Denouement

Ran with JenH.  Also did lunges 6 ways, hamstring lunge 3 ways, crossover exercise. 20 min elliptical in evening just to blow off some steam.

90 min run, ave pace 7:36

core workout 

Warmed up 3.16 in 25:03 min (7:56 ave pace), then did 2 min on/ 1 min off x 10.  It was pretty hard, really needing the 1 min off toward the end.  Ave pace for fast bits were 5:55. I was pretty disappointed with the ave pace until I saw I did this same workout in Sept with 5:51 ave pace, so almost back to it.  Cooled down 3.08 in 26:31 (8:36 ave pace).

PM run: 5.38 miles in 40 min, on TM 

8.3 in 65 min (7:50 ave pace).

6.86 in 54:22 (7:56 ave pace).

Snow Canyon 1/2.  Put this on my racing schedule, but then realized how steep the race was, and consulted with my coach about whether to skip the race, start from the bottom and run up til I met AmberG, then run her in, or race it.  He suggested doing the race as a workout.  Plan:  hang onto tails of the leading lady for the first three miles, back off to 6:45-7:15 pace, depending on what pace it took to not get hammered, allowing "everyone to pass" me, coach said it would be character building, then ease into marathon pace (6:20-6:30) through the remainder of the race, slowly reeling in those I passed.  

Here's how it went.

So nice to not have pre-race jitters since it was not a high risk event.  Still had three stars before toeing the line.  Warmed up 3.32 miles.  Met up with Marcie and AmberG. And we are off.

Mile 1 5:58 Amber takes off like, well, you know.  It took all I had to keep in touch for the first half mile, but then pace mellows a bit

Mile 2 6:07 A girl in a sports bra joins the front pack of girls (AmberG, me and Marcie), and takes the lead, I pull into second by the end of this mile.

Mile 3 5:50 serious downhills starts.  Bra girl is chatting it up with a couple of guys ahead of me, I just hang on--not conversational for me!

Mile 4 6:21 I change gears but didn't go slow enough (I thought I only had to go 6:30 or slower, but in looking back at McMillans email, it was supposed to be 6:45 or slower--ooops!), AmberG is first one to pass me, several pass per mile

Mile 5 6:25 still in don't trash the quads mode, Marcie I think passes me in here, snow canyon is so beautiful.  I chat with a guy who's pr is 1:29 in here, his name is Craig, he was going conservative too through this part.  He had a St. G red shirt.

Mile 6 6:36 more like it, taking it easy, a lady in a very fashionable purple plaid passes me in this mile, I can't let such race-fashionability stand.  In these three miles of serious holding back, 18 people in all passed me, and I went from 2nd lady to 6th lady.

Mile 7 6:09 still really steep, so I go into marathon pace gear, but with some trepidation and still holding a bit back

Mile 8 6:24 49:50ish for first 8, I make a calculation at the end of this mile that I needed to keep a 6:20 pace til the end to easily get under 1:22.  Too bad I forgot about the .1 mile in the 13.1 mile race

Mile 9 6:08 catch up to Craig in this mile, encourage him to come with me, I've passed two ladies and Marcie is in sight.

Mile 10 6:24 at the very, very beginning of this mile I hit a portapotty.  Unfortunately noone has prepped this pot like I did one in TOU, still it was a quick pitstop as evidenced by my time, pass Marcie at end of this mile or beginning of 11

Mile 11 6:22, starting to get rough, with lots of neighborhood turns, at the end of this mile I start to see AmberG ahead, but know she's way far ahead

Mile 12 6:22, pace is hard but managable

Mile 13 6:11, wanting to finish strong, see glimpes of Amber at times but she is still far ahead

.14 in 48 sec (5:55 pace).  Thinking how crazy it is to have to go around the track--the end of this race seemed so long.  Measured 3.18, must have not done tangents that well

1:22:13 official results.  3rd place woman.  Passed 11 of the 18 back.  Bummed to not be under 1:22, but it was a good workout, and I ran it faster than I was supposed to (6:14 ave pace for end).  I am sore today but not as sore as I would have been if I raced it, so there's another victory.  Won a fancy heart monitor watch.  My mom and her boyfriend came and watched the race, it was great to have them there.

Ran 8.12 in 66 min, about 8:10 pace.  Legs quite sore still.  Crazy day today, trying to sell my car.   

Legs felt better in evening, though still sore.  Did 15 min on elliptical.

Steven Colbert is awesome! 

When it was snowing and my driveway was covered last night, I bailed on Tyler and Travis, thinking I would do treadmill this morning and push off my 12x 1min on/off workout until Wed.  But I woke up at 3:45am, not able to fall back asleep, so I got up and saw the drive was clear, so I decided to run outside, maybe even Warmed up 3.89 @ 7:43 pace. Then 12x1 min pace, ended up doing my hilly route backwards.  averaged 5:48 for on parts.  Felt really good in the workout--first time since the marathon.  And I had every reason to not feel good--sore from Saturday, insufficient sleep, weekend exorcism in the form of 8 stars so far this morning, snowy conditions.  Wickedly cold ice bath still has me shivering (16 min at 45F).

 PM: 5.37 miles in 40 min.  Core workout.  Felt pretty run down by the time I got to Wal-Mart to shop in the evening.  At checkout I put my head down and said, "I think I am going to pass out."  Which is melodramatic code for, "I am dehydrated and tired."  The checker wouldn't let me load, push, or unload my car, even though I told her I'd be fine if I just got a drink of water.  Embarrassing!

I worked on an urgent work project from 9-11pm, and had a little nervous breakdown in the middle of that.  Got to sleep at midnight. (read on to Wed). 

Warning--explicit description of illness follows.  Writing this up is therapeutic, don't feel obligated to read.

Pretty delirious run with MacK (and Tyler for 6 miles).  Went to the bathroom lots this run, in fact have done so all week.  Not really diaherretic, but not normal.  9.73 at 8;00 pace.

Frantic day at work.  Got my project done at 3pm and drove home.  On the way home, I ate a banana and some pretzel sticks, and felt quite nauseated by the time I got home.  I was hugging the toilet, doing the involuntary spitting thing and hoping I could get a rest from the spit so I could drink some pepto.  I was successful pushing of that vomit attack, felt better for a while.

Bedtime--after bad sleep last night, all I want and expect is a good nights sleep.  I plan to sleep in and do tomorrows hard workout in late morning.  However my stomach starting to bother me quite a bit, not able to sleep--at all!  In massaging stomach I notice my right side is tender.  At 1:05 I decide to eat a piece of bread.  Either it would settle my stomach or make me vomit, either option sounds appealing.  I can only eat 2 bites.  At 1:10 I sit on the bed next to Paul, and half crying, tell him I think I need to go to the ER just to rule out appendicitis.   Just saying that out loud must have been too much because I hobble to the bathroom, not even making it to the toilet--I vomit up a storm into my sink.  It was strange, I don't normally vomit standing up, its usually kneeling at a toilet.  Struck by how one leg totally hitches up, like that will help my body expel the demons.  

My body is shaky but relieved to be food free.  I crawl into bed.  Paul says, "well if you thought three minutes ago you need to go to the hospital, just how does vomiting change that decision."  I just want to sleep and think I have a fighting chance to do so, but we chat a little and I drive myself to the Payson hospital. 

I get to the hospital at 1:45.  Doc thinks it may be an ovarian cyst or appendix, though my pain level isn't as high as you'd expect and my temp is only 99.9F.  We do an ultrasound to try to rule out cyst and perhaps check out the appendix.  Ultrasound reveals a 3mm cyst and can't see appendix well enough.  Now I am having chills, and temp risen to 100.7 (I am normally 97ish).  Miserable because they haven't allowed me to drink.  They did give me anit-nausean pain.  My throat is sore from the vomitting, I am kicking myself for not drinking more on the way to the hospital.  The fever and the dehydration trump the abdominal pain by far.   Decision is to be made on whether to do CT scan (involves radiology, so increases cancer chance 1/600 for each CT.  I have high colon cancer incidences in my family.  Ovarian cyst can cause pain, but not fever. Doctor is leaning toward having me see how I feel in 8 hours, then doing CT if not improved.  But I won't be able to drink for those 8 hours!  I asked about my blood panels, and he said that the white blood cell count was high, another indicator of appendicitis.  So that's when I decide to do CT scan.  I can't say it isn't partially because I wanted my forced dehydration to end asap.

CT scan totally reminiscent of my AS SI joint tests.  I see them put the radioactive stuff in me, that doesn't feel good.  1 hour wait for results.  Positive for appendicitis.  So Paul joins me at the Payson hospital and we drive to UVRMC for surgery.  Arrived at 7am, am miserable (mostly dehydration and utter fatigue, but also can't roll around in bed w/o pain and am nauseous) until 8:40 when I finally break down and ask for my first pain meds.  They were less for the pain but enabled me to fall asleep.  A much needed 1 hour nap.

Surgery is done at about 10:30. It is funny how "out" I was.  Come to around 12:30.  The appendix was in worse shape than they thought from the CT scan, but thankfully not ruptured.  Took another nap.  Marion came in the afternoon. My work and Paul's work both sent flowers.  My firm is so wonderful.  I feel so bad about having to miss my training that is all day tomorrow.  I have been excited about this class "How to Manage Multiple Priorities."  I still wish I could go.

Now training for Houston is unlikely, and I won't be in shape for the Las Vegas 1/2, so won't do that one.

I am so grateful to have had a wonderful training year in 2010, and the recovery time for this surgery is pretty quick, so this should just be a hiccup in the pursuit of 2:46:00.  The Houston training was kind of squished, and I was taking longer to get back into it than I wanted, so perhaps it is all for the best.  I bet I can run faster without an appendix, anyway. 

See yesterday's blog for much excitement.  Short and sweet for those who don't need a play by play is that I had my appendix taken out today.

No running.  Was able to walk around my recovery ward, several times, and am supposed to do so a couple more times this evening.

When I woke up today I had to pee, which is nothing new, but it hurt to hold it, which is bad when you are hooked up to equipment in a hospital bed.  Called for help and am now fine. 

Hurts to move around in bed, to stand up straight, put on socks, walk.  Doesn't really hurt to lie here and do nothing.  Feels like a really sore muscle, like my legs after my first St G x two.

Tried to read and watch Arrested Development yesterday (laughing hurts) but kept falling asleep.  They say the anesthesia doesn't totally wear off for a while. 

First day running around. Took my son to the doctor, went back to work, worked about 4 hours, then came home for cub scouts. blah.

Sneezed twice today--not a good idea.  Most pain is gone, except when sneezing, and by the end of each day my belly button incision is usually tender.

At work again. The problem with the real world is real clothes.  Why can't I wear yoga pants to work, or scrubs?

Swelling is all gone each morning, reappears slightly by night.  

Did my first exercise - 1 mile walk on the treadmill. Started at 3 mph, and slowly increased (in all truth, I had somewhere I needed to go).  Ended up with a 17:10 mile.  Felt just fine.  No feeling at incision points when I step down.

Walked 2.1 miles @ 14:55 ave pace.  Significantly faster than yesterday because I was outside in windy and rainy conditions.  By the end I could feel it just a bit in my belly button incision. 

Started my first period of 2010--that's what happens when you stop running. 

Walked 3 miles in 44 min while Marion ellipticalled.  

Had my post op.  the nurse practicioner said that I could start cross training immediately and ramp up intensity.  I could start running now but if I wanted to go 5-6 miles or more to wait until 3 weeks.  Based off this and my coach's advice, and my preference on approach, I will not run until three weeks after the operation--or until I feel "super-spry" (its a medical term), in the meantime I will walk, ellip and pool run.

Pool ran 31 min this morning.  Planned on 40 min, but it started to pull on my belly button.  Apparently I have an internal stitch in the inner muscle that will pull for a while.

Spent 1.5 hours disassembling and reassembling two of my kids beds with my Dad, who is visiting from CA and was kind enough to work on this with me.  It was really fun.

Elliptical 40 min, level 3 after warm up. 

Ellipticalled for 61 min, ramping up to level 4.  Then weighed myself for the first time-- 125.4! I haven't gained at all, I am so happy.  I was so surprised, I was expecting 5-10 pounds higher.  I plan on walking later today as well. 

Ellipticalled 60 min in the morning.  Fun thanksgiving. Ate way too much.

Had horrible sleep, then woke up at 6:20 am.  Got in my swim suit. Was going to go to walmart then the Natatorium in Brigham City (we were up there for the holidays).  Walmart was ok, but the Nat. was closed, checked out the Crystal Inn pool (they said I could use it for a couple of bucks) but its 5 foot section was a sliver at the very end of a narrow pool, so I scrapped it.

We got home at 3pm, then got swim suits on and turned back around.  I took the kids to the Lehi pool with a babysitter, and I hit the pool. 60 min pool running. Warmed up then 4 min on/2 min off x 5, then 5 min easy pool running then 1 min on/off x 4 miles.  I wanted to do a bit more hard stuff but was concerned because I forgot my medication the night before and was late taking this morning's dose (due to being out of town and forgetting my toiletry bag), so had to be satisfied with that as my first hard pool running workout.  30 min elliptical at night as well. 

62 min elliptical in the morning. 30 min at level 4, then did my first hardish workout on the ellip: 5,5,7,7,4,4,6,6,8,8,3,3,5,5,7,7,4,4,6,6,8,4,5, then back to 4's for the rest.

3 miles walking at night. Was going to do 4 but for some reason the bottom of my feet were rubbing wrong in my shoe and felt raw.  Switched to ellip for 15:10 min to make it an even 60 min of exercise in evening.

Also walked the university mall with Marion today, and the Provo Towne Center mall with Paul.  Very disgusted by the McNaughton "art" displayed in both malls, depicting President Obama stepping on the constitution.  Since when has trash like that been framed and put in family rooms?

Totally can't remember, but did 1-2 hours cross training.

Again, can't remember, 1-2 hrs crosstraining.