Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Test Run

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.

Prepping for Colfax

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!

Injury Blues

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?

Maybe not so marathon week….

I have bad news. After trying to take the first few steps this morning of my run it was clear that what I was hoping was just tired sore feet is actually a full blown injury. I feel like the timing of this couldn’t be much worse. I ran on Sunday with a stabbing pain in my arch but really hoped that it would get better with a little rest but it hasn’t. I headed to my Physical Therapist this morning after a slightly hysterical email to get checked out. They think I have the very beginnings of posterior tibial tendonitis.

The symptoms of tendonitis of the posterior tibial tendon include pain in the instep area of the foot and swelling along the course of the tendon. In some cases the tendon may rupture, due to weakening of the tendon by the inflammatory process. Rupture of the tendon leads to a fairly pronounced flatfoot deformity that is easily recognizable.

 Source

They sent me off with a taped foot and instructions to rest and not expect this to heal quickly.

*please excuse janky toenails and flip-flops, shoes hurt
While my PT is not really in favour of my ironman training (he thinks it’s nuts for anyone) he thinks I will be able to get through IMCDA. He said it would be painful (great) but I should probably be able to do it. That probably makes me nervous!

The bad news is that they said NO MARATHON this weekend. I don’t think that has fully sunk in yet, while not as devastating as not being able to do IMCDA it’s still a big letdown. I haven’t fully committed to not doing it yet, but know I shouldn’t. Recovery might start tonight with some heavy drinking.

How do you deal with injury setbacks?

Marathon Week

I hope that talking a lot about my upcoming marathon will make it more real. I keep forgetting that we are running a marathon and then it comes up and I freak out a little. I need to let it sink in that it is here and that I AM ready for it!
I am not hoping for a PR with no real taper or focused training, I am just hoping for a good long training day. Luckily this week is a recovery week so things will be a little lighter and hopefully my legs will show up on Sunday ready to go the distance. This week looks like:


Monday: 6 mile run and 45 min yoga
Tuesday: 9.5 mile interval run
Wednesday: 30 mile bike ride with pick-ups along the way
Thursday: 2800 m sprint focused swim
Friday: 45 min yoga
Saturday: 2 mile open water swim to an hour transition bike ride
Sunday: Colfax Marathon with 1 mile warm up and cool down

Totals for the week:
Swim: 3.75 miles
Bike: 60 miles
Run: 43.7 miles
Strength: 1.5 hrs
Totals: 17ish hours and 107.5 miles

This feels like a BIG drop but hopefully that will make it all that much easier to hit it hard for the last three week push.

On a separate note I could use your advice. I just bought new shoes over the weekend and I am not sure which pair to wear for the marathon.

I know I am pushing the “nothing new on race day” rule BUT my feet have been hurting lately and I think it might be due to running in my old shoes.

Third times the charm!

So what would you do? Try to break in new shoes this week and run the marathon in them or stick to the old ones?

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Happy Mother’s day to all the mamas out there! I had a great day with my mom. This is the first year in many that we have been able celebrate with mom on mother’s day, it’s so nice having my mom and dad in the same state.

When I suggested a mother’s day race my mom was all in. After going over a few choices we decided on the Title 9K in Boulder. I have to say it was an AWESOME choice, this was a great race. We had a great time.

We arrived early so packet pickup was easy, I just wish they had some coffee.

The race started at Boulder Reservoir, this morning the reservoir was calm and beautiful. The race even personalized our bibs.

We were pretty excited about the race, it’s been too long since we have ran together.

My brother, dad and husband came to cheer us on.

The race was set up nicely with time corrals, unfortunately a lot of people lined up incorrectly and we were stuck behind a slow crowd for the first half mile. Luckily this was just a fun run and we got to see the boys all over the course.

Caught mom zooming past some other racers!

The course was beautiful, mom and I had the best time running and chatting

We averaged a 10 minute mile and mom’s longest run since she was injured last year. I am so happy for her and her progress knowing how much she loves running. Also she took third in her age group out of 25, my mom kicks ass!

After the race we headed back to mom and dad’s house for brunch including waffles and mimosas. It was a great day and I am so happy I got to spend it with my mom.



How was your mother’s day? I hope you all had a chance to celebrate or be celebrated!

Trying not to take it so seriously

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 always get caught on youtube watching too many videos, total time-suck, but it’s a great reminder not to take things too seriously! 

Time to Suck it up Buttercup – Riding in the Rain

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

This weekend will be a different story, we have a storm rolling through and I don’t think that rain will be avoided.
With 80 miles on the schedule I don’t think I will be attempting a 5 hour trainer ride, so it’s time to suck it up buttercup and ride in the rain.
Do you ride in the rain or head indoors?
Any fun plans for the weekend? I am running a 9k with my mom on mother’s day and I can’t wait!

Play List

As we get closer to Ironman I am trying to wean myself off my iPod. As you may know, iPods are not allowed at Ironman events or at most triathlons for safety reasons. So lately I have been leaving my tunes at home for my longer runs and rides. So now when I do take it with me on a run I really love having it!
I like my play list
(No I am not ashamed of the amount of Kesha and Christina)
but I think I am starting to get sick of it a bit too. Anyone have any great songs that you have to have on your play list? Do you workout to music?

Boco Loco “Race” Recap

On Sunday Cory and we had 60-100 mile ride on our schedule and coach suggested participating in Boco Loco. We decided to go for our first century and that having support sounded like a great idea. Because this was an event not a race you could start your ride any time between 6:30am and 11:00am. We wanted to get out as early as possible since we knew it would be a long day but didn’t start until around 8am. We grabbed a print out of the directions, hopped on our bikes and got on the road.

The ride started out really fun, it was rolling, there were lots of riders and it was well supported

At the beginning the 8, 32, 60 and 100 mile courses ride together. High school students were manning the aid station around mile 15, they were cheering like mad and really great support!

 It was a beautiful, clear, cool morning, I heard last year was rainy and crappy, so I guess we lucked out.

 My favorite part of the ride was a short out and back to Rabbit Mountain, we turned around at the trail head, I made a mental note that it would be a great place to go for a trail run!

As each distance peeled off the there were less and less riders to share the road with. By the time we separated from to 60 mile riders it was pretty lonely. Luckily I had Cory to keep me company.

I was feeling pretty good until about mile 60 even though my legs were a little fatigued from running 30k on Saturday I took some pictures while riding (that’s totally safe right?)

Miles 60-70 is where the wheels fell off (not literally). My legs really hurt and I was getting really tired. I started to get really worried, if I couldn’t make it 60 miles how would I ever make it 112 for Ironman!?! There was an aid station at mile 70 where jumped off my bike did a few quick stretches, inhaled some PB&J sandwiches but failed to top off my water bottles. After the pit stop my legs felt much better, but I was worried they would start hurting again during the last 30 miles. Surprisingly they didn’t, in fact they felt better and better! I finished feeling pretty good, I was happy to get off my bike after six and a half hours but felt that I could have ridden another 12 miles and I could have run if I needed to, but I was glad that I didn’t need to!

Overall, this was a great way to get some miles in and there was some great swag. We got a nice tech-t

a great water bottle

and some great samples and a ice pack, I always need more of those.

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