Another Sponsor - gentlesedationdentistry.com

My Uncle Dave & Aunt Cheri added to the team coffers this past week. Check out his dental practice online by clicking the posting title!

Training & Sponsor Updates

So aside from the shin splints, training has been going well. I have been running 10-15 miles weekly between the treadmill and trails and biking about 50-60miles (which will increase drastically during my short running hiatus).

In other news, Dimensional Innovations (www.dimin.com) has provided a generous contribution to the team, joining Hamel Masonry and Dr. & Mrs. Stumpe as sponsor/donors. I will eventually figure out how to add a links section to this blog, but in the mean time these in-post links will have to suffice. Check these guys out, they design & build cool stuff (and, oh yeah, I work there).

Stress Fracture?...maybe...not

So I have been dealing with shin pain for the past month in conjunction with a slightly more intense training routine. At first I thought it was just shin splints, but the pain started to feel different from what I remember shin splints feeling like in the past. So, I began researching symptoms and solutions for this area of injury. From everything I read, it sounds more like I had tibial stress fractures. This concerned me at first because of the time needed for recovery, but once I saw that youtube video of the girl at the CC meet whose leg just snapped in half due to stress fractures I was down right horrified. I scheduled an appointment with a sport medicine, orthopedic doctor an was x-rayed and examined yesterday...

Long story short: No visible fractures

I was told, however, that I excessively overpronate and that this along with the aggressive training has caused the pain. He wrote me a script for orthotics and told me to cut back on my mileage temporarily. I hope this week off from running and a new pair of shoes is all it take to get back on schedule for Nationals!

LOVE/hate...this is the new balance

I don't watch much TV but i like those commercials...and it is true for me now! I haven't really been in training for something in a long time and while it hurts, it also feels really good to be pushing myself right now! So thanks Fletcher for giving me a chance to be a part of this, it will be fun!! My weekly workout right now consists of a good mix of biking and running with a day of swimming in there to help save my poor old body ;) Go team Torti!

Mill Creek Streamway Trail Ride

So I did my first long ride this past Saturday, 22 miles. I spent a couple hours and biked over to the local recreational path. I had never ridden it before, but found it to be a beautiful, winding trail along Mill Creek. I put in at 95th St. (~mile 10.5) and rode it up past Johnson Dr. (mile 4), and then made the return trip. Aside from a few steep climbs, it was a good course for putting some time and distance in the saddle. And, believe it or not, I didn't run over any of the runners or steal Gatorade from their aid stations.