Believe to Achieve

Skied all day at Brighton during the bipolar weather.  First cloudy, then snow, then snow and pelting wind, then snow, then  cloudy, then 20 minutes of sun, then cloudy, then snow, then snow and pelting wind then fog then snow then cloudy then clear then snow..  You get the picture.  When it was clear/cloudy we warmed up and felt great.  Skiing was awesome except the times with snow and pelting wind.  Not fun when on the chair.  On the ground we hid in the tree trails.  I can ski and have skied since I was six.  But nothing can prepare you for a snow-butt-boarder falling on their front and creating a BOARD BLOCK one and 1/2 feet high and four feet wide. I had two seconds to think and first second I thought here goes the rest of my life without running and the next second how can I come out of this in one piece?  Visions of twisted arms and legs and a ride down the slopes on a stretcher filled my mind.  This is how it happened.... my daughter Brooke yelled "mom look at me" I turned for a fraction of a second and then turned around to see the snow boarder crash I had no choice but to crash into her road block I somehow flipped over on to my left shoulder and neck then felt the whiplash take over as I went backward then forward with my head very suddenly and quickly (I ended up in a head roll), I saw a flash of blue light and thought Oh my this is not good for me (with the headaches I already get).  The whiplash was intense for that moment and I layed there on the ground holding my head and neck, not sure if my skis were still on or not but felt they were.  Since I am a skier the bindings don't give well since we are supposed to be able to do tricks and have them stay on.  So my kids and husband stood in awe as they missed my fall but only saw me on the ground and heard the snowboarder say "sorry" and ride away.  I didn't hear her but she was gone nonetheless.  She must have been scared.  It took 10 minutes and then I got up.  I could feel my body.  For that I was thankful.  But I knew what kind of injury this would be for me. Whiplash neck muscle injury.  I would have to skip tomorrows run, hopefully just one day.  I can't believe my thinking.   It could have been a lot worse, like Christopher Reeve who ended up paralyzed just from falling forward off his horse.  I feel like definitely that was not my lot in life because the fall was quite painful it could have been my fate.  I still skied the last hour but I was very careful as my neck and head continued to get tight.  Ibuprofen helped the initial inflammation but I was off to work and couldn't take anything stronger.  I dreaded my twelve hours of working all night but glad when I got home to take a muscle relaxant and sleep for four hours.  Yes only four.  I like to see a positive in a negative so I hoped this fall somehow wacked my brain and neck into place and perhaps my headaches would improve...wishful thinking. 

Got a massage after my TMJ changing of my braces wire appointment.  His daughter does the massages.  She is awesome.  She really understands the body.  She helped the stress in my neck a great deal.  She also added "whiplash injuries aren't good for TMJ"  I responded "I know I saw the poster in the waiting area that says whiplash can cause TMJ" .  Just my luck.  Doesn't matter, I am still going to try to run tomorrow.  I pondered my life without running and it was a dreadful site.  Someday I do have to give it up.  Certainly I can't be one of those 80 year olds with wrinkled legs and arms at the finish line?  I mean, am I really ever going to be that old?  My husband gave me a life expectancy test (it uses health history of self and family) and apparently I will be up and running until 102!!!!!!  By then we should know how to reverse the aging process, right? Troy will only live until 76.  Wow, like what kinds of things from 76 to 102 will  I be doing without him?  Grandma, great-grandma things?  I definitely would place first in my age category then.  No competition.

I began the two week cleanse program again (didn't finish last time).   I am hoping this will help with my chemical allergies.  It is called First Cleanse.  A bunch of herbs that should help out each of my organs to clear out toxins etc..  I will keep the blog posted of any good/ill effects.  I did make it out for a good run.  Got to up the miles as I missed two days.  Troy thinks skiing counts as a  run day.  I don't.  Anyway I got him to run just over 6 miles.  The pace was getting to him so he stayed behind the last mile as I was going to go off and run another four after a potty break.  Average pace for 6.05 (8:23), first mile 8:48.   Unable to lift head off the floor when lying on my back (neck muscles too strained) but running seemed fine.  Yahoo!!  A little tight but no problem getting in the miles, quite sore to turn to the right to look for traffic so just tried to stay looking ahead.  Ran another 4.14 miles at 7:57 pace.  Again I was surprised that this pace felt good.  Just like an easy run.  Of course I just take two steps forward in running then one step back by falling (See Monday's report).  What is it with me?  I am a magnet for getting hurt.  I thought I already took the "toughness test", why do I have to keep taking it?  Along with the "tolerance test" and the "patience test".  I keep having to take them over.  Some day I will get an "A" and many of my tests will be accepted.  Apparently I haven't reached near that point.  I still have a lot left to learn. 

No that wasn't a typo.  I really needed to get my long run in as my 30 mile trail run is coming up March 28.  I meant to do 17 but when  I Course Tooled my run I apparently ran over.  I thought I was running slower, but gladly I wasn't.  However it was one of those runs when you just are struggling to mentally and physically get thru it without a runner's high for some reason.  It is probably lack of calories- or let's say lack of chocolate (and this detox cleanse thing I am doing).  I have been chocolate free for several days.  It is difficult.  I have to say.  I probably will give in today.  Headaches have been at bay and my neck muscles are getting more normal, a little sore but definitely improving.  Pace 8:23 for 17.62 miles.  First four I ran with Troy then I was off on my own.  For a long time it seemed.  Glad it is over.  I feel fine now that I am done.

Ran 3 miles with Troy (I was lucky to get him to do that much) at 8:46 pace then went out on my own.  First mile 8:10.   Half uphill (Cedar Hills) so pace varied but kept strong so average pace for 4.5 miles was 8:08.  Last mile 7:14, felt easy.  Did a very slow 1/2 mile cool down like it felt like a really good resting pace, just under 10 pace.  Did 10 minutes of stretching.  I work tonite and tomorrow nite and unexpected family is in town so in order to get my goal of at least  40 miles I had to run longer today.  It really started out as a four miler then I kept adding miles in my head and decided to just go for it  so I only had to do five or less tomorrow before going out with the family then working all night again.  Should be a warm run tomorrow, possibly 50 degrees?  Yahoo!!!

Got out in the nicer weather about 1:15pm.  Ran 5.03 miles at an easy wake myself up pace (8:48).  Only slept 4 1/2 hours then got up briefly and tried to sleep another hour.  Fruitless so got out for run before family picture event with extended family and trip to the Pizza Factory for dinner.  I am off to work in just a few minutes.  Run was exhilarating.  Got myself awake and enjoyed the warmer weather.  Right now I am getting really tired....must stay awake for 13 more hours though.  You should try it.  It is so fun!!!  NOT!!  Actually my job keeps me busy all night.  No time to really sit or think about sleep for too long.  Talk about ceasing the day....my days don't ever end.