Salsa, re: what other newbies are doing:

My goal for my first tri is for 2009. I fractured my sacrum nearly two years ago, and I am still dealing with some soft-tissue trauma and muscle pain in my right hip and lower back. I do pilates 1-2x a week plus my home PT exercises 2-3x a week for that. And lots of stretching.

Getting back to pre-injury fitness is like building a sandcastle. I make a little progress, and then something will flare up which forces me to rest and back off and lose the base I've built.

I've started bike commuting 1-2 times a week, it's about 5 miles each way. Cycling is pretty much the only cardio I've been able to do since my injury. Hoping I can work up to 3-4 times a week by end of summer.

Swimming is a little less convenient. I bought a pass for the city pools, but I can't seem to get to the pool during lap swim hours. Maybe I'll have more energy as the days get longer.

I'm not sure when I'll be ready to start running again. It's partly a question of when my body tells me it's ready, and then I have to get over my fear of doing too much too fast and setting myself back.

This week I'm resting. I had spent Saturday planting seedlings in my garden and woke up Sunday with lots of overly tight muscles in my back and hip. Trouble going from sitting to standing and standing to sitting. Sunday night I took an epsom salt bath, Monday night I took a muscle relaxant, and today I went to see my massage therapist, who did a lot of work around my piriformis, psoas, glutes, and lateral rotaters. I think I have control of my muscles again, but I'm gonna take a couple more days before starting on my next sandcastle.

Where is Juanita Hill?