Practice and next year's goals

DOCNA Champs or Xterra Nationals for 2011?  I keep going back and forth.  Of course they're on the same weekend.  Strum is qualified for DOCNA Champs already and I'd love to go next year and try to make the finals.  Qualifying for Xterra Nationals will be much more difficult and I'll probably have to travel out of state to get enough races/points.  The other problem is that some years it's very competitive, you can't just show up to 4 races and finish, you have to be in the top placements to get enough points.  Other years you don't even have to do 4 races.  Nationals are in Utah next year and I'd love the opportunity to race there.  Who knows where they'll be in 2012?  Jonny laughs every time I bring this up.  'Of course you're  going to DOCNA Champs, isn't it obvious?  Agility is your thing,' he confidently tells me.  He's probably right but still, I can't help wondering what sort of shape I could whip myself into if I had the proper motivation.  Maybe the compromise is to set the goal of qualifying for Xterra Nationals but going to DOCNA Champs.  If I do manage to qualify I won't be taking somebody else's spot, they'll give it to the next person in line if I tell them I'm not going so there's no harm done in trying.  But it's awfully expensive to do 4 races, especially if I have to travel out of state for one of them (points are given for placements and you can enter up to 4 races for points, a set amount of women with the most amount of points in my age group qualify).  And it's a lot of unnecessary pressure.  I love to race but not to the point of the training taking over my life.  Thankfully September 2011 is a long way off.

Meanwhile I've been practicing away with Strummer.  Tuesday was a handling exercise with just jumps.  A huge octagon of jumps and you run from one jump to the jump on the opposite side of the octagon then do a 225 degree turn and run to the jump on the other side again.  Work your way around the octagon with dog on left then dog on right.  The octagon was very big so it was great practice for balancing forward and turning cues.  Strummer and I struggled with it but in the end I had a better feel for my timing and cues.  Then Friday we worked with a single straight tunnel and went through a bunch of the recall to heel type cues that I did back when we were learning jumping with one jump.  Mary Ellen Barry had an article in Sept.'s Clean Run I think (I don't get Clean Run anymore but my training partner had it) and we followed her exercises.  There were more that eventually added jumps in but we never got to those.  Strum whizzed through them with little problem but they were good practice nonetheless.  I was especially happy with how calm he was while my training partner's dogs were running.  Fast dogs charging through straight tunnels are a big trigger for him but I think because we spent an hour and a half doing the same tunnel that he became 'bored' or maybe less interested/obsessed as time wore on.  Was great to see him approaching a somewhat relatively relaxed state by the end of practice anyway.

Sunday I was on my own out at the practice field so we worked on some more dogwalk turns and weaves.  I was hoping that we'd finally had a 100% success rate but looking at the tape I'm not sure.  Two of the reps are iffy and one you can't see if his back feet hit because I'm in the way.  I'm tempted to put it at one hit and one miss for the iffy ones giving us 5/6 or 83% for contact performance.  Then there were two turns that he misread and/or that I miscued.  Mostly I was pleased though, there was no obvious leaping and I felt like he was getting the hang of turning.  I moved the tunnel forward of the dogwalk ramp exit in an attempt to get a not so sharp turn off the dogwalk but he's still turning too sharply and making me cringe.  It's the one place where the running contact is turning out to be less safe for him than the stopped and I'm not sure what to do about it other than not do the move during the games and only do it the couple of times a weekend during Standard and maybe stop entering North American Challenge until I can work out a way to train him to do it safely.  I wish it wasn't such a common move in DOCNA, you can be sure to see it at least once or twice if not more during any given trial.

DOGWALK 11-14-2010 from colliebrains on Vimeo.

(click 'DOGWALK ...' link for larger view)


When I arrived at the field I noticed a weird set-up at the dogwalk.  Someone must have been working on running contacts and come up with a unique method.  It's not something I would try myself because it's way too many props for me but I'm always interested in other people's training ideas so I filmed it.


On the one hand it looks almost dangerous but on the other hand I have no idea how the set-up was being used or the size of the dog so who am I to say?  Interesting anyway.

Bundled up for a coldish bike ride yesterday on the trails out by the Rez.  It's harsh going from mid 70s to high 30's but the sun was out and I was happy enough that the trails were dry and I didn't have to resort to the back country dirt roads just yet.

Picture perfect day

Took advantage of the last 75 degree day I'm likely to see for a while and went for a bike ride on the Flatirons Vista/Doudy Draw/Springbrook trails.  The day was so perfect that even my ancient little point and shoot camera took some nice photos.

View from the top of Doudy Draw of the Continental Divide peaking through.

Start of the Prairie Vista trail at Flatirons Vista parking area

View of the Flatirons from the top of Doudy Draw.  You can see the trail at the bottom, that's where I'm headed, then I'll climb back up to the upper trails that are also visible that comprise the Springbrook loop.

Parts of the trail are wooded.

Springbrook Trail.

Doesn't my bike look happy?

The sign is warning dog owners that their low compliance (59%) with the leash law may lead to their loss of the trail.  The other trails allow off-leash dogs but not Springbrook and half of the loop is closed to dogs altogether.  I predict the other half is soon to follow.  There's also talk of bikes losing their access as well.  Soon it will only be the Abert squirrels on the trail.

And some of the trail is exposed with great views of the foothills and prairie.

Leaving the woods on the Springbrook Trail.

And saying hello to the prairie again.

Look to your left and you have an up close view of the Flatirons.

I love the rich autumn colors.

Heading back on the Prairie Vista trail.  I loved the sight of the oasis of water in the sea of 'dry'.

Say goodbye to the big blue summer sky.

I shot that photo on accident as I was holding my camera in my hand while riding a short way to another photo taking place.  I must have pressed the shutter button on accident.  For some reason I love this shot.  I didn't use any program to alter the photo at all.

I have more photos on my Facebook account.  This link is public, you should be able to view the photos without joining Facebook.

Had a fun practice with Strummer and my training partner at the training field this morning in the sun and got home just in time for the badly needed rain to start.  The dogs loved the cooler temps. (40's or so I'd guess) and it wasn't too cold for the humans with the sun shining.  We'll see if the temps. drop enough to get some snow later on.  Can't remember the last time that the first snow of the season has been so late.

Hogback trail

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've been on the Hogback trail.  Last time I was on it was just before USDAA Nationals in 2007 and I freaked out because I was sure I was going to be eaten by a mountain lion.  No dogs or bikes are allowed on the trail and since a good chunk of my life involves dogs and bikes and I didn't want to go back up there alone it makes sense that I haven't returned for a while.  But it's so convenient and Jonny and I thought it would be relaxing to do a hike that didn't involve a drive across town.

Luckily we spent the morning cleaning up leaves in the yard so we weren't up high on a ridge when an unexpected storm front blew through at lunch time.  But the storm quickly cleared and we were treated to a rainbow at the start of our hike.

Everything is so dry and brown and while I'm not looking forward to the end of our mild weather we sorely need tomorrow's predicted rain/snow.

Deer are abundant on this trail.  They're abundant in my neighborhood too but it's nice to see them in a more natural setting.

 
Can you see why I was worried about mountain lions on this part of the trail?  It's hard to see but the trail winds it's way between and slightly below the big piles of rocks.  Perfect place for a big kitty to lie in wait.

View of the plains looking east from the top of the hill.  The big blue splotch is the Boulder Rez and the ridge to the west of it and running east/west is the Eagle trail.  Biking/running trails drop down to the north and running only trails are to the south.  All of them allow dogs off leash except for a small bird conservation area around the smaller lake to the west of the Rez.  Probably doesn't look all that scenic from this view but down at trail level it's pretty fantabulous.

I like the solo tree sticking out of the hillside.

I have one more day of sun and 70's then the reality of early winter sets in.

Last gasps of fall color

Olde Stage Road

Olde Stage Road

Olde Stage Road

Took a little bike ride in the freakishly warm weather yesterday.  The odd day in the 70's in November is one thing but it's been in the 70's or high 60's for so many days now I've lost count.

Olde Stage to Left Hand Canyon and up James Canyon to Jamestown is a classic Boulder County ride and I can do it right out my back door.  I didn't make it all the way to Jamestown because I reached my time limit set by my chiropractor.  Neck is finally starting to feel better and I don't want to push my luck.  But I made it a good way up James Canyon.

Last gasp of color in James Canyon

Olde Stage is steep (17% grade in places) and it was a struggle but I made it both out and back.  Just.  I've been doing more road rides these days because of my neck and it's weird to be back out in traffic on my road bike.  At least these canyons are full of cyclists and the cars know to watch for them on the twisty curves.

A couple more days of sun then it sounds like it may finally sort of maybe rain/snow.  Must enjoy the sunny days while I can.

Interview with a sheep herding champion

Was surprised and pleased to see an interview with sheep herding champion Patrick Shanahan and his champion sheepdog Riggs over at Coffee with a Canine.  They won the USBCHA National Championships this year.  Short but interesting interview.  I'm not super crazy into herding or anything but I do find it interesting and with Nationals being in Carbondale, CO next year, a little over a 3 hour drive, maybe I'll go watch.  And while my dogs always will come from rescue if we were living in some weird hypothetical world where all dogs had homes and the only way to get one was through a breeder he's one of the very very few that I would consider.

Red Rocks and Boulder Creek Path

Since Lola can't do agility any more I'm trying to find other fun things for us to do together.  While I'm sure she's not sitting at home thinking, 'Boy I really miss agility', she is pissed off when I pack up the dog bag with toys and goodies and Strummer and leave her home.  And she's not shy about expressing her feelings.  I come home to some sort of mischief she's been into or ransacked cabinets/closets.  So I've been trying to take her hiking, just me and her, once or twice a week in addition to her regular walks and play time.  She's a pain in the ass in the woods though because her prey drive is through the roof so I have to be selective about where she goes or risk getting my arm pulled out of its socket in the pursuit of Squirrel or Prairie Dog.

Red Rocks is a short trail at the edge of downtown that hooks up to Mt. Sanitas if you want a longer hike but there are a bunch of little side trails and I think it's how you get up to the area where the Dome Fire started last week.  I was there the week before the fire started so no smoke in these photos.

Unfortunately I had my camera on some manual settings that were totally inappropriate and didn't realize it until the middle of the hike so even though I had a beautiful sunny day that any moron could take stunning pictures in I managed to take pictures that came out all black.  And of course they were the best shots of the rock formations.  But I caught a few shots on the way back on a different trail after I fixed the settings.

This is the bottom of Mt. Sanitas, not the Red Rocks formations

Red Rocks

Lola having a roll around at Eben G. Fine Park which is right next to the Red Rocks area.

My neck and back are still bothering me from the car crash so the chiropractor banned me from going on any steep rocky trails since bombing down a rocky trail will make my neck worse so I grudgingly headed out for the Boulder Creek Path on my bike.  I normally barely notice it because if I'm on it it's to get to or from a ride that goes higher up the canyons.  Then I realized how spoiled I am because it is a pretty trail.  Below are photos of the Elephant Buttress climbing area which is the south boundary of the Dome Fire.  Again, I was there a week before the fire started.  The fire is behind these rocks and since I'm not a climber I'm not sure if you can see Dome Rock from the trail or if it's behind on the Open Space where the fire is burning.  Currently it's fully contained but I don't think it's completely out.  I drove past the area yesterday and the trails over there were still closed due to the fire.

Elephant Buttress.  If you look closely you can see a climber.

I suppose there are worse places I could ride to rehab an injury.

Edited to add:
Turns out I did have a photo of the Dome

Weird that I was out taking pictures a few days before the fire.  I can't remember the last time I was on the Boulder Creek Path, it's probably been at least a year or two.  And I haven't been to Red Rocks in maybe 10 years even though it's 10 minutes away.

I wonder which crook is going to win?

That's what my grandmother asked me rhetorically when I called her today.  She's very big on voting, used to be an election judge.  When she picked up the phone the first thing she wanted to know was had I voted (yes, of course).  Then she went into a short diatribe about how they're all crooks.  Which is exactly how I felt when I came out of the polling place except I had much more colorful expressions than 'crooks' in mind.  I feel like my 'choice' these days is the Right or the Far Right and I consider myself somewhat moderate.  The Senate race was particularly disturbing.  You cannot imagine how happy I am that Michael Bennett will no longer be calling my house day and night.  I was sick of those calls before the primaries you can imagine how last week went.  I stopped answering the phone altogether about a month ago.  I voted for him but only because the alternative was so unfathomable.  And it scares me that some of those amendments got enough support to get on the ballot in the first place.  Oh well, I got a sticker and I scored some poop bags (yes, empty ones) on the walk back from the polling place so I guess that's something.

Some red, white and blue for Election Day, courtesy of my grandmother's awesome 70's basement bathroom

Where's my cash? A rebuttal

Sorry for those who missed the original, it's been removed from You Tube, but I couldn't resist.