All it takes is all you've got

Rode my bike up to NCAR and back.  Felt good to push uphill...and the downhill was very rewarding too!

Rode my bike to physical therapy and back.  Lots of students clustered around CU.  Almost got hit by a kid on a skate board.

Weeded the yard for 3 hours and took a load of trash to the dump.  Our yard looks much better.

Went camping up on W. Magnolia Road and took our inflatable kayaks out on Gross Reservoir for a nice day with the family.

Pool running at Rally Sport.  Bean and Sara S. were there and it was nice to catch up with them.  I only got in about 40 minutes before it was time to go to physical therapy.

Went to FAC instead of biking outside. Its been raining all day.  30 minutes of elliptical, 15 minutes of stationary bike, 30 minutes of core work/weights.  Felt good to move my body.

Ali decided to ditch diapers today!!!  YAY!!! 

15 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes cycling (I couldn't decide which one I wanted to do).  Then I got in the pool for 40 minutes of pool running with Sara S., Bean, and Jessica Pixler, a CU grad student/15:25 5,000 M runner who is also rehabbing from injury.  It was fun chatting with the girls and meeting Jessica.

65 minutes of stationary bike plus some core work/weights.  Biked next to a guy named Rich and chatted with him for a bit.  Aaron left for Utah this morning to pace his friend in the Wasatch 100.  He was pretty stoked to be involved with the event and run 25 miles in the middle of the night.

Rode my bike for 40 minutes or so until the rear tire popped and I had to walk home.  I'll confess, I tried jogging a little to speed up the 3 mile journey.  I did about 30 second jogging intervals every few minutes and it felt quite strange.  My left quad and glut are quite unfamiliar with the running motion.  It was kind of like one of those dreams where you are on the starting line of a race and the gun goes off but you realize you have forgotten how to run and it is super awkward.  

When I got home from that adventure I quickly showered and drove to Vail for my 6 week post-op appointment with Dr. Philippon.  I got there at my 11 a.m. appointment time and seriously waited for three solid hours in a boring empty office for Dr. Philippon to come in and see me.  He must have been in surgery and running way behind.  If you think waiting 30-40 minutes for a Dr. to come in the room is annoying, try waiting 3 hours!  I kept opening the door and walking down the hall, I went to the bathroom, did my PT exercises in the room, and read things online with my phone (thank goodness for that) but it was painfully mind-numbing.   Finally around 2 p.m. Dr. Philippon came in, asked me how I was feeling, did an evaluation, watched me walk and stretch, and told me everything looked great and I could start running again!  Three minute visit, tops.  He also told me I should never run on a treadmill again. His theory is that with the belt moving under my foot as my foot strikes it causes a motion that pushes my femur forward and puts too much torque into my the front of my hip joint where he operated, so I should avoid it altogether.  But then I pried a little more and he admitted that if I was choosing between running on crazy slick ice or treadmill, he agreed that treadmill may be okay a few days a year but to be aware that it may irritate my hip.  

Then I went downstairs to the PT, Mark who works with all of Philippon's patients and has also had the same exact surgery with Philippon two years ago. Mark gave me a more detailed protocol for HOW to get back into running.  I start with 1 minute of jogging/4 minutes of walking X 4 to a max of 20 minutes (that is a total of 4 minutes of running) three times a week the first week.  The program maps out an increase of a minute or two every week, so it is a very gradual progression.  The hope is that in another 8 weeks I should be able to run 5 days/week for an easy 30 minutes pain-free.  Mark also gave me all sorts of new exercises to be doing to get my gluts firing properly and strengthen my quad and medial hamstrings which are very weak right now.  It'll be a project, but I'll get back eventually. 

65 minutes of cycling + core work

40 minutes of Elliptical.  Pushed it a little too hard and felt a twinge in my hip so I got off.  First time in months I've gotten my heart rate up to 160 bpm though!

Did my 4X1 minutes of running today.  Felt pretty good!  Little sore afterwards though.  I also did 30 minutes of stationary bike.

After strong recommendation from Mark Ryan, the PT in Vail, I ordered a water running suit to help alleviate pressure on my hip flexor and more fully utilize the benefits of water running as I heal.  It arrived in the mail today just in time to motivate me to go try it out.  I felt crappy when I woke up this morning (stuffy nose, body ache, low motivation) and was initially planning on getting the kids off to school, putting Ali in front of a movie and going back to bed but instead I forced myself to the gym to try out my new suit and I'm glad I did.  It felt very comfortable and seemed to enable me to utilize my hamstrings and gluts more than my hip flexor, which is what I need right now.  It looks pretty silly and I felt like a dork wearing it but who cares.  Another bonus is that it kept me warmer which is always nice since I am a cold water wimp.

Went for a 75 minute bike ride around Boulder.  Right after I started my ride I got a text from my sister-in-law informing me that Tara had run 3:07 (a huge PR) in TOU and Allie won 1st place again.  The good news put a huge smile on my face and got me moving faster on my bike.  I had all sorts of good memories about TOU 2009 and what an awesome, fun race that was.  

Thinking about the past and being grateful for good times really helps pull me through rough moments.  This injury/surgery/recovery over the past 5 months has been a very difficult challenge but seeing others come back after injury and overcome challenges to grow faster and stronger helps me keep my hope alive too.  Some days I get so frustrated and downtrodden I want to throw my hands in the air and forget about competitive running altogether but days like today come along and I get my motivation and hope re-ignited.  I will get back to running PRs again someday and it will be well worth the effort.  Now I just need to work harder to enjoy the journey back.

45 minutes of elliptical, 15 minutes of recumbent bike, 5X1 minute easy running, 15 minutes PT exercises.

90 minutes of pool running, then physical therapy.  My hip flexor was a little painful last night and this morning probably from my "long run" yesterday. But after pool running and a good deep stretch at PT, things loosened up nicely.

30 mintues of core/hip work, 60 minutes of pool running.  4X1 minutes of jogging.  Hip hurt afterwards so I'm not going to push it.

90 minutes of pool running plus PT afterwards.  Hip still a little sore from yesterday's run.

Aaron and I have recently decided to cut way back on our meat consumption and focus on eating more vegetables, grains, and fruits.  We watched the documentary Forks Over Knives a couple of weeks ago and also read this fascinating article which discusses the LDS health code, the Word of Wisdom in more depth.  Its kind of alarming to me that I never came to this conclusion earlier but I do think it is best to eat meat sparingly or even better, not at all.  We definitely eat WAY too much meat in this country and I want to be part of the movement to cut back. I am not convinced we need as much protein as the FDA would like to make us think we do.  I can't say I'm quite ready to completely cut out dairy and eggs also but cutting out the meat and reducing dairy and eggs feels good.  Any other vegetarians out there have favorite recipes or recipe sites you want to share?

Went mt. biking in S. Boulder and also kayaking on Gross Reservoir with the fam. Good times.

No better way to start off the week than a strenuous climb up Flagstaff Mountain.  I decided to ride my mt. bike since the handle bars are a little higher than my road bike and my shoulder gets super achy on my road bike. Shoulder felt great and hip was okay too.

I'm listening to this awesome talk right now and its giving me a happier outlook. 

My favorite points he made: 

"Many of you are endlessly compassionate with the weaknesses of others.  Please remember to be compassionate with yourself."  

"Forget not to be happy NOW...you need not wait for a 'golden ticket' to be happy."

"If we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.  Never stop stiving for the best that is within you.  But don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each days ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life." 

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

90 minutes on the elliptical plus 2X5 minutes of running.  My hip felt a little bit better while running today than it did last week.  Yay for progress!

Another trip up Flagstaff mountain this time on my road bike.  My shoulder is not very happy with me but my body is.  

Good news!  My hip is not aggravated from the one mile of running yesterday which means I can try to bump it up a little more tomorrow!!  I may just DOUBLE my mileage this week from last week.

Easy ride with Ali in the trailer, hip felt sore from yesterday.

90 minute ride around my Marshall Rd-->McCaslin Blvd-->Hwy 128-->Hwy 93 loop.