It felt much better when I woke up Sunday and I was able to walk the dogs but biking was still out of the question since the range of motion required caused pain. Wasn't sure if running was a good idea either and I figured at this rate just one more day of rest and it would be back to normal. Was such a gorgeous day though, couldn't sit around so we went for a short, easy 1 1/4 hour hike at Betasso.
You can see the burn area from the Four Mile Canyon fire on the far hill.
Was a nice hike but I was jealous of all the people out on bikes.
Ah well, these things happen. Then I twisted my other ankle on nothing in particular while we were hiking. It occurs to me that the past couple of weeks I've had this occasional fleeting thought that since my training is going so well that I'm just about due to have something bad happen to me. And of course having those types of thoughts is a great way to manifest having something bad happen to you. I think this comes from about 6-7 years ago, this same time of year I was also in a very good place training wise and was planning on doing a half Ironman distance triathlon over the summer then got hit by a car, fractured pelvis, was out most of the summer, etc. so now every time I feel like I'm starting to get into good shape I feel like something should happen. So I've been doing some mental re-programming and today while running I started to twist my ankle again but before it could really twist I managed to re-center myself and straighten my foot out before hitting the ground no problem. The mind is a powerful thing.
Good news is that the knee is about 90% back to normal this morning and I had a good run with the dogs and I'm guessing that swimming later will be no problem. I knew resting it one more day would be all it needed.
Strum had one agility practice last week and it went o.k. I set up a handling exercise and it felt good to be practicing again. I spent way more time setting it up then we spent practicing though. I didn't want to overdue it so we only did 3 of the 6 possible exercises. The dogwalk was down low and I couldn't be bothered raising it so I thought I'd let him do the low dogwalk and have some easy success but it was quite the opposite. I got a couple good hits and decided to leave it be. Looks like we need a remedial refresher course, maybe even some back chaining and the treat gizmo. We've got a half day/3 runs at an ASCA trial at the end of the month for fun and to get us back in the ring before the 2 USDAA trials in May. It's the same weekend as USDAA Regionals so I'm guessing it won't be too crowded and it's in one of my favorite parks in Denver so it should be a fun, relaxing trial. I decided on only one day so I don't lose too much training time and so Strum doesn't overdo it. He's shown no signs of lameness but I'm still being careful with him focusing more on conditioning (ie running with me) than agility.
WEEKLY TOTALS
Swim: 7,050 yards/3 hours
Mountain Bike: 0
Run: 3.1 miles/42 mins.
Total Training Hours: 3 hours, 42 mins.
Isn't it insane, all the training and running and biking that you do, then you hurt yourself when being calm and quiet in your own back yard. Glad the knee doesn't seem seriously damaged and the ankles are recovering quickly. I've twisted my ankles much less frequently than I used to just by adding standing on one foot while brushing my teeth every time. Never twisted an ankle doing agility, but used to sprain them all the time just walking around, often on plain flat surfaces. You undoubtedly know much more about conditioning than I do.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking again about coming out to CO for the USDAA nationals, waffling on whether to drive and bring the dogs (they'd have to spend so much time in the car, though) or fly and rent a car to tootle around and hike & take photos. Plans still taking shape.
Yeah I know, I was thinking how stupid it was to hurt myself in my back yard. My deck only has 2 steps that I go down every day and somehow I can't manage them but I can bike and run on rocky trails?
ReplyDeleteIf you come sans dogs you're more than welcome to stay with me in Boulder but my house and yard are too small for the dogs I already have, any more would be chaos.
It can be anywhere from mid-80's to snowing in Sept. so it could easily be too hot on some or all of the days to leave your dogs in the car mid-day so I wouldn't plan on being able to do that. There is no shaded parking at the Nationals facility. But you never know, could be in the 60's-70's the whole time. Last year it was in the mid-80's in Denver that time of year.
Rocky Mountain Nat'l. Park doesn't allow dogs on the trails but if you're hiking up high enough it would probably be cool enough to leave them in the car, which they do allow. But there are plenty of places to hike outside of RMNP. There are loads of trails that allow dogs but the dogs do limit your options.
OK, you've talked me out of taking the dogs. (It doesn't take much--I believe in separate vacations for me versus me and the dogs.)
ReplyDeleteOh no, I wasn't trying to talk you out of taking the dogs but just wanted to let you know what the challenges would be with taking them, particularly with leaving them in the car.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think traveling with dogs is a huge pain in the ass but I can't typically afford to leave them home so I'm stuck with them. But some people love taking their dogs so go figure. I think if I only had one or maybe even 2 I wouldn't mind but 3 is a bit overmuch. Or maybe if I had an RV . . .
Phew! Glad the ankle is improving!! I hate when we do those kinds of things to ourselves, especially when we aren't even training!
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