Roller Coaster

The ride my emotions take on a daily basis


WY I Run... EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY

Workouts:
Saturday:  A day to myself where I took the time wake up to my grumbling tummy. Trainer (90) and then late in the day made it up to Beaver Creek to classic ski for 75 minutes-- my music and I
Sunday: I got Adam all to myself and we made it up to Beave Creek for a Skate Ski (100). I continuously skied with no pain and 10 x minute intervals... I needed the lung burning
Monday:  Core, Aqua Jog--60-- ( a review on my Swimp3 soon) and Trainer (60)

Saturday was rough. I was feeling sorry for myself and not doing much about it. I did however turn to a community that seems hidden amongst my self pity at times. The online support via Facebook and RunnersConnect, a slew of runners related to my situation, were empathetic, understood my challenge and lifted me up.

And..

 

Just a little bit of support and a show of appreciation and empathy goes so far and can miraculously put my head into perspective. Thank you to those who lift me up!

In due time the smile crept on to my face when skate skiing and my leg got along!

 And as I slept through my alarm to throw me off on a Monday, I walked out to this...

On the up... and back down

WY I Run... to have a passion and set goals

Sorry for the boring workouts, but I like to keep track and here is where I get to be self-indulgent especially while I am injured.

Workouts:
Saturday: Elliptical (85 min) 10 min easy w/u, 5 min medium, 2 min hard, 2min easy (x 8), 10 min easy c/d and Abs and while waiting at the airport, I snuck my belongings behind the front desk of the nearby Sheraton, then to walk 4 miles.
Sunday: Got to enjoy a walk with Taylor in the morning, then played drill sergeant Pearson when Adam and I hopped on the bike for 90 minutes and later headed to the pool for some hot tubbing and aqua jogging (35).

 

We also managed to make it to, 'We Bough a Zoo' at the Lander theatre. It was absolutely adorable and based on a true story which makes me want to visit the actual zoo that it is based on.

Monday: Elliptical (80 min)-- 10 min w/u, 5 min medium, 2:30 min hard, 2:30 off, 10 c/d- increase resistance and in the afternoon, Aqua Jog (50 min)--10 min easy w/u, 1min medium, 1 min sprint, 30 sec hands in air (keep moving your legs in the running motion, but put your hand above your head), 1 min rest – repeat 10 times. 10 min easy c/d
Tuesday: Aqua Jog (60) and Trainer (60)
Wednesday: Spinning on the trainer (90)-- 10 min med, 5 min hard, 2 min and stand and 5 min easy- repeated until time. A 3 Mile walk at lunch.
Thursday: Elliptical (80)-- all have a workout attached, but you get the idea from above. Aqua Jog (35)-- starting to bore me.
Friday: First miles in 12 days-- 2 Miles and the pain is there. I stopped knowing I should not continue and ended with Elliptical (40) and Core.

I can't help be exuding a bit of doom and gloom. The pain was there and although, it was bearable compared to before and walking is so much better and the other activites don't cause any pain, there is something else going on. I can't help but know this and need to take the next steps to figure it out. While the ultra sound, the rolfing that Christine L. performed, anti-inflammatorys all loosened up the hip area and lessened the pain, deep down as I run, there is an acute ping that hurts on every pound. My mind wanders to stress fracture and I am working on getting an MRI this afternoon to get to the bottom of this.

I returned back to Adam and the gym at 7 a.m. after my workout and the tears started flowing. The past two weeks have been filled with them and it is as though I have no control. While at times, I think positively and know I will get better and want to move on, there are times where I want to wallow in my misery of no running. This has been some of the toughest emotional/physical barriers I have hit in my life and although it is great 'training' for me, it hurts, it hurts more than I would ever thought. It may mean, I haven't faced many hardships in my 25 years, but could also bring to light how much I love this activity and how much I want it back in my life. While others may love their work, hanging out with friends, or any other passion out there, these are the goals that drive me to do everything that I do... this is a sports that sets the bar and makes me work as hard as I can and accomplish more than I ever thought possible. Without it, I feel like I am flailing and while I may be right now-- there is more to be said with the next training I am about to embark on. It won't be on my feet, but my mind will be working hard to get to the finish line.

Not much is planned for this weekend as I am hoping to have a nice relaxing one after travels. But I did receive these from a boyfriend who understands how much it pains me to feel this way right now.

 

I am a lucky girl

Some more Southwest

** I want to quickly explain the title from the previous post. I was supposed to continue on the lyrics to a song that had been stuck in my head which started with 'I like you' but I forgot the exact words and never changed the title... oops

WY I Run... although it pains me to keep writing this, I am still a runner and still love to run although it is not an activity I can engage in currently.

After a fun filled night on Wednesday, I hopped in the car at 4 a.m. the next morning to drive to Albuquerque.
Thursday: 7 Hours in the car, I finally arrived.  I got on the Elliptical (60) and Bike (20) and later Aqua Jogged (30) and a little hot tub. I read an article in Women's Running about swimming ipods and just purchased the SwimP3. I spoke at REI for NOLS later in the evening.

Friday:  I got up early before I spoke to the Bosque School and got on the Bike (w/o for 65) and then headed over to the presentation. The students again, were so excited about what NOLS had to offer and were eager with questions. My heart just fills with joy seeing the enthusiasm. I Aqua Jogged (45) and then headed to Santa Fe where I spoke to the folks at Outside Magazine. While a lot of the employers were missing, it was a cool to see the Santa Fe scene and the office where the publication is created.

 I also stopped by the Bobcat Bite bearing gifts. The owners have a son on a NOLS course and run this famous burger joint in Santa Fe, NM. I had to make an appearance while in the area.

 My last stop of the day was to see a PT, Julie Endreson. With a consultation, we have diagnosed my injury to Tendinits v. strain on either both the Iliopsoas and Sartorius muscle or just on the Sartorius where I have most of my pain. It was relieving to hear some confirmation and ideas of what I can do, what is within my control to make it better.

Saturday:  Another early morning to catch my flight and Elliptical (w/o of 85) and abs.
I got to the airport with time to spare only to realize, my flight is tomorrow. Here come the tears again... but I held them off. Being a PREMIER EXECUTIVE member paid it's dues and someone was watching over me. I was re-booked immediately free of charge and now have plenty (hours) of time to talk to you all. I guess this makes up for the million dollars extra I paid last time I missed my flight from a throw up bug.
Until next time...

I like you

WY I Run... I can't help but just cringe at this statement and want to get back all of the past days I had running. I have not run for a week and have filled my time with Elliptical, Aqua Jog and Biking as I travel on the road.

"Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius." ~George-Louis Leclere De Buffon

It's been a whirlwind of week which has been good since I haven't run for it's entirety. While I can keep aerobic fitness, at the very latest, I will need to be running by Feb. 5th to be able to run Boston. Coping with this emotionally maybe be one of my biggest challenge thus far. 

I have been able to get in some decent workouts this week at hotel gyms and pools and have actually had a fantastic time on the NOLS Marketing side of things. 

Monday: Elliptical (workouts:72 min)- I have been able to coordinate with Jeff and find some good workouts for the bike, elliptical and pool. 

I drove to South Mountain near Pheonix for a walk and got in just 1.5 Miles, but the Southwest sure captures a different gorgeous.

Drove the rest of the way to Tucson and Biked (40 minutes)
Tuesday: Bike (Jeff's w/o 85 minutes), Elliptical (30), 2 Mile walk. In between these activities, I visited a Partner of NOLS as well as a school and then to a University. The last event was a bit of a bust so I had time to hop over to a park and walk (2 Miles) until sunset. Dinner was planned with the entire Southwest Branch and a member of our Executive Director Team (EDT).

 Meeting folks from the same organization who work remotely made for great conversation. With all like-minded folks, it was easy to relax at the end of the day. Even got to see my girl, Ally Vitale who was just hired on in the southwest.

Wednesday: After sleeping in the bunk house, I woke up early to get to a gym. Free of charge since the employer didn't want to deal with the CC Machine. I tried a second of running and the pain was too much. Elliptical (w/o for 95 min) and Core.
I headed to the Sky Islands school where the students were enthusiastic about NOLS and the outdoors. It is events like these that remind me why I love my job so much.

The culmination of my tour was the Reception for Perspective/Alumni students alike. We promoted it as an event for all NOLS folks to get together and have some experienced and newbies get to know the organization. After much preparation, a spread of food and help from everyone at the Southwest branch who were constantly extending their hands, the event went off without a hitch. Even being a little out of the way, I think we had over 35 people there which seemed to fill the space and I got to engage in someone awesome conversations.

I will leave you with some documentation of the night and continue this post later on!

Lemonade out of Lemons

At least try.

I finally got to a point yesterday where I had to give it a whirl. My tear ducts were dry (Probably could have squeezed a few more out of them) but I made the decision not too.
I got an e-mail from my lady Annie over in Chile and she was going on about making 'Chile into Lemonade' and I thought I should do the same, so off to the race expo of the race I wasn't running I went.

A few days back (when I ran):
Workouts:
Tuesday: 3 mile w/u, 12 x 800 @ 3:15-3:25 (6:30-6:50 pace) w/45 sec rest, 2 mile c/d
I measured out the distance on the road with less ice, so I could complete in the freezing, dark cold where my eyeballs froze. This is where some of the pain set in.
Wednesday: 8 Easy Miles on the Treadmill-- the rest of the day I limped around with the most pain after having been sitting
Thursday: Per recommendation by Jeff, I took the entire day off. NOTHING. The first time I did this, if I wasn't throwing up from a stomach bug was years ago. It was hard mentally and emotionally which is where the struggle began
Friday: Again, no running and the pain continue. I did hop into the pool and everything felt find. I headed to doctor in the afternoon who made (almost) sure it was not a fracture of the femur or hip but a strain in there somewhere. I am thinking a stabilizer muscle and maybe some tight IT band mixed in. I thought running the race was still in sights.
Saturday:  6 Miles on the treadmill, a consistent pain throughout and the race was called--and the meltdown began

 

I walked around downtown Phoenix pasting a smile my face and even thought of the idea to volunteer at the race. Hello Mother Theresa.

Later, I did my usual tour shopping for lunches and snacks for the next week. Stay healthy and stay cheap. what up PB for a week straight

 

Walked to 2.5 Miles to ASU Stadium where my 'call to duty' was.  

                                                  

With my new friend Rebecca, a gal who worked for Competitor, who puts on these races, I handed out water all day to the incredible athletes who crossed the finish line. As sad and heartbroken I was not to run, I was definitely as close to the action as I could be and got to talk to lots of runners. 

 The first guy was puking so I got a pleasant shot of the 2nd and 3rd male who crossed the finish line

 This was Trisha Miller who crossed the line in 2:48. She was adorable! Congrats

 I also witnessed one of the bloggers that I follow cross the line. I know she was hoping for a PR, but she ran an awesome race and of course, I had to yell at her to try to hand her a bottle of water as she crossed.

Come on Pearson, she just ran a marathon. She probably thought I was a crazy person, but that was my celebrity sighting for the day!

So, this is how I made my lemonade, but it is still a bit sour

Walked 5 Miles back to the hotel

  

Defeat

WY I Run... This is the question I have right now

This a quick update as I will post lengthier later.
As I travel to Phoenix where I am supposed to race tomorrow.
I have been plagued with a hip flexor injury and have taken two days off and now have to come to terms with the decision not to race.
I can honestly say while this sounds mellow dramatic to most, these have been the hardest past few days and one of the hardest decisions.

I can't even relay the feeling of defeat that has come over me and how I feel in general. As of right now, I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel and will take yet another rest day tomorrow.

I ran 6 this morning and while I know logically it would not be best to run especially in preparation for Boston, It is all I want to do right and am having a very hard time thinking about running in general.

Sorry for the downer post but I needed to get this posted as a reflection for times to come.

Chris, a fellow runner told me last night. "you do what you can, when you can do it."

So as I try to move forward I will keep
This in mind and know that there are running days ahead of me

On a running note: the women who won the trials today are a true inspiration and will harbor there grit until I can again

Pacing the Year

WY I Run...to progressively improve

Workouts:
Thursday: 10 slow miles in the morning and some the elliptical (30) and Core in the afternoon
Friday: My second workout of the week-- 3 mile w/u, 3 x 2 miles @ 6:55-7:05 pace w/3min rest, 2 mile c/d. Bing bang boom, hit them! I walked with my Kindle in the afternoon, 3 Miles and finished Adam Goucher's book.
Saturday:  Ran 10 Miles, 6 with Casey Dean. So nice to have some company during the miles and ten headed to ski with Adam at Beaver Creek in the afternoon.
Sunday: 16 Miles after breakfast of bagel and eggs. I desperately called every woman I know who runs in town to have some company for a few of the miles. NO LUCK. I need to start convincing some peeps that I am cool. The run was pain free, but slow which is okay considering I was topping off another 74 Mile week.
Monday: 8 Miles with 4 x20 second strides and core. Ran in the afternoon to scope out an ice free 800m for tomorrow's workout. Always nice to feel some sunshine in the afternoon or could be an excuse that I absolutely could not pull myself out of bed.

The New Year has begun and since I like everything running, I decided to pace my year. To run a marathon, you have to pace yourself to accomplish your goal. In life, the same applies, there are certain paces I would like to hit to make goals.
So here are some paces I want to hit in 2012:

- Run 2500 Miles or more
-No INJURY
-Race a Marathon under 3:15
-Race a half under 1:29. I want to train for these races and be aware of when I am ready for these marks.
- Finish Catching Fire with Adam. I had this silly idea of reading a book together. We got through the first and have yet to finish the second. We will in 2012 ( I hope you are reading this)
-Make a decision. No more teeter tottering, I want to make more decisions with a clear image of what I want. It won't end the world no matter what I decide. Unless, of course,  someone with that power asks me if I would like to end it
-Keep taking my vitamins and Iron remains stable
-Stretch after every run
-Play with the idea of 'no Marathon' (GASP) for a year to decrease mileage, run halves, 10k, and tris, get climbing again, ski through the winter
-Keep saving money
I am shooting for an awesome 2012, but why not.
I will leave you with the pizza Adam and I made from scratch this past weekend

I don't want to do this, but on a bad note, a muscle within my hip flexor is acting up and starting to get me down causing more pain than I like .
But with that said, I get to help Miss Amy Rathke help complete her goals in the running world starting this afternoon and what better way to counter balance an injury with someone else's running.

Catch up...

I have a lot to catch up on so I will give you all the 'quick and dirty' starting with my beloved runs and workouts.

WY I Run... as an outlet to help dilute the stress of other aspects in my life

And believe me, it was good and plenty this morning. Tripping and slipping on the ice as I exited my house to send my computer and oatmeal flying did not help the cause-- I arrived at work with a damaged good ( a few more tears... why not?)

My workouts extend all way back to the last Tuesday and then I promise to keep up more regularly. It has been a doozy of a week in the running world as I hope to cap this last 'high' week at 75 Miles just before the engine breaks down. One perk, is my runs were done in lots of different settings on our holiday travels so monotony was not a problem.

Tuesday: 2 mile w/u, 3 x 3 miles @ 7:15-7:20 pace w/2min rest, 2 mile c/d. I had to do this on a treadmill, but the foot is feeling better and I hit all of these paces. I am on track and damn proud of it!
Wednesday: Easy 8 Miles in Lander with a little bit of breakdown throughout, which involved some labored breathing as I wallowed in the stress I burden myself with.
Thursday: Easy 8 Miles in the morning and then a quick classic ski (30 min) before I left for Jackson, WY
Friday: Forced myself off the floor of my cousin's house to drive to the nearest gym to complete my steady 10 Miler between 7:20-7:40. Not a bad way to start a ski day on the mountain.
Saturday: "Slept in" until 7 a.m. then to make my way on an Easy 10 Mile with the first usage of my yak traks in Driggs, ID. They work wonders. I walked for a bit and Nordic skied.
Sunday: 14 Miles in Driggs, ID along with some shredding (more commonly known as cautious skiing)
Monday: 8 Miles Easy in Jackson, WY and few abs exercises back at the homestead
Tuesday: 2 mile w/u, 8 mile cutdown (7:40, 7:30, 7:20, 7:20, 7:10, 7:10, 7:00, fast as you can), 2 mile c/d followed by an Easy Elliptical (35 min) and some core
Wednesday:Swam a Mile in the morning and some Aqua jogging or 'Awkward jogging' as Adam calls it and then an Easy 8 Miler in the afternoon.

With all of the running, you are probably wondering how I did anything else, well I did~
I managed to fill a cavity, well get one filled and talk like a dufus for a day.

The drive to Jackson

I got my first days of skiing in for the season (may be my only) but hey, at least I got out there. One day at Jackson Hole and the next at Targhee Resort.

My view on my break at Jackson-- I can't last the full day

This is what I put up with! But I love it

 I got to spend time with my cousin, Scotty and Sean as they generously offered up there floor before and after  the New Year. Who cares if confetti enveloped my sleeping bag from their lack of cleaning.

I rung in the New Year with a great crowd in Driggs, ID which included some prime rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus and red wine.



I Nordic Skiied on some new tracks to me that overlooked the Grand

 Ate a meal at one of my favorite breweries, Snake Rive and breakfast place, The Bunnery in Jackson before Adam and I said good by to the big hills and tried to keep our muscles content by getting back to Lander as fast as possible and keeping sitting to minimum.

The classic antler arch shot in Jackson. My first and last.

I am looking forward to a weekend of nothing, but running and recovering as I get read to hit the road again next week to start the recruiting season once more.