Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Radio Interview

Finally getting around to posting the link to my interview with ehealth radio.  It was on smoking cessation and you can listen to the podcast here if you like.  I finally had a photographer take some more professional looking photos (and I had a haircut) but unfortunately couldn't get them to the radio station in time so the photo is not the best but oh well.  At least the interview went well.  Too bad Oprah is off the air or I'm sure she'd be knocking down my door.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Week in Training

I never posted last week's training.  In short it was 7 1/2 hours total - 3 hours swim, 3 hours running, 1 1/2 hours biking on roads/dirt roads.   The reason for the shortfall was that Jonny and I dug up and seeded a 600 square foot portion of our yard.  It doesn't sound like much but even with a rented rototiller it was hard work and by the end of the day for the next few days both of us could barely move.  My hamstrings were sore to the touch for days.

I managed to get some decent training in over the weekend to make up for a week with no double workouts.  Would have been good to get some biking in during the week but today's 3+ hour ride on trails marks the farthest I've gone time-wise on the mountain bike in years.  Plus all the crazy during the week - it's hardest to get out on the bike when I'm pressed for time.

Yesterday's run also went well though with such fresh legs it had better have.  No ill effects from the hill sprints on Wednesday so I'm going to try to continue to go to that workout for the next month I have of bootcamp classes.  Never made it to the strength class on Thurs. due to that being my day of Crazy so I'll go tomorrow though tomorrow is shaping up to be busy as well.

Swimming went great this week except for Monday where I got stuck behind slower people.  I led the lane on Tues. and Fri. so I was able to push the pace and not get a break from drafting or held up behind other people.  Some guy did smack into me though, was doing backstroke and ended up in my lane.  This guy already has terrible swim etiquette, leaves 2 seconds off my feet, stops and stands on the side of the wall that you need clear for turns.  I so wish I could get in the next lane up but I'm not quite there yet and probably won't be in the next few weeks before we finally get outside in mid-May.

Such a beautiful ride today on the Blue Sky trail and then the race loop at Lory State Park.  I felt a lot more comfortable on the downhills then I did when we rode these trails a few weeks ago.  Nice and loose and relaxed.  I initially had a refusal at the one sort of, kind of technical switchback/drop off but  then I tried again and did it easy peasy.  Climbs seemed easier today too.  Training must being paying off a little.

More sunny blue skies at Lory State Park



I can't believe how green everything is considering the scant amount of moisture we've had in the past 2 months.  Can't even remember the last time it rained.



A small front did eventually blow in but all it did was provide some nice cool cloud cover, no rain.



You know it's a good day when your legs end up this dirty.



WEEKLY TOTALS

Swim: 6,850 yards/3 hours

Mountain Bike: 24.34 miles/3 hours, 11 mins.

Run: 9.7 miles/2 hours, 52 mins.

Total Training Hours: 9 hours, 3 mins.


I have an ASCA agility trial next weekend but just 3 runs/half a day so it shouldn't effect training too much.  Had a couple of agility practices this past week.  Shot some video but haven't had a chance to review it.  I'll see if I get it done this week.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Crazy Dog Lady Goes to Boot Camp Redux

I signed up for a month of boot camp classes through one of those Groupon knock-off type deals.  $15 for a whole month of unlimited classes sounded like a great idea at the time.  I showed up for my first class, 'Hills and Drills', on Wednesday and was the only one to show up because apparently the other regular folks had had such a hard workout on Monday that they were still licking their wounds by Wednesday.  So the instructor had me all to herself.  Which was maybe a good thing because it meant I didn't have to be mortified if I was the last one up the hill and everyone else was waiting for me.

Anyway, it's been forever since I've done running intervals and most of my running these days involves shuffling along and avoiding knee pain.  My introduction to hill intervals involved running up a big ass hill to the Starbucks where I was tortured with not getting a mocha for a reward.  Instead my reward was running in place while bringing my knees up really high until I felt ready to barf or hopping up and down off a curb until I also felt ready to barf.  Then down the hill for recovery and some funny lunge thingies at the bottom while a homeless guy watched on and probably thought we were crazy though maybe not because this is Boulder after all.

But wait there's more.  A 1/2 mile interval on Boulder High School's fancy pants rubberized track then a 1/2 mile cool down.  Then the core exercises.  I do a lot of butterfly kicking on my back in the pool at masters so I thought I had at least a smallish amount of core strength but it turns out I was seriously deluded.  We did maybe 4 minutes worth of core strengthening and once again I'm ready to barf.  Two days later my abs were still so so sore.  I'm scared to go to the regular weight/strengthening workout where they do a lot of core work.  Maybe too hard core for me or maybe it'll be good for me.  I guess I'll find out next week.

This has been a very stressful week on the work/business front.  I had a radio interview which I've never done before and found preparing for it very nerve wracking but somehow when I did the actual interview some strange, coherent, professional sounding person took over my brain and it turned out pretty good I think.  It's going to air on Tuesday and I'll provide a link when I know the time but I'll also have it as a podcast so anyone can listen to it anytime.

At the same time I was getting wound up over the radio interview I also signed a lease for a new office.  I was so excited about it because I get it all to myself full time and it's only $14 a month more than my current office which I share and only get part time.  I thought I had a month to month lease on my old office when I signed the lease for the new office.  But after the fact I decided to check the lease to be sure but couldn't find it and went into a panic because I found an emailed, unsigned copy of the lease that said it was for a year.  I was sure I'd had them change it before I signed it but I couldn't find the ammended, signed copy.  Tore my office apart, mad at myself that I'd somehow lost it despite being so supposedly well organized.  Was also freaked out with myself, not so much because I'd forgotten the terms of the lease but more so because I was so sure of them that I didn't even think to check until after I'd signed the other lease.  Is it a sign of early dementia?  Or maybe the boot camp is more of a sign.  Getting old is a bitch.  And Jonny found my first grey hair but that's a trauma for another day.  In the end I was either right about my lease terms or my landlord is really nice because he listed the office space on Craig's list before I had a chance to discuss it with him.  What an enormously huge relief that was!  The thought of having to pay for 2 offices for 4 1/2 months was also making me want to barf.  So happy to be through with all of that drama and all on the same day plus several hours worth of clients.  I'm also very excited about my new office, will be great to have a space that's all my own and no more folding up an acupuncture table and moving a recliner around every time I see clients.  I feel bad leaving my old place, the people were all so nice but I was having trouble scheduling clients into the hours I had available to me and was losing at least one or two clients a month because I couldn't work out the scheduling.  Was also having noise issues and my new place seems a lot more quiet.  Can't wait to move in next month.

Phew, bring on the weekend.  I feel a super long bike ride in my future.  And some agility fun.

Strummy says hooray for weekends!



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Swim Progress

Great workout today at regular masters.  I led the lane so none of those times were drafting.  The 300 and 200's were on a 1:40 pace and the 100's and 75's on a 1:36!  So excited with those times.  My winter swimming goal was to get my pace under 1:40 for 100 yard intervals and I did it.  This was a stretch goal too.  Now to get it to transfer to the open water next month.

I think the drills this winter have more than paid off.  Yesterday's drill workout was low yardage and somewhat frustrating to be honest but it turns out I had picked up some new skills that I was trying out today and I could feel the benefits.

Warm-Up

350 yards choice

Repeat the following 4 times, 4th person rest
25 yards right arm only
25 yards left arm only
25 yards catch-up drill
25 yards free

200 yards kick (once)


Main Set

300 yards on 6 mins. (did it in 5:00)
50 yards on 1:30
2x200 yards on 4 mins. (did them in 3:19, 3:21)
50 yards on 1:30
3x100 on 2:00 (did all three on 1:36)
50 on 1:30
4x75 on 1:30 (did them in 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:13)
50 on 1:30

Finale

Repeat twice, 3rd person rest

25 butterfly
25 back
25 back

I realize I'm due a week in training post but it'll have to wait, I'm swamped with other things. but I wanted to post this workout while it was fresh in my mind, mostly for myself so I can track my swim progress but maybe some swimmers out there are looking for workout ideas.  This one was fun.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Freaky Friday the 13th

Here's a fun little whodunnit for you.  I left my house with Strummer at around 8:20 this morning to meet a friend for some agility practice.  Which was very fun BTW, Strum was SO happy to be back playing and I'm finally working the rust out of my gears.  Anyway, I returned home at 10:00 to find all the carpets in the house had been vacuumed.

Cue creepy music, etc.



Actually maybe this is a better case for the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit.  I know there was no murder/serial killer but the psychology of behavior is how we're going to solve this mystery.



Let's go over the details of the case.  No sign of forced entry, nothing stolen, no other part of the house was cleaned.  Possible suspects include:

Unsub #1 - Miss Lola - Too much of a Diva for housework plus no opposable thumbs.

Damn Straight.



Unsub #2 - Professor Cody Baloney - Would totally love to vacuum the house if he could but again, no opposable thumbs.

Professor Cody  Baloney at your service.



Unsub #3 - Strummerpants - Normally would be Prime Suspect #1 but has a rock solid alibi since he was with me the whole time.

I'm pretty sure I'm innocent.



Unsub #4 - Vacuum Fairy - If only . . .






Unsub #5 - Aliens coming to earth to play practical jokes on unsuspecting earthlings


(Aside - I find it hilarious that if you google 'aliens smirking photos' you get a photo of Dick Cheney.  I'm not even kidding, try it for yourself).

Sadly the aliens option is looking like the best possibility at this point.  Unless of course someone finally invented time travel in the future and my future self came back to mess with me.  I could totally see myself doing that to myself.


But wait, Special Agent Garcia is hot on the case.


She tells me to go in the garage and check the windows and sure enough as soon as I look in my garage and see that one of the windows is no longer broken I crack the case. 

Garcia hacks into Jonny's email and finds out that he's made a 9:00 appointment with a window guy to repair one of the garage windows that was damaged in one of our zillions of wind storms this past winter.  Now why has he taken it upon himself to vacuum in this short window of time that he's home while the window guy is here?

Unsub #3 - I knew he was somehow responsible.

Wait, I thought I was innocent.



Strummer attacks the vacuum which makes vacuuming super fun so Jonny has taken advantage of his absence to run the vacuum in peace.  Case closed.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Week in Training

I know this was supposed to be a rest week but things got a bit ridiculous towards the end of the week.  Tuesday was a scheduled, much needed rest day.  Friday also ended up being a rest day because by the time I was done with clients, the wind was blowing at 45 mph and I wasn't going out in that.  I had big plans for the weekend anyway and figured another rest day couldn't hurt.  Then Saturday morning I came home from walking the dogs and turned my ankle when I stepped off my deck stairs.  Not sure what happened but next thing I knew I was lying on the ground.  I thought I was o.k. so didn't bother to ice anything but within the hour I could barely put weight on my knee.  Must have landed on it when I hit the brick pavers.  I had a huge bruise and another smaller bruise, lots of swelling, very stiff and sharp pain.  No way I could do anything on it.  Even just sitting on the couch Saturday night it was painful and throbbing away despite lots of icing, compression, etc.

It felt much better when I woke up Sunday and I was able to walk the dogs but biking was still out of the question since the range of motion required caused pain.  Wasn't sure if running was a good idea either and I figured at this rate just one more day of rest and it would be back to normal.  Was such a gorgeous day though, couldn't sit around so we went for a short, easy 1 1/4 hour hike at Betasso.






You can see the burn area from the Four Mile Canyon fire on the far hill.


Was a nice hike but I was jealous of all the people out on bikes.


Ah well, these things happen.  Then I twisted my other ankle on nothing in particular while we were hiking.  It occurs to me that the past couple of weeks I've had this occasional fleeting thought that since my training is going so well that I'm just about due to have something bad happen to me.  And of course having those types of thoughts is a great way to manifest having something bad happen to you.  I think this comes from about 6-7 years ago, this same time of year I was also in a very good place training wise and was planning on doing a half Ironman distance triathlon over the summer then got hit by a car, fractured pelvis, was out most of the summer, etc. so now every time I feel like I'm starting to get into good shape I feel like something should happen.  So I've been doing some mental re-programming and today while running I started to twist my ankle again but before it could really twist I managed to re-center myself and straighten my foot out before hitting the ground no problem.  The mind is a powerful thing.

Good news is that the knee is about 90% back to normal this morning and I had a good run with the dogs and I'm guessing that swimming later will be no problem.  I knew resting it one more day would be all it needed.

Strum had one agility practice last week and it went o.k.  I set up a handling exercise and it felt good to be practicing again.  I spent way more time setting it up then we spent practicing though.  I didn't want to overdue it so we only did 3 of the 6 possible exercises.  The dogwalk was down low and I couldn't be bothered raising it so I thought I'd let him do the low dogwalk and have some easy success but it was quite the opposite.  I got a couple good hits and decided to leave it be.  Looks like we need a remedial refresher course, maybe even some back chaining and the treat gizmo.  We've got a half day/3 runs at an ASCA trial at the end of the month for fun and to get us back in the ring before the 2 USDAA trials in May.  It's the same weekend as USDAA Regionals so I'm guessing it won't be too crowded and it's in one of my favorite parks in Denver so it should be a fun, relaxing trial.  I decided on only one day so I don't lose too much training time and so Strum doesn't overdo it.  He's shown no signs of lameness but I'm still being careful with him focusing more on conditioning (ie running with me) than agility.

WEEKLY TOTALS

Swim: 7,050 yards/3 hours

Mountain Bike: 0

Run: 3.1 miles/42 mins.

Total Training Hours: 3 hours, 42 mins.

Friday, April 06, 2012

Swim

Finally went to a regular masters workout as opposed to the less intense, less distance skills/drills workouts that I've been going to.  I love working on skills but this month I want to have at least one workout of harder, longer intervals so that I'll be prepared for the open water next month.  I was curious to see how I would do, it's been ages since I've been to a regular workout and feared I was getting soft.  But in the end I easily managed the intervals on a tough set of 200's.

Here's the workout for any swimmers out there who want to play along.

250 yards warm up

6x100 yards, 1st, 3rd and 5th are free with 5 secs rest, 2nd,4th and 6th are choice with 10 secs. rest

6x25 yards on 40, 35, 30, 40, 35, 30 secs

200 yards on 4:00 mins.
25 yards non-free on 35 secs.
200 on 3:55
2x25 non-free on 35 secs.
200 on 3:50
3x25 on 35
200 on 3:45
4x25
200 on 3:40

50 yards easy

50 yards non-free on 1:20
50 yards choice on 1:10
50 yards free on 1:00
Repeat 3 times for a total of 9

I did the first 200 on 3:20, the fourth on 3:30 and the fifth on 3:23, forgot to keep time on the other two.   I think the fifth was faster than the fourth because of the extra rest due to the extra 25 non-free.  I think the second and third were probably the slowest but again I forgot to keep track.  All of the workout was without drafting.  So happy with those times, especially since I haven't been pushing hard speed wise in the pool lately.

Looking forward to more 'kick your butt' masters workouts this month though I'll still go to one or two skills/drills workouts.

Monday, April 02, 2012

Week/Month in Training

Another week of playing in the sun and warm weather.  2 hours of swimming, 5 of biking and 3 of running is close to what I'll be doing during the peak weeks of my training program so it's good to know I can nearly pull it off this early in the season.  I backed off the swimming this week because I felt like I needed a break from it and because I was tired from the biking and running which is harder on my body.  I used my 2 workouts more as recovery, took it easy and focused on drills and good form and other strokes, mainly butterfly.

The nearly 3 hour mountain bike ride the day after a longish run knocked the stuffing out of me though.  The trails weren't super hard - Blue Sky, Indian Summer and a short loop over at Lory - but it's a long time for me to concentrate on the trail.  My big endurance workout in the peak of training will require 3 hours of biking then an hour of running once a week and it's apparent I'll need to spend the next month working up to that.

I was at about 32 hours for the month at this time last year, 2 of which were a power hike,  and only 2 hours, 40 minutes of running for the whole month and 10 miles of running vs 54 miles for this month.  SO happy to have those running numbers up at this point.  Bike numbers are about the same and swim numbers are down by 3 hours/7000 yards which I find surprising but not alarming.  The swim is the shortest part and this time distribution between swim/bike/run is actually better.

Last year I was tracking walking miles as well but I see I've given it up this year.  Oh well, there was a lot of walking thanks to dogs.

I do need a rest this week though, will have to force myself to take it easy.  I've got a slight pain beneath my bad knee that is more in my lower leg but could be originating from the knee.  In any case I'll have to back off the running this week to let it heal up a bit.

This next month I'm going to start going to more of the harder masters workouts rather than all drills workouts.  I'm also going to introduce some running and biking drills.  I should put together a strength training routine too, ugh, my least favorite thing but it's important, especially for off-road triathlons.

Toying with the idea of a little sprint road triathlon at the end of May.  Could be a good warm-up for my first race in June even if it is short and on road.  I keep hoping I'll see a discounted entry for it.  I've wanted to do it since they first started it years ago but it always seemed to fall on an agility weekend.  But I'm not doing the May DOCNA trial this year due to 2 USDAA trials already in May so this would be a good year.  Not sure why it appeals, it doesn't look particularly scenic or interesting but something about it makes me want to do it.  Must be the pelicans.


WEEKLY TOTALS

Swim: 3,900 yards/2 hours

Mountain Bike: 21.26 miles/2 hours, 52 mins.

Road Bike:  28 miles/2 hours, 4 mins.

Run: 13.11 miles/3 hours, 4 mins.

Total Training Hours: 10 hours


MONTHLY TOTALS

Swim: 21,550 yards/9 hours, 48 mins.

Mountain Bike: 120.77 miles/14 hours, 34 mins.

Run: 53.93 miles/13 hours, 19 mins.

Hike:  8.7 miles/3 hours, 15 mins.

Total Training Hours: 40 hours, 56 mins. (37 hours, 41 mins. without the hike)

Sunday, April 01, 2012

On the Road to Jamestown

I know, these pictures are getting downright repetitive.  Sunshine, blue skies, shorts weather.


I'm so tired from the past 3 weeks of playing in the sun but I couldn't resist getting out for yet another day so I dusted off the road bike for a ride up Left Hand and James Canyons.


It's a nice steady climb with a few steep bits but nothing too quad busting.  In all it was about 28 miles taking the longer, flatter route to the start of Left Hand Canyon rather than Olde Stage which is a knee and quad busting 17% grade in some places.  I was about in tears at the thought of that so I took the easier Old Lady Knees route but still had a decent climb up the canyons to Jamestown.

You can see fire damage in the upper right corner from a fire they had a year or two ago.



Hippies and Roadies and Subarus, oh my.


I didn't go in the cafe but I've heard rumor that they have good stuffs.  Maybe next time.

Instead I had my melted into a pile of mush because it's eighty fricken degrees outside energy bar down by the creek.


Supposed to be colder with some rain the next 2 days and I'm sort of looking forward to it.  I'm exhausted and could use some rest never mind the dire need for moisture in general.

Blue Skies on the Blue Sky Trail

Yet another picture perfect day.


Jonny and I had a Ferris Bueller day on Friday and enjoyed the blue skies and red rocks on a nearly empty Blue Sky Trail up near Fort Collins.  So nice to have the trail to ourselves.





Indian Summer Trail


We stopped at this place in the small town of Lyons on the way up for some fuel.



They have good mochas and brownies there to help power you up the hills but you'd best not be in a hurry when you go because you'll probably get stuck behind a lady who wants some sweet chai tea but doesn't want it to taste too sweet.  And then another lady who is also having some kind of issue with her chai tea and wants her tea bag massaged a certain way.  I wish I was making this up.  I'm not kidding, this town is worse than Boulder.  I've long wanted to live in Lyons which is about 15-20 minutes north of Boulder and at the foot of the canyon that takes you to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park.  But lately I think the town has become more Boulder than Boulder and not in a good way.  Anyway, the coffee and treats are good once you get them and it's a 'zero waste' cafe so all the cups, napkins, etc. are compost-able and you have to wipe your hands on your shorts after you wash your hands in the bathroom because there are no paper towels or hand dryers and I think 'zero waste' is kind of a ridiculous notion when you're talking about consuming things but at least they're trying.  And if you're playing hooky on a Friday you'll be lucky to catch the staff on dress up day.  We were treated to 'Flower Children Friday'.

The other good thing about Lyons is they have funny bears.



I also managed to get a few more pictures of the creepy looking general store in Masonville.



Unfortunately they were from the moving car again.  We don't stop on the way up because we're eager to hit the trail and we think, 'Oh, we can stop on the way back when we're not in a hurry.'  Then on the way back we're way too tired and just want to get home to let the dogs out and get some food.  But one of these days . . .

This mural in particular creeps me out.  Looks even more creepy when it's blurry.


It's crazy that it's April 1 and I have a tan line despite all the zillions of sunscreen.  Yesterday got up to 81 degrees and today is supposed to do the same.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow but I'll believe that when I see it.  Some moisture would be good though, there's a wildfire burning outside of Denver that's killed 3 people and destroyed almost 30 homes, would be good to get some snow in those woods.  Boulder will be a dust bowl soon if we don't get some rain and I'll end up with overuse injuries before the real training season even starts because I can't force myself to take a day off when the weather is so fabulous.