Training progress

This weekend is going to be my second time on my skis. Last weekend there was a blizzard alert in the Sierras and all of us die hards were a bit freaked out about the weather...so we stayed in San Francisco instead.
On Saturday a few of us ski gals got together and walked just shy of 9 miles.....mostly in the rain! When we first started it wasn't raining....not far into our walk it started to all out downpour. We were already soaked through so we continued on.
We were out for over 2 hours and got a great workout in. Unfortunately my knee didn't like it too much....and the sad part was that it wasn't my bad knee...it was my good knee that swelled up on me and hurt. I was more than a bit concerned on Saturday night. I woke up Sunday morning with it barely bothering me and today it feels great!
Will I be on my skis this weekend? Heck yeah!
We are heading up for the weekend....the snow should be in abundance and so should the traffic unfortunately!
More to come later!

I skied my heart out!

Well this past weekend the team had a team practice in Bear Valley. I traveled up in my car with my friend Liz. We were caravanning up with the Mom-mobile (it is the mother of SUV's.....and my dear friend Caytie's mom so lovingly lends it to Caytie when we head to the mountains to ensure that we make it safely). We had over booked the car.....so I offered to drive my car. The drive to Bear Valley was uneventful, that is until my car slide down a portion of the mountain. It hadn't snowed and I truly believed I would be okay in my car without chains. That is until my 5th attempt to get to the cabin! I had prayed up the mountain that Caytie's car wouldn't slow down, b/c I knew that my car would loose its momentum and slide down....and we did pretty good, that is until we had to start reading street signs!
Anyway, that is neither here nor there....we made it, but I had to park my car down near the cross country ski area and they had to travel back down to get Liz, myself and all the gear that we had piled into my car b/c of over packing Caytie's car with people. Really fun to do when one (me) has to use the restroom very badly! We did finally make it to the cabin and find the place that we would all call our beds for the rest of the weekend. It is a great cabin in Bear Valley.
Ski day arrived and I was very excited, but nervous b/c of my knee. We all prepared breakfast and then off we went to head down to the ski area. Once my skis were waxed then I was ready to go. They broke us off into different groups. I joined the group that had skate skied before, but that weren't experts. And to my surprise I did very well. Being on my skis was like riding a bike...you never forget. We did great drills to get started and then off we went. I was so surprised with how well my knee held up.
I definitely noticed where my weak area is and I was being careful...but I was on my skis and I LOVED IT! That day we skied close to 15k. My coaches were surprised I stayed out on my skis as long as I did. I had started the season telling folks that I more than likely wouldn't be skiing with them in Alaksa and then my first day on skis I did great!
That night I iced my knee and kept it elevated. It was a bit tender, but I was determined...mind of matter my Pa would always say.
I woke up the next morning more than half expecting that I wouldn't get on my skis.....and what happened? I got on them and skied another 10-15k. I had skied about a 30k that weekend and my knee felt great......
You all know what that means don't you......???? I am SKIING IN ALASKA! Yeah baby!

Determined!

My rehab is continuing as usual. I thought I was supposed to be done in October, but with the latest development that was discovered I am still working hard to get back to my normal state of activity. They are still undetermined about ski season...which bums me out more and more with each passing day. Ski season has started and I get to sit and watch as the team goes on their hikes. I feel bad that the new folks on the team that I am a mentor too have to deal with a mentor that is injured. Oh well....right?

I have started working out with a trainer one day a week and will be adding a second day...this is added with the 2 days of physical therapy that I am doing. But none of this is enough. From the lack of cardio since my injury I feel out of shape and sort of like the BLOB! It might sound irrational to a lot of people...but I am used to getting 4-6 days of intense cardio and now what I do is highly limited because of my knee....so I feel like I have developed a bit of a negative self image. I recognize that I am being foolish...but I can't help it...so I continue to plug along, trying to get where I used to be. And for those of you that know me, know that when I set my mind to something I am going to do it....the BLOB stops here dang it!

The Update!

I have progressed so far my rehab of my knee that the doctors think that I might be able to start running short runs by the end of the month....maybe even by mid-month! AND......they think I will be able to participate in the TNT ski team again!
No one has any idea how happy I am to hear that! I was so fearful that I wouldn't be able to participate this coming season!
Please keep your fingers crossed that my recovery continues to be as fast as it has been so far!

The Aftermath

I got my first opinion....and like many doctors he said, "Hmm....you will be fine." This didn't make me feel better...though secretly I was hoping to hear that. It didn't make me feel better b/c I could barely walk without pain so how was I going to run a marathon and in all honest this was NOT fine!

The first opinion put me on crutches and ordered the MRI...which by the way was hard to read b/c of all the swelling in my knee. I ordered a second copy to take to my second opinion doctor that I had been referred too by one of my friends from ski team. I had to wait 2 weeks to get into her, but I just knew that it was going to be worth it.

The weeks creeped by....I wasn't able to be active so my once VERY active self was having to sit on the coach a lot...which is hard to do once you get used to being so busy. I counted down to the second opinion doctor appt. This doctor has competed in many triathlons in her time, so I knew that if there was any hope of me running in my race she was the person to give me that hope. My appt was set for the first week of Sept.

I got there very hopeful.....she spent well over an hour with me, evaluating my knee, my MRI and report. She caught things that impressed me. What it all came down too was that I had started to get an IT Band injury and me laying off the running a few days a week didn't help that much...not to mention I had genetic issues with the way that my knees and muscles were created (thanks Mom and Dad for that!). Basically I was told that I shouldn't run in the race...that my ligaments in my knee were coiled up and if I ran I could make it worse.

I didn't think I would get that emotional about things....but I did...and embarrassingly enough I cried off and on for a few days. After I cried I think I went into denial....that I think I finally came out of just last week. I have gone through 3 weeks of physical therapy, a surgical consult, and many doctor appts.....and at this point they don't think I need surgery, but I am wearing some pretty interesting looking tape on my knee. Apparently it is a homeopathic way of healing me my knee....it sort of tricks my brain to think there are ligaments where the tape is placed.

Life has been interested in the last month and a half...not to mention frustrating, painful, exciting (running across the street to avoid getting hit by a bus with NO pain..that was HUGE for me), etc. I know now that maybe this happened for a reason. The doctors and physical therapists have narrowed down what exactly is wrong and in all honesty it wouldn't have showed up without me having been ambitious enough to run this race. Unfortunately I can't run in the race, but we are now putting me back together the way I should have been.

Race day is coming up around the corner....and instead of struggling through the race I will be cheering my teammates on. I know that I will be sad on race day and in all honesty I am not sure how I am going to make it through that day without shedding a few tears. But I plan to be there to cheer on my teammates!

What I was dreading.....

Hi there....It has been awhile since I last updated in my training diary. Some of you that are close to me know why....


On August 18th the team was to run 16 miles. I had been having some IT Band issues as I am sure you all saw from my previous postings. I had gotten a deep tissue massage the Thursday before the BIG run. My leg felt great, I felt great...I was ready for this 16miles.



We started around 7:30am north of San Francisco, it was going to be a great day. The day was already starting to warm up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! I was ready! Once Kael and I took off we looped up through the trail and ran on a dirt path (normally my body would be screaming, "Danger Elliott, Danger!"....but today I felt good) for about a mile and then we hit the road and off we went! Kael and I ran strong...that is until I started coughing really badly. I didn't want anyone to know this but, I had swallowed a bug! Just like that story when I was a kid..."Golly Gump!" I swallowed what I only hoped had been a fly! Anything else made me start to mentally freak out....I coughed for a long time and in all honesty didn't even admit having swallowed the bug to Kael until mile 5! I didn't want to tell him b/c I knew he was going to laugh at me and I didn't want to break out stride up the hill! Wasn't that nice of me???? I think so! Okay fine...I was really disgusted that I had eaten a bug! LOL



After climbing this long hill, and having gotten my morning protein with the bug incident, we got to flat land...and yes, Kael and I were still running strong! About mile 5.5 is when my leg from knee to butt started to hurt, but I thought to myself, "Self...you will be fine...just keep going." Maybe not the smartest thing, but I did....we rounded the corner to the water stop, grabbed some lovely beverages and then I couldn't put weight on my leg. Yes that is right...I think I had physically hit a wall at that point. But being as driven (nice wording right?) as I am or stubborn...whatever you want to call it, I kept going. I walked it off for awhile b/c the pain was so bad in my knee at this point that I could barely put weight on it. I remember crying and thinking that maybe I should stop....but the thought of why I was doing this race pushed me on.



At one point....all the miles sort of blended into each other after that first water stop.....Kael got stung by a bee...so we laughed for at least a good mile off and on about how I ate a bug and how a bug had eaten Kael. Okay not so funny now, but let me tell you...when you are in pain and trying to get your mind off of it, ANYTHING is funny! :)



As we circled back to where we had started I really thought I was going to have to be sagged in. One of my coaches stopped to make sure I was okay, my mentor stopped and walked with me for awhile and of course Kael was with me. Then at one point I just mentally decided that I wasn't going to hurt anymore and I started running. The first few steps were painful and I felt as if my ligament was twisting (I know.....I should have stopped!)...but I continued on and then I wasn't in pain in anymore. We hit mile 10 pretty easy enough, excluding my pain of course. And we circled back out to do the other 6 miles. I should have stopped at mile 10...but like I mentioned previous. I am a DRIVEN person....so I continued on.



I walked a lot of the last part of that days training. And in all honesty I don't remember much, except for when the pain set in again. And trust me I have done enough sports that I know the difference from a good pain and a bad pain. This wasn't a good pain. But I had to get back to the finish line so I had to continue on.



After we finished, I felt great! My knee was sore and so was my leg...but I felt great. I stretched for a good 30 minutes, ate some and then Kael and I jumped in the car to get back to SF.



When I got out of the car I could barely walk with out saying "Ouchie" every time. We got sandwiches to eat and drank a beer to congratulate ourselves and even laughed about me having eaten the bug...all the while I was worried about my knee.



After getting home, I took an ice bath...yes you read the right....I sat in a bath tub with ice to help out my lower body! Heck people, I had just run 16 miles! I think that was the ONLY thing that saved my knee that night. I rested for a good portion of the day and then that evening my sister came to town. We were going to see Avenue Q, a musical...hilarious by the way...the next day. That night my knee was uncomfortable but bearable.



Sunday morning I woke up to not being able to bare weight on that leg and my knee was swollen. The swelling only got worse as the days went by. My worst nightmare had come true....I had messed up my knee.

Highway to Hell!

Well yesterday was the 12-14mile run for the full marathoners. It was hard. With having been sick last week I was rough around the edges....though there was a small part of me that felt stronger for having taken a week off. The course was to run around Lake Merced (4.5miles), then to loop up on to Sunset towards the park (Golden Gate Park)....Heading that direction on Sunset meant that we were running up hill, fun! Once we hit the park we were to go left and run through the park on Martin Luther King until we hit the beach, we were to turn left again, run along the path until we hit Sloat. Once on Sloat we needed to run past the Zoo and head back towards the lake. After we hit the last water stop at the lake we needed to keep running until we hit either the 12 mile marker turn around point or the 14 mile turn around point.
Once I hit the beach I started to struggle energy wise. My leg was bothering me but my energy was zapped. I stopped at all the water stops to get water and any snacks they had to offer. I tried to run strong after that water stop, but when we hit Sloat it was a gradual uphill for a while....in all honest THIS WAS FREAKING TORTURE! But I have no one to blame but myself. I am doing this for a good cause....but did it have to be so painful? :)
After circling back up towards the lake is when I one of our coaches ran up along side of us and asked us how we were and what distance we were doing. I told her I was the verge b/c after having ran up Sunset on uneven terrain my knee was bothering and my IT Band was starting to really hurt. She told me, "Then don't push it. 12 miles is still huge and it is too late in our training for you to injury yoursefl...however it is still early enough to back off the training if you feel like you might be on the verge of hurting yourself. Save yourself now, thank yourself on race day." I looked over at Kael and said, "Man, I think we have our answer." He nodded and really didn't seem to want to argue....which I was grateful for!
We ran strong past all the folks that had either finished the 9miles (we were broke up into groups of 9, 12 and 14 miles) and of course the fast ones that were just done with either the 12 or the 14 miles. I looked down at my watch and even with the walking that we had done that day...we were pretty strong pace wise. So we pushed on. We were running and then we hit the 12 mile turn around marker. I looked at Kael and said, "We are going for the 14 miles." He nodded and we continued on. Once I had gotten onto flat surface my knee and my IT Band had stopped hurting....so we pushed on! That is until I was close to 1/2 mile from the turn around location and then I just hit a freaking wall! My body wouldn't let me go anymore...even though my mind was still ready for this. So we walked and walked. Our run manager was training with us that day and ran past us and I said, "How much further until the marker to run around?" She said, "It isn't that much further but you can turn around at any point." I then retorted back, "Its a matter of principle. I can't turn around until I hit the marker....and people with cancer can't turn around...so I am not." Not sure if she heard all of that b/c she was running away from me...running towards the finish line. I think I just had to say it to talk myself into continuing to move. We hit the marker, turned around and walked a good portion of the distance back. We were encouraging folks that were running towards that marker...and by doing that it was helping me stay focused on anything other than feeling like I was going to throw up. After having been sick all week and stuffing my body full of power drinks and food not to mention pushing it beyond its limit running wise, my body was on the verge of protesting.
We rounded a corner and I saw the finish line...so we started running and we ran it in strong. Folks were cheering for us...which felt great. I had run 14.50 miles by the end of the day. I may have walked a small amount of that...but I completed 14.50 miles. That was hard....and the trainings will only get harder, but I can now say...I have ran over a 1/2 marathon! I rock!