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.

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…

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.

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.

The last race on my schedule this summer was the Golden Leaf Half Marathon in Aspen this past Saturday. Only a week after the MTB marathon nationals, I had no idea how I’d feel come race morning. What I did know is that last year’s winner, Stevie Kremer, would be missing but that many other strong ladies were registered including Lindsay Krause. As a sure sign that this race season is over (at least for a few weeks), the battery in my heart rate monitor strap died as I was warming up. I was a little bummed because the first climb up Snowmass always produces a high heart rate, but I was also secretly relieved to run free of the numbers and data.

With fast men in the group like Rickey Gates, Karl Remson and Lance Armstrong, the field quickly spread apart in the two miles of steep dirt road climbing before we hit the singletrack. I started on the yellow brick road, aka The Government Trail, right where I wanted to be– in first for the women. I took a quick glance behind me and didn’t see any women coming, but I knew I needed to push the pace the entire race. I think Lindsay Krause is probably faster than I am on the flats so I needed to have a lead coming into the last few miles of bike path into Aspen.

I caught myself enjoying the beautiful scenery and changing leaves a few times, and my feet felt great in my La Sportiva Vertical K’s. But I tried to keep pushing myself and ended up finishing in 1 hour 42 minutes 45 seconds. Good enough to cut just over five minutes off my time from last year and over three minutes ahead of Lindsay Krause. It was really nice to finish the summer knowing that my hard training sessions thanks to Lindsay Hyman at Carmichael Training Systems had paid off. And since my heart rate monitor strap battery is taking a break, I figure it’s time to enjoy a small off season, especially since I have not had one since Axel was born two and a half years ago. But, I have the feeling I will find another race soon.

Lindsay Krause and I winning some dough

Full results can be found here.

Pro Women’s Podium (L to R): Kelly Boniface 5th, Sari 3rd, Pua Mata 1st, Kelli Emmett 2nd, Serena Gordon 4th

With just a few weeks remaining before the race, MOOTS rider Kelly Boniface and I decided it would be fun to make the trip. Our moms weekend away. Securing a house through friends, we booked our flights, rented a car and made sure to keep up on the intervals. However, neither of us ever looked at the course info, weather in Bend nor many other details. It was quite a surprise when we arrived to a place more drought-ridden than Colorado with lots and lots of sandy singletrack. Isn’t Oregon wet with roots?

Arriving in Bend midday on Thursday, Kelly and I pre-rode the last 12 miles of trail – Tiddlywinks and Funner. There wasn’t much climbing but lots of swooping singletrack. Despite crashing a few times, I enjoyed the trail and was thankful the race would be spread out at this point to keep the dust down to a minimum.

With some beta from Colorado friends, we opted for a new section to pre-ride on Friday. It was another great piece of trail with small, punchy climbs and fast rolling singletrack. My borrowed bike was not running perfectly so we made a pit stop in Pine Mountain Sports. Marc got my bike running right with customer service all shops should strive for (Marc, I still owe you a muffin or beer). We  enjoyed a great dinner made by our friend Rachel Hadley from Aspen who was racing as well, and then got some rest.

Coming through aid #2

Both Kelly and I were feeling okay race morning but not amazing. After a good warm-up and a Honey Stinger gel, we lined up at the start. I was thankful I missed the call-up as that puts pressure on me that I don’t really enjoy. Lining up in the second row behind Pua, Kelli and Kelly, I decided to stay with the lead group as long as I could. Pua settled in at the front as was expected, Nordic skier extraordinaire Evelyn Dong behind her, Kelli Emmett, then me and local Bend racer, Serena Gordon, vying for position. Although we lost the rest of the pack early on, the first three quickly lost dropped Serena and I.

Kelly and I on the first climb from the start

With a few minutes lead, the top three rode away and I was able to pass Serena on the first singeltrack descent. Serena caught me on the short climbs until I finally pulled away at about mile 14. From this point on, I rode completely by myself. About 16 guys passed me the remainder of the race but I wasn’t able to hang on their wheels as they went by. After some great riding on the Flagline Trail, I passed Evelyn on a road descent as she had flatted. I’d been catching glimpses of her but I don’t like passing people due to their misfortune. That being said, I knew I needed to take advantage of the fact I had not had a mechanical yet so I kept riding hard.

Enjoying the singletrack with a goofy grin

Heading into the last 12 miles, I got a split and realized I wasn’t going to catch Kelli Emmett. I settled into a comfortable pace making sure to race smart without flatting or crashing. With very few men catching me and no signs of women coming from behind, I began to slow with 8 or so miles left. I enjoyed the singletrack, relaxed and made sure to not lollygag too much. Coming across the line in 3rd place after 4 and a half hours of racing, I was psyched with my finish. Top three in a national championship with super fast women is something to be happy about. Yeah, I probably should have raced harder at the end but it was nice to end the mountain bike season with a relaxing finish. Kelly Boniface bonked hard at the end but raced well to finish in 5th place. Two podium spots for the moms!

Carbondale friend, Scott Leonard, finished 3rd in the men’s age group 35-39; Rachel Hadley of Aspen won the women’s amateur race (beating many of the pro women); Rachel’s husband, Shawn, finished 4th in men 40-44; and skimo buddy, Cary Smith, blew away the singlespeed race. Way to represent all of you! Results here.

This weekend is the last race on my schedule (at least for a few weeks) – the Golden Leaf Half Marathon in Aspen. Field is stacked this year so it should be very fun!

Yesterday I raced in the Steamboat Stinger mountain bike race and then I did a trail marathon on the same course today–but honestly, looking back it really felt more like a week-long adventure race.

For me, the race started on Thursday, packing the kids’ clothes, cooking rice cakes and gluten-free scones, and getting my borrowed bike dialed. On Friday, I worked in the morning and then Ian and I both came home early to squeeze the truck full with all our gear. We rolled out at about 3pm and arrived in Steamboat a couple hours later. In the ‘Boat we stopped at BAP to register for the race and picked up our accommodations for the night: a brand new Big Agnes Big House 6 tent. From there we were off to the KOA, where we met our good friends Rob Russell and Elinor Fish, with their 3-year-old boy Reed. We got the tent up and dinner started, just in time for the rain to start.

Axel, ready for a night of camping with his Black Diamond headlamps

With everyone exhausted, we got the whole family into the tent for bed by about 9, but some of us were far from ready to go to sleep. Axel would have nothing to do with his Pack’nPlay and so we tried to get him to sleep on the floor with the rest of us. It didn’t go well and let’s just say I got less than a good night’s rest.

We woke up to drizzling rain, which added to my already sour mood. I almost threw in the towel right then and there, but got dressed and made my way to the start line. I felt pretty terrible for the first lap, but after about an hour and a half of racing I started to come around. I caught up with Rob, who was racing on a team with Ian, but having mechanical issues. Rob is a great descender so his misfortune worked in my favor; I grabbed his wheel for the long descent to the end of the first 25-mile lap. There, Rob handed off to Ian (Elinor was kindly watching our kids) and I caught sight of my friend Kelly Boniface, who was running in second place in the solo race.

Kelly Boniface and I at the finish

I caught and passed Kelly on the next long climb and managed to hold on to second place for the rest of the race, feeling better and better as the day went on. With the morning’s rain, the trails were in great shape and I really enjoyed the awesome singletrack on the course. National cyclocross champion Katie Compton defended her title for the women’s win, while Russell Finsterwald won for the men. There was a solid showing for Team Honey Stinger, with Peter Kalmes in third, Trevor Walz in fourth, Daniel Methany in seventh and Max Taam in eighth. Ian had a fast 2:18 lap, and he and Rob finished in fifth for the duo men. Full mountain bike results here.

Women’s podium

Men’s podium

On Saturday night, we wimped out. Max and his girlfriend Jessie had an extra bedroom in a condo they rented and when they offered it to us, we jumped on the opportunity. I slept really well and then got up early for the start of the run with Max and Jesse, both of whom had raced yesterday as well. At the start line, I was somewhat surprised to see Lance Armstrong standing next to me. Cool.

Anyway, my legs were definitely tired from the mountain bike race, but I actually felt pretty good overall. There were a few women right behind me as we started up the long first climb, but eventually I opened up a gap and then I raced for almost two hours without seeing anyone. I have to say, there aren’t too many race courses that would make both a great trail run and a great mountain bike ride, but the Steamboat Stinger definitely is one. I had just as much fun running the course as I did riding it the day before.

Lance gets a cowboy hat for his win in the trail marathon-fitting for a Texan

Lance had great race and won handily for the men. I was pleasantly surprised with my win for the women and psyched to finish in eighth overall. I also was crowned “Queen Bee” for the fastest combined time in both races. Jessie finished in third place with her combined time. Max was King Sting. Steamboat Pilot story about the race here.

What started as a rough weekend, ended up being one of my best of the summer. Len Zanni, Colin Osborn, Nate Bird and the rest of the Honey Stinger/Big Agnes crew put on an awesome race and not only did I win cash, but I won a couple of sweet, new Big Agnes sleeping bags, and a real deal cowboy hat from the famous F.M. Light and Sons.

Juniper sports my new hat

I couldn’t have pulled off the weekend without the amazing support of Ian, who talked me off the ledge several times in the days before and during the weekend. Elinor and Rob were awesome helping out with the kids. Colin was kind enough to loan me his Trek Superfly for the race, which ran better than my own. Max and Jessie saved us with comfortable beds and a roof over our heads on Saturday night.

Sponsor shout for this post goes to La Sportiva–I wore the new Vertical K shoes for the run and they were awesome. Super light, with enough cushioning for a 25-mile trail run and plenty of traction on the technical trails of Emerald Mountain.

Now, I’m off to Rhode Island to visit my family and enjoy a little vacation. Thanks for reading!

Jessie heading up towards Buckskin Pass early in the morning.

Jessie & Max at Snowmass Lake.

With the weather holding with clouds and no rain, I suggested we run up East Snowmass Creek to East Snowmass Pass and Willow Pass. Despite Jessie being hesitant for about 30 seconds, it didn’t take much convincing. If the weather rolled in, we could always turn around and be at Snowmass Ski Area and out of lightning danger very quickly. Plus, then someone wouldn’t have to take the bus back up to Maroon Lake to pick up the car.

After running down Snowmass Creek, we headed up East Snowmass Creek.

East Snowmass Pass looking down at Willow Lake. We descended into the valley and up Willow Pass on the right.

We took our time, enjoyed the lakes and passes but got in just under 31 miles with over 10,000 feet of elevation gain. The rain stayed away long enough making us wonder if we would have been clear on the Four Pass Loop where our best escape would have been to Crested Butte or Marble. Next time we’ll get the full loop however our new ‘Three Pass Loop’ was a great alternative.

Willow Pass with the Maroon Bells and our trail back to Maroon Lake.

Garmin stats can be found here.