Recap of race:
2 mile trail run (snow/ice): 20:34, ave. HR=151
T1: 49.61 secs.
3.5 mile bike (mtn. bike): 14:54, ave. HR=145 (14.1 mph)
T2: 57.36 secs.
2 mile trail run (snow/ice): 22:21, ave. HR=145
T3: 38.84 secs.
7.0 mile bike: 29:18, ave. HR=149
TOTAL: 1:30.13
Ave. HR was lower than the first race where it was around 154 and my pace was slower. I'm guessing it was down to the extreme cold and a heavy training week with no taper.
Totals for the week:
Swim: 2700 yards/1:15
Bike: 37.5 miles/2:34
Run: 16 miles/3:07
Walk: 3 miles/40 mins.
Weights: 20 minutes
TOTAL HRS.: 8:56
I’m working on a renovation of the Mattress King store in Denver and it happens to be on my way home from the race. I want to replace my 14 1/2 year old futon and this seems as good a place as any to get one plus I can take a quick look at the existing building. The renovations involve adding two 34 foot high turrets and changes to the façade so it will look like a castle. I mention to the salesmen that I’m working on the renovations and it turns out they’re really excited about their new castle look. I think the whole thing is pretty hilarious but I love that kind of stuff. Some dog agility person keeps a really cool website of roadside architecture (www.agilitynut.com/index.htmlscroll down and click on ‘roadside architecture’) and when the ‘castle’ gets built I’m going to send her a picture and see if it qualifies. This thing will be visible from both major highways that go through Denver which further adds to the absurdity and coolness of it. Anyway, they knock $40 off the price of the bed frame I want which I wasn’t really expecting. I mean why should they? I’m shocked they’re even willing to talk to me since I’m a stinky disheveled mess from the race. At first it seems I’ll have to wait 6 weeks for them to get the frame in from Canada but they call around and find one at another store. Whew! My back is screaming for a new bed.
Monday, Jan. 18
Today I’m tired and crabby so I take both dogs for a short 1 mile walk in the a.m. Usually they’re a handful to manage together but thankfully they’re well behaved today because I’m not in the mood for shenanigans.
Tonight is a master’s swim workout and I’m so tired I get out 15 minutes early. My ass is dragging anyway so there’s no point gutting it out. 1 hour, 2000 yards.
Tuesday, Jan. 19
REST. I’m tired & crabby again so decide I need a little more time to recover from the race.
Wednesday, Jan. 20
The sun is shining and I feel like a different person. The horrible cold seems a lifetime away. Temps. go up into the 60’s under a nice hot sun so I go for a bike ride on my lunch hour. 15 miles of pure bliss.
I have to go back to Mattress King today to meet with the architect and take some measurements. We end up in a warehouse/storage area above the salesroom floor and it’s like stepping back into another era. The area is huge and the floor to ceiling height is at least 2 stories. There are endless rows of shelves stacked floor to ceiling and a track running round the whole place for the forklift thingy. But the entire space is empty, nothing on the shelves, nada, zilch and I do mean literally nothing. It’s a testament to the golden age of manufacturing and retail in this country and a statement on the current state of affairs. Nobody keeps any stock on hand anymore and nothing’s made here anymore which is why I almost had to wait 6 weeks for a stupid bed frame to be imported from another country. This is no surprise to me of course but nonetheless a sobering experience to get a glimpse at the way things used to be.Thursday, Jan. 20
I don’t normally do 3 workouts in one day but it’s so gorgeous out I can’t help adding another lunch time bike ride. Two mile run in the a.m. with Lola because she needs it, 15 mile bike ride at lunch in the gorgeous 60 degree weather and a master’s swim workout after work (3150 yards). A woman is there for her first time and it turns out she’s just a bit faster than me which is perfect. I get the best workout if there’s someone there just a bit faster so I can pace myself off them and try to push myself a bit to keep up. I hate leading the lane because I’m terrible at pacing though getting a bit better. I’m still off my game a bit in the pool, doing 100’s at 1:50 when I’ve been able to do them at 1:40 easily in the past. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be back up to speed. I need to go twice a week to keep up with it and there were just too many pool cancellations due to holidays and swim meets but I think there’s only one more.
Friday, Jan. 21
Rest. I don’t really need it but I’m too tired to run in the morning after last night’s workout and the rest of the day is too busy. I take Cody to agility practice after work and he’s just awesome. I wish he’d be so good at the competitions.
Saturday, Jan. 22
My bed & mattress are coming today so someone needs to be home between 1:00 and 3:00 so the day is kind of shot. I take shifts with my husband and take Lola for a 6 mile trail run on the Foothills trail. Another gorgeous day, temps. in the 40’s but it’s so sunny it feels much warmer. Unfortunately while I’m gone the mattress people come and my husband doesn’t check to make sure they assemble it right so we have to take it apart and put it together again. I saw a t.v. show about the brain once and apparently men’s brains aren’t designed to focus on details, they’re more ‘big picture’ sort of thinkers. I need to keep this in mind more often.
Sunday, Jan. 23
Yet another gorgeous sunny day in the 60’s. I talk to my grandmother in Chicago this morning and she tells me she has 3 feet of snow piled up on her lawn. This is an exaggeration but still. It makes me appreciate my bike ride today even more.
I can’t decide if I should tool around on the dirt trails out on the plains or go to one of the mountain biking trails in the foothills or just take a long hill climb up one of the canyons. In the end I decide to do a bit of all three. The Lefthand Trail goes through the North Boulder Valley and it’s a bit rolling but not difficult or technical. It goes through lots of prairie dog towns and they kick up a fuss when I pass through. I have to pass some people walking their llamas and I slow way down since I have no idea how these beasts will react. Two of them ignore me but one of them makes a weird sort of squeaky grunt as I go by, like he’s trying to decide if he’s pissed off or not. I don’t give him a chance to make up his mind.
I have to go on the road for a few miles to reach Left Hand Canyon which will take me up to the trailhead for Heil ranch. There’s a 2 mile stretch of dirt road that leads through land still owned and ranched by the Heil’s and it’s both beautiful and creepy. There’s a weird history of rape & incest in the Heil family and the ranch has some occupied buildings but also lots of old, crumbling ones as well as lots of rusted, abandoned farm equipment and vehicles including a sky blue school bus. I try to focus on the surrounding cliffs rather than what went on here lo the many years ago.
The trail is an 8 mile ride that I wrote about on my first entry. I’m a little braver today, riding through some rock gardens and making it through all the switchbacks, both up and down, without having to put a foot down or get off and walk.
After I finish with Heil I head up Left Hand Canyon to Olde Stage Rd. which will take me back to Boulder. This is a popular cycling route and in fact is the most challenging part of the Boulder Peak triathlon course in reverse. Left Hand isn’t too bad but Olde Stage is a bad ass climb, especially in the direction I’m doing it. It’s one of the few places I get knee pain on my bike so I make sure I’m in my granny gear for the worst of it. Going down I have to watch for deer. I know someone that was going 45 mph down this hill and hit a deer. Broken collar bone and 6 weeks in the hospital but he lived to tell the tale. I manage to make it back without splattering Bambi or myself. 30.4 miles, 3:44 hours.
Dist./Time for the week:
Swim: 5100 yards/2:15
Bike: Off Road: 20.0 miles/2:45
Road: 30.4/3:05
Run: 8 miles/1:26
Walk: 1 miles/20 mins.
TOTAL HRS.: 9:51
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