Race Recap: Mingoman Sprint Triathlon (7/10/16)

I love lists.  Like, LOVE them.  My phone has an app on it called "Keep" where I can make lists and cross things off.  I think that's my favorite part--crossing things off!  But making them is super fun too. To-do lists are my favorite, but really I believe that all lists are super awesome. 

Bet you're all wondering why I am talking about lists in a race recap!  On the bike leg of my triathlon today, I started to make a list of what was going wrong with my ride (ooo, foreshadowing...).  That list got pretty long, and after a bit I decided that I should stop and try to make a list of things that HADN'T gone wrong.  A much shorter list (it seemed at the time least), but it helped me get my head on straight again.  I thought that it would be fun to make this a blog of lists.

List #1: What went well during today's race

1) I met my "A" Goal (which was a sub-2:15), with an overall time of 2:14:12.  Why am I not more excited???  See list #2. 

2) I didn't fall off my bike, or crash, or get a flat tire, or embarrass myself in any other way during any of the legs of the race.  There were a few crashes, and one bad injury. I need to be grateful that I wasn't hurt.

3) I had zero anxiety during the swim.  This is huge for me, as it's been an issue in the past.  I felt very relaxed.  Maybe a bit too relaxed... wait, that's not for this list!

The water was perfect today--77 degrees!

4) I got to see so many friends on the course!  Many friends were racing, and a few were there to cheer.  I loved it every time that I'd see someone. (Except for when Megan and Melanie zoomed by me on the bike... oh, wait, not this list...)  

5) The run went *exactly* as I'd planned.  I had my watch set to 4 min run/2 min walk intervals, and I followed directions to a T.  Even better, the final run interval started with 0.1 miles to go, so I got to run into the finish feeling super fresh.  Woo hoo!

6) I got to the race super early, so I had plenty of time to do everything and not stress about being rushed.  I love when this is the case.

Pre-race selfie! (That's my friend Jenny in the background)

7) Fueling seemed spot-on.  I had peanut butter toast + bananas for breakfast at 4:15 AM, and a honey stinger waffle at around 6:00 AM.  I sipped a bottle of water with skratch added from 5-7 AM.  I had a Hammer gel at around mile 12.5 on the bike, and sipped my skratch water bottle throughout.  I drank water from my hand-held during the run.  And NO STOMACH ISSUES. Wait... that totally deserves its own number...

8) NO STOMACH ISSUES!  No bathroom issues at all! This is always a very, very good thing!

9) My timing chip stayed on.  Okay, maybe a silly addition to this list, but since I've experienced it falling off during a previous race, I need to celebrate the littlest things.   Granted, I did have it safety-pinned on (thanks to my friends' pre-race advice)... but I digress LOL.

10) Both transitions went well, at least inside the transition area.  I did go past my bike mount in T2, but realized it pretty quickly and was able to get back to my spot. 

T1 set up

On to...

List #2: What did not go so well today:

1) The bike. Oh, the bike.  I have no clue exactly what happened.  I had trouble clipping in at transition to start; it took me a good 30 seconds just to get my first cleat in.  That was foreshadowing for the rest of the ride.  For whatever reason, I just COULD NOT get settled into my ride.  It took about 30 minutes for me to feel somewhat into it... but even then, it felt like I was pedaling uphill the entire time, even when I was definitely going downhill.   My chain has been grinding a lot lately, but even with that I have been able to ride at 16-18 mph for every ride. Today's pace was a sorrowful 15.2 mph.  On our 47-miler my average was 16.2 mph.  For 21 miles, I ought to be able to go faster than 15 mph, especially given the fact that I was actually TRYING to go fast!  At around mile 10 or so, I finally gave into the fact that this bike ride was just not going to go well, regardless of how hard I tried, so I focused on giving kudos to the riders passing me (and there were scores of them!) and enjoying the farmlands that I was cycling past.

2) The swim was a bit too relaxed. I knew it while I was doing it... that I could definitely go a bit faster. But I also had the goal of making it through without getting overly anxious, and that goal trumped pushing it too much.  I checked my watch upon exiting the water and saw that it said 0.53 miles and 15:10, which is around 1:38/100 yards.  This is definitely slower than I do in my faster training swims. My pace was 1:31/100 at my open water race.  There were a lot more people in the water this time, though! Still... I do need to pick it up a bit on what's supposed to be my best leg.

3) I had watch issues.  No problems at the start, and at the first transition into my bike.  As I left T1, I pushed the "lap" button to end the transition and start my ride. My watched buzzed to indicate the transition had ended, and then a second or two later it buzzed again (this is because I forgot that I had it set to "auto pause" if I was going less than 10 mph... which of course seeing as I wasn't even moving yet, it paused). I was so flustered, I pushed the lap button again, unknowingly telling my watch that I'd finished my bike and was in T2 already.  UGH!  This was so annoying, as I had to do my entire ride without my watch telling me much at all. I knew the approximate distance (after T1 my watch said 0.8-something so I was able to subtract that away from the total distance), and was able to see an overall time, which was how I knew how slow I was going.  But it would've been nice to have my mile splits buzzing at me.  Wait... maybe that would not have been so nice, given how slow I was actually going.   

4) I had to walk during the run.  I know, I HAD to walk... this was part of my plan.  But it was still not easy to do so.  There were times when it was... like when I got to walk up a huge hill versus tackle running up it.  But mostly, it was annoying.  I'd pass a few people, and then it'd be time to walk again.  It sucks being smart sometimes.

5) My legs didn't feel great during the run.  My hip felt fine, which actually should be on list #1, as did my plantar fasciitis.  But my calves felt tight off the bike (an issue I had last year), and whatever muscle/tendon/tissue is below my shin, right above my foot, felt super tight, especially on my left foot. Walking actually was more uncomfortable than running.  I am going to chalk this up to the fact that I *just* started to run again, and my legs need more time to get back to normal.

So that was a relatively short list, especially given that I thought the race was a total wash at first.  One more list for you...

List #3: What I will do differently at my next triathlon:

1) I will learn how to fix a flat tire. I saw a woman whose tube blew up (literally!) at mile 1.5.  I need to learn how to do this ASAP!

2) I will get my bike gears figured out.  If the Westerville Bike Shop can't figure it out, I'll take my bike elsewhere.  I know that it needs something.

3) I will work on my bike-run bricks so that my legs are used to running off the bike.  

4) I will bike more often, and longer, and on routes with more hills.  I have basically memorized the course at Alum, and this is honestly doing a disservice to me.  I need to be ready for novel roads like the ones I had to ride today in Delaware.

Final stats:
Swim: 16:25 (this includes the "run" up to transition, which was 0.61 total by my watch), 9th overall out of 82
T1: 2:31
Bike: 1:22:40.  68th overall out of 82
T2: didn't register (1:25 by my Garmin)
Run: didn't register--my Garmin said 31:07, which would've been 59th overall out of 82.  
Overall time: 2:14:12  (55th overall out of 82, 15th out of 31 females, 3rd out of 6 in 35-39 AG)

A few more pictures from the race...

Post-race MRTT picture!  

Pre-race with several MRTT mamas!

Pre-race with Jenny, Megan and Becky!

Sweet, sweet summer... oh, and a race

Most teachers live for summer. I am definitely one of them!  Things I love about summer include: no rushing around getting my kids places (well, even though they all have activities, I don't have to rush to get dinner fixed after work), no grading or lesson planning, no getting dressed if the kid and I don't feel like it, no making sure kids are bathed before school the next day, no stressing about getting everyone to bed on time, no stress for the kids to get homework assignments done... and, of course, with the lack of all of these things, there is finally time to do what I want--all of the workouts!  I love being able to have more than enough time in the mornings to get my swims/bikes/runs done.  Usually during the school year, I have to start no later than 5 AM to finish up even a short 5 mile run.  There's never the chance to swim, as the rec center isn't even open until 6 AM.  If I want to run longer, I have to get up even earlier.  I really do hate setting my alarm clock in the 4's, but that's how I have to do it when school is in session.

Summer, though... it's when I get to sleep in until 5:00, or 5:30, or even 6:00, and still get a great workout in!  This schedule is perfect for triathlon training, as I'm able to get long bike rides or bricks finished before I have to be home by 7:45 to get my daughter up for swim team practice.  Here are how my weeks have been shaping up:

Mondays: long walk (4 miles), which now has morphed into run/walk intervals
Tuesdays: was a sunrise yoga class... now is bike (or swim/bike brick this week)
Wednesdays: short walk, which now has morphed into run/walk intervals (this week with a short bike beforehand)
Thursdays: shorter swim/bike brick with Heather (and anyone else who joins us that week) at Alum (.75 mile swim/12 mile bike)
Fridays: was a rest day, now is run/walk intervals
Saturdays: longer swim/bike brick (more like 1.5 mile swim/30-40 mile bike)
Sundays: rest day

Obviously there is flexibility.  This week, for example, Saturday is my rest day.  That's because Sunday is a race.  Yep, a triathlon.  I'll get back to that in a bit, though.

The question my followers are probably asking is, HOW IS RUNNING?  So I started on June 23 using the plan that I mentioned previously.  I had already finished Phase 1, which involved being able to walk fast pain-free.  I attempted Phase 2, the plyometric (jumping/hopping) phase on June 20 and was able to complete it, so after being released from Dr. Dick on June 22, I began Phase 3.  This phase has five stages to it:
Stage 1: 5 min walk/1 min jog x 6 for 30 minutes
Stage 2: 4 min walk/2 min jog x 6 for 30 minutes
Stage 3: 3 min walk/3 min jog x 6 for 30 minutes
Stage 4: 2 min walk/4 min jog x 6 for 30 minutes
Stage 5: jog every other day with a goal of reaching 30 minutes (starting each run with a 5 min walk, gradually increasing the pace)

Over the past 2 weeks I have progressed through the first 4 stages. I did stage 1 twice, stage 2 once, stage 3 twice, and I've done stage 4 once so far.  I will do it again on Friday.  The program really doesn't say much about repeating stages.  My friend Tamara said that she'd repeat each one as needed, based on how I felt.  So if I had any discomfort at all either during the run itself or later on in the day (or even the next day), I would repeat the phase.  By "discomfort", I am not talking about pain.  Rather, just the feeling of muscles being used again, enough that I could feel "something".  Dr. Dick said to expect this, so I am working on listening to my body, not freaking out over minor discomfort, and taking things nice and slow.  I've found that if I keep my jog at around a 9:30-9:45 min/mile, I feel better than if I push it to 9:00-9:15 min/mile, so that is something else I've been working on.

I'm not sure how long stage 5 will take me. I plan on starting it next week, barring any unforeseen circumstances.  I think I will throw in walking periodically, continuing to work on building my muscles back up again.  Phase 4 is an actual running schedule (running every other day), with the first two weeks being 30-35 minute runs, moving up by week 12 to 45 minute runs.  I love the very gradual progression of this plan.  It's pointedly, almost painfully slow, and that's exactly what I think I need right now. 

So... now you're all probably wondering exactly why I'm racing in a few days, if I'm taking this whole recovery thing so sloooowly.  I actually transferred my bib for this race (Mingoman) a month ago, as I'd registered for it back in November during a sale.  Then, a few days later, I learned that there was a sprint distance (not just the Olympic distance I'd registered for).  A sprint tri finishes with a 5K run (3.1 miles).  Last month, I knew that I could walk 3.1 miles; I was doing it a few times a week at that point.  I was feeling great on the swim and bike.  I spoke to my doctor and she had no problem with me signing up, under the condition that I would be either walking or walk/running the 5K at the end.  Not a problem!  So I had another friend's bib transferred to me and signed up for the sprint.  A typical sprint is around a half-mile swim, around 12-14 miles bike, and a 5K run.  This race is longer on the bike (22 miles), but the swim (0.45 miles) and run (5K) are normal.  I don't mind the longer bike ride since I rode 47 miles last weekend, and I know I can handle 22!

I have zip, zero, zilch goals for this race.  Yeah, right... I can't NOT have any goals.  I should be able to do the swim in about 14 minutes.  I should be able to do the bike in about 1 hour 20-25 minutes.  I did a 5K walk/run at stage 4 today in 35 minutes.  So, adding those times together gives me 2 hours 9-14 minutes, plus transitions. So.... C goal is to finish uninjured and happy.  B goal is 2 hours 20 minutes.  A goal is under 2 hours 15 minutes.  

My friends are concerned that I will push the run... that I won't do my intervals.  Oh they know me so well!  Yes, I am competitive.  Yes, it will be hard for me to watch people pass me on the run, which will definitely happen.  But my goals are bigger than this triathlon.  I am super excited to compete in it, and I will give it my best shot.  But I won't be doing anything more than my 4 min jog/2 min walk intervals.  Because that's where I am at right now, and it's a good place.  A very, very good place.  

Race recap: Central Ohio Multisport Festival 2-mile OWS (6/25/16)

In November, Greenswell (a local organization that puts on races) had a half-off special at around Thanksgiving.  All of their 2016 races were 50% off.  What a deal!  I registered for the MingoMan Olympic distance triathlon that day, as well as for the 1-mile open water swim at the Central Ohio Multisport Festival.

This festival includes the Tri For Hope (my first triathlon last year!), a variety of distances for OWS, SUP (stand-up paddleboarding), as well as a mini, sprint and Olympic distance triathlon.  Such a fun concept, a weekend of racing!  With my anniversary on 6/26, I didn't want to commit to doing a triathlon on Sunday, so instead I chose to sign up for the 1-mile OWS.  It was only $15, so I figured if my husband and I decided to skip town to celebrate (as we often do on our anniversary), I wouldn't be out too much.

We did skip town (five kid-free days in Lake Cumberland!), but with my daughter's early-morning swim meet, we needed to wait until lunch time on Saturday to head out.  Her meet was also the reason I ended up transferring to the 2-mile swim.  The meet was supposed to start at 9 AM, but the 1-mile swim was at 8:30... and the 2-mile at 7:00.  I realized that if I transferred to the 2-mile race, I'd be able to see her compete.  No brainer!  Of course, two days before the meet, they announced that her swimming competition would actually start at 8:05 AM.  I contemplated skipping out on my own race, but in the end decided that I'd get to see her swim at least one or two races if I hurried out to New Albany after my swim.

I showed up at 6:20 AM for the "packet" pick-up, greeted by this gorgeous sunrise.  Have I mentioned how much I love swimming open-water at sunrise??  

I say "packet"... but there was no packet at all, just a swim cap that we had to wear.  Umm, okay.  Again, I'm glad I only paid $15 for this race.  No t-shirt, no bling... and I was surprised that it wasn't even chip-timed.  I spent the half-hour prior to the race chatting with a few other swimmers.  I knew Betsy from the 10,000-meter swim challenge that I did a couple of years ago.  One introduced herself to me as Macy, and I immediately knew she was Macy Weber, who a few of my MIT-coach-buddies had referenced before as a super-stellar triathlete.  Their friend Julie came over and Betsy started to joke with Julie about how she didn't even need a wetsuit, she was so fast.  Hmm... so here I am, with three women who clearly were accomplished Ironman-finishers... not sure what I expected, doing a 2-mile OWS race.  Who else does that distance, except for serious peeps?!  Needless to say, I took a breath and told myself that place didn't matter in this race.  It was a chance for me to get a PR distance, practice going around buoys (with a 0.5-mile course, I'd be doing 15 turns!), and also swim in a crowd.

The race started a minute or two after 7:00, with an unceremonious 3-2-1-GO!  There were 20 of us in the water (7 females, 13 males--I didn't realize this till after we got the results, although it did seem overwhelmingly male-dominated at the start).  As usual in an OWS, the start was a bit dicey.  Lots of splashing, kicking, etc.  I tried my best to find my own lane to swim in and avoid the flailing arms.  In my previous OWS's, I have had trouble with anxiety and catching my breath in races.  I wanted to avoid this, so I told myself to just swim nice and easy, like it was a training swim.  And it worked!  I didn't have any anxiety at all, yay!

The race went really well, I was pretty much by myself after the first 200 or so yards.  I could see two people in front of me (a male, and then a female that I knew was Betsy), but other than that, I felt alone, which was fine with me!  I focused on my sighting, taking the turns around the buoys as tightly as I could, and just staying relaxed.  I was surprise how LONG the loops felt.  As I was approaching the start/finish buoy for the third time, I sneaked a peek at my watch and was shocked to see that it said 1.77 miles.  I had another loop to go, and we were almost at 2 miles already!  I contemplated stopping at that point.  Maybe I'd miscounted.... but I saw Betsy and the other swimmer continue on around the buoy so I kept going myself.  

Pace-wise, I increased my effort for the 3rd and 4th loops. I need to figure out how to set my watch to give me splits at each half-mile so I can see how much faster I got.  I thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to catch one of the swimmers in my vision on that last loop, but realized as we headed down the final straightaway towards the finish that it wasn't going to happen, and I was just fine with that!  I had no clue how many people were ahead of me--or behind me!  I swam into the finish and walked shakily onto the beach.  

Julie and Betsy were the only two females there, so I was quite proud of my 3rd place overall female finish, especially in the company of greatness!  Julie ended up winning 1st overall female with a 1:02, and Betsy finished just ahead of me as I had thought. Macy finished about a minute after I did.  Overall, I was 6th (so three men beat me as well).  We spent about 5-10 minutes discussing the length of the course.  Julie and Betsy hadn't worn watches, and Macy's never started.  One male swimmer had 4000 yards on his Garmin, which is 2.27 miles.  Another had 2.7 miles after just three loops--he'd stopped early upon seeing this!  The race director didn't think the distance was as far off as we were all saying... whatever.  My official final time was a 1:05:30, which was a 1:31 overall pace for 2.44 miles.  This is definitely at the faster end of my training pace, and since I basically treated this as a training swim, I am pleased with it!  

Race Recap: Gary Smith 3-mile Walk (6/12/16)

A friend told me about this little race, and I was super excited to enter.  I haven't raced in FIVE MONTHS (Lifetime Indoor Tri in January), and I was itching to don a bib again!  

The Gary Smith Classic is actually a 5-mile running race, with a 3-mile walk option as well as a 2-mile kids' race.  Joey decided he wanted to enter the kids' race, so it was great to have a buddy for the morning!  This would be his first race where I wasn't either a) cheering him on, or b) running with him, so I think we were both a bit more nervous than usual.

We got to the race site, Thomas Worthington HS, and picked up our bibs and shirts (nice blue tech shirts!).  After we threw them in the car, we milled around chatting with a few of my friends who were running.  Always love to see people at races!  Joey and I did some stretches, and then walked an easy mile around the track.  He just got his first pair of running shoes the other day, so I wanted him to at least walk a bit in them before the actual race!  

Love this pre-race pic of my boy!

The 5 miler started at 9:00, and my walking race started a few minutes later.  Joey didn't start until 9:15, so I left him in the care of some random mom who looked friendly and who had two boys in the race, hoping that he'd make it to the starting line (he did, of course).  Quick recap on him--he did great!  My pre-race guess for his time was 17:30, and he ended up getting 10th out of 24 runners with a 17:28.  He said that he "died" after about a mile, that it was too hot out (it was!) and that "everything hurt" by the end. I'd say that's a successful race!

Allison took this one of him racing!

So, my own race started just after 9:00.  There were about 40 "walkers" in the 3-mile event. I use the term "walkers" very very loosely.  The race was chip-timed with a whistle start.  3, 2, 1.... TWEET, and we were off, with several people taking off jogging.  Um, what?  I thought this was a walking event?  I was actually looking forward to seeing some fast race-walkers (those people AMAZE me, with the elites able to walk a 10K faster than I can run one!), but alas, there were none.  Just the joggers who took off, and one other woman who was walking about 10 feet in front of me.  

The race started out in the parking lot of the high school, wove down to the Olentangy Trail for a bit, and then up into the neighborhoods. I do mean UP... after about a mile, the course went up up up for about a mile, total elevation increase of 80 feet over a mile.  This is so much worse than RUNNING up that kind of a "hill".  Walking is a whole different sport, I tell you!  It was during the second mind that I caught up to the only walker who was ahead of me.  We ended up chatting for the final mile or so of the race.  I probably could've gone a bit faster, but it was so nice to have someone to talk to!  We just chatted about the weather (HOT) and the race itself.  We actually finished at the EXACT same time, but I am listed ahead of her in the results (probably due to our last names LOL).  My final time was a 41:13, good enough for 7th overall out of 43 walkers (but I will swear by the fact that I was 1st overall for the walking division!). 

Another pic courtesy of Allison... approaching the finish!

See, exact same time! :)

I didn't look at the app on my phone at all during the race, just so that I wouldn't get obsessive about my pace.  Mile 1 was mostly downhill, with an average pace of 12:57.  Never thought I'd be so happy to go sub-13 LOL!   Mile 2 (the uphill one) was 13:41.  Mile 3 was mostly downhill as well, 13:45 average pace.  And the "finish" of 0.06 miles (on the track so very very flat) was 12:51 pace.  My overall pace for the race was 13:28.  I totally exceeded my expectations, as I was hoping for a sub-45 (sub-15 min/mile average).  That being said, I do not love walking!  Both of my feet fell asleep by mile 2.  I was bored until I met up with the other walker.  It was pretty out and I tried to embrace the fact that just 3 weeks ago I was still on crutches, and here I was, walking FAST!  The other great part: zero pain at all in my hip.  I was super happy for this, of course!

LOVE the mugs we got!!!

So, all in all, I'm excited that I got to do this race.  It was a great foray back into racing for me.  I saw my doctor on Wednesday and she said that when I come back in two weeks, she is planning on giving me the go-ahead to start the "return to running plan", meaning walk-run intervals!  The plan is the same one that I did with Dr. Bright last year, and it starts with walking. I told her I've already done up to 60 minutes of walking, so she said I could start at Step 3.  

I am going to do a bit of researching as well to see if I find any others.  This one was a good one for me last year, but I kind of feel that I got back into regular running too fast.  This plan actually has me back to "regular running" after 16 workouts, which could be as soon as 4 weeks if I am doing it 4x/week (I think this is what I did last time). If I back off to 3x/week, then it's more like 5.5 weeks, which sounds a bit better.  With triathlon training, 3x/week is more than enough running.  If I don't find a plan I like better, I will use this one but stick to only running 3x/week at the most.  

Chronicles of Recovering from a Femoral Neck Stress Fracture (an ongoing entry)

Updated 6/30/16

When I first Googled Femoral Neck Stress Fracture, most of what I got was doom and gloom.  People who were on crutches for 6 months and still not healed... people who were still unable to run a year after the injury... needless to say, I freaked out a bit.  Fortunately I have two friends who had the exact same injury and were able to tell me about their not-quite-so-dramatic experiences.  This blog was also very helpful, as it chronicles in detail the recovery of a runner, but her injury was less severe (a stress reaction versus a stress fracture). 

What this is, is my own personal recovery timeline.  I hope that by sharing this that others with the same injury might benefit from reading about my own journey, should they turn to Google for similar stories.  I of course am not a medical professional!  This is just my personal story, and what you take away from it is up to you.  

I plan on adding to this entry with updates, workouts, etc.

4/2--Second and final 20 miler of the training cycle!  So excited to get through it.  Zero pain during run... but groin felt sore after.  What the what?  I've never had upper leg/hip pain before.  Lots of ice and gentle stretching today and the next day (yoga class as well), but nothing really was helping.

4/4--Easy 4 miler... no pain till after the run ended, then it wasn't pretty.

4/5--A very sore groin muscle led me to call my sports med doctor for an appointment.  Had to see a colleague.  His diagnosis was what I expected: hip flexor strain.  He recommended rest.

4/6--Saw my chiropractor, who agreed with the doctor.  

4/7--Easy 4 miles HURT.  Met up with a good PT friend who felt it was NOT a hip flexor issue, but rather a joint impingement issue.  Given exercises to do.  She recommended a week of rest as well.

4/8--Saw my regular sports med doctor.  She agreed with the diagnosis of hip flexor strain and said a week off should do the trick.  

4/13--Easy 4 miles for my return to running (after 6 days of zero physical activity).  Felt off and not wonderful at all for the first 3 miles.  Good for the final mile, but pain as soon as I stopped running.

4/16--my last true run.  I ran with my marathon training buddies, and we did 6 miles.  Here is my daily mile post from that run: "It wasn't how I wanted it to be... but I was so grateful to run these miles with my girls. Hip was tight for mile 1, and anytime we stopped (e.g. crosswalks) it would hurt to start back up for the first 50 yards or so. I played with the pace to see what felt best. Miles were 8:56, 8:24, 8:30, 8:35, 8:47, 8:51. I felt best at the 8:24-8:35 pace, which gives me some hope. Post-run I'm very tight. I am getting a massage tomorrow night and I have great faith in both my massage therapist and chiro, that between the two of them I'll be running a marathon in 7 days!"   And I really felt that this would be true... that I would be able to run in my marathon.  

4/18--Running trial.  After two days of being very sore, I felt quite a bit better on Monday morning and decided to try a run with Tamara.  An easy 3-4 miles turned into 0.24 miles that ended in tears.  The pain was awful... I could barely walk, let alone run.  It was that day that I realized that the marathon would not be happening, and it was definitely a difficult day for me.

4/20--official diagnosis (via MRI) of a femoral neck stress fracture.  My doctor actually called me to let me know that I indeed wouldn't be racing that weekend.  It's never a good thing to hear your doctor's voice on the phone.  She said that I would be on crutches for up to 6 weeks, but Dr. Google told me that it likely would be longer before I was able to bear weight on my left leg.  I honestly felt relief, to finally know that there was indeed *something* wrong with me, more than just a hip flexor strain like all the doctors had been saying.  It gave some validity to my pain, knowing I actually did have a stress fracture, and that running the marathon wasn't only unwise, that it was not allowed. 

4/20-5/4--For these 2 weeks, I was totally non-weight bearing (NWB).  I used my crutches 100% of the time when I was out of the house, including when I was at work.  I will admit, I did some limping around at home.  It was almost impossible to do everything that I needed to do while on crutches--making dinner was the most difficult task, for sure. 

5/4--I saw Dr. Dick for a two-week follow-up visit.  The appointment went well, and I was given permission to start "partial weight-bearing." 

5/5-5/11--Partial weight-bearing.  I began with toe-tapping for a couple of days, then started putting more and more weight on my injured leg (still using both crutches of course).  

5/12-5/18--I started using one crutch for a part of each day.  I actually had to Google "how to walk with one crutch", as I had no clue!  Fortunately, it is a very natural movement for me, and within a few days I was almost as fast with one crutch as I was when I walked pre-injury.  The best part: I had one free hand, so I could actually carry things again!  I increased the amount of time that I used just one crutch (versus two) as the week went on, so that by 5/18 I was only using one crutch for the majority of the day.

5/18--I saw Dr. Dick for a four-week follow-up visit.  Things were still looking great, and I got permission to start weaning off the crutch.  I started using only one crutch 100% of the time on 5/19.

5/19-5/24--Each day, I used my crutch less and less.  Some days I'd be a bit achier than others, so I would just use the crutch a bit more on those days.  

5/25--my first day of 100% walking without the crutch!  I wasn't at school (professional development day = sitting around listening to others talk), which was ideal for my first crutch-less day.  I overdid it a bit over Memorial Day weekend (5/28-5/30) for sure... I swam at Alum Creek twice (1.5 miles and .75 miles) and did my first true "recovery walk" of 1.6 miles with a neighbor friend.  By Monday evening I was achy and realized I needed to take things a bit slower.  Fortunately a couple of days off did the trick, and I was as good as new! 

At this point (6/6/16), I am working to slowly build up my strength and endurance again with walking, swimming, and very easy cycling (learning how to ride clipped in!).  Below is a list of the workouts that I have done since beginning my recovery (going all the way back to my first swim workout in early May):

6/8/16--I saw Dr. Dick for a seven-week follow-up visit.  Another great appointment.  Dr. Dick had me do the "hop test", which I was pretty nervous about.  I was able to successfully hop without pain on my injured leg, which is pretty phenomenal!  Going back in two more weeks and barring any unforeseen circumstances, we will be discussing my return to running!

6/22/16--My final appointment with Dr. Dick!  Things look great and I'm officially "released" from her care, at least for this injury.  She wrote a script for me to have a gait analysis done at OSU Sports Med Endurance Clinic. I am super-psyched for this analysis!  For my return to running plan, I am following this plan, which I found and decided on after a lot of Googling.  I will chronicle the workouts with this plan below as well (separate heading from the walks I've been doing).  


Walking workouts:
5/29--1.24 miles (19 minutes) @15:17/mile
6/2--1.63 miles (30 minutes) @ 18:00/mile
6/3--2.32 miles (36 minutes) @ 15:39/mile
6/4--3.1 miles (49 minutes) @ 15:50/mile **note: right foot got numb after about 30 minutes
6/6--4 miles (64 minutes) @ 15:34/mile **note: right food numbness again... wtf???
6/7--2.45 miles (34 minutes) @ 14:07/mile
6/9--3.00 miles (44:48) @ 14:57/mile
6/12--3.06 miles (41:12) @ 13:28/mile **BOTH feet numb after about 30 min.
6/13--3.17 miles (45:40) @ 14:25/mile **right foot numb after 30 min.
6/15--3.1 miles (45:00) @ 14:31/mile
6/19--1 mile (13:48) @ 13:48/mile **after a bike as part of a "brick"
6/20--4 miles (57:08) @ 14:17/mile
6/23--2.8 miles (40:00) @ 14:17/mile
(continued below with return to running workouts)
Swimming workouts:
5/4--1200 yards pulling
5/9--2000 yards pulling
5/14--2000 yards (pulling with some drills and very easy swimming mixed in at the end)
5/18--1500 yards swimming (very very easy)
5/28--OWS (1.5 miles)
5/30--OWS (.75 miles--1:36/100)
6/4--OWS (.73 miles--1:36/100)
6/8--OWS (.73 miles--1:36/100)
6/16--OWS (.99 miles--1:44/100)
6/18--OWS (1.45 miles--1:32/100)
6/22--OSW (.72 miles--1:35/100)
6/25--OWS (race) (2.44 miles--1:31/100)
6/30--OWS (.98 miles--1:32/100)

Cycling workouts:
6/3--5.02 miles (12.6 mph)
6/5--8.88 miles (12.4 mph)
6/11--11.91 miles (15.7 mph)
6/12--20.46 miles (14.9 mph)
6/15--13.22 miles (16.2 mph)
6/16--11.85 miles (16.6 mph)
6/18--29.79 miles (16.0 mph)
6/19--10.25 miles (16.6 mph)
6/21--17.35 miles (15.2 mph)
6/22--11.84 miles (17.1 mph)
6/27--10.28 miles (16.4 mph)
6/30--11.92 miles (16.5 mph)

Return to running workouts (based on this plan):
Phase 1: Walking program (completed prior to 6/22)
Phase 2: Plyometric routine (completed 6/20)
Phase 3: Walk/jog progression
*Stage 1: 5 min walk/1 min jog x 5 (6/23 and 6/27)
*Stage 2: 4 min walk/2 min jog x 5 (6/29)

Baby-stepping right along...

It has been 44 days since my last run (and I am not counting that one attempt with Tamara two days before my injury was diagnosed, as it was 0.24 miles--but if I were counting, 42 days).  For some reason, it doesn't feel like it has been as long as the time that I was off last year for injuries (49 days).  I think that is mostly due to the fact that I am in no rush to start running again.  My running partners are chomping at the bit to get me back out there with them.  Don't get me wrong, I miss the time we spent together, but do I miss running right now?  Nope.  I am perfectly content with walking.  

Yes, WALKING! I am walking!  I saw Dr. Dick again on May 18th for my 4-week follow-up.  She was again very pleased with my progress, and said that I could continue with partial weight-bearing and work towards walking again.  I spent the next week using one crutch (I got super fast at "walking" with one crutch, and it opened up a whole new world as I could carry things again!), and every day I added in a bit more walking without the crutch.  My first day without using crutches at all was on May 25th.  It was an easy day for me as I had a professional development for work (read: sit on my butt for most of the day), so it was a good day to start walking again.  Yesterday (May 29th) I asked my neighbor if she'd go on a walk with me.   She's been walking our neighborhood so I knew she'd be in.  We did our "little loop" (it's around 0.6 miles) twice.  I was tickled with my 1.24 miles in under 19 minutes!  

I am feeling good, overall.  I don't have any pain, which is a good thing. I do feel achy at times.  That's when I take a step back and try to sit a bit more.  I think it's my body's way of reminding me that I need to take this recovery sloooooowly.  I am ever so grateful that I am able to walk now, that's for sure!  Also, I was able to get in the water on Saturday for my first open water swim of the season!  It was COLD... 63 degrees!  Thank goodness for my wet suit, although sleeves would have been nice.  Actually, once I started going, it wasn't too awful.  I did 2 lengths of Alum Creek "Beach" with Carrie, and 2 more with Robin, for a total of about 2400 yards (1.5 miles).  I was reminded how much more I prefer open water swimming to pool swimming.  The waves from the jet skis nearby weren't fun, but I love just swimming, not having to think about anything but where the buoys are. I have an open water swimming race on June 25th. I am supposed to do the 1 mile swim, but I may bump it up to 2 miles if I'm feeling good that day.  

Right now, that's the only race on my schedule. I am trying to not dwell on the upcoming triathlon season, but it's hard.  I was really looking forward to the races that I had planned.  I am hoping to get out on my bike very soon (I am now cleared for easy cycling), and perhaps I will find an Aqua-Bike race to do later on this summer... or at least another open water race.

Of course, I have been thinking about the long-term.  I know what I should NOT do, and that is rush into another marathon.  As much as I want to qualify for Boston in the near future (as in this fall), I can't let myself do it.  Not yet.  I see myself perhaps trying to do a 5K race in the late fall (e.g. November)... maybe a half in the spring.  I also see myself turning into a year-round triathlete... meaning, not really running a ton, but training for all three disciplines.  This might be the best way for me to stay-injury free.  I would love a year without injuries.  These are just my wandering thoughts... nothing is set in stone, nor will it be for awhile.  Right now, I'm honoring the recovery, loving the walk, grateful for it all. 

Ahead of schedule!

Finally, at last, something is going my way.   The timeline for a femoral neck stress fracture recovery is pretty lengthy.  I have had two friends who had this exact injury; one was on crutches for 8 weeks and the other for 3 months.  Neither ran for 4 months.  From my research on the Internet, this is pretty much par for the course.  Most people are on crutches for 8-12 weeks, and then slowly start walking and then intervals with running.  

I saw my doctor two weeks after my initial diagnosis on April 20 for a follow-up.  I wasn't sure what to expect--if she'd want to do an x-ray to look for new bone growth or what.  At my appointment, she did some of the same exercises that she used to diagnose my injury.  There was minimal discomfort, so she said I could start "partial weight bearing", which means I can put some weight on my injured leg!  I started with just "toe-touching", which is basically using the crutches as normal, but putting my toe down to test the waters.  

After a few days, I moved to adding 25% of my body weight, then 50%.  After a week, I have graduated to one crutch!  I use the crutch on my good side, moving it in unison with my injured leg.  With every stage in this process, I have felt a bit of discomfort (not sharp pain) after the first day, but within two days I am good.  I see my doctor again this coming Wednesday, which will be 4 weeks post-diagnosis. I am crossing all fingers and toes that I might actually get to start walking without my crutches in the next couple of weeks! 

The other great thing is that I am allowed to swim!  Well, not exactly swim, but pull with a pull buoy.  And no pushing off the wall with my injured leg.  I've been three times in the past 1.5 weeks.  Today was the first time that I took the pull buoy off and swam without it, with some VERY light kicking for about 200 yards.  Like, almost nonexistant... and there was zero pain.  The Sunday before my diagnosis, I swam and I definitely had discomfort when I kicked.  So this was a very very happy moment today!  

More than anything right now, I just want to walk.  I am honestly very scared of running right now. I have no interest in jumping into it!  My summer vacation starts in a couple of weeks, and I want to be able to go to the park with the kids and not be hobbling around.  Right now, a nice long leisurely walk sounds heavenly!

This is actually a good time for this injury, as April and May are super-busy months for us with spring activities for the kids.  The worst part is that I miss my friends.  I got to have an early coffee date with Amanda one day, and Allison S. another.  I met Amy for fro-yo and a park date with our kids.  And Kim came over and gel-manicured my nails.  It's not the same as complaining through our early-morning miles, of course, but it's something.  I did have to unfollow my running pages on Facebook... having every single post on my feed with running as the subject was just too much.  I know I will be back, but for now my focus is on not thinking about when that will happen.