Category Archives: injury

Being Balanced – Physically

  By Crystal Clarke | January 25, 2016 - 2:38 pm | , , , , , ,
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When I stand on one foot I wobble; balance is not something that comes easily to me. When I get on my bike, though, it takes a lot to push me over! Right now I have imbalances that are creating turmoil within my body, mostly in my muscles. The first step to solving a problem is identifying it, right? This summer, as you may remember from my incessant whining, I broke my left foot. I have always had issues with my left IT band and knee, which likely contributed to the rolling of that ankle and the impending break. I spent 6 … Keep reading →

Cleansing

  By Crystal Clarke | December 14, 2015 - 4:55 pm | , , , , ,
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Over the past two weeks I have been doing a clean-eating cleanse that involved no sugar, no caffeine or alcohol, no soy or wheat, no eggs or dairy (that one was not hard for me), a green smoothie each morning, a lot of water (half my body weight in ounces), and daily yoga. In addition to this I started out doing the December 1-mile a day challenge and a push-up challenge. The cleanse was a success for me! I feel really great and I think I’m going to keep going with most of it, except for caffeine. With the medication that … Keep reading →

Two steps forward, one step back

  By Crystal Clarke | July 18, 2015 - 12:01 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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This last weekend I went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival with some great people. It was probably one of the stupidest things I’ve done in a long, long time. My over-confident self thought that I would be able to hobble around the festival without problem. That was a stupid thing to think. Or maybe just very optimistic? Either way, it was a difficult lesson to learn. Let me sum up the weekend: the music and people were awesome, I was in pain and quite miserable most of the time. The website says the following: “There are ten stages of music to … Keep reading →

A single step

  By Crystal Clarke | July 7, 2015 - 6:50 am | , , , ,
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A Single Step

A mere 4 weeks after I broke my foot I hobbled around the block. I am still wearing my boot cast, but I only used one crutch kind of like a cane as I made my way around the block. I’m not a big fan of cliches and whatnot, but I couldn’t help but think that this was one of those “single steps.” It’s the most I’ve “walked” in a month. It was exhausting. None of this sounds good for the race I’m signed up for in 6 weeks. However, I found a runner to finish up the race with me! This … Keep reading →

Welcome back… kind of

  By Crystal Clarke | June 13, 2015 - 3:45 pm | , , ,
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2015 - foot injury

One week ago my foot broke. Sometimes small mistakes have big consequences. In two seconds half my summer will be in a cast using crutches to get around. In my true fashion, I am trying to see the bright side: my one leg will be stellar strong, my arms will be buff, and in a couple of weeks I should be able to start biking again and maybe swim. If I can get on my bike soon then I won’t go completely insane AND it won’t destroy my race in August. Another silver lining is that this has me itching to train. … Keep reading →

The Treadmill Mocks Me

  By Crystal Clarke | February 3, 2014 - 9:11 am | , , , , , , ,
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Our Dreadmill

Yesterday we finally got the treadmill set up! It has been taking up space in our porch for a couple of weeks because it was bought and brought home without adequate space to set it up in. We got the space cleared out and the treadmill set up. I got to take the first few steps on it just to say I did. Then I got off, put my walking cast back on, and looked at it longingly. Maybe this injury has made me appreciate training. It has created in me a WANT to get on the dreadmill! My bike … Keep reading →

Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2014 – 5 months out

  By Crystal Clarke | January 22, 2014 - 8:45 am | , , ,
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Ironman Coeur d’Alene is a little over 5 months out now. While my training is better than it was a month ago, I do feel pretty “behind” where I should be. However, I have learned in the past that stressing out about it is not helpful. Instead of stressing, I am trying harder and harder. Right now my biggest focus is on losing weight and increasing strength. My right foot is still bugging me. I’m doing my best to train without irritating it. Even walking on it for 15 minutes at a time makes it feel like there are daggers … Keep reading →

Unbelievable

  By Crystal Clarke | December 5, 2013 - 10:00 am | , , , , , , ,
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Swollen Foot Collage

Ever since my run on Tuesday my right foot has been bugging me. There has been a constant mild pain in the front pad of my foot. On Tuesday night I gave my foot a massage and thought it would be fine. Yesterday I did yoga in the morning and it was bugging me all day when I was walking. Last night I was giving my feet a massage and found the spot that was sore – between the big and second toe right at the base of the toes on the bottom of the foot. When I was done … Keep reading →

A swim-oriented week

  By Crystal Clarke | October 24, 2010 - 7:43 pm | , , , , , ,
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This past week has been kind of full of swim workouts. I swam three times and I’m loving it! It feels so good to get back into my swimming groove, even though I have felt less powerful in my stroke and my right shoulder has been bothering me (more on that later). This morning I did 3100m with the triathlon club and it was hard work, but, honestly, at the pace I was going, I could have swam all day. I’m not sure if that’s what I should be doing or if I should be pushing it harder during the … Keep reading →

Sleep is for the triathletes!

  By Crystal Clarke | April 26, 2009 - 1:02 pm | , ,
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What I have noticed about training so much lately is how much sleep and food I need. They are two parts of triathlon that often get overlooked or undervalued, but are extremely important. After a bit of a weird week for sleeping, I realized that for me to train I must get around 10 hours of sleep each night. That’s right 10 HOURS! In general, I am a high-functioning person. I like to do many things every day and I have high expectations of myself. Now that I am training 2-6 hours most days, I am often left exhausted. Even … Keep reading →