Three Ts: Trail Running, Turned Ankles, and Teaching in WI

I've been mostly off twitter for the last couple of days (and had to miss Pharmie's and my 8 year anniversary) because I've been teaching a photography workshop on Stouts Island in Wisconsin. Here I am in front of the main lodge on the small island along with my 10 students (ages 38 - 80+) after our final class:

When I unpacked last Sunday for my 5 day stay, I stocked the fridge in my room:

Yep, that'll about do it... ;)

(p.s. If you like Woodchuck Hard Cider, try the "Summer" version. SO GOOD!)

Here's a photo of the 2 small islands from above (right in the middle of this image):

On Monday morning, I decided to run farklek-style intervals on the trail on the east island. To get there, you take a little footbridge from the main island:

And here are a few photos of the trail. It has few straight sections, but it's mostly pretty "windy" with tiny little hills here-and-there:

Sloped to the right


Pine needles on the trail


One of the most "open" sections


Two quick turns and up a hill

I mapped it out afterwards, and it was just as I suspected - it was JUST shy of 0.5 miles one way:

You can barely see the blue line on the east island

I figured I'd warm-up for 2 lengths of the island, and then do a ladder style workout of hard running for 1 length, easy for 1 length, hard for 2, easy for 1, hard for 3, etc.

JUST AFTER STARTING MY "EASY 1" AFTER MY FIRST "HARD 1," MY ANKLE TURNED A LOT NEAR A TREE ROOT AND I HEARD A POP. I didn't fall, and I didn't even stop running - I figured, "If I can still run, it must not be TOO bad." So I finished my workout which looked like this:

WU: 3:48, 3:46
1 hard: 2:55
1 easy: 3:44
2 hard: 3:03, 3:01
1 easy: 3:37
3 hard: 3:13, 3:04, 3:00

Note: The "easies" were more like "moderate/easy." They weren't complete recovery, but they were a LOT easier than running hard.

I figured I shouldn't do much more than that with my weak ankle. And after turning it near the beginning of my workout, I was EXTRA CAREFUL to watch where I was landing. I told myself right away that if I even came close to turning it again like that, I'd force myself to stop doing the workout.

The cotton shirt I wore for the run was pretty soaked through after that hard running:

I was planning on taking it off and carrying it while running (and using it to wipe sweat off my face), but because the trail was SO narrow in spots, I was being brushed with vines, branches, pine needles, etc the whole time. I figured if I took off my shirt, my chest and sides would get really scratched up, so I left it on. Dear cotton: you suck.

Later that night, my ankle got PRETTY SORE. I iced it the rest of my time on the island (usually 2-3 times a day while elevated in bed). It's still just a little tender, and there's just a tiny bruise right on my "heel bone." (It's funny that I didn't get a single bruise from my bike crash during the LTF Tri 2 weeks ago, but now I got a bruise from tipping my ankle too far while running. Sheesh.)

I didn't run any more while on the island. I DID, however, do a 30 minute photoshoot with some kids jumping off the diving platform as I was shooting photos on my fun, crappy, old "Holga" film camera:

Treading water while trying to make a photo.
(Photo courtesy of Mike, one of my students.)


Talking about trying to make those photos after the shoot.
Well, either that or I'm eating an invisible sandwich. ;)
(Again, this photo is courtesy of Mike.)

I might "test" my ankle with an easy run this weekend. I think it should be fine. Oh, and a BIG THANKS to my twitter peeps who gave me lots of good advice regarding my ankle just after I turned it! Thanks everyone!