Injuries Suck

Let me start by saying that I'm not having a good day.

It started with showing my husband the bill for Daisy's echocardiogram (which our vet highly recommended - long story) that was $495. Yes, almost $500 we paid for someone to rub some weird medical device over our dogs heart and tell us "oh, she's fine".

That was after payingt he $700 bill to Honda of Greely for fixing the back bumper that I happened to mess up when I backed into someone else's car.

And that was after paying for a long list of "extra" expenses that we cant live without, of course, including $10,000 for a new deck that we just had put on our house. I know, it's very tacky to talk about money like this but somehow that Mike's Hard Lemonade erased all of the etiquette rules in my brain.

Anyway, when the officer pulled me over this morning for driving 60 mph in a section of highway that I honestly thought was supposed to be 55 mph (that was really 45 mph) and gave me a FOUR POINT violation that will cost me $185.00, it didn't exactly go over well. I actually cried in front of my kids.

But the worst part is that I can hardly walk. My hip pain is back with a vengeance and it hurts like hell. For the first time EVER, I contemplated deferring my Ironman to 2011. I ran a short run today and could hardly walk afterwards. Then I got the ticket.

So, it's a sucky day.

I did Spinervals on Tuesday and swam a nice, long swim on Weds. Biking tomorrow and hoping to do my first open water swim at 5:00 PM at the Promontory. Who knows after that. I just want to get through today.

Ride Like the Wind!

That's what Brenda and I did yesterday!

We started at 9:30 and quickly realized that we should've started earlier. It was already 70+ degrees and too much traffic. But it was a beautiful Saturday morning and we were raring to go.

So we headed out 20th St to highway 34, which we took to the first Windsor exit. The short section of 20th from The Buzz to 34 is narrow but I didn't think it was too bad. I forgot about the potholes and cattle guards, and it seems like the entire town of Greeley was headed out of town that way too. Ugh.

We finally made it 34 and were relieved. It was actually easier to ride on the highway than 20th. At least there is a wide shoulder and its concrete, making it a great place to really fly.

And it would've been fine if we didn't have to ride past a really big turtle that didn't quite make it across the road - EEUUUWWW!

We took the Windsor exit and flew down the hill on 257. If you stay to the right of the rumble strips, it's actually pretty nice riding.

We turned left onto New Liberty Road (I think thats the name of it) and circled around the south side of Water Valley and up the steep hill we like to ride. I had to drop into my lowest gear to make it up the hill but Brenda mentioned she still had two gears left (not exactly what I wanted to hear, btw).  The view of the front range at the top made it worth it!

Now for my favorite part: riding west on Crossroads Blvd toward the mountains. I just love riding there - wide shoulder, little traffic, breathtaking view of the snow-capped Rockies - love it!

That's where I noticed the wind. Either it had just picked up or we were too high with endorphins to notice. Either way, it was windy!

We made several turns in different directions on the way back so we had a headwind, tailwind, and side wind all the way back. The side wind was the worst because it really felt like we were going to be blown over. The tail wind was awesome because it was with us as we descended the big hill after the roundabout on Crossroads and we hit 41.5 mph!

And of course, we had the head wind on the toughest part - the long hill back up 257 that intersects with 34. We both laughed and said "no wonder we flew down that hill so fast"!

We ended up riding 32 miles from The Buzz and back but I had an extra 8 miles from my house, so I got 40 miles in - yay!  And the GREAT news is that I felt like I could've easily kept on going.

All in all, a fun and challenging ride. I'm so glad to have friends who are crazy enough to sign up for an Ironman too. It makes the training a lot more fun.

I went home and mowed the yard for 3 hrs (front and back, riding mower and push mower) and collapsed on our new deck, cold one in hand, about 5:00 PM. Ahhhhh....

Today I am probably going to take off since I need to let my hip rest before I try running again; plus, we have lots of yardwork to do and church to go to this morning (and the kids and I will ride our bikes there).  I'd love to run but better not.

TTFN!

Accidental Long Run

I ran a long run yesterday accidentally. Let me explain.

First, it wasn't technically a "long" run - it was only 6 miles and normally, that's not a long run for me. But since I've been nursing this hip (iliac crest) injury, 6 miles is now considered long (sniff, sniff).

Now for the funny part. Kurt and I wanted to swim on Friday morning and he likes to get a short run in when he swims so he usually runs to the pool (3 miles) and then catches a ride with me back home (whenever he doesn't have to go straight to work from the pool).

This time he said "why don't I run to the pool and you drive; then we'll switch on the way home?".  I thought about it and decided that I would try it.  I would have to take running clothes, shoes, Ipod, etc, with me, but what the heck, I should try something different.

But this takes a little more planning. Like the fact that BOTH of us need our keys to the car or we need to make a plan so that the Kurt gets my keys before I take off on my run.

We managed to forget that little detail.

We both swam for 30 minutes and since I started before Kurt did, I left before he did. After changing into my running gear, I dropped my swim bag in the car (with keys IN the bag) and took off running.

At first, I was thoroughly enjoying the run. The warm air felt good against my wet hair and damp skin, the music from my Ipod filled my sleepy brain and I settled in to a good rhythm as I made my way up 13th Avenue.

Then all of a sudden a thought popped into my head: what if Kurt didn't bring his keys?  He wouldn't be able to get home...he did have his swim bag with him, although it was a tiny one that he carries with him when he runs to the pool and maybe he thought he'd get my keys from me before I took off on my run ....uh oh...

I was right. When I got home, there was no car in site and he was sitting on the deck eating breakfast with a "what were you thinking" look on his face. Richard had given him a ride home (oops!).  So I downed some water and hit the road for another 3 mile run back to the Rec Center to get the car.  Good thing I didn't have to take the kids to school that morning!

It turned out to be a good run. Unfortunately, my hip is hurting pretty bad now so I'm icing it as I write this post (sniff, sniff).  But I'm riding with Brenda today (and hopefully Jenny too) so I'm hoping that by Monday, it will calm down so I can run again (please, oh Goddess of healing running injuries, please!). More on that later.

TTFN!

Community Classic Bike Tour

CCBT is truly one of my favorite rides of the year. And because it's always in May, it kicks off the racing season really well.

The metric century route (62 miles) starts at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, CO, and goes up to Carter Lake (emphasis on the word "up"), then over to Masonville and up around Horestooth Reservoir, and back to McKee.

This was the 3rd or 4th time I've done this ride and because of all the rain we've had, it was the most beautiful I'd seen it - the grass was so green and the lakes were so full!

And the best news is that my new racing bike did really well!  I was worried that I might not make it up the hills without my triple but I did fine. I'm really psyched about that!

I rode with Brenda, one of my IM training buddies. She also has a new bike (see us both at left), and we rode really well together. We took it easy and because of that, I felt like I could've gone longer at the end. I felt I could've gone faster but glad we didn't. We had a great time!

I have to mention Ken Whitney, the man in the middle picture here (in blue jacket, red helmet). He inspires me so much. He's 80 yrs old and doing the metric century - that's incredible!

Right now I'm focusing more on kid stuff as my kids finish up school and we start the summer schedule. Today is their last day of school and they start tennis, softball, and CARA track on June 1st. So we'll have a relaxed week next week and then I'll start my Ironman training in June.  Until then, I'll probably write 1-2 x/week here. But I love feedback and/or comments so please feel free to leave me one!

Happy Mother's Day Indeed!

Wow, what a difference a few days make. My last entry was last Tuesday, at the start of some kind of GI bug illness I had, and now, 5 days later, I'm on top of the world.


First, its a beautiful day - sunny with a forecasted high around 76 - and its Mother's Day, which is one of my favorite days of the year!  When you have young children who get super excited about making you a card, it takes on a special meaning.

But there other reasons to be happy today. My friend, Dan, is running his first marathon as we speak (he should be at mile 10 - 11 right now as I'm typing this - go Dan!) and Sarah, my Ironman-training buddy is running her first half-marathon (go Sarah!). Also, Jenny is doing the half and Dale is doing the full (both old-timers at these distances). We've been training together for a long time so I'm psyched for all of them.

Then, the other cool thing is that I am going to ride my bike to Windsor, taking my favorite route, which on a day like this will be breathtaking (I'll be riding west toward the mountains and I love looking at them as I ride), and Kurt and the kids are going to pick me up west of Windsor, on our way over to hike Horsetooth Mountain trail. A bike ride AND a hike with my family - it just does not get any better than that!

We're also going to pick up a friend of mine and her two sons, one of which was adopted from Siberia and who we've known for many years. Anton and Katerina used to play together when they were 3 and 4 so this will be a special reunion.

Then, to top it off, we'll go to the Rio (with my mom) later tonight to celebrate Mother's Day but also to see Dan, Sarah, and others who are going there to celebrate their runs.

And re training...I had a pretty good week...swam on Weds, ran on Thurs, biked inside on Friday, and ran an hour yesterday (yes, a whole hour!) and felt great!  I had a little pain in the hip but nothing more than usual.

It's amazing what a difference a few days make...

Worst Run Ever!

Well, maybe not the worst ever but darn close. I ran about 4 miles this morning and felt like, well, crap. And I'm not sure why.

I did my usual routine: ate breakfast around 7:00 and ran at 8:30, after dropping kids off at school. I could tell that I wasn't feeling great but after 22 years of running, you learn to look past that feeling because it almost always changes during the run.

This time it didn't. I felt slow and sluggish the entire way. In fact, I actually walked in the middle of the run and what is more shocking is that I didn't care. My running mantra has always been that you keep running regardless of how bad you feel. I tried to keep going but I eventually just walked. Ugh.

In my defense, it's incredibly windy today. The wind gusts are upwards of 50 mph, according to 9news.com.  The entire run I felt like I was fighting the wind.  But still...walking???

I've also had some GI stuff going on lately. I don't know what it was but I felt so bad on this run that I took every shortcut possible to get back to my car, including running through a field of weeds.

Oh well, gotta keep on truckin'.  Its days like this that I will remember when I have that IM finisher's medal around my neck (at least that's what I will tell myself today!).

Dan's Run

My friend, Dan, is running his first marathon one week from yesterday (he's on the far right in the picture). A group of us ran with him yesterday to send him off with good racing karma.

Unfortunately, Dan has acquired a "stress reaction" in his foot, that may or may not affect his race next Sunday.

That's the thing about running marathons (or doing triathlons): you train for months and months and months and then BOOM, something breaks or twists or strains and you're now officially on the "injured" list.

Of course, non-runners will smile smugly and say  "I knew running was bad for you" (to which we will promptly think to ourselves "yeah and that's why you look the way you do too" - not a nice thing to say but hey, the non-runner started it!).

But we had a nice easy short run, probably 3 miles or so. We ran at Josephine Jones Park (aka, Jo Jo) which has a soft surface and good for anyone with bad hips, knees, ankles, or feet (which is pretty much all of us).

Dan was amazingly calm about the prospect of running 26.2 miles with an injured foot. I would've been whining relentlessly for hours or maybe even home in bed with a bucket of ice on my foot and a morphine drip line going full-speed. But no, he was calm and reasonable, saying what we all know to be true: that he will finish come hell or high water.  That's just how we runners are.

So, here's to Dan and the Colordo Marathon - rest up, eat well, and we'll see you at the finish line!