The thing is, I've lived in a lot of different places, including the Pacific Northwest, where it rains. A lot. Now I find myself in New England, specifically, in Vermont, and I keep waiting for winter. Last year, when I moved out here in March, the Connecticut river was frozen solid, there was snow covering the ground, and everyone had tales to tell of what a brutal winter it had been. So, I decided I'd see if I had what it took to make it through a Vermont winter, and chose to stay out here for more than just six months. Yesterday I went for a run in shorts and a t-shirt. In Vermont. In February.
Needless to say, this has been a strange winter. There have been a few days of snow, and some really cold days, but it hasn't been harsh and crazy like I expected it to be. To be honest, I've been a little bummed at my lack of opportunity to go frolic through the snow covered forest trails with my sweet new gaiters (I've used once) and my microspikes (I've used three times). So, maybe I'll have to stay for another year to get a chance at a true Vermont winter, it's hard to say. I think it's easier to say that I'm sad to have missed that opportunity, simply because I have yet to have to make it through it!!
It is beautiful out here. Currently I live just a couple blocks from Lake Champlain. I run along it often, and through the Ethan Allen Homestead. I've yet to make it out to Mt. Mansfield and Camel's Hump State Park, but they are on my to-do list and I hope to get out there and explore those trails.
November 1, 2015 was a pretty spectacular and exciting day for me, as I found out I had gotten into the Zane Grey 50 miler lottery. I was so stoked!!! And I also had this weird random pain in my lower left leg that I couldn't figure out. But, I didn't think too much of it. I got into Zane Grey!!! Yes! Let the nose make contact with the grindstone and have the serious, focused training time commence! My family has a spot up on the Mogollon Rim, and I have many great memories of that area. I've volunteered with the Zane Grey race in the past, and it has always been something I wanted to do. Not to mention, I spent one fall working on the first section of trail out of Pine for about two weeks. I'm connected to that place, and am looking forward to the challenge.
So, the leg pain. It moved. Instead of just being my lower leg, it moved up, to about my knee, and consumed my whole leg. Constant nerve pain, with random bursts of intense driving pains that seemed to go all the way through my leg. I would go out for my run, and find myself falling, because my muscles weren't listening to my brain, and my left leg would falter. I went to see an acupuncturist. They were stumped. It progressed, moved up my leg further, and I went to see a doctor. Blood tests, interviews, muscle responsiveness tests, still stumped. I was told to stop running until they could figure it out, and that was the last thing I wanted to hear, but I obeyed. The long and the short of it, the pain continued to increase, became constant, and eventually was in both legs. My late-fall/early winter training had quite the hiccup and I was starting to get stressed out that I wouldn't have things figured out or make a recovery in time to train and race at Zane Grey. I tried my best to stay positive, and continued to get tests done. My least favorite test was the EMG, where electrodes were attached to my leg and then shocks were sent to measure my peripheral nerve response time. After the electrodes that were taped to my legs, they used needles (similar but slightly larger than acupuncture needles) that were inserted directly into my muscle tissue and then given a current, again to measure the nerve response. Not particularly pleasant. So far, the doctors of Vermont and I are still trying to sort out what this mystery pain is. I was medicated, which I've now stopped taking, to see if there is any change/improvement, and there seems to be. The pain is not as constant or intense, and the muscle control is no longer an issue. I've gotten really good at lying still inside MRI machines, and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. The best news, though, is that I was officially cleared to start running again.
Running outside as often as possible has been my main priority. While I am grateful that my current coaching job at the YMCA allows me access to our exercise room and the machine I like to refer to as the 'Climbing Elliptical Thingamabob', nothing beats running outside and on trails for this kid. It just makes me feel so happy and free, even on days that feel like a total slog, I just love being outside. So, training for Zane Grey is officially back on track and I am once again excited for that race instead of worried about being able to participate. I can't wait!! The shift from being grounded to being back to running also had me looking at my future race options post Zane Grey and trying to figure out what else I could do. I had such a blast running the Vermont 50, and a great time volunteering at the Vermont 100 last year, I decided to see if I could become a charity runner for this year's Vermont 100. I contacted Amy, the RD, to see if there were still any charity spots left, and there were. So, now I'm training both for the ZG50 and the VT100!!! Finally getting back to racing after what has felt like too long of a hiatus is really wonderful. I realize just how spoiled I was my few years in Tucson with a TTR run almost every weekend during the peak training season. I've gotten creative making my own routes out here, but it's nothing compared to the incredible trails I had just outside my door while living in Tucson, and the fantastic folks there were to run with. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of those TTR folks at Zane Grey.
But, back to the Vermont 100 for a moment. I am running as a 'Charity Runner,' which means I'm responsible for raising a minimum of $1000, all of which will go to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sport. VASS is really an incredible organization, and I'm honored to be able to raise some money for their programs. I'm also hoping to maybe find some time to volunteer with them this summer when they are doing sports like kayaking and such where I could actually be a useful guide. (Skiing, I would be NO help getting anyone down a slope!) I plan to check in here at least every month or so, to update how my training is going, both for ZG50 and VT100. If you feel a streak of philanthropy running through your veins and feel like donating to my fundraising campaign, that would be extraordinarily appreciated. It's as simple as a bunch of folks out there in the running community dropping as little as $5. No donation is too small. My fundraising page is here.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you're having some fantastic winter adventures wherever you are!
And I almost forgot, some music that's kept me motivated of late:
Needless to say, this has been a strange winter. There have been a few days of snow, and some really cold days, but it hasn't been harsh and crazy like I expected it to be. To be honest, I've been a little bummed at my lack of opportunity to go frolic through the snow covered forest trails with my sweet new gaiters (I've used once) and my microspikes (I've used three times). So, maybe I'll have to stay for another year to get a chance at a true Vermont winter, it's hard to say. I think it's easier to say that I'm sad to have missed that opportunity, simply because I have yet to have to make it through it!!
It is beautiful out here. Currently I live just a couple blocks from Lake Champlain. I run along it often, and through the Ethan Allen Homestead. I've yet to make it out to Mt. Mansfield and Camel's Hump State Park, but they are on my to-do list and I hope to get out there and explore those trails.
November 1, 2015 was a pretty spectacular and exciting day for me, as I found out I had gotten into the Zane Grey 50 miler lottery. I was so stoked!!! And I also had this weird random pain in my lower left leg that I couldn't figure out. But, I didn't think too much of it. I got into Zane Grey!!! Yes! Let the nose make contact with the grindstone and have the serious, focused training time commence! My family has a spot up on the Mogollon Rim, and I have many great memories of that area. I've volunteered with the Zane Grey race in the past, and it has always been something I wanted to do. Not to mention, I spent one fall working on the first section of trail out of Pine for about two weeks. I'm connected to that place, and am looking forward to the challenge.
So, the leg pain. It moved. Instead of just being my lower leg, it moved up, to about my knee, and consumed my whole leg. Constant nerve pain, with random bursts of intense driving pains that seemed to go all the way through my leg. I would go out for my run, and find myself falling, because my muscles weren't listening to my brain, and my left leg would falter. I went to see an acupuncturist. They were stumped. It progressed, moved up my leg further, and I went to see a doctor. Blood tests, interviews, muscle responsiveness tests, still stumped. I was told to stop running until they could figure it out, and that was the last thing I wanted to hear, but I obeyed. The long and the short of it, the pain continued to increase, became constant, and eventually was in both legs. My late-fall/early winter training had quite the hiccup and I was starting to get stressed out that I wouldn't have things figured out or make a recovery in time to train and race at Zane Grey. I tried my best to stay positive, and continued to get tests done. My least favorite test was the EMG, where electrodes were attached to my leg and then shocks were sent to measure my peripheral nerve response time. After the electrodes that were taped to my legs, they used needles (similar but slightly larger than acupuncture needles) that were inserted directly into my muscle tissue and then given a current, again to measure the nerve response. Not particularly pleasant. So far, the doctors of Vermont and I are still trying to sort out what this mystery pain is. I was medicated, which I've now stopped taking, to see if there is any change/improvement, and there seems to be. The pain is not as constant or intense, and the muscle control is no longer an issue. I've gotten really good at lying still inside MRI machines, and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. The best news, though, is that I was officially cleared to start running again.
Running outside as often as possible has been my main priority. While I am grateful that my current coaching job at the YMCA allows me access to our exercise room and the machine I like to refer to as the 'Climbing Elliptical Thingamabob', nothing beats running outside and on trails for this kid. It just makes me feel so happy and free, even on days that feel like a total slog, I just love being outside. So, training for Zane Grey is officially back on track and I am once again excited for that race instead of worried about being able to participate. I can't wait!! The shift from being grounded to being back to running also had me looking at my future race options post Zane Grey and trying to figure out what else I could do. I had such a blast running the Vermont 50, and a great time volunteering at the Vermont 100 last year, I decided to see if I could become a charity runner for this year's Vermont 100. I contacted Amy, the RD, to see if there were still any charity spots left, and there were. So, now I'm training both for the ZG50 and the VT100!!! Finally getting back to racing after what has felt like too long of a hiatus is really wonderful. I realize just how spoiled I was my few years in Tucson with a TTR run almost every weekend during the peak training season. I've gotten creative making my own routes out here, but it's nothing compared to the incredible trails I had just outside my door while living in Tucson, and the fantastic folks there were to run with. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of those TTR folks at Zane Grey.
But, back to the Vermont 100 for a moment. I am running as a 'Charity Runner,' which means I'm responsible for raising a minimum of $1000, all of which will go to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sport. VASS is really an incredible organization, and I'm honored to be able to raise some money for their programs. I'm also hoping to maybe find some time to volunteer with them this summer when they are doing sports like kayaking and such where I could actually be a useful guide. (Skiing, I would be NO help getting anyone down a slope!) I plan to check in here at least every month or so, to update how my training is going, both for ZG50 and VT100. If you feel a streak of philanthropy running through your veins and feel like donating to my fundraising campaign, that would be extraordinarily appreciated. It's as simple as a bunch of folks out there in the running community dropping as little as $5. No donation is too small. My fundraising page is here.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you're having some fantastic winter adventures wherever you are!
And I almost forgot, some music that's kept me motivated of late:
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