revising goals

The past couple weeks have been a challenge for me both physically and probably more mentally. It all started with a twinge in my right shin after a recovery week run that never went away or got better the last couple of weeks. First I got some xrays that showed no problems but after still feeling pain on a test run last week my coach was able to get me a appointment with a great ortho - Dr Marla Kaufman at the UW on Friday. She set me up to get an MRI on Saturday morning - which I have to say was one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I am not good at being still - all I wanted to do was wiggle my toes. I had to wait till Monday for the fallow up and find out the results. So I spent the rest of teh weekend trying not to think about it.

I spent the rest of the day Saturday on my bike and had so much fun I just kept ridding until I got hungry and had Kyle meet me at the dairy freeze in North Bend so that my scheduled 3 hour ride did not turn in to 6 hours...

Mid ride I decided to fallow some route markings just to see where they went.

Happened to find some members of "The Herd" and rode with them for :30 or so


View from the bridge on Tolt Hill Road


The old trains in Snoqualmie WA


In North Bend, WA


Sunday we went up to Widbey and while the guys went fishing I rode support for my Mom during her long run (13.5 miles) and she did so great. Made me so proud she is my Mom and how healthy she is at 59 years young :)


The guys caught 2 Coho Salmon - Jerry showing them off.


Kyle & I enjoying the sun


The weekend was so much fun it was not till Monday morning when I talked to Kainoa before the start of masters swim that it kind of hit me. She mentioned that Nike might just not happen... My heart seriously dropped to my feet. I knew that was an option just had not really heard it or said it out loud. The rest of the swim workout and the morning till my appointment at 11:20a I was completely distracted and so nervous for the results.

I was beyond relived when I finally got to find out that the MRI showed no signs of a stress fracture or any tearing in the tissue. Dr Kaufman walked me through all the images from the MRI and what she would be looking for and did not see. Then we talked about next steps. I got a prescription for Physical therapy and massage. I would need to do ice massage twice a day, deep water running, the exercises from PT, keep my fitness up with cross training and at the same time rest my shin. She told me the Nike marathon was still a big maybe and all depended on how things improve or not in the next couple of weeks... Afterwards I talked with Kainoa and she agreed still not sure if a marathon was really an option at this point but agreed to see what Jake (my PT) said about it.

So yesterday I had PT - Jake thinks that as I thought probably running with bad form on my last long run took my shin over the edge in combination with my right hip could still be stronger and lack of flexibility in my feet (especially my right). He also said that if I threw out all my time goals and wanted to still finish the marathon I could probably do that... But that it would probably require a walk/run plan to prevent any pain... hmmm

It was really hard I already gave up on a Boston qualifying time last week after I had to take 2 full weeks off running.. But a walk/run marathon with no time goal at all will be a HUGE mental challenge for me. I am MUCH better at pushing myself and going hard then at going easy and being smart.

If it were any other race I would probably say screw it and not do it but this race means a lot to me. I talked my Mom into doing it as her first half marathon on her 60th birthday. Yeah I know it is more about her doing it but it was meant to be something we both did together. Not to mention I really don't like the idea of not doing a race I signed up and spent money on - I also want the Tiffany necklace and always need another finishers shirt.

So goodbye Boston (for now) and lets just hope I can start running soon so I don't have to do to much walk/run stuff on race day. I'll do it if I have to but would much rather just run even if it is slower than I had been training for before this whole thing started. The new goal is just to be able to run...

Bee sting update

Still not back to normal :/

Day 3 - still swollen, itchy and got to love the red color. I was able to do my strength training in the morning but really did not like being in running shoes. It was hard to keep it elevated at work but i did manage to ice it a bit. Then in the evening I squished it into my bike shoes which felt really weird and not much fun but it was worth it.


Day 4 - mostly just feels itchy and a bit swollen. Kind of reminds me of how it feels after your feet go numb and start "waking up". At least it does not hurt o walk as much and I can bend my toes again. I am about to go on a 10 mile run so it should be interesting..


Fingers crossed tomorrow it will be completely back to normal..

the bee sting

So yesterday as I was loading the truck to head out to my Mom's garden party I managed to get a bee sting on my toe. I screamed and cried so loud. I had some how gotten a bee between my sandal and my toe and it stung me on the inside of my 3rd toe on my right foot.. I ran back in side screaming the whole way and grabbed an ice cube. I had never had something hurt so bad. The ice seemed to help a little bit. the stinger was gone. I washed it and since Kyle was out on his long ride and the cats were no help at all. I figured the best thing to do was drive to my Mom's house even though it was my right foot and it hurt so much. I wound up crying the entire :15 min drive. Pour Kyle called me and had to listen to me cry after I txt him about it and he was all the way in Issaquah on his bike ridding to my Moms house.
I got to my Mom's in one piece and by now my toe was starting to swell up a little bit. She got me some Benydryl and an ice pack and I joined the rest of the her Garden party in the backyard. The ice helped but it hurt to walk on... so I kept icing it and made all the guests even more scared of bees (sorry Mom).
After the party Kyle drove us home and I put my foot up on the dash. When we got home Kyle went and got some epsym salt for me to soak my foot and some bee sting stuff to help numb it. At this point I could not really move my toes and it hurt to walk so I was limping around. Of course all I could think about was if I could do my bike ride the next day.. Kyle was very good sport and I spent the rest of the night with my foot up watching a movie.

Picture from last night. Both feet were a little swollen from my run but still pretty obvious swelling on my right foot..


Luckily the swelling has seemed to go down some this morning. Though it is still really stiff and hurts to walk. So I have a little limp. I think it will fit in my bike shoe for my ride tonight :)


Hopefully by tomorrow it is completely gone so I can run 10 miles on it. fingers crossed

preface - the 2 weeks leading up to Hawaii

It started out a couple weekends ago (May 9th) I went for a 4 hour hour ride with a group and around 3 hours in my right knee started having sharp pain every time I put any weight on the peddle... or really when I bent my knee. Luckily we were probably only 20 min from my moms house so I told the group I was done for the day and I rode there and called Kyle to pick me up from my moms. I had no clue what the deal was and why it hurt so freaking much but I was pretty upset about it.
After we got home I iced it some and Kyle asked our friend Jake (a PT) if he would look at it. Luckily he said he would so we headed over. Jake checked it out and loosened my hip flexor which seemed to be the main culprit in combination with a very tight back. The simple version is the muscles seemed to be really tight and then pulled on my knee...
The next day I ran and I had no issues, but later in the week when I had to do hill repeats on the bike it flared up again.. Luckily I was now in full injury mending mode - PT, ART massage, deep tissue massage, tons and tons of stretching. All in all not a cool thing to be dealing with a couple weeks before a half ironman (that has hills on the bike course especially). I also started doing more mental training - managing my expectations/goals, my pain threshold, and that sort of thing.

The following weekend (May 16) the weather was perfect and I had my last big training weekend planned (with a few adjustments depending on how my hip issues played out but instead I would up getting the stomach flu. It started on Friday - nothing really sounded good to eat and my stomach was uneasy. Then Saturday morning i had a small breakfast and with in a couple of hours could not stand up with out getting sick. I spent the entire day curled in a ball trying not to trow up with no luck. It was the worst day ever esp since it was sunny and so nice outside. By the end of the day I was able to start drinking/keeping down some gatorade. Sunday I still felt kind of off and did not want to eat anything other than gatorade. out of sheer determination and stubbornness I went for an hour easy ride in the afternoon. I could tell I was on empty - I had no pep at all and just cruised along. But it felt really good to do something.
The fallowing week I still had a hard time eating much - every time I ate something my stomach got upset and bloated. I have been trying to eat yogurt and other super healthy food to try and get my stomach back on track.

so there you go that has been the 2 weeks leading up my trip to Hawaii for the Hawaii 70.3 race. I have a full week and change to get used to the heat and get my myself ready for the race both mentally and physically.

not just the weather is messed up

The crew gave me a hard time that today was defiantly one to bog about.. so I kind of have to. lol
We went back and forth about riding this morning with the final go around 9ish. We met up at Seward Park - of course we were running late. But Col and Bryan were nice enough to wait for us. We started with a 4 mile run just in case the weather turned bad we could still bail on the bike ride. The run went well - did not quite get 4 miles but ran for 34 min or so and felt good.
Luckily when we finished running the weather was agreeable so we changed and headed out for a 2 hour ride. It was chilly but not to bad - I of course had toe warmers in though. Kyle and Bryan rode their singles and cruised along - it was very impressive. Col and I took it easy and I really just enjoyed being on my bike. We did most of the Mercer Island loop then felt we had enough time to continue onto the south lake Washington loop. Te temp warmed up enough that i was pulling my glove off every onec and while and finally just gave up on wearing a hat under my helmet.
I got a flat front tire as we came into the Renton area, Col helped me change out the tube and we were back rolling pretty quickly. The guys were really good about waiting for us at key locations so we were back as a group as we rolled through Renton. Col was trying to make sure she got to a pedicure appointment , and there were dark clouds coming so kept moving in hopes of beating the rain home.
We were riding on the Perimeter Road at the south end of the lake down by the Renton Airport. Col and Kyle were out front and Bryan was in front of me on the right. We came around the corner and there was a Renton police car in the oncoming lane. For some reason I was on the outside edge of the lane and I must have sort of panicked and locked up my brakes - my rear tire skidded out and then I over corrected and totally lost control. I just wanted to get away from the car and I wound up on the ground twisted up in my bike screaming and crying all at once. I see a blur of navy blue of the car right by my head and I closed my eyes and just kept screaming so that everyone would stop and know I was down.
Of course the crew stopped and came to help me immediately. Kyle checked me over while asking what hurt, Col tried to get me to calm down and breath. Other than that it was a complete blur. They made me stay laying in the middle of the road. My head and and elbow hurt really bad. They put a blanket on me and the weight of it hurt my elbow. they supported my neck so I could lay my head down, and they made me open my eyes so they could see if I had a concussion I guess. I felt I could sit up and I did not want to be laying on the street anymore. At this point the fire department showed up and asked me questions and checked me out. they offered me a ride in the ambulance and if I wanted to go to the hospital - really did not want either. I wanted to just get on my bike and ride back - we did not have that much further to go and I felt it would be the best thing for me and the crew.
I think I seriously freaked out the cops in the car. But I have to say this - if you are going to crash - crash in front of a cop car. the ambulance was there sooo fast lol. It was not their fault at all - it was all mine and I even stayed in my lane the entire time but I was very close to being under the car when I landed. I was very lucky.
I did ride the rest of the way back mostly with only my left hand on the handlebars - I had a hard time finding a comfortable position or my right hand that did not make my elbow hurt. But even so I made it back to the park - up and down a hill or 2. Of course it started raining before we got back which sucked. Also my rear tire was flat when it got put in the truck at the end of the ride..

Once back I finally looked at my elbow and it is scarped up and a bit swollen.

I tore a tiny hole in my favorite blue jacket and broke a bit on my helmet. My head has a tendor spot but nothing to bad - I think my handle bars or something hit my helmet. But not to bad all and all. And now a couple hours later I don't see any other bruises. My neck is sore. So I have been icing both my elbow and neck through out the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure I did not brake or crack anything but will be keeping a close eye on my elbow the next day or so and if it gets worse I will be seeing a doctor. I think I was very lucky and will recover quickly. I may need to work on my bike handling skills some though so I feel more in control and comfortable.

Now I'm not sure I will be skiing tomorrow or swimming. I'm going to see how I feel in the morning and go from there. Saying that I am seeing at least 2 in of snow outside - yes it is March and there is 2 in of snow in Bellevue. IT IS CRAZY. Were is spring - I want spring.