Summer Runnin'

(Sung to the melody of Olivia Newton John's "Summer Lovin" ) -
Summer runnin', had me some hills
Summer runnin', nothing by drills

Toughing out 9 miles on the demanding Nordic Trail

Since my June 15th half marathon, my weekend focus has been trail running to strengthen and prepare for our first trail half marathon in September. A routine was quickly established. Friday nights, post-run snacks comprised of salty carbs and protein are packed (think baggies of pretzels, peanuts, chocolate chips, Clif protein bars), beach towels to cover car seats from sweaty bodies are set aside, along with flip flops to slide hot on-the-verge-of-blistered-feet into, clothes are laid out and sunblock prominently set on the kitchen counter as a reminder to lube up before leaving. We fuel up with our latest favorite pre-long run dinner of mashed potatoes covered in a marjoram-Dijon mustard sauce with soy crumbles, and relax with some TV shows recorded during the week before heading to bed. 

Saturday morning the race against the thermometer begins. A quick breakfast (peanut butter toast for me, raisin Bran for Joe) and physical therapy (my hips, Joe's shoulder) are tackled before we hit the road. With the exception of today (which was perfect for running at 58°, clouds and no humidity), every Saturday has been in the 80's and humid by the time we reach our destination - Lapham Peak State Park, Scuppernong Trail (Southern Kettle Moraine near Eagle), The Nordic Trail (Southern Kettle Moraine beyond Palmyra) and of course, Minooka County Park. The heat has been difficult for exercise, but we have acclimated to it. While I'm running, Joe is hiking, but let me tell you, he is not ambling. I'm typically running 1.5 to 2 miles farther than he is hiking, and we're getting to the car close to the same time.

Trail running is much more difficult than street running, but it's more soothing to the psyche. Trail running is filled with obstacles to occupy the mind (rocks, tree roots, holes, downed trees, occasional piles of animal dung, mud, etc.), lots of hills to tax the lungs, heart, glutes & quads, and peaceful scenery to make it worth the effort. The hills in particular are what I need to become a better runner, and hills are plentiful at every location we've hit. For example, in a 9-miler on The Nordic Trail today, I logged 86 floors (10 stairs = 1 floor), while at Lapham Peak, I climb 109 floors in 8 miles. You run much slower on trails than on the street, and you can't compare one trail time to another. This takes some of the pressure off to constantly beat previous times and to obsess over in the moment pace readings, unless of course, you're comparing the same two trails, which I have done, and can report there have been improvements each time ☺

In another week we'll be hiking the Canadian Rockies, which will further help us do well in the September race. The day we return from vacation is the day Joe can begin running again. Given how fast he's hiking, a combination of running and hiking the race may lead him to beat me (dammit, this was my only chance to ever finish before him!☺).

Summer runnin', is making me strong
Summer runnin', won't last too long...

Auto-Immune Club

You may recall that Joe’s ulcerative colitis is an auto-immune disease, and that he’s been in the auto-immune club (let’s shorten that to AIC) for 9 years. You may also recall that Joe and I tend to do everything together - I herniate a disc, he herniates the same disc 6 months later. He has a foot with metatarsal stress fractures; I get a foot with metatarsalgia. I develop IT Band Syndrome, he develops IT Band Syndrome, and so on and so on. Just how long could I let him hang out alone in the AIC? I joined him this week when my dermatologist diagnosed me with very mild Psoriasis, an auto-immune disorder that involves rapid cell generation that shows up as itchy scaly patches on the body. My case is barely worth mentioning (some people are covered from head to toe most of the time, which becomes a physically painful and socially embarrassing situation). I get these patches on my elbows or knees 1-3x/year, and they resolve on their own. My right knee was affected all of June and then about 2 weeks ago, my outer left thigh where Tomas, my snake tattoo resides, developed the same itchy bumpy patches I am familiar with on my joints. The bumps are fully contained within Tomas, which leads my dermatologist to question what it is. It could be psoriasis because it can happen anywhere, and especially loves to pop up on injured sites (a tattoo counts as an injury to the skin). It may not be psoriasis though as the body is known to attack tattoos, regardless of how old they are. The body will sometimes even absorb the ink of the tattoo (better not!). We won’t know for sure what’s on my thigh for a while. I was prescribed a steroidal cream to use twice per day for 2 weeks (and this cream is scary stuff because prolonged use can lead to thinning of the skin). If the itching and bumps clear up and don’t return, it’s probably psoriasis. If it persists, then it may be something else at work.

In other news, Joe saw Dr. Vetter for his 8-week follow-up. Everything is going great. His range of motion (ROM) is better than the average 8-weeker, and she expects he will make a full recovery with a full ROM. He will continue with twice weekly PT for the next 6 weeks (yes, he’ll be doing PT everyday on vacation). He’s been given the green light to start using an elliptical for cardio (advised not to use the moving arms on that machine) and will return to the gym now after a 2-month absence! Surgery for the left shoulder has been set for 9/27/13.  This means by the end of 2013, his right shoulder should be at 100% and his left shoulder will be 3 months into recovery.

Oh Canada!

Donning the colors of the Canadian flag for vacation

New pedi so my toes will be Canada-friendly. Was going to have a maple leaf painted on, rather than the flowers you see here, until a friend suggested that the pedicurist could goof up and make it look like a pot leaf!

Tick Tock

Time is slippery, slithery and sneaky. How is it that we’re less than a month away from our grand Canadian Rockies vacation? This dream was hatched almost a year ago as a brand new, extended duration, destination for us to combine our typical summer travels with a celebration of our 20-year anniversary (May). There was the pursuit of passports and the pouring over of guidebooks to piece together a memorable experience. With the vastness of the Canadian wilderness, you would think the number of long distance backpacking routes is limitless, but we discovered that most scenic hiking routes in Canada (what’s the point of slogging along for days and miles if you’re not primarily in awe-inspiring scenery?) are rigorous day hikes (8-14 miles), with a few 2-4 day options sprinkled in amongst many National and Provincial Parks. We choose a couple of those short backpacking options when plotting out our itinerary back in January, before Joe’s shoulder decided to rebel, before that supraspinatus was beaten down by that hooked acromion process ☺

As it turns out, having short backpacking choices was a blessing because it forced us to approach our vacation from a different point of view, one of  “Let’s have a more cushy, less hardcore trip  - it won’t kill us not to be going full throttle on some 100-mile backpacking venture. Let’s enjoy some challenging day hikes, and take it easy by not camping all the time … let’s rent a cabin or two for a soft bed and  shower, it is our 20^th anniversary after all!” Having that mindset established, months later when we learned Joe would need surgery and would be somewhat compromised for heavy-duty backpacking, it wasn’t a devastating proposition. No worries – we’ll just cut out one of the small backpacking trips that we didn’t feel strongly about, and if need be, Joy will carry extra weight to insure the highly counted on Berg Lake backpacking trip does happen. Could you imagine what a dirt sandwich it would have been had Joe’s surgery occurred in one of the years where we had a long backpacking trip planned as our only event? Such as the 2006 9-day, 100-mile Wonderland Trail or our High Sierra Trail adventure of 2011?

Vacation 2013 is projected to be “cushy” by our standards because there is no extended backpacking portion with multitudes of obstacles to overcome (i.e., swollen rivers, snow fields, Devils Club, etc.) or lack of creature comforts to endure. Much of this trip will be a combination of car camping for a couple nights, with difficult day hikes, maybe a few trail runs, and then a couple nights in a real bed. Our first week will give you a flavor of what the trip will be like. When we arrive in Calgary, we’ll have a 5.5 hour drive NW to Mt. Robson Provincial Park. We’ve secured a “beautiful, private, riverside” site for two nights, “with a view” (at least this is what it says on the website!). We’ll take a couple days to day hike and acclimatize, and then backpack the Berg Lake Trail for 3 days and 2 nights. Joe has experimented with carrying a 25# daypack in recent weeks (15# less than his usual pack weight) and feels he’ll be fine for this little jaunt into the British Colombian (BC) backcountry. BC is on the wet West side of the Rocky Mountains, while our second half of vacation will be spent on the arid East side of the Rockies in Banff National Park. Hopefully we have clear skies for the mountain views while on the Berg Lake Trail, but if we get wet, we’ve got a wonderful cabin to head to when we come off the trail. You can view the slide show of the private cabin we’ve rented here:. http://micamountainlodge.bc.ca/wp/cabins/bear-cabin/ After you look at the slideshow, go to the top of the page and hit the “Home” tab to catch pictures of the view that will surround our cabin.

Week two in Canada will follow a similar format minus the backpacking jaunt. We’ll be in Banff National Park, which is a popular destination for world travelers, especially big for skiing, it still attracts a lot of summer visitors as well. We couldn’t find any secluded cabins in the Banff area, and have settled for a Loft Chalet in a large resort complex. Nonetheless, we will have a private patio with grand views, a bed, a shower and full kitchen, once again affirming the cushiness of this vacation.

Been A While

Hola Readers & Happy 4th of July! Wisconsin has offered it's best weather for this free day - bright blue skies, widely spaced fluffy white clouds, light breeze, upper 70's and low humidity. It's a gift to have a day off in the middle of the week that is not attached to weekend plans (i.e., we usually take the Friday before a race off, but we have lots of things to do on those days), a day to truly relax without watching the clock. Feeling tired and a bit run down, we accumulated close to 10 hours of sleep last night, sleeping in (despite the Boy's best efforts to get us up between 4-6a.m.) 'til 8:30a.m.!!! You'd think we're teenagers. We took our time getting up, laughed for an hour with the clever Capitol Steps on NPR and headed out for a hike. In the spirit of keeping the day simple, we stuck close to home, hiking 5 miles of empty trails at Minooka Park. It was shocking that the trails and picnic spots weren't full of people - where the hell is everybody on such a gorgeous day?

 

You may note that Joe is wearing a t-shirt and think nothing of it, but this is a momentous occasion. It has been 6 weeks since his surgery and 6 weeks since he's been able to wear a shirt that goes overhead. This week has been full of new milestones. He's begun active PT, being given isometric (this means to isolate a muscle) exercises that leave his shortened shoulder muscles, tendons and ligaments sore (they are shortened because of his immobility), but a good kind of sore because he knows he's making progress towards normalcy. Joe was given the green light to use his right hand more, as long as he keeps the movement at a 90° angle and only from his elbow down. This translates into typing with both hands again, though he is not to use a mouse yet as this would require engaging the shoulder muscle (think about how unaware most of us are when we're activating a muscle). Joe is also using chopsticks to eat (for 6 weeks he's used a fork in his left hand) and drum roll .... was able to carefully cut his bushy hair today (he normally cuts the top of his hair himself every 4 weeks). Tomorrow he is done with the sling, and in 6 more weeks he can resume running.

Speaking of running, my running is going very well. I continue to log faster runs and am feeling I have crossed a threshold to a new level that will hold - that my better pace is not a fluke. I am now focused on trail running all long runs in preparation for The North Face Endurance Challenge Trail Half Marathon on 9/15/13. Every Saturday you can find me at Lapham Peak or Minooka, Scuppernong or the Nordic Trail. 

I will sign off for now and leave you with this picture of pure love - brothers who think of themselves as one.