Catching Up

Well, first off I just wanted to congratulate all of the athletes that came out to race Soma. Not only did they survive the infamous Tempe Town Lake, but they survived our 90degree temperatures.

It was hot, it was stagnant... it was miserable. And, they all ROCKED it. Although Shane & I didn't get to be quite all over the place sherpa-ing with Momo & Stronger, we did get to cheer pretty much everyone on. Hopefully most of you saw us and heard us out there. We were the two fools with the big dogs in 90degrees for 7 hours.

I tell ya.... if you want to tire out two crazy energetic dogs. Take them to a race. You would think they participated. We got home about 2:30 and I don't think they opened their eyes until Monday. For reals....

Anyway - Congrats again to you all. It was a blast having so many friends out there to cheer for! You all rock. Just one question.... are you gonna do it again???

............................................

After this weekend I came to decision to not race in the Tour de Tucson. I've been pushing myself pretty hard to get the miles down on my road bike, and it's hurting me. I've been struggling with some ITBS in both legs. More so in my left, AKA my GOOD leg, non-surgery leg. I've been icing, and rolling and stretching and resting. Yes, I know what to do. I had 3 years of this pain in the ass injury.

I can only blame this on my road bike fit. Ever since I got, and started riding mini-me, I realized how much my road bike did not fit me. Although it's only a 50cm, it's a cannondale, and at that time even the women's specific ran big. I now ride either a 47" or a 49"... and it fits like a gem. I think the furthest I rode on my road bike was ONE 4 hour ride when I had some issues with my tri-bike. It was miserable. I was sore, slow and not happy. After that, I pretty much just rode it for workouts on the trainer and shorter 1-2hour rides.

Just before the St. George Marathon I increased the mileage to I think a 3hour ride. A couple of days before the marathon I felt a little bit of tightness in my left IT, but it went away with a little stretching. Then, after the race I felt it a bit more. Again, no big deal.

After I got back from Utah and recovered a little bit, I did a couple of big rides, including my last ride of 70miles. I played with the saddle a bit, changed it out.. then had to adjust the height and position. First I felt too stretched out... so I lowered the saddle. Then, I had no power because it was too low.... I thought I had it just about right for my last long ride, but it may have been too late...

I've tried running 3-4times now. I had one good 5miler, with a little pain. Then 2 attempts at 4-6miles where I ended up walking home after about 3 miles due to the left IT pain.

I was running 25-35miles per week for the marathon, including a lot of downhill with NO pain. As soon as I've increased my cycling mileage, the problems started....

So... I've reached the decision it's just not worth getting that 80miler in this weekend and doing the race. I missed out on 3 years of running because of this injury, and I just can't do it again. I can't.

So, I'm still stretching, icing, rolling...... I feel pretty good today. No more hip soreness. My left IT band is a little tight, but much better. Without a bike ride in there, I'm hoping to get a couple of runs in this week... One tomorrow or Thursday, and one Saturday or Sunday. The first one I will just try 3 miles.... then see how I feel later that day..

I am going to Seattle on the 23rd to support my friend in her first race, the Seattle half marathon. I am registered as well.... I just hope I can get this injury cleared up first. It certainly won't be a PR race, but I'd like to run it none the less....

.......................................

One last update is on my neck. I had my second epidural injection last Wednesday. It went MUCH better. By Friday I had the same relief that I did the last time... on Friday, only that injection was on Monday. I still have had no arm pain. Still some tightness on my right side, but worlds better than before.

I swam yesterday. And, unfortunately I wore my watch. I have lost ~6 seconds per lap. I supposed that isn't that bad considering no swimming since June, but still a little frustrating. Either way, I'm happy to be in the pool, again...with no pain....

My 3rd and final injection is next Monday. After that I will have a post op appointment with the Dr and go from there. Most likely some PT (the story of my life), but hopefully this will keep the inflammation at bay for a while.... get me thru CDA training...

And most of all... I can't wait to get back to some sort of normalcy. You know, my constant being COLD vs hot. Sleep. Sleep would be nice. Not feeling like I could run a marathon at any moment of the the day (injury aside). Stop being a complete and utter Crack.Head. Oh, I can't wait!!!!

Until next time.....