Last week was a crazy week. The one way that I keep things sane in my life is by sticking to a routine, it’s really the only way that things get done. But last week my finely tuned plan was thrown out the window when I had to go out of town for work.

I say “have to” but heading to a breathtaking ranch in northern New Mexico to do field work is no a hardship for me. It does throw my Ironman training out of balance. No biking, no swimming and a crap foot means not much training happened early in the week.  I did get a chance to run a few miles and had one magical moment running on the dirt roads of the ranch.

The herd of bison that live on the ranch were about 100 yards off the road (this picture was not from my run but later in the day when the herd was further off the road)

With one standing in the middle of the road in front of me.

It didn’t let me get very close before running off to be with the others. My foot may not have been great but I finished on a supper runners high. Being able to mix two things I am passionate about (wildlife conservation and running) made this the best run I have ever been on in my life.

I will share more later on the rest of my week, out metric Ironman on Saturday and the progress of my foot. But for now I want to stay in my happy running place in New Mexico.

Open water swim practice starts for me this week and I couldn’t be more excited to get away from the pool. I love open water swimming, the only thing I don’t like about it is mass starts. IMCDA’s start is super intimidating, hopefully I will find some space to swim and not get punched in the eye!

How do you feel about open water swimming?

After my PT told me NO MARATHON this weekend, I had in my head that I would run the half marathon. I figured I should be able to run a half, I have already ran 20 on very tired legs so this should be NBD (no big deal). After wearing more supportive shoes all week and massaging my leg I thought I would be good (enough) to go.

But just to be sure I took my foot out for a 6 mile test run this morning. It wasn’t good, in reality it seems to still be getting worse. I am really starting to think no Colfax at all. I am not that bummed about missing Colfax but FREAKING OUT that Ironman is just over a month out and I can’t run 6 miles without stabbing pain in my foot. I have to try to keep my focus on the final goal of finishing IMCDA but it is hard to walk away from a marathon I had planned on running.

One way that always makes me feel better is to look for future races when I WILL be able to reach my goal. Running in the USA is sort of my race porn and today I started looking for post Ironman marathons to make up for missing Colfax. Wise? Maybe not but it helps me focus on the future instead of dwelling on my present.

Two that spoke to me were the Silverton Alpine Marathon on August 25

And the Aspen Backcountry Marathon on August 26

Both will be tough trail marathons and sound like great training for a 50k….cause I WILL heal and be totally fine training for ultra…..right?!?

Now I just need to decide about Colfax….to race or not to race.

Even though I can’t run the full Colfax Marathon I am trying to get excited about the half. The best way for me to get excited about a race is to do some prep work.

The half is known for being “flat and fast”

Source
I’ll take it! The course looks like it will be well supported and packet pickup is at Mile High Stadium where the Broncos play.

The best part is that the race start is about a mile from my house and the race finishes right through my hood!

I am trying desperately not to get the injury blues. I HATE not being able to do the things I want to, but it’s so silly because there are lots of things I can still do. I can’t think too much about missing the marathon yet without getting upset yet so I will focus on the things I can do.

I can look forward to open water swimming on Saturday. We swim at Grant Ranch in Littleton.

It’s SO much better than swimming in a pool! I love being outside.

 It’s also great to get practice sighting and get used to cold water.

I can also get in a long ride on Saturday since don’t have to save my legs for a full marathon. I think I will try to run the half marathon and quit if my foot starts to hurt too bad.


Do you get the injury blues? If so how do you avoid them?

I try to remember that even though training for an ironman is a lot of work, it’s NOT my job  and it’s supposed to be fun. I got a great reminder yesterday when a good friend sent me this video

Love Brooks! Another favorite of mine is Ironman vs. Ultra Runner

I grew up in Oregon so dealing with the rain usually isn’t a big deal to me. I actually love running in the rain, but cycling is another story. You see I didn’t start cycling until I moved to Colorado.

I did know how to ride a bike and owned a hybrid bike, but I rarely used it unless on vacation and NEVER in the rain. Since starting triathlon I have spent a lot more time on my bike. Lucky for me it doesn’t rain very often here in Colorado