I’ve been whining about being out for a few seasons but Pablo Robledo puts it all into perspective. I don’t believe I have raced against Pablo in an adventure race, however I like the looks of the Tetra race in Patagonia that is featured in this video. Do they have something against using skins for going uphill? May just be time for a trip to South America to find out for myself.
My friend Rob Mueller passed this motivational video on to me. Check out his website for more abilities discovered.
I got the green light to skin and mountain bike a few weeks ago and I’ve been enjoying it to the fullest. Although I haven’t skied since mid-April Mt. Sopris is calling my name, especially since my new Sportiva Spitfire boots arrived this week. They fit great right out of the box and feel fine on my foot. Maybe this year I can motivate some friends to ride bikes with me from the house and then ski from snowline. None of this wimpy car stuff. I think round trip we’d still be around five hours…if all went smoothly. Any takers?
In the meantime, I’m enjoying every ride on my new Scott Scale 29er. Even with burly, heavy tires the bike is super responsive, so much so, that Ian has his eyes on it for a few races. But I’m not sure I’m willing to share.
With physical therapy a few times a week, I’m slowly gaining mobility back in my ankle and foot. I’m still no where near running but thankfully I feel great on the bike and in the pool. My strength is coming back the more I ride and with three gym sessions a week. Someday in the next few years I’m hoping my left calf will regain the size of my right one.
Time away from competing has given me a chance to reflect quite a bit. One thing I’ve always wanted to do is coach, train and mentor women especially. I’ve started taking courses to get my personal trainer certifications. Although I haven’t talked about my intentions much, I already have a few clients lined up and I’m looking forward to building a program for them.
As I spend more time on the bike, the temptation to jump into a mountain bike race is building. I’m feel pretty fit but I don’t have the ankle mobility to get off my bike and run up something or around someone. Am I capable of racing for fun knowing I may need to hold back a little? Honestly, I have no idea…
For those of you who have been following along, it’s been four months since my ankle surgery. Back in December, the day before I went under the knife, I skinned up and skied a couple laps on Buttermilk. I figured those would be my only turns of the season.
Today, I skied for my second time this season. And damn it felt good.
I had an appointment with my surgeon Dr. Clanton and my physical therapist Ana at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail this morning. Dr. Clanton said I’ve made great gains in my range of motion. I still have a long way to go but things are right on track. Phew!
Every time I visit with Dr. Clanton, I ask him what activities I can do next. First, I got the green light for road biking. Then I got the ok to swim. Then I had a small set-back when the doctor prescribed a follow up surgery in March to snip some fiber tape that had been added as an extra ligament in my ankle. Thankfully, that surgery only put me out of commission for a week.
Today, like a kid asking for desert after dinner, I asked if I could ride my new mountain bike (a ridiculously sexy, 19 lb Scott Scale 29er). The doctor and Ana thought about it for a minute, nodded to one another and then said okay. Sweet!
Of course, it snowed over a foot here in the past two days and all anyone can talk about is the awesome skiing. I wondered if I should push my luck and ask? Fully expecting the answer no, I sheepishly asked if I could skin and ski. And then, BOOM, in unison they said, “sure.”
So what did I do as soon as I got home? I picked up Ian and Skid the Dog, and bee-lined it to Tiehack. I tentatively slid into my La Sportiva boots, worried they might hurt my ankle, but to my relief they felt fine. I started slowly up the skin track, but in short order I was pushing the pace and steaming ahead. It felt great. My heart rate hasn’t been that high in months and I relished the endorphin rush.
I took it easy on the descent, especially since the snow was pretty set up, but it didn’t matter–I felt free again.
This was Skid’s first ski of the season too. I think he enjoyed it almost as much as I did.
Ian and I happy to be out together. Thanks to my parents for watching the kids.
Apparently no one taught the dog not to blink during pictures.
It’s been six weeks since my ankle surgery and I’ve survived so far. And more importantly, so have Ian and the kids.
December 19th – Pre-op at Steadman Hawkins in Vail
But first let me back up. Last fall, I found out I had a ruptured posterior tibial tendon in my ankle. I’d been dealing with ankle pain for most of last summer, but it got pretty bad in the fall so I finally had an MRI done. I had no idea how bad it actually was. Repairing your posterior tibial tendon requires pretty serious surgery that involves grafting a tendon from another part of your foot, then cutting off your heel bone, moving it over and screwing it back in. The crazy thing is, I don’t even know when I tore the tendon. I think I might have done it playing ice hockey back in high school. Regardless, the time had come to do something about it.
The good news was some of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world are just down the road in Vail at the Steadman Hawkins clinic. Better yet, my friend Laura Clanton’s father is the foot and ankle specialist there. I knew I’d be in good hands.
So, when I awoke after my five-hour procedure, Dr. Clanton said the surgery went well. He repaired my posterior tibial tendon using my flexor digitorum longus tendon, he repaired multiple ligaments with artificial fibers and he moved my calcaneus over 1.5 cm and screwed it back on with a 7cm screw.
Sitting there in the recovery room, I started having buyer’s remorse. I knew that the surgery was necessary if I ever wanted to run and ski 100% again, but I’ve never had any kind of surgery before, and I’ve never really been injured for a long period of time. Lots of my friends said it would be similar to being pregnant, but I was able to walk, run, mountain bike and ski throughout both my pregnancies. This surgery comes with 3-6 months stuck wearing a cast–so that I can’t even carry my dinner to the table or stand-up to take a shower.
The first week after surgery was painful as the nerve blocks wore off but it went by pretty quickly with family around for the holidays. I had Ian, my mom and my sister-in-law here to wait on me hand and foot. (Which was only fun for about two days before it got really annoying.) After a week of being in the house, I was determined to make it to the gym for some seated weight lifting. Not surprisingly, it felt really good. Though it wasn’t a cardio session like I’m accustomed to, the core and strength training I did those first few times after surgery helped keep me sane.
Mom & Juniper on Christmas morning.
Then, three weeks ago, the doctors removed the soft cast I left the hospital with and put me in a hard cast. Right away I didn’t have to worry as much about the kids running into my ankle and sending pain through my entire body. I was allowed to rest my foot on the ground when standing still on my crutches and I was cleared to ride the trainer with one leg. Unfortunately, riding one-legged turned out to be really hard and proved how poor my full circles are. So I tried the rowing machine. That was a little better but after two sessions I landed in the ER with swelling and pain that we thought was a blood clot. Thankfully it wasn’t, but I decided to stick with my strength training for the time being.
The scar on my ankle after two weeks (sorry if you’re squeamish or don’t like hairy legs 
Scar on my heel
Last week, I went back to Steadman Hawkins, they removed my cast and readjusted my foot again before wrapping it with a new cast. Now, I am cleared to hold 25 pounds of pressure on my cast while standing. Amazing! I no longer have to balance on one foot to pull my pants up. And after a week of 25 pounds feeling good, I’ll get the green light for 50 pounds.
That meant it was time for an experiment. With one cycling shoe, one cast and a flat pedal I got back on the trainer. Success! So far I’ve managed one half hour session and two one-hour sessions with my heart rate averaging in the low 130s’, which got me sweating pretty decently. Heaven.
My First few minutes back on the bike earlier this week.
So far, I found that some days are harder than others, but throughout this experience, I’ve never appreciated my family more. Both Juniper and Axel have learned to be much more self-reliant, making their own breakfast, getting themselves dressed, cleaning up and more.
Watching skimo races from the couch has been difficult and next week I missing the world championships, which just plain sucks. But I’m super thankful to La Sportiva for being 100% supportive and I’ll be cheering on all my friends and teammates who will be in Italy.
I’ve got at least a month or two left on crutches and then a long road back to fitness, but with some good PT and a little bit of luck, I’m hoping to run a few trail races late this summer on the Sportiva Mountain Running Team as well as well as ride a few late mountain bike races for the Basalt Bike & Ski Team.
I’ll make it through this and I hope I can be as strong as my new ankle will be when I return. Thanks to my husband Ian, the kids, my parents and my friends here in Carbondale for all of the support they’ve given me.
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