New Post from D: When Life Throws You (Another) Curveball

Yep. I've got a good curveball for you. I’m not sure exactly where to begin, but I was planning on doing a race recap post of the Med City Half-Marathon and a preview of my upcoming triathlon season.  I'll start with the first, but the second might go a little different than initially planned.

Let’s start with the good news.  The Med City Half-Marathon was a fantastic race!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I was ecstatic to be returning to the race scene after a long hiatus.  Race day morning was filled with excited jumping up and down and squeals ("It's race day!!!") and nervous energy ("Sorry, I can't answer any questions right now, I'm deciding if I need arm warmers.") . This was especially appreciated by my chauffeur (thanks Mom!) and fellow runners who spent the night (sister H and cousin L), since it was also 5am and well before we probably needed to be awake. I'm a real peach sometimes. ☺ Leading to more excitement was a text the night before from Ruth Brennan Morrey.  Without too much gushing, Ruth is one of the most inspiring women I know and an amazing professional triathlete who lives right here in Rochester.  She would be using the race's 20-mile training run option as a run for herself to get in some faster paced intervals and was wondering if we could start together.  Even though her 'training' run pace would likely be faster than my race pace, this was probably my only opportunity to keep up with RBM on the run!!!  I couldn’t pass it up!  I also hooked up with another TerraLoco coach at the expo the night before who was planning around my pace as well, so the race was shaping up to include some good company.  And good it was!  The first 3-4 miles were filled with friendly chatter with fellow runners on the course and seeing some awesome fans on the way. (Huge thanks to Lynette who came out with the best sign ever! Thank you!!)

My plan to start conservative though the rolling hills the first half and pick it up toward the end if I felt good worked well. I stayed smooth and controlled at the start and then fed off the crowd’s energy and surprisingly found myself leading the women's race around mile 6.  After that, Ruth and I had a lot of fun confusing the lead women’s race bikers and spectators alike. With Ruth’s faster intervals and recoveries, there were more than a few ‘lead changes’ between her and I. The lead bikers (who are tasked with staying with the lead woman) had a hard time keeping track!  We eventually clued them in that Ruth was not actually competing in the half marathon, but when she remained ahead of me for miles 6-11, it appeared the lead bikers were actually with the second place woman!  Then, in true Ruth fashion, when her intervals were done with a few miles to go, she looped around back a few blocks to run with me the remainder of the race.  At this point my legs were a bit fatigued, but I was in delirious disbelief I was holding a decent pace and was staying in the lead. We ran the last few miles in and I crossed the finish line feeling strong, powered by the cheers from my mom, aunt and uncle, and lots of friends.  

More importantly, I was able to watch so many friends (and family) finish too!  We had a great group from my hometown run the race and I couldn’t have been more proud of my sister, H, for not only finishing, but beating her time goal!  Training is difficult enough as it is, but add in a double runner stroller, two adorable (but a handful) boys ages 1 and 2, a full-time job, a husband, and a filled to the brim (but impeccably organized ☺) weekly planner, and you have a lot of work to do!  She is an inspiration! (Word has it she has a race recap of her own to share soon, so stay tuned!)

                              

Now for the not-so-good news.  Following the race, I had some serious tightness in the bottom of my left foot. Thinking is was a tight plantar fascia, I stayed on top of stretching, rolling, and icing the rest of the day and tried to take it really easy. It thankfully felt started felling much better and I was able to get through a few short runs during the week with only minor discomfort.  I had my faithful physical therapist take a look on it Friday. He did some work on it and ok’d me to run as long as my stride wasn’t altered.  Feeling fairly confident, I headed out for my planned run that Sunday. However, about halfway through the run, the pain returned until I was sure a knife had become stuck in the bottom of my foot.  Ouch...  After limping around my house that night with major swelling, I called Mayo Sports Medicine first thing the next morning and got in for an appointment.  By the end of the day, I was fitted for a boot for a stress reaction in the navicular bone of my foot and was headed to my parents’ home in Iowa for some TLC and nephew hugs and kisses (turns out my self-diagnosis of a tight plantar fascia was a little off).  Prognosis: follow-up after 3 weeks in the boot and obviously no running... for a while.   

Someone's shoes are cuter than others...

Here's where the next piece starts. Unfortunately, I won't be able to complete my planned upcoming races and I'm heartbroken not knowing when I'll be able to run again, but that doesn't leave me without a plan. Getting through another injury will require nothing less than a well thought out strategy. If there is one thing I know about myself is that having goals and a planned path to reach them calms me and gets me through the toughest of times. And let's be honest, 3 weeks in a boot seems likes cake compared to the 3 months I spent on crutches this winter! (Having full use of your hands while walking should never taken for granted!) Going through more difficult times has also given me the knowledge that I will persevere. My plan is to take one day at a time, avoid getting caught up in the what-if's? and why agains?, and to focus on the controllables. Just what are these controllables? While I can't control the fact that this happened or the amount of time needed for healing, there are a few things that I can do to help.

1. Nutrition: To give my foot every chance of healing quickly, my focus will be on maintaining a nutrient dense and whole food intake along with a positive energy balance! Calcium, Vitamin D, protein/carbs/fat: check! Building strong bones requires optimal nutrition and a few treats! Ice cream (with a dose of Lactaid) is a good source of calcium, right?

2. Cross training: Thankfully I am able to continue to bike and swim with no pain. Active recovery is good for blood flow and for the brain! Outdoor swim season has started here in Rochester and I could not be more thankful for the Rochester ORCA's masters group who have welcomed me into their 5:30am weekday practices. Minus the brief experience with mild hypothermia one day last week when the pool heater was down, these are a blast! (Note to self: bring a wetsuit just in case this happens again -- delirium and uncontrollable shivering are not pretty...)  I really love being in the water and this group always promises a lot of laughter and fun to start my day. I'll continue swimming with some of my usual friends indoors once in a while as well -- I would miss these people way too much to give it up and plus, this gives me a chance to be spoiled with the luxury of an indoor, individual shower stall and towel I don't have to wash and carry around myself! Thankfully my co-workers haven't mentioned anything yet about my less-than-stellar appearance when I roll into work with wet hair and wrinkled pants from getting ready in a super fancy outdoor locker room. ☺

Biking is allowing me to continue to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful Minnesota outdoors and my coach has agreed to keep providing me some bike workouts to maintain and hopefully build upon my (meager) bike fitness. I'll also be hitting up the local YMCA for some deep water running. It'll be a little while until I'm able to utilize the AlterG treadmill, so this will keep some of my work running specific. Being able to continue to set goals in these other disciplines is a huge blessing!! It provides direction and an outlet for my frustrations.  

3. Physical therapy exercises: Yep... therabands, core work, and strength exercises will become even more of a focus. Jane Fonda, watch out. You have nothing on my mat and band routine.  All I need is a thigh master and I could be the next super star.

Just look at that enthusiasm!

4. Mindset: This is the most important factor of all. I am a firm believer in the power of positivity and practicing gratitude in every situation. Negative energy not only slows recovery, but also makes me a miserable person! Keeping a positive outlook during my running hiatus will allow me to continue to push forward until I'm eventually able to get back to training. As a true research nerd, I have found a wealth of studies that show athletes who use positive self-talk and set goals for their rehab experience "exceptional recovery".  In one study, recovery rates were found to be significantly related to a number of mental activities. It found that "fast-healers" were more likely to practice goal setting, healing mental imagery, and positive self-talk than "slow-healers"(1). Mental activities?? Sign me up! I've already downloaded a meditation app and hope to make this a regular part of my day along with as much praying as I can fit in. Setting mini rehab goals and celebrating small successes will also be key. And you better believe I'll be rewarding myself with at least a celebratory coffee when I'm able to complete the ridiculously difficult ground-to-plank pushup my physical therapist has assigned. 

This doesn't mean I won't also allow myself to be angry or sad. Expressing these emotions will be essential too, but after doing so I will move on and avoid wallowing. I've read that an injury is the runner’s ultimate test in mental toughness. I'm up for the challenge and truly believe I will get through this with grace trusting that it's part of a bigger plan. God's ideas don't always seem like they make sense, but I know this is a minor blip in the big picture. Here's where gratitude comes into play. Overall, I live a pretty incredible life. I have an amazing and supportive family, great friends, a cozy home, a cute dog, and a good job. I may be down, but I am definitely not out. I intend to keep having fun and working hard through this and, just like my navicular bone, I'll come out stronger than ever.

     

1. Ievleva L, Orlick T. Mental paths to enhanced recovery from a sport injury. In: D Pargman (Ed.), Psychological Bases of Sport Injuries. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology; 1999:199-220.

Getting Back in the Game

Hello and happy Memorial Day!  Since it’s been awhile since my last update, I’m sure everyone has been dying to know what I’ve been up to! ;)  Last you heard I was hobbling around and trying to make the most of being on crutches after a nasty femoral neck stress fracture decided show up.  After 5 (yes, 5!) extremely long months, I was able to throw the crutches to the curb and start returning to running and back to ‘normal’.  I considered titling this post ‘How to (and Not to) Return to Sport from Injury’, as there have been many successful and many not-so-successful experiences along the way.  I’ll give you a brief low-down and then we can move on to what exciting things are next on the horizon for this girl!

Things that have gone well:

1. AlterG:  I’ve been extremely fortunate enough to utilize Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine’s AlterG treadmill throughout my rehab.  If you’re not familiar with this amazing piece of equipment and are a runner - check it out!  The AlterG unweights you and basically allows you to run at as little as 20% of your body weight (aka letting you feel like you are flying!).  Here’s some info from their website:

The Peak of Performance

For injured athletes, it isn’t enough to just get back on their feet. The goal is to get back to their pre-injury peak condition. Incorporating an AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill® into an existing sports injury rehabilitation program will help your athletes:

• Gain the confidence to push themselves harder during the recovery process, and see specific and quantifiable gains as they progress.
• Maintain and develop cardiovascular conditioning without stressing injured areas
• Train with their natural gait, and avoid developing compensatory habits
• Achieve higher level training sooner than otherwise possible
• Reduce the risk of re-injury after returning to the field, court, or track

As soon as I was given the ok, I started run/walk-ing on the AlterG at 60% of my body weight.  I slowly increased run time and body weight percentages until I was up to a 30 minute run at 95%.  After about 8-12 weeks of this painful and frustrating non-linear progression, this was huge!  My first outdoor run was with TerraLoco where I’ve been helping out as a coach for their ‘TNT’ Learn to Run program.  It consisted of 5 - 4 minute run/1 minute walk intervals.  I’d love to say it felt like heaven on earth, but in reality, it hurt like a son of a b...  My hip still had plenty of lingering/‘healing’ pain and I was so uneasy that I would re-injury something, I could not relax or enjoy a single moment.  However, in true Dani-fashion, my first thought upon finishing was - 12 weeks until the Med City Half Marathon, perfect amount of time to train!  

I’ve continued to use the AlterG once a week at 90% of my body weight and since this is what the famous Alberto Salazar uses for his (healthy) Olympic athletes to get in extra miles at less impact, I’m beyond grateful to have access to it as long as I need!  

Here is a video of me on it for your viewing pleasure.  (Also, can someone please submit this to a sad looking hair contest? I’d win without question.)

2. Biking: Turns out if you don’t let a runner run, they will do anything to find an endorphin replacement.  I am so fortunate to have the world’s best triathlon coach working on getting my bike in some sort of competitive state.  This is still a big work in progress (runner’s legs do not equal biker’s legs), but after I was able to bike pain-free, I’ve been provided with enough work on the bike to keep my appetite more than satisfied.  There have been multiple times during VO2max intervals I thought I was committing suicide for sure (not exaggerating) and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen myself sweat so much in my life.  One indoor ride consisted of 2 wardrobe changes to stay even halfway dry...

   

   New splurge: "The Heartbreaker"
   

   

3. Swimming: This girl has also turned part fish!  I plan to do another post of the world of swimming and how much fun I’ve been having in the pool, but apparently the 2 years of the highly competitive Cresco Community Swim Team (cough-skipping all of the practices for softball games-cough) has provided me with enough skill to almost keep up with some pretty fun, inspiring, and fast swimmers!
   

Things that could have gone better:

1. Painnnnn…  As I mentioned, it look a while -about 2 months of outdoor running- to feel like I had some sort of groove back.  Most of the early runs felt forced and like there was a lot of gunk to be worked out of the gears!  
2. Cresco Brew and Stew 5k: Although some would consider my first race back a success, but it was probably one of riskiest things I could have done.  After my 3rd outdoor run, I decided it would be a great idea to sign up for this classy little race in my hometown.  The new route passed my parent’s house and who could refuse some good costume watching and spending time with the cutest nephews in the world?  Well, my plan to ‘take it easy’ turned into not checking my watch and running a much faster of a pace plan (I’m sure my coach was a little less than impressed… :/).  However, there were also many tears of joy as I ran my little heart out past my parents house and as I crossed the finish line in first place.  And who doesn’t like winning a beer mug?  

   

   The gang joining the fun!

   
   

   

   Tears of joy.

3. Impatience: This brings me to the last point and up to this weekend.  It has taken me a long time to even feel like a runner again.  Losing this identity has been one of the hardest things I’ve gone through with this injury and as much as I like biking and swimming, there is something about the run that just cannot be replaced.  Legs like logs and stiff joints don’t always contribute to feelings of euphoria and have led to many doubts and questioning God's plan.  Regardless of the fact that I have been just able to run (seriously, how big of gift is that?), staying positive and hopeful have been a challenge.  However, the past few weeks of running has finally felt fantastic and I’ve completely fallen in love all over again.  Despite the hard work, there is nothing that compares to prancing around in running shoes -- especially on some of the most beautiful trails in town that just happen to be less than a half a mile from my house (#suckerforprettyflowers).  

Those bluebells... *sigh*

Numerous recovery tools necessary.

With the Med-City Half-Marathon just one day away and me in nowhere near ‘race-ready’ shape and using it as more of a training run, it could be easy to feel negative and frustrated that I won’t run anywhere near my fastest time or where I’d like to get to some day.  However, I was snapped out of this mindset when I was asked by a very wise person last week - ”Dani, is that what it’s really about?”  

And the answer to that is a resounding “NO!”  Not. even. close. Another alternate title to this post could have easily been ‘A Declaration of My Love of Running’.  Why do I run and why am I running the race tomorrow?  Because I love it!  Pure and simple.  Whether it’s painful or boring, fast or slow, alone or with friends… Most days, I couldn’t ask for doing anything more.  So even though it may not be in first place, you better believe I will be running with all of my heart tomorrow.  It might rain, it might hurt, it might be miserable as I attempt to do something my body has not done in a longgg time, but I cannot wait.  Seriously, what’s more fun that running into your stomping grounds with hundreds of friends and family?  It means so much to me just have the ability to join my sister, my cousin, my friends from home, and some of my amazing Rochester friends doing one of my most favorite things in the world.  So if you see some tears running down this sentimental (probably pained) crazy face, you know it means my heart is bursting with gratitude and I’m only feeling like I am living the dream.  (Cue images of rainbows and butterflies.)

Whew… hope I didn’t lose anyone with an extreme amount of mush, but look forward to some more posts about my journey to becoming a triathlete and some fun races on the schedule!   Stay tuned... I promise they won’t involve nearly as much sap! :)

Where are they now? My kids...

 

Do you ever see those cute little monthly updates that other moms do with their children? 

John

10 months, 1 hour, 54 minutes

Fun fact: Crawling everywhere!

Favorite food:  Bananas

Favorite activity: Reading books

I am in awe that people can be that put together! When L was a baby I tried to take a picture on his monthly birthday. Just any old picture not even with a cute sign or shirt—just on that day.  I failed about month 2 and his 5 month and 6 month pictures are about 3 days apart. With B I didn’t even try. #2ndchildproblems Sorry kids! You will not know how you grew in perfect one month increments.  Who am I kidding, your photo books probably won’t even be in the right order.

However, I have been thinking of some pretty creative (and true) statements I could say about these little men that will probably horrify them at their graduation; which, lets be honest, is basically the whole reason you take photos (or is that just me?).

 

B

8(ish) months old

Fun Fact: Loves to be growled at. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself saying, “L, go roar at your brother so he stops crying”.

Favorite food: Monkey

Favorite activity: Gnawing

 

Gnawing on his monkey--he's in heaven!

 

 

L

22(ish) months old

Fun Fact: Loves deodorant. We find him hiding all over the house putting it on his hair and once I caught him biting it—don’t worry I'm still using the stick with the bite marks.

Favorite food: Deodorant (see above)

Favorite activity: Stuffing toilet paper down my legs while I’m trying to pee.

 

Yum!

 

There may be another update like this in a month, maybe six, maybe never. So L may never know when Deodorant stops being his favorite food.... I just hope we aren't serving it at his graduation party.

Next week: let's organize something!

Thanksgiving is coming! A cooking success from a chronic kitchen underperformer

H

Disclaimer: As Mr. M can attest, I am NO gourmet cook.
Exhibit A: Last week I threw a package of brats, fettuccine noodles, and vodka sauce (*not made with real vodka-False advertising!) in the crock pot and called it 'supper'. I also forced Mr. M to bring it to work for lunch several times in the following week. The containers did come home empty--how they got that way, I have chosen not to ask.

Exhibit B: I recently went to a freezer meal party with a friend. I got a strange look when I explained that instead of pre-cooking the chicken in the freezer meals, I just throw it on top and crock pot it until it (eventually) cooks. I'm going to guess my invite to the next party may get lost in the mail.

While writing this, I'm starting to realize I have a problem and my biggest enabler comes in the form of a crock pot. It's true what people say about getting hooked, once you get a taste of it...... **********************************************************************************

Now that you are SUPER PUMPED to try any recipe that I whip up:

This week, my mom brought me a gift, brussels sprouts on the stalk.

 

Who knew that's how they grew?!?!? (I'm ashamed to say I live in Iowa and sometimes don't know where vegetables come from.) P.S. is it brussel sprouts or brussels sprouts? Don't ask me, I didn't even know they grew on a stalk!

This beautiful stalk of sprouts inspired me to try to crank up the old oven (it still worked-phew) and try out a new recipe. But in true 'me' fashion, rather than actually find a recipe, I decided to wing it.

First I cut the brussels sprouts off the stalk and halved them onto a cookie sheet.

 

Cover that with a layer of balsamic, EVOO (I just wrote the acronym that way because it makes me sound so chefy), salt and pepper. In case you are wondering, layer IS the official measurement.

After baking in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, here is the finished product.

 

They actually turned out pretty tasty and I know someone else who agreed.

 

But let's be honest....he was just happy I didn't make it in the crock pot.

 

Next week: Back to the kiddos!

New threads for this old mom....

H

Those of you who know me know that I am not the most fashion forward person. I kept barrel roll bangs about 5 years longer than was reasonable and fought skinny jeans until this year. I normally depend on J for my fashion advice (our mantra for me is '______ For Dummies' i.e. 'Jewelry for Dummies' or 'Makeup for Dummies').  
Now that J has a job and a life outside of my closet, I decided to give her a break and recently signed up for Stitch Fix. My philosophy is to look for things I would either never pick out for myself or never be able to find for myself.

The system is pretty great--you fill out a style profile with sizes and preferences (yes they have a 'as cheap as possible' option and yes I did select it for everything). They send you a box with 5 items--can be all clothes, can have accessories, whatever you are looking for! You try things on and send back what you don't want to keep. There is a $20 styling fee, but the great thing is--if you keep anything, that fee goes towards your purchase. They also take requests and suggestions. For my most recent box (shown below) I asked for some fall pieces, but I have a friend that asked for dresses for an outdoor wedding and they sent a dress just for that.

They also send you a style card that helps show you how to wear the pieces they send you ('Styling For Dummies'-right up my alley!). So essentially your own personal shopper!

 

I am several months in and have had varying success but have always found at least one piece that I love. Considering I keep asking them to push me out of my comfort zone, I find this pretty impressive.

My most recent fix included these 5 items.

 

And here they are on! I always snapchat the pictures to my sisters for their opinion #codependency issues  (Ignore the kid shenanigans going on in the background).

 

 
I'll let you guess which pieces I ended up keeping. I'm not saying that to be mysterious, I'm actually saying it because its only day 2 and I don't even know yet!

If you decide to give it a try--refer me by following the link below (is this me shamelessly working on referral credits--just refer up to the 'as cheap as possible' comment above and I think you can figure out the answer):

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3775590

Next week: Brussels!! No, not another trip post--brussel sprouts (I know what you are thinking--Oh good, that's way more exciting)

  

Europe 2014 (part 9)

Day 13: Venice

Where to start? Love, love-love-love, love Venice! This was my second time and just as fantastic as the first. Maybe even better since I knew what to look for!

The view from our boat coming into the Harbor was truly magical. We were able to see the entire city.

 

We arrived and boarded the water bus (when the roads are made of water, the bus is a boat!)

 

We took in some of the sites...

  

J had some major navigational difficulties this day. Normally she is the go-to navigator, however on water her internal compass must get a little wonky. Last time I was in Venice I was with J and the same thing happened. She reminded me REPEATEDLY that getting lost in Venice was literally what we wrote down on our itinerary so we should be enjoying ourselves. Note to self: NEVER put ‘get lost in ___’ on an itinerary again, I simply am not made for it.

 

ON this visit, we ended up passing the same café three times and walking in exactly the wrong direction. However, we were all forbidden to point this out (don’t you love family dynamics? J ) and had to follow her anyway. This happened again on the way back to the boat at 10pm and we somehow ended up next to Venice’s prison. To be fair—this was not an attraction we had visited yet.

 

  We then walked several miles in the rain (uphill the whole way, with no shoes, in a snowstorm) back to our ship. A and I passed the time singing Girl Scout songs our mom taught us when we were kids.  I know what you are thinking—yes there are people who sing camp songs after the age of 10—and those people weren’t even in the Girls Scouts. 

Never fear, these Girls Scouts (and their fellow ear plugging travel companions) still had an extraordinary time and Venice was the perfect place to end our trip.

 

 

Next week:  Back to real life!