Trisha in LA LA Land

"I didn't come for a fight, but I will fight till the end

And this one might be a battle, might not turn out okay

You know you look so Seattle, but you feel so LA"

~Fall Out Boy 

Ok, ok, ok… so this is more than a month late! Ahhh! I know, sorry mom and the four people who read this blog. I’ve been working insane hours lately, and the last thing I want to do after work is sit down at a computer and write more. I’d much rather dink wine and pet cats. Ha! Enjoy :)

.........................................................................................................

The Olympic Marathon Trials where a whirl wind and the best kind. It's actually been quite fun to go through all the pictures again for this post... it was a once in a lifetime experience for me, elevated by the people I was surrounded by: family, friends and an incredible team from Oiselle.

To put it bluntly, It was fucking fantastic. (Pardon the swear word, but seriously! The F*Bomb is necessary here!) It exceeded my expectations from all directions. 

GETTING AMPED FOR LA! 

Oiselle posted a lot of social media promoting the 18 women who had the OTQ. And of course the incredible comeback (but did she ever really leave?) story of sister hero, 3-time Olympian and one helluva an honest human Kara Goucher. The excitement was bubbling over and made me even more pumped to get to LA.

Training leading up to the big day was going fairly well in the sense that I was able to complete everything that I was supposed to do. I was still very skeptical and concerned that the PW-ing (power walking on an incline) wouldn't translate over to being able to run at a decent pace for 3 hours! I was happy though that I could keep my heart rate in the 130-140 zone going 3.8-4 mph at a 10-12% incline. But.... So. Much. Walking! However, there was light at the end of the tunnel! After 7 weeks of no running I was released to test out the legs again.

Coach Elliot had my PW rolling over to running by increasing in the intervals in quantity and duration. I only started running the week of January 11th... and after a few baby workouts to see how the foot would respond and hold up, he then really packed in the miles! Ha! It's so crazy my build up was so short. But we just didn't have time. I did exactly as I was told. I wanted to finish so badly!

Adding to the excitement, the local paper came out to take my picture and write an article. It sums up my story really well. 

LA BOUND! 

THURSDAY

I clearly have a affinity for purple stripes. 

I woke up at the ass crack of dawn to get on a flight, landing in LA around 10 AM. I met up with my parents, grabbed lunch and then I headed out for a shake out jog/walk. It was hot. I mean I'm from Montana! Hello SoCal! Although I had only been on a treadmill and this was my first outdoor exercising event in 10 weeks (Hallelujah!), the shock of the 75° weather was freeing but also humbling. I navigated myself to a park about a mile from the house by walking for 90 seconds jogging for 90 seconds all the way there. My goal was to open it up for about 20 to 30 minutes at "race pace." It didn't go well. I didn't feel smooth at all, my gut was tore up (insert gross port-o-pot experience here) and I felt slow and sluggish. My watch confirmed that. The thought of officials pulling me off the course definitely crossed my mind. I jog/walked home trying not to freak out too bad.

Quick, take the picture before they kick us out! 

My parents and I decided we would drive to the JW Marriott downtown where I could check in my uniform and get it approved by USATF. Holy crap LA traffic... what a disaster. It took us more than an hour to go less than 9 miles. After picking up Oiselle teammate Sara Mac, she and I barely made it to check in before they shut the lights off and kicked us out of the elite hospitality suite. 

My folks and I headed to the California space Center for the welcome banquet. There were lots of running stars and good food under the backdrop of the Endeavor space craft, but all I could think of was my heel hurt after a long day on my feet. The banquet was free for me, but 75 bucks for my parents (the food wasn't that good) so I told them to drink as much as possible since it was an open bar! 

New Christmas Ornament 

FRIDAY

I was relieved to wake up with my husband beside me, as he had flown in late Thursday night. I had breakfast, a lot of coffee and proceeded on my way as I had a big day including bottle drop off, Oiselle photo shoot and technical meeting where I got my sweet bib. 

The technical meeting had lots of answers to my many logistical questions. I thought it was strange the lack of information involving aid stations, gear bags, security, time lines, etc(and where the heck was my participants shirt?). Most highly organized races provide all this info in the weeks leading up to the big day. But never having competed in an OT before, I thought it was just me being inexperienced. Only later, after the race did I find out how unsatisfied many runners were in their treatment, runner amenities and USATF's race day organization. 

#OiselleDozen (even though there were 18!)  Looking like a boss.
Can I say how rad it was to hang with all these fasties? 

BAM! 

That night, my dad and Aunt Pat made a fabulous pre-race dinner for me. I then had my typical GIANT pre-race desert (top off the food stores, duh!)  SIX chocolate chip cookies and Andy and I drove downtown to stay with the majority of the Oiselle team at the LA Athletic Club. 

Good night! 

SATURDAY

A 10:22am start is great for a non-morning person such as myself. I didn't have to get up before the sun! I could take my time and enjoy breakfast, coffee and other morning routines. It was a beautiful, sunny day! Bring on the heat I thought. That will slow everyone down and allow my tendon to start out warm. I headed down to lobby and met up with team mates Heather McWhirter and Erin Osment. We Uber'd it as close as we could get to the start. 

I got this text when I woke up! Eat your heart out Ellen. 

Look who I ran into before the race? And their matching shirts - how cool! 

Chillin' race day morning with one of my favorites and the only other Montanan Heather Leiberg. #fangirl

There wasn't much shade in the athlete holding area. We all huddled together and tried to stay calm. Pre-race jitters were in full effect. I was just concerned about finishing. I was mentally trying to prepare for the second half. I knew it would hurt.... everywhere! 

Team Oiselle getting ready to fly! 

Officials sent the men off on their 2.2 mile loop. Guess what their send off song was? Nope, not Eye of the Tiger. Close, but they got Eminem's anthem Lose It. Rocking! We watched them fly by and as they came back through they were very tightly packed. After the last runner, all the women were hustled to the start line. I went to the back. I think there was only one other gal behind me. A few teammates joined me. 

I couldn't believe I had made it. I soaked it all in, then they counted us down and BOOM! We were off. Guess what song they sent the women off to? Nope, not the Rocky Theme Song. It was DeBarge's 80's classic Rhythm of the Night. I laughed. Typical. Give the guys the good song! 

Ready to run! 

Spotting my family in the crowd!

First 2 miles loop with Shal and Sarah Mac. I think this was going up the "hill" .... ha ha.
This course was flat as a pancake! 

Running in front of Olympic Stadium with Shal

I just want to take a second to talk about the fans. 

First off my friends and family. They woke up early, piled into a Suburban to get to the course early. My mom made matching T-shirts and signs with all my furry friends! So fun to spot from the course. My dear Kath sacrificed her own race the next day in LA (where she crushed a 4th place finish among the women might I add) by standing in the heat, cheering all morning. It warms my hear and brightens my soul that these people cared so much to fly down to LA to cheer for this race. I love you Pat, Mark, Tyler, Kate, Evan, Kath, Kim, Tony, Mom & Dad! 

Oiselle Volee and the Nest - HOLY SHIT!!!! I pretty much freaked out after finishing the first big loop. I really wasn't anticipating a full city block of birds. My only reaction was to run over toward you. And you yelled even louder!!!  Obviously not a great racing strategy (I ran almost a half mile more than 26.2 by the end of this race) but I wanted to get as close to that energy as possible. I used you all as a incentive for running each loop. I would allow myself to celebrate with hi-5s after completing each loop. I can't think of anything more rewarding. 

The original cat lady... my mom, my biggest fan!

My brother... just walking around downtown LA with cat signs in his back pack. 

Perhaps my favorite pic from the race.... reposted by Laurent Fleshman captioning it "the power of the team." It's true... the Oiselle Cowbell block was INSANE! 

If you knew me between the years of 1996-2004....
this is the same face I make after too many drinks and someone turns on 50 Cent.
"We don't give a f### cause It's your Birthday." 

Michael Jordan hi 5

All in all the race went MUCH better than planned. The plan going in was to walk every aid station and pick one other area every loop. I got to the first aid station, and I thought “No way am I stopping now!” I didn’t want to lose the people I was running with nor did I feel like I needed a break. Famous last words right? In this case luckily no. The miles clicked off from the start. I felt really good running 6:30s-6:40s. I’m sure being at sea level helped too. The heat really didn’t bother me at all the first few hours. It was breezy and I had also been training indoors, so I do think that helped immensely.

Grinding it out

Team Drobeck was epic!
I was so excited to pass their spectating station every loop! 

I’ve run 30+ marathons and I’ve had the real pleasure of a few of those in heat, so I know the drill about fluids. I grabbed water bottles at every neutral station, especially in the first two loops. I carried these bottles for a long time and chugged its contents. Again, not great racing strategy for running fast, but necessary in race survival mode. I had gels taped to 4 of my 8 personal bottles. I ate those 4 gels along with 2 others I carried in my pockets. I was actually stoked my fueling went so well since I really didn’t get much practice leading up to race day.

HOT! Too bad someone ordered soap infused sponges...
so all we had were these dippy towel segments.
I'm sure some intern was fired over that! 

Spectating is hard for 8 year olds.

Having a crit style race was not just great for the spectators, but I was able to watch both men’s and women’s race unfold. I could also easily spy my teammates in our sweet Oiselle kits. I screamed a lot for the women going the other direction, mostly for Kara. Damn, I wanted her in that top 3 so badly. Brave race for her.

Final Turn to the finish line - hurts so good!

I distinctly remember mile 17 thinking, ‘Ah, yes. This is where it’s going to start hurting. But keep moving. You want that freaking medal. You are so close. Time to womanup.”  I held onto my pace until 22. Then I slowed to sevens flat. Now I felt the heat. The street had been baking in the sun for long enough that it was now radiating. Yuck. But the finish line was tangible, in sight, so I knew I had it. I relished the last pass by Cowbell City Block and the final 180 degree turn. I saw the finish line and put my head up and my wings out.

BAM!   

#HeadUpWingsOut into the finish shoot

I got my freaking medal! I celebrated with this former Griz runner Heather McWhirter

Saturday night, Oiselle hosted a kick ass celebration party at the LA Athletic Club. The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing and the photo booth was classic. I'm pretty sure Evan took at least 50 photo sessions! Kara Goucher gave a raw and inspirational speech that brought the crowd to tears. "This is a safe place," she told everyone. That sentence has stuck with me. It's so true, Oiselle has created something authentic, honest and unparalleled. They have an environment for women to try and not be afraid to fail. They embrace the victories and the mistakes. They know life is flawed and that's half the fun. I cannot gush enough about this company and the fearless women who have allowed me to be a part of it's team. Thank you Sally. Thank you Kristin. Thank you Nesters. Talk about being in good company. I'm humbled to be included.

Photo booth fun! 

PARTY TIME! Evan taking a break from the photo booth to help me sign posters with the other Oiselle runners

I've been dreaming about this thing since I found out I was going to the Trials. Knowing I had the potential to earn it got me through countless hours on the treadmill and boring PT exercises. Now it's all mine! 

UPDATE:

After two weeks of pretty much nothing after the trials, I was ready to get moving again. I’ve resumed running slightly to five days a week. Never more than an hour at a time. I’ve gone to a few local track workouts with our club Run Wild Missoula which has been so much fun (and ass kicking)! Running with humans, who would have thought would be so fun! I’ve missed the social aspects of running. And I’m trying to force myself outside at lunch again. I truly miss my lunch runs with Jenny! And once I got out of the habit (from injury) of not going, it was easy just to work through the noon hour. But now that I’m able to run again, I need to remind myself that life will go on for the hour I’m away from my desk and go run.

I even raced a local St Paddy’s Day seven miler! It hurt! Both lungs and legs (and maybe a little bit of pride - I was 3 minutes slower than any other time I've ran this race). I know it’s going to be rough getting in shape for spring racing, but I’m looking forward to putting in the work and miles. Until next time!

xoxo

Run for the Luck of it 7 miler

Patience & the Pubis

It's been a while since I've checked in with a blog. That's because I've been busy! Busy healing and doing fun summer things: friends, family & food.

It was Memorial Day weekend, and I had headed out for my last long run of 16 miles. Ten miles in, I started to get some side stitches, not all that uncommon, but as I got to 13 miles, I noticed the pain was moving south as was my pace. By mile 15 I had run a 9:26... not a good sign. The pain was so severe in my lower abdomen, it was making my hip flexors, butt muscles, upper hamstrings and of course my stomach muscles all cramp and hurt. I walked it home certain something in my belly was creating all this mayhem. Everyone on my moms side of her family including my brother has had their appendix removed, so this seemed like the most logical answer for me. That or perhaps an alien baby. 

You're not having an appendicitis," Andy told me adding "that's not the right spot, and it would feel different. You probably pulled a muscle." Whatever the diagnosis was, I knew it wasn't going to be good and my hopes of running a marathon in 8 days were slipping sideways. 

A few hours later, I still had the soreness in the lower abdomen, but the bulk of the pain had stopped when I stopped running. I tried to stretch the area. Ouch. And I checked to see if there was any strength left in my ab muscles, by lying on my back and lifting my legs. Crap, I couldn't and it hurt. The next morning, I went out for 4 easy miles with Andy. It felt like a gut punch. Every. Single. Step. That "oh shit" feeling pulsed through my body. I knew deep down something was really wrong. But, being the ever optimist, I truly hoped it was a pulled muscle (or alien baby) and that the race in Calgary June 1 would still be on. 

Before I get to the diagnosis, I should back up a little.

Post Boston recovery was going very well. I took some time off, drank a lot of wine and slowly returned to the roads. After about two and a half weeks I was the little kid on the bench demanding "Put me in coach! I'm ready to play!" With his hesitation, I persuaded my coach to let me run the Riverbank Run, a spring classic here in Missoula. Because of other spring races (and also some strong feelings about the disorganization of this event), I hadn't raced since 2008. I signed up for the Tri-Fecta race, which combines all three distances 10K, 5K & mile which are spaced out enough so that you can race all three. 

My coach had to set boundaries for these races. He didn't want me just blowing out of the start and hurting myself or falling apart a few miles in. We decided these would be progression runs. Starting out slow and building to unleash in the final mile (... which isn't much for this one-speed pony). The 10K was good, not great, but after a slow start, I jumped from a 6:10 to a 5:55 mile too soon. I missed the 6:05 and 6:00 miles. I think I was a bit too excited. So for the 5K I really focused on staying on the paces given to me. I ran a 6:01, 5:53, 5:44. So success! (Regarding one small part of the disorganization comment above, the "5K" course isn't even 3 miles. The last mile my watch said .94 but 5:44 pace.) The mile I just wanted to go sub 5:40, which I did, but I'm not certain if that mile is really a mile either. Either way, I was happy to be back racing and feeling solid!

Last mile of the 10K course. Photo from the Missoulian

The next weekend was one of my favorite trail races, 11 Miles to Paradise. Although this race is not quite 11 miles or finish in Paradise, it's still extremely well organized, beautiful and fun!  There's a reason this one sells out quickly. Who doesn't want to run fast trails which finish with a meal and a soak in the hot springs? This race was two weeks from the Calgary marathon, so I was really looking to get in a hard effort. The competition was stiff and at mile 9.5 I found myself duking it out with Nicole Hunt again. She passed me on the final climb and went on to best me by 25 seconds. It was still a good effort and the top 3 women were all under the course record time. I had started my period the day before the race, so the sharp pains in my female parts during the final mile of the race, I attributed to my monthly friend. I even told Nicole after the race as we chatted "I felt like someone was stabbing me in the vagina!"

The top three women hit the single track. Photo by Vo-Tography

Had I only know then that the pubis getting angry.

That following Saturday was the back long run as I previously mentioned. So what the heck was wrong with me?!?

I was able to get an appointment the Tuesday after the holiday with the local sports doctor. I told him I thought I pulled a muscle and I hoped he could clear me for the race later that week. He did a few tests and it didn't take long. OSTEITIS PUBIS aka inflammation of the pubis symphysis. Or a stress reaction on my pubis symphysis.

Huh? Giggle, giggle, pubis what? He busted out the pelvis skeleton and gave me an anatomy lesson.  It's the hard cartilage right in the center of your pelvic bone. What causes it? Overuse. (Insert sex joke here). But really, overuse by training. 

See it? Pubis Symphysis.

An MRI the following day confirmed his findings that this girl's pubis was angry! Lots of inflammation.

• No race.
• No running.
• $#!T!!!
• PUBIS!!! (It truly is fun to say)

So for the last 7 weeks, I've become very familiar with telling my pubis story and pointing to my lady parts, riding my bike, I spent a wonderful week with family in Oregon, indulged myself in some other activities than running (say what?), helped beginners train for their first marathon and relaxed... a lot. It's been surprisingly nice! Then I feel gross and get irritated that I can't train... then I sit on a patio and drink a beer with a friend I haven't spent enough time with and it's nice again. ....But then I see my friends racing, ahhhh! It's just up and down. I'm practicing patience, something that doesn't come very easily to me.

I do have to say 'injured Trisha' is WAY better than 'taper Trisha' for two reasons. #1) No scary important race looming. #2) Red wine. Plus, mix the red wine and me talking about my pubis all the time... just good, clean fun. 

After 10 day of zero running, I started adding back tiny runs. First week back - 8 miles, wohoo! Then the next week 12. Biking didn't hurt the pubis at all, so I've been bike commuting a lot to and from work (20 miles round trip). It's not a workout... but helps me feel like I'm doing something productive. I ventured out to try pool running, which might be the more boring than watching women's basketball. (I didn't think that was possible.) I have friends who have been pool running for months due to stress fractures. I don't know how they do it, much respect. 

A lot of people have asked me why I came back to running so fast... 10 dasy off? Why didn't I let the pubis heal completely? Both my doctor and coach (and me and my husband) agree active recovery is best. As long as the pubis didn't hurt after a run or during the activity it was ok to continue to run (or jog actually). No speed, no hills (uphill seemed especially bad) and no yoga or any weird strength training that made the pubis shift. It was a slow and gradual build up, continuing to run and continuing to let the area heal. First time in a very long time I was under 100 miles for a month.

Missoula Aquajogging Team - L to R: stress fracture & angry pubis

SEVEN WEEKS LATER - WHAT'S NEXT?

This weekend is the 8th Running of the MISSOULA MARATHON! Christmas in July for runners :) I love this race. I am so incredibly proud and bursting with excitement over my hometown marathon. We do it up right! I've been involved with the Marathon for 3+ years now. I've sold sponsorship for the race, been a vocal member of the race committee and consider myself a running ambassador for the city of Missoula the second weekend in July. Although, I've raced the marathon 4 times, the half once and 5K twice... last year I dove in and gave pacing a try. I paced the 3:20 group. I didn't think I could have more fun than I did race day in 2013... it was pretty incredible. I was a bit nervous I wouldn't hold the pace or would be erratic with my splits, but once I got into the groove, the miles clicked off. My core group of guys (pictured here) all made it very close to the 3:20 mark, some a little before, most a minute or so back. I think I received more cheers as a pacer than as the first female in previous years. I actually hear "Go Balloons!" from one spectator. 

The question I get asked the most about pacing is "are the balloons annoying to carry?"... and the answer is no, I really didn't notice them. However I did use them as a baton like I was the conductor of my own 3:20 band. So this year, BP (or before pubis), I made the commitment to pace again. I had dreams of going to Calgary, getting my OTQ (sub 2:43) and pacing in my home town 6 weeks later to the cheers and congratulatory hi-fives from my running community. I probably jinxed by thinking about it so much! I'm good on my word this year. I'm going to pace again. I ran 17 miles last Sunday... so I'm hoping that plus my endurance from the previous years of running will carry me to the finish line. I do know there is a good chance I can hurt bad too. Dropping out will break my heart and would be tough for me to get over, but breaking my pubis officially would ruin any chance I have of running a fast late fall marathon. 

Some where on the hill of the marathon course 2013,
 I'm guessing mile 14 or so. I love this picture. I'm pretty
sure the guys were making painful faces on purpose.... I hope.

So what did I do with all that free time? 
Here's some pics of my mini-adventures!

With limited running, I took to my trust steed!
A lot of bike rides these past few weeks.
 I never got good at the biking selfie though.... 

Awe.... the Missoula Marathon training class - LOVE these people. 
This is only about 40 who showed up on a nasty, cold rainy June day. 
There's more than 300 signed up for the class.
 I'm going to miss them. Tear!

We gathered on the last day to share words of wisdom
and to hopefully get everyone pumped up. I shared you never
forget your first... marathon, that is. But really, so much of
marathon training isn't about running. It's about setting a
goal and seeing it though. I can not wait to celebrate with all
my new friends at the finish line!!! It's been a rewarding and
inspiring 18 weeks with the 300+ class.

Biking took me to some beautiful places!
Including the Deschutes River with
Mt Bachelor peaking out in the background

Golfing with my friend Holly on the Summer Solstice. 
We are both really good at golf... I mean driving the golf cart.

In Central OR visiting my family helping this 
adorable 7 year old make his way to
 a top 5 finish in the Kid's Splash, Pedal & Dash!

The day after the Kids race, Andy kicked butt 
in a close finish for the Long Course Tri at Pacific Crest.

I practiced my pacing skills and helped my mom finish
her 5K with a 4 second gap to clinch
her age group victory!  And Evan crushed the Kid's Mile.

Cross Training.... MT style ... on the Fourth of July

And of course! Cuddling and taking 
LOTS of photos of the monkeys :)

What can I say... they are a good looking pride. 
It was a real shocker to come home one day 
and all four chillin' together.
 I don't think that happens too often!