Stress fractures and broken toes: A year plagued with injuries

(Buckle up, because this will be wordy with very very few photos!)

It all started when I decided to go for a late afternoon run, sometime in mid-May 2015. I was training for my (least) favorite race, The Mickelson Trail Marathon and had put off a weekend long run, thinking I could squeeze in 10 miles on a Wednesday. First of all, that is NEVER a good idea. 10 miles on a weekday? Ridiculous. Anywho, I was about .5 miles (aka 1/2 mile. ONE HALF MILE) into said 10 mile run, when I kicked a piece of deadly flagstone with my right foot and ate shit.It wasn’t a graceful fall either, far from it. The abrupt stop caused by the jutting out flagstone had me flying through the air – I landed on my left hand, knee and foot. I pulled the pebbles out of hands, let the people smoking in front of the mental health center know that I was, in fact OK, and kept going. I was 5ish miles in when I couldn’t bear the throbbing coming from the big toe on my right foot, soooo, I called an Uber. Thats right. I ran 5 miles and then called an Uber for a ride home. Classic.

I had an appointment w/ my amazing chiropractor (shout out to Dane Borman) that afternoon, so I decided to ask him to order an xray to check on my toe – because I was limping all over the place and I couldn’t put pressure on that toe at all. The X-ray came back positive, I had a fracture in the big toe on my right foot….this was a pretty sweet diagnosis three weeks out from a half marathon. So, I did the right thing- took a week off of running (because, the fracture wasn’t bad enough to warrant taking more time off than that…ahem). I decided, at that point, I wouldn’t be ready for the race w/ out having gone above 8 miles and having taken so much time off. So I became the world’s best race mom. I dropped my running kiddos off at their respective starting lines, I prepared a cooler full of beers for said runners after the race, I purchased snacks and sunblock for our finish line party and I kept the car cool for everyone to ride in comfort back to our house.

(that’s my beefy arm handing KJ a cold beer at the finish line of Mickelson Trail Marathon)

I enjoyed my support duties – but I knew i couldn’t revel in being off my feet for too long, because I had a bunch of shit coming up that needed to be trained for. Oh speaking of other things to train for, this was my 2015 summer schedule:

1. June 7th -Deadwood 1/2 marathon
2. July 11 – Pacing a friend in Leadville for the last 16 miles of her 50 mile race
3. July 18 – Epic Relay (18 miles total, over a 24 hour period)
4. August 8 -Ragnar Relay (15ish miles total, over a 24 hour period)
5. Mid-September – Imogene Pass (17 miles over a damn mountain pass)

This was, by far, the most aggressive race schedule I had EVER considered.  Needless to say, losing three weeks at the beginning of it, wasn’t ideal.

But I plugged away. Jed and I hit lots of trails around the Denver area, spending hours dodging mountain bikers, in preparation for the Leadville event. I had three weeks to get my shit together enough to run w/ someone from sea level for the last 16 miles of her 50 mile race.

The day before the race I felt like i did what I could and was hoping my previous experience and the three week surge in trail running, would carry me. I felt confident I was prepared.

Spoiler alert, I wasn’t.

I’m so glad we decided to bring along our friend Erin, who is, by far, a much stronger runner than I am. She provided the much needed moral support, to my friend Bobbi – while I spent 3 hours chasing after the two of them, asking other racers if they had seen MY runner. It was a disaster.

Half way through the race I started feeling a slight twinge (super specific medical term) in my left leg. It was right above the pointy ankle bone thingy (again, super specific medical term). It felt tight and throbby – I immediately thought it was some BS tendon business, so I promptly took my tiger tail to it and rolled it out as hard as I could. (In hindsight, this was not the best plan).

I had zero time to recover from the Leadville debacle before it was time to run the epic relay , the next weekend.

I’ve done the relay for five years  and there was only one year where I WASN’T the first runner. (that was due to the fact that I was still recovering from a broken leg in 2013 and I needed a shorter/easier leg…are you seeing a pattern here?).Runner number 1 has the third most difficult leg in the race –  It’s pretty gnarly with 7.68 uphill’ish for the first leg, 3 miles straight downhill for the second and then 7 miles straight uphill in the middle of the night, for the last one. Being runner number 1 was my favorite because I got my first run out of the way….first. Same in roller derby, I loved being the first jammer.

But I digress.

At mile 4 on leg number 1 the route began to descend – a much needed respite from the uphill. At this point my left leg was beyond achy, it straight up HURT. I was convinced, though, it just needed a good stretch. So I spent a few minutes on the top of this hill stretching.

As I came down that hill, and back up the other side, I felt better. The stretching worked and I went on my merry way.

The pain stayed at bay until my last leg. I started out slow and steady – running at 2am is tough. I could feel my leg ache as I began, but I figured that was stiffness after riding in a car for 4 hours. Fifteen minutes in, the “running” turned to hobbling and then the hobbling turned to straight up walking. Thankfully, my awesome teammate KJ saw me struggling and she joined me for the next 4ish miles. (I am not saying I’m afraid of the dark, but I’m saying I didn’t want to go at that long leg, in the pitch black, alone)

When I finished that leg I knew something was seriously wrong. I could hardly walk w/ the pain shooting up the inside of my left shin. BUT since I had another relay in two weeks, I found some ice and some KT tape and hit the trail for another run the Wednesday after the Epic.

 

Super.Good.Plan

I finally got in to see a doctor on the 5th of August. Two full weeks after the Epic and two days before Ragnar. The doc took xrays, poked around a bit and diagnosed a stress fracture. She suggested I follow up with a sports medicine doc to confirm, but that was her story and she was sticking to it.

I saw Dr. Poddar at CU Sports Medicine and he agreed, it was likely a stress fracture. The treatment? Two weeks in a walking boot.

Alright, two weeks, I can handle that.

J/K.

SIX WEEKS in the boot when my doctor finally decided to do the MRI.

Three days later I received the results:

Level 3 (out of 4) stress fracture.

With that diagnosis I was told I should be on crutches for a 7-10 days.

And the end of that 10 days on crutches, I had been in the boot for six weeks.

I headed back to the doctor after 8 full weeks in the boot and he wasn’t convinced I was at a point where I could start walking again w/out the boot, soooooooooooooo another two weeks it is.

Then it was another two weeks….

And another two weeks.

Finally, on October 22nd the doc told me I could start weening myself out of the boot. (for those of you who aren’t great at math, or have started skimming the repetitive bits of this, I was in the boot for a total of THIRTEEN WEEKS)

I started with ONE boot free hour for day one, then TWO and then THREE, etc. Until November 3rd (I’ll always remember that date b/c it was my BFF’s wedding!) I was able to go 8 full hours w/out the big black boot. It was glorious to wear two “normal shoes” for a whole day.

The funny thing about stress fractures is that they don’t hurt all the time, just when you’re being stupid and over training. So throughout the time I was in the boot I was still teaching skating (I’d spend an hour out of the boot twice a week, merely standing on the ice yelling out orders). I’d show up to the rink, in the boot and change into my skates despite the speculative looks from parents and other coaches and I’d hit the rink. Of course, in hindsight, this probably wasn’t the GREATEST thing to be doing for myself, but i had kids to coach and commitments to keep. (read: spare me the lecture, I’ve given it to myself a hundred times)

Through the 13 weeks of #bootlife I found myself looking for exercises I could do seated or on my back (pause for inappropriate laughter). I discovered Daily Burn – their “live to fail” program became my go to.

 

 

Along with their amazing pilates videos – I managed to keep myself going w/ workouts, which is something I didn’t manage to do the first time I was injured.

In addition to Daily Burn, I turned to Fitness Blender for their sweet lower body mat videos. And when I started to crave cardio (who does that?!) I found these awesomely goofy and effective videos on youtube:

Quick and Quiet Seated Cardio

and

40 minute seated cardio workout

and this one worked, in a pinch:

Injured/disabled/lazy

When it was time to finally start physical therapy, I had a leg up (another pause for laughter). A lot of those cardio workouts helped w/ core and hip flexor strength, something that greatly suffers when you’re #bootbound.

I did 10 weeks of PT at CU Sports Medicine, where Greg helped me with their return to running program. It started off with simple stretching and mobility exercises to slowly re-introducing movement to that joint that was semi-immobile for 13 weeks. Each couple of weeks he’d add a new exercise or series of exercises that focused on core, glute and calf strength.

Before I knew it we were 8 weeks in and I was finally allowed to step on the treadmill for 1 minute of running, five times, with one minute of walking in between. Those first few minutes on the treadmill marked the first time I had run in nearly 6 months. This was the longest streak I’d gone w/out running, in my adult life (because, let’s be honest, teenage Elizabeth HATED running with a burning, fiery passion)

My facebook post from February 12, 2016. Spoiler Alert, this is not the end of my injury story

 

Fast Forward to February 18th, 2016. Jed and I hopped on a plane to Brazil for his brother’s wedding. We had 10 days planned, 3 of which would be spent in Sao Paulo and the other 7 would be spent on a cruise.

Because I didn’t want to lose my recovery momentum, I did some research and found out that place we would be staying at in SP was right near the largest park in the city. Perfect for 1 minute running intervals. In addition, the cruise ship had a fully equipped gym w/ tons of treadmills. So I was all set.

February 23rd, our second full day on the boat and our first full day at sea. Our plan was to do some fitness in the morning and then lounge on the deck – crushing books and caipirinhas. It started off as planned, we worked out in the steamy fitness center

hit the showers and then headed out to the deck to find the best lounge spot (one in the shade, but with the option to be in the sun, easily).

As we were walking down the stairs I stepped off the bottom stair and jammed my toe, rolled my ankle and fell down. Perfect. I was wearing flip flops, so there was zero protection for my foot against the stair. Immediately I my stomach sunk and the only thought in my head was “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu*#, I broke my foot”.

We headed to the boat infirmary where met with a doctor AND a nurse who spoke ZERO English. Through google translate and manic hand gestures, they told me to come back to get an Xray the next day and to ice for 7 hours. After wrapping my foot, they carefully placed it back in my flip flop – handed me some old timey crutches and a handful of pain pills and told me to scram. I kept trying to ask them if it was broken, by making the “snapping” hand movements, reminiscent of how the Macho Man snaps into a slim jim, but it didn’t translate. Shocker.

Sooooooooo, I did as told. I spent our entire first day at sea, in bed, with my leg elevated and iced:

Jed re-wrapping

ice and elevate. GOT IT

The following day we were scheduled to take a tour of the city of Salvador . I debated as to whether or not I should stay on the boat and rest. I mean, I did just potentially break my foot – BUT I was still able to hobble on it, so I figured it couldn’t actually be broken. I made the decision to go on the tour b/c, well, VACATION.

Needless to say I didn’t go back to the doctor on the boat for an Xray. Can you imagine having a diagnostic xray by someone who doesn’t speak your language AND doesn’t take your insurance? Nao Obrigado! (no thank you ).

The trip went on, I didn’t really slow down much. Of course I didn’t continue running, which was such a bummer. OF COURSE I would re-injure myself after just being cleared to run. Literally TWO WEEKS after getting back on track to running, I fell off the stair.

We returned to the US on the 28th of February and I finally broke down and went back to see Dr. Poddar on March 14th.

Partial Fracture of the fifth metatarsal and a whole buncha’ inflammation (read: bummed out tendons and ligaments)

You can guess what happened next – Yup, back in the boot.

Back to seated cardio workouts and pilates.

Back to square 1 in PT.

21 days in the boot did the trick. Once i received the all clear,  Dr. Poddar banned me from their offices and ordered a 6 weeks of physical therapy.

I started WAY WAY WAY over w/ Greg for PT. Because this injury involved more than what the stress fracture did, we spent much more time on mobility and stretching. The ligaments on top of my foot were a disaster and there was an actual fracture – so we were a little more cautious about any hopping or plyo.

After six weeks of slow and steady progression, I was cleared to “run” a bit on the treadmill. It began with 1  week of 3×1 (one minute intervals, three times), then 4×1 and then 5×1. Then finally back to where I was before I was reinjured:

Today, 6/29/16, I am running for 4 minutes straight (wahoooo) w/ 1 minute of walking in between running, 5 times. So a total of 20 minutes running. 30 minutes total with warm up and cool down. It’s pretty exciting 🙂 I’m more determined than ever to get back to pounding the pavement in a safe and healthy manner. I’m not in the business of being back in a walking boot any time soon.

The reason behind this ridiculous blog? A reminder to ME and maybe YOU to slow down and listen to your body. It truly has the answers and if you chose to tell it to F – off when you’re not feeling 100%, it will F you harder than you ever imagined.

Because I was stubborn and NOT smart about my race schedule, I missed an entire year of going on runs with my husband,trail runs with friends, snowshoe trips, ski trips, bike rides, roller skating adventures, etc. I lost 13 months of making the most of our gorgeous state. SUCH a bummer.

I am more than making up for it this summer though. I’m hitting the trails for hikes with friends (Jed even bought me hiking boots, so I’m 100% legit and protected!) every weekend and we’ve discovered stand up paddleboarding. I’m cautiously going through the steps of the above chart while building my strength in the basement gym.

I’m not about to jinx anything, so I’m going to end with this:

I’m right where I’m supposed to be. My focus stays on today’s training and nothing beyond that.

 

TL/DR

13 months since my first injury – broken toe May 2015

13 weeks in a walking boot b/c of a stress fracture from overtraining

14 weeks of PT b/c of stress fracture

3 days on a cruise before my third injury – a partial fracture and busted up ligaments

21 days back in a walking boot

4 minutes, 5 times is how long I can run at this time (6/28/16)

 

Ikimashoka?!

Ikimashoka or Ikimashoka means, in Japanese, Shall we go? I started this blog 5 years ago and named it what I did, as I felt, then, that nothing else embodied me more, than that phrase. Shall we go? I’ve always been on the move, taking exotic random vacations, or deciding to live in a faraway place for a little while. With all of those trips and stints abroad, I always knew I would have a home to come back to. A back patio that I could sit on, sip a coors light and watch the sunset behind the soybean field. A home that required zero effort and relieved me of every single stressor in my body.

Since April of 2015, I knew my time to go home was ticking. My parents had put their house on the market, my mother began selling items that had been hanging around the house for a while, collecting dust and a new home in the Southwest had already been acquired. The treks back to Watertown were going not only be numbered, but would also be all business.

When I left South Dakota in 2010 I brought with me, whatever I could fit in my car (stop me if you’ve heard this before). When capacity had been met, I took everything else to my parent’s garage, in Watertown….because that’s what adults do. My initial housing in Denver wasn’t permanent, or even semi permanent (read about it here), which meant no space for my tubs of photo albums and old sweatshirts.

The Nelson’s begrudgingly let me keep my junk in their garage for about 7 months and when it became clear I wasn’t going to be back w/ a large vehicle any time soon, they rented out a storage unit for it, sent me a bill and called it a day.

For nearly 4 years I sent my $20 a month to Golf Side Storage (yes, a storage unit in Watertown cost 20 smackaroos a month!) and didn’t think much about it. It had been so long that I didn’t even know what was actually housed in that unit- I thought I could simply have Jayne bring a dumpster over and empty it out and I’d be juuuuuust fine.

Fast forward, again, to August 2015.

It was an invitation to a wedding in Sioux Falls that brought us back to the state of Dakota (as Jed calls it…because, honestly, there really is only ONE!). Jed and I thought, since our jobs are flexible (in the sense that we don’t have an office and can work virtually, anywhere. Including, but not limited to; my parent’s basement, Pain Maker’s dining room and Queen City bakery), we take a WEEK and have enough time to spend with friends and family at night, while getting work done during the day. This would allow us a chance to relax in the evenings and I could go through my storage unit on my lunch hour. Perfect!

Since there was an entire production that went in to us getting to SoDak and we managed to plan every single second of our time there, it didn’t even dawn on me what cleaning out my storage unit actually meant—my life in Watertown had basically ended.

Not until the dust had settled back in Denver did I realize, there will be zero reason for me to back and visit my hometown soon. All of my belongings that once lived in a mouse filled stall on 42nd street were all now distributed between the Watertown landfill and my basement. Soon, the home in which I grew up, will be the home of another family. The deck where hundreds of beers were drank will soon have different furniture and soon, someone else will plant their 4th grade Arbor Day tree in the backyard. It’s a bizarre feeling. As if acknowledging you’re an adult isn’t tough enough, you toss in saying goodbye to your childhood home/hometown…well shit, that’s BRUTAL!

I’m glad  all of this didn’t dawn on me until I got back to Denver. I think if it had been in Watertown, I would have been a disaster and I definitely wouldn’t have been as aggressive w/ all the shit I tossed while cleaning out my stuff.

All the old photo albums, skating medals, journals and commemorative t shirts are now solely in my possession. Now that I’m done writing/re-writing/sobbing over this blog, I can get busy going through all of the above and start posting embarrassing photos of friends from throughout the years on instagram/facebook. You’re welcome in advance.

PS-in case you’re wondering, my parents are still trying to sell their house  and Jed is still trying to figure out why I thought a bleached pixie cut was a good plan during my junior year…….

Let’s get some SHOES!

TL/DR: I need a shoe guru

Oh the ever present struggle w/ running shoes. I just can’t seem to get the formula right.

I started my running journey (circa 2003) in, well, whatever appeared to be “running” shoes at TJ MAXX. I refused to pay over $40 on a pair of shoes. This left me, seriously, running in weird cross trainers. As the years went on and I realized that a pair of shoes (despite what “born to run” taught us) really CAN make a run. I bit the bullet and went to a running specific store and bought my first pair of ASICS Kayano. I was IN LOVE! I no longer hurt all the time and was actually enjoying running. (what a concept).

Since then I’ve dabbled in other brands–Saucony (blister party!! these shoes hurt my feet like CRAZY!), Mizuno (when they FIRST started making running shoes. They were inexpensive and effective.), Brooks, Adidas, etc…Not until the end of 2013 when I decided that I’d give minimal shoes a try. I had convinced myself that all the “support” and “padding” in these structured shoes weren’t helping me strengthen my feet-so picked up a pair of Nike Frees.

I LOVED THESE SUCKERS!

I ran my little heart out in them-though, at first, they hurt my tootsies. For me, they required a significant break in period. But once broken in, they were glorious….but then they broke down and that SUCKED.

Once they broke down I decided to go over to the clown shoe side and get myself set up with Altras-Jed’s favorite.

I started with the Superior-their trail running shoe. I bought these to start, as the marathon we were signed up for was the Mickelson Trail race…a stupid trail marathon in the black hills. (wait, I’ve talked about this before!). I LOVED THESE SHOES. Of course when you go straight in to a zero drop shoe and hit a brutal trail, you’re bound to have achy feet, but that was about the only time I felt uncomfortable in these shoes.

With one pair of Altras in my closet, I decided I needed to upgrade my road running Nike Frees (yes, I was still running in them, despite the breakdown and the rocks lodged in the soles). I picked up the Altra Torin and wasn’t impressed. My feet felt like they were swimming in them and I had to keep stopping to tie them tighter. I stayed the course, though, to see if it got better and it really didn’t. I was super bummed-but not deterred. I bought another pair of Altras-The One. These are on the WAY opposite end of the spectrum than where I started (with ASICS). I have been running, on and off, in them since July 2014 and have continued to have foot, leg, ankle pain. Always in my left leg-which is another story.

Because running hasn’t really been fun and has been causing me a ton of pain, I’ve really not being doing it lately. I miss it. I miss it a lot. So I decided to quit being a baby and get back out there. I feel like running is that weird Catch 22, where, the more you do it, the less it hurts, but it hurts so much to get going. Oy.

Anywho, after having a rough running month, I had to take a good look at my gear. My shoes just aren’t cutting it. Sadly I think I need to chuck the minimal shoes for now. A couple nights ago, Phoebe came over for a little night run and she lent me her Nike Zoom Structures. Although this particular pair of shoes had LOTS of miles on them (I can tell you exactly where Phoebe pronates!) they still felt great…and I felt good! I had less pain in my calf, needed less time “stretching” and complained WAY LESS than I had in the past. So there’s that.

What I’m trying to say with all of this rambling, is I need a shoe guru. I need someone to do a full blown fitting/analysis of my stride AND my cross training/etc because I honestly want to be back out there, pounding the pavement…but it just hurts SO MUCH!

eliminate the negative

Oh that negative self talk voice has been all up in my business lately. FOR NO GOOD REASON. Well, there’s sorta a good reason….my 28 Day detox journey isn’t garnering the weight loss results as I had hoped. Now, that’s not to say I’m not seeing results. I feel really great, I’m less bloated/sluggish during the day, I am dropping inches (nearly 5 inches so far!) and the best part, I feel like I’m in control of my eating/drinking again. At the beginning of this process all of those things were my goals. Weight loss was secondary–but I guess, in the back of my mind, I truly was hoping I would be one of those people that lost a good amount of weight during the cleanse.

This week I’ve been reminded of all of the emotions I wrap up with my weight and numbers on the scale. It’s unfortunate that something as silly and trivial as a number on the scale can completely ruin my day. I know this is the case for lots of women (and men)…I can tell myself, until I’m blue in the face, that weight doesn’t matter it’s how I feel , but I can generally ignore that and just remain pissy about the scale.

But, I digress……as the 28 days wind down (I’m on day 24-whoa!) I’m starting to think about what’s going to happen after all of this. I am fairly certain I will employ some of the habits I’ve formed while on the detox:

• drinking a metric fuckton of water
• smoothies for a meal
• less soy, gluten and bread

Things I will definitely add back in are:

• PROTEIN! Oh how I’ve missed you seitan and tofu (in moderation, you dingus!)
• a less chalky vegan protein powder
• COFFEE
• A glass of red wine here and there….maybe even a vodka soda once in awhile.
• Cottage cheese. So delicious!

So that’s that. Week 4 is in full swing and I’m not about to give up hope of carving off a few more lbs before this is all said and done! Back at it!

forgive me…

…..for I have not blogged in 10 days. TEN DAYS. Way to blow a resolution in the first three weeks of the year. Slacker.

It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind the last seven days. I headed to Las Vegas with my Hello Promo team last Monday and returned late Wednesday night. Between the 17,000 – 22,0000 steps each day I was wiiiiiiped each night. James and I got out for a little run one day and I had grand intentions of hitting the Mandalay Bay fitness center the other days, but hot damn, were my feet killing me. I made the rookie mistake of wearing shoes with no support, to an event which required standing/walking from 10am-5:30pm. Blerg. Never. Again. Although I missed some workouts, I still kept up with the plan (aside from a celebratory toast or two to 2015!)…

Breakfast and Lunch

I had a great time on the expo floor and found some great new items for my clients! I love that this is my job:

On Thursday we got houseguests in the form of my derby wife Jayme “Pain Maker” and her husband Devon (my old lady’s old man). They came ready to take advantage of all the fun that Denver has to offer. We had parties, we visited breweries, we checked out mountain views…we did it all. It was lovely to have visitors (especially those that do the dishes and cook you breakfast). Although I wavered a little on my program while we had guests, I did have some big wins! I didn’t eat the nutella pizza which magically appeared at our table at one point…I also didn’t give in to the beignets and biscuits when we had breakfast at Luciles (if you’ve ever had these two items, you will know how difficult it is to turn those suckers down!)-so I’m celebrating those instead of wallowing in my past indiscretions.

I’m back on track in a big way this week…tonight I whipped up a delicious “lentil loaf” which looked like this:

Not like this:

These little ugly suckers were pretty delicious! We’ve got a buttload of leftovers, which will be great for salads, etc for the coming days. I’m really digging the 28-day detox’s plan to force me to make creative meals. I’m really stepping out of my comfort zone in the kitchen and having a blast making all the dishes dirty (I mean, look at the stove in that first picture!). Jed has been super supportive of me taking the reigns in the kitchen….we’ll see how long that lasts!

I swear, I will never take 10 days off again. Blogs comin’ your way err’day.

ACTIVITIES!

What’s a new year’s resolution without a fitness goal?! I mean, nutrition is really only one piece of the pie (albeit a LARGE piece of the pie…..mmmm, why did I start talking about pie….I mean, I could have just as easily used puzzle, piece of the PUZZLE. Sheesh. Always food with this one), what’s a diet without some good ol’ fashioned exercise? I figured I better do some fitness discussion before it gets too late to announce my goals…I mean, let’s face it, you can’t announce a new year’s resolution in February. I mean, then it’s just a decision.

……….but I digress….

So, as of August 23rd 2014, I am no longer skating with the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. I know, I know, you’ve likely heard this before, but this time, I’m for real. The last time I “retired” I wasn’t ready. I watched tournaments and loooooooonged to be on the track with my team. My heart just wasn’t in to not skating. There is no doubt that when I retired at the end of 2011, I needed a break…that season was BRUTAL! So much pressure (put on me by me) and drama, derby just wasn’t fun any more. It was great to take a year off to fall back in love with the sport, I just wish I wouldn’t have announced my RETIREMENT……because, boy did I look dumb when I came BACK in 2013 to skate with RMRG. Anywho, my coming out of retirement was tough too-I busted my ass to get back on the Contenders…and then I busted my leg. I was out for the rest of the season after that (that happened a cool 4 months after returning to the track). In 2014, I couldn’t really catch my derby stride again. Between taking a year off and then breaking my leg, I just lost my edge…AND my motivation to really step up and be the skater I knew I could be/used to be. So after crushing it on the track with my beloved Sugar Kill Gang on August 23, 2014, I hung up my stinky pads for good. This time I announced that I was “taking a long break” to avoid any potential need to come back. I wanted to wait for the tournament season to end so I could see how I felt while watching the games. I felt nothing….I didn’t feel like I wanted to be out there, I loved being an armchair ref (while chugging beers!) and I LOVED seeing my friends skate their faces off and kick ass. It was great. I was finally “cool” with being an ex-derby skater…(though I’m not skating, I will always be Queen Elizabitch, don’t you forget it.)

Just your typical lead jammer shot

The Sugar Kill Gang!

Wahooooo! I was pretty stoked about something.

So, that long diatribe was supposed to get me to the fact that now that I’m done with derby, I’m losing an opportunity to workout three times a week, for 2-3 hours a time. Losing that amount of high intensity workout is a real bummer as I had depended on it to keep my ass big and my thighs bigger! So, instead of sulking, I decided to join a gym that one of my favorite derby athletes  (bijou blacknbleu) belongs to, Push Fitness..Never have I attended a group circuit where the instructors give a fuck about you and your form and your well being. It’s refreshing to get a killer workout (400+ calories burned in each 45 minute workout!) and know that the instructors care about you.  The workouts are definitely athlete focused, so I feel like I’m getting my dynamic workouts in as well as keeping my competitive spirit alive (“did that chick really pick up 20s? Well, now I have to go grab the 25s”). Group fitness is kinda my jam apparently. It’s rad and you should join with me. C’mon!

The ever constant in my life has been running…well, I guess that’s a lie. I really didn’t start running until 2003…so it’s been a constant in my life for 12 years. Whoa, that’s a pretty long time. Derby often cut in to my running time as going out and shuffling around for an hour doesn’t exactly help w/ your derby fitness (which is short periods of top exertion). I would try to get out for a few miles a couple days a week, while I was skating, because, well, I loved running. Recently, running and I have had a tumultuous relationship.  It’s just not been fun-in fact, it’s been HARD. Harder than it should be. This probably has something to do with me putting on about 30lbs…running with that much extra weight on your frame is tough. Also, I kinda started sucking at it. I did a couple races (The Mickelson Trail and Phoenix Rock and Roll) and both of them completely blew and hurt my feelings. I decided I needed to find a race that I could potentially succeed at (read: not a 14 mile uphill on a trail and then 12 miles downhill), so I chose The Colfax Marathon. It’s in Denver, it’s on a route I know and like and well, it’s a road race. I realize it’s in May and it can be balls hot in May, so I know that this race won’t be without obstacles. But I think it will be a good race “palate cleanser”. In addition to Colfax, we’ve decided to go ahead and sign up for the Mickelson Trail Marathon’s HALF. The Full has defeated me TWICE, so I feel like I can go annihilate the half.  Plus there are lots of our friends coming along for the ride, so I think it will be an awesome time! Less pressure, more time for gamblin’ and whiskey drinkin’ in one of my favorite places in the world.

My very first Half Marathon-in Otaru Japan. My mom ran the 5k!

Just about to die at the Mickelson Trail Marathon in 2012.

And, lastly in 2015, I’ve decided to start figure skating again. That’s right…I laced up the skates I wore from 1996-1999 and took my first private lesson in 15 years! I did a scratch spin, I did a back spin (fucking hell I was dizzy!), I did a loop, a toe loop, a salchow, a flip, a waltz jump…I even landed a combination jump, WALTZ JUMP/LOOP sucka! I’m going to hit the rink once a week for a while, to get my bearings. Eventually I’d like to start coaching little ones again-and maybe, just maybe, start judging. First, though, I need to make sure I can last more than 20 minutes without excruciating foot pain!

So there’s 2015’s fitness goals. I’m pretty stoked!

Oh and it’s day five of the detox and I’m feeling pretty great still. Retraining my brain to eat when hungry and to make good/healthy food choices hasn’t been easy, but I’m still plugging away. I feel like I need a shelf of blenders though-so.many.shakes! The real test will be when I go to Vegas on Monday for a trade show with my Hello Promo ladies. I’m going to keep my handbag overflowing with snacks….and I know the restaurants we’re eating at have great food options-it’s just that our hotel is home to Red Square…the best bar in Vegas. I do love my vodka. Oy. What’s a girl to do? We’ll find out, I guess 🙂

Time to hit the pavement to see if I actually CAN run any more…

I felt like a junkie today

Today I felt like every five minutes there was an eating trigger. Whether it was me finishing a proposal, or getting off a call, I found myself getting up and wandering to the kitchen. I realized, this evening, just how much I have been mindlessly grazing: A couple bites of seitan here, some baked tofu there, a handful of nuts…all on top of my three “meals” and two “snacks”. It’s no wonder the lbs started packing on. The past three days have taken the grazing out of my day but yet and until now, I’ve been feeling pretty satisfied…but today, today I was hungry. All.Day.Hungry. I ate as much as I had previously, but felt serious hanger…the only thing I did differently today is that I woke up later and sleepier than yesterday. I’m going to have to work on this whole going to be early thing.

So since I was feeling much hunger, I figured it’d be a good idea to go have dinner with KJ and Phoebe at Watercourse. I told them I felt like a junkie walking in to a heroin den (yes I realize heroin is not a joke and neither is addiction…but my addiction to those seitan wings is no joke either.) It’s tough to resist all the yummy vegan food on the menu at Watercourse, but my buddies were also eating healthy, so that helped. No one wavered and no one even TRIED to order wings. Whew, dodged the bullet. I got the seasonal veggie bowl with brown rice and a side of their French Lentil Salad. Delicious and nutritious.

This blogging every day thing is kinda tough. I don’t want keep writing about what I’m (not) eating, but I also don’t want to give up my streak (SEVEN DAYS IN SUCKA!). I’m sure I’ll work something out…but in the meantime, it’s all about Arbonne, 28 day detox and what I’m not shoving in my face hole.

All the beverages

Stop me if you’ve heard this before:

“A shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch and a sensible dinner”

Soooooooooo much to drink today, and not the cool fun kind. I mean the shakes are pretty delicious but sometimes I wish they had a little whiskey in them.

#only25moredays

Day 1 and I feeeeeeeeeeel GREAT!

This is an oldie but a goodie-It’s relevant on so many levels:

I made it through day one without a hitch. I ate clean, drank all the water I could get thirsty little mitts on (I’m currently at 128oz) and crushed a work day. I had a wee slump first thing in the morning, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I figured it was because I didn’t drink any coffee in the AM, but I realized I hadn’t slept well (thanks vivofit!) the night before….So I snuck off for an extra 15 minutes of shut eye and it did the trick.

Between the detox tea and the “fizzy” sticks, I stayed pretty alert throughout the day. In fact, I didn’t feel that normal 3pm slump that I normally do, so that’s an extra bonus.

For dinner, Jed prepared this bomb recipe for vegan enchiladas. He changed the sauce recipe as we didn’t have a lot of the items listed (there were SO MANY INGREDIENTS!)….the sauce was simply dried new mexico chilies, roasted garlic, water, a little salt and a tablespoon of cocoa…Flipping delicious….I added some Dayia cheese on top to cut the heat (the New Mexico Chilies were burners!), it was ridiculous. I’m already looking forward to lunch so I can eat some leftovers.

no dairy, no gluten, no problem. delicious “approved” enchiladas

I was super swamped at work today so I didn’t end up getting out for a run, which was kind of a bummer. I did, though, lace up my old ice skates and I hit the rink to see if I still “had it”. I don’t, just so you know. I haven’t put my skates on since 2010 and that was for about 20 minutes of skating around a tiny rink in LoDo. It’s been about 15 years since I’ve skated skated (like jumped, spun, did 3 turns, etc) so I was pretty rusty. It’s such a different dynamic than roller skating. It took me a little bit to get centered…I eventually got there…and ended up having a blast. My face hurt as much as my feet did, from smiling so much–I forgot how much fun skating can be. I can’t wait to go back.

Day one, done and done. Only 27 more to go.

One last(ish) Hurrah.

Welp, tomorrow is January 5th. The day I officially get “back on track” by way of the Arbonne 28 detox challenge. I’m so ready to quick acting like a turd, and get back to eating with purpose and putting my health and well-being ahead of delicious pizza and buzz inducing wine.

I spent my last day of “freedom” by indulging in homemade quiches and bloody marys at brunch with some dear friends and after, we watched the Colorado Avalanche (shhhh, don’t tell 16 year old Elizabeth that she was cheering for the Avs) get beat by the Columbus “Blue Jackets”, it was a great way to wrap up the last two weeks of utter gluttony from the holidays.

So yeah, that about does it for detox-eve. Tomorrow is going to be brutal, but I’m sure I’ll make it through.