All it takes is all you've got

Slowly bumping up the pace on these runs...no faster intervals yet though.

32 mile bike ride towards Lyons and back

Core work and easy run with Sarah R.

Was going to meet up with the group and do the workout at an easier pace but I went to the wrong meeting spot so I just did a steady 9 miler.

Little bit of trail running.  A few strides too.

Finally felt good enough to do some intervals.  5X4 minutes at a comfortably quicker pace.

Also finally got around to posting a bunch of pics from our vacation in France. 

Rode my road bike to Rally Sport to pool run for an hour with Katie F. and Bean.  Hit a crack too hard right before going into the parking lot and popped my back tire so I had to call for a ride home.  Beautiful day outside!!

7 a.m. run with Aaron in the misty rain.  What a perfect start to my day!

A friend from our Church is living in our basement for the summer in exchange for some free nannying.  Its great that Aaron and I can schedule with her and get out on a run together!  After my "workout" on Tuesday I have decided to stick with easy running for a while longer.  Don't think I'm quite ready for faster paced stuff yet.  I am very grateful I can get out the door for a run, even if it is slow.

Core strengthening class followed by 90 minutes of cycling with Sarah R.

Camping with the fam last night at Marshall Lake.  Went for an hour of mt. biking on the Marshal Mesa loop from our campsite this morning.  

About an hour of road biking. Up Flagstaff mountain and back.

45 minutes of P90X type exercises around the house in the morning.  20 minutes of arms-only swimming in the afternoon.  I just couldn't bear to swim any longer.  I have a hard time with swimming because I feel like my shoulder could pop out at any moment and I'm bracing for it to happen.  At least I got some exercise in today though.

Had an interesting turn of events starting with my ART appointment last week with Richey.  After a more in depth evaluation of my hip and talking about the history of this injury and how its been responding (or rather not responding) to the therapy and down time I've been having over the past couple of months, Richey suggested that we should get an MRI to rule out a potential labral tear.  

I've been avoiding exercise that causes hip pain since then. This morning I went in for a second opinion and a MRI prescription from an in-network Orthopedic Doc.  I should be able to get the MRI scheduled within the next few days and some answers shortly after.

So here I am...in the waiting place.  Trying not to read too much into it until after I see my MRI. A labral tear is not an easy fix and its depressing to think about. 

Core and upper body weights.

My sisters-in-law, Dawn and Ashley were in town visiting so I took them hiking to Mallory caves.  Between the three of us we eventually got our two two-year-olds up the mountain.  It was a fun time!  We also took the kids into NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) afterwards to explore the exhibits.

Oh, and I finally got approval from my insurance company and scheduled the MRI for Tuesday morning. 

Upper body weights and core again.  Not much else I can do that doesn't aggravate the hip.

Had somewhat of a stressful first half of the day with my 5yo having "one of those days" at Church combined with me having too much to do and not enough time, feeling rushed and unprepared for my Primary class, and guilty about it.  After a nap, things got better though.  We assembled the new BBQ grill for Father's Day and grilled some delicious kabobs and corn on the cob. My kids are sure lucky to have such an amazing Dad.  Aaron is the bomb.

This poem epitomizes Aaron's outlook on life:

 The Victor

by C.W. Longenecker

If you think you are beaten you are

If you think you dare not, you don't

If you like to win but you think you can't

It's almost certain you won't

If you think you will lose, you have lost

For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellows will

It’s all in the state of mind

If you think you are outclassed, you are.

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man.

But soon or late, the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can!

The bad news is that I dislocated my shoulder again while lifting weights.  The good news is that it didn't even really hurt this time.  My nerves and ligaments must be adjusting.  Its not as alarming when it happens anymore.  More good news is that I was in a hall where no one was around and I didn't smack anyone in the face with the weight I was holding.  I simply grabbed it with my good arm, set it down gently, and proceeded to pull my arm back into place.  At least it slides back in very reliably.

Aaron and I both woke up this morning with an unpleasant stomach ache. I wanted to stay in bed or just puke and get the pain over with but it was not happening.  I had my MRI appointment to get to so I took a shower and left Aaron to watch the kids.  

The MRI was a unique experience.  A few needles in the hip to get the contrast agent into the hip capsule and then 30-40 minutes in a tube with intermittent loud noises.  If it were quieter I could have slept but it was loud and cold.  The MRI tech, Jeremy gave me headphones with 80s music coming through so at least that helped pass the time a little easier.  

After the procedure I was still feeling sick to my stomach and becoming very hungry so I ate a granola bar in my car.  My blood sugar must have been really low and I was probably dehydrated too.  My stomach was not ready for food and I pulled over two separate times feeling like I was going to puke.  It reminded me of being pregnant...I often had to pull over because driving made me lose my lunch. This time it was not coming easily though. I'd pull over, sit there for a bit and the puke sensation would go away.  

Finally the third time I pulled over I felt hot and sweaty all over and could start to feel my brain shutting down like I was about to black out.  I quickly made a right turn off the busy street onto a side street, pulled over, jumped out of the car, and stumbled to the grass on the side of the curb when everything went black.  Not sure how long I was out but it felt like hours (probably only a minute or so).  I was having wild dreams and it was really hard to wake back up.  Finally when I came to, I wasn't sure where I was for a minute and realized I had finally puked as there was my dinner from last night and the granola bar in the grass next to me.  I must have looked like a drunk bum lying there in the grass.  Not my finest moment in life. At least no one had stolen my car.  

As I was waking up a man waked by looking very strangely at me and asked me if I needed a doctor.  Not wanting him to call an ambulance I said no, I would be okay in a few minutes.  A little more puking and cleaning up afterwards (thank goodness for baby wipes in the car at all times), and I was finally feeling slightly better.  I called Aaron not sure if I wanted him to come pick me up or if I had the stamina to drive the 30 minutes home.  After a few more minutes and a prayer, I decided to start driving again.  I felt very tired and light-headed but talked to Aaron most of the way home which helped keep me alert.

A couple of hours of sleep and finally some food and liquid and I'm feeling a little bit better but now Breanne puked too.  Great.  I hope it doesn't travel through the whole house.  My five year old nephew is staying with us this week.  We're supposed to be having fun, not puking.

The Doctor's report on the MRI will come back tomorrow and I'm going in for an appointment to see my Dr. to review the images tomorrow afternoon as well.

One hour of cycling. Went to the Dr. to interpret the results of my MRI.  The radiologist report says no labral tear but Dr. Seng thinks it looks like some fraying in the labrum.  There were a few other things he thought were suspect in the MRI so I'm getting multiple opinions.

Our friends, Danny and Jenny came into town and stayed a night with us on their way to a wedding in Fort Collins.  It was fun to catch up and spend some time with them.  Aaron and Danny ran together and then Jenny and I did a few easy miles.  We took the kids up Flagstaff road for some hiking and running around on the trails.

Easy run before packing up and heading to Utah for Aaron's race, camping with family, and other fun.  Hip feels okay as long as I keep the pace slow.

Hung out at the finish line of the Logan Peak trail run and took pics.  Aaron ran a great race and banged his knee up pretty good (see picture at the bottom of his post.)

Afterwards, I ran back to Aaron's sister's home and did 6 minutes of barefoot running at the end of my run.  Felt awesome!

Later in the afternoon I headed out on my road bike in an effort to ride from where we were in Logan to my Mom's house in Layton which was around 50 miles.  I made it about 30 miles when my tire popped (I must have hit some glass on the road?)  I changed the tube with a spare and as I was attempting to pump it up with a CO2 cartridge, I snapped the neck of the tube valve off.  Oops.  Guess I don't know my own strength.  Had to call Aaron and wait for him to come pick me up.

Nice hilly run above Mom's house.  Lots of stretching and foam roller afterwards.  Hip feels okay, little tight.

Camping in Tanner's flat campground below Snowbird.  Rode up to Alta, then all the way back down the canyon, then back up to the campground.  Took me an hour and a half.  16 miles of steep hilliness.

Hip pretty sore after the strenuous biking yesterday.  Hiked with the kids today.

Don't know my mileage since I haven't been running with a Garmin for a few weeks now.  I think it may have been close to 5 miles. Ran up to Snowbird and back.  Then I biked probably 30 miles or so from our Tanner's flat campground to Ashley's house in North Salt Lake.  Went along Wasatch Blvd up to the University of Utah and then down through the avenues to Highway 89.  Took me a couple of hours.  I thought of Allie as I crossed Sunnyside Blvd.