Dates: 10/24/22 – 10/30/22
Training Week: 9
Miles: 12.3 (hiking/walking) + 32 (cycling)

Commentary: First thing Monday morning I had my first appointment with the INL PT doc, Bret. When I told him about my ankle he was disappointed that he couldn’t do a full running assessment with me running on the treadmill with all the fun sensors stuck to my body. But we did do the beginning part of the assessment where he checked range of motion, flexibility and whatnot. Oh, and he also told me stop running until my ankle healed. Sad face.

Bret checked my range of motion by moving body parts around, then he had me move the body parts to see if I could move them as far. In most cases I couldn’t. I already knew my dorsiflexion sucked, but what I didn’t know is that it completely disappeared on my left side. I can’t even get my foot and leg to a 90° angle! He also discovered that my both my legs are strong, but my deep core muscles are super weak and don’t engage, which makes them feel weaker.

There was more assessing Bret could do, but he stopped there because he said it was more than enough to get us started. He assigned me three exercises for homework. Single-leg calf raises, seated calf stretch with strap, and I don’t know what to call the third one, but the gist of it is to teach my deep core muscles to engage when I move my leg forward.

This weekend was supposed to be my big running weekend in Moab where I would run most of the 50-miler course to get a feel for it. Because I was an idiot and didn’t take it easy as soon as it started bothering me, running in Moab was no longer a thing.

A few things have been getting me down lately. The jankle. Work is bleh, and I don’t find much satisfaction in it anymore. School is slow, and I feel like I could learn so much more and much faster on my own. Oh, and there is only one f-ing class I can take in the spring. At this rate I’ll never get my degree. Financial stuff sucks right now. Just blah!

Even though running in Moab was out the question, we still started the drive in that direction on Wednesday when I got done with class. Side note, even though work is getting me down, I am still beyond grateful for my amazing managers who allow me to flex time and work remotely. Otherwise, a long weekend in Moab wouldn’t have been possible.

Since I couldn’t run, I figured cycling and hiking would be the next best things. On Thursday I worked for a few hours in the morning. The plan was to ride my bike, but it was windy and a bit chilly, so Jeremy and I went on a short hike in Canyonlands instead. By the way, I am now in love with Canyonlands and really want an overlanding vehicle so we can explore all of its remoteness.

Friday morning we awoke from our signal-less home for the night and drove to the city park so I could get some work done. During that time the cat ran off for three hours and almost got left to join the stray colony. I’m kidding. She almost ruined our day because we planned on staying at the park until her bitch ass came back.

Anyway, it turned out be a gorgeous day. I went for a 32-mile ride down Potash Road to Gold Bar Campground and back. I stopped a few times to gaze upon some petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks along the way. Then I went past my starting point and through Moab to golf course on the south end of town where Jeremy was golfing. The climb up to the golf course was rough. And it was only like 1,300 feet of elevation gain for the whole ride.

I thought my legs were strong, but they’re only running strong. They clearly aren’t cycling strong. I’m really starting to see the advantage of cross training…

My idea for Saturday was to do a 62-mile out-and-back with 2,300 feet of elevation gain in Canyonlands. After Friday’s ride I reconsidered. In fact, I decided not to ride at all. Instead, my husband and I did a few of the short, touristy hikes in Canyonlands. It was absolutely perfect! And we met a bunch of great people that made the day even more special.

That night we started making our way north, and stayed at a BLM rest area off of Highway 139 in Colorado. On Sunday we hit the road and stopped at a few interpretation sites so I could get my fill of petroglyphs and pictographs. We also stopped at the Dinosaur National Monument Quarry Exhibit Hall to gander at a bunch of awesome dinosaur bones.

Sunday night we rolled into Jackson, WY to see Shovels and Rope, one of my favorite bands. The show was amazing, as always. But it didn’t end until 10:30pm, which made for a long night.

When we got home Sunday night I was tired, but I felt amazing. This trip is exactly what I needed. It’s like my reset button was hit and all was right in the world again.

Training Journal canyonlands cycling exercise fitness garmin journal moab physicaltherapy running strength trail running training