We were finally both well enough to hike the Ira Spring Trail to Mason Lake today, and it was amazing!
The trail is 3.5 miles up, up and away to Mason Lake, and it provided just the right amount of challenge to keep things interesting but not kill us. We definitely got great calf, quad and cardio workouts.
Once we got to the lake — a gorgeous, still, mirror-like alpine gem — we lunched on PB&J sandwiches, apples and snap peas. I also took the opportunity to relax on a flat rock and soak up the sunshine. I could’ve napped there for a few hours at least, but Aaron preferred to head back down… sighhh.
It was the perfect late-summer day for a hike, with just a few orange-tinged trees suggesting the imminent arrival of fall — my favorite.
I also loved the quality time spent with my best friend, except for when he grabbed me for a hug and then pretended like he was going to throw me over a sheer cliff. I still love him… kind of. : )
This is so pathetic, but I’m lost without my Garmin. I can roughly estimate distances when I run my favorite routes, but I hate not being able to check my pace or hear that triumphant beep when I complete another mile.
Today, I set out to run from Aaron’s house to Green Lake, all the way around and part of the way back for about 4 miles (I know if I run the whole way back, it’s 4.5).
I mapped the exact route afterward and came up with 4.2! I’ll take it.
I have no idea how long it took me since I got too frustrated with the stopwatch on my phone and wound up just stuffing it in my sports bra. (Yes, it got very sweaty.)
It was a beautiful day to run at Green Lake. I took some walking breaks in the shade every now and then, plus stopped at all the water fountains since I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday’s puke-tastic feeling of dehydration.
And LOOK what arrived later in the day!!! (I’ve already acknowledged I’m pathetic, remember?)
Aaron is the king of buying and selling stuff on Ebay, and he found this barely used Garmin from a seller who had tons of positive reviews on electronics sales. It’s in practically perfect condition!
Now I just have to, you know, avoid crushing it into a million pieces.
I planned to do it on Monday, but both Monday and Tuesday kept me busy with job-hunting/interviewing stuff and I was just too lazy to run.
I spent Wednesday with my dad — we took advantage of the sunny weather by having lunch in downtown Seattle and riding the new ferris wheel on the waterfront.
Note the stubborn bruise on my arm. (Also, completely unrelated: My Jewelry By Cari necklace features a little dog tag that has “Devon” stamped on one side and “Aaron” on the other — a gift from Aaron’s mom. So sweet!)
My initial urge was to post other reasons why I didn’t run until today, but laziness is the real reason, so I’ll stick with that.
Since my Garmin Forerunner 305 was tragically crushed in the accident, I ran with my phone and used the stopwatch feature to time my laps around a relatively flat one-mile loop in my mom’s very hilly neighborhood. (How crazy is it that I have a perfect one-mile loop to run?? Yay for Map My Run!)
My starting point was someone’s garbage bin in front of their house, and I hit the lap button every time I passed the bin for a total of three laps/miles.
Mile 1: 9:44 Mile 2: 10:21 Mile 3: 10:21
The running itself felt fine, except for some tenderness in the bruises I still have on my legs, but I really misjudged the mid-September heat. I failed to bring water with me and realized too late that I really needed it. At one point, when I had to walk after running up an incline, I felt like I was going to puke! That never happens to me, unless I’m:
a) racing. b) running with a hangover, in which case the puking feeling is entirely expected and deserved. c) dehydrated, like in the last few miles of my marathon.
Lesson learned. I should start using my hydration belt again to get used to it before the 5K. If I remember correctly, this is a race with no water stops and, judging by today, I’ll definitely need at least a few sips to make it through!
When I don’t really have anything to share, I just don’t post. I guess I’d rather be absent from Tumblr than super boring.
But here’s an update on my bike-accident recovery: I saw my chiropractor, Dr. Formo, yesterday and she worked MIRACLES on my neck, which had been very stiff and painful since the crash. She cracked everything back into place and I woke up this morning feeling fantastic!
Dr. Formo is a 3:15 marathoner, so I obviously do everything she says, and she recommended I continue resting this weekend and start running again on Monday.
My bruises continue to develop into more delightful and robust colors, and I still have a swollen/partially numb bump on my left leg, so she said it would be best to let my body focus on healing. That leaves me with just under two weeks to prepare for the 5K on Sept. 23, which I’m totally fine with.
Fun fact: Strangers are not shy about asking, “Sooo… what happened?” when you walk around looking like you got the shit kicked out of you. Luckily I have the chain scrape to prove it was just a bike accident!
It has been great to relax this week and focus on looking for a job. For weeks, I’ve browsed jobs and been too afraid to apply for some of the ones that I’m technically unqualified for. I don’t know what I thought would happen… like I would get emails back saying, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right.” Silly.
This week, I just set aside my fears and sent out resumes like crazy, and what do you know? My phone started ringing.
Now I just have to get these bruises healed before in-person interviews next week!
I’m alive! Still really, really sore all over, especially my neck. Whiplash, maybe?
My biggest concern is an injury that I can feel, but not see: A very tender/numb patch just inside of my left knee that feels like it’s holding fluid or something. Gross. It hurts to bend that knee, which doesn’t bode well for running.
I hope it’ll go away over the next few days. Now, stuff I can see:
1. I have a nice, big bruise on my upper arm that becomes more exquisite every few hours.
2. There’s a scraped patch on my quad that has become scaly and shiny. The chain scrape is starting to heal, although my dad thought it was a good idea to tell me about an acquaintance whose daughter had to have her leg amputated after a wound became infected with a flesh-eating virus. I WILL PRETEND I NEVER HEARD THAT.
3. Minor flesh wounds on the other leg, plus more bruising and a nice bump.
4. Flowers from Aaron. I’ve never seen this combination of roses, sunflowers and hydrangeas before, but it’s so colorful and cheerful! I put that shiz on Pinterest.
5. Gerry the Guard Rail Giraffe from Aaron. He’s… just big-boned.
Me (fake) smiling with the guard rail I smashed into.
Don’t be fooled by my smile.
I collided head-on with that guard rail as I whipped too quickly around a corner and couldn’t make the turn.
Aaron heard me scream as I careened toward it, then turned around just in time to watch me smash and become a tangled mess of bike, rider and rail.
I was stuck. Stuck in my clipless pedals, wedged between my bike and the rail. I thought my left leg was broken. My whole body was numb.
It took three people to untangle me from my bike as I screamed, “Please get me out, please get me out!” over and over.
Aaron finally unclipped my left foot from the pedal and got my leg unwedged. I stumbled cautiously to a patch of grass and lay down.
Did I want an ambulance? No clue. Still numb.
Two cyclists approached and announced that they were firemen. Good timing, gentlemen.
They gave me a head-to-toe check: Neck, back, shoulders, arms, legs. Pulse: 90. I passed all the tests. Nothing broken or sprained; just a helluva lot of bruises and some blood here and there.
We were near my mom’s place, so Aaron called her to come get us. I limped over to a nearby parking lot, sat on a log and started crying. I had been having so much fun on the bike. I just made a stupid mistake.
Now I’m home and lying down and feel like sleeping forever. My mom and Don cleaned my bloody wounds of gravel and grease and bandaged me up. I’ve got lovely bruises and bumps developing and growing all over. Aaron arrived with flowers and a fat little stuffed giraffe: Gerry the Guard Rail Giraffe. Big thanks to all of them for taking care of me.
I think we rode about 10 miles before the accident; I have no clue because my Garmin, which was attached to my handlebars, was crushed to smithereens. My bike has some damage to it that I don’t even want to think about. One of the water bottles on my bike flew out into the river on impact.
BUT. It all could have been SO much worse. I’m sore as hell, but I’m in one piece. I’m shaken, though, and thinking it’ll take me awhile to get back on a bike. I don’t even know when I’ll be back to running; I’m back at hobble pace at the moment.
Currently thanking my lucky stars for an attentive boyfriend, good Samaritan bystanders, timely firemen, my parents and, most of all, grace.
My “long” runs for 5K training are only four and five miles. Today I meant to do an easy four, but ended up pushing my pace again and completed a really sweaty and satisfying run.
The 0.80 mile to Green Lake is mostly downhill, so it’s easy to run a little faster than usual for the first mile. Once I reached GL today, I just couldn’t slow down! I tried… I failed… and I thought, “Well, what’s wrong with running at this pace if it feels good?”
Ain’t nothing wrong.
I also lifted weights back at home. The White Stripes station on Pandora is excellent background music for this, by the way.
My whole body is tired in a good way. Tomorrow is technically a rest day, but Aaron and I are going to bust out a bike ride. I’m excited to break in my new gear!
Aaron is alive! He texted me that his ride went well and he’s at his mom’s house now. Whew.
Meanwhile, I had a GREAT three-mile run down to Green Lake and back.
My 5K training plan called for an easy three, but I pushed my pace a little because I was feeling so good. It was a beautiful morning and I felt like flying. Negative splits!
I also think wearing my compression sleeves made a big difference. My legs felt a little shin splint-y after my last run, but they felt really strong with the sleeves on. I have these ones from CEP, which seem pricey at $40, but they’ve served me well all throughout marathon training, during the marathon itself and now.
On to something more fun: HALLOWEEN!
It’s my favorite holiday by far. I was at Target last weekend and saw a whole section of Halloween greeting cards and almost had a heart attack. I’m so, so, so excited for Halloween.
My question is this: Of these animals, which should I be for Halloween? I’m leaning toward red panda or Japanese red fox. (This would also be a comfy thing to wear around the house in the winter, or to wear to the grocery store and freak people out. Heh.)
Who else is excited for Halloween?? What do you want to be?
I highly recommend this, if you want to impress people:
Off he goes on his first post-surgery ride with the Audi team.
I am so, so, so nervous! (Not because I don’t believe in him, but because it’s been three weeks since the surgery and he’s supposed to stay in his sling for six weeks.)
Dev on Running 