Life as a cyclist... not too bad.

When I got the news about my stress fracture, my Dr. told me to stay in shape and keep up my endurance with biking or swimming. I hate swimming, so the bike it was. With the horrible weather I took up spin class everyday, seriously I've been like 10 times. So instead of feeling sorry for myself on race day, I had them switch my half-marathon spot over to the 25 mile bike tour. Heck yeah! This way I still got to compete and be part of the event and be there to cheer my Dad on. I new my adventurous sister-in-law Amy would be willing to be my partner in crime after Ryan backed out last minute due to being sick. We had a blast, and some hilarious moments which I will not get into because you had to be there.

The bike tour started at 6:00 am and we finished at 7:30 so we had over an hour to wait for my dad to finish. We enjoyed all the free race food, then waited in the huge Starbucks line for some hot chai because we were freezing and of course wet with sweat (we're both sweaty girls). Or maybe it's just because we rode so hard and fast..... yeah, that was it.

We waited for my Dad so I could snatch an awesome action shot, but we were standing on the opposite side of him and I ended up getting a better shot of some weirdo I don't even know. But you can see my butt-kickin' pops on the far left in the red, coming in at top speed to finish with a rockin' 1:53. Good work Dad, you never fail to impress!

Overall it was a good day, although there was just a little jealousy when I watched all the runners finish, wishing it was me. But I loved the bike tour and am soooo glad I did it. I might consider cycling now as my cross-training from all my running. But for the next month or so, I'm a cyclist baby!

Inspiration

I became inspired today from the birthday present that my AwEsOmE sister-in-law gave me. Maybe she meant to, maybe she didn't who knows, but it was great! The gift was a lulu lemon bag, lunch sized bag which I'm totally going to start taking to work, filled with my favorite candy and new running socks, of course from lulu lemon :) Anyways, the bag was sitting on my counter today and I walked past it and the word setbacks caught my eye, and there it was, my inspiration. LIFE IS FULL OF SETBACKS. SUCCESS IS DETERMINED BY HOW YOU HANDLE SETBACKS.

This is just a setback and now I have to handle it and handle it well! So my chin is up and I am smiling. I'm gonna race a million more times in my life, but for now I need to rehab this injury, and do it right. So I guess the pity party is over and I'm done feeling sorry for myself but I did get tons of love, hugs, and treats. Thanks everyone!

My doctor drew some blood and checked my Vitamin D levels and some other labs that came back stellar. But my vitamin D level was low and he said this contributed to the fracture. My prescription being: Vitamin D3 5,000 U BID for 6 weeks. Then sunbathe for 20 minutes, 3x weekly in the 11-2 sun, in a bikini.....this is no joke. My response: Umm, that won't be problem.

Yesterday I turned 27. Seriously, I feel old. Especially since I have the bone strength and vitamin D level as a 60 year old. But overall it was a great day, lots of great food, gifts and of course my favorite cake. I got mostly cash but I won't tell you how much because I don't want to get robbed.

That's it.

I hate my life.

Whenever I'm having a bad day or stuff just isn't going my way, my saying is always "I hate my life". For instance when my dog ralphs on the carpet and I have to clean it up, I always say "Oh I hate my life". Do you ever have a moment or a day where you just feel sorry for yourself for whatever reason? True self pity? Well today is my day!

As you all know I Run. I love running with every fiber of my being, it's my outlet, my stress reliever, and just my plain hobby. I've been having race fever this spring, preparing for the ultimate goal, the Ogden Marathon. I'm also signed up the Salt Lake Half Marathon just for fun ( I heart half-marathons). Anyhow the Ogden Marathon is especially important to me this year because I'm running it with my Dad. Yeah, that's right I said my Dad. Who gets to run a marathon with their old man? Not very many people, but me I get too! We've been doing all our training runs together and have been having a blast. Well during all this I've been having a little pain in my upper shin on the inside. It only hurts for the first few minutes then goes away for the rest of the run, so I wrote it off as a shin splint. This went on for a month, I ran through the pain, because that's what runners do. Well, after my 16 mile run Saturday, it started to bother me when I wasn't running.

So I been talking to Ryan about this forever now and he suggested I go see a sports medicine dr. just to check it out. I saw the dr. today, after an x-ray, ultrasound and assessment he gave me the awful, horrible news that I have a stress fracture. My thoughts being, WTF, I don't deserve this, I've been running forever, I didn't just jump into this and shockingly get injured. For crying outloud, I ran 6 half-marathons, 2 10-k, and a relay just last summer ALONE. I even maintained high mileage during the winter. I was prepared for marathon training! Anyways the dr. gave me the horrible news of not running at all for 4 weeks, that includes nothing high-impact, so no combat class either. I also have to wear a compression sleeve on my leg, but that actually feels dang good.

So this takes me out of the Salt Lake Half Marathon. I could probably run again by Ogden but then I won't be ready because I'll be a newbie runner. No way I could pull off 26.2 miles with all my training thrown aside. Seriously, I hate my life today and I just need to complain and feel bad for myself. As you can see it has been very therapeutic for me to write this all out, so thanks for reading! My husband and my sister already got an earful, and perhaps a few tears too. But there are 2 things that can make me happy, My little Jack and Dairy Queen's new mini blizzard!