Denied a ride..

After helping Chris do some O-meet course vetting at Sope Creek, I realized that the mystery burning sensation in my "good" ankle that I had during Nationals had not gone away. I have this strange ball of something or other that appears to be along one of the flexor tendons on the top of my foot. All I know is that when I put pressure on it, it BURNS, and conveniently every pair of running shoes or bike shoes I own seems to dig in RIGHT THERE. I swear, I'm a damn mess! So needless to say, I had to cancel my ride and waste a perfectly good, non-rainy Wednesday. Instead of zipping through the leaves, I'm pecking away at my keyboard catching up on some work..WORK..ugh.

Blue Ridge Blunder

Yeah, I messed this one up big time. We were doing well until I chose an agressive attack on a bike orienteering section. Why I thought we'd be able to pull it off while I was hurtin', in the dark, in the middle of the night is beyond me. When the going got tough, I got frustrated, demoralized and called it quits like a big freaking pansy. What a pity, as those that toughed it out stayed in the top ten. I suck. I'm done racing this year. I think I'm going to go back to riding around in circles, because I used to be pretty good at it back in the day.

Tomorrow on our ride, we will be revisiting that section during the day, in the opposite direction to see how we fare. My guess is that it will seem stupid easy.

Blue Ridge Bound

The wagons are loaded and we're about ready to roll out for the USARA National Championships. I really hope this is our year, but if we manage to somehow screw the pooch, then hopefully one of our friend's teams will take home the glory. We definitely need to protect our turf!

Soooooo.... with all the variables that make AR so interesting...I'm hoping the planets will align and the AR gods will bestow good fortune upon us that shall lead us to the podium.

I'm looking forward to feverishly working on maps tonight and not getting any sleep because my over-active brain will still be trying to process what the optimal route is...

2 Days

Everything is packed and ready to go. I've caught up on my sleep big time. Ankle actually feels good, although it has started itching for some reason (???). Got a brace that doesn't suck too bad. Staying away from sick people and just doing enough exercise to keep my legs from getting stiff and tight....

3 Days....

Whoo hoo, just got back from voting and didn't have to stand in line! Yay for me! I'm getting excited about Nationals, as my ankle gets better every day and all the tenderness seems to be going away. I have full range of motion and can run, jump, ride, and everything in between. I'd say I'm at 75% today and may well be up to 85% by the race. I ordered a bunch of ankle braces to try out and decide which one to wear during the race. I'll pick the least annoying of the bunch and send the others back.

I've got everything ready to go for Nats..all food is bought and packed and gear is ready to go. Just need to do some laundry and I'm set.

4 days...

left of healing until Nationals.... Got in an easy 2.5 hour road ride yesterday without any pain or discomfort, so that's a good thing. This morning at PT my therapist was so happy with my progress that he didn't make me endure the horrible milking massage. He set up an obstacle course of stair steps and cones that I had to jump over...which actually looked quite dangerous. I'm pretty sure most people with two good ankles would have ended up on their a$$es, but I made it though three times without incident and he seemed impressed. I think of all his patients, I'm probably the most excited to see him because I'm very motivated at this point to make as much progress as possible. Every session is like a competition in itself...don't lose balance on the tramoline or put a foot down trying to catch the basketball. I'm optimistic and looking forward to Nationals..and no, I don't think I'll be racing in knee-highs and pigtails (just not practical for this time of year).

Night O

We went to the annual GAOC Night-O yesterday. I was pretty cautious as I didn't want to step in a hole or a pile of pinecones and tweak my ankle, so I was sportin' the trekking poles, oh yeah. I was able to get around just fine and I even jogged on the roads a bit. I had to put a clip on my poles to hold the map, although the whole map/pole/punchcard management was tough with my gloved hands. I took some longer routes on roads/trails, to avoid as much off-trail as possible, and I think I actually beat a fair number of people using this strategy. I picked up all the points that I had originally decided to go for and still had 20 minutes to spare...Enough time to go out for another point, but there was peach cobbler at the start/finish so I just parked my butt on a log and had some dessert. I promise not to be lured in by sweets at Nationals!