Running again

Three months after I broke my ankle, I finally feel like I am "running" again. It has been a long road back and I still don't have much endurance. But, I ran today. Without guarding every step.

Going to Leadville over Christmas to do some cross country skiing and snowshoeing. Getting ready for the Quad. This year....well, this year it will be better, right? We always have plans for improvement. This year, I will remember to take food. This year, I will be riding my own bike. This year, I know what to expect. This year, I will probably be slower. That is how life goes.

A bone to pick: In this month's issue of UltraRunner, there is an article about NOT asking to pass (Trail Right/Trail Left by Errol “Rocket” Jones). His argument is that if you're behind him on a trail, then you should just relax and not worry about passing. After all, if you were in contention, you wouldn't be behind him. This is missing the point. You may be in contention for the 60-69 year old women's award. You may have stepped off the trail to, uh, you know... and he passed you and now you want to pass him again. You may be getting your second wind and want by. Why is he so upset about stepping aside for two seconds? After all, he is not in contention!!

My rant for the day.

Planning the work

Nice to have a major goal for the coming year. People keep asking what I'm going to do when I retire. I don't want to say that I am just going to run. They think I am strange enough. Now they want a grand goal: I am going to write a book, feed the hungry, cure cancer, volunteer for the humane society.

No, seriously, I just want to run. I will get tired of it I am sure. I am already lining up a bunch of races for next year. Moab, Bighorn, Pagosa Springs, pacing some friends. It should be a blast.

Speaking of blasts, I did a Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving in Carlisle, PA. I did not do it alone. I had all four grandkids. Jonas told me I had to keep them all with me. Now, he is the boy who used to run races by himself when he was their age. I promised they would be safe, they wouldn't get lost, they wouldn't run away and we would all get together at the end.

There were lots of runners. We lined up at the end of the runners but in front of the walkers. When we started up, the older two asked if they could take off. Sure. Then Linus asked if he could go too. Sure! Isaias and I ran/walked (my walking required that he run) together holding hands. We caught up to Linus about half way through. We never saw Elise and Avery until the finish area.

Now, you know what really pissed me off? There were no treats left when we finished. Bananas and water was all that was left. I saw people walking around with several bags of pretzels and cookies. The kids ate their bananas without complaining though. In fact, they never complained at all. Woohoo!!!!! Makes a dust ole gramma happy!

Recovery?

Always the doubts; I am too old, too slow, too tired, or too lazy. But now I have a new one (of course): I am too clumsy. Dang, I went out and fell again. No real injuries but I hurt all over. Even my ear was bleeding. I guess this comes from not running. Just forgot to pick up my feet. I tripped several times, but only went down once.

Scout has been going with me. I figure it is cool, I am very slow, and not covering much distance. She is going great!! Yes, she runs funny, but she and Sadie have been having a lot of fun out there. That's cool.

I am trying to set up a training schedule. I want a 50 miler around the middle of April. Can't find one. Will keep looking.

Meanwhile, perhaps I need to buy some more stuff?

From 0 to 100 in 215 Days??

in I have been very careful during the recovery from a broken ankle. Very, very careful. I keep telling myself that it is like gluing the handle back onto a coffee mug: you must let it sit undisturbed until it is dry, or in this case, healed.
I wore a cumbersome boot for almost 6 weeks. During that time, I walked, a little at a time, using hiking poles. Very, very carefully.
I biked a little with a bike shoe on my right foot and a regular shoe on the left so that I wouldn't twist it. I rode very, very carefully.
This week I got the all clear to begin physical therapy. Started therapy at Peak Motion.

 

Told him I wanted to do the Mt. Taylor Quad in February. I want another Doubler Scarf. He assumed I meant that I wanted to do the running part as part of the relay. Ha! Nope, I want to do the QUAD!

Also told him I wanted to do the Bighorn 100 in June. He looked dubious but I am used to those looks.

But first, I have to run a 5k on Thanksgiving Day with the four grands. They know they don't get to eat turkey unless they run. Should be great.

Dusty ole gramma bites the dust

Yep,  my  summer is now officially over. There weren't as many successes this year as last, but hey, it was good.

The 50 mile Devil Mountain run just about did me in. Very slow. Funny, some man which Cheryl dubbed "the gnome" ran up to me and said that no woman over 60 had ever completed. Guess I had to then. And I did.

Tired of training; tired of racing; tired of being tired. Made a firm pledge that once Canyon de Chelly was over, I would take a real break. Ran Mt. Taylor with Ranie. We had fun together. I forgot that I was supposed to be racing, at least some of the time. I did run fairly hard, for me. Enjoyed the experience. Then two weeks left to recover before Canyon de Chelly. Really looking forward to it. A different experience.

One bad step, though, cancelled my plans for Canyon de Chelly. Running down the foothills from "the tree." Stepped on a boulder, rolled the ankle and sat down on the offending boulder. The ankle immediately swelled. I figured if I sat there very long, it would get stiff and hurt even more, so I jumped up and headed on down the trail. Took close to an hour to make it home. By then, the leg was ginormous. Turns out I broke the fibula down by the ankle. It is now time to rest, recover, heal and get energized for next year. I am going to rest, whether I want to or not!!

Resurrection Pass + Devil Mountain = 100 miles?

I decided to run two 50 milers with two weeks rest. First was Resurrection Pass just outside of Anchorage https://www.facebook.com/ResurrectionPassUltraRaces. This is a particularly adventuresome race, with only one aid station. Four of us started off. After 42 miles, I had to tell them I was fried. Jen stayed back with me and we hobbled on in. Finished in 12:22.



OK, my ego was definitely bruised. This was the first ultra any of these women had completed. I thought I was going to be leaving them behind.They set a 14:30 pace and just kept at it. Not my style of running. I kept stopping to look at the scenery (OMG....beautiful!!) and then had to sprint to catch up.

After this 50 miler, I had two weeks to recover and run the Devil Mountain 50 miler http://www.joingecko.org/info.asp?uid=310. I figured this would capitalize on my strengths: tough course with lots of elevation change and few people. I thought I would nail it in about 13:30. I was soooo wrong. I started out OK, running with Cheryl Duran for the first 20 miles or so. Then she peeled off for the 50K (I was several minutes behind her by this point) and I headed off for the long out and back section. I had already done the "big climb." How hard could the rest of it be? Just a couple of small hills on this portion of the course.


I tucked in behind a man about my age. He talked and talked and talked. Told me all about the course and where he got lost a couple years ago. It was good to take note of the potential places to lose track of the trail on the way back. I finally left him and made it to the next-to-last aid station 30 minutes before the cut off.

By the last age station, the temp was dropping. A volunteer made sure I had a light. He also said I needed to take a jacket. I assured him I would be plenty warm. He said I had to take a jacket. I told him I had a long sleeve shirt but no jacket. He was insistent. I told him I was tough....that I used to live in Wyoming. He let me go!

I finished in the dark with only two people behind me. Almost 15:30. Good grief. I was the last woman to finish. When I checked the results, I learned that 9 women were in their 20's or 30's and one was 49.

Bottom line: I continue to wonder if I am making a fool of myself. I am a constant worrier about how others view me. Am I that crazy old woman who should give it up and learn to knit or am I an inspiration? I go back and forth in my thinking. Sometimes I embarrass myself; other times I feel pride.

332 more days til Big Horn 2015

I clicked on the Big Horn Wild and Scenic Trail Run site today. This is what was on the home page:

I guess it is time to start training.

Seriously, I have to go back and complete this race. It is driving me nuts. I hate failing. I know, I know, I didn't fail. I just had too many problems but I showed remarkable courage. Blah!!! I know that I didn't meet the goal I set for myself. How do I know? Because when I click on the 2014 Results link, my name is not there!! Oh well, wait til next year.

Meanwhile, my dog Scout is having some problems. She can't run. It's as if her legs will not switch from a walk to a run. She wants to, but she just can't do it. She was running 10, 15, even 20 miles with me. I noticed her gait was strange. I also noticed that she was lagging behind. I finally figured out that she was unable to stay with me because of her gait.

We've taken her to the vet. From there, we were referred to a veterinary neurologist. He, unfortunately, doesn't have an answer. There are lots of tests that he can run, from nerve transduction testing to a MRI. These costs big bucks. I could probably justify the expense if I thought we would get a definitive answer. He doesn't really have a hypothesis regarding the problem. His original thought was myasthenia gravis, but her test result was negative.

So we're back to square 1. My question: do we continue the testing? As it is, she can manage a 4 mile easy run, if it isn't too hot. This is not why I got her; I wanted a companion for my long runs. I can be content with a 4 mile dog. But what if there is something wrong, which if found, can be corrected? More importantly, what if there is something which if not found and corrected, will kill her?

Poor little Scout. Cheryl says she is an alien dog, sent here to love and be loved. Someday the mother ship will call her back and learn much from her regarding love, life, happiness, and mountains.