Let's hug it out

Triathalon trouble

I have been training for the CDA Race to the River Triathlon. It's a mini tri and my wonderful friend Katie and I signed up together (Ivy and Jeremy Wang are doing it also, yeah!) Up until I signed up, I had been really bored with my workouts, and no progression had been made. So this goal of having to swim 1/2 mile, bike 11 miles, and run 3.1 miles, in a row, has motivated me. Mostly, I don't want to die on the course, so the more I train the less likely they will have to drag my body off the course on a stretcher. Katie just completed her first marathon, which is totally amazing, so she will most likely leave me in her dust or be running around me in circles the whole time. But I love her for encouraging me and I am really looking forward to spending some time with her the few weeks before the race (she lives in Portland).

Everything has been going so wonderfully, I have learned how to time my breathing in the pool and have purchased my first road bike (so much better than a mountain bike) for my long rides, and my running pace has greatly improved. Gage (our dog) actually has to run too, rather than walk next to me. But the past 3-4 weeks have been very frustrating, my left hip, knee, and the top of my foot become painfully sore after I bike or run. So I have to take a few days off in between workouts. Nick finally convinced me to go to the Doc (I dug my heels in as much as possible). And the doc immediately sent me to Physical Therapy. She put on my referal "2xs a week for 6 weeks." The first thing I thought was "oh that's crazy, I will just have to go once for them to tell me some new stretches," Nick can attest because I told him. I had my first appointment on Tuesday and it turns out I have a bit more work to do than I thought. My IT band is extremely tight and is causing A LOT of other problems. My left hip is tilted causing my left leg to be longer than the right, which in turn causes me to overcompensate on my right leg. Weird right? She had me doing exercises on a foam roller that right now is acting more like a torture device than a stretching mechanism. I am told it will not hurt so bad the more I use it, but right now I am having a hard time seeing the light.

So.......I made appointments for the next 6 weeks, twice a week. I also decided I need to start going to yoga at my gym because I might just be the most inflexible person on earth. I am not aloud to run on the road for awhile, but there is one treadmill at the gym that I can use. The belt looks like tank tracks and it gives a lot when you run on it. Gage will miss running together.

I am not going to give up, I will cross the finish line on July 26th even if I am on my hands and knees. My PT says she will fix me, so I am completely trusting her and I am determined to do my part. Wish me luck!

Yuck....You swam in the Spokane River???

This past Sunday was my first time swimming in the Spokane River....in the Spokane section (I have swam in the section in Idaho). I was NOT among the group of idiots over the weekend that did not have life jackets or a professional guide. Nick and I along with our small group from church went with a rafting company called Peak 7. There were 4 boats total, and our group was split between 2 of them. The river is very high this time of the year and also very dangerous. Let me start out the story by telling you that rivers terrify me. The fact that you could be swept away in a second or get pulled down by the undercurrent, keeps me far from swimming in most rivers. So why did I go you ask? Because my husband loves for me to take part in adventures with him, and he is so good to me, the least I could do is face my fears to make him happy.

Our put in was just down river from TJ Meenach Bridge and our take out was at Plese Flats. Everyone in our boat had been rafting before, and our guide was impressed with the power of our strokes. We felt pretty good, but our baloon was to be deflated quickly. There is a pretty big hole (like an ocean wave that is just about to break) called "widowmaker" just past the bridge at the Bowl and Pitcher. Our guide prepared us to hit it with full force. But instead we hit it like a brick wall and flipped faster than you could take a breath. So there we were all 7 of us spewed across the rapids and our raft upsidedown. Luckily, we were all able to grab onto the upsidedown raft or someone that had a hold. Our guide swam like a storm and jumped on top of the raft to guide it to the right side of the river and we all struggled to hold on, keep our heads above water, not suck in a lot of water (although I did) and float to safety (eventually). Adreniline sped things up for me because it seemed all took place in seconds, but I am told it was more like 5-10 minutes before we were all safely in the boat. They had a professional photographer at the bridge so I am really hoping he/she got some great pictures of us flying out of the boat. I will share them if so. Long story short, every muscle in my body was sore the next day (from the adrenaline, I assume) and I have crazy bruises! But we all survived, I had a blast, and my fear of the river swallowing me whole lifted just a little bit that day.

Its been a bit crazy but I will post soon about Joelle's bachelorette party, the wedding, and my garden, so keep checking!