Tri-Dogmom

It's been a while since I have done this. I did it for 3 or so years, not including 2 years after surgery. Always wondering how long the leg would last. How would today go? Would I be hurting the rest of the day? Should I be wearing these shoes? I wonder if I need different insoles? I shouldn't run right here, it's slanted? I can't do that race... it has too much downhill... I'd love to do that race, but I don't know if my leg will hold. I don't think I'll ever do a marathon again. Oh... I wish I could just pick up and go run at anytime. I'll never get back to my 8min/mile race pace, when I can't even run 10 mins without pain. I wonder if I will EVER even run again... Well, I finally got rid of all those thoughts. I carried them with me from June 2002, until about April 2007. 5 years those are the thoughts that went thru my head every day. Every time I ran, or even thought about running. I had some brief moments of thinking I'd never...

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 weeken...

Well folks... it worked. I'm living proof that shoe therapy worked. Yesterday, I went out and redeemed myself. I went out Tuesday and made up for my wimping out on Sunday. I rode this course. 69miles 4:30mins. The pace is certainly not impressive, but I did it. It's the furthest I have ridden since IM. It gave me a little more confidence for this. Most importantly it made me feel better about backing out after only 40miles on Sunday. Well, that and I just had my second epidural injection in my spine this am, so I know I won't be able to work out for a few days, including no riding this weekend... You know, I'm not even sure why I'm doing this race. It's not like I enjoy sitting on my road bike for hours on end. I guess it's just one of those things I would like to say that I did. I'm pretty sure you won't see my becoming addicted to it like IM, or running... I certainly won't be as prepared as I am for other races. I've really only done 2 lo...

It REALLY does work. So, to make myself feel better after my horrible ride yesterday... I bought me some of THESE Last weekend S & I went on a shopping spree. FOR HIM. Yes you heard it right... he got 2 new pairs of shoes, like 10 new shirts & two new jackets... Macy's was having a really good sale. And, while we both LOATH cloths shopping (shoe shopping is an entirely different story), he was in dire need. So we stocked him up with some new duds, and I of course felt compelled to buy me some new shoes... after all, I did spend like 2 hours in the mends department with him. Including the men's shoe department. Which, by the way is so not the same experience as the ladies shoe department. It, in fact was not fun at all. Painful in fact. So much that as soon as we picked his shoes, we ran out of there before the sales guy could get the credit. Not because we are mean, but because he was THAT BAD But, anyway, back to the story of how I scored me the above beautiful shoes....

Ok, that's pretty dramatic, but today.. I hated my bike, I hated my legs, my hips, my knees. And most of all I HATE WIND! I had planned out a great route that had a group of 7 of us meeting at various places and times with those of us training for Tour de Tucson getting in about 65-70miles. A much needed training ride for me. But, lets just say things didn't go as planned... for some of us. As I was checking weather.com yesterday I saw that evil "windy" sign starting at about 12:00. Prior to that the wind showed like 15-18mph. I decided to keep this to myself so no-one tried to bail on the ride. Particularly a certain someone who decided to make this her first ride back since CDA. I knew it was going to be a struggle when I was woken up (not that I'm sleeping much lately anyway) sometime in the middle of the night with the wind smacking our sunshade against the sliding glass door in our bedroom. I have NO idea how Shane slept through all of this. Must.Be.Nice. I ...

Because the LaPan house just wouldn't be the same if we were all healthy at the same. Cause, well... that's just not how things work around here. So, Baxter decided to join me on the "broken" list. Actually... it's all still from that stupid cyst he had on his paw. He had surgery to have it removed the same day I had my epidural injections, last Monday. He was really good with it at first. I think he was still drugged up though. Then, of course he just couldn't leave IT alone. He had to lick it. Constantly. And pull a couple of the stitches out. And STILL not leave it alone. Even when we drugged him... So here he is, on his 3rd re-wrap from the vet (5th if you count the 2 that Shane & I tried to do), with a special little note to him on it. And they told me he was an absolute ANGEL, and that he just sits there and lets them bandage him up. Which is SO not what happens in this house.... when he acts like we are murdering him when we tough his puppy paw. But...

So I actually put a swimsuit on... drove to the gym.... put my swimcap & goggles on... got IN the pool... and swam a few laps! I have not done this for over 3 months. Let me digress..... Since my epidural injections on Monday, I've had an interesting week. As I mentioned in my last post, I hibernated for 5 days. Friday, I finally decided enough was enough. I went out for a 30min easy run. Err... TRIED to go out for a 30min easy run. I started, nice and easy. HR 140. Legs weightless... It was going oh, so well. Then Snap. It happened. My legs turned to ichy firey red hivey mess. It started about 6 mins into it. I kinda just thought maybe they're itchy cause I need to shave. (this is what happens when you are hibernating, no need to shave).... so, I suffered a few more mins . About 10 mins out I could not take it any longer. I found some shade, stopped, scratched the hell out of my legs... and walked and pouted that long mile back home. By the time I got h...