January

I'm aiming for a blog-per-month this year. I figure it will be a recap and an opportunity to dump photos. Unfortunately I will be relying on my not-so-great memory.

Some of this month's happenings:

* New Year's Day hike with the family in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park. Not as adventurous as previous years but we were able to encourage more folks (and a dog) to come with us.


* My parents visit came to an end and they had to return to the land of Ice and Snow, aka Scotland. It's always hard to say goodbye. It's especially hard when my boys tear up. We are so blessed to have a great relationship with my parents and they spoil us when they are here by doing chores, laundry (ironing!) and cooking for us.



* It was back to work and school as usual. I have a very challenging job this year but somehow we have made it to the half way point in the school year and I can definitely see progress. It's not always pretty but it's happening! I spent a weekend in training for work. Not the way I like to spend my weekends but it's given me a big jump start in getting the hours I need each year for my teaching credentials. As a side, I often hear comments about how great it must be to be a teacher with the "school hours" and "holidays" but we are also required to put in X number of training hours per year and it adds up to a lot of Saturdays in class or late days at work. Just sayin'

* JT joined a local adult soccer league. I'm having a lot of fun as the cheer leader and they are a really good team! I donated my soccer cleats and shin guards a few years ago after a slide tackle ankle injury, so there's no fear of me jumping in. Go Team Led Zepplin!

* The boys are busy with sports too. Sean started flag football. It's been a great experience for him because he hasn't played much in the past. He was frustrated last season during soccer because he was the strongest player, now he's learning to be humble! Cam is running track and cross country. They usually don't overlap but the school district cancelled x-country last Fall but decided to bring it back. He's a running machine just now and I'm excited to see how well he does this year. The kids are also bike crazy (where do they get from?). Sean got a BMX for Christmas and will start racing at the local track soon. Cam has been tearing it up on F.I.N.S and they love the new teeter-totter that Harv installed.



* I'm trucking along. My knee is fine. I'm swimming, biking and even running a little. I have a feeling that 1-2 miles is my limit but it's just enough to remind me how much I love running. You never know, I might even make it into a Sprint Tri again one day but for now I am having a blast just "working out" for fun. I finally put on my big girl pants and joined in part of the Saturday Group Ride. I really just went because I wanted to ride the warm up with my BFF Amy but I actually managed to hang on the back of the A group for an hour or so. It's humbling but I have to start somewhere, and that happens to be at the back for now! I've made it out on a few more rides with Amy, I even hit my first 50 mile ride in many months.

* We watched the Avondale Crit, and yikes! no way I want to bike race like that. Saw a gnarly crash and a stupid idiot drive his car right onto the course during the Cat 3 race!


* Cam had his birthday weekend. It kicked off with him competing in the District Spelling Bee. He won at his school so he got to the next level but was eliminated pretty early by misspelling the word "disappointed", ironically :-) So proud of him though. He's always been a good speller. I took him out of school early on the Friday to have lunch and go shopping for some clothes. The boy is as tall as me with size 10 feet, his clothes seem to shrink every few weeks, LOL. I met the gang at Westgate for dinner and a movie (save your money and see Man On A Ledge on DVD).



* So that is January in a nutshell. The weather has been great and I even had to wear sunscreen in the pool already.

Happy New Year!

We kicked off the New Year in our usual way.... a family hike! This year we had 9 people in our group, and a dog. It was fun. The last couple of years we have hit the more popular Phoenix hikes- Camelback and Piestawa Peak, but this year we tamed it down so that JT's aunt and uncle would join us. Also, I wasn't sure how my knee would handle really steep descents. We started late due to finding a stray dog on the road to the park. I was able to locate the owner, it only held us up by about 30 minutes. Nice to start the year with some good karma! We hiked for almost 3 hours on the competitive loop in the White Tank Mountains enjoying 75 degree weather.



I still have some vacation left but own kids go back to school tomorrow. My folks are still here, they are loving this warm, sunny weather. It's been an awesome vacation. We saw 2 great movies- War Horse and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. We have eaten great food both at home and out at restaurants. I'm also engrossed in great book- The Hunger Games. I am riding more and starting to feel it coming back on the bike, whatever "it" might be.

I finally remembered to get a copy of the pictures from my surgery, so here are the gross images. They show the 15mm pothole in my knee as well as the piece that they removed.



Happy New Year everyone!

Year End Blogging

I guess it's time to reflect but I just don't feel like doing a recap.
I'm a terribly optimistic person, just ask my family, it's annoying. However, I have to say that 2011 wasn't my best year. Rather than dwell on it, I will say that it ended on a pretty good note. It's hard not to be happy and optimistic around the holidays, especially when I have great friends and family to share it with. My parents have been here with us since mid-December.

This past week of Christmas celebrations seems to have flown by, I didn't get out of work until the Thursday evening and then it was full steam ahead. I had a full blown, nasty, 3 week long cold before the holiday. I finally got to feeling better a few days before Christmas, but it meant I still had a lot on my To-Do list. There were last minute gifts to pick up, the house to clean and food to prepare. We did Christmas eve at JT's Aunt's house. She has a beautiful home, delicious food and is the most elegant of hostess. Rather than try to live up to that, the next day at our house was casual. Very casual.
We had the usual Christmas morning excitement. For the past several years it seems that the grown-ups in the house are up long before the kids. We had already downed a cup of coffee before the boys came out. Highly caffeinated Grandparents made for some laughs as we opened gifts. The boys have a lot less toys under the tree now that they are older but they still did very good. Sean got his BMX bike and Cam got a new phone and a chess set. They also got some video games and lots of money.

This is most of the family on Christmas day.



We did "home-made" gifts this year for the family, I "made" vases with flowers rather than subject people to my baking. Plus, it's better for their health!




As soon as the presents were open, we had to clean up and prep for the day. I did pretty good on the cooking front, except I messed up the lemon Meringue Tarts, by forgetting to put lemon in them, LOL. We quickly dumped them, and they were not missed amoungst the copious amount of food we were serving. Luckily the weather was beautiful and we were able to seat some of the 15 guests outdoors. The highlight of the meal was Sean's Snowmen Cupcakes. He got a cupcake book from his aunt last year and took it upon himself to make these. They were so cute!

Hard at work in the kitchen (actually most of the food came with the guests, I had it easy!)


Cute, but a little creepy, Snowmen Cupcakes.


I think I finally sat down at around 8pm on Christmas but it had been a good day. Since then I have been chillaxing, shopping, cycling and hanging with my folks. There will be more of the same in the week after New Year.

All the best for 2012!

McDowell Mountain Frenzy 50k

NO, not me- I wish (well, not really), seeing as I don't race now, I have to live it through my husband and kids. This was JT's day to race, the day before his 39th birthday. Last year we both raced the 10 mile here and JT said he would like to do the 50k next time. And so he did. JT has never ran a marathon, his longest race to date is one half marathon a couple years ago. Despite that resume, I knew he would do great because he loves trail running and he is in awesome shape right now.

I have to go back and give a little history about JT's journey into running. When we met, 16 years ago, JT was not a runner. He was a Skater, he skated street, bowls and vert ramps. He only ran if he had to, he wore baggy "skater" clothes and the only way I could talk him into a run was to promise coffee and donuts at our local bakery at the end. He felt the same after we had moved to Phoenix but I kept working on him, I knew he would be a great runner- he has the build and the aerobic engine. After several skateboarding injuries, he went into semi-retirement and took up soccer, he started running to get in better shape for that and (surprise) found that he liked it and was really good at it. He ran some 5k and 10k races, very fast. Pretty soon he had branched into Mountain Biking and then one day I found my skater dude dressed in spandex and heading out on a road bike which led to triathlon and Xterras. Not being the typical type A triathlon guy, JT has stuck mostly to Mountain biking and trail running. He's also not one for training plans and goal races, so I was surprised that he stuck to a plan and trained so well for this race.

Race day was Saturday, we had failed to find a sitter for the kids, so we were all up and in the car by 4:45am to ride over to the other side of the valley. We arrived in plenty of time for JT to get his stuff and warm up. Temps were chilly in the 40's so the kids and I huddled in sleeping bags and watched the Lunar Eclipse while drinking hot chocolate. It was a beautiful morning. The 50k runners were off at 7am without much fanfare. The boys and I got to work helping at the finish line aid station, we cut food and prepped the run-through aid station for the 50 and 25k runners. There were 3 other distances of race that started after the 50k so there was always something going on. Unfortunately, the 50k course only came through one time at around mile 24. Due to the fact that it was a trail race, it was hard to judge which time JT would be coming through, but we finally saw him and he was hurting. He had fallen at mile 11 and had a twisted ankle and some cuts, he was also cramping. We filled his bottles and got him some salt and sent him on his way, knowing that we'd see him in another 6 miles or so. I was busy volunteering so I sent the boys with the video camera to look out for him, and up the hill he came. He crossed the line in 4 hours 33 minutes, which is awesome and just off his goal time of 4:30. He was in rough shape but happy. We stayed around after the race to help clean up and JT chatted with the other runners. I have to take a moment to say that the runners were probably the most humble, down to earth, kind and unassuming group of people I have ever been around. The race itself is very low key but extremely well organized. The whole vibe is one of camaraderie rather than competition. Very different from Triathlon. JT ended up running some of the way with a guy we know from cycling. His ankle swelled pretty good so we got him home and onto the couch in time to watch the Kona Ironman on TV.

On Sunday we celebrated JT's birthday and went out for dinner. JT did a pretty good impression of an 80 year old man, LOL.

Now it's on to the holidays. My folks arrive tomorrow, things at school are very busy and we have lots of fun family things planned over the next few weeks. Life is good! :-)

Thanksgiving 2011

I wasn't going to keep up this blog but I actually miss it. It's like my online diary in a way. The older I get, the more I forget and this is a good way to keep track.

A lot has happened since my last blog post...so I will try to give a run down while keeping it short.

My Knee:

* The MRI showed a Grade 4, full thickness cartilage defect of the lateral trochlear surface of my knee. There was also a large loose body in there. My options were: Arthroscopic surgery to remove the loose body and smooth out the cartilage or Microfracture.
* I had arthroscopic surgery on 10/28 and it was successful in as much as the loose body was removed (12mm) but the cartilage/chondral defect was larger than expected (15mm) and the adjacent surface of the patella was damaged also.
* Recovery from this surgery was pretty quick. I never did need crutches (I was so sick from the anesthesia that I couldn't get up and walk anyways). I was full weight bearing within 2 days and it has progressed well ever since with minimal pain or swelling.
* I am back on the bike and back in the pool. I am also walking pain free. Physical Therapy is going well and I feel that I am getting stronger, there was a lot of work to do as I had been limping for months!
* So where does that leave my knee and my future as a Triathlete? Well, I am essentially retired. And I am OK with that. This is not the type of injury that you come back from. It is almost impossible to completely repair a chondral defect. It's not like a meniscus type cartilage injury. Microfracture is the procedure that drills holes in the defect with the hope that the body will produce fibrocartilage (fake, squishy cartilage) and buy you a few more years. Other procedures include cartilage plugs or transplants from your own knee or a donor. I have an appointment with a cartilage repair specialist next month to go over options. In the mean time, I am focusing on getting healthy and strong, I am enjoying my life as a non-athlete and I am thankful that I do have other things that I enjoy.

What else have we been up to?

* We held the 5th annual Kid's Tri, we had our biggest turn out ever with over 150 kids racing. It was a bit stressful when we woke to rain on race day but it cleared up with 15 minutes to go. My boys both raced really well. Cam did the long course and took 2nd place male. We also raised $1000 for a local charity!
* JT is training for his 50k trail race in December.
* Cam is starting track again which will run through to the summer. Sean is gong to play Flag football.
* We spectated at Ironman Arizona last week and saw our friends become Ironmen. Spectating that race is so much fun. I was hoarse the next day!
* JT is building a motorcycle that belonged to our neighbor. We plan to sell it.
* Cam got his braces.
* We are spending Thanksgiving at the In-laws- always a good time!
* My parents are coming in a few weeks to spend Christmas with us.
* I'm skipping a lot of stuff but we are all happy, healthy and busy. Life is good!

Still here....

I haven't been updating the Blog because this kind of started out as a Triathlon Blog but seeing as I don't bike or run at the moment, and my swim is never anything to worth writing about, I kind of quit the blog too. There's not going to be any Triathloning in my near future, so I could continue to ignore the blog but my mom commented that she likes it, so this is for you mom!

Being injured is no fun but I am beyond being injured from the sport I love, my knee has been affecting every aspect of my life. It was hard to get through the day at work without it swelling and hurting, there were weeks when I walked with a limp which caused all kinds of other aches and pains, and times when I felt like I was moving backwards with this injury. It's been a rough couple of months. My family are very active and the hardest part (way harder than not running or missing out on group rides) was not being able to do the usual family stuff like play soccer at the park or walk the dog.

I was very frustrated with my progress. I was resting, icing and going to PT but getting nowhere. One day at work, I took a couple of fast steps to chase down a child and my knee totally gave out and swelled right up again. That was when my wonderful PT suggested I get a 2nd opinion. I was referred to a Sports Medicine clinic in Scottsdale, far away but worth the drive. The doctor spent almost an hour with me and went over all the films in detail. He did more X-rays and thought he saw a loose body behind my knee. He also gave me a cortisone shot. I had always been against having a shot but really needed something to reduce the swelling and make it easier for me at work. The shot wasn't a total success, it helped just a little so the Doc ordered a high quality 3T MRI. I had it done last Thursday, and brought the films home. JT and I played a game of "Guess what is wrong with Sally's Knee" and found about 10 things that looked odd, however as neither one of us has any experience in this area, we best leave the analysis to the professionals. I was hoping to get the results yesterday but I called at 4pm and it hadn't been read yet. Now I have to wait until monday/tuesday.
I am generally a very optimistic person but in this case, I am braced for the worst. I know the difference between a minor injury and something more serious. As I mentioned in a previous post, my knees have not been great for years and I could sit here and lament about how I should have taken better care of them but the reality is, I used my knees a lot, played a lot of sports, ran a lot of miles and had a lot of fun. I wouldn't change any of that. What I do need to do is figure out what I can do with what I have so I can get back to being more active. That starts with an accurate diagnosis....stay tuned .....

Patience

At the start of 2011, I picked my word for the year. I chose PATIENCE. I chose it because, at the time, I was unhappy in my job and feeling a little stuck. I told myself to be patient and good things would come. Little did I know that Patience would play into a lot more than my work life this year....

So, the knee injury. I have not had much to write about it because I believe that the best thing for it has been to do NOTHING. I have been stretching, swimming a little, doing some Yoga and some Physical therapy exercises, but most importantly, I've been resting my body. My knee got pretty sore again over labor day weekend, probably from walking around a lot and from tweaking it slightly playing tetherball with the kids. Since then, I babied it like crazy and this week has been good. I am actually walking normally, no limp. However, because I was gimpy for several weeks, it still feels weird to walk on and I need to re-train all my leg muscles. Now that my work schedule has calmed down, I am going to go to PT 2x per week. I am looking at this as a long term commitment to getting my body healed. I'm not sure what the future holds in terms of running but I would like to get back to cycling again. In the mean time, I am really enjoying Yoga, it's my new hobby and I leave the class feeling GREAT! Along those lines, without going into too much detail, it is funny how things work out sometimes. During one of my recent doctor visits, the doc decided to check something out and ran a few tests, uncovering some other health issues that shocked me. In all honesty, I had been so tired from work and training and life earlier this year that I didn't notice some pretty significant health changes. Now that it's been brought to light, I can start to take care of that too. Again, this will all take patience :-)

My patience at work paid off. I accepted a teaching position last week at a charter school. I worked there part time last year and started out this year as a sub. The perfect job opened up and I am so excited. I started in that classroom last week and tomorrow is my first day as the lead teacher. So happy!

Finally, because I don't have many new pictures, I am posting this picture of my dog. Rudy is the most awesome little dog ever, he is getting old but he still has a lot of energy. He loves this ball and he carries it everywhere with him.