying for Kona haha. Either way, I'm excited to get some feedback and really embrace the training and hard work that lies ahead!

Hope all of you have a great and safe New Years!

[caption id="attachment_2532" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Thanks Adam for patching me up![/caption]