More Colorado trails with Julie

After driving out of Colorado Springs, I headed to Golden, where my friend Julie lives. Like my friend Kathleen, I met Julie about 3 years ago via email - she had found my trail running blog. She was coming to Tucson to visit her family for 6 months while her husband was on a sabbatical and wanted to know about some Tucson trails. We ran together off and on while she was here. I say off and on because a month or so after she arrived, I shattered my wrist on a trail run and had to get a plate and 9 screws installed! I was out for about 5-6 weeks, but got in a few more runs with her after that before she left.

Now, every time she comes to visit, sometimes once or twice a year, we go running (usually Phoneline trail; I'll get her out on Bear Canyon loop one of these days).

I decided it was time to go visit her, and along with Kathleen, the 'tour of Colorado' trip was born. Of course, we wouldn't be trail running, but Julie said that we could go on a few hikes, so that is what we did.

First one was behind her house on some trails she regularly runs - about 4.5 miles.

Roo dog was so cute.

Later that day, her husband Mike made us homemade pizza, which was gloriously delicious!

The next day, we went into Boulder and did a few trails (I have no idea what they were called - it was a maze of beautiful trails).

The Flatirons are obscured by the stormy clouds.

She would be one of the many great reasons to live in CO...

The little guy in the tree was seriously checking us out.

A lot of the trails were 'closed off' due to heavy bear activity. I was told that the hunting laws had changed in regards to bears in CO and thus, more bears this year. I think we went for about 4 miles and finished in the drizzling rain and cold.

Boulder is really pretty.

We had lunch at 'Next Door' and shopped on Pearl St. (Outdoor Divas!!!) but I was restrained, and didn't buy anything.

After coming back to Golden that afternoon, I headed to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre and got in another short hike - 1.5 miles -  and took in the views.

I would love to see a concert at this place someday.

Momma appeared like she was going to charge me for a second.

After walking down 400 steps to get to the Visitor's Center (I parked at the top of the Amphitheatre) I walked back up the 400 steps and went back to Julie's house.

We ended the trip with a sushi dinner out with her kids that night and I got on the road the next morning to Silverton. I'm hoping she'll come to Tucson in the next year to visit her folks and I can take her on Bear Canyon loop!

Thank you Julie for a wonderful trip. I am so glad I finally made it to your little corner of the world. :)

Oh, the mountains! I'm in love. Next stop - Silverton!

A few days with an old 'new' friend

Sometime around the beginning of 2008, I was contacted by Kathleen from Colorado Springs, CO. Her and her husband Steve were looking to start a trail running blog and they asked me a bunch of questions about my blog.

After many emails with Kathleen, it was clear that we really connected as friends. She was so easy to converse with and she seemed like a really beautiful person. We have kept in touch with each other on a fairly regular basis over the last 3 years by email (only). In addition, we've been reading each other's trail running blogs and really got to know each other! I had thought about coming up to visit them a while back, but finally my trip to visit her and her husband Steve was planned for September, 2011.

Of course, the purpose of the trip was to go trail running, and that wasn't happening because of my injury. I still decided to go, knowing that we would find plenty to do!

I arrived Saturday night and felt like I had always known them! After several hours of easy chatting, we headed off to bed. Steve had planned a trail run for the morning and Kathleen and I decided to rent a mountain bike for me and go bike riding!

We went on the Santa Fe trail, which is a fairly mellow multi-use trail near the mountain bike rental place. However, being a 'low-lander', the elevation of Colorado Springs took my breath away, making even small hills a cardio experience!!!



Kathleen is Colorado Springs' 'Fashionista'



The view in all directions was beautiful.



It was fun - can't wait to get a mountain bike! We did about 25 miles total on the out and back. We went through the Air Force Academy and through some really pretty areas. I love Colorado Springs!

Based on previous posts on Kathleen and Steve's Happy Trails trail running blog, I wanted to do the Manitou Incline.

The Incline (to the highest point) is about 2,200 feet elevation gain in 1.1 miles.

At the steepest part, the grade is 68%. Kathleen says it is about 3,000 stairs (uh, I believe her now!)  I had been doing some training on the Catalina high school bleachers in Tucson, and knew I could do at least 1,500 stairs, so I was fairly ready.

It was everything that it was billed and more. With the low oxygen, at parts I would hike up 10 steps and have to stop and catch my breath! My legs handled it okay, but my lungs revolted...

Kathleen stayed ahead, but periodically waited for me.

The railroad ties became a little crazy after a while.

I wanted to look back, but felt like I would fall over. So, I sat down for a moment to snap a picture.

I finally made it to the top - victory!

We took the Barr trail down, for a total of about 4.5 miles.

My legs felt good and I had no issues with my injury. What great fun! Kathleen is just an awesome person to spend time with.

Colorado Springs - wow! We ate at Adam's Mountain Cafe and Coquette Crepery (both in Manitou Springs), went to The Mate' Factor, finally visited Title 9 Sports in person (I have always ordered from them online), went to the Colorado Running Company (tried on the Hokas!), got in some good exercise, and even fit in a quick visit to Garden of the Gods.

And, best of all, I finally met Kathleen and Steve in person, both of whom I would call good friends and good people. 

As I drove out of town on Monday night, headed to Golden to visit my friend Julie, I shed a few tears - I was sad to be leaving my new (old) friend Kathleen. I'll be back, though, probably next year, to do Pike's Peak Ascent (or marathon) and maybe run some of the many beautiful trails in the area. Kathleen, ♪ "Happy Trails to you, until we meet again..." ♫

Saguaro Labor Day 5k

Yesterday, Dallas and I rode 30 miles on the El Tour de Tucson course - 15 miles out and 15 miles back (uphill on the way back). I have offically signed up to do the 40 mile option, which is on November 19th. I will be doing it on the Gary Fisher hybrid bike, given to me by my friend MaryEllen last Summer.

I have really enjoyed the cycling and I'm so glad I can try some new things as I heal up.

Today, I did the 5k race instead of the 8 mile race I had signed up for originally. I knew I could walk the 8 mile course (I had done it a few weeks ago) but I figured it would take too long so I walked the 5k. It was a little hard 'walking' into the finish, instead of running, but I was happy to be out there on my feet!

Total time: 40:22

I was proud of that. It was a 13 min/mile average. My second mile I averaged 12:36 min/mile! I walked the entire thing. After 2 miles, I heard a gal say, "I've been running the whole time and I still can't pass her!" So, it was fun to know I could at least walk really fast. No pain as a result, either. I'm healing!

My friend Christian (http://www.run100miles.com/) put this on my FB page:

"Love the Saguaro Labor Day Run 2011 photo. Lean, mean racing machine. WAD UP AZ!?"

Made me feel good! Thanks Christian!

I will try to run towards the end of September and see how things feel. I'm confident I will be back at it before long. I sure hope so! I miss the trails.

Healing.

Verdict is in from the bone scan - I have torn the ligament which attaches to the lesser trochanter. This is right below the ball at the top of the femur that inserts into your hip socket on the inside of the upper leg. The psoas muscle attaches to the iliacus muscle to form the iliopsoas, which attaches into the lesser trochanter. Based on other tests and findings, the Sports Medicine doctor concluded that I probably strained that as well. This area is known to many as the 'hip flexor' area and is exactly where my pain has been.

I have not run for over 10 weeks, but the Sports Medicine doctor suggests that it could take 3-4 months total time (or longer). The best thing I can do for a ligament tear is to do functional movement, but with no impact and nothing that causes pain. Ligaments heal faster when you actually move your body - they regrow fiber in a more proper fashion. When you actually put a little strain on a healing ligament (not pain), you end up with a stronger ligament in the long run. It can take up to a year to fully heal a ligament tear.

So, I am walking, cycling, swimming, and doing hot yoga and kettlebell classes. None of these are causing pain, although my fast 4 mile walk the other day (14:36 pace with one mile being 14:10) had my groin feeling a little sore the next day. I just need to be careful about speed still. I figure until I can walk really fast without pain, there will be no running.

I'm making peace with that, and I'm doing other things to keep myself busy.

I have been cycling more hills. Last week, Dallas and I cycled from home to Sabino Canyon, hiked 5 miles on Phoneline trail, which is a bit of a climb, and cycled home. 21 miles on the bike.

We had done 23 miles the week before, but with no hills.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of going mountain biking with Ross from TTR.

Hope I am out doing this stuff years from now. Ross is amazing.

We went from his house up Redington Rd, which is super steep (for me!) Ross has some nice bikes - I was riding on his wife Pam's bike, which was perfect.

I decided to turn around at 7.5 miles, as I was starting to feel it in my groin a bit from the climbing and I wanted to be safe. The downhill was pretty scary, as we came barreling down that road at a pace that had me with a 'death grip' on the bike 'intent on avoiding disaster'. It was fun. 15 miles total.

I'm proud of myself!

The next day, Dallas and I went to Saguaro East and walked the hilly 8 mile paved loop in 2:12.

We then got on our bikes and rode the 8 miles in 46 minutes. There is one big hill that goes on for about a mile and a half, but I got up it. My legs were a little sore from the mountain biking, but I was not going to walk the bike. So, I kept on.

Almost done with the big hill

We then went swimming at DMAFB (Air Force base) at the indoor lap pool, which felt great. We were blessed with a lot of cloud cover, which was awesome on such a hot summer day in Tucson.

Dallas and I are taking 2 Kettlebell classes this week and 2 next week. We hope to add this into our regimen and get out of the gym a bit.

I'll probably be signing up for El Tour de Tucson, which is the big bike race in Tucson in mid-November. I will likely do the 40 mile option, although people are trying to talk me into the 66 mile option. I hope to get in a 25+ mile ride sometime in August, and I'll still have 2 months to work up to the higher mileage. I don't think I'm ready for 66 miles, but I'm excited to be trying something new.

I guess that is the upside of all of this. While I was cycling a bit last summer, this injury has gotten me out of my comfort zone with further distances and hills. Also, I have not gone swimming (real swimming) ever. So, I'm learning how to swim laps, which is actually a real fun thing to do in the summer here in Tucson. This whole thing will refresh my love of running in the long run and make me a more balanced athlete.

It was a bummer to skip our planned GC R2R2R, and I had to bag JJ100, but I would have never attempted a bike race otherwise (or tried swimming!). I'll attempt those goals next  year. I'll get to crew Dallas on his first 100 mile attempt at Javelina Jundred, which will be awesome.

Meanwhile, I'll keep hiking and eventually, I will heal. Lots of healing this year.

No trail running happening on this blog...

I'm still recovering. After doing 'the splits' going down an embankment on April 23rd, I ran for a while until I couldn't anymore because of the pain. Now, I haven't run in 2 months. I've had X-rays, an MRI, and a few days ago, an MRI with an arthrogram (dye injected into the hip).

Although I had to take about 3 weeks off of all exercise (I was limping), I eventually started cycling, swimming, and hot yoga, since I could do all of those without pain. I'm still lifting weights twice a week. I've been cycling about 45 minutes to an hour 3-5 days a week, swimming once a week (well, if that's what you want to call it - I haven't swam in 30+ years) and trying to walk 2+ miles once or twice a week. Until about a week and a half ago, my walks have been painful. I am now able to walk pain-free, which is great!

Getting ready to leave the house. My new bike skirt. :)

After seeing the Sports Medicine doc at TOI, I was sent to physical therapy for 3 weeks. Exercises and stretches, mostly for strengthening of my adductor/abductors/hips. I am pretty sure I pulled my adductor muscle, and that has finally been fixed. The physical therapist suggested that I try a minute of light jogging, since I was now walking pain-free. It hurt, so I stopped. After seeing my doctor again about that fact, I was sent for an MRI with an arthrogram on Friday. She suspected a labral tear.

I got the results yesterday and it was negative for a labral tear. It indicated a few other things, which I don't quite understand, so I will talk to her this week for the next course of action. It will most likely be a cortisone shot. We'll see. I've become pretty patient these days...





Today, Dallas and I rode our bikes to DMAFB (Air Force base), swam for 30 minutes in the indoor lap pool, and rode back home.

Waiting to get on the AFB. I'm officially a military dependent now.

Riding on base with a view of the Catalina mountains.

Pool feels good in this heat.

Pink everything. Pink clothes, pink swimsuit, pink goggles.

I rode 20 miles!!!!!!!

My longest bike ride ever. I am working on lengthening my weekend bike ride and if things progress along, I might do the 40 mile option of El Tour de Tucson in November. Not sure when I'll get running again, but when I do, it will be a slow progression.

So, for now, I'm enjoying the cycling, trying to learn how to swim again, will probably do Kettelbell/TRX classes with Dallas in August, and hopefully, start hiking with some hills soon.

I did crew Dallas, Mike, Tom, and Jeremy on a 50 miler last weekend. They ran through the Catalina mountains in the middle of the night to celebrate Dallas' 50th birthday.

Proud of these boys! Almost 16 hours and over 11,000 feet of elevation gain

This year has been hard with the loss of my Mom, the loss of Cracker, and the loss of running. But, I married my best friend Dallas, my job is going fairly well (except I'm working a LOT), my health is really good (other than the injury), and I am surrounded by more friends than I have time to spend with.

It felt really good to do a 2+ hour block of exercise today with Dallas. I have really missed running with him and this was awesome.

I don't see myself becoming a triathlete anytime soon, but I am going to Ladies' Night at TriSports at the end of August! Should be fun. I'll probably be going mountain bike riding with my friend Ross in a few weeks for the first time.

I am blessed! I know I will be back to running before long - I just need to be patient and let things heal.

No news is good news and some not so good news...

I haven't posted in a while - there has been a lot going on!

Dallas and I got married on May 22nd on Mt. Lemmon, followed by a 4 mile trail run with friends. For that reason, we had our wedding reception a week later at our friend Gene and Jane's house, which is beautiful.

We had a lovely cake from Nadine's, which had our signature 'trail heart' on the top, made out of sugar 'rocks'.

Yum. We shared a monstrous corner piece.



The rock heart in Sabino Basin. That is the ring in the middle.

Our wedding reception was a joyous time, just like our wedding. Dallas always makes me laugh. Dallas picked out this beautiful dress for me.

He said more beautiful words to me before we cut the cake.

We had about 65 friends come. We are truly blessed.

A week after the reception (2 weeks from my last run), I decided to go forward with my plans to run the Meet Me Downtown 5k, which is part of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. I have been dealing with some painful issues since my trail 'splits' on Easter Sunday, April 23rd, so I decided to take a few weeks off to see how things felt.

As soon as I started the race, I was in pain. Dallas ran the race with me and we finished in 26:05 (8:24 mpm pace), which was 9th in my age group (not bad for running injured). In retrospect, I should have probably stopped running a mere 1/8 mile into the race. Oh well. It definitely set me back a bit.

So...I haven't run since then. One month of no running. I've basically run 7 whole miles in the last 7 weeks. I miss it.

I've seen a sports chiropractor, my primary care doc, and finally got in the other day to a sports medicine doc at TOI. I had x-rays done, an MRI and I am taking Celebrex.

Initially, it was thought that I had a tight psoas muscle and possibly, a femoral neck stress fracture. Then, a torn adductor and pelvic avulsion were suspected. My sports medicine doc thinks that I likely strained my right adductor/quad/hamstring and associated tendons when I did the splits over 2 months ago and I might have a hip labral tear.

What the MRI reported was not good, though, and I'm not sure yet if it is related to the trail accident. It reported Femoral acetabular impingement syndrome and Herniated synovial pits in my right hip. My sports medicine doc has not seen the results yet, but in the meantime, I will be doing physical therapy twice a week and taking Celebrex.

She said no running for at least 3 weeks. I can exercise, but nothing that causes me pain. So, I am easy cycling (about 45 minutes at a time - 9+ miles), doing Bikram (hot) yoga, and I have started 'learning' how to swim. Yes, I can swim to save my life if you threw me in a pool, but my friend Shari is teaching me how to swim for exercise/cardio. Thank you Shari!!! It feels good to get some exercise.

Between all of these suspected and diagnosed problems, I have learned a lot about human anatomy. Bottom line is my hip socket is messed up. Could mean surgery, could get better with PT and Celebrex. I've also been doing Eucommia Bark, Krill Oil, and eating a lot of anti-inflammatory foods. I am doing whatever I can to help my body heal.

What's next? If I don't improve in 3 weeks, then I have to get a contrast scan to see what is going on in there. Once the sports medicine doc gets the results back from the MRI on Tuesday, she may change the plan, I don't know.

I took the Grand Canyon R2R2R off the upcoming list as well as JJ100.  If I get back to running by the end of the summer (pipe dream?), it will be a while before I build up my base and I am able to do long distances. Dallas signed up for JJ100, so I'll crew him and maybe pace him if I'm running by then.  I am going to CO in mid-September to run trails with some girlfriends; I sure hope I can run by then, too.

Lot of acceptance going on.

Other good news; Dallas and I are the new co-administrators (directors) for TTR!! Gene and Ross are stepping down after 17 years, and we will be overseeing the Tucson Trail Run Series for the foreseeable future (with their sage advice). Very exciting and humbling at the same time. What an honor to head up TTR for its 34th year.

Me in the news:
I was featured in some various articles over the last few months, which is cool. First, an article right before OP 50:

http://www.examiner.com/endurance-sports-in-tucson/ultrarunners-come-to-tucson-for-old-pueblo-50-mile-endurance-run

Then, I was featured in Tailwinds magazine in May - Emily did a great job on this article. Look on page 30:

http://issuu.com/tailwindsweb/docs/tw_may_june_2011

My friend Chase from TTR interviewed me for his new blog:

http://trailsofglory.blogspot.com/2011/06/profile-and-interview-with-renee.html

My blog will be pretty quiet for a while. Not sure what to expect about when I can run again, but when I have news, I will report it.  I am so thankful for all of the emails, FB comments and general love I have received related to my current injury/body problems. Mentally, they have all helped me tremendously.

I did finally invest in some bike shorts (and a bike skirt from Skirt Sports!) When I get the bike skirt, I'll post a pic. It is cute!! It is nice to have some cushioning when I ride.

Dallas and I went to my family reunion in Texas the 2nd weekend in June and he got to meet my humongous family. It was so good to see my family!!!  They all loved him, of course. He jumped in and helped the guys out with the annual catfish fry and really enjoyed himself.

No, I'm not from Texas, I'm from Lousiana - different relatives 'host' it each year. My cousin-in-law IMa (on the left) called us workout freaks.

Guess I'll end on that note. :)