Training Log Archive: kissy

I went to my orthopedic doctor today and he's pretty certain I've torn something. He says my ACL. I say my MCL. We have to wait until I get the MRI next Tuesday until I know for sure. We'll also see how bad the tear is and whether it will require surgery. In the meantime, I'm in a full leg knee stabilizer, on crutches (ones that fit now), with instructions not to drive. Good news...Graham just got his Learner's Permit, so he can drive me. Bad news...I won't be able to drive my new car for awhile.

C • We've got our fingers cross... 12

Event: West Point A-Meet
 

West Point Sprint. This was alot of fun. The beginning was pretty tricky. I made a bad route choice at #2...going high over the cliff vs. staying low on the trail. Otherwise, everything was pretty straight on. I just got tired at the end, especially running up the stairs.

West Point Middle. Can you say disaster? I was having a pretty decent run. Like many others, I had a bit of trouble on #2, where I thought the cliff was front-facing, but it was not. And then again, like many others, on the way to #8, where I forgot all about what the meet notes said about the fence, and ran right to the middle of two openings...ack. But, of course, I saved the worst to the end.

I had just punched in at the penultimate control, a boulder. All that was left was to run out to the ski slope and barrel down to the last control and in to the finish. I headed to the road/trail that cut across the slope, and jumped over a little drainage ditch beside the road. I was leading with my right leg since that is (was) my good knee and I try to protect the left one. When I landed on the other side, my right knee instantly buckled, and I went down like a bag of rocks. I knew right away what I had done, but I still tried to stand up, only to go down again. So, I did what any woman would do...I started to cry. Not only because it was extremely painful, but also because I knew what was ahead of me from past experience. Pain, hobbling around on crutches, doctor visits, pain, potential surgery, months of rehab, pain, and always having to worry/think about that knee.

Then, a woman whom I had been battling back and forth with on the course went cruising by to the finish, and then I was mad. So, I stood up and held my knee together with both hands and inched my way down to the last control (at this point, I still had the lead in my age group, according to the splits). But it took me 1:23 to make it to the finish control, with a few more bucklings along the way. So, I ended up in 2nd place.

Once I punched in, two cadets scooped me up and brought me the the first aid jeep, where the "man in black" and the medic cadets were very good at taping me up and lending me a pair of crutches, which, unfortunately, were sized for someone who was 5'10". I clumsily made it to the cars, listened to Don's ridicule for awhile, and then let mapboy bring me to the hospital. Thanks, mapboy.

Sprint: Orange Brown Green - Splits

Middle: Green X - Splits

Another session of hill repeats. This felt a little harder than last time, but still not too bad. Maybe I need to add more repeats next time.

1:17 1:17 153 max hr
1:14 1:20 155
1:13 1:20 157
1:12 1:22 157
1:13 1:26 157
1:12 157

C • May we watch the Timila on ... 13

We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.... We will prevail....

-- Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist

I was getting of the Hood loop, so I rolled out of bed this morning and 20 minutes later, I was on the trail in PWF. It was a damp, raw, grey morning, but it felt good to be outside. Some of the trails were like little creeks since it had rained all night, but I was still on track to have a fast time. Until, I neared the end and saw that no one had collected the streamers to the start from the PWF meet, so I got those, which slowed me down somewhat. Oh well, it was still a good way to start the day.

C • Okay, so a few things were ... 7

Uh-oh, two workouts in one day. What is going on here??