Early season happenings - skiing, injury, track race, Buffalo 50k, bosho

Forgive my everything-in-one post.  I just need to get it all down and checked off the life to-do list

So the plan after Wasatch 100 was to take an off season.  A real one.  Like I haven't had in several years.  You can only push the body so long and I didn't want to push those limits.  I want decades in this sport enjoying my body and what's around me.  

Well, then  TNF 50 came up as an Altra USATF team event and I jumped.  I still had the fitness, would just need to tune it up for a month or so and then would take that off season.  And for the first month I so enjoyed it!  I loved not having to go out in the frigid cold or wind or chunky icy trails or roads.  This break was good, I wasn't itching for it to be over.  We skid several times as a family which was SO fun!  So neat to see my kids be so into and active.  Truth moment?  My kids are really whiny about getting outside and being active, and sometimes are lazier than kids should be, and that's hard for my active husband and I.  It feels like we're not teaching them something or not teaching effectively.  So to have our whole family out on the mountain, even if it is green runs for the baby and I (and they're my comfort zone), was so good!

These two kids, our 10 and 8 year old are animals on the slopes!  They get a kick out of having to wait for their mom :)

And then this happened.  First week of January at Outdoor Retailer Demo Day at Snowbird my husband encouraged me to go on this beginner backcountry guided ski tour as I do really like skinning up, but need more practice going back down.  Which made itself very clear 2 turns into my first big powder experience.  With a crust hidden underneath.  Yep, sprained my ankle bad.  Bad enough I thought I broke it and the guide offered to call a helicopter since there was no way I could ski on this thing.  Um, no thank you.  So I spent the next hour awkwardly and painfully hiking down in my ski boots with a snowshoe group that was heading down.  Ugh.  

 Long story short, it took way longer to heal than I expected.  This getting older thing?  A reality!  Ligaments are always slower to heal though and I just didn't have the patience for it.  But I was a good patient and used crutches for a week, didn't run for at least 4 weeks I think, and even swimming was out, too much ankle movement.  So at least I got a nice long off season for the rest of the body eh?  Like I predicted would probably happen though, the generally advised 8 weeks would come by, and I'd be ok.  And that's about how it went.  But those 8 weeks had me pretty worried.

During my time off, my husband decided out of the blue he wanted to do the Antelope Canyon 50, except only the best parts scenery wise.  And he certainly wasn't in shape for a 33 mile day, but we had hoped he could just go slow and take care of himself and enjoy a long day on the amazing course.  I so wanted him to have a good experience, because his last big thing, the Zion Traverse a few years ago, left him not wanting to do anything like that again.  Kids and I saw him around 13 and he complained a little but was fine.  Missed him at 20 or so which I hated, but I hear he was in good spirits.  And then we saw him come into around mile 28.  NOT HAPPY.  He was hot, tired, worn out from miles of sand and simply miles beyond what his body was prepared for.  He was discouraged and emotional.  All things I have been many times and while friends teased us that he would have to give me a real hard time to make up for how whiny and grumpy I can be during crew stops, I was happy to be there and take care of him!  I knew not to take anything personally, I knew to offer him what I knew could help, but not to offer too much when his brain was fried, and to not get upset if he said no to everything.  I was worried how he would handle these next 5 miles, knew he wanted to be done, but the best canyon to come was thankfully in front of him and I was able to get him out of there.  And it was the best feeling ever to see him 5 miles later, smiling and running to his finish for the day.  He did a big thing for him, and he was happy, and I'm so happy it went that way!

Back home, able to run up to 9 miles fine on paved surfaces, certainly no trail, I decided to get the competitive juices flowing again with an indoor 440m half marathon at the Utah Olympic Oval.  I have done a 50k here before, so wasn't too worried about the boredom side of it, I enjoyed that 50k.  Got there literally 2 minutes before the start, story of my life, and squirmed my way up to the front hoping to run with friend Ari (center in the photo below) but didn't quite make it.  And she is a beast who took off and I never would have stayed with anyway.  Good news, ankle was good for half the race.  Bad news, it didn't feel great for the other half and neither did I.  Just felt so heavy and forced and mentally  not there.  There was slow office music playing overhead the whole time and I forgot my own music.  Anyway, it was good to get the miles, but didn't leave me with the excitement races usually do.  Ran a high 1:3something.  2nd place.  Was slower than I expected, but it seemed like everyone was without the aid of any downhill.

Skip forward a month and I had been enjoying my time on the paved trails close to home, really!  Pavement doesn't have to suck.  I get to run with my daughter in the Chariot and there are better views of the mountains down here too ;)  Really I was just doing what was good for my ankle, and also working on leg speed and turnover, really training for Western States now.  Buffalo races on Antelope Island is a race I've been to every year since I started ultrarunning.  Their fall 50k was actually my first ultra fall of 2012.  I wanted to volunteer out there and also run so was planning on the 25k.  I really hadn't run on trail more than 3-4 hours total since my injury and it was touchy.  But I figured I'd be ok for 25k.  I've been ranked in and following the Ultrarunning Magazine ultrarunner rankings for a few months after I popped into the top 10 after TNF.  They take your top 50k, 50m, 100k, and 100m time over a year period and basically try to produce a ranking of overall ultra performance.  The only distance I had not done for the ranking was 50k.  Nursing school was and is crazy, and I just wasn't sure I'd have a Saturday free in the next month to travel to a race before the ranking ended.  So after much self deliberation and trying to get other people to make the decision for me, I decided I'd go out with the 50k and if I needed to stop after the first 25k loop for the ankle, I would.  Or I hoped I would.  For a competitive mind like myself, this wasn't the smartest plan :)

These great photos courtesy of Lori Burlison.  Thanks for your cheery face Lori!

I did not bring my brace with me because  I don't like how locked in I am, I almost feel more unstable.  But I also didn't want to hurt the ankle again on this run, more trail than I'd done in months, so I decided to have the medical sports guys there tape my ankle.  And I pretty much hated it from the get go :(  Something bothered me and I didn't know whether it was the ankle or the tape job, but I figured I'd give it a while before ripping it off.  I tried to be somewhat conservative that first loop, but like the track race, just felt kind of off.  I decided with about a half mile to go before the 25k point and turnaround for loop 2, I needed to know what this feeling was.  So I sat down in the dirt beside the trail for a couple minutes and ripped all the tape off (which can I say left my leg burning for like an hour!  ouch!).  The burning hurt but the ankle felt better!  I resistantly but almost instinctually headed back out for lap 2.

 And lap 2 rocked!  I mean it took me about a mile in, but then things just kind of clicked and I felt normal and fast and strong.  The goal for this race was to even split if I ended up doing the 50k, and I wanted to try for that.  So I pushed, but not crazy like, I just never gave up any time.  I had a great experience at the Ogden Marathon last year where I really pushed the last 15 miles, and it told me I could, I could push for a while.  I've used the mental strength I gained there in several races since, and used it that day at Buffalo.  I wasn't afraid of the pace I was running, I could be strong and hold it, none of this waiting for the last mile or two to start pushing.

The Wasatch Mountain Wranglers were out there and it was fun to see them and have their help to move quickly through their aid station.  I continued to push hard hoping to run under 5 hours, and never gave that up until I saw 5:00 hit, about 100 yards from the finish line - darn!  But it was exciting to try for it.  But I ran a 5:01, 3rd place, I'd made up a lot of time on those ahead of me, even splitted!, a 19 minute course PR, but more than that - my ankle was good!

Gosh that was a huge turning point for me.  It meant that Western States training was game on more than it already was.  And it's helped push me onto the next phase of training both physically and mentally.  Little podcast I was flattered to be asked to do by Trail Manners, here

So this last weekend I had the opportunity to do a run which shall not be named.  Ok, that's the story we like to tell, but it's an organized fun run more than race, Bosho.  You can report your time, but there's no timing, no shirts, no entry fees.  I've wanted to do this one for a while and was excited for the chance. 

The day before it rained and snowed up there good. We were all worried about mud but the trails were in such good shape and so green and beautiful!

A lot started at 6am, some started at 7am, and I started at 6:20am.  I was bummed to have missed the first group, but those first few miles of trail all alone in the twilight sky with sunflowers popping all over the green hillside were really nice.  And then I spent the next several hours passing earlier starts and getting to chat for a moment with everyone along the way.  I don't remember most names, but they were all so happy and friendly, what a way to spend a morning!

Soon enough the 7am speedsters came just blazing by, like crazy fast.  Made me question my training pace that I thought was sufficient, and it was for a training effort, they were just super fast and fun to watch.  It was good to get up and down bigger climbs than I've been doing, and remind myself what a big climb is.  Need to do more of those up and down and strengthen the quads and downhill steep technical footing.  I wanted to push the last 4-5 miles as prescribed and that was fun.  Tried to once again chase down that sub 5, but ended up at 5:10 and that's ok.  A great training run in control like it was supposed to be, super happy to not have any real mental or physical lows, didn't take any caffeine or vitamin I, and didn't feel the need to put music in till 4 hours in despite running alone for most of the race.  Great morning!  Happy to be alive, healthy, improving, and be supported by my generous but human husband who picks up a lot of the slack.  Couldn't do all this without him.

Onward and upward!  He and I get to head out to Mendocino, California this weekend for a 50k I'm really excited to see!  I graduate May 4th and hopefully take the NCLEX that month.  Then want to run a 50miler May 14, thinking Quadrock (ouch) but not sure yet.  End of May is Western States training camp, and then comes the big dance June 25!  Oh, and lots of training and family spread in there too of course  :)

First tri back - Spring Sprint

It's been a few weeks, life's been busy between the baby and her 3 older siblings, my husband running his first marathon, and just life (note I did not say training, I am really struggling to find time and motivation to fit anything in, I'll do a separate post later).  Anyway, here it is.

As I have become accustomed to the last year or so, I just jump into races.  It's not the best way, but it's a way.  Really I decided a few days before the race to do it because they changed the bike course.  The old one had hills, but that's not the problem, I won't stray from a race just because of some hills.  But the old course had a technical downhill with very fast traffic, rough road on another fast section, and some very dangerous rail road tracks.  Just wasn't something I was interested in doing again (I'd already done it twice).  So this new course was a 2 loop relatively flat well maintained road course.  Sounds good, sign me up!

I live only 5 minutes from the venue, but thanks to life as an Altra Running family, my husband was at another expo in San Diego so I had to stay with my wonderful mother in law 25 minutes away just to get a babysitter.  Headed to the race site after baby thankfully woke up early enough to nurse before I left and then went back down to sleep.  I threw my bike in T1 and ran home to grab some shoes for the expo I was working at the finish line (we eat, sleep, and breath Altra I tell ya, our kids can sell the shoes, and have).  I appreciate that after this long in the sport I can do race set up in no time and not stress over it.  Now if it's a longer race and there's nutrition to think about that's one thing, but in a sprint like this all I need is my bike, bike shoes, helmet, sunglasses, running shoes, number, and visor.  Done.

If anything, it just gives me more time to chat.  Not that I really had it here between setting Altra and transition up and heading to the van to pump since my little baby wasn't with me.  But I do have to say how very sweet it was for so many people to stop and say hi to me, made me feel really good to have what felt like a 'welcome back' like that.  Triathlon is a great sport!
Headed into the pool, chatted with great people a bit and it was finally go time.  The swim was uneventful, I felt a little better than I expected.  My jersey floated around which stinks, but oh well.  Headed out of T1 in 2nd place behind childhood swimming friend and swimmer extraordinaire Jen Fredsall. 

Looked forward to the nice roads of the new bike course.  There is a big intersection not even a mile in that I worried a little bit about beforehand wondering how well it would be manned.  Well, unfortunately there was a biker layed out flat on the ground with cops around him.  Not even 10 people through that intersection and somebody got hit.  I mumbled something to the cops about "already, really?".  Thankfully that guy was ok, and on my second loop he was standing up, and even finished the race!  Sounds like his chin really did a number on the drivers windshield though...
Anyway, there were a couple other scary parts and although I do prefer the roads of the new course, there was definitely less traffic pulling out of neighborhoods and parking lots on the old course.  Kind of spooky.  I didn't feel super powerful, but was pleased to be comfortable in aero.  Passed Jen just before half way through the 1st loop.

Coasted into T2 getting ready for a flying dismount very slowly, overestimated how far away it was and kind of felt like a dork.  The run was tough.  Headed straight uphill and on grass and it was harder than I expected.  I was almost reduced to walking.  The first 2 miles of the run were difficult.  It felt very anaerobic and not very coordinated or fast, but I just kept on going the best I could.  The last mile was downhill and as per usual, I finally felt strong.  Ran into the oval and finished strong. 

Now interval starts are always difficult, you never know how you placed till results come out.  2 fit ladies came across the line several minutes after me, but I had no idea where they started in the water so couldn't determine how I did.  Anyway, they were posted and I hurried over nervously, and I pulled off the win!  Everyone kept asking me before the race how I thought I'd do and if I was going to win and as I told everyone, I really had no idea, I hadn't incorporated speedwork yet, and was just going to go see how it went.  I'm pretty pleased.  I know I am definately not 100% yet, but getting there.  I struggled with it last year some, not being as excited as I should be with a win, but I was really happy with this one and did a little elbow back hand in a fist Yes! move (haha, I have no idea if it has a real name).

I worked at the Altra table teaching people about the shoes for the next hour or two, such a fun thing to educate people and watch their faces light up when they try on the shoes.  It's a hard thing sometimes, to have to devote so much time to the company as a whole family, not just my husband, but it sure is neat to see the results and good things we're doing for people.  Anyway, awards finally started and the people around me told me to go up as I didn't even realize they were happening.  As second place climbed up I turned to her and smiled and said good job.  I really try hard to not come off as prudish, like I'll only talk to fast people.  I really try to befriend everyone around me and just be and appear friendly and not threatening or intimidating.  Anyway, the lady turned to me after my friendly hello and said "yeah and you only won by like 15-20 seconds and I hardly ever do these!".  Uh, ok.  It was actually closer to 45 seconds ;)  I really wanted to say "yes, and I just had a baby 2 months ago", but I didn't, I just smiled.  She and I will meet again at a big race this summer that I have just a little more motivation to train for now  :)

Final X rays - Healing week 8

Alright, folks, here they are. The 8 week x-rays. I had 2 docs tell me that they looked really great. It's healed very well. They said I must be eating well (which is true and I've been taking a lot of calcium/magnesium as well as a liquid vitamin/mineral supplement) and being good wearing the boot the whole time. These x-rays look much better than the 4 week. It appears that bone has healed completely over. The dark lines you may see are the top and bottom of the new bone, not a fracture line, it's just the angle of the x-rays. There is also a slight bridge (bump) on the outside, but it shouldn't affect me.

You can see the 4 week x-rays to see the difference. I'm really happy and relieved.

Now I guess it's a good thing no one noticed that my "days till I can run" ticker had finished because you won't see me running right now. I need to take this week to wean off the boot and into my running shoes. I wasn't expecting that, but it makes sense. I'll go 3 hours on/3 hours off between the boot and shoes. Then next week I can start running. Doc wasn't very specific, which was frustrating because I felt like I needed it, but also understandable because my recovery will be based on my own pain level. As I start running he suggested starting every other day with 6-7 minutes after a good walking warm up, then a walking cool down. I can have pain/discomfort that evening, but if it remains the next day I've done too much. He thinks I can increase the running time at 20-30% per time (I think he meant session, maybe week though).

Basically, what it comes down to, is I have to consider myself a brand new runner. My bones, foot, and leg have weakened, so if I jump right back into stuff I could get a stress fracture. I do not want that happening. The word of the day is Gradual. Gradual in kicking, cycling, running, weights, etc. If I get up to 10 miles a day a month from now, great, but it has to happen gradually. I don't anticipate getting to that mileage that quickly, I'm just hoping to be 10k ready in 6 weeks.

Thanks all for your support. Your comments mean a lot to me. The mind is a powerful tool that I feel I've made good use of so far, but this next journey is an important one to proceed into with caution. That said - I can't wait!

Bear Lake 50 miler

We had a family reunion up at Bear Lake last weekend and I got the ok to ride the week before, so what did I bring? My bike of course! I'm desperate for a new racing bike, but I don't know if I've ever been so happy to be on my road bike. It's 50 miles around the lake and it was great! No issues on the foot at all, and I felt pretty much back to normal in conditioning and whatnot. I rode it in just under 3 hours, a good time for me considering I wasn't trying to ride at 100%.

I took off from the campground at the south end of the lake at 6:30 am to avoid the heat and any crazy rural drivers. I also wanted to enjoy the lovely sunrise

The west side of the lake is good road. Fairly flat and simply wonderful scenery. I'd love to have a house up there! About halfway up the west side you cross into Idaho. Felt pretty cool to say I'd ridden into another state! The rest of the west side were a few cute small towns with populations under 200. Turned east riding on the north end of the lake. The first 4 miles were just perfect road, oh my tush was loving it! Here's the view from the top looking south. We're camping next to those moutains at the other end.

Right at the halfway point there's some kind of old water treatment or hydro-energy plant. The water comes out of it the coolest color blue, almost a turquoise.

The road after that was horrible! Luckily the "pavement" only lasted 3ish miles till I turned south. The east side of the lake is very baren for the first 10 miles or so until you come to a few vacation home areas and campgrounds. It's also very rolling. That is definately going to be the harder section of the Bear Lake Half. Oh did I mention we had a very strong north wind the 2 days prior to this ride so I decided to head out early enough and into the north so I could enjoy a tailwind back. Did I have a tailwind back? Nope! Darn wind turned on me as I turned south. It wasn't horrible though, just a little dissapointing.
Anyway, I think the race will be a great one. Not sure how they're going to do the run though. They plan to run in on the sand, but the water level is high enough that there isn't any beach in some areas. I'd wanted to do this race, but I just won't be healthy enough in time. I did however totally enjoy my time out there. 50 miles really helped boost my mood and confidence.

Oh and I also got to practice some decending, although I didn't do super great. We went on a little hike at the top of the summit between Logan and Bear Lake, and I rode back down into Garden City and back around the lake to camp. So a 65 mile total for the day.

So pretty!

See that lake down there? That's what I have to get down to
Kind of a steep view if I do say so myself....and I do :)


As far as swimming goes, flutter kick still isn't feeling great, but I keep hoping it will soon. I go back in for new x-rays a week from today and should be able to lose the boot then and s...l...o...w...l...y start running again. Cheers for now!

We might have a problem........Healing week 5

I think I'm gonna need one of these come next month when I reach that 8 week mark. I went to an awesome seminar last night at Salt Lake Running Company. Terri Schneider, a world class former professional triathlete spoke about mental training, and it was great! I need to sit and meditate and visualize more for the big races, and harness the power of the mind. It really is more powerful than I give it credit for. I've always known sport is mostly mental -why else would we go through the physical punishment?- but it is a tool I have under utilized. She callenged us to set two goals to "stretch for", so I'm thinking about that so I can be very specific in the route to achieve them.
Trihive was a sponsor of the seminar, as was USTrisports. I came away with some sweet swag from these guys! Greg from USTrisports was kind enough to give me a race tech tee from Rockcliff, I got a handfull of Raw Revolution bars (good stuff!), and.....drumroll please: An Amphipod! Holy cow! Now I already have a Nathan that I use and love, so I'm still in debates as to whether I'll keep this one or not.
Anyway, the night was great. Fun people to talk to, a very motivational speaker, and awesome swag. It left me ready to take off and run the second I get the ok!

Fast forward to today. I tried swimming for the first time without the pull buoy. Talk about a bring me back down to earth after my high last night...lame! It's hard to pinpoint how it exactly feels. There's no pain in my foot, the kick just feels totally off and awkard. That's so hard for me, I love to kick, it's my favorite part of the stroke. I think and hope it's just a weakness and flexibility issue in my ankle. The back of my ankle bothers me the most. Again, not pain, just akwardness. I hope things come back smoothly for me...
Looking forward to 4 days at Bear Lake this weekend. Hoping for some long rides and swims

4 week x-rays - Healing day 32

Today was my half way there (hopefully) visit to TOSH. The doc I met with was not the same Dr Drew I met with in June. This concerned me at first since this new guy, Perry Hall had not seen or examined my foot at the initial visit. How would he know how much progress I'd really made? Well I'm still a little concerned with that, but apparently each individual exam is really important. How much pain I feel when they press on different points of the bone tells them almost everything. In Perry's words "I could look at pictures all day, it's the exam that tells me more". He was really cool and was actually someone recommended to me now that I think about it. He spent a lot of time with me, asked me what questions I had, and he's a cyclist so I feel he understood and related to me well. He didn't look at me strange when I said I want to get running as soon as possible and race in September, he actually discussed it with me.

So onto the healing. When we pulled the x-rays up I immediately noticed the fracture looked darker and wider. Crap! Not complete cause for concern though. Apparently fractures can heal with some inflamation (that's not quite right, can't remember what word he used), and the bigger space we see contains scar tissue taking its place there.

The fracture is the line to the left of the mouse arrow. Click on the picture to enlarge it and it should be more clear.

But can you see the thin bridge on the outside of the bone? That really is bone and that's where bones heal first, so that was good to see. Again, you're probably going to have to click on the picture to see it.

And here is the x-ray from the first appointment, 5 days after the accident. Interesting how that tiny little thing that was missed during the initial day of x-ray caused so much pain.

Here are the cool deciscan's they take. We didn't look at them, but I thought they were cool showing so much tissue and where the bones sit in the foot and leg. They pull up all the x-rays up on the computer, pretty cool technology there at TOSH.

Ok, so here's the verdict. The swelling is basically gone, and I didn't jump out of my seat when he pressed on my foot. I can walk pain free most of the time in the boot, and there's at least a bridge forming on the outside of the fracture. While we want the whole bone to heal over with bone, it may not happen. 6 months down the road, if it does heal over completely it should be permanently stable, but I could experience chronic soreness in that foot and would have to be careful not to change my gait (running form) to compensate for the pain. That's not guarenteed to happen, he just wanted to make me aware.

There's not a lot I can do to increase the healing, just give it time and take my vitamins. He also encouraged more activity. Some stress on the bone is good for it, but in Perry's words "If it's hurting, it's not healing" He thinks I'm good to get back on the bike as long as I don't stand in the saddle and just ride on flats. He also thinks I can lose the pull buoy and try kicking, as well as try the eliptical! Not bad eh? Weight training is fine too as long as it's with the boot on and doesn't apply too much weight. The biggest weight training change is that I can do leg presses in the boot as long as I don't lift more than my weight. Still no calf raises though :( My right calf is looking pretty pathetic.

Not all great news though. That 2 mile run I thought I'd start with next month? Nope, not that far, gotta start smaller. But alas, it appears I am healing. I go back in another month, hopefully things only look better.

And you know, as excited as I am to get the ok to do more, I'm also nervous. Mostly nervous to get back on my bike and try to clip out (no twisting of the ankle, that would hurt big time) or put the foot down or crash or something. A nice man I talked with at Rockcliff told me of his experience after rupturing his Achilles tendon (big time injury). He said he was always worried he'd get hurt again, so he wasted 5 years of his kids lives not doing the skiing and other activities they had once enjoyed. He told me not to be so scared that I don't go out and do what I love. I'll try to take his advice. I'll probably ride in the safe controlled environment of my basement on the trainer for the next week, then hopefully venture outside. Sure would be nice to ride with people, I feel more secure that way. Anyone wanna come on some easy flat spins with me?

"One of these things is not like the other"......

"....One of these things just isn't the same"

I rode up to Echo Reservoir for the Echo Triathlon with my friend Jen today. No, I did not race in my boot (although I was asked that several times). I was going to volunteer, but had lots of friends up there racing and didn't want to be stuck in one spot. So I tortured myself yet again watching others race. I really do enjoy it, I was just itching out of my skin wanting to join them and race. There was some good competition up there!
A few observations from the race include watching a girl take 5 minutes in transition brushing and drying her hair. I know, I know, not everyone is like me and runs out as fast as they can, but seriously, this girl had me wondering.
I also saw this 80 year old man racing. It took a lot of effort just for this guy to get his shoes on and off, I just couldn't believe he was racing! I hope I'll still be kickin like that when I'm that age.
Speaking of shoes, I had forgotten about this since I raced Echo several years ago, but they have a whole 20 yards of a "shoe zone". There must have been 10 of these cones with signs on them showing people according to their race number where to put their shoes to wear from the swim to T1. Kind of like an additional transition area :)

I brought the wetsuit up with me not wanting to miss a chance to swim without walls to slow me down. Since I can't flip turn or push off well it's really annoying swimming in the pool. A new friend of mine Te Koi came down and swam with me. I chatted with him a little while he was volunteering earlier that day and didn't even notice that he too has a broken foot!
Notice the matching boots :)
Te Koi is a great swimmer and it was nice to have someone to venture out into the water with. The course was still set up, the water wasn't cold, and the lake was glassy, all which made for a perfect swim! Here we are afterwards showing off our broken feet :)
I've thrown myself some pity parties wondering why this happened and what I'm supposed to get out of it, and I'm becoming enlightened a little bit. I don't really ask why anymore, there's not point, but I do want to get something out of this. I am spending more time in the pool and weight room working on my arms and core. I've also met some really cool people in the last month. I'm so busy and self absorbed when I'm racing I dont really take time to talk to people. This sport is just full of great people! I've met some very talented athletes I hope to train with soon, a lot of people on the buisness side of events and gear, and just some really nice people I can say hi to at future races now.
I go in for new X-rays on wednesday and am hoping things look better. I'm not expecting to be healed, I just want it to look better than it did 4 weeks ago. I am optimistic. The swelling is almost gone completely, as is the bruising, and I'm able to walk around the house pain free 90% of the time in the boot. I'll still be in the boot for 3 weeks, 6 days more, but hopefully the X-rays will show us that I should be good and mended come August 8th, 8:32am - yes I know down to the day and minute when I'll run again :)

A humbling, giving back weekend - Healing day 14

I volunteered at USTrisports Rockcliff Triathlon today. I don't think I've volunteered before, but it was a good experience. Nice not to have to remember all my gear and get everything ready race day, fun to watch everyone race, and really rewarding to answer questions and offer help, especially those who are new to the sport. I had a lot of really nice people ask about me and my lame situation as well. I was placed at the transition area, by myself most of the race. I was there from 6:30am-11:30am. A long day for sure, and I felt bad getting back so late to the family (we camped at Rockcliff that night).

These guys did a great job with the race and as fun as it was to volunteer, it really sucked not doing the race. Amazing course I've yet to do, and stellar prizes. Like 1st place for instance (which I could've been in the running for) won $60 to PowerTri, a triathlon store in Lehi, concert tickets, and a free entry into Daybreak. They were giving away lots of Hammer products too. I can really use stuff like that!

Anyway, later that afternoon I put on the wetsuit and attempted an open water swim. I was really looking forward to it. I haven't done any cardio at all in 2 weeks.

Don't you just love my kids in their caps and goggles (their idea btw)

Unfortunately, it just didn't work. The ortho doc was firm in his statement of "any discomfort at all means you're doing too much" and I believe him. Because of the buoyancy of the wetsuit I didn't need to kick, but just the motion from being in the water was too much. I swam maybe 200 yards and had to call it good. I was hurting pretty good. I didn't need them getting in, but this must've been a funny sight to an onlooker (I only put the crutches in like 6 inches of water Heidi, promise I didn't hurt them!)
I was so hoping it'd work! I miss jumping in a lake and taking off feeling strong and fast with strong arms and a fast kick. I miss that so much. Getting the wetsuit off was horrible! My husband helped me, but pulling it off just put too much stress on the bones and ligaments pulling on the bone. I won't try the wetsuit again for at least 2-3 weeks. I'll try a pull buoy in the pool on monday, but I'm not holding out a ton of hope. I think I'm just going to have to wait another week and see if things are any better.

Makes me think about putting the screw in. Just a better chance everything heals up well. But I really worry about not liking the screw 10, 20, 30 years down the road. You hear people say it is uncomfortable, painful, or they can feel it. I don't know, any advice? I just hope the 4 week xrays look better.

I really wrestled with whether or not to do BAM. I was worried about the weather, and it was a more expensive race to enter, but I wanted to race in those neat venues and see the atmosphere I'd heard so much about that these race directors put out. After volunteering at Rockcliff and seeing the race though I'm just kicking myself. I tell myself "if I'd listened to my instinct and not done BAM I wouldn't have a broken foot, could've saved $25, could've scored some sweet totally useful prizes Rockcliff offered, and I'd still have a whole season in front of me". The whole foot breaking thing was not a direct result of that particular course (BAM), but if I'd just listened maybe I wouldn't be in this whole mess. What good came out of BAM? I mean I met some great people, had a good swim and bike, but not so good it was worth breaking my foot. Any words for me?

Healing Day 8 - Wasatch Back!

The swelling remains much the same, a little better though. Sometimes when I've been up for too long the increased swelling and itchiness that comes along with it and the wounds on my toes and foot just drive me crazy. I melted down a little friday as my Wasatch Back girls were getting started. I was stuck home doing dishes, not being able to carry anything or get around anything quick because of the crutches, knowing I have another week till the pool and another 3 at least till I get back on the bike and 7 till I run and I just let myself have a little cry. I seriously believe my body is/was going through seratonin withdrawls. I maintain such a high level of it consistanly with being outside and exersizing like I do, I think my body was a little in shock. It's been tough, but one week down now, things will be better soon.
Back to the healing, I can put a little weight on my foot if it's in the boot, but I'm really trying hard not to, giving myself the best chance to heal I can. I think I'm going to see what the 4 weeks x-rays look like, and if things aren't healing well I'll strongly consider the surgery. Here are current pics. I find it interesting that most of my swelling resides near and in my toes.

My 'lovely' fat foot. The wound is taking forever to heal and the swelling keeps it feeling stretched and the boot fastens over it which is uncomfortable. The bruising is at it's peak now I think, down at the bottom and side of my foot near the break. My ankle is a pit puffy too, I'm guessing I probably did a little ligament damage.
As a nice distraction I did get to go up to the finish line to see my Wasatch Back girls. Here's what it looked like driving up. And I hear a couple of them got super soaked the end of Saturday. They did great great though, what troopers! I know they're all exhausted and probably sore, but what an experience. I'm definately jealous. I always hear "there's always next year", but that sounds soooo far away. I would've loved to have done my first time when the rest of them (save 1 runner, Lindsey) did their first times. Oh well. I'm glad they had a great time and let me run down the chute with them. Great job girls! My friend Heidi has a good race report and fun pics on her blog

My team. Thanks for letting me hang around guys

Healing day 4 - TOSH Day

My mom and I headed to TOSH (the orthopedic specialty hospital) to meet with a hand/foot orthopedic doctor this morning. They took new x-rays while I was standing which was interesting. We got a better view of the fracture which is very close to a bad place to have it. It was close to a Jones fracture which do not heal at all most of the time. Mine however is right inbetween that Jones and the shaft of the bone. If it were either of those places it would be a screw no questions asked. Mine however is different. If I were a couch potato he wouldn't recomend a screw because I'd do nothing and let it heal. However, because I'm an athlete he doesn't trust me to do nothing. The recovery time is the same with or without surgery but the screw gives us a little added assurance it will heal and stay solid. If the bone ia going to heal on its own it will only do so if I do absolutely nothing on my feet but walk in the boot next month. Nothing for the next 8 weeks meaning no running obviously, no biking (LAME!), and not even any kicking or running in the water. Nothing that will move the foot basically. I barely talked him into letting me swim with a pull buoy (a floaty thing that allows my hips to float so I don't have to kick). But I can't even swim for 2 more weeks. Crutches and the big black boot for 12 more days
So I am a bit dissapointed for sure. I was really hoping to get to bike. My greatest hope though is that the bone will heal completely. If it does I don't have to worry about it happening again due to running, only if I do something stupid again
So for now I be lazy and get fat and go back to the doc in 4 weeks for new x-rays.

Healing day 2

Pain, swelling, and bruising are about the same today. Still can't put any weight on the foot. It felt so strange to wake up and not head out to a workout nor have any scheduled for this week
Life as a mom is tough. We don't get much done. Its about all I can do to feed them. And the poor baby just doesn't understand why I make her crawl after me all the time and why I have to put her down as soon as she gets out of her crib :( I do feel so bad too not being able to take the kids out though. I'm sure things will get better when I can walk on this foot again

Radiologist reading came back today and it is a confirmed fracture of the 5th metatarsal. Next up is a Dr visit with an ortho at TOSH wednesday morning. I'll update after that. Just a note I thought I'd add, I totally appreciate all your comments, Thank You So Much! But I don't expect you to comment on every post. I'm just trying to track my journey through this and progress as it comes.

Healing Day 1

Feeling a bit better today, as long as I keep the foot and leg wrapped up and in the temporary cast I have. I took it off to shower and was so unstable and my foot and calf ballooned up big time. My blood wounds were pretty painful while redressing them with the help of my handy 5 year old assistant (who has also been so helpful with the other kids for me). Here are some pics from this morning - notice - there are some of the wounds, so if you'd prefer not to see them don't look on (they're not super gory though). Sorry I couldn't get the pics to turn

A view of the feet together. I find it interesting how the right foot looks fine on the left side them morphs into this swollen yucky foot on the right side. The bruising hasn't gone crazy yet, but I'm sure it will in the next couple days

Not sure why this is, maybe because of some of the tendon/ligament damage? But I cannot curl my toes past this point on the right foot. Strange sensation, as is being "down" when just yesterday morning I was a strong, fit athlete. It's gonna be a tough recovery mentally I think.
And the lovely blood wounds and swelling a little closer up. That big wound is wierd, it stays bright red like that, but it isn't bleeding.

BAM

I worried a lot about the weather going into this race as it has been raining everyday (and hard a lot of the time) for the past 10 days or so. Woke up at 4am to finish packing, saw a discouraging forcast online, and was on the road by 4:30am, yes A.M. Well, the skies were cloudy at times, but seemed to be ok, thanks in part I'm sure to my friend's (Ann and Megan in particular) no-rain dancing. Thanks ladies!
Swim - 1500 yards, 25:00. Great! This was a really great swim for me today. We swam in Deer Creek Reservoir and I won't lie, it was cold. I swam there 3 weeks ago and really think it was colder today. So yes, getting in, letting the water in my suit (so I can get out and let it drain out helping to remove the suction factor) and putting my face in was, well, brrr. Took my breath away. That hasn't happened in a while. But once the cannon (yes there was a cannon) went off things went great. Wasn't cold, held a good pace, and sighted well - although I do wish the buoys were bigger.

T1 - Slipped a little on the moss getting out and headed into the transition area. I decided today with cold water and cool air temps that I was wearing my lightweight white fleece no matter what. I wasn't gonna let the tempation of a super fast T1 cause me the uncontrollable shivering I experienced at Kearns. A little hard to get on with wet hands, but definately worth it, I was very comfortable on the bike.
So I ran out of transition, and hopped on the bike.....almost. I swung my right leg over the seat like I do, must've lost my balence somehow and put my right foot down to catch myself. I guess I was a little colder from the swim than I thought as the foot/leg wasn't able to hold me up, I rolled it out and fell over, bike and all. It hurt and I was scraped up, people asked if I was ok, but I climbed up after pausing in pain for 10 seconds or so and went on my way.

Bike - 22 miles, 1:08. Again, a good day. This is a great ride that goes through Midway and Heber and has some amazing views! My favorite was some low clouds hovering right on the green moutain side. There were some sections I felt like I wasn't going anywhere for some reason, but I stayed in my aero bars most of the ride, pushed hard, got to go fast here and there, and wasn't passed by more than a couple women. My foot which I knew was bleeding a little, was hurting a bit now by the last few miles. I was hoping and assuming it'd just be a bit bruised and scraped, and was glad I left socks at T2 just in case as it'd be nice to not have the shoes rubbing against my wounds.

T2 - Approaching transition I slid my feet out of the bike shoes while keeping the shoes on the pedals to save time. It was a bit painful sliding the right foot out. Got to the dismount line, swung my left leg over much to the amusement of the volunteer right there who made a "nice dismount" comment. Upon setting the right foot on the ground and hearing his compliment, I let out a scream. It was horrible. I hobbled in great pain to my shoes hoping maybe they'd help, maybe I could run through the pain. Slid the socks and shoes on as comfortably as I could and hobbled another 200 yards. Oh man, so much pain. Not muscle pain, not scrapes, bone pain. I stopped, thought for a few seconds, tried to get going again and was just stopped. I wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't even walk without a lot of pain. I was faced with my first DNF (did not finish) EVER. I started crying. I took my shoes off and threw them on the ground, and started my hobble walk back to T2. The timing guy saw my moment of tantrum shoe throwing and asking me if I was done with the race. I said "I guess so", he asked if I was sure and I said yes. He said "I'm sorry, but I need to take your timing chip". I really cried then. I know it sounds exagerated and it is sarcastic, but it really hurt to let him take it, almost like he was taking one of my kids or something (again, note the sarcasm, having my children taken away would be much worse, you athletes out there understand what I'm talking about).

I cried pretty good walking back just devistated. Devistated at the pain, the injury, the fact that I wanted to, but I just could not finish the race. This course would've been perfect for me. A 6 mile hilly trail run. I had had a great swim and bike, I was gonna cap it off with a "bam" and well, I guess I did, a "bam" to the foot. Oh yeah and did I mention they lost my wetsuit after cleaning up T1? Yeah, no where to be found. Good thing is the race directors will work to get me a new one. Still, what a day.

The medics attended to me for a couple hours, and I got to chat with some kind friends as they came through the finish line. I hung out for a couple more hours with the help of my friend Chuck (who had a great race!) to watch awards then headed home.
We just got back from an Xray and it looks like a fracture on the outside of the foot. The films are going to a radiologist over the weekend and we'll see what he says tuesday probably. NOT that I'm happy about this fracture, but I'm hoping it's just that. The doctor fears there's a chance it's bigger and could need surgery (ie: pins!) to repair. Yikes, I know! But that is worse case scenerio, crossing my fingers that isn't the case. I also have a referall to go see a doc at TOSH (The Orthopedic Speciality Hospital) in Murray. They're smart, sports specific docs that should give me good council.

So what does this mean for me? It means I'm on crutches for the next 3-5 days. I won't be running on it for 4-6 weeks unless it really heals up in the next week (not a good idea though). Luckily I haven't sign up/paid for any other races till late August. But guess what's this next weekend? The Wasatch Back Relay :( I am SOOOO sad about this. Kicking myself for what happened. I haven't officially told myself this until now, but unfortunately I will not be running with my friends :( I plan on coming to at least the finish line to cheer them on and maybe a place inbetween, but no running I'm afraid. I'm totally letting these ladies down.

I'm so sorry guys!