16 weeks and sadly not running

I'm well into my second trimester and although this pregnancy overall seems easier than the first, I find that the nausea is dragging on and I have an annoying injury I can't seem to shake. Until about 2 weeks ago, my running was going really well. I was sticking with 40-50 miles/week with runs up to 17 miles and feeling strong. I feel like I could have kept that up no problem, but seem to have developed some sort of soft-tissue injury in my right arch. After a great week of running (including that 17 miler), my arch started bugging me a little after runs. In my normal sensibility, I completely ignored it and did about 30 miles in 3 days. Big mistake, the pain started keeping me up at night and my foot ached all day. So, like any regular person, I figured one day off should fix it. The next day, I went out for 10 minutes and was limping so bad that I had to turn around and painfully walk home. I then took 6 days off! In a row!! Serious sacrifice here! After the break, went out for an easy 5 miler, had no problems most of the run, but started having twinges by the end and again was kept up at night with the pain. I have now taken another 5 or 6 days off and the foot still hurts just walking around. I actually have a palpable lump in the middle of my arch and it's swollen. Luckily, there was a warm spell here and I was able to get out on my road bike a couple times, did some rock climbing, some skinning up the local ski hill, and today went for a swim. There is just nothing like running, though. It's the only sport I've found that I can get ready for in 3 minutes, do from my front door, no partner or special equipment needed, and can get a killer workout in an hour. I miss it terribly and am desperately trying to let this foot heal so I can get back to it.

About two weeks ago, I had one of those experiences runners often fear but rarely encounter. While on my normal loop with a friend, we came upon a man with two dogs on the side of the bike path. As we approached, one of the dogs let out a little growl, so we edged around to the other side of the path to avoid it. As we passed, the dog ran after me, lunged, and sunk his teeth into the back of my thigh. I was shocked and shaken and even had myself a nice little cry. After getting my leg cleaned up in the closest bathroom, I went back and located the owner, who denied the dog ever having had such encounters before. He also assured me the dog was current with all of its shots. I decided to get his information anyway. This man lives in a neighborhood that is FULL of little kids and the dog bit me right at eye level on a toddler. I thought I had to do the neighborhood a service by contacting the police. Soon after getting off the phone with the officer, I got a call back telling me that the dog actually had a history of biting (3 times!!) and was not vaccinated. Needless to say, I opted to have the officer fine them for a vicious dog. The dog was also quarantined for 10 days to make sure it didn't have any signs of rabies. As far as I know, the dog was returned to his owners after the quarantine. The whole experience was more traumatic than I thought it would be. I had to take a round of antibiotics, which I hate to do even while not pregnant. I had to flush the wound out by myself, which hurt really freaking bad, and I still have a nasty looking wound nearly 3 weeks after the incident. I will most definitely have a scar from it. While I'm not a dog owner, I would hope that my response would be very much more apologetic and concerned than this owner was and I would seriously consider putting the dog down. He was nonchalant about the whole thing and hardly apologized for his dog, who was completely unprovoked and not defending its own territory. OK, that's enough whining from me, but here are some photos for evidence:

I took this about 24 hours out.

This is 10 days out. The scab is a little smaller than a dime.

Last weekend was wonderful. Mike, Selah, and I were all together the entire time and we just had so much fun. Saturday was beautiful, sunny, and unseasonably warm, so we headed to a winter crag for some climbing. Selah got to try out her new harness and I got to reawaken my arms after months of no climbing. We followed the climbing with a hot springs soak and yummy dinner. Sunday was supposed to be a little cooler, so we packed the car up and headed to the desert. We were also treated by Selah to a 7:30 wake up time! Incredible! We went to Colorado National Monument and when we got there, found out the road over the monument was closed, perfect for our roadbiking plans! We had the privilege of riding through the beautiful canyons and steep cliff faces with the road to ourselves. After riding for a few hours, we caught the last rays of sunlight and headed to the crags once again, this time to sandstone splitters. Here are some pics to document the weekend.

Selah enjoying her bar on the way to the crag. Check out the sweet shades on that babe!

Selah climbing in her chest harness. Since little kids don't have hips, they could theortically fall out of a harness if turned upside down. The chest harness makes this pretty much impossible and is much safer. It fits Selah juuuuust barely right now but should fit her until she grows hips!

While she does enjoy climbing, it is usually for a very short amount of time. She is however, easily entertained by rocks, dirt, flowers, sticks, spiders, waterbottles, and the like. She truly loves being outside and I am SO thankful for that!

Selah and I on Sunday near Fruita. While there was still quite a bit of snow on North-facing slopes, the road was clear enough to ride. Selah had fun pointing out all of the things she knew, such as rocks, which she says are for "climin", birdies that fly, airplanes (aepanes). When I asked her what kind of animals lived in the forest below, she swore that deer did not, but she thought cows did and probably moose, both of which "eat snow for dinner". She is also into colors, well color, because everything is "green" right now. So, I just stick to asking her what color trees, frogs, grass, and such things are.

Post ride hike to the crag in the beautiful evening light. Selah rode on Mike's shoulders most of the way, but wanted to get down and hike herself for the last part.

She tried climbing again and got about 10 feet off the ground, at which point she asked to swing and spin on the rope. She has no fear of hanging on the rope.

Selah and I have recently had two opportunities to take free mommy-daughter ski days. These days are so fun! While she still has basically zero control over the skis, she loves it and keeps asking to go.

On our second run on Snowmass last weekend, Selah fell asleep halfway up the chairlift and remained asleep through me getting her off the lift, skiing all the way down with her in my arms (she snored while my arms shook with fatigue), getting both of our skis off, and finding a sunny bench to sit on. She ended up sleeping for a good hour while I basked in the sun.

Once she discovered the gondola, which she keeps calling a truck, she just wanted to ride it up and down and up and down and up and down. The skiing was over, gondola rides are apparently MUCH cooler.

This is how all of our outside days end. Aaahhh.

My last big news? I officially gave my boss notice that I will not be returning to my job next year. As a family, we decided that I need to spend more time at home and less time stressing and working. These consistent 60 hour weeks are just too hard to maintain. To supplement our income, I have joined Rodan + Fields Dermatologists as an Independent Consultant. I am absolutely loving it, my business is thriving, and I can't wait to see where it takes our family. It is so nice to know that every hour I invest in this company is an hour I invest in myself. If you want the best skin of your life or could use some extra income, send me an email!