Patiently Waiting, Meeting Michellie, A New Gig and Jessi's Bag of Tricks

Still no running. It's been 2 1/2 weeks. The ankle sprain is lingering, and I don't want to make a bad situation worse. Just another lesson in learning to be patient and listen to my body. Thankfully, I can bike pain-free, swim (sometimes with a pull buoy) and strength train, so I'm not a total bum! But I never thought I'd crave running so much....

In the meantime, some pretty cool stuff has been going on (notice super-long blog title). I met an awesome triathlete/endurance sports enthusiast, Roman Mica, who runs a legit website called EverymanTri.com. It's got the latest news, interviews, etc., on everything going on in the tri world and endurance sports, with updates throughout the day. He also has writers who test and review tri gear for the site, and yours truly is now part of that team. Check out my first gear review here.

And on the topic of meeting people, I also had a chance to meet and talk with Michellie Jones at the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona pre-race expo. Totally rad person, very down to earth... everything I expected. I, on the other hand, actually became a little star-struck when I finally spoke with her!She and Triathlete Magazine Publisher John Duke were featured speakers at the expo. Basically triathlon royalty! Kind of funny because in the sea of race participants & expo browsers, I don't think too many people realized the significance of these two publicly talking and answering questions. Of the thousands scrambling around, only a handful made it to their chat. Of course I was one. My friend and I did a bike ride that morning, and all the while I kept saying, "we have to be at the expo by 1:30, I haaaave to see Michellie!" I feel a little more connected to her these days since I'm riding a Felt complete with SRAM components too. Not as amazing as hers, but it's a start :)

Michellie was running the half-marathon and said that her coach instructed her to run at a specific HR, which she was not allowed to go above. With that, she didn't know what time she'd run. Checked results the next day, and she did it in like 1:26. Amazing for not being able to "go all out!" Next, watch for her in Ironman Australia...

As for me, I didn't run in RNRAZ (I told Michellie my sprain story, and she commended me for staying off the ankle...it's not easy to do when you're all caught up in the race vibe)! Also, volunteering didn't work out due to our limited transportation options, and on race morning I was craving exercise. Bike ride! But I woke up so early that I had to sit around and wait for it to get light enough to safely ride. I planned a loop that eventually had me riding along the race course. Fun to see a race from that perspective.

...watching the runners about to finish, left the Felt in CA...

...gotta love the bands who are willing to set up and play at dawn, not the most "rock n roll" thing to do...

Lastly, I had another run-in with a pro-triathlete... Jessi Stensland. She was the guest speaker at the OC Tri Club meeting last week, and I didn't get to talk to her one-on-one, but I totally enjoyed listening to her. She's all about "being an athlete" first, in other words, building a fit body that will let you perform amazingly in your given sport. That means lots of core work, physical-therapy-type exercises, having good posture, stretching, strength training, etc., to keep all parts of the body in superb shape and injury-free. She swears by the Core Performance program, and after checking out their website, I was impressed with how many free videos and resources they have! It's cool because a lot of it's built around the idea that it doesn't take hours to benefit from the exercises; it can be 1 to 15 minutes of "body maintenance," i.e. a 5-minute warmup routine that will make your swim that much better. I recommend taking a look, I'm definitely going to start taking advantage!!

One thing that I related to and found pretty funny were the things Jessi "never leaves home without." This consisted of a running stick (pictured), quad roller, a set of exercise bands, tennis balls and some other workout stuff. Only an athlete would understand....

Twisted Ankle ... and a 1/2 Marathon on Sunday?

Set off for a trial run Wednesday morning with my mom and dog, Sydney, at Santiago Truck Trail. I love the network of running/riding trails by my house; Truck Trail happens to start at the top of my favorite 15-20% grade hill that I climb about 2x a week on my bike (Modjeska Grade Road), and if you look to the west there's Whiting Ranch, another great running trail (minus past mountain lion incidents)...

So, you can imagine my devastation when this whole area was on fire back in October 2007 (that image below brings back sad memories). Took more than a year for everything to reopen. I have such a greater appreciation for it all now, and one day, I plan on making the trek from Santiago Truck Trial all the way up to the top of Saddleback Mountain (summit of about 5,500 ft; Santiago starts at 1,600 ft). But I digress...

I hadn't done any trail running since the Xterra 15k race cause I've been focusing on interval training and running flater, longer distances at a faster pace, as I have the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in Arizona next Sunday, well, at this point, I think I have a race.

We started out on Santiago Truck Trail, which is essentially all uphill going out. I was huffin right away. You get pretty secluded in the mountains, too, peaceful but kinda freaky (we carried pepper spray). At 5 miles deep, we made our turnaround to head back for a total of 10 miles; I was looking forward to the descent. By mile 6, I was going at a sub-6:30 pace (that's hauling for me). I approached a sharp turn that was all rocky and full of ruts... Didn't slow down... Being a little too careless... Paid the price...

I rolled my ankle. Uh oh.

The ligaments in my foot were traumatized and throbbing; it wasn't as much my ankle that hurt. But something wasn't right. Sydney was with me, my mom several minutes behind. So I limped around a bit waiting for her and dreading what this could mean for me. Plus, there were still 4 miles back to the truck.

After a while, the pain subsided a bit, and we set off at a walk/slow jog. Somehow I got ahead of my mom (adrenaline high I guess) and eventually was waiting with Syd at the truck. Foot throbbing, but not too bad. Theeeen... She finally comes along ... and she's all bloody! Turns out, she tripped over some rocks and fell, scraping her leg, hand, etc., hurting her foot, too, and jerking her neck. She was OK, a little disoriented and in pain, but OK thankfully. Too add to the adventure, we later discovered Sydney got two ticks on the run. Geez, all three of us!

I iced my foot on and off the rest of the day, by Thursday there was minor swelling but it felt pretty good. Good enough to go with my friend on a 32-mile bike ride on PCH from Huntington to Laguna Beach and back.

However, this morning I attempted to swim, bad idea. Not having my foot securely in place (i.e. in a bike shoe clipped in) aggravated the ligaments/problem area, and pain and swelling ensued. Made it through 1,000 yds and realized one swim wasn't worth damaging my foot further.

So now I sit here with a swollen foot (maybe the bike was too much) not sure if I'll be able to run in a 1/2 marathon next Sunday. And even if I feel fine by then, I don't know if I should run at that level/intensity so soon! Oh man.........not cool.