And we're back.....

Well ok, I'm back.....as most of you know I went through a very stressful period of my life, and that chapter finally wrapped up with a fairly successful conclusion at the end of April. While I'm please with the end results, my body reacted to the release of stress and it took me almost two weeks for my body to feel like it was finally recovering from the massive amount of stress it was under for over 4 months. I was also nursing a tendonitis type issue with the last two toes on my right foot, thus the span in my training posts.

I did participate in the RACC (Ride Around Clark County) at the end of April, and let me just say who ever created that 65-mile route was, how to put this politely..... down right sadistic!!!! I'm in decent shape, and I had to walk three different hills on this route. In fact, most of the hills were in the last part of the ride. For those of you who live in the Vancouver area, one of the last hills was the Felida hill..... yeah, I'll admit it "sucks monkey balls"! I couldn't think of any other way to politely describe my thoughts of that hill as I followed everyone in front of me walking up it, or all the people behind me also walking up the hill.


 Thankfully my training partner Cindy already blogged about the ride, so this is stolen from her training page (along with the pictures above):

Notable events on this ride...

• There were only two rest stops, Heritage Park at Lacamas Lake, mile 15.2; and Daybreak Park, mile 42.2. 
• It really, truly has 3,000 foot elevation gain! The worst hill was Felida hill at mile 60, which I already aptly noted, "Sucks monkey balls!"
• We only had one mechanical problem, which was Cindy's chain coming off her front gear stack while changing to high-high gear readying to head down a steep hill in Ridgefield, about mile 55.
• The worst part of the ride is between mile 50 and 60, despite what the elevation chart looks like! Maybe we were tired!

So that takes us through the end of April.... on to May. Through the release of stress I also met with a wonderful gal, Theresa who is studying to be a Nutritional Therapist. She decided to make me her final project. Due to all the stress I'd been under, and my poor eating habits during my stressful time, my digestive system was very "out of whack". Theresa had me take a survey to discover where my primary areas of concern where. To her  amazement my chart had almost everything in the "red" level. After my initial intake interview, we decided to focus primarily on digestion, and would focus later on my adrenal fatigue syndrome. I know most doctors don't recognize this as a valid diagnosis, but the information I've read, and the symptoms, I'll go with it. Theresa checked several reflex points on my body, which confirmed several of her suspicions. Theresa recommended several diet, actually lifestyle changes, which have resulted in an exponential increase in my energy levels, better sleep, and a significant amount of weight loss in my first week. Since changing my lifestyle, I have lost over 5lbs, in just 8 days.

The increased energy has also led to longer, and better workouts. On Monday (May 16) I did a run, and lifted weights, Tuesday (May 17) I enjoyed a Barre3 class and then went back to track practice that I had been away from for two-weeks; today I clocked in 7 miles at Lacamas Lake, and am awaiting Cindy to arrive before we head out to swim at Klineline Pond for open water practice before heading into Portland for a running clinic.

So that pretty much catches up on my training. I'll tease you with the following though, in the hopes that you'll check back soon..... I have decided to make a career change and am heading out on Sunday for a 12 mile run, which I plan to follow with an ice bath. Yes the run, and my new career path have a link..... one that I'm feeling pretty excited about. Alright I'm off to find my wet suit.....