Someone has to come in last

Yesterday was the Mount Rainier Duathlon.  There were two course options:
Short distance- 1.64 mile run, 14.44 mile bike, 3.79 mile run.
And long distance- 5.12 mile run, 28.88 mile bike, and a 3.79 mile run.
I didn't think the short distance was a big deal and I wanted to challenge myself so I chose the long distance.  Joining me was my awesome support team of friends and family as relay teams.  Cousin and husband were a team.  (She ran, he cycled)  And VK Sista' and cousin's brother were a team. (He ran, she cycled)  This way I had two people to run with and two people to cycle with.  And they also had each other to hang out with during the waits.

I was really nervous since I was the only one out of our group that was doing the whole thing solo.  VK Sista' and I even drove the routes the evening before.  Husband and I were sitting in the car people-watching before the race.  There were a lot of really athletic professional-looking badass people there with super expensive tri bikes.  Seeing all of these people made me even more nervous.  There were very few people that I would consider in my league.  I was there in my bike pants and compression sleeves, these people had real Tri kits.  The last time I did one of these racing series (BuDu Racing) was the Bonney Lake Triathlon and there were people of all sorts of shapes, sizes, and bikes.  I chose the short distance at that event and came in 4th in my age group.

It was chilly when we started.  Here's me, cousin's brother, and cousin at the start line

The long distance run started at 8:00am and the short distance started at 8:05am.  We started out at the back of the pack... and stayed there.  We never passed anyone and even though we were keeping a pretty good pace (10 and 11 minute miles), the rest of the group were getting further and further ahead. After a couple miles, we couldn't see anyone ahead of us anymore.  I was thinking that I'm sure that most of the short distance runners finished their 1.64 run long ago, and we're last in the long run so I bet husband and VK Sista' were the only ones still standing there in the transition area with their bikes.  We hit some hills and walked a little bit, and I ate some energy blocks, and I felt pretty good.  As we rounded the last corner, we saw runners coming back out.  We were like, OMG.  They finished the run, already did the bike, and they're heading out for run #2 already!?  I passed a guy looking like he was about to die and I said, "Please tell me you did the short course!"  He smiled but didn't answer me.  Oh man, I am in way over my head here.

We came into the finish line and I said, "Last of the pack here!" to the guy who puts on the race.  And he said, "That's ok!  Make up for it on the bike!"  I said, "That's my plan!"  I was telling Cousin and her brother that this is what happened at the triathlon.  I wasn't a great swimmer but I passed a ton of people and made up for it on the bike.

Here we are finishing run #1

Back in the transition area, I put my helmet and gloves on and unwrapped a fres bar while the relay teams swapped out their timing chips.  Then we were off on the bikes!  A bee flew into husband's helmet and stung him on the forehead less than a mile down the street.  I thought, "Better him than me!"  I was still out of breath from the run and I was trying to eat on my bike to make sure I kept myself fueled.  My legs were burning.  It really is amazing that you use completely different muscles to run and cycle.  We were keeping a pretty good pace when I finished my fres bar, right around 20mph.  ….Then we basically climbed a mountain.  Mud Mountain Road was a never-ending hill.  VK Sista' and Husband kept getting further and further ahead of me while I just peddled and peddled slowly up the hill while the guys on their expensive tri bikes and their weird space-age looking helmets kept zooming by on their second laps.  I kept thinking, "Why did I choose the long distance?  I bit off so much more than I can chew!  I can't be a Vanderkitten VIP and come in dead last.  This isn't fun.  I thought I'd at least pass one slow cyclist by now.  I don't want to cycle or run ever again."  Lots of negative thoughts going up that hill alone.  I wanted to just stop, sit down in the grass, and cry.  

I heard music up ahead and when I turned the next corner I saw some race photographers there cheering people on, taking photos, and blasting their music from their car.  He said, "You're almost there!  You're doing great!"  I said, "Now is not the time for pictures.  I'm not almost there.  I still have to do this all over again.  I'm still on my first lap.  I'm pretty sure I'm in last place."  He said, "You're out here, and you're doing better than everyone who hasn't even gotten out of bed yet!"  And he gave me a high-five as I passed him.  That gave me a tiny bit of hope.

VK Sista' and Husband were still nowhere to be seen.  I figured they would have stopped for me somewhere by now.  It's not like if they zoomed off and finished before me, that cousin and her brother would head out on the last run without me.  I was getting angry and frustrated being alone.  The half marathons I've done with cousin and her brother, they're amazing and it doesn't matter how slow I was, they waited for me, and vice versa.  This hill was the worst thing ever.  I decided then and there that I was going to quit.  That I didn't care if I finished.  I was going to head back to the finish area, throw my stupid bike on the ground, put my jacket on (I was freezing), and lay in the grass.  That was my plan.

Another elite guy cycled passed me and was zooming slightly slower than the rest of them and said, "You're doing a great job!"  I said, "Thanks.  I take it this is your second lap?  I still have another one to go!"  And he said, "But you're doing it!"  I was in a slightly better mood when I came up to the top of the hill and I finally saw VK Sista' and Husband stopped waiting for me near some race volunteers.  I called them assholes for not waiting for me.  I said that runners always wait, and cycling sucks.  I said I was quitting.  I was cold, miserable, my tri top kept riding up and driving me crazy, I was tired, last place, and completely discouraged.  And even though I just made it to the top, and I knew it was all down hill from here...that didn't make it any better in my mind.  It scares me to go downhill… especially when I knew we'd be going on busy Hwy 410.

We rode a couple miles together and when we started the decent, they zoomed off again.  It terrifies me to go that fast downhill.  A few other elite athletes zoomed by me too.  VK Sista' and Husband waited at the bottom of mud mountain and the route flattened out again.  The shoulder was really narrow and bumpy, and cars seemed really close to me.  There was a giant opossum we had to go around.  Eww.  I did not want to do this ride all over again.  I wanted to get the whole ride done in less than 2 hours and it had already been an hour and 10 minutes.  I was thinking about cousin and her brother standing around getting really tight and cold.

We approached the turn off for the transition area and there were race volunteers yelling, "Finish left, second lap straight ahead!"  I wanted to turn left.  I can't tell you how much I wanted to turn left.  But I looked at my husband and he said, "It's up to you."  Ugh.  So I kept going straight and the race volunteers cheered for us.  I must be out of my mind.

As we were heading down the flat part of the route again, there was a motorcycle that came up behind us and got over into the oncoming lane to pass us (so we thought) but they just stayed there for a long time pacing us.  We slowed down and started talking to each other, "What are they doing over there?  Why don't they go around?"  VK Sista' kept trying to wave them on.  Then we saw the woman on the back had a clipboard wrote something down, and they zoomed off.  Were they race officials?  What was that all about?  Turns out we were penalized 2 minutes for drafting.  HA!  Me?  Drafting?  I haven't drafted since husband broke his thumb over a year ago.  I pull myself where ever I go.  I pulled myself 204 miles to Portland.  I do not draft.  That's just ridiculous.  Yeah, let's dock 2 minutes from the girl in last place because we were "too close" to each other, going super slow trying to get your dumb race officials out of the wrong lane of traffic.  USAT can bite me.

A little further down the road, two big dogs came booking out of someone's yard and chased me.  I ended up running my bike into the gravel and had to stop and yell at them to "GO HOME!"  I was shaking and feeling like I should have quit again.

We stopped and had a rehydrate gel a couple miles from the hill.  Oh man, here we go again.  I asked my husband to stay with me.  I told him that it's really discouraging watching them peddle away and I can't catch up and I just feel like stopping.  He said he'd stick with me.  Going up the hill the second time was a little easier.  I'm not sure if it's because I had someone to chat with, or because I knew I didn't have to do it again.  The photographers were gone but when we got to the top, the same volunteers were still there.  They cheered and said, "Yay!  We knew you'd be back!"  We stopped to drink some water and catch our breath and I asked if this race had a time limit.  They said no.  I knew they were going to start giving away prizes at 11am according to their website "when most of the racers have completed".  It was 11am.  3 hours into the race now.

I stopped on the side of the road a little way down and found a spot behind some bushes to pee.  For the amount of money we paid for this stupid race, there should have been a porta-potty at the top of that hill.  Then we started the descent again, it flattened out, and we passed the road kill for the second time.  When we got back, there was no volunteers there to tell us to turn left to finish.  There was some runners coming in but we were definitely the last to come in on a bike.  The announcers were giving out raffle prizes and everyone had medals.  I found cousin and her brother and she said that the route closes at noon.  She said they told her that since we wouldn't make it back by then, we didn't have to finish the last run, and that we'd still get our medals.  My heart sank.  They weren't going to let me finish?  She said they said we could do it on our own if we wanted, but the course would close before we got back.  Hmm.  She said, "It's up to you."  And there was my second chance to quit for the day.  I said, "Let's go."  I told my husband to collect medals for us if we didn't make it back before they cleaned up.

We passed some runners coming in as we were running out.  One guy said, "Great job!  The last run goes by really fast!"  My first mile off the bike was an 11 minute mile.  Then we slowed down a bit.  I had a couple energy blocks but I was running out of fuel.  Also, running in my bike pants was not a good idea.  I really should have bought tri pants.  The last 2 miles or so was spent running/walking from electrical pole to electrical pole with cousin cheering and jumping around.  She has way too much energy.  :)  All of the race volunteers were gone from the water stops but the tables were still there with cups of water.  Hooray.  We turned the last corner and ran to the finish line… which was surprisingly still there!  Everything else was torn down and there was only a handful of people there.  I'm so grateful that they left the finish line arch and even the photographer waited for us to cross.  We got a lot of cheers, a medal, and they took some food back out so we could have a bagel.  We finished at 12:19pm.  So it took me 4 hours and 19 minutes to complete the whole thing.  

When I saw the race results online there were two men listed as DNF (Did Not Finish) and one woman listed as DQ (Disqualified)  So, I'm last on the list of finishers, and I have a 2 minute penalty (still laughing about that) but I toughed it out and I finished.  I still wonder what would have happened if I chose the short distance.  I bet I would have at least finished in the middle of the pack somewhere.  When racing in last place, it would have been so, so easy to quit.  Especially when they said we'd get a medal whether we did the last run or not.  But I didn't.  I think this was my hardest race to get through mentally.  I was just so negative and very hard on myself.  I'm still not in the "Go me!  I'm awesome!  I did that!" mindset at all.  I keep trying to think positive and be proud of the miles that I finished.  Almost 9 miles on foot, and 29 miles on my bike in 4 hours and 19 minutes.  That's an accomplishment.  And I'm barely sore!  I'm looking forward to next weekend.  Saturday is the Fiesta 5K Ole where we'll be "Runnin' for 'Ritas" and Sunday is the Bike 'N Brew.  Fun races that include margaritas and beer all weekend will be a much needed break after this race.  And then the weekend after that is my Disney Half Marathon!  Hopefully running and cycling will seem fun again soon.

Here's some finish line photos:

I love this photo.  I made it my Facebook cover.
"Kim's Support Team"- Cousin and Husband, Me, and "Team M&M"- Cousin's bro and VK Sista'

VK Sista's!!!

Racing weight

I bought a book called "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald.  Yes, I've lost a ton of weight.  Yes, I made it to the weight loss goal I set for myself.  I wanted to be a size 10 and wear a medium.  I'm here.  I've made it, so why does it not feel like it?  I know I've talked about this before... I still have fat girl syndrome.  BUT I don't think that's my whole problem.  If I wasn't (dare I say) an "athlete" now then maybe I'd be fine where I am.  Friends and family tell me all the time how great I look and wonder why the heck I'd want to lose anymore.  Maybe I'd be fine here if it was just for looks?  Now I have athletic goals I want to reach, and I think the less I weigh, the faster and easier those goals will be to attain.  And I don't necessarily feel like I need less weight, but less body fat for sure. 

Since I reached my weight loss goal, it's not like it's all magical and I have it all figured out.  I still struggle.  I have no idea how to maintain where I am.  I carb-up before a race, I spend the entire race eating sugar, and then I'm starving when I'm done and eat everything in sight... and a beer.  I'm up 10 lbs since I've been able to eat solid foods after the whole maybe-broken jaw saga.  So I thought a weight-loss book for athletes would be a good read. 

Here's some of my favorite points from the book that spoke to me:

During a survey, 54% of endurance athletes said they were dissatisfied with their body weight.  And that number was almost identical to a survey of the general population (non-athletes) who are quite a bit heavier.  (So basically I'll never be happy.  Ha.)

More than half of endurance athletes reported being heavier than the weight they consider optimal for peak performance.  They have different standards for their bodies and they struggle to attain them just as non-athletes struggle to meet their own, more relaxed standards.  (Yup. Struggles.)

A 160 lb runner expends 6.5% more energy than a 150 lb runner at the same pace.  (That's crazy!  That's why I really notice when I gain 10 lbs!) 

Training and the rest of your lifestyle send your body different messages... Training says, "Let's get leaner!" and your diet and inactivity outside of workouts says, "Let's fatten up!"  (This is why I go up and down the same 10 lbs I bet.)

It talked a lot about "Dieting" vs "Performance weight management".  Diets are all about eating less calories but large calorie deficits deprive muscles of the fuel they need for optimal performance in workouts.  (I totally see that.  When I could only drink smoothies with the whole jaw thing, I was super weak and slow during workouts.)

So... I was thinking, "This book is awesome!!"  I'm taking screen shots and highlighting different paragraphs, etc.  And I started thinking, "Okay, okay... I get it.  Now what do I do about it?!  Tell me what to eat!"  Since I bought it on my Kindle, it's hard to just kind of flip through and find the part I'm looking for so I could get started.  But I started swiping through and skimming pages anyway.  I haven't read the whole book yet but it basically says, "Eat cleaner (more protein, no white starches, more fruits and veggies, etc.  And don't eat foods like potato chips and candy."  Um... duh!  I think I have that handled pretty well right now.  I'm disappointed.  Like I said, I haven't finished it yet but there isn't anything super revolutionary so far.  However, I found a follow-up book that says it's a 4 week plan though so maybe that's what I need...

Anyway,  I went to the gym on Tuesday and husband and VK Sista' did arm day.  Since my arm and shoulder are still sore from my crash, I decided to let them do their thing while I did an easy 5K on the treadmill.  It was my first run since my crash and I just sorta jogged along and watched the news.  It felt really good. 

After completing the 63 miles on my bike at the Daffodil Classic on Sunday, I figure I better keep my cycling endurance up and try to start following the STP training schedule more closely.  So on Wednesday nights, when my husband takes our son to boy scouts, I have an hour after putting my daughter to bed until they get home.  So I'm going to start Wednesday night trainer sessions in my basement.  I did 45 minutes and it was the most boring 45 minutes ever.  Brutal.  I hate the trainer.  I hate it worse than my treadmill.  Here's a photo of me in my messy basement with cycling gear all over the floor....

I sweat buckets, my legs burned, but I was so bored staring at my husband's tools on the wall listening to my music and texting VK Sista'.  Next week I'll make sure I get the Apple TV down there all ready to go so I can at least watch a show or two. 

Let's see... what else is new... 
I got my Vanderkitten VIP Tri Top!  BUT... it's too small.  Cry, cry, cry.  See!  I must not be a medium after all!  I mean, I know they're supposed to be tight, but this was just too tight.  I took some pics.  It looks sorta okay if I yank it down when I first put it on, but when I start to move (and that's kinda what I'll be doing in a tri top!) it starts to ride up, get too short, and Ophelia looks more like Shamu than a cat....

I chatted with them today and they threw a size large in the mail for me this morning and I hope to have it by Saturday so I can wear it to my duathlon on Sunday!  YAY!  VK rocks!

Speaking of the duathlon... I have no idea what to wear.  I have bike capris, and running capris.  I don't have triathlon capris.  I'm kind of thinking about this too late and I don't really have time to go out and find tri capris.  They're hard to find (I don't wear shorts.  3/4 length it is for me.)  So for those that don't know, tri shorts have padding, but not as much as bike shorts, that way you can run comfortably in them too.  For the sprint triathlon I did, I just wore my running capris.  It was only a 14 mile bike so that's not a big deal without padding.  28.8 miles on a bike would be a bit more brutal.  So today I put my bike capris and my compression sleeves on and tried going for a run in them.  They work kind of okay.  I only did 2 miles but I kind of got used to them.  I hope 9 miles in them will work.  (Eek.)  They started to fall down at first but the sweatier I got, the more they stayed put.  Sweat is like glue apparently.  So maybe they'll work.  And then I jumped on my bike for a few minutes to make sure it was comfortable to wear my compression sleeves on my bike. 

The biggest problem was that my leg really hurt where my biggest bruise is from my bike crash.  It didn't bother me on the treadmill on Tuesday so I'm not sure if it's the compression sleeves putting too much pressure on it, or if hitting the pavement is too jarring.  Here's the healing progress there so far...

Looking better!  Hopefully by Sunday it'll be okay.  Oh I'm so nervous about this race.  Why do I do this to myself?  Why'd I pick the long distance?  You could say my racing "weight" is more on my shoulders than anything else right now. 

This blog post is so scattered.  Too much random stuff to say.  But here's a pic of my running buddy this morning.  She did amazing today...

You know what I realized?  I never really concluded my cycling vs running comparison.  I wasn't trying to say I like one more than the other, or that you should take up a new sport or something.  They're both just very different and I love and hate them equally.  This duathlon will be a love/hate race.  :)

Cycling vs Running

I keep saying I'm going to blog about cycling vs. running.  Well, I'm finally going to do it!  After weeks and weeks of running, I did the Daffodil Classic yesterday.  63 miles with VK Sista' and husband.  I had hours on my bike to think about what I like about it, and what I don't like about it.  But first... let me update you on my bruises... It's looking slightly better...

 

I skipped the gym and my runs all week because I'm beat up and sore from my crash last weekend.  My neck and shoulder are still outta whack and my low back still feels tweaked.  I didn't have time to go to the chiropractor last week because work has been kinda crazy.  I need to go this week!  I did the Adventure Run with cousin last Thursday.  I was going to just jog and take it easy.  Cousin went with the 11 min pacers and I decided that just wasn't happening for me so I walked to all of our stops with her boyfriend.  I only went 1.2 miles.  Oh well, walking is better than sitting around on the couch.  I still got plenty of raffle tickets... not as many as she did though!  :)

 

Okay, so you're all caught up now.  Back to the whole point of this blog entry.  So, remember when I said I did the STP (Seattle to Portland) in one day?  Yeah, that day made every other run or ride I do seem like nothing.  Really.  Besides hours in labor and pushing two kids out my hoohaw (one with no drugs), and having gallstones, the one day STP was right up there with the most brutal thing I've ever put my body through.  We started at 4:30am and finished around 11pm.  I think it was 13 hours of actual ride time on our bikes.  It got up to 103 degrees and it took every bit of physical and mental strength I had.  We just kept going, and going and going.   I'm pretty sure we all cried at least once or twice.  (Yeah, even the guys.)  We were hot, sore, exhausted, sweaty, and sick to our stomachs.  It was like we had motion sickness every time we stopped.  I've done 2 half marathons now and I think about it like they're no big deal.  Yeah I was sore, my ankles, hips, and feet hurt... but it didn't take nearly the amount of mental strength that the STP did.  They were both less than 3 hours of my day.  3 hours and I was done.  I was so excited I completed my first half, I teared up slightly and put a 13.1 sticker on my car.  I really think the Cascade Bicycle Club should make a "One Day Rider STP" sticker for your car.  I got a patch but I don't really know what to do with it and it's just hanging with my other medals.  I'm more proud of that then my half marathons, and when I do a full marathon I'll probably feel the same way.  Let's see... 6 hours of my time running/walking in Hawaii?  Piece of delicious sunny cake!

So here's some big differences I've found between cycling and running...
 
Running is much harder on your body.  It hurts my joints...  my hips and ankles especially.  Hitting the pavement is a very literal term.  It's really jarring and it hurts no matter what kind of shoes you have and how much Chi Running you practice.  It helps that you can walk when you're really in pain, but starting to run again after you've been walking for a bit makes it even worse.  It's better to slowly jog... just keep going even if it seems like you're standing still and you'll never make it to that next tree or that next stop sign.  You really don't cover much ground when you run but you have to dig deep and nothing is going to get you there but your own two feet.  That is really empowering and I think that's the biggest reason I like to run.  It's me, and me alone.  Like I said, even a marathon will only last like 6 hours tops.  Just get it done and have a beer. 

Cycling is a nice fluid movement.  You just keep spinning.  It isn't jarring on your body but you start getting sore from sitting on your seat, and your shoulders and neck start getting sore from just holding yourself up.  I know, you're supposed to use your abs and not your arms but you can't use your abs for hours and hours at a time.  It's nice to switch around a little bit.  Also, your legs burn.  Especially on climbs.  BUT the nice thing is as soon as you reach the top of a climb, you get to stop peddling and take a break to zoom down the other side.  You don't get that kind of break with running.  You have to get to the finish under your own power.  On a bike, you get to just coast and let gravity take you for miles sometimes.  So fun.  Also, you can cover a lot more ground on a bike and you see a lot more scenery this way. 

I think cycling is a lot more dangerous than running.  You've seen my bruises!  And my husband broke his thumb and needed surgery.  Cycling fast is scary!  I think my max speed is like 32 mph.  My husband and VK Sista' hit close to 45 mph.  (Eek!)  You can fall off your bike and get seriously, seriously hurt (or dead).  If you fall when running I think you'll most likely be ok.  There's a lot of time spent riding on the side of busy highways and complete assholes driving as close to you as they can and not sharing the road.  People die cycling all the time.  They're either hit by a motorist or they're just going way too fast and/or do something stupid.  Running is slow and steady, and I know runners have been hit by cars while not paying attention and wearing their headphones but I think it's less common.  I'd have to look up the statistics to be sure.  I think running is harder on your heart.  Again I don't know for sure and I haven't looked up any statistics, but it takes a lot more out of you cardiovascular-wise.  You always hear of seemingly healthy people dropping dead during a marathon.  You don't really hear about people randomly dropping dead while cycling.

So that brings me to the Daffodil Classic yesterday.  It was a beautiful sunny day and about 72 degrees.  It was a fully supported ride with food/water stops every 22 miles.  And we got bib #'s this year!  (We complained last year... those are important!)  It was my first ride since my fall and I think I was suffering from PTSD or something!  I was freaking out.  My bike felt wobbly and I didn't trust it anymore.  It was like starting all over again.  Husband and VK Sista' were having a great time, goofing off, looking around, pointing out birds and deer.  I held on to my handlebars as tight as I did my very first group ride.  My shoulder, forearm, and wrist hurt (especially when I'd go over any bumps in the road), and my low back was killing me.  It took me about half the ride before I even felt comfortable enough to grab my water bottle and drink while peddling.  It was also about that point (3 hours in) that I started looking around, enjoying the scenery, and feeling more comfortable.  The "oh yeah, this feels automatic" took over instead of the fear, and I actually started enjoying myself a little more (Except for all my pain.  I made a chiropractor appointment tomorrow.) 

I haven't been cycling much lately because I've been so focused on my running, so I really wanted to do the 63 mile distance because I did it last year at this time.  It would be my benchmark for my cycling training for the STP this year.  After my fall though, I really should have opted for the 40 mile distance.  Especially since I haven't visited the chiropractor yet and I'm still really bruised up.  I did it though!  Terrified, sore, and slow...  But I did it... and I'm proud of myself.  I'm super proud of my husband too.  He did a really brutal ride the day before and both of his other cycling friends wussed out and didn't do this ride.  He kicks ass.  Two 60 mile rides back to back.  Go husband!

Here's some photos from the ride....

The view from the start/finish line
 

Husband and me
 

VK Sista' and me
 

The "go-go gadget arm" selfie (You'll just have to ask me what I mean by that... pretty funny.)
 

Gorgeous Mount Rainier views
 

Unsafe selfie! 
 

Unsafe selfie #2
 

Badass kitten!
 

Enjoying our Strawberry Shortcake at the finish!
 

Shortcake and mountain view!

Road rash and bruises

Just thought I'd update you all with the whole cycling accident recovery thing.  Yesterday was pretty terrible.  My whole body hurt.  I was walking around like Frankinstein.  My neck was killing me.  I couldn't turn my head at all.  My hip felt out of whack and my back felt twisted.  I think I must have twisted my knee too because it wasn't happy with me either.  I couldn't lift my left arm or move my shoulder.  I was just stuck.  I felt awful.  I expected the bruises and road burns to hurt but I didn't expect so much muscle trama.  I feel old.  The good thing was that since all these muscles hurt from my crash, I hardly noticed that my legs are still sore from the day of 5Ks!

I was really worried about how I'd feel this morning.  Day 2 is always the worst if I'm sore after a workout or something.  I went to bed early and slept as long as I could on a neck pillow and I took extra ibuprofen.  When I woke up in the morning, I sat up and put my hair in a ponytail.  I thought, "Whoa!  That didn't hurt too bad!"  So today I'm feeling much better.  My arm hurts like it does when I get a flu shot, and my neck hurts like it does when I sleep on it wrong.  This pain is doable.  I was even able to wear pants, socks, and shoes today!

I skipped gym day today but I'm feeling hopeful that I'll be able to go on Thursday and also do the adventure run.  Also, it's supposed to be 68 and sunny on Sunday so I'd really still like to do the Daffodil Classic.  I guess my bike can come out of time-out.  :)

I took the tagaderm off today and cleaned up my wounds.  Also took a few new pics of my bruises forming.   I match my shirt!  Enjoy! 

 

CRASH!!!

The morning after the Daffodil 5K challenge, I crawled out of bed like stiff old lady.  Ouch.  I slept terrible because my ankles and calves were so, so sore.  It hurt to even move them in bed.  I'd wake up to turn over, and I couldn't even kick my husband when he snored.  I yelled at him to turn over instead.  My abs, shoulders, back and neck were pretty sore too.  I'm still tellin' ya... Half marathons are easier!

So I went downstairs to make a cup of coffee and put ice packs around each ankle.  Turns out I sorta freezer-burned myself with them.  I didn't even know that was possible!  I googled about what happens when you leave an ice pack on too long... and yep.  It's a thing.  It's like a gave myself frostbite.  My skin doesn't even feel like skin.  It's red and rough.  Here's what it looks like...

So, that sucked.  Especially when I went in the hot tub after.  Owweeeee!!!  Anyway, to try to get over how stiff and sore I was, I thought it would be a good idea to go for an easy recovery bike ride with the husband and kids.  Try to spin out my legs a bit.  VK Sista' was going to come but she was feeling terrible all morning.  Puking and feeling light-headed.  :(  Poor gal.  She'll probably never run with me again. 

So we packed up the bikes and kiddos and headed for the Cedar River Trail.  My husband is able to attach the kid trailer to the back of his new Soma instead of pulling our daughter on his mountain bike, so that was pretty great.  And our son started off riding really well.  It was a nice day and my legs felt better almost instantly.  At just about a mile in, I looked down and realized that I forgot to pull my jacket's thumb hole over my thumb and there was a lot of cold air going up my left arm.  Well, I'm pretty darn comfortable on my bike now that I've been cycling for so long.  And everyone was riding along great.  So instead of stopping to fix it, I decided to try to let go of my handlebars for half a second to put my jacket over my thumb.  Bad idea.  Clearly I am not as skilled as I thought I was.  When I reached over with my right hand, my body went left and my bike went right.  I slammed down hard at about 12 MPH.  In the split second I knew there was nothing I could do, I curled up into a ball and let my shoulder and elbow take the fall.  It was exactly 1 year to the day that my husband took his big fall and broke his thumb, and sprained his wrist.  (Isn't that weird?  No more rides for us on April 12th ever again!)  So the only thing that went through my head was, "Don't try to catch yourself with your hands!"  It was like a "Stop, drop, and roll!" reflex. 

My body skidded to a halt on my left side and I just laid there with my eyes closed trying to mentally make sense of what happened and what parts of me hurt.  My first thought was, "Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought.... I hope."  I wasn't clipped into my bike pedals anymore and I really didn't know where my bike was.  The wind was knocked out of me and I was trying to catch my breath.  My husband came right up and asked me what hurt but I didn't really know yet.  I wanted to say, "I'm fine." but I knew I wasn't really.  I just said I didn't know, and I told him not to touch me while I tried to breathe.  A few people stopped on the trail and asked if we needed help and I just wanted to get off the ground as fast as possible.  I knew my elbow hurt.  And it felt like my shoulder and hip hurt too but there was so much adrenaline I really didn't know.  I was alive so that was good.  Ha.

I rolled over onto my back and sorta hung out there for a few seconds just trying to process everything.  And then I sat up and my husband started looking me over.  He said it looked like my head hit the ground but he checked out my helmet and it looked ok.  Then he noticed my cycling jacket was torn and dirty on my shoulder so he told me to pull it down so he could check it out.  Hmm, whadaya know... All scratched and bruised but I couldn't really feel it.  My shoulder looked kinda funky with what looked like bruised bumps sticking up.  He asked if my collar bone was ok and asked if I could move my shoulder.  It seemed stiff but otherwise okay.  My son pointed out that my ankle was bleeding.  I stood up and tried to move around a bit and brush the dirt off.  Then I noticed my watch...  

Ack!!!  I wonder if that'll buff out?  This thing is not cheap!  So, my next thought?  I better take some pics of all this and text them to VK Sista'!  Lol.  So that's what I did...

My elbow hurt most but I didn't want to take off my jacket and my arm warmer to check it out.  There was no blood seeping through my jacket or anything so I figured it was ok.  My husband put my chain back on, kinda banged on the hoods to make them straight again, and gave the whole bike a once-over.   He wanted to turn back but I came out here so I wouldn't be as sore and I didn't want to stop and tense up even more.  I told him I wanted to continue on even though he thought it was a bad idea.  

I rode along pretty shaky and the adrenaline started wearing off and I noticed more places hurting. My hip hurt, my back felt tweaked, and it started hurting to hold myself up with my bad arm.  Continuing on was probably a bad idea.  Husband stopped and gave me some ibuprofen and we turned around to go back.  4 miles total.  Grr.  When we got back to the car, I took my jacket and arm warmer off...

Ouch!  Road rash freaking stings!!  I was feeling kinda sick to my stomach riding home googling the best road rash relief.  I noticed my knee kinda hurt so I lifted my bike pants up and found more road rash...

My husband stopped by Walgreens to pick up some first aid… and some "liquid medication."  He's the best.  

This was us last year though so he owes me.  :)  It's still so weird that this happened exactly a year ago to the day.  I just can't get over that.  Weird, weird, weird.  

As I sat around at home eating a calzone that we ordered and drinking my wine, more and more places started to hurt.  The inside of my right arm and right leg.  This must be where I hit my bike as I fell off.

And this is how lovely I looked when I woke up this morning...

Bruises, bruises everywhere.  I asked the Vanderkitten group what to buy for road rash and someone suggested Tagaderm.  That's what that plastic-looking stuff is over my wounds.  It was kinda pricy but totally worth it.  Feels so much better!  It's like an extra skin and I was able to shower last night.  It's the same stuff they use to put over top of an IV, or a surgical incision.  Fantastic stuff.  I used a lot of Neosporin that also has "pain relief" in it too.

Other than all this I feel like I have whiplash.  It kills to move my neck.  It also hurts to lift my arm or use my left shoulder.  Aaaannd… My left hip hurts when I put pressure on my left leg.  And my back just feels super tweaked.  Not to mention my ankles, calves, hamstrings, abs, etc all still hurt from the run.  I'm a freaking wreck.

It could have been a lot worse!  At least there's no broken bones for me!  I had to wear yoga pants to work today because it hurts to wear my dark jeans.  And don't get me started on how much it hurt to put my bra on.  I could barely lift my daughter into the car this morning, and I couldn't reach the straws at the espresso stand I go to in the morning.  Luckily the owner is a cyclist and I talk to him all the time so I told him what happened and he helped me grab straws.  I'm such a gimp.  lol.  I hope I heal enough to do the Adventure Run on Thursday night with Cousin.  I don't think I'm going to be able to go to the gym with VK Sista' on Tuesday though.  I gotta give myself a couple of days to recover.

Off to take more ibuprofen, and my AdvoCare vitamins...

Daffodil 5K Challenge- 4 5Ks in 4 cities in 1 day!

We took on the challenge!  Roll call: Me, Cousin and her brother, a friend of theirs, The Cheetah, and VK Sista'!  I'm super proud of VK Sista' for doing it.  She hates running and she hardly trained for this at all.  She just didn't want to miss out on all the fun!  And it WAS fun... and complete torture at the same time!  I've done 2 half marathons so I figured this would be easy.  I was very wrong!  But I'll get to that later.  FIRST, let me start off by showing you my steps to get ready for a long run in the morning...

Step 1: KT Tape

Step 2: Compression sleeves

Step 3: Plantar Fasciitis sleeves 

Step 4: Toe socks

 

All of that takes me about 30 minutes!  What an ordeal! 

Okay, so we started with Race #1 called "The Urban Trail" in Tacoma at 8:45am.  There were storm clouds around, and patches of blue sky.  We were really hoping we'd stay dry.  It rained hard while we were in the car on the way there, but the sun came out when we got there.  Here's some pics at the starting line:

Me and VK Sista' Selfie

Me and VK Sista again (I like this one)

VK Sista, friend, cousin's brother, Cousin, Cheetah, and me (with some princesses mixed in)

We raced through downtown Tacoma, even getting on to the freeway for a little bit.  We started out going downhill really fast and I think my pace was kind of crazy with all the excitement.  The Cheetah starts out at the front of the line because, well, she's a freaking cheetah and she actually has a chance to win something.  She was long gone by the time any of us even crossed the start line.  Cousin and VK Sista' were right in front of me, and her brother and another friend were behind me.  I tried my best to catch up to the girls but I had this little freak-out where I had some gunk in my throat and I couldn't breathe and was gasping like I was swimming or something.  I slowed to a walk and even gagged and stopped for a sec.  I thought I was going to puke.  I was thinking "Oh man, and I still have 3 more 5Ks to go after this!  Breathe!"  I walked up a little hill and cousin's brother caught up to me and we jogged along together for a little bit.  I had another little gagging freak-out thing and then he pushed off ahead of me too.  I crossed the finish line and my garmin still said I had a quarter mile to go and I saw Cousin and her brother running off the opposite direction.  I figured they must have had the same problem so I took off after them until my garmin said I completed 3.1 miles.  A lot of people were complaining that the race wasn't a full 5K.  Oh well, we did a 5K anyway.  Cheetah came in 2nd or 3rd place for women overall... I can't remember which.  I just know she was trying to beat a girl who she said had "fast sunglasses" and when I saw her pass me once, sunglasses girl was behind her.  Hooray.

Everyone made fun of me for bringing a giant cooler full of water bottles.  I also made PB&J for everyone and a giant bag of cliff bars, kind bars, and other snacks.  I'm a mom, what can I say?  But they all said, "They'll have water at the end of each race."  Well, no water.  No snacks.  Nothing. Complete disorganization.  Who's making fun of me now?  :)

We walked back to the car and did a little yoga on the sidewalk before we got in to drive to the next race...

VK Sista, Cousin, Me, Cheetah

Race #2 ""Run the Puyallup" was in Puyallup at 11:15am.  It started at the fairgrounds.  VK Sista' drove our party car while Cheetah navigated.  It was crazy trying to get from race to race because so many streets were closed off.  Again, complete disorganization.  They should have given everyone a map with the best route to get to the next race.  We made it to the parking lot at the fair grounds and we had a bit of time to kill.  Waiting around was the worst, we were bored and our muscles were getting stiff.  We made the best of it though and we had fun and laughed the whole day.  Laughing is an extra core workout!  Here's a pic from the start line of the race in front of the fairgrounds...

Me, VK Sista, Cheetah, Cousin, her brother

The start line was right outside the orange gate and we started with a run through the fairgrounds.  Again, Cheetah was long gone, and Cousin started out strong and I didn't think I could catch up to her either.  VK Sista' and I kept the same pace going through the fairgrounds and the boys were behind us somewhere.  Here's a pic of VK Sista' and I near the roller coasters...

VK Sista' and me

As the route exited the fairgrounds I felt really good and picked up speed and left VK Sista' behind.  I had a goal to catch up with Cousin!  I didn't look at my garmin but I knew that my pace was really good.  I wanted to PR this baby.  I caught up to Cousin at the turn around and high-fived VK Sista and the boys a little while after we turned the corner.  It started to rain a little but it felt really good.  I paced Cousin all the way back to the finish line.  Cheetah was there being our cheerleader encouraging us to sprint to the finish.  Well, the timer at the finish line said 25 minutes when I crossed.  I knew this was a strong run for me but there's no way I ran a 25 minute 5K.  I looked at my garmin and it said I was at 2:46 miles.  WTF!  How disappointing.  2 "5Ks" into the day and not an actual 5K yet!  Cousin said, "Let's go!" and we took off through the front gates of the fairgrounds again.  A security guard shouted, "The race already went through there!"  And I said, "I know!  We aren't finished yet!"  Like... Try to stop me dude!  Are you going to run after me and kick me out?  Because I'm booking it through here!  I circled around until my garmin said 3.1.  I PR'd at 33:50!  I would have gone even faster if I didn't stop at the finish line when I thought I was done and looked at my watch and started off again. 

As we were exiting the fairgrounds again, we stopped to talk to the security guard.  He said, "Did you just do the race twice?"  I told him no, we just had another half mile to go and wanted to finish a full 5K.  He said that they re-routed us through the fairgrounds because there was also a car show going on in there and they didn't calculate the distance correctly.  Grr.  Again, complete disorganization.  Ya know, we paid $80 to do this stupid thing.  We were getting annoyed.  No water, no snacks, no directions.  Not to mention we were doing 4 different races with one bib #.  We should have had a new bib # for each race and we should have gotten a small medal at each one, and a bigger one if you completed all 4.  Just my two cents.

Back in the car again!  Cousin's brother got in their friend's car behind us so VK Sista's car turned into the girl's party car! 

Cheetah, Cousin, Me, VK Sista

Again, we had some time to kill when we arrived at the next race.  We all brought a complete change of clothes, so we decided we'd change and freshen up half way through the day.  I even brought facial cleanser wipes.  Ahh.  Heaven.  Then we ate sandwiches, snacks, made some AdvoCare rehydrate and spark... and laughed a lot.  I think we were delirious.  We were getting really tired and our muscles were tightening up again.  But this gap wasn't nearly as bad as the others so far.

Race #3 was called "Race for Rhubarb" and it started in Sumner at 1:00pm.  I figured I already PR'd for the day so I'd just comfortably jog this one.  Cousin was having some crazy allergies. (We joked she was probably allergic to daffodils.)  So she went off to find some tissue so she didn't make it into our pre-race shot...

Cheetah, VK Sista, me

Sumner is pretty adorable.  It was a nice jog through really cute neighborhoods with houses that look like they belong in New England.  Made me miss living in Salem, Mass. (Not that I don't always miss it.)  Again Cheetah was out smashing records and beating everyone.  Cousin was a good quarter mile ahead, the boys were probably a good quarter mile behind, and VK Sista' and I paced this whole race together chatting about the cute stores, houses, and churches.  The fun thing about doing all these 5Ks is that we all did them at the pace we wanted.  We gave good luck wishes at the beginning, and cheered each other on at the end.  It was a lot different than doing a whole half marathon and making sure you stick together the whole time.  I loved doing that for our long races, but this was very different.  Not to mention it's been a while since I've done a 5K.  The last mile of this race seemed to last forever.  VK Sista' said, "The only reason I'm still running is because you are."  I figured we ran this far, why stop to walk now? 

We saw Cheetah cheering us on at the finish line again telling us that we're almost there and to sprint to the end!  I yelled, "Is this really a 3.1 this time?"  And she shouted back that it was!  I crossed the finish line and my garmin said 3.09.  I jogged just a tiny bit past it until it said 3.1.  Close enough!  It was about time we had an actual 5K for the day!

I talked a friend into coming to the gym with VK Sista' and me on Thursday and we kicked her butt.  I told her she should sign up for her first 5K and to choose the last one of the day so we'd be super exhausted and she'd kick our butt.  So she met us at the finish line to drive to our last race together.

Race #4 "Final Stage of Glory" was in Orting at 3:30pm on the same trail I ran the half marathon last weekend.   We did more sidewalk yoga, ate more snacks, and tried to stay awake.  This gap was the worst of all.  This whole day was just a completely different kind of endurance.  It reminded me of riding the STP except with gaps that suck.  We had to continue to eat foods that would fuel us for the next race when all we really wanted to do was stop and have a beer, and celebrate how far we've made it.  It was sunny and gorgeous out, and about 20 minutes before the start time, it started hailing while we were sitting in the car.  Fantastic!  The hail stopped almost as quick as it started and we dragged our tired butts to the start line...

Cheetah, VK Sista', me, Future Cheetah, Cousin

 

 

My ankles were not happy with me at the start of this race.  My friend who I am going to start referring to as "Future Cheetah" took off like a crazy runner.  Woo!  She was rocking her first 5K.  Cheetah was determined to beat "fast sunglasses" so she could place 3rd in womens overall.  When I saw her there were only 2 women in front of her so I told her she was kicking butt and cheered her on.   VK Sista' and Cousin took off down the trail while I walked here and there. It started to hail again.  It actually wasn't that bad.  They were tiny little balls of hail so they didn't hurt when they hit me, and they just bounced off so I stayed dry.  Rain would have been a lot worse.  I jogged along the best I could being so sore and tired.  I was playing leap frog with these women with Jeff Galloway Run/Walk T-shirts on.  One girl's garmin would beep and they'd run for a bit, pass me, and then it would beep again, and they'd walk and I'd pass them.  After a while I said, "You mind if I join you and do what you're doing?"  They said of course I could, and we adopted another lady pushing a stroller too.  We walked for 30 seconds, and ran for 45 seconds all the way to the finish, chatting with my new friends.  They're going to be at the Tinkerbell Half too so maybe I'll see them there.  My pace was the worst for all 4 races, but who cares!  I finished!  I got a well-deserved shiny new medal at the end of the race...

Me and Future Cheetah!  So proud of this girl!  Her first 5K ever was faster than my 5K PR!

I freaking love this photo of Cheetah at the finish line.  Placed 3rd Womens Overall!

 

After we finished, cousin, her brother and friend said goodbyes and congrats, and left.  VK Sista, Cheetah, and Future Cheetah went back to the car to change again and walked to the beer garden.  Oh, that's another big difference between doing this event and doing a straight half marathon.  So, for a 1/2M... I go to one place, I park, I walk to the start-line, I run for 3 hours-ish.  And then I walk back to the car and I'm done.  With this whole crazy thing, not only is there a lot of down-time in the car, but there's a lot more walking.  We have to park pretty far from the start-lines, walk around to find bathrooms, etc.  My garmin said I walked 17.6 miles this day.  Crazy.  We deserved a beer for sure...

Future Cheetah, me, Cheetah, VK Sista'

Me, Cheetah, VK Sista'




Here's the screenshots of my times from Strava for each 5K:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In conclusion... It was a blast, and it was torture.  We had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and a lot of crazy weather.  I'm never doing it again!