Turning a Corner

I have a lot to write about but it will have to wait until later. Just wanted to jot down a few notes about today.

Rode 37 miles with Colleen Murphy today, one of (if not THE) fastest female cyclists in Greeley. I've known her for years and we've always kidded each other about how she can out-ride me but I can out-run her. I've always admired her cycling skills and she says she has always admired my running. We're about the same age and we both have 2 kids.

So I called her up yesterday and asked if she wanted to ride with me today, expecting her to say no since most people work during the week and it's hard to get out for early morning rides. But she said yes - yippee!

And even better news is that she lives only a few blocks from me, which made it much easier to meet at 6:30 AM!  She's been riding around Greeley for15 years so she knew a bazillion different routes. I told her that I would just follow her and off we went.

We went northeast on several different back roads that I've never been on. This was very cool because I need some new routes. We went up near Eaton, then over to Galeton, then through Kersey and back to Greeley. At UNC we were at 36 miles and I had about a mile to my house.

It was just great. And the really good news is that she wants to continue riding on Wednesday mornings - perfect!  I couldn't ask for a better training partner.

I needed this change for reasons I can't write about here. Finding a new friend was just what the doctor ordered.

Mountain Respite

We're up in Summit County for a week and I can't say enough good things about it.

I've been coming up to our cabin for 17 yrs now but this time I'm staying in a condo that we were lucky enough to buy into this winter.
And we couldn't have picked a better time, weather wise. It's absolutely beautiful here right now. Sunny, dry, and in the low 80's. I just want to be outside all day!

Kurt took the kids to the cabin yesterday so I had one glorious evening, morning, and half-day to myself. Any parent of young children will understand how incredibly therapeautic that can be! 

I was too tired yesterday to do any training (although I hiked for 3 hrs with the kids) but after having a good night's sleep, I felt like a new person this morning. I enjoyed coffee on the deck watching the sun come up over Lake Dillon, then went for a run.

Since I'm still having heel and hip pain, I knew I had to run on a soft surface. I started off in the woods near the condo and ran on a trail. The air was cool and crisp and I had the trail to myself. I can't even describe how good that felt.

I ran 50 mins up and around the condo (slow and easy), including 4 long ascents on a dirt road that leads up to a hiking trail. At 9000 feet, that aint easy!  I'm doing Lake 2 Lake triathlon on Saturday so I didn't want to go too hard anyway.

I thought about a lot of things that have been on my mind during this run. Like, how often I train alone and how lonely it gets sometimes. Sarah and Brenda do almost all of their training together and I will admit I've been a bit jealous. They both work full-time and their schedules jive really well. I have to work my training around the kids schedule and what works for me physically (like not doing track to prevent injuries from getting worse. Katerina has softball on Weds nights so I can't do track anyway).

I just hope we can do our long rides together. I'm fine training along during the week and can even handle long runs on my own (if necessary) but I don't want to do long bike rides alone. Its not safe and I don't enjoy them. I know I'll have conflicts this fall with soccer and church so I'm just hoping I'll have someone to ride with on the really long ones.

The one good thing about training alone is that I think it does make you mentally tougher. Its just you against the clock anyway during a triathlon and if you're used to cheering yourself on during long training runs, etc, then its easier to do that when you're struggling to get to the finish line.

Training alone also gives you time to think. I've had some pretty amazing conversations with myself during long runs (and swim bouts) and feel that I've conquered a few personal issues that have been nagging me for years. There's a certain zen to training alone that I can't get from anything else and although I'd rather have company on long runs and rides, at least I gain something other than fitness from going solo.

Hoping to ride around Green Mountain Reservoir and possibly swim in it too - brrrr!  TTFN!

Lake 2 Lake Bike Course - Yowsa!

Lake 2 Lake triathlon is next Saturday so Brenda, Scott, Todd, Sarah, John, and I rode the bike course yesterday. Beautiful day and very challenging course. It starts at Loveland High School and goes out west of Loveland to Glade Road, then north to Horsetooth Reservoir (and up that really steep hill!) and then back to Loveland.

Its a fabulous course because its scenic and very challenging. Glade Road is mostly uphill and then there's the climb up to Horsetooth trail park - that was hard!  Then its a screamin' downhill before the big climb to the Rez (Todd clocked in at 45 mph!).

I hadn't been on my racing bike since the accident and I was a bit nervous. Riding in the aero position of a racing bike feels a bit scary - you don't have as much control as you do on a road bike, esp going around curves. You feel as if you are going to fly over the handle bars any minute. The good side of riding a racing bike is that they are so much faster!  It's like going from my Honda mini-van to a little sports car.

Here's Todd, showing off the Twin River's cycling jersey, below. TTFN!

So Far, So Good

Ran 80 mins today with "the boys" at Jo Jo (aka, Josephine Jones) park. I needed to stay on soft surface and this fit the bill.

It was an interesting run. Dale, the guy in the white singlet at left, wanted to run around 16 miles and he wanted to do it all at Jo Jo.

He does this once in awhile: plans a monster long run at either Jo Jo or Bittersweet Park. Why he doesn't do a longer route is a mystery to me.

He said he'd like to make it into a fund-raiser someday. Not sure how that would work out but hey, I'd chip in a few bucks.

He started running around 5:30 and he planned to keep going until 10:00 or so (something like that). I decided that I should run with him instead of my other friends, since I needed a soft surface and also because I wanted to help him out.

So, I get there at 7:30 and like always, I started off slow and easy. Dale and Duane were coming up the hill and I ambled along beside them...that is, for about 50 feet before they took off!  I had no idea they would run that fast! 

I finally caught up with them but I was huffin' and puffin'. I couldn't keep up so I slowed down to my usual long run pace. Todd waited for me on his bike and rode along with me for several miles and we had a nice chat. He's going through a major change in his life so we talked about relationships, life, and seat posts. That made it much better.

I was also glad to be running with people I hadn't seen in a long time. I feel kind of like a lone ranger anyway since I'm doing almost all of training by myself (due to my kids schedules and my friends' work schedules). It gets kind of lonely sometimes but I don't really have a choice. More on that topic later.

But the good news is that I didn't have any hip or heel pain during the run, but as usual, I did have some after the run. But it was mild and I ice'd my heel for a good 30 minutes, which seems to help a lot. If it stays like this, I can handle the training but I won't be surprised either if it gets worse. I just really, really, really want to keep running so I hope and pray that it doesn't!

Weekly Recap: Yesterday Kurt and I swam at the lake and I think I mentioned the 25 mile fast ride to Pierce on Wednesday. Tomorrow I'm riding the L2L course with Sarah, Brenda, Todd, and Scott (and maybe others, i don't know). Its 24 miles but goes around Horsetooth Reservoir and up those steep hills. I'm actually looking forward to it!  Kurt is fixing my bike seat as I write this and I can't wait to get back on my racing bike!

TTFN

I Ran 9 Miles....and Now I Can't Walk

Life is full of ironies and so is training for an Ironman.

Last Saturday I ran 9 glorious miles (see previous post). It felt so good to be running long again AND to be running with my friends (I'm not sure they noticed I had been MIA but I did).

Anyway, I felt so good that I decided to sign up for Lake 2 Lake triathlon, which is June 26th. Since I didn't finish the Greeley Tri, it would really do my psyche some good to cross a finish line. I just hope I can get my bike fixed by then (waiting on Felt to send the right part for my seat...grrr....).

I signed up Saturday afternoon and later that day, noticed that I wasn't putting any weight on my left heel when i walked around the house. Why?  Because it hurt....uh oh. This is not good. I promptly ignored the pain and told myself to just pop a Celebrex and see how it was on Sunday.

Sure enough, the pain was still there Sunday morning but now it was worse. I couldn't put weight on it at all. Crap!  First my hip, now my heel.

Kurt was dashing out the door to go to work (his call weekend) so I quickly asked him what it might be. "Sounds like plantar fasciatas to me".  Plantar what?  I had heard of it but hadn't a clue what it was. He also said that that is what Todd, our injured Ironman friend also had. So I called Todd.

Long story short, I do have PF. The good news, according to Scott Taylor, podiatrist friend of ours who is training for Florida IM, is that I can probably train through it as long as it doesn't get worse. He said to ice it 4-5 times/day and keep taking Celebrex. He said that if it worsens, that I will have to stop for awhile. This is not good with a half-Ironman coming up in early July, followed by a 13 week full Ironman training plan.

I did two short runs since Saturday, both of them on grass and it felt ok. I could feel some pain but it wasn't too bad. I ice'd it and I'm icing it now. We'll just see how it goes.

Other training news....

Kurt and I swam at Centennial Pool on Monday and I felt fantastic!  I swam 13 or 14 laps (100 meters each) and felt like I had hardly swam at all.  It was amazing!

Rode 20+ miles with my new friend, Brian, on Wednesday morning - felt fantastic then too!  Biking and swimming are going so well. I love riding in the early mornings and plan to keep going with it until the Ironman, if I can.

All in all, not a bad week. I'm planning to swim at the lake tomorrow, run Saturday AM with the group and bike on Sunday morning (but not sure where yet).

TTFN

I Ran 9 Miles!!!

It's true!  After foregoing long runs for 2 months or so, I finally did a "real" long run and managed to eek out 9.3 miles (according to my Garmin-owning friend, Brenda).

And to top it off, it was rainy and cold. Its June but it felt like October, for cryin' out loud!  Mid-50's and raining steadily.

But I honestly didn't care. I was just happy to be running long again. Part of me was thinking that I shouldn't be running long, that I should let my hip muscle heal more before venturing into endurance runs again. But gosh darn it, it's been feeling fine lately and i really miss running with my friends.

So, off I went with Kevin, Brenda, Sarah, and Jenny. Woo hoo!  Bring it on baby!

Greeley Triathlon (Disaster)

This will be a hard post to write.

First, this is me with my friends BEFORE the Greeley Triathlon last Sunday (June 6th). I was in a great mood because I was, well, feeling great.

Weather was perfect and I was antsy to race. It would be my first race on my new fancy schmancy racing bike too.

But it would also be my first DNF.

The swim went really well - better than I expected. I felt strong and despite a little bit of hypoxia during the first 100 feet or so of the swim, I pulled off a 9:30'ish swim time (according to my friend, Jenny).  That was at least a minute faster than last year.

Another surprise: I came out of the water ahead of Jenny, which surprised both of us because she has always been faster than me in the water (and on foot), and that gave me a jolt of energy. I flew through T1 pulling my wetsuit off in record time. I jumped on my bike and headed out onto the course feeling great.

As I headed east on 10th street going close to 20 mph, I heard something fall from my bike. It sounded like a tire iron or something like that. Then I noticed that my seat was wobbling all over the place. Oh no, this is not good!

I told myself to just hold it in place until I got back to T2. It was only a 10 mile bike and I thought I could make it back. I had to slow down to keep the seat in place using my inner thighs and buttocks. No, this is not good.

As I rounded the corner onto 95th Avenue, I realized I was super thirsty. I gently reached down to get my water bottle and the next thing I knew I was doing a face plant on the pavement and my body was skidding across the street.

This is the 2nd time I've crashed in a triathlon and I can tell you one thing: it hurts. It hurts like hell.

So what happened?  My seat was obviously not screwed in tight and it just came off during the race. How in the world could that happen???  I really don't know (and neither does anyone else that I've asked). When I bought this bike last December, I bought a new seat too and the shop owner (who did my bike fit) put the new seat on but maybe he didn't screw it in tightly enough. But I've ridden the bike 9 or 10 times since then and never noticed anything.  Go figure!

Fortunately, I did not break any bones. I had a cuts and lacerations on my face and a huge bruise on my left thigh. I also had a sharp pain in my chest, which only got worse as the day wore on. We thought it was a broken rib at first but then Kurt said it was probably a "rib muscle that separated from a rib bone".  Great, as long as I don't laugh or take a deep breath, I'll be fine.

I cried pretty hard. I was very angry and I couldn't hold it in. A policeman called for someone to pick me up - lo and behold it was John Kinne - a Greeley policeman I know very well. He laughingly said "Dallow, what happened to you this time?" when he saw me and I tried to joke about it but I was not too successful. I was really upset.

Long story short, I ended up in the medical tent for much longer than I wanted to be. It was very, very hard to see my friends having a great time, comparing race times and congratulating each other. A few came over to joke with me but some kept a distance and that made me feel worse.

A week has passed and I am feeling better. The scars on my face have healed but not my pride; that will take much longer. I've come a long way as a triathlete and I felt like a total idiot for not checking my seat before the race. It was hard not to get a little depressed afterwards.

I did get some good training in this week. On Monday, I rode my trainer hard for 65 mins doing a Spinerval workout (the longest indoor workout I've ever done). Tuesday and Thursday were moderately-paced runs; on Wednesday, I rode 30 miles with Brian D (a guy I met through the Twin Rivers group, more on that later), and on Thursday I swam with the Master's group.

All in all, I'm lucky to be walking and talking, considering how fast I was going when I crashed. And I learned a few things along the way, like check your bike seat before a race....and believe in yourself no matter what happens.

What a Difference a Week Makes!

Lots to catch up on! 
First, things are much better now - my last post was a bit downer but that's the way it goes sometimes. I've never been one to say things are fine when they aren't! 

Hip is much better and I've had some awesome workouts. Too many to write about now, although I will mention the early morning bike ride I did on Weds with 2 guys I never met before. We rode out to Windsor and back and it was just fantastic! 

Did the Bolder Boulder with my kids (more on that later - have a LOT to say). Here we are before the race, above. Kids did a great job - very proud of them!

Let's see...what else...oh, a couple of lake swims!  Kurt and I swam this morning. Got to the lake by 6:15 AM (woo hoo!). The water is so nice then. Cold at first but not bad once you get going.

Our friend, Dan, took the plunge for the first time this morning (he's a marathoner who will do his first triathlon this Sunday!). It was fun to watch him get in. He did great and swam 500 yards right off the bat (go, Dan!).

I had one of those mornings where you literally feel on top of the world. I got to swim next to my husband, which is extremely rare, and then since he was kind enough to get Evan to track practice, I was able to go for a short run. I felt sooooo good on that run!  It was only for 3 miles but it just felt good and i had NO hip pain (but it does hurt now, though). 

As I was running, I was thinking about how much I love early morning swims, rides, and runs, and how lucky I am to live in Colorado with such great friends. I love our lifestyle and wouldn't trade it for the world!

What a difference a week makes, indeed.