How to Make Lemonade

It all started with an epic fail... a sour lemon concocted its way into my Saturday night. My Saturday night that was supposed to be spent with friends. But what happened, eh? Didn't I just write a blog about learning to choose friends over running? Oh... yeah... about that... Well, I chose training over calling my friends up and seeing what they were doing. Actually, it was totally unintentional. I was so focused on the fact that I had to run 17 miles that day and in turn squeezed the memory of having made prior plans out of my head. Oopsadaisy. Sorry, Wes and Laura!

I wrote about my injury in my last post. My no-good, dirty-rotten lemon of an injury. The lemon that had fallen from the tree into a pile of dirt then been chewed on by a mangy dog. That cotton-pickin' lemon of a left leg needs to let up and leave me alone. But it refuses to let me be. How many times did Joshua tell me to recover after races even if I wasn't sore? How many times did my parents tell me not to push my body so hard? But I have this obsession with being active. Sabrina claims it is a legitimate disease and she read about it recently. Great... I have a disease, folks. I hope for you it's not contagious, though I feel Richard is going to get the disease if he keeps spending so much time training with me. What is the cure for this disease? They are still doing the scientific research, but I can tell you one thing: The cure does not involve running seven miles in the rain.

Fortunately, God is good. I believe he has a purpose for everything. This injury has actually been a blessing in disguise. The past three days, I've been able to take that one lemon and make three hUuUUUUuuuUge glasses of lemonade from it.

Day 1 of "recovery": The first day I had not worked out since Wyoming. I taught classes without participating, went to church then spent the day in Ojai with Sabrina. Ojai. I could totally live in Ojai. Some of my favorite biking paths are in Ojai. Actually, one of my favorite days of my life was spent in Ojai. New Years Day, 2012. Joshua, Wally and I climbed Rattlesnake early that morning then I made Norwegians for Josh. Afterwards, we drove out to Ojai and biked around town and through some of the neighborhoods. We grabbed burritos at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant and took them over to the park to eat. It was just an all-around perfect day. That's what Ojai feels like to me every time I go: A fairytale land of happiness, adventure, good food and peace. This trip was no different. Sabrina and I ate lunch at a cute cafe with the most amazing salmon Greek salad I have ever tasted. I forced her to walk in the rain to the outdoor bookshop where we spent an hour browsing through the biographies section.

The adventure back home was wet and foggy. My Subaru is so full of half-empty water bottles that the windows will not defrost. Plus, since I was hit head on in Wyoming, I have been unable to fully latch the hood of Sweet Baby Sam, so it could fly up at any moment in time. Those twists and turns from Ojai and Carp would not be a great time for the hood to fly up... just saying. But we made it just in time for me to rush to work and kick some butt.

Afterwards, I was planning on running an easy 10 miles, but there was no way my hip was going to hold up for that distance. Instead, I drove home and finished the painting I'm working on for my parents' Christmas gift. Good thing I did! While I was painting, I received a message from Nani, Kasey and Mackenzi asking me to join their google camera chat. It was amazing!!!! The second my computer linked, we all started screaming and giggling uncontrollably! Oh, Wyoming friends... how I wish we were back in Dubois under the stars drinking whiskey and listening to Brantley Gilbert. Rachel joined the group a little while later then we all started dropping off one-by-one to go to bed.
 

Day 2 of "recovery": I taught cycle class bright and early, but played it easy. I made the class hold race pace for 35:00 minutes and every ounce of me wished I was working with the same level of integrity, but my left leg sang out in pain every time I increased the resistance. I decided to whimp out on the class as opposed to losing my ability to teach all together.

After class, I met up with Becky for Pilates then went home and did some cleaning of the room. I know, amazing. All of my flannels are hung in the closet. All of my books are arranged on the shelf. All of my dirty clothes are stuffed under my bed in a ball... kidding! But Becca comes out to see me in THREE DAYS, so I want to be ready for her arrival! Plus, I don't want my life to be a mess and I figure if you can't keep your room in order, your life will never be in order either.

To celebrate the cleanliness of my room, I decided to drive out to the art store and buy some new paints before training Nicole. Richard and I trained afterwards. Lastly, I taught my Michelle Obama's arms class with Lindsay, Lynn and Heather. What an amazing day. So good. Two good days in a row... then it was time for...

(insert drum roll here please)

Day 3 of "recovery": I started with my cycle class in the morning. This time I felt a little better, so I didn't hold back as much on the race intensity portions of the workout, however I was only holding 80% effort when I should have been at 90%.

The swell was gnarly this past weekend, so I wanted to see if I could catch the tail end of the storm out at Rincon. I decided to grab a coffee from Kim and Aaron first though and good thing I did! Kim introduced me to their physical therapist who is going to do some work on my leg! Yay!

Part of me was tempted to do a pool run, but most of me hated the thought of being soaked in chlorine and having to make small talk with the new lifeguards and maneuver around the children and old people all leaving a trace of urine smell in their path. Hmmm pool run or sit on the beach, check out the line-up and read? I chose Rincon. While there, a friend wrote me and we decided to meet up for coffee in Carp. It was so much fun! This guy is soooooo cool! He is super outdoorsy and adventurous! He grew up in Germany then moved to San Diego but runs a company in Carpinteria now. He loves surfing, rock climbing, playing guitar, trail running... basically, he's awesome. So we had coffee then I made my way to the running store.

Could my day get any better? Well, let's see... Joe and I chatted for a bit, which I always enjoy. Out of the blue, he asked my shoe size then presented me with a brand new pair of Nike Lunarglides.... Uhm, okay, you're awesome, Joe.

I still have dinner with my neighbors and rock climbing this evening to look forward to.

Maybe I should "recover" more often...


Shout out to this guy:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2KaEZn