Being Injured Can Be a Pain #2

Being injured can be a pain, both physically and mentally.  I am having a hard time with it.  Running is one of the only things that keeps me dealing with other things in my life, and when I cannot run, those other things become tougher.  I suppose I shouldn't be so open on this blog, but no one really reads it anyway.  I have been really down, and it has been difficult for me.  I feel like when I have tried to talk to people about it, they don't understand.  Sometimes I don't understand.

I had my second PT appointment on Monday (two days ago).  Craig said I was looking better, and then he went over all of the exercises that he gave me last Thursday.  He wanted to make sure I was doing them correctly, which was good, as I needed to change some small things.  He also added another exercise for me to do.  I assumed he would build on what he started.  Then we want to watch me run outside, without my brace (which I didn't have on because it was too sweaty from the gym).  He said that I was a good runner (ha), and he told me he wanted to change some things.  He wants me to tuck my pelvis under when I run (like a pelvic tilt), and also shorten my stride (like Wendy said today "ha, now you will go no where").  So, I practiced doing that, and then we talked about the upcoming race (Chase the Moon) this weekend.  We will decided Thursday if I should run it.  I like Craig, and I like where he is going with the PT.  I just know it is going to take a long time to correct this, I am sure I have been this way for a long time.  He thought it contributed to my MCL injury as well.  So, I will have an update tomorrow.

4-Legged Fourth of July Run

Yesterday Tom, Riley, Cabby and I ran the 4 Legged Fourth of July Run in Windsor.  It was Cabby's first race and one of her only adventures.  We haven't taken her for runs because of her age, and waiting until she is a year old before we start her running with us.  But, this was only a 5k, so we figured she and Tom could walk most of it.

The dogs were pretty excited when we arrived, so it was kind of stressful, but this was really good for Cabby.  When the race started, Riley wanted to take off, so we ran; and so did Cabby and Tom.  Cabby wanted to run and run, and when Tom tried to get her to walk, she wanted to run.  So, Tom would pick her up and run with carrying her for a bit.  She liked being carried, but didn't like walking. The run was just around the Windsor Lake, and we THOUGHT it was a 5k, but it wasn't, it was only 2.3 miles.  Tom and I were disappointed with the mileage for us, but it was perfect for Cabby, plus it got really hot quickly.

Riley and I won second in my age group; so I got a medal, and Riley got to pick a toy off the table.  Of course he chose a ball.  It was fun, and the dogs had a good time.  Not sure if we will do this run again, but it was a fun thing to do with the dogs on the Fourth of July.

The Dizzy Goat 12 Hour Trail Run

It's been 10 days since I ran the Dizzy Goat 12 Hour Trail Run in Omaha, Nebraska.  Before this, I really couldn't write before this, as I have been feeling really down about what happened at this event. Mostly, my performance.  I guess my goals were too high for what my body could do, or maybe not.  I felt totally ready, totally trained, and I felt good.  I was hoping to run more then 26.2 miles, or just surpass my longest run, which has been 21.5 miles to this point, but it was not meant to be.  In the end, we decided that since I hadn't been able to run trails as much as I would have liked to prepare, and the trail was tough because of the weather they had had there; that it was just too hard on my MCL injury and body.  But, in the long run (ha ha), I think maybe I have learned something.  So, let me tell you about it. . . .

We left on our trip Friday morning at 7am, picking up my friend Linda.  She was walking the six hour run, and we were running the 12 hour run.  The trip out there was fun.  We made several stops along the way, and even stopped at the Archway in Nebraska for lunch, and to look inside.  Maybe someday we will stop for a longer time there.  It looked cool, but we had to check in and get our runners packets by 6pm in Omaha. When we got to Omaha, we went straight to Canfields to pick up our packet's, and Stacy and Beth were there at the same time!  How amazing was that?  I bought to Tailwind with a 20% off coupon they gave us, and we shopped around the store.

We then checked into mine and Tom's hotel.  Our hotel was in Downtown Omaha since there was a College Baseball World Series there, and there were no rooms in the area at all.  We at Dinner in our room, then headed out to Schramm State Park to set up the Canopy for the next morning.  After that we got Linda settled into her hotel (Motel 8 that we stayed at last year), and then we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep.  When we got back to our hotel there were several cops there escorting some women out that was high or something.  Great.  The hotel (Hotel 402) is old, remodeled, and in a kind of scary area.  I will have to say that I slept great there for some reason.

The next morning started our great.  I was ready to go, and so excited.  We picked Linda up at her hotel (since she didn't start until 1pm), that way she could have the truck while we were running.  It was so great to see everyone!!!  Ginger was there, and Scott (Race Director - we saw him the night before).  The weather was amazing!!!  It was so cool, and it didn't get over 74 degrees, and there was hardly a drop of humidity. Perfect weather, all day.  7am finally arrived, and off we went.  It was wonderfully cool, and so great to be back on this trail.  The first 4 loops went great.  I felt good, didn't feel tired or hot.  Then on the 4th loop at the Motivation Station I got some pain in my left IT area on my knee.  WHAT?!  I don't get left IT pain.  So, I tried my best to ignore it, but it got worse.  I was so upset, this was so unexpected.  And it got worse, and worse.  When we got back to the main area, I told Tom he needed to go on his own, and I would just start walking loops and run when I could.  I know he felt bad, but I wanted him to succeed, and there was no need for him not to take a shot at his personal goals.  This was hard for both of us.  I finally convinced him to leave me, and then I started walking the 6th loop.  I actually ran some of the first part of the loop, and I felt hopeful that it would just go away.  Ha.  Not to be.  I was putting ice on it at the Motivation Station, and then about half way back from there I saw Tom, and sadly told him I thought I would have to time out.  I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to ruin his run.  It is also hard to cry at the Dizzy Goat because there is always someone coming toward you in the opposite direction.

At the end of the clockwise loop and beginning of the counter clockwise loop there is the What The Hill hill, it was going down that hill that I realized that I had to time out, the pain when down the front of my shin, and I knew it was my last loop.  I couldn't injury myself more.  I timed out, finishing 6 loops, officially 19.5 miles.  They gave me my medal.  I told Scott and the new RD.  They were both so sorry, and the new RD came over to the canopy to talk with me and offer me some FireBall.  This is why we go back, "they" are the best.  They really are.

I got to see Linda and Stacy start their 6 hour run.  I spent the afternoon sipping shots of FireBall and watching Tom, Linda, and Stacy run/walk their loops and try to give them aide when they needed it.  I tried to nap and cry, but wasn't successful with that either.  I went over and got a massage from the group that was there at Cunningham Lake last year.  She is amazing.  I think that helped a lot.  I also go to me Deb Bahr for the first time.  Even though I was extremely sad and disappointed I got to enjoy the success of others and hang out with friends.  Tom ran 44.25 miles!  Linda walked 16.25 miles, and Stacy did 10.5 miles.  Beth was an awesome volunteer.

The Dizzy Goat was over, and I felt that I had failed.  Or at least that is how I felt.  It was so hard not to start crying, and I really, really tried hard not to show how sad and disappointed I was.  We went out to dinner at a place at the Outlet Mall and then dropped Linda off at her hotel and we went back Downtown to ours.  We took showers and went to bed.  I tired not to cry.  I felt bad for Tom, he had done awesome, and I was happy for him, but I was so down.

The trip home the next day went great.  I tried to drive for a while, but only lasted about an hour.  I was just tired and down.  We got home around 4pm, and really enjoyed the time with Linda.  She is such a great friend.  I didn't know what a great friend I was getting the first time she asked me if I wanted to go to a movie with her.  I will always be thankful for her.  

The next week was tough.  I didn't want to go to the gym, I had failed.  I didn't want to talk about the race, I had failed.  I didn't want to eat, I just wanted to sleep, I had failed.  I cried A LOT.  It was a bad week.  My trainer, Joey wanted me to go to his Physical Therapist, so I made an appointment.  I was so afraid I would cry in his office, but I didn't. Craig was very good, asked me questions, watched me walk and gave me some exercises to do twice a day.  He said my right hip is back farther them my left.  My right femur goes medial, and my tibia goes lateral; and my left leg was the opposite.  It wasn't bad, but he believes that with correction it will solve the IT Band issues, piriformis issues, and is the last step in healing my MCL injury. He also said No Running - no runner wants to hear this until the weekend and I could go on a "little run".  I asked him specifically what that meant:  3 miles, flat.  I was so sad still. However, he said my MCL knee was great and amazed at how healed and strong it was.  So, I did these exercises twice a day until Monday (yesterday).  I saw Craig yesterday, and he said I looked and walked better already.  He also watched me run, and wants me to basically tuck my pelvis under when I run, like a pelvic tilt.  He said I was so straight that it was causing tension on my hips, piriformis, and IT bands.  He said I was a good runner, and that I could run on Tuesday and Thursday - longer miles, and NO BRACE on flat surfaces!  Running without the brace was amazing.  Just amazing, even for the run through the parking lot at the PT office.

Here I am, healing again.  Still healing.  Both physically and mentally.  After running this past weekend, I started to feel better.  The run on Saturday was great (I did the Virtual Home of the Free Because of the Brave 5k for #MySoxyFeet).  The 5k run on Sunday was really hard, so much fatigue and it was hot - for both Tom and I.  So, the healing continues.

What have I learned?  I need to run.  My body wasn't ready for the Dizzy Goat, even though I was.  That I needed to celebrate others accomplishments, because it's not just about me.  I still need to learn patience.  Do I still love the Dizzy Goat?  Yes.  My review of the Dizzy Goat, is that it is an amazing race with good sportsmanship, comradery, friendship, hardship, suffering, and beautiful trails.  They had a new course this year, and it was great.  Will I go back? Yes, that is the plan.

Today we did another short race in Windsor (without my brace), but I think I will stop here and share more pictures.  Tomorrow is another day to blog.

#mysoxyfeet                  Stacy and Linda

                 The suspension bridge                              What The Hill

Me, Tom and Ginger

#mysoxyfeet

Skirt Sports 13er

I can't believe how long it has been since I have written anything in my Blog.  I guess I just haven't felt like it lately, nor have I had the time.  I think when I do have the time, I have been too tired.  I have been meaning to write about the Skirt Sports 13er since June 4th, and I am finally getting around to it.  No one really reads my blogs anyway, so it really doesn't matter when I write about it.

So, after my poor and struggling performance at the Greenland race, I looked back at my mileage.  When looking back, I realized that I hadn't really done many long runs, and only 3 runs over 7 miles.  a 9.25, 11.0, and 13.2 miles.  I was really under trained, but that was due to my MCL injury.  I am OK with that, but I needed to move forward with longer distances and change a few other things.  First I felt it was time to regularly run 8 miles or more, and to try and jump start myself to run a little faster.  I started doing Fartleks twice a week in the morning in my neighborhood before my gym class, and starting running longer distances twice a week or more.  Sometimes its good to look at where you've been to figure out where you want to be.  I trained hard in those few weeks between races, and when June 4th arrive, I felt comfortably ready.

The day before the race Tom and I drove over to Skirt Sports in Boulder to pick up my bid number, and to check what Tom was supposed to be doing for volunteering.  I also was lucky enough to find a Lioness skirt on sale that fit me, so that was a bonus.  I am also unfamiliar with the area of the 13er, so we wanted to go check it out, so there would be no mistakes getting there the next day when I had to arrive at 5:30am.  I guess it was worth it, but next year I may skip picking up my number.  There really wasn't a large amount of women running this race.

The next morning I was nervous.  This was my first Half that I had done on my own, and Tom had to leave to get to his volunteer post at mile 7, so I was alone.  Well, not really alone.  My friend Renee was there running as well.  She isn't a Skirt Sport Ambassador, but lives 2 miles from the start!  And then there were all the other Ambassadors that I had "met" on-line that I got to meet!  Wow, it was great.

The race started on time, and at 6:30am, off we all went.  The couple of miles was pretty much up hill - yeah.  The first mile was on a hardly used road until it met up with the bike path, and then onto a main road.  The road was really nice to run on, and the view was great.  The temperature at that time was wonderful as well.  I found myself surrounded by friends, even though I knew hardly anyone that was running my slow pace.  After about three miles we turned north onto another road, which was also beautiful, and had shade!  I had a good pace, and was really happy with how things were going.  The aid stations didn't have much except water and Nuun, but that was fine as I had brought my own nutrition and electrolytes in my Camelback Marathoner vest.  Around mile the course turned to the east, and started up this really long, long hill.  It was never ending.  I did hear in the distance a cowbell!  That meant that Tom was up ahead somewhere.  He was at about mile 7.5, stopping traffic.  I only had about 2 more miles to the top of the hill.  Ugh, that was long, but when I got to the top, I turned around and looked at the view.  Beautiful. I had to walk the last quarter of the mile up the hill, as my left piriformis was nagging me, so decided to give it a break.  When I got to mile 10 I felt like I was doing well, but getting a little tired, and I was getting hot.  We then had to take a little mile long loop around a lake, that was warm, but nice.  Then came the top of the Mesa.  It had a great view, but it was HOT.  It was awful.  I had had a great pace up until then. I ended up walking several times, it was just hot, and I struggling for the first time in the race.  I had been passing, and then passed by another runner and about this time we were both struggling, so we joined forces.  We ran together and encouraged each other.  This was amazing.  Because to joined forces, we kept up a great pace.  Even thought I thought I was too tired to keep it up, we did, and I "sprinted" the last .25 miles to the finish line.

The Finish Line.  Wow, I thought I was going to cry.  What a great feeling it was.  I got my medal, and I went to sit down on the curb in the shade for a bit to recover.  Then it was time for something cold to drink, cake to eat, and to celebrate the achievement.  This was the best.  This was the best Half I have ever done. I was tired, but felt good for most of the race.  I hydrated well, kept up on my nutrition, and found ways to motivate myself.  I was proud of what I had accomplished and how I had gotten myself to train better and to work with my injuries.  You have to find it within yourself to make your own goals happen.  Sure, Tom was there to help me condition, but I had to WANT to do it.  You have to WANT it.  Sure, I am slow, but I ran my pace, my race, and I got there.  I am proud of myself.

Notes about this race.  I loved it, except the Mesa.  I loved the other women running it.  I have never been around such a group of motivating women.  I got to meet Anasthisa, she is also a My Soxy Feet Ambassador.  I got to meet several other women I had met on Facebook, and got to know them better.  Everyone was nice and friendly.  Not one person was rude.  The race was really well managed, and even Tom commented how organized it was for the volunteers.  He even enjoyed himself.  It was a very good morning, and it was a very positive experience.  Once again, Skirt Sports made me feel positive about myself.  The owners Nicole and Noelle are very motivating women, and I have the highest respect for them and what they are doing for women.  I hope to be an Ambassador again next year, but even if I am not, I will run this race again.

Notes about me.  I achieved something I hadn't done before - raced on my own.  I surprised myself by doing it.  I even managed some PR's for this year: fastest mile, fastest 5k, fastest 10k, fastest Half Marathon.  Even with my MCL injury.  I iced my knees and took anti-inflammatory afterwards (and before). Some pain, but not bad at all.  I took care of myself because no one else will.

Now the training for the Dizzy Goat 12 hour Trail Race continues.  The next weekend I had the Endurance Race Series East/West Trail which I will Blog about soon.

finish line photo

Finish line medal

Amy and I

Tom, Renee and I after the race

Top of the big hill

Top of the Mesa

Mile 3ish

Renee and I before the race

Anathsia and I

#mysoxyfeet

Greenland 8 M Trail Race

It's been 8 days since the Greenland 8M Trail Race, and I finally finished my other list of things to get done, so it's time to write about this race.

The Greenland 8M was really what I would call my first real trail race since my MCL injury.  And if you read me blog (which you much be incredibly board if you do), you would realize that before this, I really haven't been allowed to run on trails.  The Thursday before this Saturday race, I had a doctors appointment, and Dr. Servi thought my healing was moving along well, so she OK'd me to run this race.  She also said that I am moving in the right direction for healing, and my mobility is still excellent, but my leg is still not straightening.  This may be causing some of me issues, and if I cannot get it to straighten, in 4 weeks she suggests a cortisone injection.  At this point, I am also considering having my knee joints injected as well.  She also said that I might be experiencing more and prolonged pain then a "normal, non-active" person might be because I am active.  However, she also said its healing better then a "normal, non-active" person.  So, it is a toss up.  I will continue as I am.  I have another Half of June 4th, so I am moving toward that.

The Greenland Open Space is about 2 hours from my house, and it started it 8am, so we had to leave at 5am, if we wanted to get there in plenty of time to park, check-in, and get ready.  We really didn't leave on time, as MAPS said it was only 1:45 mins away, and it was really 2 hours.  But, we did get there in plenty of time to get done what we needed.  We were also meeting our running friend, Donna there, it was the first time we had seen her since the October last year.  I think the first issue was that I was stressed over the fact I thought we might be late, and I didn't hydrate well.  I wasn't really worried about the race, but I had some concerns the trail and the down hills.  Last year there was a blizzard during this race, and 8" of snow on the ground, so I wasn't exactly sure what the trail would be like.  However, we had been on the west side of the area for the ERS Palmer Lake 10k, so I figured the trails would be Ok for me to run on.

The race started, and the first 4.5 miles are mostly uphill, with a few downhill sections, only to make up by going up hill more.  The first thing that I noticed was the first portion, which is a two track road had a lot of sand on it.  I felt like I was struggling in the sand with my MCL leg, and having difficulty with the footing.  I also saw Donna move ahead of me quite quickly, and I found myself getting frustrated with my injury and my slow speed, and I just couldn't go any faster.  I keep thinking I should be better then this because I had just completed the Horsetooth Half with all the hills.  Then I started to get warm, and my knees with the braces on them were getting warm, and there was sweat under them.  I started to feel like I couldn't get my stride, and the harder I tried, the worse it got.  I was so glad when I finally made it to the cemetery, thinking it was the top, but it was not!  How could I forget that!  There was about .75 miles of more hill climbs.  Everyone was passing me, and I felt like I was the last person.  I got hotter, and more miserable.  The long down hill was getting tough on my MCL leg as well.  At mile 6 I was completely frustrated, wanted to sit down on the trail and cry.  I wanted to quit.

I wanted to quit.  It was in about the same spot that Tom was running last year and a guy stopped in front of him and announced to Tom and the rest of the world that he "was done". So, what are you going to do?  Is someone going to come and get you?  No.  You have no choice but to just keep moving forward.  So, that is what I did.  I know it wasn't pretty, and I must have looked in total distress.  I was just so hot and miserable.  There is not shade on this trail, it was the hottest day of the year, about 80 degrees, and as you recall, it snowed just last weekend.  Along the last 2 miles of the trail I got to say hello to two friends that I didn't even know they were there.  One was LeeAnn, a FB friend that I have never met, until this race.  She saw me (I didn't recognize her) while she was headed out on her second loop of the 25K, and said hello!  The next person I saw was a 68 year old women, Francios who I met at the Copper Mountain ERS Trail Running Festival about 3 years ago.  She has moved to Fort Collins, so we see her running and biking along the trails quite a bit.  However, we didn't know she was running the Greenland 25k as well.  Anyway, it helped me to see these other runners that I know, and inspired me to just get to the Finish Line.  I kept moving forward, sometimes running, sometimes walking. 

Even though the last 2 miles were tough for me, I eventually got to the Finish Line!  It felt so good to get there.  I must have looked really tired and hot, and I felt that way as well.  I went straight to the shelter for shade and sat down.  My legs were not tired, I was not physically tired, I was just hot and mentally tired.  After I sat for a while, I started to feel so much better.  The heat is so tough for me, hopefully some day I will find a solution.  Donna, Tom and I stayed around to talk and eat the finish line food, and to take a few pictures.

 On the way home, I looked at my race time from last year, and compared the two times.  I don't have the information in front of me at the moment, but I was about the same time I was last year in the 8" of snow and blizzard as I was with an MCL injury.  I thought that was OK, but a part of me still wanted to be better then I was in the snow.  Donna was 10 minutes faster, and I wanted to be faster as well.  I don't know when I will start giving myself a break for being injured.  There are so many things going on that should tell me that my time was OK:  1) I have an MCL grade 2 tear, and I am trying to heal while being active.  2) I wasn't able to run for over two weeks, so I lost 2 - 3 weeks of training/running 3) I am in pain.  All the time  4) this was my first real trail race since my injury, and I just go OK'd to run trail 2 days before the race.  5) This was only my 4th distance over 7 miles since I got injured (13, 11, 9.25  miles )   But yet, I can't find it within myself to over think the race, and wish I could be better.  This happens every race I do. I am definitely always beating myself up, and I wish I could just run my race, look at previous times to compare, think about the differences and work on whatever I believe is the cause for slower times. 

My friend Erika always says that if you cross the finish line you are a winner.  That's what counts, getting across the finish line, and enjoying the journey. 

So, my next race was supposed to be the ERS Palmer Lake 10k, but we had a huge storm today (this is getting posted about 4 days after I wrote it - for some reason it didn't publish, and some of the blog posting was deleted).  Palmer Lake got 15" of snow today before noon!  We also have snow, rain and wind today; a much needed rest day.  After talking to the town of Palmer Lake, and the Open Space, it was determined to cancel the race for safety reasons, as well as not to cause damage to the trails.  It will be rescheduled on August 20th. Now waiting to find out if the Crazy Legs race will be cancelled that is scheduled for Sunday. In the meantime, I will keep Running Forward.

 

Endurance Race Series Westminster 10k

After the Horsetooth Half, it was time to see what kind of toll my knee took, but it was also time to get ready for the first ERS race on April 30th.  All week long we watched the weather, hoping that the weather for Saturday would change.  But it did not, Friday afternoon and into the night it snowed, as well as into race morning.  Not much you can do about the weather.  You just have to make a choice whether you want to run or not run.  If you do decide to run in bad weather, you need to make wise choices about the gear you are going to wear.   Runners like to say "there is never bad weather, just bad gear", or something like that.  You get what I mean.

Race day morning was wet, snowy and cold.  I chose to wear my UA long tights with my GGU Skirt Sports Skirt over those for extra coverage.  I had my long sleeve Westminster ERS shirt on from last year (not that anyone even saw it), my Mizuno jacket and my Asics rain jacket over the top of that.  I had my ERS beanie on, as well as gloves with hand warmers inside.  Believe me, I stayed warm enough the whole race.  Tom and I met Linda and Stacy at the Front Range Community School, and we headed off in the snow.  The roads were just wet and got slushy when we got closer to Denver.  The weather was worse in Denver, but that didn't stop us from doing the race.

Stacy was doing the 5k (because she had knee issues), and Linda was walking the 10k; so both of them started shortly after we arrived at the race start.  Tom and I waited until the 10k officially began to start. Before the race began we were able to talk to a bunch of our ERS friends that we don't see much over the winter.  A few of them had attended one or two of the training runs, but others we hadn't seen since last year. The race started on time.  It continued to snow, and the wind picked up a little.  This course starts on a paved bike path, so there was really no problems with the first part of the course, it was just wet.  About mile 2 the course starts around a couple of ponds, and that area was very muddy.  Unfortunately,  because I was afraid I would slip and strain my MCL injury, I had to walk a lot of this part.  I didn't want to slip in the mud.  The rest of the course is on pebbled gravel, so the footing was great.  We turned around at mile 3.1 and headed back the way we came.  I hardly noticed the weather once we got started.  I dressed well, and actually too well.  Had to shed my beanie and my gloves while running, got too warm!  It was 24 degrees at the start, and I don't think much warmer then that when we finished.  We saw both Linda and Stacy on the way out, so they were doing well.

When the finish line finally appeared, I was ready for it!  This was the fastest that I had run since my MCL injury, and I was getting tired.  My knee was having a little bit of pain, but not too much.  I was just tired from bumping up my pace a little. It was good to be able to run faster, but it also caused me to get tired.  At the finish line we took pictures, and then went to find Linda and Stacy, who were both in the truck trying to stay out of the weather. We got a little bit to eat, waited for the  placings to be announced, and we left.  It was just so wet and cold, that staying outside for a long period of time wasn't really something you wanted to do.  I felt bad for the volunteers, Jeff and Denise. 

So, the first ERS race of the season was over, only 9 more to go!  Not that I am counting already! This course is relatively flat with some rolling hills, and normally has good views of the mountains to the west.  It is a good trail to start out the season because it is more of a beginners trail, and gives people a good start for the year.  It's pretty much 6.2 miles of mildly rolling hills.  I do enjoy this course, but if I had to run it over and over again, I would get mentally bored.  The ponds put a change into the course, and make it more interesting.  Last year we didn't go around them, and that was disappointing.  Would I recommend this race?  Of course!  It started on time, and is well run.  They made a few mistakes on the placings, which seem to happen when they let people start early.  The volunteers we all great, especially to stay out in the weather.  All the volunteers get to do another race for free, so a pretty good deal for them.  As said earlier, it is great race for first time trail runners, and it is close by if you live in Denver.

Tomorrow is the Greenland 8 Mile trail race, and the weather looks like it will be good, and probably hot.  The area got a lot of snow the day of Westminster, so there will be some mud and snow on the trails still.  This will be my first real trail race since my MCL injury, so I am a little anxious about it.  I also haven't had that great of a week of running.  All my miles have been really slow. Tuesday we did a lot of hills (Lions Park to the west over Bingham Hill and then after the Lory State Park turn off another mile - and back).  Thursday I was just terribly slow.  My body felt sore and tired.  I hope that I don't feel this way tomorrow.  I really want to enjoy this race.  Donna will be there, and last year it was a blizzard, so we will actually get to see the trail this year.

What to take away from the Westminster Race?  That you can run in bad weather, just get the right gear.  That I have improved with my MCL injury, and I am moving forward. 

Getting ready to start

Mud around ponds (Tom)

During the race

Me and MySoxyFeet at the finish line

Me, Tom, Stacy and Linda

Erika and I at finish (ERS Ambassador & friend)