The Journey

Bear it all Off Road Duathlon 2011 Race Report

2011-10-31T20:34:00.000-04:00

This race was originally supposed to be a triathlon on October 9. Then it got below freezing and the swim was cancelled. Then it rained a lot the day before the race and the race was postponed until October 30. The race director was really nice about the whole postponement--he offered us the option to have a refund, to defer our entry to 2012, or to race on October 30. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I picked the third option.

This week came and I took my exam on Wednesday. We also got over 6 inches of snow that day and I thought with all the snow melt the trails would be too muddy to race again. I was sort of hoping there would be no race since I was now really out of shape on the bike. I actually got in better running shape the past few weeks, but unfortunately there was a lot of biking in this race. I was shocked to find out Saturday night that the race was still on and was regretting working out a little too much the past few days. Oh well!

Race morning brought sunshine and chilly temperatures at first which quickly warmed up in the sun. The new format was run 2.6 miles, mountain bike 22 miles, run 5.6 miles starting in a time trial format. My # was 9 based on our swim seeded times, but with less participants, I was 3rd to start behind a pro male, and some other guy and Adam starting right behind me.

I started off the first run relaxed but at a good pace. I've done a few duathlons, and I know how much the second run hurts if the first one is done too hard. Right away Adam flew by me, then another guy, and another. I could see all the guys passing and then trying to run together. I just stayed relaxed and kept pace behind the guy I started behind. I wasn't sure how many people were in the long course race (my race) and how many women were racing. I had a feeling not to many but I had no clue. Kind of a weird feeling.

I got through the first run feeling good and fumbled around in transition a little since I'm not used to wearing socks, gloves, headband, etc.

I started out the course a little tired from the run, I got to a super steep hill very soon and was not prepared for it so I dismounted midway and walked up and got passed by a couple guys there. From there it was twisty and windy and up and down for awhile, and then the same guy that passed me a few minutes prior passed me again. Huh? Did he take a wrong turn? After that guy passed me early on, the rest of the first lap was like a ride through the park by myself. I was following the arrows, but there were times I wondered if I was on course because I was all alone. It was kind of nice. I just relaxed and did my own thing and rode my own pace.

The course to begin with was not very technical and a couple sections were rerouted to road due to the mud/clay so it was really pretty technically easy, but there were no places to rest on the course. The second loop went by faster because I had some people from the short course to pass. Midway through the second lap, I was ready to be done. I was wishing I had done the short course, and wondering if I was the only woman in my race or not.

Into T2, I took my time and talked to a couple spectating teammates, and then headed off for a run. A guy starting his second loop was right behind me and I could hear him laboring to keep up. I kept my pace and didn't worry about him. He passed me halfway through and then seemed to slow after a short while, so I passed him again. I could see what I thought was Adam up ahead, likely on his second lap. I pushed the pace a little to drop the guy and to catch Adam before he did. As AI got closer to Adam he kept turning around. Finally I yelled "stop turning around!" If you want to tell a runner that you are feeling tired and weak and scared in a race, then turn around. Otherwise, keep looking forward, looking back does nothing but show that you are an easy pass. Anyway, I finally caught him, told him to come with me and kept moving. The guy did catch him, but Adam did out sprint him at the line and finish ahead of him in the overall, in case you are wondering.

I was feeling pretty good but I had another lap to go, Towards the end of the first lap I saw a guy ahead of me and caught him a little ways into the second lap. I remember seeing him behind me on the switchbacks coming up the climb on the second loop, but never got passed by him on the bike. How the heck did he get ahead of me then? I was a little confused and of course this is also when my glutes and hamstrings also got really confused and slowed down a little.

I tried to finish strong and was pretty sure I was first female and possibly only female to finish the long course.

So, I did finally win a race this year, and I suppose it counts because there was one other female in the race.

It was a fun race and turned out to be a nice day. I personally would make the bike shorter, and put it earlier in the year so that there is less chance of the swim getting cancelled. And maybe have more volunteers out because even though it was well marked there were a lot of places where people could take wrong turns or cut the course. It was a nice local race and had some nice awards for us.

3rd overall for Adam, 1st overall for me (just a little more competitive in the mens race)

Xterra USA 2011 Race Report

2011-10-09T18:08:00.001-04:00

So I know this race was over 2 weeks ago, but I'm a busy woman :)

Swim+T1: 102/298, 23/90 women, 9/73 amateur women, 4/15 AG, 30:15

The morning was very chilly, but the water temperature was a great wetsuit temperature (around 67) in my opinion. T1 and T2 were in 2 different places so we had to get up early to set everything up, but had some time to spare so I hung out in the car to stay warm.

With 35 minutes to go, I squeezed into my new wetsuit, using pam for the first time in 10 years as a triathlete. I didn't notice a huge difference between pam and body glide except pam is a little grosser. Anyway, I intended to a warm up swim, but ran out of time.

A little chilly before the start

I got in the water and waded in, then turned around and saw Lance Armstrong right in front of me wearing that new $1200 Tyr wetsuit. I didn't say hi to him or tell him how excited we were to have him racing like other athletes were. Not that I have anything against him and I think it's great that he was there having fun and racing, I just didn't want to bug him like everybody else.

I did line up in the row behind him and was relieved to hear that the pros had a 30 second head start (at least a few less bodies starting at once). They started and I tried to squeeze myself into the front row.

And then we were off and it was the roughest swim in my recent memory. I was wishing I had been in better swimming shape so that I wasn't in the middle of the pack so much, wishing I could get out faster so that I could get away from all the punching and kicking. I'm usually pretty good with a little roughness. I just don't like getting punched for an entire swim.

The swim to the first buoy was rough, I passed a pro female breast stroking early on. I was amazed at the number of people breast stroking around the buoy. I got passed some people there and hoped it would open up a bit and I could get into a rhythm. Every time I thought I was getting into a rhythm, wham, I got a hit to the back, a punch to the face, or even a hit in my chest somehow. It was not one of my better swims, but my goggles stayed on and only leaked a little in my left eye, so I took that as a victory.

I got out of the swim and saw a time of 28 something and though I swam bad but not that bad. A bad swim for the shape I'm in would be a 25 or 26. I tried to forget it and get out of my wetsuit and to transition.

Running up the hill to T1

In transition my wetsuit came off well, everything was going fast and then I went to get my bike of the rack and I couldn't. I tugged again. Nope. What the heck? I looked down and saw my quick release lever on my rear tire was wrapped around a cable from the bike next to me. I tried to move my bike this way and that way and it wouldn't come lose. Ahhh. As I'm doing this I am seeing other people leaving transition and other people coming in and getting ready to go. I finally had to re rack the bike, move the other guys bike and mess around with the cable to finally get it to unhook. So frustrating.

You can barely see me running out to start the bike

Bike+T2: 18.9 miles, 172/289, 38/89 women, 21/72 amateurs, 7/14 AG, 2:04:54

I like to start off the ride a little easy just to relax a little after the swim. Apparently, no one else near me was doing the same thing. People were flying past me the first couple minutes of the bike on the ride to the start of the climb. I was passed by a girl in my ag who is a very good mountain biker. She didn't pass me until half way through the bike in Beaver Creek, so I knew I had my work cut out for me on this bike.

The bike course is beautiful and in theory, it is the perfect course for me. It is not very technical and it is mostly climbing. We climb from 4900 ft, up to 7300 ft with a little descending at the end and in the middle. With T2 at just under 7000 ft. I think earlier in the year--before May, I was in much better climbing and biking shape in general. Then I realized my fitness didn't matter if I spent the whole race falling into the bushes, so I worked on just being comfortable riding my bike (still not 100% there either) and not so much on fitness. Unfortunately for this course, I needed my early season fitness.

I rode at a comfortably hard pace up the first part of then climb. It was a long ride and I didn't want to burn myself out. I was getting passed a lot, which on a climb is weird for me. My teammate Chris passed and I tried to stay with him for awhile. I should have been able to stay with him, but my legs just didn't have it. A little bit later, another girl in my AG passed. And then another. Both are very strong climbers and runners. I had a short conversation with Meghan, the second girl and gave her some words of encouragement and tried to keep her from disappearing too fast as she raced up the mountain.

From there it was a long grind up the hill. I fell once, in the same place as the preride, on a steep, loose, left hand switch back. I slid back down the trail and then got passed by a couple of my male teammates and saw my friend and teammate Kathy close behind me. It was around 2/3 through the ride, so typically where she catches me in the longer races. She has always stayed away on the run, so I knew if I wanted a shot of catching back up I had to dig a little deeper on the rest of the climb up Sardine Peak Trail. The rest of the ride up the climb I talked to another girl in my age group a bit which passed the time.

I didn't descend as well as I did in the preride, but I didn't fall and I wasn't holding people up (I don't think), so that's a plus. After descending we had one small little climb to T2. I did dismount to walk over a rocky spot and the guy behind me started screaming at me. My response of course was a little snarky "relax--it's not like you're winning anything anyway". I moved over and let him by on a very wide bridge and he elbowed me really hard. What a jerk! Even if what I said hit a little close to home, he shouldn't have been screaming at me in the first place. Anyway, I wanted to get his race number so I could report him, but could not see it from behind and went through transition faster so I didn't see it on the run either.

Anyway, I was very happy to be done with the bike. I went as hard as I could for the shape that I am currently in and that's all that I can ask for.

Run: I've heard 10k, 6.1, 6.34, so somewhere north of 6 miles. 93/288, 22/89 women, 8/72 amateur women, 3/14 AG 49:24

The run starts out climbing and doesn't stop for almost a mile. I felt surprisingly good to start and started passing people right away. Adam was around 2/3 of the way up the hill waiting with the dogs and it was nice to see him.

Chugging up the hill

Still going

And a lot more left to go

Once I got to the top of the first long hill I saw one of my brothers friend's and old roommates out cheering along the course that I haven't seen in maybe 10 years. I yelled out her name and guessed that her husband must be in the race.

I felt good for the first 2.5 miles or so. As I started to catch my friend and teammate Kathy, my energy started to get really low and it seemed like no matter how hard I tried I was only making small progress on catching her. Finally I caught her and passed another woman too. Then we turned to the other long/steep hill of the course and I was hurting. I could hear them behind me and I was not pulling away as fast as I wanted to. I tried to keep pushing as hard as I could and focusing forward. I knew from here, it was mostly downhill, which is normally a strength for me.

Frito waiting for me to return to the finish

My 3 wonderful spectators waiting patiently for me

At this point, I think there were a lot of short course racers mixed in with us, because I was passing several women, and I knew there were not that many women ahead of me in my race. It made it a little crowded when we got to the narrow descent. When I preran the course, I was looking forward to bombing the decent like normal, but with the crowds and my quickly lowering energy, things were a little different. I caught up to 2 women marked "30". One I knew was in my race, the other I wasn't sure, but turned out to be in the short course. I started my usual attempt to speed down the hill like normal, even though I felt like I was going to pass out (why didn't I have my 4th Gu on the bike?).

Around this time I passed a guy in 40-44 and he said "I wish I was still 30". Turns out this was my brothers friend and old roommate Bill but I didn't realize this until the next day when I saw the results and talked to him. Kinda funny running past someone you haven't seen in 10 years in the middle of a triathlon.

I went to pass one on the "30" women and she took off like crazy down the hill. I can't say that's ever happened to me in a triathlon. It was a good move and I wish I had been able to go with her. Most people just give up when you pass them. I tried to get myself back together to chase and the other 30 year old who was in the short course race was cutting me off, accelerating, elbowing me every time I tried to pass her. I wanted to ask, "are you even in my race???" I kept trying to pass her, but was too low on energy to fight. If I was in better shape and not so tired and hungry I don't think it would have been an issue and it bothers me that I let it slow me down. I ran a moderate pace back to the finish and ran the last downhill in pretty hard. It's a good thing too because Kathy had caught back up to me and was only 8 seconds behind.

Running crazy down the final downhill to the finish. I don't normally run with my arms like that.

Immediately sitting down after the race

post race hand waving

Overall: 3:24:33, 6/14 age group, 15/72 amateur women, 32/89 women, 141/288. I'm happy with my race but see that there is a lot of room for improvement in all 3 disciplines. I know that with more consistent training I can take 5-7 minutes easily out of my swim and run times. But I will never be finishing on the podium until I take a huge chunk out of my bike time. That being said, I made the choice to "slack off" in my training the last couple months to focus on other priorities, so all things considered I'm very happy with how I did given my training. I think 5th in my age group was within my reach, but 4th was pretty far away. It was a beautiful venue for a race and probably my favorite race of the year. I think Beaver Creek is still the most physically demanding race I have done, but this comes a close second.

Adam was a great support for the race and it wouldn't have been the same without him there.

Adam-the best spectator I could ask for! Adam on his way to winning the 10K+ race on Sunday when I took my turn to spectate

Xterra USA Pre race

2011-09-27T20:11:00.000-04:00

This is not a race report. I'll write one here eventually, but we were there from Tuesday to Sunday so there's a lot to write about.

First off, it was a beautiful venue for a race. We camped the first 2 days at Anderson cove campground which is right on the reservoir, then got a hotel in Ogden for the last so I'd be better rested (ie, not cranky) for the last few days leading up to the race. This worked out pretty well, but next year I think we'll just rent a condo for the whole time near the race site.

We got there Tuesday afternoon and set up camp. I originally had intentions of riding the bike course Tuesday and Wednesday, but after riding in the car all day, I decided a short run would be fine. We ran up and down the trail where the bike starts to climb and my legs felt pretty good. The rest of the course scouting would be left for Wednesday.

Coopy relaxing at the campsite

The next morning I got set to preride the course. Adam dropped me off at the start of the climb up Wheeler Canyon and then planned to meet me at the finish at Snowbasin resort to do the run course.

The course climbs gradually for several miles before a descent and then another long steeper climb with a lot of switchbacks and then another descent to the finish. The course wasn't marked yet so I went off of a vague description and map on the xterra website hoping that there would be trail heads, other people or course markings up to lead me.

Ready to ride...I made sure to read the bear sign first.

The nice part of preriding is not just getting to know the course but actually getting to enjoy the surroundings. this was truly a beautiful trail and I felt lucky to be riding on it. The trail climbed pretty constantly but gradually. I was happy to see that it wasn't too technical.

further up the trail, still beautiful, still climbing

When I got to the first descent it was not too scary until I came upon this guy.

This is a moose on the trail...I didn't want to get any closer to get my picture.

I waited for a minute or so, then he finally ran off when one of the race crews dirt bikes scared him.

After the decent the course began to climb again and I got to what was the new part of the trail which was a long steep climb with a lot of switchbacks. Making sharp turns on steep uphills appears to be my big new weakness on the mountain bike.I made a few than a really loose steep left hand one and I was down and sliding attached to my bike back down to where I started. Ugh. It doesn't help that at that point in the course you're already pretty tired. That was my only switchback blunder, but it was a big one. I rode hard to the top wondering when it would end. I was rewarded with this view.

Pineview Reservoir below is where the climbing began

After this is where I got a little lost. I got to a fork in the trail. No sign, no markings, no nothing. First I went straight/left, but then thought I should go right (wrong), and continued to climb and climb and climb until it turned into a hiker only trail and I concluded I was going the wrong way. Then I started going the right was then turned off on a trail for Ogden overlook, which was another climb and also a wrong way. Finally I got back on track and got back to the resort after 3 hours of riding and a lot of climbing. A little more than I planned on.

Adam and I and the 3 dogs set out to walk run the 6+ mile run course. The run starts out with a steep hill running out of the resort up the mountain below the ski lift. The next few miles are twisty and turny and rolling with another biggish hill around mile 4 and then a long downhill for the final mile.The run started out well, but Cooper is 8-10 years old and has never been a big fan of runs over 2 miles.

Mickey carrying water for the dogs

Somewhere between 1 and 2 miles...I think

So we ran and walked, coaxed Cooper along, took pictures, and pushed Cooper to run harder than he's ever run before.

I definitely didn't plan to do a 4 hour workout day 3 days out from the race, but it was good to see the course. Next time I'll know where I'm going so I won't ride so much and maybe will split the run and ride into different days.

Napping with Frito after a hard day

Thursday was a day off for me while I supported Adam while he rode the bike course.

Friday was a short swim and run and then packet pickup and rest. I didn't feel super nervous about the race. A little nervous, but going over the course help ease my nerves regarding the unknown.

Xterra Lory 2011 Race Report

2011-08-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

Saturday, I raced the Xterra Lory triathlon--my last triathlon before Xterra nationals in 4 weeks. When I signed up for this race way back in December I didn't know what kind of mountain biker I would be so I signed up for the elite category. Of course as the season unfolded I realized I am not the best mountain biker and have not been placing as high as I expected. So, when I saw I was in the first wave and that pretty much all the women racing elite were actually pros and most of the other people in the first wave were fast guys, I moved to the second wave and raced age group. Besides, I have yet to win my age group this year and with a lot of the heavy hitters in my age group not racing and this being a good course for me (non technical bike and long gradual climb on the run) I figured this was my shot. So, onto the details of the race.

Swim: 1/2 mile or so, 9/101 women, 1/20 AG, 13:58

I didn't do much of a warm up. I should but I used all of my time setting up, standing in the bathroom line, talking and then squeezing into my wetsuit.

Horsetooth Reservoir made for a beautiful swim venue

The 20+ minute wetsuit squeeze in

The reservoir was beautiful. If the swim had been much longer I would have been warm, but I felt perfect in my long sleeved wetsuit for that distance.

The first wave went off and we waited and waited and it was finally our time to go. I was lined up in front next to Paula since I knew she would be one of the faster female swimmers, since I was swimming close to her pace at the beginning of the season, and since she would also be one of the fastest overall amateurs.

For me, it's important to start the swim fast. The first 50 meters or so were great, then I got pummeled a lot for 100 meters or so, then I guess I got dropped by some people and dropped some others. No Paula in sight. Apparently she was way up front. I was caught in the middle between what appeared to be the front pack and a back that was a ways behind me. There was a guy swimming right next to me to the turn buoy, but I dropped him there. I seemed to be slowly catching up to the pack, but could never quite do it.

It was still a good swim, I felt like I swam fairly straight and a good pace considering my lack of swimming.

At the swim exit Adam told me that I was third woman (in my wave).

After removing one wetsuit sleeve, I guess I needed my goggles off right away!

T1: 1:14, 5/101 women (fastest wetsuit wearer), 1/20 AG
I felt like transition took forever. I saw Paula leaving as I got in and another woman leaving as I was getting ready to leave. I could have been faster with the wetsuit--this has been the struggle all year with my aging wetsuit.

trying to hurry hurry hurry!

Bike: 12.2 miles, 17/100 women, 3/20 AG, 1:05:09

heading out on the bike

I headed out on the bike I was right behind another woman. I worked hard to catch up to her and caught up to her just after we turned off the dirt road back onto single track. I quickly got the nerve to pass her and was moving along pretty well for me for the first half of the first lap.Then I started getting caught by more and more guys from my wave, some who were nice some who were not. Having people ride right on my wheel when I am not a terribly predictable rider makes me nervous and tends to make me ride slower, I wish people would say that the want to pass and then try to do so or back off a bit instead of just riding right on my wheel. One guy was even yelling at me. Not productive.

Any way, the woman passed me back but no other women passed me which was a huge relief! the second lap was me passing people from later waves that made me look like a good mountain biker, but I was patient, gave them there space and nicely alerted them that I wanted to pass. It's just a race, no reason to be mean to people. I was very happy that the race ended with no falling and me only getting off my bike twice--both which I planned. I felt pretty good about the bike until I saw the results and saw how much I need to improve. I'm sure I lost seconds on every turn, every downhill, every sandy section.

Coming into transition, relived to be done and taking in a gu for some energy for the run.

T2: :44, 1/100 women, 1/20 AG I was not far from the woman that I left T1 behind and got through fast enough to head out of transition ahead of her. I did manage to bang the back of my right leg on my bike pedal as I was running up the hill in transition. Adam thought I was telling him to shut up, but I think I might have been saying something else that starts with sh...

Run: 8k, 5/99 women, 1/20 AG,40:54

I took a gu at the end of the bike thinking there was an aid station right out of transition. There wasn't. I was in a hurry to drop the woman behind me anyway. I was running a good pace but could sense that she was not falling off my pace. I was relieved when I finally got to the aid station and could drink some water and dump water on my head. I only had a sip of water and gu with not much water was probably not a good thing.

I ran the course last weekend when I prerode and I'm glad I did. After the aid station the course begins climbing steadily for over 1.5 miles. There is no shade and it seems like it is never going to end. I was mentally prepared for this and that helped a lot.

There were a lot of switchbacks which was good and bad. It allowed me to see where the woman was behind me, but also allowed her to see me. I was hoping to get out of her sight so she would "give up". After a while up the climb I saw her walking and put on the gas a little and then never saw her again.

I started to slow a little towards the top of the climb and then saw a woman ahead of me on the rolling section towards the top. At first I thought she was just some random person out for a run, then I realized she was in the race. She must have been from the first wave, but just in case I made sure to pass quickly.

As the decent that I was so looking forward to began, I got a major side stitch. Perhaps from having a gu with not much water or perhaps from not focusing on my breathing enough on the climb. It felt like the worst side stitch ever in my whole life..ever. I tried to run fast downhill but every step was excruciating. I tried to tell myself the faster I run the faster I'm done and the sooner the pain goes away, but with 2 miles to go it's hard to think like that. I kept moving down the hill steadily although not as fast as normal. I even passed a guy. Once the decent flattened out a bit it was not better but not as bad. I had less than a mile left and tried to push as hard as I could. I could see some women up ahead of me and didn't know who they were and whether they were in my wave or not. I ran hard and passed one of them with 300 meters or so to go. I didn't catch the others but it turns out they were in the first wave and got a 7 or 8 minute head start.

Sprinting to the finish

Jumping on the slip and slide at the finish...I only made it about half way down. Clearly I am lacking proper technique.

I was so happy to be done with the race and happy with how I did.

Overall: I finished second in my wave and thought maybe, just maybe I won my age group. I looked at the results and saw I was several minutes back from the age group win, and while I was faster than her on the swim and run, she beat me by over 11 minutes on the bike! Ouch. I was relieved to find out she is a pro mountain biker and beat a lot of the guys times in the race. I ended up finishing in 2:01:57 for 7th overall female, 3rd amateur, 2nd 30-34 so I'm happy with it. I still need to improve a lot on the bike and my fitness on the swim and run are lacking, but I have 4 weeks to nationals to take care of that, right?

Getting my coffee mug award

Xterra Indian Peaks 2011 Race Report

2011-08-07T21:46:00.000-04:00

This weekend two years ago was when I first went on a date with Adam. This weekend last year Adam and I drove 6 hours to Warren, PA for the Kinzua Country Tango Adventure race on Friday, raced Saturday and drove back, then put me on a plane Sunday morning to send me out for a full day interview for the job I currently have now. I'm thinking this weekend will have a little less impact on my future.

Before I do the report, here's a bit of what's been going on the last few weeks and what my thoughts had been on this race. Initially I wanted to do this race, then I was told it was really technical and decided no way, then finally decided to do it a few weeks ago. Once I had signed up, there was no turning back--I won't waste an entry fee out of fear.

After Beaver Creek, I got a spot for the xterra world championships in Maui. I knew I couldn't go ecause I have an exam the Wednesday after the race and it is just too expensive anyway. But I didn't turn down the slot until my entry expired on Friday, you know, in case I won the lottery or something. Hopefully it made someones day to get the spot. I did get a spot to nationals which I can do, so that's something to look forward to.

Including the race 2 weeks ago, I have only run 3 times in the last 3 weeks. I have biked and swam 8 times but only short ones. I got a new saddle after breaking my old one in my crash in Montana. I was having pain in my right lower back after the crash and it got worse. I finally went to the chiropractor this Friday. So, I wasn't expecting much of the race. I really just wanted a positive, no crash race.

To the actual race...

Swim: 1000m (I think it was short), 15:28, 18/61 females, 3/12 in my age group

I couldn't find my watch and so I raced without one which threw me off a bit. It was a time trial start which I thought I would like but I didn't at all. It turns out I like the excitement, pressure, etc of the group swim starts. I'm not saying I like starting with 1000 people, but waves of 50-100 are good. The seeded us by swim times and biking ability. Apparently they used biking ability first and 50% of the field considered themselves elite or in the top 15% of mountain bikers. Hmm. I seeded my swim time right at 15:30 (I think) and in the middle of the pack for mountain bikers. Shame on me for being honest, that put me as the # 155 starter.

With no sense of time, I didn't get in to warm up and with the crowds I didn't even swing my arms or anything. I just stepped up to the mat, gave my number, asked if I could go, she said I could go so I got in and swam.

I discovered a few years ago that if I don't start out somewhat fast swimming, I just swim slow. Guess what I did? Yup, I started off nice, easy and relaxed. Like I was off for a swim in the lake by myself. After that I just felt slow and sluggish. There were small little packs here and there, people to pass, but I just felt like I was floating along at a slow pace.

My left goggle started to leak after the first turn bouy which made for a fun sighting challenge. Less people, all wearing blue and green caps and an eye full of water. I was looking forward to getting out of the water. Thankfully, it was over quick. My time of 15:28 would be good if the course was actually 1000m, however, I think it was a bit short. People I normally swim near were swimming 1-1.5 mins+ faster than me, so I would have liked to be in that range. It will come back with training, and the usual race atmosphere.

Run1: 4:48 13/61 women, 6/12 AG. T1 was just under a half mile up the road from the swim. I exited transition, ran up the road a little getting my wetsuit unzipped, then stopped at my shoes and took a bit more time than I would like removing my wetsuit.

I forgot to mention the giant chip. We had these huge chips and they slip around on my ankle when I swam biked and ran and it was hard to get my wetsuit off over the chip. This is the same kind of chip that I sliced my hand on during the swim at NJ state last year.

Anyway, I thought I was going to kill this run. I threw my wetsuit over my shoulders, carried my cap and goggles and started to run up the hill. Did I mention this race starts at 9000 ft of elevation? I was huffing and puffing and walked a little up the hill, then hit my stride a little more on the flat and downhill, still wheezing like crazy. I did not kill the run, it sort of killed me.

T1: :39, 2/61 women, 1/12 AG, with no wetsuit to remove, not too much to slow this down.

Bike: 24k, 1:36:20, 32/61 women, 8/12 in my AG. Ouch!

I prerode one loop of the course and while there were a lot of rocks and steep rocky uphills, since there weren't any scary downhills, I was feeling ok about the ride. Right out of transition we started to climbI started passing some people and felt a little bad that I might clog the trail when we got to the single rtrack. Once we got up to the single track I was doing ok. It didn't seem like there were people waiting behind me and I was even passing some people and staying off my breaks for the most part.

Mistake #1 was where I took my first gu. I took it in where I thought was a good place, but wasn't finished in time for a steep sharp rocky downhill turn. For some reason I cant think and hold a partially eaten gu in my mouth, so I stopped, unclipped, finished my gu, put the gu wrapper in my pocket, then continued on with my race. Smooth, I know.

Not too long after that I got to a steep climb. I was busy tooting my own horn about how well I was doing on the course and didn't think to shift into my small ring until the last second and then off goes my chain. And for some reason I just couldn't get the chain back on as person after person rode past me. Ahhhh! Finally I got it back on and ran up the hill. I had a couple hills on the first loop where I couldn't quite ride a part and then just couldn't get back on my bike. I was getting so frustrated. So I did a lot of walking/running with my bike. I ran another muddy, twisty rooty section, but the first loop ended with no crashes, so I felt good about the second loop since I would know it better now.

And I did do better. I was moving faster, walking less, getting back on my bike faster, and I ate my second gu in a better place so it didn't interfere with my race. Then I was riding up a steep hill and my rear tire started to slip and my bike started to go backwards. I unclipped and then fell backwards, butt first onto what had to be the hardest rock in the world. It doesn't count as a crash if I wasn't attached to the bike right? Anyway, I sat there for a moment starting to cry. A few guys passed and asked if I was ok. I said, I think so threw some tears. Another guy said he could tow me back on his bike. Not sure how. I got up, I started walking sniffling and saying ouch, ouch, ouch with every step.My first thought was that I broke my tailbone. I'm still not sure whether or not I did. I walked slowly up that part of the hill and then decided that biking would probably hurt less than walking.

I rode back (with a few walks up hills and through the muddy root section where I ran past someone who was trying to ride through it), got super hungry and had another gu, but made it back without incident. For the last bit of the course my bike felt a little funny, but I kept riding. As I came off the hill towards transition I noticed my rear tire was flat. I rode it into transition thinking I had a pretty unlucky ride.

T2: :32 Tied 1/61 women, Tied 1/12 AG, I thought I moved slow through here, but I guess so did everyone else.

Run: 4.1 miles? (I heard so many different distances listed I have no idea what it really was), 35:42 11/61 women, 4/12 AG.
This was a really cool run course, I wish I could have enjoyed it more. It was twisty turny, up and down steep rocky hills, on grassy trails, through the woods, past lakes. I started of and my legs felt fresh and my legs felt quick. I started off good passing people quickly. I didn't notice the literal pain in my butt too much except a little on the down hills. I figured the faster I ran those the less it would hurt. Maybe a mile or so in, I had to really go to the bathroom. I had been having issues in the morning and apparently they weren't over. Ugh. I kept running, but I was starting to fell pretty horrible. I was walking up more of the hills with maybe over a mile or so to go I was alternating a slow jog and a walk. I was a little confused about where to go too, so that didn't help. It felt so much longer than just over 4 miles.

Overall: 22/61 women, 7/12 AG I obviously didn't have the best race, but this was a seriously tough field especially in my AG. My age group was more competitive here than at Beaver Creek. Even if I had an awesome race and was in peak shape, on this course, I don't think I would have placed top 3 in my age group, that's just how tough it was. I'm not happy that I had such a tough day, but I am ok with the race. I wanted another off road racing experience and I didn't want to crash and that is what I accomplished. Now I need to get back into shape in all three sports and take my mountain biking skills to a new level in the next 7 weeks leading up to nationals.

Another note, for those of you who watched the first season of the bachelorette (it was on like 7 or 8 years ago), Ryan the "winner" was a Beaver Creek and this race, both times with camera crews. He was near me in transition and another girl said oh, he must be a pro. Nope he's just a reality tv star. He did take it upon himself to take up 2 spots in a very full transition area. I don't think any of the pros did that. So I decided I wanted to beat him. I guess I sort of did because he didn't finish the race. He did beat me in beaver creek however.

Any finally, my only picture from the race--4 of the EPC girls post race.

More Montana and some changes

2011-08-02T20:01:00.001-04:00

Our trip Montana was awhile ago, but it was much more than just the race so I wanted to write a little more.

We got a new truck the week before and it was packed full for the trip. We thought with more space we would have more room, but we just packed more. It was a really long drive to Bozeman, longer than I realized. The plan was to drive there and look for a campsite in the Gallatin national forest near the reservoir where the race would be.

Cooper threw up in the brand new car. We think Mickey was comforting him here. Or just using him as a pillow.

Frito had his paws on the Jumbo marshmallows

Perhaps so he could reserve them for later use as a pillow?

Frito and Mickey have grown quite close

We got there around 5 pm and it seemed like everything was full. And a lot more RV's than were were expecting. When we camp we don't want to be next to big RV's or even near people. We want a little space. That was not going to happen. We explored all around the park, looking for an empty good spot. We found one that was great...but there were people there. A couple more that weren't great but as I got hungry and tired were looking ok. But Adam didn't want to settle on a spot. We searched and searched and finally drove past a sign that said leaving designated camping area. We drove past a spot that looked ok, just kind of close to some others. We drove really far out and found a great spot but then thought it was maybe too remote so we went back to check out another that was covered with red ants. We got back in the car and a few seconds later, a grizzly bear ran in front of our path. That combined with fatigue and hunger sent us back to Bozeman and to a hotel. A hotel was hard to come by to. Apparently everyone was in Bozeman that Thursday night.

Friday and Saturday we got out and prerode the course. It was such a beautiful place and very challenging mountain biking for me. If I hadn't been so beaten up from my crashes in the race and first preride I would have loved to explore more of the park on foot and bike.

A nice part of the course...I think my camelback was driving me crazy and I was taking it off and making Adam ride with it.

Adam and I before we started the decent, and I sort of fell off the side of the mountain.

Friday after biking Adam let Cooper and Mickey swim while Frito previewed some of the run course with me.

Adam threw Coopers soccer ball for him to fetch from the water. He kept tapping it with his nose but couldn't quite get it. He swam all the way out to the middle of the reservoir trying to get his ball until he finally got it. Quite a long swim for Mr. C!

Coopy coming back from his marathon swim

The water was pretty cold, even for the dogs.

We were close to a 15 acre dog park that the dogs had fun exploring both days.

Mickey playing in the grass at the dog park

Saturday we rode the course again, even better than the first time.

Yes I am wearing the same jersey...I was trying minimize what I packed

And then both swam in the lake. I put my wetsuit on and was initially shocked by how cold it was. Then Adam went in wearing only the swim skin. I don't know how he didn't freeze. That's when we found out it was wetsuits required and had to go rent him a wetsuit.

We had really good food when we were there. Lots of good local restaurants. I guess being a college town helps. Probably the best gluten free pizza I've had so far too.

Adam rented a mountain bike for the race and it was understandably muddy after mountain biking. When he went to return it they charged him $10 because it was muddy. Really? It's a mountain bike! Is he just supposed to ride it around the street? I thought that was ridiculous.

Over all it was a fun trip--it didn't turn out all all like we expected and we learned we really need to plan a lot better for our trips.

After this race and Beaver Creek I realized I need to make some changes in my training. I need to do more biking and specifically mountain biking. Mostly longer rides. I seem to fatigue and then get more sloppy. And when I am fatigued from the bike I don't run up to my potential. I also need to work on my upper body and core strength since I seem to use it a lot more mountain biking. I haven't been swimming much lately and getting back to what I was doing back in the spring will give me more of an advantage going into the bike. I never thought I would say this but I need to get as much advantage as I can on the swim, so it takes longer for me to get passed (if at all) on the bike.

I have Xterra Indian Peaks coming up this weekend. Mostly just a race to get a good workout in and more experience racing off road.

2011 Xterra Wild Horse Creek Race Report

2011-07-26T15:08:00.000-04:00

Adam and I went up to Bozeman, MT for vacation and both raced Xterra Wild Horse Creek. It was a beautiful setting and an amazing place to be. It was a good place for me to challenge my mountain biking skills and enjoy some nice scenery while doing it.

Swim: 1200 yds, water temp in the high 50s, 19:10 (18:47 at water), 3/24 women, 1/7 AG

I swam the day before the race and was a little shocked by how cold it was. Adam had looked up the water temperature online and it said 68, but he must not have been looking at the right think because it was take your breath away cold. I made it through a few minutes of a practice swim, took a break and then did some more. The race directors said it was high 50's and wetsuits required. Yikes!

This swim was one of the roughest I have been in recently. I got in with 5 minutes to the start and was shivering so much that I got out until the very last minute. Brrr! Everyone started together, and within less than 100 yds we hit the turn buoy (which was a large clown). So a lot of people went out really fast and it was complete chaos to the buoy, around the buoy, and just passed there. Not long after I passed the buoy, I looked over and saw someone breast stroking. I thought it was Adam, but thought there was no way he would have gone out so fast and to be ahead of me. Turns out, he was in the top 10 around the first buoy, then later had to resort to breast stroke, so it probably was him.

There was only one other buoy and with the sun, I really couldn't see that well. I tried to just stay with the group I was around and try to sight based on the mountains and shoreline to make sure I wasn't swimming too crooked. I made it to the end of the first lap with a small group of guys and tried to stick with them.

I'm not sure why they always have the loop swims with the run in the middle in Xterras. It is nice that it breaks the swim up and allows spectators to see you, but some courses are just not set up for it. In this case it is a little cruel to have people get out and run across sharp rocks on already painful ice cold feet. It would makes sense to use the huge reservoir for one big lap or if they need two, just have us swim through it instead of getting out.

Cooper showing how to exit the water with enthusiasm

Anyway, so after running over the rocks my feet were in serious pain for most of the second loop of the bike. It felt like someone was poking my feet with needles or something. The second loop was so much less crowded and went by much faster. Still some contact, but not too bad. If the swim hadn't been so cold I wish it would have been longer. It was a beautiful reservoir and very pleasant to swim in.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my swim. I'm somewhat out of swim shape right now, and don't do to well in the super cold water swims so I'm very happy with my time and place considering all that.

T1: 1:31.7 2/24 women, 2/7 AG I was not moving very fast thanks to ice cold hands and being a little disoriented from the cold water. The transition area was so short, I didn't even have my wetsuit sleeves all the way off when I got there. I did for once get one of my wetsuit legs out really fast though! Finally! In my hurry to get out, I forgot to put my gloves on which is not a good thing, especially on this course.

Bike: 16 miles--roots, rocks, climbing, descending, 1:53:48, 12/24 women, 4/7 AG

Adam and I prerode the course on Friday and Saturday. The course started out with lots of roots and rocks and some steep up hills. When I prerode, I moved slowly through there and had to dismount a few times, but felt like I was going to be okay going through there.

Out of transition I was shivering cold. My hands and arms were shaking. I started going over some of the roots and rocks and was doing ok, but hyperventilating and felling a bit panicked. Coming from the cold water swim and being cold made it a lot harder for me to control my bike and to just feel confident. I walked more sections than I had to in the preride, and before I knew it I was getting passed by several people including a couple girls from my age group, Adam, and my teammate Cary.

Resting through one of the scenic and easier sections in the tough first few miles.

I also was wearing regular sunglasses and couldn't see with the shade. I should have worn clear or rose colored glasses. When I got off to walk a section I took them off, then stumbled on a down hill and they went flying off onto the trail.I stopped and grabbed them while dodging passing competitors. I was so relieved when I got to this beautiful field and I knew that the "hard part" was over for awhile as we had some smooth single track, then a ride along the dirt road to a 20 min or so 5 ft wide climb.

I was feeling good, warming up and passing people as I rode down the dirt road and up the climb. This was a good climb for me, long and steady with out a lot of skill required. We had to do this loop with the climb and a decent 2x.

Taking a break on the preride to enjoy the scenery

How many races have this kind of scenery?

I made it up to the top of the climb the first time in just over 20 mins. There was a yellow lab at the top :) Then onto a few winding ups and downs before the decent. In the preride on Friday, I fell on the decent on my left side and was still a little sore, but I didn't fall on Saturday so I was feeling ok. The first part went well. I got passed and all but I was moving along and not riding my front break. I think it was the second part of the decent I hit something weird and had my weight forward and almost flipped but somehow unclipped and caught it without falling hard. The guy behind me was pretty amazed. That definitely scared me though, and I think that is what must have caused my last gu to explode.

Towards the start of the decent

I made it down the decent and hoped they would tell us that we only had to do one loop. I made it to the start of the second loop in under1:07, and around :36 minutes for the first loop, just over my goal of 35, and 1:05. My goal of a bike time under 1:45 was still insight.

I looked down and saw gu all over my bike and leg. I should have had the gu then while there was still some left. But I didn't. I climbed well up the hill again, but was starting to run low on energy. As I climbed I wondered if grizzley bears liked Gu. I hoped not. I had the tiny amount left (maybe 10 calories worth) as my stomach growled at me. I climbed pretty well and caught up to people that passed me on the downhill and was also passing people from the shorter race. Oh how I wished I was in the shorter race. I wish they gave points for the shorter races.

I made it up the climb faster this time around, made it down the first part of the decent okay. I was passing people from the short race and I was shocked that I was descending faster and better than they were. I'm not the worst descender in the world apparently! I was coming up behind a girl from the short race and she stopped suddenly to let me buy which threw me off and forced me to dismount. I don/t blame her, I'm sure Ive been that person many times. I should have just run down the next short section of the hill, because I mounted, hit a rock, and went down. Ugh.

It took me a few seconds to get back on, then I rode for awhile and a few minutes later I fell really hard. I don't remember what happened, just that I was flying through the air, landed on my hands, left side, and slid for awhile scraping my knees and left elbow. Everything hurt. Especially my left wrist and shoulder. I got up. Nothing seemed to be broken. I got back on my bike and my saddle was tilted way to the side, and was not safe to ride on. I could have stood up, but I am not good on downhills to begin with. So I ran, downhill with my bike in my mountain bike shoes the rest of the way down the hill. Probably at least a half mile, maybe more.Once I got to the road I got back on my bike and rode just slightly off the saddle and tried to ride hard to the finish. At some point during all this, I lost my sunglasses :(

T2: 42.3 3/24 Women, 2/7 AG, Not a good transition for me, I got there, there were bikes over my spot so I wasn't sure where to put my bike. I finally moves a couple around to make space for mine, and then headed out to run.

Run: 6 miles, 50:58, rooty, rocky, short steep hills, twists and turns. 5/24 women, 2/7 AG

I was really looking forward to the run course. It was my kind of course--lots of hills and roots and rocks and steep downhills. This was almost an ideal course for me. I started out flying. I really should have taken a gu at the exit of T2, I regretted it later. I was moving along well, passing people from both my race and the short race. I was flying uphills and my legs felt good.

I ran across some muddy logs and down I went. On my already bruised and scraped knees and hands. I can't recall ever falling like that in a race. I got up and limped along for awhile and got myself going again, but not with the same speed and enthusiasm as before. I continued to try to work the downhills, but was not quite as aggressive after falling hard once. I made it through the first loop in around 24 minutes. Considering the course difficulty and the fall and the crashes on the bike, I was okay with that.

Second loop I was still passing a lot of people, and made slowly but successfully over the muddy logs, but was out of energy. I was really missing that 3rd gu I usually have on the bike. I had no energy and felt like I couldn't move my arms, which is kind of important when running, especially hills.

The water that had been so cold a few hours ago, looked so refreshing. The sweat and mud were starting to burn the cuts on my knees, hands and arms. I just wanted to be done! I was so relieved when I finished.

My knees post race.

Overall: 3:06:10, 8/24 women, 3/7 AG This definitely wasn't my best race, in any of the 3 disciplines. Just another off road experience to learn from and to hopefully make me better in the future. It was a beautiful course, probably the most beautiful course I have raced on.

More beautiful scenery from the race course

Me with my award

2011 Xterra Beaver Creek Race Report

2011-07-18T20:51:00.001-04:00

I had a few goals going into this race--Swim under 24 mins, Bike under 1:45, run under 50, transitions under 3 mins total, finish 3rd in my age group and top ten overall amateur.

I drove up to the race after work and heading home first to have dinner and finish packing. I didn't think I would make it to packet pickup and would have to do it in the am, but as I drove I saw that I was going to arrive 10 mins prior to packet pickup close. The race was on! As I drove up the mountain to the Beaver Creek Village I was amazed at how beautiful it was. I was really sad that Adam and the dogs weren't there. The race website said that dogs weren't allowed in the village were T2 and the finish area were, so they didn't come to watch because I didn't think they would be able to.

I parked my car and made a mad scramble around the village looking for packet pickup and made it in as the last one to get my packet! Whew! It was a little hectic getting there so late, but kind of nice so that I wasn't up there just thinking about my race.

The location of the comfort inn in Avon, CO was close to the start and the price was the least expensive (if you can call $140 a night inexpensive) but it was a pretty crappy hotel. Paper thin walls, and just yucky overall. I probably won't stay there next year even if I have to pay a little more. I didn't sleep well at all for the first time since the night before my exam.

I'm a bit obsessed about transition set up, so while the race didn't start until 9 am, I went to set up my T2 right at 6 am when it opened and then down to set up T1. By 6:30 I was done and headed back to my hotel, caught a few minutes of the tour, then took a nap up until 8am. I was surprised at how relaxed I was.

I finally got up and going for the race and still felt relaxed and not that nervous. Maybe I needed to be a little more nervous? I just didn't know what to expect and how I would do. I had goals, but they were somewhat arbitrary based on times from previous years and wanting to podium in my age group overall.

The women were the 4th of 4 waves each 1 minute apart. All the Xterra races I have done have been fairly small. This one was "large" by Xterra standards. There were 270 finishers in the Long course event, but in the small little pond they had us swim around laps it felt like a whole lot more.

The water was perfect long sleeve wetsuit temperature. Cold at first but after swimming for awhile it was perfect but with no overheating. I made sure to do a little more warmup than my last race and told myself to sight more often.

Swim: 1500m (short maybe 1-2 minutes?) 23:27 (23:10 on my watch at swim exit), 24/74 females, 23/63 amateur females, 3/11 AG, 80/257

The waves went off 1 minute apart and before I knew if we were off! I got a pretty good start and it wasn't too rough and then we we started passing people from the wave ahead of us by the first buoy. For the rest of the race, every time I sighted I saw a sea of red and yellow caps ahead of me (the men's waves) and a few purple and lime green (my wave). I felt good and relaxed on the swim but was breathing every other stroke always to the right which is not normal for me. The swim was at maybe 7400 feet, and while some of my bike rides and runs end up at around this altitude, I've never swum that high.

The swim went by quickly--being surrounded by so many people and having a short course helped. When I exited the swim, I saw 23:10 and was happy with that. I also saw my teammate Danielle right ahead of me, which provided some good motivation.

T2: 1:18. 9/74 females, 2/63 amateur females, 1/11 AG My wetsuit bottoms gave my trouble as usual so I felt like I was in there forever. Since the race was point to point, we had to put our wetsuits and caps/goggles in a bag and tie it. I started to put my stuff in my bag and a volunteer came up and said she would take care of it for me. Awesome service! Overall everything went smoothly, I just need to get out of my wetsuit quicker.

Bike: 15.5 miles (I think), 3600 ft of elevation gain, 1:52:15, 38/74 females, 27/63 amateur females, 5/11 AG

The bike started out flat for the first 1/2 mile or so and on the pavement. Right away there were a lot of people out on the course. I passed some and got passed by some. Then we turned on the the dirt and the start of the climb. There was a long line of racers riding up the course single file. I kept in a small gear and my legs weren't tiring, I was just really out of breath. It took a few minutes to get my breathing under control and I finally got the nerve up to start passing people when a girl from my age group passed me. I tried to stay with her and passed people as she did to keep her close. Then she started to slow and I felt good so I passed her back.

I looked down at my computer thinking I had to be so far along, but I was only a couple miles in. I didn't feel too tired climbing, but conserved my effort a little because really, I was not that far into the race. I had to unclip 2x on the climb, once when someone in front of my couldn't make a turn and another time when I couldn't quite make a turn. Just before the first aid station at 8600 ft, there was a long section of s turns going up the climb, this is around when I started to get a little tired.

After the aid station we moved onto a paved road and continued to climb. I started to get passed, and saw two girls in my age group go by pretty quickly. I just kept moving along in my smallest gear at 5mph. The climb eventually ended at just under 9500 ft, and I was so glad that it did. It wasn't the end of climbing for the day, but the end of the long one. Just over 5 miles and I had been on my bike for over 50 minutes!

Now for the downhill section--the first part wasn't too bad, but I was still getting passed by some men. Then it moved to single track downhill and I slowed a little more and got passed some more. I was really wishing I had been able to preride the course, I think I would have had a lot more confidence and saved a lot of time on the downhill parts. That and I just need to ride my mountain bike more and improve my skills. The rest of the course for me was the most difficult. I would much rather just climbed the whole time rather than going downhill. Definitely something to work on.

Towards the very end of the ride, we got to the corkscrew--a steep downhill with some tight turns. By this point I guess a few guys were backed up behind me and riding my ass through this section which made me even more nervous(and apparently complaining about my slow speed).

About the complaining--these guys had a 1 or 2 minute head start on me and also had 13 miles or so on the bike to pass me. If they don't want to get stuck behind me on downhills when I am nervous, they should swim faster or climb faster.

Anyway, my nerves and lack of skill caused me to crash. I stood up and waited for them to go by and my teammate Aaron passed and asked if I was ok and gave me some advice on what to do for the rest of the ride downhill. Very nice of him. Unfortunately, I was already flustered and managed to crash 2.5 more times. The .5 was me slowing and then conking my head on the side of a tree. Thank goodness for helmets! After that I got off my bike and ran the rest of the hill. I got a weird look from a volunteer, but I didn't care.

The last few miles were downhill, but not too bad. I had seen my goal time slip away and I just wanted to get to T2 and start running!

T2: 1:02, 15/74 females, 4/63 amateur females, 1/11 AG Pretty fast transition, I place my shoes on one side but put my bike on the other so I had to run around to the other side to get my shoes. A little silly of me.

Run: 5.75 miles, 48:01, 14/74 females, 7/63 amateur females, 3/11 AG

I started out pretty quick and passed Aaron on an uphill and thanked him and continued to work on passing people.The course climbed up for the first 2 miles, then a fast downhill for a mile back to transition, then back up for another 1.5 before another fast downhill for 1.25 miles to the finish and total elevation of 1300 ft. I took a lot of walking breaks. The course was not that tough, but the altitude combined with the fatigue from the bike and the heat (for me) was just really difficult. Even with my walk/run strategy uphill I was still passing quite a few people and not getting passed at all. I really looked forward to the cold water at the aid stations and of course the downhills where I really made up ground on people.

I passed 2 women early on in the run, one beat me by 10 minutes at my last Xterra, the other beat me at my 2 road tris. This was getting encouraging! Then I passed a girl in my age group (the one who passed me and I passed back early in the bike--she got me again on one of the downhills) who I thought was in 3rd in our AG. I always had someone in my sights and even though I was tired I kept moving, doing what I could on the uphills and pounding the downhills. On the last downhill to the finish I passed several more women, one that also beat me by 10 minutes at my last Xterra.

Overall: 3:06:05, 24/74 females, 13/63 amateur females, 4/11 AG I didn't make my overall time, overall and AG place goals, but I was close and I did make my swim, transition, and run goals. The competition was much tougher than any previous years in the overall and in my AG so while I would like to have been on the podium, I am happy to see my improvement and see that I have so much more room to improve. With each race I keep getting better and I learned several things that I need to work on.

It was nice to see so many members of my team so out on the course or after the race--it made it a much more enjoyable experience, something I think I was missing when I did those road tris on my own.

The race was run very well. The things I like best about the race:
-The venue was beautiful
-swim course was easy to sight
-post race food--they had a good spread of food right at the finish line and a bbq a short walk away
-lots of aid stations/volunteers, probably not an easy thing to set up on the trails
-chip timing--nice for data obsessed folks like myself
-great volunteers--I still can't believe that volunteer packed up my swim stuff for me.

Things that could be improved:
-course congestion--it would have helped a lot on the swim and bike to spread out the swim waves by 3-5 minutes instead of 1.
-t shirts--if x # of female racers sign up for t-shirts size y, shouldn't you order x number of t-shirts for women size y and only give those shirts to the people who designated that they wanted a shirt in size y? When I showed up, all they had was barf green men's shirts. I don't really care about the shirts, but some people do, and it just shows that whoever ordered the shirts didn't put a whole lot of thought into it.
-numbered bike racks are always nice.

2011 Boulder Peak Triathlon Race Report

2011-07-12T20:16:00.001-04:00

I raced Boulder Peak Triathlon on Sunday with the word "raced" being used loosely. My first big race for the year is coming up this Saturday. I've come to learn that, at least for me, training for an Xterra and in particular one with a lot of climbing transfers over some to road tris but not as much as I thought it would. That being said, this was my last road tri of the year. I will be handing my triathlon bike over to Adam to use in time trials and will be selling my zipps/power tap to buy a cyclocross bike that I can ride to work a couple days a week.

Something else I learned-I don't want to sign up for races that are an hour or so from home that don't allow packet pickup on race morning. I'm too cheap to pay for a hotel that is 1 hour from my house and I like sleeping in my own bed, but I don't like driving to Boulder and back 2 times in days.

I got up super early at 3am so I could drive up to the race and get there when transition opened. I lucked out and was in the third wave so my start was a 6:40. Between 2 long waits for the bathroom, setting up my transition area, warming up by running, inquiring about the swim cap that was not in my packet, putting on my wetsuit and testing out the water, I easily filled the time.

The volunteers to hold up the signs for the waves were very clearly members of some high school cross country or track team. You can always spot a runner :)

Swim: 1500m, 26:50, 293/1293 overall; 8/85 age group, 72/493 female (the 493 and the 1293 include the pros)

We had 7 mins between us and the wave ahead so I didn't expect to catch up to too many people. It was the men's and women's 50+ (or 55+ I'm not sure). We waited our turn while the announcer made the mistake of telling some girl that she couldn't zip her suit because of the winter weight. I know it was a joke, but probably not too funny to her.

The swim headed out right into the sun, and while there were plenty of buoys it was pretty hard to see. My wave was women 30-34 only and started our a little rough. Once we reached the first buoy it opened up a bit and there were less people to follow. With the sun in my eyes, I found myself sighting less, and before I knew it I was swimming way off to the left. I swam back in closer to the buoys and made sure to sight more.

Before the first turn buoy I started to catch people from the wave ahead of me. Was I really swimming 700 meters or so 7 minutes faster than some people? Once around the buoy there were a lot of orange caps from the previous wave. I never understand why race directors use some colors--buoy colored orange is confusing, and navy blue (my wave) is hard to see. So other than a couple girls around me from my wave, I only saw lots and lots of orange caps...or were they buoys?

I felt like I was swimming well, moving steadily, working hard but not too hard. I was surprised when I reached the swim finish that my time said 26:50. Really? I know I zig zagged some in the beginning, but I didn't think I went off course that much. So, I was a little disappointed and confused with my swim.

T1: 1:57, 4/85 AG everything about my transition was good except taking my wetsuit legs off. I keep struggling with this.

Bike: 42k, 1:19:58; 455/1293 overall; 6/85 age group, 60/493 female

Onto the bike a girl I was near in the swim immediately pulled away. I didn't panic, just kept my pace and relaxed. I passed a few people, got passed by some others. I have never been on the course and had not really looked at the course profile much. I only knew there was a big hill in there somewhere that people had built up.

I'm pretty sure I didn't see my speed go over 19 mph for the first 10 miles. Basically until after the "big" hill. For a while I was starting to wonder how on earth people could average 22-23 mph on this course.

Then I finally got to the hill which was my favorite part of the ride. I immediately started picking people off and rode comfortably up the hill. It certainly wasn't easy, it was a mile or so long with a steep section in there, but I don't know if it was worth all the hype/concern. I passed several girls from my age group on the hill and was feeling pretty good. Up towards the top of the hill there was an amazing view I just had to point it out to the guy I was passing. He didn't respond or look. Then onto the long downhill where there was first a radar enforced speed limit of 35 mph--the first time I've had that in a race. I had to touch the brakes quite a bit to keep my speed down under 35. I know that people have been in accidents with cars on this hill, but it seemed like it was not that technical and that speeds of 40-45 would not be unreasonably safe. I suppose they have to make the rules based on the fact that some people will not handle their bikes well and will be riding all over the road.

Since I was in an early wave and there were not as many people to pass I spent much more time in my aerobars. Which is not something I have done a lot of recently. My hamstrings and calves were getting really tight even though I was not pushing it too hard on the downhills and flats. Once we got back to the flats several of the people I passed on the hill passed me back. Darn it.

After 20 miles my hamstrings and calves were starting to revolt. I really wanted off my bike. I got passed by a girl that passed me on the bike at Loveland Lake to Lake and later on got passed by a 58 year old woman that I had passed at the base of the climb. Seriously. That was a good kick in the pants for the last couple miles to focus and try to maintain a reasonable pace. My goal going into the race was to maintain 21 mph+ on the bike. I averaged high 19's. I had to remind myself that this is just a workout and this is not what I am training for.

T2: :41, 2/85 in AG, pretty good would have been faster but the girl next to me racked her bike on top of my stuff so I needed to move it.

Run: 10k, 44:01, 3/85 AG, 190/1293 overall, 33/493 female

The run--usually where I make up some time. I started off and quickly heard foot steps behind me. The person was breathing heavy and their foot steps were loud so they sounded tired, but a woman from the 35-39 AG passed me. I knew I was in trouble. I don't get passed much on the run. Not long after another woman form 35-39 passed me. It seems these two were in a battle for their age group win. I was passing some people, but also getting passed by men from later waves. I was running a steady 7 min pace, which felt slow, but I didn't feel like I could go any faster. I tried to focus on people ahead of me, cheer for racers coming in the other direction, and enjoyed my surroundings.

My favorite part of the course was running by a field of goats. There were dozens of goats, a farmer and 3 herding dogs. I watched the dogs and thought of how much fun mickey would have herding some goats.

Each mile ticked off at around 7 min pace and once I approached the turn around I tried to start looking to see what place I was in for my AG. My estimate was 5th or 6th. I located a girl that I thought I could catch and after the turnaround I had a bit more of a purpose. I didn't start running any faster. In fact I maintained almost the exact same pace. But I didn't slow down either. Always good not to prolong a bad day.

At the last aid station she was close enough that I knew I could catch her. I mustered up enough speed to put in a solid pass and kept a solid pace without looking back. Never look back no matter how tired you are. It shows that you are weak and tired and that it will be easy to pass you. At least that is what I think when I see someone look back. I kept my pace into the finish, listening for the sound of feet or breathing behind me.

Overall: 5/85 AG, 47/493 females, 265/1293 overall

This was one of those race where nothing was absolutely horrible, but nothing was very good either. I just felt tired and a little out of my element. This year has been a bit of an adjustment. Learning how to train for off road races, trying all new races to see which ones I like, racing on the road without specifically preparing for it and seeing how I feel. I hasn't been an easy change but as I learn, I'm sure things will get better. Once I race Beaver Creek, the first half of my season will be over. 3 off road tris, 2 road tris. The second half will be solely focused off road with 5 off road tris. I think I wanted to try to keep one foot in what I was comfortable with on the road tri side but I think it will be better for me to forget about road tris for awhile. I need to continue to gain the mountain biking skills and experience I need, without feeling like I need to throw in training on my tri bike and other training to stay sharp for road tris. It is just too much and it is competing priorities.

A random post

2011-07-05T21:15:00.000-04:00

Beaver Creek is now less than 2 weeks away. I feel really good about my climbing ability on the bike and run right now, especially on the bike after the last few weeks, but I keep hearing about how hard the climb will be, I can't help but worry a little. I want to go ride it prior to race day, but I am not sure I will have a chance.

I race Boulder Peak next weekend. I am a little more excited about this now that I have been out on my tri bike a few times and feel like I am starting to get into peak shape.

I have finally started going to swim at the Chatfield gravel pond. When I was in NJ, I was always wishing there was somewhere close where I could open water swim. Here there are a few places and yet I wasn't going. Once I finally got myself there, I was glad I did. It's a 35 minute or so bike ride from the house, and with a 97 degree day yesterday I was so happy to start swimming. I brought only my swim skin and froze! I think it is high 60's to low 70's. Pretty weird to be shivering when it is over 90 degrees out. I will be wearing my wetsuit there for at least a few more weeks!

It was hot here last week and really hot last weekend. My dad came to visit and we got out in the early morning and evenings, but spent most of the days inside because it was just so darn hot. I am starting to think that 95 and dry with no shade is worse than 95 and humid and with shade. I don't know how people live in AZ and NM in the summer.

It was so nice to have a long weekend even if it was a scorcher. I took Friday off and rode up high grade and felt awesome. Then spent the rest of the day baking as we went car shopping in the midday sun (this was not fun part of the weekend).

Saturday, Mickey and I went up to Boulder to watch Adam do a hill climb. Actually, we dropped him off, then drove up the canyon and to the Eldora Nordic Center where the race would finish. I realized this is where Xterra Indian Peaks will take place in early August. Originally I didn't want to do the race because I thought the bike would be too technical for me, but coming up here and seeing how beautiful it was made me want to do it.

Mickey and I ran while we waited for Adam to finish. Running at 9000 ft didn't seem to slow him one bit.

Adam wasn't very happy with how he finished, but sometimes it isn't your day and there are a lot of guys that are just really good climbers and that's their thing. I was proud of him. If I get a road bike, I'd like to do it next year.

After his race we headed to the airport to pick up my dad. We had a nice relaxing weekend with him. I took him over to Deer Creek Canyon Park and he hiked with Mickey while I ran with Frito. We also took an evening bike ride together along the bike paths and took the dogs to the dogpark so Mickey could show off his tricks.

Frito had a rough weekend. It seems like everyone here lights off their own fireworks. Last night we didn't want to leave Frito at home because he starts to dig his way to safety (in carpet, doors, walls) when his alone and really scared. So we brought all the dogs along to watch fireworks. I thought we would see a lot from our backyard but...we found a spot first at one of the high schools. We got settled, then a guy pulled up next to us and started shooting off bottle rockets. Frito started digging to safety on the drivers side floor, so we left. We got a spot at another high school higher up the road. Sat on the grass, stayed there for awhile, Mickey met his female twin, then a lot of fireworks started to go off and even Cooper was shaking. So back to the car and then up to a high point nearby where we could see a few different shows.

I have never been bored during a fireworks show--until last night. There were delays and it just wasn't that good. I guess I was spoiled with a good show back in NJ. After awhile, Adam and I decided it was really boring and drove home. At home in the back yard we concluded we probably could have seen a lot of the show from our backyard.

And someone in our neighborhood decided to treat everyone to a really loud fireworks show after 10 pm that lasted awhile. Don't these people have to work in the morning? Frito found comfort by curling up in the closet, behind a row of Adam's shirts with Cooper joining him nearby.

2011 Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon Race Report

2011-06-26T22:35:00.000-04:00

I signed up for this race back in January or February--before I knew I would be taking an exam 2 days prior. History has shown me that I don't typically feel well and race well after an exam week. Exam weeks are exhausting--my eating, training, and sleeping schedules get out of whack and I feel down right exhausted and zombie like after the exam. Well, I passed the exam (this one I actually got to find out right away) and was happy, but was very fatigued. I kinda didn't want to do the race. I was wishing I'd signed up for an xterra or was spending the weekend training. But I had already paid so I was going.

I got up at 3 am and made the drive up to Loveland, CO to find that everyone else was getting there at 5am when transition opened as well. I had a long time to get ready while I waited for my wave to start at 6:46 am.

Swim: 1500m + long run to transition, 27:13 including stopping to take my wetsuit off before the long run up to the transition area. My watch read around 25 when I actually got out of the water. 120/723 overall, 33/315 women

I was in the 5th of 5 waves that were spaced 4 minutes apart. I haven't started this many waves back in many races in the past few years. The 35-39 women were in the first wave, and I almost wished I was older so I could start first. I wanted to pass at least 3 colors of swim caps on the swim (ie catch up to some people by 12+ minutes).

Finally we got to start and it was not too rough. Females 34 and under are much nicer to start with than any of the men's waves. I was moving along at a comfortable and relaxed pace. Perhaps a little too comfortable. By the second buoy I caught up to dozens of people from the previous wave. It was a challenging swimming around the sea of people. Some people would suddenly stop swimming and turn upright right in front of you, others were swimming diagonally and cutting off a direct path. Now I remember why I hate starting so far back.

By the 3rd buoy I started passing people from two waves ahead and it got more crowded. I continued to fight my way through the crowd which made it slower and not the straightest swim, but did provide for a good distraction. Before I knew it I was passed the last buoy and headed for home. I definitely passed at least 3 swim cap colors.

There were a lot of swimmers when I got to the swim exit, so I ran up past them and started to remove my wetsuit top as I ran up the hill. For once it came off easily then I remembered to glance at my watch and see 25:20 something. I started my watch 15 seconds prior to the start and ran a few seconds after so I figure my swim was around 25 mins. Once my wetsuit top was down I moved to the side and took off the rest of my wetsuit since it was a pretty long run to T1, around 1/3 mile I'd guess. Then off running up the hill and passing lots of people on the way.

T1: :37 seconds--it helps to take your wetsuit off prior to entering the transition area if you want a super fast time. 1/315 women

Bike: 30 miles, 1:31:44, 218/723, 21/315 women

I started out passing a lot of people and riding strong. I have only ridden my tri bike 3 times since March and two of them were mostly climbing efforts, while the other was my 30 min prerace ride on Friday. So, 30 miles of a steady effort on rolling hills was going to be interesting.

While on the bike I realized it had been around 11 months since my last road tri (NJ State Olympic). There were many things I forgot about while training and racing for off-road. I thought I was going to be able to zone out and get into a good rhythm, but instead of worrying about trees or rocks or roots, I had to weave my way around triathletes which are much less predictable. I saw a lot of drafting and blocking, and it's sort of sad that this is what I have come to expect in a race and part of why I don't really set place goals for myself in road tris anymore. But since I wasn't concerned about it, I was much more relaxed--if people want to draft to move up or get a PR, that's their problem, I was just there to do my best effort.

The first 5 miles went by quickly and at a fast pace--I thought it was looking good for me to average 21+ mph. When I got a chance to look around the course was really beautiful. Especially around the halfway point when we started to climb up a hill that was somewhat long. My favorite part of the ride :) Then we started down hill for awhile and I was thinking the last 15 miles might not be so tough. But then it got windy, and there were lots of rolling hills. Oh, yeah and my neck starting hating me for wearing the big giant aero

T2: :36, 2/315 women This could have been a little faster--too many people in my way!

Run: 10k, 43:02, 75/723, 7/315 women

My legs rarely feel junky coming off the bike. But today they did. After a few hundred meters they felt better and I was off and running, ready to pass as many people as I could. One advantage to starting in a later wave--there's always people to chase on the run. It was getting warm, but not as hot as it had been the past few days (and today-ugh!) Sometimes I like to count the people I pass, but there were too many. Before the first mile I passed my EPC teammate Bruce who is a beast in the 65-69 age group. In the last race I passed him on the run too, but it took me longer.

I made it to the mile mark (the mile markers were of questionable accuracy) in around 6:30. The volunteers and aid stations were awesome--1 every mile or so.The course wound through some neighborhoods and out along a lake. I was feeling pretty good, my legs were just not moving as fast as I'd like--kinda of the story for the season so far. I hit mile 2 around 13:15 and the turnaround around 19:00 (which was definitely not 3 miles or halfway). I was starting to fatigue a little, but still passing a lot of people. I only saw one girl that I knew for sure was in my age group-p ahead of me so I didn't give up chasing because you never know--maybe I missed someone or maybe she has a penalty, who knows right? I always like a good chase.

I was waiting for the 5 mile mark and finally saw a 1 mile to go sign. thank goodness. I thought I had an idea of where the course was going to finish. I thought we were going to run along side the lake. Well, we did, but we had to run all the way around it first and then back to get to the finish line from the other side. It's always tough seeing the finish line when you can see that you have awhile to run. I tried to kick it in as best I could.

I later found out that I was 4th in my age group. I must not have seen the other girls as they were running back, or they looked a lot younger or a lot older that 30-34.

Overall 122/723, 15/315 women, 4/65 age group

Overall I was happy with my race. It was a good workout and a good test of fitness. I need to do a bit more work on my swim and open water swimming and getting my run shape back. But I'm pretty happy with where my bike is. When it comes to climbing, I'm in shape for that and that is exactly what I want.

The race was very well run I thought. There were certainly things that could be improved, but many great things as well. Some of the things I thought were great were:
-the volunteers--there were many and they were all working hard
-the post race food--rice, beans, scrambled eggs, meat, tomatoes, fresh fruit, and Popsicles; probably one of the best post race meals I've seen
-many parts of the bike course were really pretty as were the run
-a decent amount of buoys in the swim
-clear course markings and directions from volunteers, staff
-plenty of port o johns

Some things that could improve the race:
-assigned bike racks--this seems like it would eliminate a lot of prerace confusion
-placing the port o johns on a flat ground vs. on a downhill--they swayed a bit when you stood up and sat down--I don;t like feeling like the port o john might tip over, but maybe that is just me.
-recording time for the swim at the swim exit instead of at the entrance to the far away transition area
-adding a beginners wave or a wave for swimmers that are not confident. I think this makes for a safer and more enjoyable experience for everyone on the swim.

Overall it was a fun race experience and solidified for me that I think the road tris are fun, but they really aren't for me anymore.

That being said, I have another one coming up in 2 weeks.

5 weeks to Beaver Creek

2011-06-12T19:32:00.000-04:00

Actually less than that now. The Xterra Mountain Championship in Beaver Creek is my first A race of the year. I kept thinking I didn't need to be in race shape yet because it was so far away, but it is approaching quickly. The course is very hilly on both the bike and the run. 3600 ft of climbing over 15.5 miles on the bike and 1300 ft of climbing over 5.75 miles on the run. Yikes!

Although this probably does suit me since I am a good climber on the bike and run as long as it is not too steep. I've included a lot of very hilly trail runs into my training so I feel really good about the run, but it seems to have sapped some of my speed as well.

I was in Michigan to visit family over Memorial Day weekend. As I mentioned in a previous post, I ran in a 10k when I was there. Flying into Michigan at midnight and a 3.5 hour drive to Traverse City and around 1.5 hours of sleep didn't help matters, but my legs felt slow in the race. Despite being tired from training and traveling, during my warmup I felt good and must have looked intimidating because the eventual winner who ran low 38's asked if I was a pro runner. If you can't be the person to beat in a race, at least look the part, right? I was running without a watch (mine broke) so had no clue of my pace but ran as fast as my legs wanted to go. I felt fine, my breathing was fine, I just felt sluggish. I'm not sure if this is a results of living at altitude and not being able to develop the same speed in my legs, my hill training and lack of speedwork, or my general fatigue. Or a combination. I was having visions of running much faster at sea level, but I actually felt slower.Strange. Any way, so I ran 42:47 for 7th overall and 1st in my AG, which is quite slow for me but afterwards I felt like I could run all day, so I guess that's good.

So now I'm doing some speedwork and hills.

As far as the bike goes, I've been trying to get out and ride more and ride more challenging mountain bike courses in terms of climbing and technical difficulty. I have a road tri (Loveland Lake to Lake) in 2 weeks and I haven't been on my tri bike since early March. Whoops! And then 2 weeks after I have Boulder Peak.
So, I'll have to get out on my tri bike a few times before them. I'm not all that excited about racing these road tris now, but I'm sure once it comes race day I'll be plenty excited.

5 more weeks of solid training, a taper, and hopefully some more speed, strength and skill.

Xterra Four Corners 2011 Pictures

2011-06-08T22:11:00.000-04:00

A few pictures from the race and trip to Xterra 4 corners

Cooper celebrated his 7 year adoption day on Monday. Handsome as ever :)

We stopped along the drive to take some pictures. I like this one of Frito because he looks like he had an attitude.

Setting up my transition area--I still don't know how to set my transition up with all this extra mountain bike stuff.

Mickey--always curious about what's happening next. He spent the entire 7+ hour drive down watching each and every oncoming car pass.

Ahh--this wetsuit is too tight on my neck!

First lap of the swim done.

Struggling with my wetsuit on the run to T1

I think I'm putting my gloves on here.

Coopy showing Mickey how to swim and retrieve the ball

Mickey seems to like swimming, but not as much as Coopy.

Coming in from the bike--so happy I didn't fall!

About to dump gatorade on my head on the way out of T2.

Running to the finish.

Sit down Mr!

Adam was such a great support/spectator. It wouldn't have been the same without him and the dogs.

A very dark picture of me getting my award.

Xterra Four Corners 2011 Race Report

2011-06-06T20:39:00.002-04:00

The week leading up to the race was less than ideal. A month or so ago I found out I would be in Chicago for work a few days leading up to the race and thought about not racing. I decided to go ahead and plan to race. I spent the memorial day weekend in Traverse City, MI with my family--very smart of me to fly in at midnight with a 3.5 hour drive to the cottage where we were staying and a 7:30 10K planned in the am. I was really run down from only 1.5 hours of sleep, but ran (another race report coming on this one) and then had a nice relaxing weekend with my family. We were on the lake, but I did not bring my wetsuit and it was cold, and the nearest pool had limited hours and was a 1 hour drive away. So no swimming for the weekend. I made do doing short rides on my old full rigid mountain bike from 1994 and running a lot. I went straight from Michigan to Chicago for a meeting and once I was there, there was no time to rest. Meetings all day and then fun events/dinner until 10-11pm at night. Originally I thought I would swim masters in Chicago, but the logistics and getting up extra early was too much of a complication. So I ran. With the lack of sleep and feeling sluggish and out of it from not training normally I was contemplating once again not racing. But I decided, once again, that I could do it even if I was tired.

The race itself was in NM--I believe this is my first time in NM, one of the few states I had never been too before. Adam and I and the 3 dogs took the long drive down and arrived around 3 pm. I originally wanted to ride the course, but decided I would be better off staying out of the hot sun and resting. I was so tired that I was asleep by 8 pm.

The race started at 7 am. Thankfully the weather was not too hot yet as the forecast was for over 90's and there is not much shade on the course. Obviously after my last race I was most concerned about my bike. I was also a little concerned about my swim since I had only swum once for 1200 meters in the last week. I just start to feel blah swimming if I don't swim often enough. My goal for the bike was to always make forward progress, even if it is slow. What I mean by this--no falling, no stopping because I am freaked out, no stopping so that people can pass me (yes I did this many times at Santa Cruz).

The swim was a 2 lap 1 mile swim with a short beach run. They did a mass start and I got a little pummeled in the beginning and my arms felt sluggish. It opened up a little by the first buoy, but it seemed like there were so many people in front of me. On the drive down we drove through and area where smoke from a large forest fire was blowing through the area--I was coughing and having trouble breathing during that area. I was having some difficulty breathing, and my throat was burning a little, which is not normal for me during the swim, and breathing the smoke yesterday is the only thing I can think that would cause this (or maybe being sick). I chugged along through the swim, trying to get a rhythm and breathe calmly.

I was a bit disappointed when I came out a little slow on the swim in 27:15 and 5th out of 29 women. I really should have been in the 25's, but it is what it is. Into T1 and my wetsuit was not coming off well--it is a couple years old and is starting to loose flexibility and the webbing on the arms is starting to come off which makes it harder to pull off--may be time for a new suit. I got to my rack and there were 3 guys there already. My transition was better than in Santa Cruz ( how could it not be?!) but still needs work. 2:25 and 8th out of 29 women--definitely needs more improvement.

Onto the bike and I passed a woman right away! The course started off uphill but was not too technical. I was getting passed but making good progress. The first really sandy section my bike weaved around and I had to unclip my right foot to stay upright. But no fall and I was back to riding quickly. When it came to the sandy sections it seemed that it was better to ride through them faster and to keep my weight back. I was having fun and moving at a decent pace. Still getting passed, but it was by mostly men.

And then I started to catch up to another girl. Seriously! I was getting close to passing her but was slowing down a bit on more technical sections so I wasn't quite there.

Then, a couple miles before the aid station, I came around a turn and saw two people on the ground. The man was just getting up and the girl looked like she couldn't move. I stopped as he was helping her unclip her shoes from her pedals and was trying to figure out what I could do to help. I'm not sure how long I was stopped there. She seemed to be hurt pretty badly and so going for medical attention seemed like the best idea. I knew there was an aid station coming up, so I started to ride there while he stayed back. It made me think that maybe having a cell phone along to call in case of emergency might help--but would we even get service there and how would we describe where we were? I rode a little faster now--for some reason riding to get help made me ride faster than I would on my own. Of course, by the time I got to the aid station, a few people had passed me and they already knew.

I was a little slow on some of the downhill twisty turny sections and managed to turn off course and lose a little time getting back on track, but for the most part it was a good ride for me. Eventually I caught and passed the girl. Other than the few hills that were so steep I was huffing and puffing just walking up them, I didn't get too tried riding the course. I was definitely not going all out since I was riding tentatively. I was happy to be done with the bike, but thrilled that I made it through with no falls. My time was not terribly fast at 1:27:35 and 14th out of 28 women means I still have a lot of work to do, but it is much better relative to my ride in Santa Cruz, so I was very happy with my bike.

I came into T1 ready to fly out on the run. There was no room to rack my bike as a bike had fallen. I tried to maneuver to get the bike on the rack, but no luck, so I put my bike down on the ground and then was off. 6 out of 28--needs work. As I exited transition I grabbed a cup of water and started to dump it on my head-but it's gatorade.

Off on the run I felt good. Until a couple hundred meters and I hit the sand. Not long after I hit the sand I made a wrong turn and went off course, but only for a few seconds. After backtracking, I reminded myself to pay close attention. The course had a lot of markings, but if you didn't pay attention, it was very easy to turn the wrong way. It was hot and there was not a lot of shade. The course was twisty and turny, so it was hard, running all by myself not seeing anyone in front of me. And then, as I trudged through the sand, I saw someone. I passed him and saw another person. I passed 3 people fairly early during the deep sand phase of the run. Then all alone again. With the heat I was really looking forward to the aid stations. They did not disappoint with their ice cold water.

After a long stretch by myself, I saw a few more people up the road. One was a relay, but the other was a woman with more in front of her! Yes! Time to move up in the standings. I got really close behind her just before the really steep uphill. I took my time, walking up the hill. Then just over the top I passed her and bombed the downhill passing 2 more people. I then moved on to pass another girl and the momentum kept going from there.

The run course was very challenging--it felt like we were either running in sand or uphill the whole time. I was so relived when I was done and heard I was 6th overall. The overachiever in me wishes I was higher up, but I'm still learning and improving on the mountain bike. My run was second fastest on the day, so I was happy with that. Overall I was very pleased and I'm happy I raced even though I was tired.

Things I learned (or already knew but reinforced)

-I need to work on mountain biking. I plan to do this through more experience and through either a clinic or personal instructions to work on skills.

-I need to work on transitions--in the grand scheme of things, since I have so much time to make up on the bike they don't seem like a big deal, but it is free time that I am wasting.

-I need to get back to normal training and a normal schedule. I don't like being tired and missing training!

-I need to make a few equipment changes

I can't upload any photos, so those will have to wait for another post.

More about Santa Cruz

2011-05-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

It's seems that when traveling to races, things never quite turn out as planned.

Packing

The Plan: Pack early--as early as last weekend, make a list and check everything was packed. Adam would pack the bikes on Wednesday evening. Leave for the airport at least 3 hours before the flight departs.

What really happened: I did make a list. I did start packing Thursday am for a Thursday evening flight. Then off to work for the morning. Made a mad dash to get packed when I got home, while also exercising the dogs, doing laundry, and getting the house ready for Adam's uncle to stay for the weekend. Adam was working on getting the bikes packed when I got back from work and had done no packing at all! I guess my packing procrastination has rubbed off on him. Adam asked if I wanted to put some stuff in the bike case. Of course! Everything gets all packed up with my list checked and Adam is packing the bikes into the car (less than 3 hours to departure now with the clock ticking) and he realizes they are really heavy. We weigh one and it is 58lbs! Bikes fly for $15 on frontier, but if they are over 50lbs, it is a $75 fee. We frantically took stuff out and redistributed and got one under 50 and my fat mountain bike to 52 and hoped they would let it slide (they did). In all this my mountain bike shoes got left behind. We get out the door with less than 2 hours to departure and some rush hour traffic to deal with. It was a little stressful, but we made our flight. After all the rushing, our flight left 30 mins late.

Lodging

The Plan: Rent a quiet, private cottage in the redwoods for a fairly affordable rate.

What actually happened: We arrived at our cottage late--11:30 pm PST. We pull up and there is another car in the driveway. And lights on and people in the house. We see a sign that points for us to go upstairs to a small studio. The vrbo page never said it was a shared cottage. We go in and it doesn't look at all like the picture online. To top things off, the detergent used on the sheets is one that makes me break out in hives. I try to cover most of my skin and replace the pillow cases with Adam's t shirts and that helps mostly. We are both really tired but can hear the people below us talking, moving around, etc. I actually was taking it all pretty well. Probably because I was so tired. In the morning Adam spoke with the owners and they said they would refund us the money (for the next 2 days I think), and I booked a room at a bit more expensive resort. Good thing we moved because the people below had a baby that regularly wakes up and cries. What's a few more dollars to sleep well at night?

Traveling with the Bike

The Plan: The plan was for my bike to fly in the box and be fine when we put it back together.

What actually happened: When we got my bike at the airport, we noticed that one of the clasps was open and so was the case. Adam checked quickly inside and my bike and wheels were in there so we figured it was ok. The next morning he was putting it together and there was something wrong with the front brakes and the cable connected to my rear shock looked like it had been cut. $15 to fly your bike, how many $ to fix it? So, we discovered all this right before I was going to preride the course as well as the fact that I did not have shoes to race in. So, instead of preriding the course (this would have been a huge help!) we went to 2 different bike shops that said they didn't have time to fix it, then went to Spokesman Bicycles. While they couldn't fix it right away, they would get it fixed for me to race. They were so helpful and gave so much advice--about the course, mountain bike maintenance, they even took a quick look at Adam's cleat position and gave him fit advice. If you're ever in Santa Cruz, this is the shop to go to! I had to get some new shoes--obviously not ideal, but it was the situation I was in, so I got what they had in my size and hoped for the best. Adam put the cleats on, but they must have loosened up during the race--I noticed they were sliding around when I got home. Perhaps why I was having trouble clipping out (and then falling over) and why the shoes felt so different.

I really liked Santa Cruz--it reminded me of Eugene a little with the laid back feel and college town atmosphere, but of course with the beach/surfer scene. It is someplace that I don't think I would want to live but it is nice to visit. It was really nice to have so many locally owned coffee shops and restaurants. We even went to a sandwich place that had good gluten free sandwiches. And it was nice to see so many trees. We have some trees where we live in CO, but there are not very many and they are not very big.

Saturday, I did a short swim to test out the water. I knew it was cold but the shock of the cold took me by surprise. I'm so glad I did the swim Saturday because it didn't feel as bad on Sunday. After the swim, Adam biked up towards Big Basin Redwoods State Park while I drove, with the plan to run at the park. The park was beautiful! I could've run for hours in there. I felt like I was flying along the trails past all the large trees. Of course with a race on Sunday, I had to keep it short. Adam posted pictures in his blog, I'm too lazy to put any pictures in this one today.

Sunday was race day of course. A few things I forgot to include in my race report:

Towards the end of the bike I saw a bobcat. I was all by myself at the time and saw him (or her) walk across the trail in front of me. He turned and looked at me, then ran into the bushes. At the time I thought it was a mountain lion, because I didn't know any better and was obviously a little scared.
Last year I had so many problems with blisters from my shoes and ending up with bloody feet on the run. I raced in a new pair of shoes--the Pearl Izumi Women's ISO Transition (with no socks of course) and had no blisters! Even running through mud and in the rain. Such a relief to have race shoes that are light, fast to put on, and most importantly--don't make my feet bleed.
Tuesday after the race, I noticed some of my scrapes were a little itchy. I swam Wednesday morning and then I broke out in what I thought was hives in several places on my arms, legs, back, shoulders. I spent most of the day wondering what it was that caused the allergic reaction. Usually I get hives from dyes/perfumes used in laundry detergent or soaps that come in contact with my skin. Nothing new on Monday or Tuesday. Could it be something I ate? Nothing really new either. The pool? When I looked more closely I noticed most of the big patches of the "hives" were near where I had scrapes or bruises. Hmmm. Then my teammate Kathy who raced Santa Cruz said she had poison oak from falling in the race and it all made sense. So, now I am covered in red itchy bumps.

Xterra Pacific Championships 2011 Race Report

2011-05-16T23:03:00.000-04:00

Sunday I raced in the Xterra Pacific Championships in Santa Cruz, CA. I wanted to go mostly to get my first race under my belt for the year and another off road racing experience. Ahead of time I had a prediction of how the race would likely go--I would have one of the top swims, a slow T1 due to freezing hands and feet, get passed some on the bike, and pass some people on the back with a strong run. I was mostly right.

Ready to start the season despite the early morning rain

The water was a chilly 51 degrees Fahrenheit and a bit choppy. Somewhat similar (but not as choppy) to AG worlds in Vancouver in 2008. At that race they shortened the swim and I still was very disoriented with the early stages of hypothermia as I exited the water. I tried to learn from that experience so that I could swim in water that was just as cold, but actually being able to swim an think afterwards.

Putting my wetsuit on in the car so I could stay warm

My strategy for the swim was to wear my normal long sleeve wetsuit, wear 3 swim caps (no neoprene cap, mine seems to choke me a little and make me disoriented), drink tea and warm water to keep my core temperature up prior to the race, stay warm and out of the wind prior to the race, and finally, pour lukewarm water into my wetsuit from a water bottle prior to getting in the water.

I stayed bundled up as long as I could.

The pros went off, and 3 minutes later all the age group athletes went in a mass start. I was worried it would be crowed, but glad that it wasn't split into waves where the women start last. I lined up in front and started fairly well. There were a few minutes of jostling, and then not as much contact until the turn buoys. It was really hard to sight. First of all, there were only 2 buoys. We swam 2 750m loops with a 100m beach run in between. I personally would like a few more buoys than that. In addition, it was hard to see the buoy over the waves. The swim was definitely challenging. It felt like an eternity until I reached the first turn buoy.

I felt relaxed and swam comfortably with a bit more kicking to stay warm. I felt like the first loop took a long time, but Adam said I came out in around 12 mins. I didn't feel tired or cold at all until I stood up to do the beach run. I felt like my breath had been taken away and felt really sluggish. On the second lap I was alone for most of the swim. I swam a little harder in an attempt to stay warm. Around the time I swam around the last buoy, the cold was not just in my feet, hands, and face, but I felt my whole body start to fell very cold. I looked forward to getting out ASAP.

This is a "regional championship" and they did not use chip timing. I've come to expect chip timing I guess. My watch broke the day before, but Adam said I came in around 25 mins. I was happy with that considering how choppy and cold it was.

Attempting to remove my wetsuit with my frozen hands

It was not going so well.

I slowly ran up to transition and struggled a little to get my wetsuit top off. I got to transition and it was filled with bikes and hardly any people were there! What a great feeling.

Getting to T1 with lots of bikes on the racks and hardly any people :)

Unfortunately, I had started to shake uncontrollably as I put on my shoes, helmet that just wouldn't buckle, camelback that just wouldn't buckle, and gloves that I struggled with for a long time as I shook and almost started to cry. I turned to Adam and said I can't do this (referring to the gloves). I finally got them on, but as I did I was passed by several people, including a few women. I think I was in there for at least 5 mins. Ugh.

Struggling to get my gloves on and shivering as I watched people come into transition and pass me.

Off on the bike I was still shivering and moving slowly.The first 5 miles of the bike was on road and bike trails to get to the state park. Good because I didn't have to think. Bad because it was cold and windy. At least the sun came out so that helped. I tried to ride hard and when I got a chance I drafted of guys that passed, even if it was just for 30-60 seconds. Drafting is allowed in Xterra, so of course I was going to take advantage of it if I could. I took a gu early on in the bike and planned to only have 2, but brought 3 just in case.

Once we got to the park the trail started going up right away. I wasn't very far along when I got to a section of the trail with deep ruts. I had heard about the ruts but hadn't been able to do a preride for reasons I'll talk about in another post. I did ok for awhile and then next thing I know I am falling over into a tree/bush. My leg got a little scraped but it didn't hurt too much. As I was lying on the ground several people rode by--asking if I was ok. Yes, physically I am ok. I got back up and kept going. I fell a few more times. One time I fell to my left on a slight decline with my right leg still clipped it. I started laughing and sort of panicking because I was laying there for awhile and was at and angle where I couldn't unclip my foot or get up. I contemplated taking my shoe off for a minute, but then managed to twist myself in a way that I could force my leg out and get up. Whew. I was still really cold and was starting the think I needed to call it a day.

But I kept going. I walked my bike in sections where I wasn't sure I could ride, I got off and moved for some people passing in areas that made me nervous. I was a total rookie. I was so hungry so I had my second gu. I thought for sure that I was almost done. I didn't have a watch or my bike computer so I had no sense of time. My teammate Cary passed me and I asked her how much longer was left. She said probably 8 miles. Oh no! 8 miles is a long time on a mountain bike! I kept plugging along getting off my bike more, falling off some more, usually in a nonpainful, silly way. I had my last gu hoping I was nearing the end.

After a fairly technical section with maybe 4-5 miles to go, my teammate Kathy caught up to me and it was a good boost for me. I rode with her for awhile and chatted with her. That made a mile or so go by quickly. Even the killer long steep hill that everyone was walking. My calves have never burned so much.

I lost contact with her on the next downhill section and had one more fall on a grassy downhill area and then finished the last section out on my own. the last downhill to the finish a cold rain started to pour and I was shivering. I started talking to myself--telling myself that I was almost done, I could do this, I'd get to run soon.
I was so relieved when I was riding up to transition and saw Adam. That felt like the longest ride of my life.

looking forward to the run

I had a good transition and then felt awesome heading out on the run.

I told myself I had to catch at least 10 people on the run. I had no watch and no mile markers, so I had to keep my mind occupied. I felt like I was flying through the first half of the run. We ran along a trail over to the coast and had a nice view of the ocean and cliffs. The air was cool with a slight rain so other than the wind, it was a nice running temperature. I slowly started picking people off. Then they were coming more quickly Before I knew it I had already passed 10 people and was working on #11. When the course turned away from the coast is when I started to loose my momentum. I didn't have as many people to catch that I could see. I spent a long time catching the next few people. Then nothing. Just me, running all by myself. I was tired and low on energy and wasn't sure how much further I had left and I let it get to me. I even walked up one of the hills. I probably slowed down at least 1min/mile the last few miles and not because my legs didn't have it, just because I lost the motivation. I'm a little disappointed in that because I may have been able to move up a spot or two had I kept my pace up.

I was so happy when I finally reached the finish line.

It certainly wasn't my best finish by any means, but I knew this was going to be a learning experience rather that a race to be competitive. I showed myself that my swimming is strong right now--I had the 12th fastest female swim+t1 (including 8 pro women), and given how bad my t1 was and that I got passed by at least 2 amateur women in t1, that's pretty darn good! I had the 15th fastest female run (including 9 pro women), so that's pretty good--if I had just kept my head in the game at the end and held my pace! My bike time and experience shows that I have a lot of work to do when it comes to technical skills on the bike. My legs felt really fresh after the bike despite all the climbing, so it is not as much a fitness issue but a skill and fear issue.

It was a good challenging race to get the season started. I would definitely like to go back next year when I have better mountain bike skills and redeem myself on the course.

Less than 2 weeks to race day

2011-05-01T22:14:00.001-04:00

My first race is coming up 2 weeks from today. I went back and forth on what race would be my first for the year. Originally, I was going to do a sprint road tri locally. Then they announced the Moab race and I decided to do that. Then I went to Moab and realized the bike course there was over my head and went back to the assumption that I would do the local sprint tri. After that I started looking at information for the Xterra Pacific Championships in Santa Cruz. The course looked beautiful and the bike seemed challenging but doable for me. I thought about it some more, talked to Adam about it. After his uncle generously agreed to dog/housesit for the weekend, the plan was set. California here we come!

The race is a big question mark for me in terms of how I'll do relative to the competition. The water will be cold--likely mid 50's, which is always tough for me, but other than my issues with cold water, I know my swim will be towards the top of the age group women. I am not worried about my run either. I am in good running shape and know I can run as well or better than most people out there off the bike. But, the bike is where the question mark comes in. I've made gains in my skill and confidence on the mountain bike and this course is more of a "fitness course" which is good for me. There are some technical sections, however. We'll get there early enough that I can do an easy preride of the course on Friday so I can have a better idea of what to expect on Sunday. Definitely exciting and a little scary! It will be nice to have Adam there as well as a few of my teammates.

I've been pretty busy and May is shaping up to be a busy month. My mom and sister visited a few weeks ago and it was really nice to see them and show them some of the beautiful places to hike and run here. A few days later Adam's family arrived for his cousin's wedding. It was a unique wedding, with all gluten free food at the reception and a carnival theme--hot dogs, pop corn, candy. Adam and I had our caricature done and they captured me pretty well, but not Adam as much. I wanted him to scan it so I could put it online, but he conveniently didn't have time ;)

Once Adam's mom and brother left, Adam was gone the next day to do a 5 day stage race in NM. Leaving me with the 3 dogs. Taking care of Frito and Cooper all alone, I've done that. But add in super high energy, I want to play all the time mickey, and a sudden spike in the neighborhood bunny population, and my hands were full.

I got creative with my training: A 3 dog relay run with intervals one day. Another day, a short run with Cooper then run to the dog park with Mickey, Frito, and Mickey's giant Frisbee and then running around the dog park for some extra time. After 2 days straight of the dog park, my right pec was really sore. It took me awhile to realize it was from throwing the Frisbee to Mickey over and over. And all this time I thought Adam was being a wuss when he said he got sore when he took Mickey to the park. I guess I understand now.

The madness with the bunnies. It all started with Frito trying to stick his head under the deck with out actually going under.

Frito leaning on his elbows

He was at this for a couple hours until I dragged him into the house.

Apparently, while he was looking under the deck he was missing the bunny party in the front yard.

There were 6 bunnies when I took this picture, I can only find 4 though.

If only I were allowed to play in the front yard...

After this Frito was obsessed. Anytime he went outside, he was looking for bunnies.

I came outside the next day and saw this.

The bunny was trapped

Frito gave the bunny a good stare down

Frito was on the other side of the fence (he knows he's not supposed to hop over it), and Mickey was out in the open space behind the bunny. Mickey wasn't quite sure what to do, he kept poking the bunny with his nose. I didn't want to witness a bunny murder, so I called Mickey off and the bunny went running and Mickey chased him around the open space and then back into the yard and under the deck. Oh great.

I think it was the next day that Frito got under the deck and got stuck. Then later both Mickey and Frito were under the deck, I went over and saw Mickey with a baby bunny carcass that had the legs chewed off. Ewww! I got the dogs out from the deck and then got a shovel and took the bunny out to the open space for coyotes to eat.

All this had to happen with Adam gone.

I am glad Adam got to go to his race though. He had some good days, some bad days, and learned a lot from his first big stage race. I'll be so happy to have him home. Except I leave to go to Chicago for work tomorrow so I'll barely get to see him.

At least we get to go to Santa Cruz in less than 2 weeks!

3 topics

2011-04-14T20:10:00.000-04:00

Track

I did my first track workout of the year today. I've been on the track this year, but just doing strides and what not. My first goal race is not until mid July, so I feel a little behind the curve in terms of my speed and all. I'm not used to having my first goal race of the year so late.

The weather was weird today, it seems to be weird often here. It had been raining and windy all night and I expected it to continue to rain and be windy. I'm driving to the pool in the morning and it looks like its snow and not rain. Since I was tired, I thought maybe I was seeing things. Once I started swimming the snow got heavier. Then it stopped and went back to rain when I drove to work.

Back to track, it was colder than I expected and windy (of course) but I headed out to do a track workout. Once I got to the gym I realized I had forgot gloves, a headband for my ears, socks, and most importantly, my sports bra. I headed out for my run anyway. After a swim only day on Wednesday, my legs were feeling great on the warmup. I got to the repeats and felt good at first, but definitely not as speedy as I would like. Normal for a first track workout. On my last 4 repeats the sun started coming out a little, and steam started rising off the track. It was a cool sight.

I'm definitely looking forward to the track workouts getting faster and longer.

Rain

Everywhere else I've every lived rain is a pretty regular thing. It started raining last night and as we listened to the sound of the rain on the roof, we realized it was the first time in a long time that we had heard that sound. I miss rain and how green it makes things. I love going running in the rain. I love hearing the sound of it. I also miss not having a $100 water bill.

Round Valley

Adam and I were looking through some pictures last night and when we looked through a photo album from Round Valley State Park, I really started to miss the place. It really is a great park and I was so lucky to have it so close to me for so long. I loved running there, biking the loop around the park, taking Cooper there to swim. I even started contemplating flying there and racing the Xterra at Round Valley in May, but then realized it is a bit expensive to fly out there and is a long trip. It would be funny though, if I lived there for 6 years and never raced it and raced in it now that I have moved 2 times zones away.

Bullet points

2011-04-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

The weather here has been kinda crazy. 80's Saturday, then snowing Sunday afternoon. And I never knew how windy it was here. Still pretty nice weather as a whole, just big swings at times.
I fell off my mountain bike on Saturday and managed to fall with my lower right abdomen straight on my handlebar. I'm not sure how I did this, but I did. And it hurt. My first thought was that I had internal injuries because it really hurt! I biked the 1 hour+ home and even stopped to talk to a couple teammates I saw on the trail. So probably no internal injuries.
Where I hit my abdomen swelled up a lot and stayed that way for a few days. The swelling is just sort of going away now. I have some pain when I run, especially when I run hard, so I'll probably wait on doing a 5k for another weekend.
I had a really good moment early on in the ride though. There's a really tight turn that goes down hill into the turn, a hairpin turn and then up a steep hill. I've never made it without having to dismount my bike. I finally made it on Saturday, and even said outloud "I did it!" to myself. It feels really good to conquer something that I've been trying to do for a few weeks now.
So, even though I fall and get hurt, I like mountain biking and am going to stick with it. I like being on the trails and challenging myself. I have a lot to learn and know that if you want to learn something or be successful at something, you have to accept that failure is a possibility and that it is ok to fail.
Adam took the dogs to the dog park today and apparently Frito caught and killed a squirrel. At first the thought of it sickened me, but I know it must have been a joyful moment for Frito
Speaking of Frito, he has had a long past of bladder infections and "accidents". Lately he has been leaking a little for lack of a better word. It's not a bladder infection this time--Frito will be on medicine for urinary incontinence for the rest of his life. Poor Frito.

Falling down and looking ahead

2011-03-27T19:03:00.000-04:00

Last week I was out for a nice long mountain bike ride. I had some new confidence after riding in Moab and the ride was going great. On the way back with maybe 30 mins to go, I was coming downhill and making a turn. The next thing I know, my face is hitting the ground and I am flipping over. I got up, took my helmet off, cried for 30 seconds, checked out the scrapes and bruises on my knees, arm, hands, felt pain in my neck. Then realized I had to get home somehow, and put my helmet back on and road home. My face looked the worst--a huge bruise on the right side of my chin with some swelling. I had promised Adam I would go watch him race, so he bandaged me up and then we drove off to Boulder for his crit.

My right hand and my arms, shoulders and neck hurt the most. I took Tylenol right away when I got home which helped some, but watching the race, especially with Mickey who did not want to sit still, got more painful as time went on. Thankfully it was only an hour race! People were looking at me funny--oh yeah, my chin. Most people, I've found won't ask about facial injuries. Some, but not many. A few people asked if I had raced earlier in the women's race. If I had fallen on my face on the road, I think I would have lost a lot of skin. I even noticed throughout the week that people rarely ask--only a few people that I know well asked what happened to my face--It's impossible to miss, while most people just looked and then smiled. Yes, you were caught staring. Not that I care, I got sick of talking about it, it is just interesting watching how people behave in certain situations.

It all left me pretty sore in my upper body for days. I took Sunday off, and then Monday super easy and still felt pretty crummy. I started coming around by Tuesday and while the bruises are still there, the only think bothering me from the crash is my right hand and my left forearm.

I got back out mountain biking on Wednesday and had a cautious but good ride (no falls) and then headed out yesterday for a 3+ hour ride. I wanted to ride the full length of the trail that I didn't quite do last week. I rode conservatively and felt good and fell once towards the end but not hard when I tried to make a tight u turn up a hill. So, the ride left me feeling pretty good. I rode 3:10 which is my longest mountain bike ride yet. My forearms got really sore!

Yesterday Adam roller bladed to the dog park with Mickey and Frito. He does this pretty frequently. On the way back Frito's foot got roller bladed over and he had a little paw injury. Poor little guy. Adam bandaged it up and he seemed to be walking normally again this morning, so I took him on my team run today. We ran a hilly and rock trail run and the first half of the run (a lot of uphill!!!), Frito was doing great. Not running ahead of me like usual, but at my pace. Then we started descending and he was not liking it. So it was a slow run back on the downhills. His paw was really hurting him but we had to get back. He was a trooper.

After running a few of the girls went to mountain bike ride. I was a little nervous because I've never ridden in that park before and I didn't want to crash and ruin every one's ride. I hung at the back and went at my own pace. I was a bit slower because I was tentative going over things and wanted some space to see what I was going to ride over. We made it a couple miles and then Kathy got a flat. 4 of us and we didn't have what we needed to fix it. Whoops! Lesson learned was to be better prepared. she headed back and eventually got her tire fixed. We kept going but I was pretty tired from the day riding before and running and swimming. So I didn't go to far and just kept it at a moderate pace. I'd rather go a little slow for now and build my confidence than push it and crash again.

I'm still not 100% sure of my race schedule yet, but I'll probably figure it out in the next few weeks. I have most of it figured out. I may do a 5k in April called the Pi Mile. It's put on by the Colorado School of Mines Math club and benefits a scholarship fund. I always like helping out the math geeks since I am one myself and benefited greatly from math scholarships.

April looks to be a busy month--my family is visiting one weekend, then the next Adam's is coming out for his cousin's wedding, I'll do a race or two, Adam has lots of races, I have a test, and I'm probably missing something here. Should be an interesting month.

Moab Training Trip Part 2

2011-03-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

Friday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and surroundings. We discussed with everyone where we were going to ride and settled on a ride called Baby Steps, because supposedly it was challenging but not too hard. The name was deceiving.

I can be a little impatient when it comes to getting my workouts in. I get frustrated with Adam a lot because I tend to get ready quickly and then I want to start my workout, and he tends to take a little more time. I think I am the exception in quick workout preparation. When you get a large group of people trying to get up, eat breakfast, drive somewhere to ride and all get ready it takes a lot more time and coordination. We got going a lot later than I expected on Friday and while it was "only in the 50's-60's" it felt really hot with no shade. After waiting awhile, Adam and I decided to get going on the ride on our own ahead of some of the others. A few of the guys had already started but several were still getting ready and on their way and we didn't want to wait any longer because it was warming up and we had the dogs.

Adam and I pre ride

The beginning of the ride on the easy part of the trail

Still the easy part of the trail

The trail started off pretty easy except for a few really sandy spots where it was hard to stay upright and keep pedalling. The more I rode in the sand, the better I got at it. There was a good bit of screaming and screeching on my part every time we went through a really sandy spot and I thought I was going to fall. At this point I think we were still on the Klondike Bluffs trail, which got confused with baby steps for technical difficulty level. Klondike bluffs was about the difficulty I was expecting.

We turned onto the baby steps trail and soon started climbing up a huge rock. No trail, just ride straight up the rock to the top then find the trail there. I was doing okay at first, then hit a deep indentation in one of the rocks in just the wrong way and went down hard on the rock. I got up quickly and tried to get back on my bike, but my seat hit hard and was turned sideways. Adam fixed it with tools and then I noticed my leg was bleeding. I don't like blood so I got a little nauseous and panicked. I got back on the bike and made it up the rock and then was very cautious and cranky after that. Being cautious can be good and bad. Being cautious keeps you from doing stupid things that you aren't capable of doing. But, hesitating on the mountain bike can make things worse. When you get to a tough section,you have to either go for it or dismount and walk it. If you over think it, you end up falling. At least that's what I've found in my limited experience.

We rode on and the course got more technical. I started to notice that when I remounted my bike, my shorts were getting caught on the saddle. I finally noticed just how uncomfortable the saddle was and then took a look and now the nose was pointing way up. Adam readjusted it and then it slipped back to the same position again. He readjusted it and we decided to turn back. Not long after we turned around, it felt like my seat came off completely (it didn't just slipped way up) and I freaked out, hit the breaks and flipped over my bike. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt that much since it was dirt. Falling on the rock hurt much more. Adam adjusted my seat again, and we took it slowly and cautiously back. We lost the trail for awhile, but thankfully found it and got back in one piece. 3 of the riders that left a few minutes after us ended up getting lost and riding for 4 hours. I'm so glad I didn't end up riding with that group!


Post ride, not as happy and covered in red dirt.

We headed back into town and had my bike looked at. I was told that my seat post is known for allowing the saddle to rotate the way it did and they put some gritty stuff in it to help hold it in place, but said I probably just wanted to get a different one eventually. My left ankle was pretty sore from falling so we went back to camp and relaxed for awhile and then decided to do an easy hike from our camp down to the river.

Frito stalking something

We got down to the river and there were red ants and pricker burrs everywhere, so we cut is short and went on a different hike in a nearby canyon. It was cool and shady and besides a pair of campers, we were the only ones there.

Mickey swam for the first time, thanks to a demonstration from Cooper

After our hike we headed back to camp for a low key evening. I wanted to take it easy because of my falls and was limping around a bit on my ankle. We made some Quinoa linguine for dinner. Food tastes so much better when you are hungry and camping.

Cooper trying to steal some linguine

3 tired dogs after 2 days of fun

Saturday morning the plan was to go do the xterraMoab and soak up the sun. Mickey was laying out watching us get our stuff ready.

Mickey sunning himself on a rock.

The ride started out with a lot of climbing. Not too technical but a lot of steep stuff. I was huffing and puffing and trying to enjoy the amazing views at the same time. We climbed for awhile and then rode down a hill and had some amazing views.

Starting out the ride

Much happier on this ride

One of the rock formations along the ride

The ride was challenging but at a level that was not over my head, so it turned into a really good day. It was a good confidence booster after Friday's ride and nice to get out and see some more beautiful scenery. I'm glad we went early, because on the way back there were jeeps and ATV's driving a long the trail making it much less pleasant. That was one of the things I didn't like about Moab. So many dirt bikes, atv's, etc making noise.

Another view along the way--the mountains in the distance never show up well in pictures.

A view on the ride back

After a good ride in the morning, we headed out to Ken's Lake in the afternoon to do some running/hiking and so the dogs could swim. Ken's Lake is where the xterra will be held.

The view from the drive in.

I ran with Frito first while Adam walked the other dogs. We headed towards Faux Falls.

You can see the falls off to the right if you look closely

I ran back and forth to make sure Adam knew where I was going and to give Mickey a turn to run. It was hot and sandy run, but a good one. I felt pretty good, all things considered. We finally made our way to the falls and dipped our feet in. It was cold!

Cooper, Frito, and Mickey enjoying the falls.

Driving back to camp after a long day of activity.

When everyone got back to camp we heard some of the stories of the day. One of the guys had broken his finger out on the course. Everyone talked about the course difficulty--not aerobically, but technically. I realized that I am not ready to take on such a technically challenging course in a race. So, I will not be racing the xterra moab and will likely not race any xterras until 4 corners in early June. Which is fine with me. I need more time to get more skilled at riding my mountain bike.

Before I knew it, Sunday was here and it was time to pack up and go home. I went out for a ride from camp, down the road and then to Hurrah Pass, then back and up a climb up the road. It was not super technical for most of it, but there were times when I had to really focus and was proud that I made it over some sections without falling or hopping off. With mountain biking, I think its really important to take things at your own pace and slowly build your confidence. If you try things that are too hard for where you are, you can not only get hurt, but can be demoralizing. It's important to find the right level of challenge and then raise the bar from there when you are ready.

Moab Training Trip Part 1

2011-03-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, Adam and I and the three dogs loaded into a packed car to head out to Moab for a 4 day training camp with some of my teammates. I'd like to say we were a little more organized in our packing, that we didn't forget anything, that we thought everything through, that I didn't fall or have any mechanical issues, but what's a trip without a few hiccups?

So much happened on the trip and it was pretty amazing so I'm going to break it into a few posts. Just too much to write and not enough time.

The 6 hour drive to Moab actually flew by. Just before arriving in Moab, Adam decided he wanted to rent a mountain bike. We had discussed it, but then he brought his road bike. So a little unplanned, but I'm so glad he did so he could come along for the rides with me.

Originally, I wanted to get to Moab by noon, set up camp, and then go ride the xterra course at 2 with some other people. After renting the bike, we got specific directions to the campsite and started driving there. I had a feeling with the extra stops I wouldn't have time to make the ride and it was probably for the best. We turned out of town and headed down a road that soon turned to dirt. Beautifully carved out red rocks surrounded us on all sides, so while it was a long drive, it was enjoyable.

One of the views along the way

Jason (who gave us directions) said it would take about 20 mins to get to the campsite. I'm not sure how fast he drives, but it took a lot longer and we were starting to think we were lost. We then saw his car driving towards us and we were near the camp.

The camp was just behind this rock formation

Everyone was just getting ready to drive back out to town and then south to go riding, so I opted to stay, set up camp and ride shorter and close by. No more driving for me! 6+ hours in one day is enough.

Adam started to set up our tents and bikes while I attempted to help and mostly enjoyed the scenery. I've never camped in a setting like this before. When I've camped there have been trees around. This was rocks and desert and a cliff. And beautiful views of course.

Messing around on the mountain bike at the campsite while I wait for Adam to get ready.

Once camp was finally set up we found a shady spot for the dogs and then went for short ride on the dirt road. Nothing too hard just yet. I ran 4 miles or so back to camp along the dirt road taking in all the views. After we got back and made a fire, hot dogs and marshmallows and wondered where the heck everyone was. They all got back pretty late--a few blown out tires, a sprained wrist, and a lost set of keys made for a late night on the xterra course. The word from everyone was that it was very technical.

Of the things we forgot--pillows and the second mattress pad. Definitely possible to camp without these things, but with 4 days of riding and running, it's not so fun resting your head on a sweatshirt. My neck was sore after the first night. Making a list and sticking to it, very important for a training/camping trip.

Friday turned into a rough day for me. But more about that later.

A training trip

2011-03-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

I'm going on a training trip to Moab! I've known that I was thinking about it for awhile, but didn't decide for sure until last week. And now I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. Moab is the mountain biking mecca. My first race in May is going to be in Moab and the course consists of a 1500m swim, a 20 mile mountain bike (gulp!), and a 10k run. The course is supposed to be very technical so for a first race of the year it will be a long and difficult one. 20 miles is long on a tough mountain bike course.

A while ago one of my teammates sent out an email to our team saying he was putting together a camp in Moab for a few days in March. I was interested, but a little nervous. I didn't have a mountain bike yet and I knew I wouldn't get to ride much before Moab. So I knew it would be a crash course (no pun intended) in mountain biking. I'm still a little nervous about the fact that I have the least mountain biking experience of anyone on the trip. I just have to remember to go my own pace and not be afraid to say a ride is too technical for me and do something different.

I don't think the lake will be warm enough to swim, so it will be mountain biking, trail running, and camping. I love camping and while I have driven through that area before (a long time ago), I've never stayed there. And Adam and the dogs are coming along to make it a nice vacation. It wouldn't be the same without them. I'm going there to get in some good mountain biking experience, course scouting, and hard training, but mostly I'm looking forward to camping in a new place, taking a vacation with Adam and the dogs, and getting to know some of my teammates better. Moab is a beautiful place, so I'll definitely take lots of pictures.

So much goes into packing for a training and camping trip. I hate packing. I always feel like i pack too much because I want to make sure I am prepared for everything. Camping at night in the 30's and running and biking in mid 60's leaves for a big range of clothing options. I wish my clothes could pack themselves.

Training is going along pretty well. I got out on the mountain bike 2x last week--2 hours on Saturday. I got a new saddle the same as on m,y other bike and what a difference it made. Even a 1 hour ride on the saddle that came with the bike was torture, but with a new saddle I felt like it was a non issue. I also got some tubeless tires which also have more grip than the ones that came on my bike. Again, what a difference.

I rode up lookout mountain with my team on Sunday. My legs were pretty tired from mountain biking Saturday and my training during the week. I could tell right away that I was not feeling great when I was having trouble keeping up a few times on the warmup ride to the climb. The start of the first repeat up the climb, my legs felt dead. I kept chugging along at my pace and then got a second wind later on, then dead legs again. I made it up to the top in 27:47 and 183 NP. My fastest time and the same for best NP (ok, this was only my 3rd time climbing it). Then we descended back down and climbed again. I took it a little easier and finished in 30 mins at 177 NP. Not my best day but a solid training day in the books. Hopefully when I'm a little more rested I go a little faster. It would be a lot nicer climbing and descending on a road bike, but I don't have one, so I just have to stick to using my time trial bike.

Swimming is going ok. On occasion I've been getting cramps in my right foot. I never used to get foot cramps in NJ, but not long after I moved here I started to get them occasionally. I'm not sure if it's related to being at altitude, something I'm doing differently in my training/nutrition, or maybe shoes I am wearing that are causing issues with my feet? Those are my guesses, but who knows. I still try to swim with the foot cramps, but it really is not pleasant.

Things to work on

2011-02-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

I finally got my haircut this week! Usually I post some pictures, but I haven't really taken any and am to lazy to do so for the time being. It is pretty similar to my last few cuts. I contemplated going a little shorter, but lost the nerve. One of these days I'll do something different. It was really nice to have it cut. It was out of control and it had been since late July since I cut/highlighted it last. That's a long time. And the nice thing about being here is the salons/spas are much less expensive. The total for my cut/highlights was over $100 less than in NJ. So maybe I'll get my hair cut more than 2x a year now.

Training is coming along pretty well. My IT band has started bothering me a little. Not so much that I can't run or bike, but enough that I notice my left side aching along the IT band from the hip down to the knee. I'm trying to foam roll a little more regularly, but I'm sure stretching more would help to. One of these days I should go get a massage too. Other than the IT Band troubles, training is good. I did the most training this week (in terms of hours) since sometime back in 2008. Since 2008 was a good season for me, and 2009 and 2010 not as much, I see it as a good sign. I've been very consistently training week in and week out, but also not doing too much for this early. My first race isn't until mid May and my first goal race isn't until July. I feel good about where I am in my training and fitness. Which is a nice feeling because it's been a couple years since I felt that way.

There are always things I can work on though. Here's some of the main ones:
-Mountain Biking: Duh! In order to race well in Xterra, I need to get good at mountain biking. This will come from experience (getting out the door) and a little bit of fearlessness.
-Biking in general: Since I worked hard to improve my swim a few years ago, biking has become my biggest weakness. I have biked more than I ever have in the winter before. Not that I am biking that much, but it is an improvement. I need to get comfortable riding longer. Right now 3 hours is a long ride for me.
-Stretching: I used to be good at doing this regularly, and I think it would make a big difference in keeping my IT band healthy
-Not hitting the snooze button: I like going to masters swim in the am (especially the one that starts at 5:45 vs the one at 5:15) and feel great when I do go, but I have a bad habit of hitting the snooze button and then turning my alarm off and sleeping for a couple more hours. It is definitely a habit i want to break, because I like swimming early and feel I improve the most when I swim with a group
-Staying within myself and my pace when I need to
-Thinking I can only swim or run a certain pace, and then letting it become a self fulfilling prophesy. Instead of thinking I can only swim at 1:20 for 100 yds because I tell myself I just don't swim much faster for 100 than I do for any distance, why not think I can swim 1:15, or 1:10, and then do it?
-I'm sure there are plenty others, I just don't feel like writing a longer list right now and these are the main ones.

The last few days, some of these think became a little more clear to me. I read in Matt's blog about his swim lesson and how he swam a 100 yd PR of 1:16. First, I was extremely impressed by his improvement. I remember swimming with him when he was a beginner and that is an amazing improvement. Then I thought to myself, I wonder if I could swim that fast right now. I'm not sure what my fasted 100 was, I'm thinking I may have gone 1:21 in a meter pool at some point, but drafting like crazy behind the person ahead of me. The fastest I think I ever did on my own (no drafting/pacing) was probably a 1:24 or 1:25. And since I moved to CO and adjusted to the altitude and have had to figure out just how fast I'm going with the change from a meter pool to a yard pool, I'm pretty sure I haven't been under 1:20 in the yard pool. So, in my next swim I decided to do 4 100's and wondering if I would be able to swim 1:16. And all 4 were were between 1:16 and 1:18. So perhaps if I go in thinking I can swim a 1:12 or 1:10, maybe I can. Obviously I can't think, I'd like to swim under 50 and it will magically happen, but it is easy, especially in something like swimming, to get stuck swimming a certain pace because that's all you think you can do. My limit for the past few years has been around the 1:30/100 mark in the meter pool. I suppose switching to yards and not having a good grasp on what times are good yet is a good thing.

I rode with my team on Saturday morning. It was a small group, 6 of us to start and then 5 after a short while. Within the first hour, I found I was going to hard for what I am capable of right now because I wanted to keep up with the front of the group. I realized I needed to back off to an easier pace so I wouldn't completely lose it physically for the second half of the ride. I wasn't out to see how fast I could ride or how many watts I could put up, I just wanted to finish the ride without feeling like I was going to die. My need to keep up in the first hour took a toll on my legs and I was exhausted the rest of the day. So next time, I'll stay where I need to be. Group workouts can be a great thing. They can push you harder than you ever thought you could go and be a great social outlet. But they can also push you too hard at the wrong times and it's important to know when to go hard and when to do your own thing.

And to finish off the post, I had another great trail run with Frito today at Deer Creek Canyon Park. It was still pretty icy and I did fall once--hard on my rear end and right arm because I broke my concentration and hit an icy patch. The good think about the ice and snow is that hardly anyone was in the park. There is one trail down close to the parking lot that had a decent amount of foot traffic--it always does, but other than that it was like the park was ours. I am looking for ward to the ice melting, so I can focus on running instead of staying upright.

New mountain bike, etc

2011-02-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last week came and went pretty quickly as did the weekend. I had today off which was nice. My test was Friday and I thought it went pretty well. This is the first time I have taken an exam where they give you unofficial results immediately after. Normally you wait 8 weeks to know how you did. As I said before, I thought I did well. There were a few questions I had to guess on, but for the most part I felt like I knew what I was doing. I expected to see that I had unofficially passed. Instead, and unofficial fail. It felt like being punched in the stomach. I think I like waiting 8 weeks better. Unless of course it is a pass mark. To work so hard leading up to the exam and then spending 3.5 hours taking the exam and then immediately find out it was all for nothing--I was pretty devastated. I guess it really isn't all for nothing, because I will be that much more prepared when I take the test again in June, but still it felt pretty crummy.

So instead of celebrating this weekend like I had hoped, I moped around for awhile. Of course right after the exam I planned to go pick up my bike since Wheatridge Cyclery is on the way home. I decide to go anyway even though I wasn't ion the mood to be around anyone. Adam came up to meet me there and I got a basic fit on my bike. Adam and I both forgot to bring up bike shorts so I did the fit wearing my jeans. Obviously not ideal. I was a little cranky during the fit and as we were leaving made a few impulse purchases as well. Don't go into a bike store when you are in a bad mood--retail therapy can be a dangerous thing! I actually didn't buy that much, just some things I probably wouldn't buy normally.

I got home and had a snack and felt like doing nothing for the rest of the day. A nap and that's it. But Adam got my bike ready to go and he came along with me on a very tame dirt path for my first ride. We didn't go long just enough to see that some adjustments needed to be made. Getting the fresh air made me feel better, so I took Frito out for a run after I got back which made me feel even better.

My new bike. Not the best shot I know, but there will be plenty of race pictures with it in the coming months!

I did a ride on the road earlier this week with Adam. It was a little chilly and windy for some of the ride, but again, nice to get the fresh air. I got to test out my new jacket and gloves and stayed nice and toasty warm on the descents!

Pre ride

Towards the end of the ride. Still warm and smiling :)

So, back to the mountain bike. I know if I want to race well in Xterra, I have a lot of work to do getting used to riding the mountain bike. It's not just about fitness--you need some skill to go fast which I need to develop. I was ready to get out and test my self on some trails down near Deer Creek Canyon. I started off on one that was some climbing but not too technical. I wanted to ride a couple hours. There was some ice and snow on the trail which was not too bad in some parts but pretty slippery in others. 20 mins in I slipped on a rock/ice and fell. Good thing I wasn't going very fast, so I only got a small scrape. Go a few more feet, fall again. It didn't hurt, I just felt stupid. But falling is going to happen and I have to keep at it to get better. A few minutes later my tire was flat. Ahhh! After trying to fix the flat and it going flat a few minutes later (and luckily Adam's ride was nearby so he was able to come to help), I called it a very short day on the bike. And then ordered some tubeless tires. Hopefully I'll have them soon.

Sunday was a little chilly and I had planned to do a long run. I brought Frito along for what I planned on being a 1:45 run or so. Early on it was icy/snowy. More ice than snow. I thought there would be some ice, but I figured most would be melted with the warm weather since the last snow storm. I was wrong. It was really icy in spots, but I love running in this park so I kept going, walking the really treacherous parts. There were several times where I had some (probably very funny looking) wobbles and slips, but didn't fall. The parts of the trail that were clear felt amazing and the views from the trail made the hard work to stay upright worth it. Frito looks so free and happy when he runs (most dogs do), and it was a peaceful feeling running up there on the trail. At higher elevations it was just me, Frito, the sound of our footsteps and beautiful views. I ran the furthest I've ever run in the park--2:14, although that did include some "ice walking" which is not easy but definitely not fast either. It also included sliding down a really steep section of ice on my rear end. Thankfully, my pants stayed intact.

A little bit of a storm came through while I was running. It was sunny and I was in short sleeves, and then all of a sudden it got dark, windy, and small little pellets of snow started to fall. I was happy I had a long sleeve and gloves and headband. It passed pretty quickly, and then I was back in short sleeves. The weather changes so quickly here.

As soon as I got back to the car, I got a phone call from someone but couldn't here most of what they were saying. All I heard was ....boyfriend...at the bottom of Deer Creek. Then the phone shut off. My first thought was that Adam got hit bay a car or crashed at the bottom of Deer Creek. The guy called back again but I couldn't hear him--one or both of us had bad cell service. I sped down the road and a few minutes later saw Adam in his bright red cycling outfit. He was cold and hungry and had slipped a couple times on the ice on his ride. He also got caught in that storm, only he was at higher elevation, and obviously, it's a lot worse when you are on a bike. I drove him home and was so glad it was not what I had initially thought. I did have a really funny voicemail from his friend (I think his French accent made it funnier) saying that Adam was very cold, hypoglecimic, bonking, and needed to be picked up. Okay it must have been the accent and the way he said it becauyse I listened to it 3 times because it made me laugh so much.

I finally got out for a somewhat longish mountain bike ride today. I stayed close to home and brought everything I needed for flat repair just in case.

Getting ready to go riding

And other than a few really muddy spots the ride went great and was a lot of fun. I didn't go on a trail that was very rocky, just lots of bumps and turns. I ended up riding for almost 1:40 (including a few stops because i got stuck in the mud). It seemed like I was riding for a long time! I guess because there is so much more concentration compared with road biking it seemed long. I'll have to work on going further, but I was happy to ride that far and for it to be relatively uneventful. I will have to do a lot of work, but I think I'll be ready to be very competitive in off road tri's come May.

On sunny days we like sitting out side and enjoying the back yard with the dogs. We don't have an outdoor table, but it's nice to just sit on the porch and enjoy the sun with the dogs.

Frito's favorite spot in the back yard--sitting on the porch, blocked from the wind and soaking up sun while he watches for prey.

Mickey hopping the fence after retrieving his tennis ball from the field. We're sort of regretting teaching him to hop the fence, but he does get much more exercise hopping the fence and chasing his toys in the open space.

Cooper chilling on the porch close to us.

I also finally scheduled a hair appointment. Much needed--my hair is out of control right now. It tangles so easily. I'm not sure if it is the dry air or chlorine damage, both, or something else, but I really need a haricut. So, I'm looking forward to that on Wednesday.

I think I've written enough for now.

Another weekly update

2011-02-13T20:22:00.000-05:00

Another busy week. And again I am amazed at the weather swings here. We got a foot of snow on Monday, it was cold on Tuesday and Wednesday and then it was 65 degrees today and 60 yesterday! Still a lot of snow left to melt though.

With all the snow running has been interesting. And I need new running shoes badly (2 new pairs will be getting here Tuesday!) so it was a rough running week for me. My feet hate me right now for wearing old running shoes. I actually broke down and ran on the treadmill one day this week because I was nervous about slipping on the ice. I hated it! And the fact that the girl next to me was talking on her cell phone for most of the time. My hips were really sore the next day too--I guess maybe my running form was weird on the treadmill. I won't be doing that again any time soon. Other days were running on concrete or deep snow. I still wanted to get on trails despite the snow. I did my long run last week on the bike trails (all concrete) and was feeling it in my feet. Having old shoes didn't help either. More soreness from running in the snow. Since yesterday was so warm I thought the trail must have melted and headed off for a long run with Frito. We got to the trail and it was slippery and snow was ankle to knee deep! I decided to just stay on the trail and run though it, but it was not easy! My quads were the most tired.

I got outside for a long ride today with my team just under 3 hours, not including stops. It was not my day. My legs felt really heavy after my run yesterday. I think the fact that I got really dehydrated yesterday didn't help how I felt today either. But I got through it and hopefully my next outdoor ride will feel a little better. There were still some parts of the road that were covered with ice or snow which made it a little tiring too. It takes a lot of concentration to stay upright when riding on skinny tires through ice and snow.

It seems like I always need new gear with triathlons-new running shoes, new swimsuits, new training clothes, nutrition, etc. It seems to never end. I went quite awhile without buying new gear and now all of a sudden it seems like I need a lot of new stuff! The helmet I ride in is from 2003! Probably not safe to be wearing it, if I get in an accident, I'm not really sure how well it will hold up. I finally have a new helmet! And some new sunglasses. I've been using a pair that I one at a race back in 2004. Time for some new ones. And I will have some much needed new running shoes and mountain bike shoes. And then I will be set on gear for awhile. Thank goodness!

Another busy week coming up. I have an exam this Friday, so that is obviously the main thing on my mind. And my mountain bike should be arriving any day now!

Cold snowy week

2011-02-06T17:14:00.000-05:00

The weather last weekend was 60's and sunny. That came to a screeching halt on Monday and thru Wednesday with some negative and single digit temperatures. I don't think it was quite record cold, but it was close. They even closed schools for 2 days because of the cold. If only they could do that for work. On top of the cold we had a few snowy days Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon to this morning. I suppose it is winter, but it really stinks. Especially for driving--my commute was over an hour on several occasions and even over 1.5 hours another day. Ugh! Since I was feeling the need for some rest, it turned out to be a good week to cut back on the running and do so more swimming instead. Hopefully some nice weather comes back soon!

During the week, the riding the trainer is pretty much a given, but I've been getting out riding most weekends, and gosh darn it I was determined to get outside Saturday morning. There was still ice and snow on the back roads, but I figured the road in Chatfield would be clear. And it was 40 degrees so warm enough for a ride outside. Not smart on my part or at least not where I rode. Adam road for almost 4 hours and didn't have to much of a problem, but he rode more northwest and on busier roads (hence less snow and ice) and has a road bike. I started out riding my normal way and the first couple miles were fine. I was even getting warm with the layers I had on. Then I got to the part of the 470 trail that I take to Chatfield and it hadn't been plowed. Instead of turning around and finding a different route, I hopped off and hiked through the snow/ice for a half mile. I guess I thought once I got to the park it would be better. And it was for awhile on the bike path. But then the road in Chatfield up to the top of the hill by the dam was complete snow and ice. I still, for whatever reason didn't turn around. Once I rode up the hill, there was much less snow, but huge icy puddles. Soon my feet and legs were soaked with icy cold water. I still kept going for awhile, I was thinking about riding through the park and out the other side to get home. But once the ice took over the road again, I finally realized how stupid I was being and turned around. I had some more ice puddle riding, then got to a paved trail and road that out of the park so I didn't have to ride 30+ mph down an ice/snow covered hill. After that I took a busy road home to avoid another snow hike. And as luck would have it, less than a minute from home I heard a loud scraping noise and then a hissing sound. A flat on my rear tire...a tubular tire. Darn it! So while I did have many nice moments where I was enjoying the fresh air, for the most part it was a pretty crummy ride and stupid for me to go out and ride on snow and ice. Hopefully I learned my lesson.

Saturday afternoon I went up to Wheat Ridge Cyclery and ordered a mountain bike. Driving up there I thought I was going to get a Yeti ASR Carbon. So I thought it was going to be a quick trip. But apparently they don't make a lot of those, especially in my size. So then I considered the ASR-5 Carbon so more because they did have those available, but then decided I don't want that much travel (5 inches vs 4). So then I started thinking about versions of the Trek top fuel. I thought about the women's specific but also hard to get because not many women want a race level bike, and I didn't like that it had girly colors. I like girly colors from time to time, but not on my bike. So I decided on the Trek Top Fuel 9.7 (in red black and white) and was getting the sizing figured out when another salesperson started arguing the merits of a 29'er and showing me another bike. After some serious consideration, I stuck with the Trek Top Fuel 9.7. It will be here in 7-10 business days! Finally, I'll be getting my mountain bike!

I'm hoping the weather gets better and I can get out and have a good ride next weekend. We've been pretty spoiled here up until this past week. I don't mind a few days of cold or snow, but then I want it to melt and get warm again. Is that too much to ask?

Weekly update

2011-01-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

Since I seem to only be posting weekly now, I figure this is my weekly update.

After doing a lot of thinking and thinking about my budget, I came to the conclusion that traveling (ie flying) to races is not going to happen this year. I used to fly to 1-2 races a year, but things are different now. I think it's easy to get caught up in the idea that since other people travel to races, I should too. I think with a lot of things it's easy to get caught up thinking that we need to train and race like others do, when really we just need to figure out what works for us. And while I certainly would like to get more experience racing off road, there are plenty of races within driving distance and I just need to be patient and wait an extra month to start racing. I don't even like flying much anyway. Not the flying part, just being on a plane crammed with people. And I hate lugging the bike around in a box when I travel and taking it apart and back together 2x. And I always get migraines when I fly so really, I'm not sure what I was thinking. Anyway, it is nice to know that I have a better idea of what I'll be doing this year in terms of races.

We had pretty amazing weather 60+ degrees several days with other days in the 50's. My legs felt especially tired on Friday. Running and my Tuesday/Thursday trainer class, mostly the trainer class were probably the likely culprit. I was out running midday and it was darn right hot out. I was uncomfortably hot and my legs felt heavy. I hadn't had a day off in a week and a half, which isn't a huge deal, but I definitely need one now after last week and this weekend! The last few years I've had to take days off that were unplanned, so instead of planning rest into my schedule, I expect that it will happen eventually and if I go a couple weeks without a day off, then I take one even if there is nothing in my schedule that requires me to take one.

This weekend I rode around 2:45 and climbed 10 miles up Deer Creek Canyon. I saw Adam descending as I was heading up--he was finishing up a hard group ride--he turned around and rode up with me for a few minutes and then we headed back. I thought about going the full 14 to the top, but was starting to feel a bit tired and decided not to push it too much. This is the longest ride I've done in awhile and once I got to the 2:20-2:30 mark I was glad I had made the decision to turn around. I struggled to get home. It was such a beautiful day though--sunny and 60's and there were more cyclists out than I have ever seen.

Today I focused on studying a lot before I headed out running. I wanted to get in at least 3 hours of studying before I got to run. Once that was up, I went to Deer Creek Canyon Park and ran with Frito while Adam hiked with Cooper and Mickey. I was surprised at how icy/snowy it was considering how warm it has been and considering that it gets a decent amount of sunlight. The first 20 mins were very icy. Ever try running up a trail covered in ice and snow and hanging on to the leash of a dog that really wants to get up the mountain wearing just plain old running shoes? Not easy. Even though it was hard, I enjoyed being on the peaceful trail and being around trees. One thing I really miss about all the other places I've lived is having lots of trees around. Michigan, Oregon, North Carolina, and New Jersey--all lots of trees. So when I do go on a trail that has a decent amount of trees, I enjoy it so much more.

Once we got up higher the trail was clear and it was an awesome run with beautiful views as usual. Frito was loving it. His paws are healed up and he's had a bit of cabin fever. He really is a great running buddy :) As I was running I was thinking how sad it is that many people wouldn't go out and run trails like this--because it takes their heart rate out of their prescribed training zone, or because they are afraid of falling on the ice or breaking out of a normal perfectly calculated routine. Sure, there are times for routine and I suppose even time to listen to the heart rate monitor and pay attention to pace, but I think sometimes athletes, especially triathletes get so caught up in the data and regimen that they forget to go out and enjoy running (or swimming or biking). No i-pod, no hr monitor, no special watch that tells you calories and distance. Just the sound of your footsteps, breathing, sound of animals and the wind. Things aren't always meant to be measured, and I think doing so can take a lot of the fun out of it. And fun is what it is supposed to be about.

Winter is returning the next couple days. From 60's this weekend to snow and below zero temps. We sure do get some major weather swings here. I don't mind the cold so much. It's easy to bear when it is not 3-4 months straight of cold and grey. I don't know if I'd want to live somewhere that is always warm. Having the cold reminds us how great the warmth and sunshine is.

Improvement

2011-01-23T21:43:00.000-05:00

Among other things I did this week, I went along on a group ride with some of the members of the EPC multisport club. When I left the house, it was 45 and sunny and I didn't notice the wind. As I started driving to Morrison to meet the group, the sky was darker, very light snow started falling, the wind was blowing my car around the highway and I watched the temperature drop to 38. Not that 38 was unrideable, I was just expecting a nice sunny 45 degree ride.

Once we started riding we were heading right into the wind with an occasional gust from the side. I felt like many times I might fall off my bike! After riding as easy as we could up to Golden, we then climbed Lookout Mountain. I did this ride 4 weeks ago and timed myself and measured my power up the climb. I wanted to see how my power compared (and hopefully time) when I rode up this time. Some of the guys stopped to use the rest room at the start of the climb. I and 2 others kept going. Soon I was riding all alone up the climb ahead of the others. The wind was probably the worst I've ever ridden in. The climb was pretty fun, except for turning around the corners and getting smacked in the face with a strong headwind. I thought for sure some of the guys would catch me quickly, but only one did towards the top. My time was a few seconds slower than last time (which considering how strong the wind was, I was pretty happy with) and my norm power was 180 for the 28:30 min climb vs 173 from last time. I just hope next time it is not so windy!

Descending was miserable for me. I only have my time trial bike and it is not meant for climbing and especially not descending. Most of the others stayed to ride up 1 more time and I was fine with the idea of riding up again but not descending again. So next time I'll ride up twice, as long as it isn't insanely windy! And now I not only need to get a mountain bike, I also want to get a road bike.

It was nice to see that I had improved a decent amount in the last 4 weeks. Now I just have to continue with the improvement.

Frito had a rough week. Friday was his 5 year adoption day. He still has the running speed he had when I first got him, but his is now better behaved and his spots are not as bright as the are now covered with white hairs from old age. He had a rough couple days. On Friday Adam took him to the vet because one of his eyes was oozing with puss. Turns out he had pink eye! Who knew dogs could get that?! Despite the vet saying that it is not that contagious for dogs, Mickey had pink eye on Saturday. So far with the prescription eye drops it seems to be clearing up. Saturday, Adam took out the roller blades and ran with Mickey and Frito. Frito demonstrated just how fast he can go. But then later he was limping and walking funny. The pads on a couple of his paws were scraped up and bleeding. So he got his paws wrapped with Ace bandages. He sure looked cute but I felt so sorry for him. He still isn't walking normally and will have to take a break from running.

I'm having some trouble determining what I want to do for my races this year. I have several races planned, but some others still need to be filled in. I was thinking of doing Xterra West in Las Vegas, but the general consensus is that the course is not that nice and it's not really worth going. So then I thought I might do Xterra South Central in Waco, TX, but then I thought, do I really want to spend money to go to TX? It's supposed to be a nice race and the flights (into Austin) are cheap, but then you have to add in the $100 charge each way for the bike to fly...then it's not so cheap anymore. So that's a maybe. I am also thinking about doing the Xterra East race in Richmond, but again, travel budget concerns are a consideration. I would like to figure it out soon, but there are so many things to consider first. I guess other than this I mostly have my schedule set. Mostly.

Mud

2011-01-16T22:20:00.001-05:00

This week was extra busy. For starters, my birthday was Tuesday. We didn't do anything too special Tuesday since I had work and then went to my first trainer class in Denver. When I got back from my class Adam had cupcakes from a gluten free bakery for me and presents from him and a package from my family to open. Adam spent all day making a photo album of pictures of us and the dogs, with room for more pictures as we take more. Sometimes we get used to only looking at pictures on the computer and having them in an album is nice--you see them in a different way then on the computer. Now we just need a coffee table to put the albums on...

The box from my parents contained some of the presents I couldn't fit in my bag from Christmas, some delicious gluten free molasses cookies homemade by my mom (even Adam agreed they tasted like "real" cookies!), a homemade reversible jacket for Frito (he is the only one with not much fur and needs the coats), a new swimsuit, and a necklace. I will take some pictures of Frito in his new coat next time he puts it on. Here is a picture from the other day of Frito getting a belly rub.

We had originally planned to go out to eat on my birthday somewhere in Denver after my class, but I knew I would be tired and we would be out to late for a "work night". We ended up going out yesterday evening to a place I have never been before--The White Chocolate Grill which is at the mall near buy in an outdoor shopping area. I actually haven't been to the mall since we moved here and I couldn't believe, it was actually more crowded that the mall in NJ. Maybe because there are so many malls in NJ??? Anyway, after searching for parking forever, we went in an had a delicious birthday meal. I had steak and fries and we both got deserts that we found out really were big enough for two people like the menu said. Oh well. We don't eat out often, but when we do we tend to eat a lot. Perhaps it's good that we don't go out much--it's really a treat when we do go.

Anyway, that's all we did for my birthday. I wasn't really up for anything big this year.

This week was the first week that I went to a 12 week trainer series in Denver with my team EPC multisport. I hate riding the trainer and when I ride on my own at home, I tend to just ride easy in front of the tv for 45-60 mins while watching Law and Order reruns. Obviously, what I tend to do is better than nothing but not all that beneficial. So after going back and forth on the decision, I decided to sign up for the series. It is 90 mins 2x a week for 12 weeks. Much more than I would do on my own during the week and much more quality. The first day was on Tuesday and getting there was not fun! 5 lanes of traffic heading into Denver from my office and none of them seemed to be moving! So after a frustrating drive in I lugged my trainer, bike, trainer riser, clothes, water bottles up a flight of stairs and set up my bike.

I have not set up my bike trainer many times. I rode a Tacx fortis trainer for a couple years (I still have it but something needs to be fixed for it to work) and had it set up at the beginning of winter and left my bike there until March or April, and then took it off for good. Recently, any time I ride the trainer, Adam almost always sets it up for me. So I set it up and the lever wouldn't push all the way back, so I pushed it as far as it would go and figured that was good enough. Well, 45 mins or so into the class in a room of 15 or so people, we are doing a 10 min standing interval and a couple minutes in, my bike comes loose and I am falling into the guy next to me. Of all the places to fall off a trainer, I had to do it in front of an audience. I'd like to say this is the first time I fell off the trainer, but it is actually my 3rd time, although the first two were in 2004 and 2005 (I think, they were a long time ago!) I got some help getting my bike back upright so I could finish the session, and then at home Adam gave me a tutorial on setting up my bike in the trainer and made me practice. And no crashes in the Thursday session.

I have been getting very antsy about buying a mountain bike. On Saturday, Adam and I drove up to Wheat Ridge to Wheat Ridge Cyclery so I could get a mountain bike to test ride. They have a great program where you can take a mountain bike out and test ride it for a couple days! Unfortunately they didn't have the 2011 fleet of bikes to test ride yet and I was there and wanted to try something gosh darn it! I test rode a Yeti AS-R 5 alloy. When I get my bike I want to get carbon, but that is what they had so I took it home to test it out. I definitely liked it and may consider getting the carbon version, but have some other bikes/brands in mind that I am thinking about.

It wasn't as snowy this afternoon and I was feeling a bit more daring, so I kept going past where I turned around yesterday. I soon realized how tough riding in muddy snowy conditions is. I was going along well for awhile, then it felt like my rear wheel was braking. I stopped and got off and saw that there was so much mud and ice on the rear tire that the rear wheel wasn't able to move. It was this sticky, thick clay that was hard to get off the bike and stuck to it like glue. I pulled as much off as I could, then went to get going and realized I had an inch or so of ice and clay stuck to my shoes covering up my cleats. Of course, this is when I am all the way out at the end of a loop and have 5 miles or so to get home. It was frustrating. I would get going and was able to ride for awhile and then all of a sudden I couldn't ride at all. So I repeated the rear wheel/shoe cleaning process and some uphill running with the bike a few times until I finally got past the really bad mud. Lesson learned I guess and I did have a really fun time when the bike was moving. I'm looking forward to getting my own bike and riding on some dry trails.

Here's me with the bike after I got home. Note--a lot of the mud came off while I was riding on the non muddy and paved trails.

Here I am hosing the bike off. The do clean the bike after it is returned to the shop, but I figured it was good to get off as much as I could. And so a big muddy bike wasn't yucking up the car.

Long post. I need to update more often so that I don't end up writing so much each time.

I'm not sure...

2011-01-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I'm sick or having side effects from my new medicine. I've been having a sore throat recently nothing bad, just a mild sore throat. I've also been getting sore from relatively easy workouts. Today I woke up and my sore throat was really bad and my muscles ached and were so sore. I have upped my training the past few weeks but I was unusually achy and sore. And tired and groggy. So, I may need to call my doctor as all these things are potential side effects of the medicine...but of course there are a lot of potential side effects, so maybe I really just have a cold and need to take it easy. Either way, I felt miserable today and spent the day napping, studying and playing with the dogs. When I feel this crummy it's not really a good idea to keep working out. Sometimes the body has a way of telling us we need to rest.

I probably should have listened to the signs yesterday--I woke up with a sore throat too and so I chose to sleep in, but then went outside, got some fresh air and decided I was going to bike after all. I felt good biking up until around 2 hours when I got really tired and had 30 mins to get home. I took a long nap, felt horrible and then went to swim and lift which actually made me feel better at the time.

So, we'll see how I feel in the next couple days.

Speaking of the next couple days, my birthday is on Tuesday. It will be a busy day as I have work and then the first day of a 12 week trainer series put on by EPC multisport and then possibly dinner out with Adam.

It was nice for most of last week, but then it got cold and snowy again. I don't mind the cold snowy weather as much, because after a few days it always seems to get warmer. Although Denver is supposedly having a mild winter, so Adam and I may be in for a shock next year when it is not so nice.

Adam has been in NY visiting his family for the last few days.He's flying back this evening and we (me and the pups) sure did miss him. Taking care of 3 dogs proved to be quite a handful for me. I had mastered (mostly) walking 2 dogs. Add in a third and it gets more complicated. Mickey always wants to play so it can be a challenge keeping him entertained. While Cooper and Frito lie down and take a lot of time to sleep or lounge during the day, Mickey needs to be told that it is not play time and then sits for a couple minutes and then is up looking for another toy. He's a pretty funny dog. He makes these really loud groaning/sighing noises. He mostly does this at night. At first we thought he had to go to the bathroom, but he makes the noises even after coming in from the bathroom. It's the funniest sound. I think he may be sighing/groaning because he's bored when everyone goes to sleep. That's my latest theory.

XC skiing in CO

2011-01-04T21:56:00.000-05:00

It was cold in CO this weekend! A snow last Thursday left the roads icy and temperatures below 0 didn't help melt anything. I ran outside in 0 degrees and through the snow with Mickey on Friday. And then another much warmer run on Saturday with all 3 dogs. We all had a little bit of cabin fever and needed to get out. Adam was stuck riding the trainer which he doesn't like much. I know if the roads were clear, he would have been out, even in the cold.

We've been wanting to go XC skiing together this winter, but Adam has been working most weekends, so it wasn't possible. Not this weekend, so we took the chance on Sunday to drive to Breckenridge to the Frisco Nordic Center. Adam came here to XC ski with his friend last month. It was a beautiful drive out there, but VERY slow on the way back (traffic!!!) so next time we go, I think we will go somewhere closer.

I've been skiing classic style since I was little and have only done skate skiing once, so we decided to do classic. I love classic style XC skiing. I think I would really like skate style skiing, once I get the hang of it. I love the feeling of flying through the snow. We planned to do 2 hours, but Adam started to really hit the wall after an hour. He kept up pretty well on the uphills, but on the flats and downhills I dropped him pretty fast. I would get into a groove, then look back and he was nowhere. So I had lots of breaks which I don't normally get. Adam said, this is what I must feel like when I ride with him...sort of, but I think I'm a better cyclist than he is a XC skier. At least for now :)

The scenery was beautiful. We didn't take any pictures when we were skiing but this is a picture I found on the internet of one of the trails (actually a road) that we were on.

Once we were in open fields we got amazing views of the mountains all around.

It is hard to get pictures or even describe just how beautiful it is--there is nothing like actually being out there.

We want to go somewhere where we can take the dogs along, but can't do that on any of the groomed trails because the dogs can ruin the track. So, we may try snowshoeing with them or try to find somewhere where they can come along to ski. If they have booties to protect their feet, I know they will love it.

I got a horrible migraine the evening after we went. I started a new prevention medicine a few days before and a slightly new treatment regimen. I had been taking a medicine since 2006 and it was originally very effective, but the last couple years it has not been working as well and it was time for a change. It started off well, but Sunday evening was bad. I think I need to make some changes to the new treatment regimen. I'm also trying to pay attention to all the things I do in the day leading up to a migraine, to try and see what is triggering it each time around and try to make changes if I can. The things I saw as possible triggers after hearing what my doctor said are taking a long nap after we got back (sleeping too much or too little and disrupting the sleep cycle could be a cause); the extreme changes in weather and altitude; eating a hamburger that may have had preservatives in it; the stress from the long, heavy traffic, and sometimes icy on he way home (I actually learned from my doctor that a migraine doesn't come as a result of stress but when the stress is over and how the hormones change as a result). I'm sure there are other possible triggers I could be missing. But I guess it is good to keep track and try to figure things out a little better. I used to keep close track of when I was getting migraines, but never the experiences surrounding it. So hopefully this helps.

I could have written some happy new year/2011 post, but it doesn't feel too different than 2010, so why would I? I guess I am just not much of a New Year's resolution person.

Last post of 2010

2010-12-31T19:40:00.001-05:00

I just registered for Boulder Peak and Xterra Lory. Both had a price increase after today (Boulder Peak being much more of an increase at $25) so I figured since I plan on doing them, I may as well sign up now. Not that I am signing up for all of my races now--some don't even have their 2011 registration open and others I can wait since the price doesn't go up for a little while. Up until October of this year, I lived in NJ for almost 6.5 years which was the majority of my time racing triathlons. Living in CO brings many new challenges with races I have never done. Combine that with my undertaking of off-road triathlons and 2011 should be a very interesting year.

2010 was a difficult year at times with the iron deficiency and continued migraine troubles but the year also was highlighted by some major life changes. My 3 big highlights from 2010 are:

1) Making a big change and moving to CO and starting a new job. Change can be difficult, but it also helps me to push myself and grow and learn new things.
2) Getting Mickey the dog
3) trying out Xterra despite not having a mountain bike of my own to ride. I'm so glad I tried something different and found something new that I really like.

This past week. Cooper and Frito went to the vet for a checkup and because we had noticed that one of Cooper's front teeth had turned purple (i.e. it was dead). I was a bit concerned about that and some of the lumps that he had. In NJ, the vet I went to classified Cooper and Frito as seniors and ran all sorts of test as a result. They also said Cooper needed to have a dental exam and that his lumps needed to be removed because they may be cancerous. Of course I ran the senior tests (I didn't have a choice if I wanted the exam done there), and also had Cooper have surgery to remove several lumps and have a dental exam and tooth removed. The vet here didn't classify them as seniors and said that as long as the lumps weren't growing, they were just fatty masses and cause no harm. And that his teeth were okay and he didn't need them removed--just maybe a cleaning sometime. It was so nice not to be pressured into surgery under false information and spending over $1000 for something Cooper really doesn't need, not to mention save him the trauma of walking around in a cone for a week. I am a bit frustrated that the vets office in NJ just seemed to be wringing every dollar that they could out of me, and glad that we have a vet here that is honest and not out to rip people off.

Cooper and Frito were both 3-4 lbs lighter...they have always been very thin dogs, but I guess all the extra activity they have been getting here has leaned them out even more. Mickey is now the heaviest dog in the house.

So I guess this is my last post for 2010. Happy New Year!

Cookies and workouts

2010-12-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

Christmas came and went too quickly. I had all these plans of things I was going to bake but only ended up making 2 batches of gluten free thumbprint cookies. The first batch didn't turn out so well--lesson learned that if I am not using a mix, I need to put Xanthan gum. Adam still devoured most of the crumbs from the first batch and I was successful in my second attempt.

Adam really wanted Italian rainbow cookies and I was going to make them for him, but then I saw how involved it was, so Friday afternoon we drove all the way to Wheatridge (not that close) to an authentic Italian bakery (not many of those around here unlike NJ and Long Island) and got him more than a pound of cookies.

We got enough exercise to feel like all this cookie eating was justified. On Friday, I did my first ride up Lookout Mountain. Adam and I rode from town in Golden and then quickly began climbing. The actual climb as we measured it is around 4.5 miles, though the climbing begins before that. It took me a little while to get warmed up, but once I did, I was moving pretty well. I ended up finishing the climb in 28:07 with a 173 norm power, which I am happy with since I have barely ridden my bike for the past few months. It is a starting point at least and I'd like to do the climb every few weeks to see how my cycling is progressing. It was an amazing view--the climb winds it's way around the mountain and there are amazing views of Golden, snow covered peaks and of people hang gliding and paragliding. Before we started the climb I made a comment that it didn't look like it was that high up, but early on into the climb the views were amazing and I quickly realized just how far we were going up. Part way up and towards the top there was ice and snow on the road. My tire slipped on the climb up which made me super cautious on the decent. I froze on the way down, even after adding an extra layer wind jacket.

I rode on my own yesterday, 2 hours+ riding up Deer Creek Canyon road. I didn't go up to the really steep part on High Grade, but it was a good enough workout for me at this point. Adam rode it later in the day and a guy that was riding near him on the decent crashed badly and the ambulance and fire trucks had to come and close the road. It reminded me of how important it is to be alert when descending and not to take stupid risks to try to be faster than someone else.

I ran 90 mins Saturday and felt great, definitely getting into the groove of things with running. Swimming, I actually feel pretty good considering the sizable breaks in swimming I have taken, and while my times are not where I would like, I know that with consistency, they will get down where they need to be.

Speaking of swimming, Adam got me a new swimsuit and goggles for Christmas among other things. Getting a new suit is always good motivation for me to swim. He also got me some egg beater mountain bike pedals--now I just need the mountain bike! My favorite gift that he gave me was a homemade calender with pictures of the dogs and us and with little captions.

There is a blizzard in NJ yesterday and today. Glad I am not there for that! I was really enjoying the 50-55 degree weather this weekend and today. I know it will get cold again, but it sure has been nice and it seems like the sun is always shining and even when it gets cold it seems like it is only for a few days and then it gets "warm" again. I feel so lucky to be here and while I miss many things about NJ, I am so glad that I made the change to move out here. If someone had told me I would be moving to CO, or anywhere really, this time last year I would have thought they were crazy.

2nd Christmas

2010-12-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

It's only Dec. 22 and I feel like I already celebrated Christmas. At my parents in MI we did most of the things we normally do for Christmas only several days early. All the foods we normally eat, but with a gluten free twist on some of them for me. No else seemed to like the gluten free Pulla (a Finnish sweet bread), but I did. I guess I'm not used to my bread being as fluffy and soft, so I was happy to eat it. That and the gluten free thumbprint cookies sure did taste good. I got in lots of XC skiing at least once a day and some running too. I thought running was going to be so easy coming down from altitude, but with the cold air and snowy roads/trails it felt much harder. It felt so much easier running here today in 40+ degree weather and dry conditions. I really missed having the dogs and Adam there. Next time we'll have to figure out a way to get us all there. My sister's dog Charley Brown, who is a German Short haired pointer served as a good substitute buddy for the time I was there. She is a lot like Frito, only with 10x the energy.

So I've already opened all the presents from my family but I have all Adam's and his parents left to go on Christmas. I feel like I got so much already. Adam and I are deciding what foods and traditions we want to incorporate into our Christmas. We both have traditions we are used to that we want to keep so it should interesting.

Mickey's newest trick is taking the tennis ball and dropping it in the toilet. He is such a character.

I managed to avoid getting my sister's cold until the very last night I was in MI. Not a bad one but definitely warranted a day off training so I didn't get worse. Since I flew in late am and had all day off work, I was going to bike and swim after I got home. That turned into a 3 hour nap with Cooper. Better to rest than end up really sick.

1 more day of work tomorrow and then a 3 day weekend. I have to figure out what I am going to cook for my 2nd Christmas!

Random

2010-12-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

It was mid 60's Monday and Tuesday and now there is snow coming. Of course the snow is coming just in time for me flying to Michigan to see my family. They got some snow there, so I'll get to do some XC skiing while I'm there!

I don't understand why some people are the way they are. I went for a run in shorts and a t-shirt on Tuesday. It was gorgeous out and the gym that I use pretty much for a changing room had people lined up running on the treadmill staring out at the sunshine. I don't understand why people run on a treadmill at all, but especially when it is so nice out! Are people so stuck in their routines that they don't want to get outside and get some fresh air? I just don't get it. Perhaps these same people are just as perplexed by me coming to the gym and then just running outside. Anyway, I think we've been pretty lucky here to have so much nice weather.

I haven't done any of my Christmas shopping yet. I don't really like shopping for Christmas presents.

I'm flying out tomorrow pm and I still haven't packed. I don't like packing either. Since it's going to be cold, I feel like I should pack a lot, but I don't want to pay the airline checked bag fee, so I'm going as minimalist as one can possibly pack and still be somewhat prepared for running and xc skiing in the cold.

We hired a dog walker on Sunday. Adam talked to several dog walking companies and we found a woman we thought would work out. She walked the dogs Monday. And then got into a car accident and broke her leg Monday night. So, I guess we will be shopping for a new pet sitter.

Adam finally got his new bike. He has been without a bike for around a month now and was starting to freak out a bit about losing his biking fitness. As much as I've enjoyed having him to run and swim with on occasion, I think it is best for all of our sanity that he is back on the bike.

Busy

2010-12-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

I guess it's been quite awhile since I wrote on here. A lot has been going on.

I have been to acupuncture 2x now. The verdict is still out on that. I know that it is not something I will see instant results with for something like migraines and insomnia. I first went the Tuesday almost 2 weeks ago, and I had a migraine when I arrived. I took treatment medicine for it but it didn't help. Having acupuncture with a migraine was not pleasant and it didn't really help (although I guess because I had taken the medicine it wouldn't help the migraine that was occurring). I was going more for prevention anyway and for help with the insomnia I've been having the month or so. After going that Tuesday I had to keep taking treatment medicine for migraines and had more trouble sleeping partially because I was having pain in my left foot that was causing my whole left side to feel numb. None of this could have had to do with the acupuncture, but I certainly felt much worse and struggled the week after I went. I was having so much trouble sleeping that I tried Melatonin, but that completely wiped me out. I was too tired taking that and still woke up in the middle of the night, but just felt groggy later. Ugh.

So I went back this Tuesday and haven't had a migraine since but have still had the sleeping problems. I'm not sure I like the person I am going to. For insurance purposes I'm limited with my choices, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable going to her. I felt okay the first time I went, but I got a very negative vibe from her, which made me uncomfortable and hard to relax the second time, which makes it pretty uncomfortable if you aren't relaxed. I don't feel the pins (is that what I call them?) unless I tense up, and I was very tense the second time. So, I think it may be helping but I may need to go to someone different. I'll give her one more try this week and see how it goes. If I can't relax and feel comfortable with the person, then it is not going to help me as much as it possibly can.

I think I really need to go get a massage. My back is seriously knotted up and my foot isn't doing too well either. I don't know of anyone good locally and don't want to drive forever to get a massage. I think this week I'm going to have to work on finding a good massage therapist.

I also went to a new primary care physician and she was great. She spent a lot of time talking with me and referred me to a neurologist which of course I have to wait a long time to go see. She was a recreational triathlete and had a bike, treadmill and weights all set up in her office! Her practice is more about prevention than about just writing prescriptions for everything and I like that. We did also discuss my asthma and I decided to go back on Advair. My asthma is not in control and so I do need to something different.

As for training, I'm starting to do what resembles triathlon training again. I biked 2x this week. 1 really didn't count much as it was an easy 30 min spin on the trainer after Adam adjusted my seat angle because my back was hurting and the seat was uncomfortable. Before this, I haven't biked in over a month. Today I rode outside. It was chilly, but not bad, maybe high 30's-low 40's with some wind. I rode around 1:40 and I was tired and so hungry. Something about biking, especially in the cold, just wipes me out. As far as other training, I've been swimming some, but not as much as I would like. Swimming doesn't happen too easily when I have a migraine, that's why I want to get it figured out. Running is staying pretty consistent. The nice weather certainly helps though.

I am joining a multisport club/team EPC Multisport made up of a lot of Xterra athletes. Last Sunday I did a run and swim with the group and Adam and I went to the team's happy hour on Wednesday. It seems like a nice and competitive group and it will be nice to have people to train with so I can learn some of the good places to train, push myself harder, learn some things about Xterra, travel to races with, etc. I'm excited to be part of a team again. I really enjoyed being on the club team in college and when I lived in NC. I never belonged to a club when I was in NJ, but group workouts and traveling to races with friends and meeting other athletes is one of my favorite parts of being in the sport.

Last week we celebrated Hanuka, and this week we got a Christmas tree. It was Adam's first time picking out and decorating a tree. Even though he is Jewish, he and his family always celebrated on Christmas because his dad owned an appliance store and that was when they could celebrate. So we are keeping with that tradition and opening presents together at Christmas time. And I was hoping I would get some early presents.

Mickey is getting a little bigger but is still full of puppy energy. Sometimes he will go in a corner by himself and twirl the tug o war rope over and over until he gets dizzy. I think he would play all day if he could find willing partners, but Cooper and Frito need a rest after awhile.

Thanksgiving weekend

2010-11-29T23:27:00.001-05:00

We started the weekend off with the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning of course. Here's Adam and I post Turkey Trot, happy to be done.

In the afternoon we walked to Adam's Aunt Sandi's house a half mile or so away for dinner. It was nice not to have to travel far to go to eat. We had a delicious dinner and there were lots of gluten free foods since Adam's cousin's fiance is also gluten free. So I had plenty of yummy choices, especially for dessert.

Playing in the backyard before thanksgiving dinner. After the freezing temperatures in the morning, it turned into a beautiful day.

On Friday, we decided to drive to a new place for a hike/run--Golden Gate Canyon State Park. We chose a trail called the "Burro Trail" and did a hike up to Windy Peak. And true to it's name, it was very windy. It was a bit chilly at the start, and as we climbed there was more and more snow on the trail, making it pretty challenging. It was a much more manageable distance/difficulty level than the long tough hike we did up Bear Peak. I got tired with maybe a mile or so left, which is pretty good.

It was Mickey's first hike and we put the hiking pack on him to slow him down. I think it only made him go faster down hill from the gravity and caused him to loose his balance a few times and start skidding down the trail. He's still pretty awkward.

Here are a few pictures from our hike/run on Friday:

Mickey waiting patiently to get started.

Frito is always looking for something, and Mickey always looks back to check on us.

There was a lot of snow on the trail. I think I need at least some trail running shoes for all this trail stuff. I was slipping all over the place.

Beautiful :)

Mickey checking on us as usual.

I booked a flight to go to Michigan the weekend before Christmas. I'm sad the dogs and Adam can't come with me, but I am coming back before Christmas so we can all spend that time together in Colorado. We want to get a tree, but we are not sure what Mickey's puppy energy will do with it.

I'm going to see an acupuncturist tomorrow. I've never had acupuncture done before. I've heard good things about it treating migraines and since my prevention medicine hasn't been helping much, I'm hoping this will change things. I'm a little nervous about it.

Highlands Ranch Turkey Trot Race Report

2010-11-26T21:08:00.006-05:00

Adam and I decided a while ago that we were going to run the local Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. The start line was less than a mile from our house and the last mile of the course ran on the bike trail that cuts through the open space behind our back yard. How could we not do it?

The weather here has been pretty nice with just a few days in the 30's and 40's and a lot of days in the 50's, 60's and 70's. We checked out the hour by hour forecast for race morning and saw 9 degrees...ouch. We were both pretty sure we had never raced in weather that cold. I've run in much much colder many times, but raced, no. Once I thought about it, I realized I ran a Turkey Trot in Buffalo back in 2003 that was pretty darn cold. I wasn't sure how to dress. Adam was contemplating wearing shorts and a singlet with gloves and a hat, but I talked him into wearing a bit more. It was pretty cold when we went over to register and ran back to the house to stretch, but then warmed up a bit by the race start, maybe 15 or 20 degrees with sunshine. I ended up wearing running tights, a short sleeve drifit shirt, a long sleeve drifit shirt, gloves, and a hat over my headband (my ears get cold). I ended up only slightly warm in the last half mile but other than that, it was almost the perfect amount of layering.

Anyway, to the race. I think in all there were 869 finishers. Thankfully there was chip timing. I lined up in the 2nd-3rd row, behind Adam and next to several high school xc runners who I assumed to be (and was right) some of the fastest female runners in the race. I wasn't really sure how good I would feel in the cold dry air and without much speed in my legs and I quickly got the answer.

In typical turkey trot fashion, people sprinted out from the start like they were running a 100m dash. I started conservatively, and then had to dodge people and kids that had to slow down and even a couple people that stopped and turned around and started running the opposite direction on the course. Ok...

By the first turn, I wasn't passing as many people but the uphill had begun. I knew the course was basically uphill the first half and downhill the second half with a little hills along the way, but I didn't realize how much uphill it was. We turned so many times, I'm not sure I could rerun the race course, and we run through this neighborhood pretty often and live near here!

My legs felt ok, I couldn't move them a lot faster, but they didn't feel tired. I just couldn't breathe. I'm sure the cold dry air didn't help, but my asthma has been much worse lately and I haven't been treating it at all. I was starting to think maybe this is not the best idea.

I passed the mile in 6:52. Not good, but considering how much uphill and turning and the cold, I was okay with it. At that point I was ready to get back to the finish and not too concerned with my place or time. Even more uphills and turns and then a sign for the "2 mile mark". My watch said 12:03 which was definitely not right. I would like it to be right, but the 2 mile mark was just not placed correctly. Then the downhill. I got to pickup some speed here but we were on the sidewalk of a busyish road, so I had to hop on the grass to dodge around and pass some people. Then onto the bike path for a little more downhill before a short little uphill that I run several times a week at the beginning of my runs.

I glanced at my watch there and saw that I was at 19 mins something and could see the finish line but it was pretty far away. It was definitely not going to be a fast day, even with the downhill towards the end. But I tried to give a kick in at the finish and at least feel like I got a good workout out of it. I ended up 10th overall and 3rd in 30-39 with a 21:44. One of my slowest (if not the slowest) 5k times on the road ever. I used to be able to not train much and still be able to run mid to low 20's when I'm somewhat out of shape, so running 21:44 was a little discouraging.

We got our goody bags, walked through the expo area and got some "free stuff" and did a cooldown, running with the guy who ended up winning the race. He had run a 16:19, which after hearing some of his results was pretty slow for him. And then seeing the times for the winning girl (she was 17) and seeing that it was much slower than her most of her cross country 5k times, I didn't feel as bad about my slow 5k. It was just a slow course. I'm looking forward to running when I am moving a little faster though.

It was a fun way to start off the morning. I think it definitely sent Adam back into running retirement though...

Snow Puppy Pictures and Trail running

2010-11-21T17:32:00.006-05:00

First the pictures I was trying to put up in my last post. The weather was sunny and back to a bit warmer this weekend, so of course, different than these snowy pictures but dog pictures are always fun :)

Cooper chasing Mickey chasing Frito.
Mickey with a dusting of snow. "What is this stuff?"
Cooper and Mickey, waiting for the ball.
Cooper chasing Mickey (I think...)
Frito looking for the bunny.
Mickey giving his paw.

The weather was a little warmer this weekend, highs of 50's and maybe low 60's. Adam and I and the dogs got out for trail runs at Deer Creek Canyon Park both mornings. It is such a beautiful park, but a tough run. If I can do a run like that once a week, I'll get in pretty good shape. Saturday we did an out an back for 50+ mins with all 3 dogs. The run was basically all uphill, and then back downhill. We had beautiful views and amazing scenery. This was Mickey first trail run and he did very well. Cooper was a bit tired, so we decided we would give him a rest day on today. He has seemed to enjoy playing so much with Mickey with all the wrestling and tug of war and all, but has seemed a little lethargic, not wanting to play fetch as much, so I think he is getting tired. He is middle aged after all and needs his rest.

Today we joined a couple of loops and on the second loop it seemed like we were done climbing and then we would run up some more. We had some spectacular views, but I had to make sure to keep my eyes on the trail so I didn't trip. We planned to bring the camera, but somehow forgot. So we'll go back another time with the camera. We were in a bit of a hurry today so wouldn't have much time to stop and take pictures anyway. We ended up running 63 mins or so, which with all the uphill/downhills and rocks, was pretty tough. I don't know how Adam runs so well when he hasn't been running much at all. It's really not fair! It was nice to have him along for the runs. He makes for a nice triathlon training partner. Too bad he's only a triathlete in his off season.

It's been awhile

2010-11-18T21:24:00.002-05:00

I tried to post yesterday but had some technical difficulties putting pictures up of the dogs playing in the snow that we had last week. So, no snow dogs for now.

It's been a busyish few weeks. My mom was in Colorado last week end for a conference and came up Saturday and Sunday to visit. It was nice to see her and for her to see where we live. She and I were both really tired on Sunday, so we skipped plans to go for a hike and just lazed around.

We got our first snow last Tuesday and it has snowed a couple times since then! Thankfully, it doesn't seem to stick! The best kind of snow--it looks pretty coming down and doesn't stay around long enough to cause too many problems.

Mickey keeps getting bigger. And he plays nonstop. He has shown just how much of a border collie he is by showing his love for chasing and catching the Frisbee. He is sort of like a hybrid of Cooper and Frito in terms of personality plus a lot of puppy energy. And of course with his own unique weird personality of his own. Right now he is crawling under the bed.

So far swimming is going pretty well. I went to the early masters swim 2x last week and swam once on my own. So far I went 1x this week to masters and plan to go tomorrow am and swim on my own once this weekend. For now that seems good. There was a huge difference in difficulty between the MWF group and Tu/Th group. I went MW last week and it is a large group and most everyone there is fast. Tu/Th (based on me going one time) is much smaller and much less competitive. I like the MWF group better--I will have to work a lot harder there and will improve a lot more with this group.

Besides swimming, I have been running and strength training and wishing I had the money to buy a mountain bike. Not yet, but hopefully soon. I could ride my tri bike, but I'm not in the mood as much right now and during the week that would involve riding the trainer, so I'm not ready for that quite yet.

I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend and then a 3 day week and Thanksgiving!!! Adam doesn't have a bike right now, so he may run a Turkey Trot with me and maybe I can convince him to go for a nice trail run with me this weekend :)

early swim, weather, and dogs

2010-11-08T21:35:00.002-05:00

I finally got up in time for the 5:15 am masters swim. It certainly helped that the clocks changed yesterday so it sort of felt like 6:15 am instead. Sort of. I have so much work to do. I got in what I think was the slowest (or one of the slowest) of 6(?) lanes and was the slowest one in it. Yikes! My intervals were on the 1:40 to 1:50 (swim +rest) and I was definitely struggling. Hopefully with a few weeks of consistency, I'll move up to the next faster lane and take 5-10 seconds off my interval, and then work on moving up lanes and speeds from there.

I'm happy I went. Now that I finally got up and went it will be a lot easier. But man I was so tired all day! I'm not used to swimming at all and definitely not used to getting up early.

It has been so warm here but I guess it is going to come to an end. 40's and maybe colder this week with a couple days of possible snow. I got out to bike yesterday and it was sunny when I left but when I got out towards the mountains it got cloudy and really windy. I was going downhill and only hitting 11-15 mph at times when I would normally go 25-30+. I ended up riding 50 mins out and 40 mins back, slow on the way out partially from the wind and partially from climbing.

Mickey is getting bigger everyday. I weighed him on Saturday and he was 36 lbs. I think he is going to end up being bigger than Cooper and Frito. But I guess we will see. He and Frito share a taste for garbage. After we went to the grocery store last night we returned to find Frito and Mickey had eaten/torn up some tissues and Halloween candy wrappers. And ironically, Cooper doesn't eat garbage, but Cooper did throw up while they were eating the garbage. The drama/excitement/barking perhaps.

Mickey and 2011 racing

2010-11-06T11:28:00.004-04:00

We decided to name the dog Mickey. As in Mickey Mouse for his big ears. I was looking at him yesterday and what looked like it might be a a border collie/lab/pit bull mix, looks like it may be a border collie/lab/great dane mix. Just based off my experience from petting every dog I see. He is 8 months or so, so he can't get that much bigger. Can he? He is a sweet little guy, but he definitely was not house trained like the people who gave him up said he was. That is the difference between getting a dog from a rescue place and from an owner surrender. A rescue organization tells you the truth, an owner that is looking to get rid of a dog...not so much. But he's a young dog and he will learn. He and Cooper have become best buddies. Cooper doesn't quite have his energy, but he digs deep and finds the energy to tug, wrestle, fetch and chase. Cooper really is fast--even in his old age he can out sprint a puppy. Micky just head butts him to get him to drop the ball or takes it out of his mouth.

I took it pretty easy this week. It took awhile for em to stop feeling the effects of the cold. When I push myself when I have a cold, I have had a tendency in the past to get bronchitis, so I really was cautious.

I was almost solely running for a few weeks and I started to miss the variety. The training plan I was on was not incorporating any cross training, and I like cross training and feel better doing it. So, I took a step back and thought about what it is that I really want to do and what I want to accomplish. The problem is, there are a lot of things I want to so and accomplish, and I can't do all of them and be as successful as I want to be. I could do all of them and do them all halfway, and then be dissatisfied with my performance. Or I could pick and choose and focus. So, I'm now in the pick and choose stage. I have a whole list of races I want to do. Now, I just need to narrow it down to what is important and what optimizes my goals.

So, the list of races I want to do next year that needs to be trimmed down or maybe some different races shuffled in:

Phoenix Rock and Roll Half Marathon
Xterra West Championship - Lake Las Vegas April
Littlefoot Triathlon May
Xterra Four Corners June
Xterra Deuces Wild June
Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon June
Boulder Peak Triathlon July
Xterra Beaver Creek July
Xterra Indian Peaks August
Rattlesnake Tri August
USAT Nationals-Burlington, VT August
Xterra Lory August
Xterra Nationals September
Xterra World Championships October

Obviously August is the heaviest and needs the most trimming...

A few things

2010-11-02T22:25:00.003-04:00

1. I feel a little better, but my lungs still feel like junk :(

2. I sliced my knuckle on the cheese grater on Saturday after my race and the darn wound keeps opening up. Ouch!

3. We got 5 bags of candy in anticipation of lots of trick-o-treaters on Sunday. We had a lot of trick-o-treaters, but we have a lot of candy left over too.

4. My brother is in Denver for a geology conference for a few days. We got to see him on Saturday and go to dinner in Denver with him too. It was so nice to see him.

5. We got another dog. We have been thinking about it for awhile and looked at several over the last few months. Adam came across a dog on Craigslist named Blue- a young Border collie mix that was too much for his owners.We went to meet him on Sunday and he and Cooper and Frito had fun playing so we brought him home for a trial for a few days. We want to change his name but we aren't sure what to yet. So far, I've been calling him Mr. He's a ball full of energy and loves to follow Coopy around and play with any toy he can get his paws and jaws on. And suggestions on names are welcome.

Bear Creek 10 Spot Race Report

2010-10-31T18:57:00.002-04:00

This was my first race in Colorado and my first running race since April. I wasn't really sure how I was going to feel but I knew I was in the best running shape I've been in for awhile.

The hike last Sunday really put me in a big hole. I think that wore me out and was probably the major cause of me getting sick. Then I upped my running ad run intensity during the week and did track 2 days before the race. A couple hours after my track workout my nose started to run and the coughing began. I had already signed up for the race online (to save a whopping $3.50), so even though I was taking NyQuil Thursday and Friday nights and DayQuil all day Friday, I decided to race Saturday because I had already paid for it. My legs were still sore from Thursday track but I was hoping they would loosen up as the run went on.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Sunny and a high of 70. The race started at 9, so it was a little chilly but things were warming up nicely. It was a decent turnout, almost 200 people. I jogged a mile or so to warmup and felt ok, not great but not horrible. I lined up near the front, because no one else seemed to want to and we were off.

The course started off flat, but quickly started off on a gradual uphill and then narrowed to a steeper/long uphill. I got passed by a woman, then another, then more people. I tried to relax and pace myself--it was 10.5 miles after all. My legs felt awful. They were so sore already, I couldn't breathe. Maybe once I adjusted to the effort I would feel better?

I hit mile 1 in 8:05. Wow. Not good. Yeah, it was hilly, but still. Ok, just keep moving. Mile 2, at 16:04, a little better but not much, I mean still hilly, but it felt like the longest 16 mins of my life. Some sections of the course were nice but this section was on a trail that ran right along side the highway. Not as scenic as I was hoping for.

At this point, I knew it was going to be a training day only. My legs were tightening up on my and I couldn't breathe well at all. I got passed by some people on the really tough long uphill, then passed most of them on the downhill. Most people run really slow downhill. Even when I feel horrible, I can at least run downhill fast.

The course was 2 loops and I seriously considered dropping at halfway, but I started sort of feeling good at that point. On the hill at the start of the second loop I started to pass people. Maybe everyone else just went out too fast? I had a good mile or so, then I started to have trouble breathing again and my legs tightened back up and I just survived it back to the finish with a couple of long walking breaks.

I got beat by a woman wearing full makeup, earrings, perfume, and a fuel belt (even though there were 3 aid stations and it was only 10.5 miles and not that hot). I was kicking myself for that. I did beat the woman wearing an ipod and the guy wearing the bunny ears so I was happy about that.

The stretch along the lake for the last 3/4 mile or so was pretty, but the rest of the course was not as scenic as I hoped. Of all the runs I've done since I've been here, this is the worst I've felt and slowest my legs have turned over. I'm hoping it is from the cold and not from being worn down from training and the hike, but it may be a combination of all 3.

I ended up running 8:24 pace overall and 19th female. Not good for me but it is what it is. I'm glad I finished it but it was not smart of me to run it when I was sick.

So far so good except

2010-10-28T22:19:00.002-04:00

I have a bit of a cold. My nose started running and I started sneezing late this afternoon. Hopefully it's only a little cold.

So far this week I have been sticking to my run plan. Day off Monday (that was easy!). 45 min run Tuesday with 6x1min hard, 5 mins moderate. 6 miles easy on Wednesday. And today...Track. I've started running on my lunch break which is a new thing for me. Now that it gets dark earlier, it is nice to be able to run out during the daylight. There is a nice park near work and I also get an amazing view of the snow covered mountains on the way back.

So back to the track workout. I haven't done track in a long long time and never at altitude. I am racing this Saturday by the way, so I scaled the workout back a bit to 2x800, 4x400 with 400 jog rests. The high school must have been on fall break because the football team was out practicing in the middle of the day and I didn't have the track to myself like I expected. I was a little worried they were going to make me leave, but they left me alone. I didn't feel too speedy and my lungs definitely didn't feel great, but it was a starting point. I have a lot of work to do, so it's a good thing there are 12 weeks. The first 800 was 3:08 and each 200 got slower, second was 3:14 (I tried to pace but same story). The 400's were even paced in 92, 92, 91, 91. The third 400 just when I was going faster a celebratory football player didn't see that he ran onto the track right in front of me and I had to slow down and move out of his way. One of the hazards of running when the football team is there I guess.

I signed up for a 10.5 mile trail race on Saturday. It looks like a cool race so hopefully my cold goes away. My brother is also coming into Denver for a geology conference so I'll get to see him a bit over the next few days. If only we had extra bikes.

I would write more, but I should go to sleep early and take care of this cold.

Hiking and the rest of the week

2010-10-25T21:48:00.008-04:00

Since I haven't updated in a week, this will probably be a little of everything.

I guess I'll start with the weekend since it's fresh in my mind. Saturday I slept in until 9:30 which is really late for me, but was really needed! I haven't been sleeping well for various reasons and I guess Saturday morning seemed to be a good morning to catch up. I took my time getting out for a run and had a good 80 min run from the house to some trails. For the last few years longer runs I tend to feel worse as they go along, but this felt better the second half. I guess since I'm running more than 1-3 times a week and my body is accustomed to running, I actually warm up and feel good after 40 mins to an hour instead of ready to stop. The weather changes very quickly here. Maybe because it's fall or because it's close to the mountains, I'm not sure. One minute I was overheating, regretting the decision to run midday, the next the wind was blowing and the sky clouded over and it was sprinkling and I was covered with goosebumps. It turned out to be a very good encouraging run.

Adam and I wanted to go up near Boulder on Saturday for a hike, but he went for a group ride that ended up lasting until 2 and the weather was a bit iffy, so we decided to go Sunday instead. Adam's uncle called and invited us up to his friends house where he was staying just off of Deer Creek (where I biked last week), so we decided to go up there and see him and do a hike up there on the property. We got to see some amazing views of Denver, Chatfield Park and the whole surrounding area. It would be pretty amazing to live up there if it wasn't so far away from everything. Maybe if I didn't have to work. Living at 10,000 feet would probably be good for an athlete. We had fun but I got a little nauseous on the drive down--so many switch backs!

We went hiking on Sunday up near Boulder. A hike called Bear Peak. It was under an hours drive to get there and I was hoping to do the hike and have energy to take care of several errands after I got home. I underestimated how long it would take and how exhausted I would be.

We hiked up to the peak to either the right or the left of the "Devils Thumb" (that thing sticking up in the middle of the picture there) It looks far away...and it was.
This is the Devil's Thumb closer up.

We started off the hike and immediately two ambulances pulled up the trail behind us. It turned out way up the trail (which we passed an hour or two later) a girl fell on some rocks and hit her nose. At least it seemed that way, she had a bandage/brace on her nose. I felt good to start and the trail wasn't too tough for the first hour or so. Every once in a while we would look back and we could see better and better views. Cooper and Frito were full of energy. They love hiking
Cooper would run ahead and look back at us like "Come on guys! What are you waiting for!" After several hours, he was dragging way behind us :) Typical Coopy.

To start, Adam tied Frito to him. Once we got further up the trail to the rocks he was given his freedom to scramble on the rocks.
I felt pretty good at the start and had a big smile on my face.

There were photos from the rest of the hike but there were some technical difficulties with uploading them, so I will probably post some of my favorites from them at another time.

I did a good job of hydrating early and often and had a gluten free, rice free, everything free cookie that we bought at a gas station before the hike. You can tell you are in boulder when you can buy locally made gluten free treats at the gas station. But I ate the cookie at the beginning and decided I was going to eat a snack when I got to the top. Which I didn't realize was so far away. When we got to the tougher hiking section with the boulders and at higher altitude I was really not doing well. I was moving slow, huffing and puffing. I was cold, then hot. I was not having fun and I was enjoying the beauty of the hike, but really just wanted to be done.

Once I wised up and realized I needed to eat something because the peak was much further away than I thought, I felt much better. My legs still hurt, but I wasn't ready to curl up under a rock and sleep. I started moving faster and once we got up to the top the vies of the mountains to the west covered in snow, and the cites to the east were amazing. It was a nice accomplishment to get up there, but so tough! We didn't stay too long at the top. It was windy and cold and Frito was shaking.

Going down was faster, but it was still painful and it was a long time. Total of 4.5 hours and I was very cold. A White Hot Chocolate from Starbucks was in order!

I am so sore today. Definitely a beautiful hike, but I should have ate more, ate earlier, had a few more warm clothes and been in better hiking shape (or done a shorter hike).

The rest of the week training wise was mostly running. I felt really good running and overdid it on Thursday with strength training and ended up with a serious knot in my left hamstring that is still lingering and only got worse from the weekend's endeavours. I swam once, by myself in the warmer pool at the closer rec center. Warm pools make me sleepy. I decided at the beginning of the week that I was 95% sure that I wanted to race the rock and roll half marathon in phoenix in January and starting today would be a 12 week training block for it, so I let last week be pretty flexible with what I did. Going for a massive tiring hike the day before my training started probably wasn't the best idea, but at least the plan started with a rest day.

Adam rode with me Thursday from the house over to Chatfield State Park and to the start of the climb up Deer Creek. It was nice to know that it was so close (2.5 miles or so) and that most of it was on bike trail or low traffic roads in the park or roads with bike lanes. The busy road on the way there we skipped on the way back and explored to find a longer but lower traffic route. So now I know how to get to some good road routes from the house on my own which makes me feel a lot better. I don't like driving places to go cycling so it makes me feel better knowing where I am going now and knowing I have good cycling so close by.

Lot's of running ahead this week and some swimming too.

Swimming, biking, sleeping weekend

2010-10-18T22:02:00.004-04:00

Since we moved to Colorado, I haven't been biking or swimming much. Mostly just running and lifting weights. It was beautiful weather this weekend and while it would have been nice to run, my legs were feeling a little tired and I knew it was a good time to get back in the pool. The longer I was away from swimming the easier it was becoming for me to stay away.

So I waited around Saturday morning to go to masters swim at 11:00am. And only 3 people, including myself were there. I was glad I went because I got to meet the coach that runs the early (and I mean early) MWF group and he seems nice and like he knows his stuff, and it got me over my fear of doing a swim workout again. I ended up with 3600 yrds of swimming and while it wasn't fast, it wasn't horrible either. I wasn't completely dying at the end, so that was good. I'm in bad enough shape that I am swimming around the speed for intervals in the yard pool that I was swimming in the meter pool. So, that's something to work on. Seeing that is a good motivation to get to the pool consistently. The goal now is to get to masters swimming 3 days a week for the next month and then bump that up. After swimming, I had a nice long nap :)

Since the weather was so nice on Sunday, I rode up Deer Creek with Adam. It is a long climb not too far from where we live. We were going to do it last Sunday, but it was cold and rainy and I was not dressed warm enough for the weather. Sunday was sunny and perfect.

We went early to avoid the traffic. Cycling traffic that is. There are a lot of cyclist that go ride there. The house we wanted to rent is on this road, but we ultimately decided it was too far from my office and the landlord was too slow getting back to us on everything. Riding by the house and seeing what a nice setting it was in and what a nice house it was and how different things would had been in that house compared to the Highlands Ranch house was a little...I don't really have a word for it, not sad, but sort of. Anyway, that was way up the climb.

At the bottom, I was excited when we were getting ready because I saw prairie dogs!

That's what I am pointing at. I dressed warm to start but quickly heated up. The first 5 miles went by fast and I thought the climb (which I thought was 10 miles) would be over in no time. Along the way we passed some dirt trails and I was wishing I had a mountain bike. I can't wait until I get my mountain bike. Then we turned left and went up past the house that we may have lived in and kept going up. At around maybe 8 miles it got steeper and it was beautiful, but my legs were tired and I was wishing I had different gearing so I could spin more. Or a road bike. I got a side stitch and then started hyperventilating and then of course Adam pulled out the camera to take a picture, so I smiled.

At around 8.5 miles, I asked, "It's a 10 mile climb right?" And Adam said it was 10 miles from the park where we were going to ride from last week, but 14 miles from where we started from today. Ouch! My legs were hurting. Adam had fun sprinting to catch riders ahead of us and then circling back while I just kept chugging along and tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery. From far away the mountains look brown, but when you're in them there are so many beautiful colors to see. After the 10 or 11 mile mark it wasn't as steep except for a few places and I was happy to see my mph go above 8. At the top of the climb there was a cyclist rest stop and I was looking forward to getting there and having a snickers.
I was happy when I made it. My first time at a cycling rest stop :)

They had a donation box where you can put in a dollar or two and take a bar or Gatorade from the cooler and sit at picnic benches. It was a nice little rest before descending back down. On the way down there were so many cyclists riding up. Adam was right, we got out early and beat the traffic.

I took a nice long nap after that. It was a pretty relaxing weekend. After my nap I cooked up a tasty sweet potato Shepard's pie and then finally got around to doing some unpacking/organizing of my closet. I have more dri-fit race t-shirts and socks with dogs on them than I will ever need.

So now that I am back biking and swimming, what's next? Well, I want to go to masters swim 3 times a week. I'm not ready to get back on the trainer again and so I'm not sure about biking during the week since I'm not very familiar with the area yet and there is not a lot of daylight after work. I will likely have a mountain bike within the next month. I'm trying to figure out just where I want to put my focus next year and what races I want to do and where. I know I want to do some Xterra races and some road tris (Olympic Distance and shorter). I am tossing around the idea of doing the NYC marathon which would involve qualifying via half marathon before 1/31/2011. I have a lot of things I want to do, but just need to pick and choose the few things I really want to do, because I most certainly can't do everything.

And in case you didn't know...Ducks football is ranked 1st!

Random October 13

2010-10-13T20:09:00.003-04:00

So far the weather here is beautiful almost every day. I didn't really mind the rain we had yesterday except for the time it added to my commute.

I have yet to understand/predict the traffic patterns here. I could pretty much predict how long the drive to work was going to take me in NJ based on the time of year/weather/time I left. I guess I need a little more time for that or maybe I'll just never know.

There's more snow on the mountains and it is absolutely beautiful!

I thought I was going to go to masters swim a lot more once I moved here. So far, I've only been once. Buying that 20-swim punch pass isn't working out so well for me yet...

The problem with swimming is that the longer you've been away from the pool, the scarier it is to go back. Especially to a 90 swim workout at 5:15 am at altitude.

I was spoiled living so close to a Wegman's in NJ. The grocery stores here are over priced and are nothing very special. We've quickly realized that unless we buy the Kroger brand or whatever they decide they want us to buy that is on their "club sale" at the King Soopers, it is actually the same price to shop at Whole Foods. So that's what were doing. Yup, I'm one of those people that lives in a cul-de-sac, drives an SUV, shops at Whole Foods, and I'm sure I could add to the list...

We've started planning the menu out in advance and only buying food from the list (which keeps the Whole Foods trip in check somewhat). So yesterday I was chopping veggies and baking away. I don't really like garlic, and realized it's not really worth the effort of chopping it to put into a meal if I don't really like it that much. So next time, I'm leaving it out. Also, word to the wise, if you don't have any other oil or butter, Olive Oil is not a good substitute. It's still cake and all, but it wasn't that good.

We went to Adam's cousin's wedding in Denver this weekend. Up until that point I was trying to make the shift back to gluten free but wasn't 100% there. This weekend pushed me over the edge and back to the gluten free side. At the rehearsal dinner I ate adult mac and cheese. Then at the wedding I had appetizers filled with wheat, then several types of bread, and a cupcake, along with the regular meal. It was like once I gave myself the ok, I didn't stop. Then brunch the next morning, I wasn't feeling great but I added on 2 bagels and 2 cupcakes and started feeling seriously ill. Smooth move. My lungs and stomach ached. I just wanted to lay down in a room by myself and sleep. I guess maybe I needed to feel that bad to realize that the taste of the food wasn't worth feeling ill.

Adam and I got dressed to go ride Deer Creek Sunday afternoon but a cold rain started and I was feeling pretty miserable, so even though we were out there in our biking clothes we headed back and I took a map instead.

The wedding was really nice, the shortest ceremony I've every been to and a really nice reception and I had a lot of fun dancing with Adam :)

I had a really good run on Saturday. There's a dirt path only 10 mins running from our house called the Highline canal. I ran one direction on it after work during the week last week and ran the other direction away from Denver on Saturday. I ended up with a 72+ min run and felt really good. It reminds me of the Delaware Raritan Canal Towpath in NJ except a few differences here:
-No water in the canal here this time of year
-No fisherman (a good thing!)
-More runners (but not too many), it's nice to have time alone on the trail
-Less trees/shade--I miss the trees :(
-a nice view of the mountains for most of the run!

I still need to organize all my clothes from the move. Spending 20 mins looking for socks every day is getting really old. That is one of the big goals for this weekend. That and doing the Deer Creek ride.

And to end the post, a quote for the day (or week I suppose).

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. ~John Powell

Adjusting

2010-10-07T20:55:00.004-04:00

It's been 8 days since we arrived in Colorado. It's sort of starting to feel like home and still an adjustment. I still haven't quite gotten into a routine. I started work on Monday, which certainly helped establish some sort of a daily routine. But...

The moving truck arrived after 9 pm on Sunday night. Seriously! I was so happy to finally have a real bed to sleep in, more than just a couple changes of clothes, real dishes, and all that other good stuff that comes in the moving truck, but the timing could have been a little better. I was pretty exhausted after staying up past midnight waiting for everything to be unloaded. But at least it was another important step towards settling in.

Of course with work all week, I haven't had much of a chance to unpack. Adam has been stuck doing most of it, which he predicted. Things are still a little out of sorts, but it's getting there. I'll be glad when the house is fully done with all the boxes unpacked and all the pictures hung and furniture in all the rooms. This house is a little too big compared to the old one, so let's just say the dogs have a lot of room to run around right now :)

I haven't been biking and swimming much, but I have been enjoying running here and have been doing some much needed strength training at the gym too. Almost every day I've run different directions on different trails. I'm sure I'll run out of different places to run soon, but so far, I'm having fun exploring. I've only been out biking 2x, and they have just been easy spins around the neighborhood with Adam. No crazy climbing in the mountains yet. For now I'm enjoying running and am thinking about signing up for a race or two in November once I've adjusted to the altitude a bit more.

I'm looking forward to getting settled and unpacked more and exploring everything around here.

A few more things to note because I was thinking about them

-In the middle of the night last night, there was this really loud screeching noise that woke us up. It continued and got louder and then dogs started barking. It was so loud and sounded horrible! No one else in the neighborhood even turned their lights on, like it was no big deal! Adam called the police and they told them it was probably foxes or coyotes and it was just nature taking it's course. So much for peace and quiet backing to an open space.

-Coopy was really itcy for a few days. I think the dry air, too much sun, baths, and bugs all got to him. Poor little guy, he is now using moisturizing cream.

-Even though I have no desire to ever race an Ironman or Ironman Hawaii, I can't help but get excited for the coverage and for all the people racing this weekend

-I still can't get over the views of the mountains here!

-Coopy and Frito eat a lot more here/eat their food faster/seem hungrier here

-I am not as hungry here

NJ to CO road trip

2010-10-03T19:42:00.008-04:00

Adam and I made a long drive from NJ to Colorado, with the dogs and a detour up to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to see my family for a couple days. I've driven out from Michigan on I-80 to Idaho many times on family trips when I was a kid and taking it out to Oregon when I was in college. I remembered how boring it was, but I didn't want to fly the dogs out and figured it would be a fun thing to do.

The first leg of the trip through PA, OH, and up into Michigan was tiring. We were so tired from the packing and moving leading up to the trip. The couple days rest with my family in Michigan turned out to be just what we needed. I haven't been back to Michigan in the summer/fall since 2004. It is much nicer there when it is warm :) I went running several times in Deerfield park, where I ran thousands of miles when I was a teenager and where my high school cross country course was. It was a really nice visit.

Then we got back on the road for 2 solid days of driving--MP to Omaha, then Omaha to our final destination.

The pictures aren't in order and I'm too lazy to change them.

Here's the backyard of our new house. In the past few days we've come to realize that living on a culdesac and backing to open space is not as quiet as we hoped. Everyone here seems to have a dog, which is great, except for the ones that bark incessantly. And almost everyone also seems to have several children which like to spend a lot of time outside playing--also great that they are outside getting exercise, except when I am trying to take a Saturday afternoon nap and all the kids are running around screaming. I suppose it will be an adjustment. Still nice to have a yard. We also noticed on the first day that Frito was bringing in fleas from the yard. Not a nice surprise. Every time I went out I also got bites everywhere. A little frustrating but hopefully being taken care of with the dogs Advantix, flea baths, and a spray used outside.

When we moved in, Frito quickly found his favorite spot in the house--next to the door for the backyard. It gets really sunny here and he will curl up here and sleep in the sun all day.

Cooper in his Doggles sitting in my lap on the ride into Denver :)

I was pretty excited when I saw this sign. I thought this meant the trip was almost over and that we would not be staring at cornfields anymore. Unfortunately the drive off of 80 to Denver was pretty similar to Nebraska and still had corn.
Cooper enjoying the smells of the Midwest :)

I just love seeing the windmills.
Only saw a few million or so of these.
Precious little Cooper in the backseat protecting my purse :)

Once we got here we had a lot of things to buy for the house and to get acquainted with the area. The usual stuff you do when you move. We realized Adam's aunt is only a 1/2 mile walk/run/bike down the bike path from our house which is nice. Always nice when you can get places faster by foot than in a car. We explored the bike trails on our bikes and checked out 2 of the 4 rec centers in our community.

Our first day at altitude, Adam and I went to masters swim. Adam, who hasn't swum much in a year and not more than 1500 yds or so. I actually haven't done much swimming lately either and not many long swims. I figured since it was the triathlon masters swim and not the tougher group, we'd be ok. We got 2200 yards into the workout and I was pretty tired. I looked up and the coach had written 3x500 on the board. When had I turned into such a sissy that I didn't want to do the 3x500's? I looked at the clock hoping it was 8:30 pm and that it was time to leave, but no such luck. So, I made it through 2x500's and then everyone else was leaving so we called it good. Mostly just my arms were tired, but perhaps some of it was the altitude too. There is at least one masters swim practice every day so I have options to improve, I just have to get myself there.

Anyway, the moving truck still isn't here and my first day of work is tomorrow. Adam's cousin's wedding is this weekend (in Denver) and Adam's parents are coming out to visit. It looks like this is going to be a very busy week.

Leaving NJ

2010-10-02T11:40:00.005-04:00

It's been a very busy few weeks. Adam and I are now in Colorado. In an empty house with no furniture, dishes, none of our stuff. The moving truck will hopefully arrive tomorrow.

The last few weeks have been stressful, exciting, overwhelming, sad, exhausting, pretty much a little of everything. First off, packing up and leaving the house was difficult for me as was my last few days of work. As far as work went, I knew I was ready to move on to a new job in a new place and that it was a good step for me career wise and personally. When it came down to the last couple days it really started to hit me that I was leaving and I got really sad. I was going to miss a lot of the people I had worked with the last 4+ years and miss some of the work I had been doing. But life is about change, and if you don't change and challenge yourself, then you stop growing. At least in my opinion.

So, I had my last day of work and the moving truck arrived the next morning. We had prepared by going through the things we wanted to pack in advance. I hadn't gone through a lot of things after the divorce so many things in the house were still Mark's and things that we had together. There were many papers, photos, cards, etc that I had avoided going through that I then had to go through and decide what I wanted, what I wanted to throw out, and what I should set aside for Mark to decide if he wanted. It was all very overwhelming and I regret not doing this sooner but at least it is done now, and I feel a whole lot better unloading a little more baggage.

I tend to hold onto things I might need later, just in case. I finally parted ways with some things I had kept for awhile. I donated several bags of clothing that I hadn't worn in years. One pair of jeans I found a ticket to a baseball game 5 years ago. Why was I still keeping these? I went through all of my trophies and medals from all the triathlons and running races I've done and only kept the ones that were important to me. I looked into finding a place to recycle them, but it didn't seem like there was anywhere. I really wish races would stop giving out plastic trophies and even finisher medals. Perhaps they could ask on registration if people want a finisher medal so the people that want them could have them and those that don't aren't wasting the money/materials. Rather than a plastic trophy, I'd rather see a donation to a charity, or a trophy that is use able--like the maple syrup at mooseman. Anyway, here's a shot of all the medals and trophies I got rid of.

It was good to go through all the stuff in the house to get rid of things I didn't need, but I also found some things I forgot I had. Cooper had fun with a stuffed lion that we found.

I lived in the house in Branchburg for 5.5 years. That's the longest I've ever lived somewhere as an adult. While I have a lot of sad memories in that house there are a lot of things I will miss about it too. After the movers came and the house was empty, I couldn't help get a little emotional.

The weekend before we left we took a trip out to Round Valley Reservoir--one of the places I'll miss the most.

I was talking to my brother and he said something that I thought was funny and true. I'm moving from one of the most underrated states in the US to the most overrated state in the US. Still probably a step up moving to CO, but NJ really wasn't that bad. When I moved there I thought it was going to be horrible. But it turned out that the biking was great, there were nice parks like Jockey Hollow, Round Valley and the DR canal path. Colorado is definitely nice and I'm excited to be here, but like every place I've lived, it has it's strengths and weaknesses.

There is much more to write about, but I need to get out for a run and explore some more of the trails here.

miscellaneous

2010-09-14T20:56:00.004-04:00

I'm getting a little overwhelmed with all the things that have to be done before the move in the next couple weeks! It's a little crazy to think that in October, I will be back in Colorado, for good!

I was a little sad to not be racing this weekend. I was originally supposed to do Pumpkinman half up in Maine and seeing the updates leading up to race day made me wish more and more that I was going. But I knew that I definitely was not healthy enough or in shape to do a half, nor with all the things going on in my life right now, did I have time to go up to Maine and race for half a day and then try to recover from it. Then I wanted to do Skylands, which is a great local race, but after my fainting incident and again just all the busyness, just decided not to race. I didn't feel as bad when it was a rainy day on Sunday, but still a little as I saw the results roll in for Skylands, Rev 3, Pumpkinman, ITU worlds, IM Wisconsin, Pacific Crest, ummm did anyone not race last weekend, jeez!!!

Now that it is almost time to leave NJ, all the people and places that I'm going to miss are really starting to sink in. So is the excitement though, so it's all mixed up in a great big bundle of emotions.

Yesterday I cancelled my swim membership at the Y. Still a month left on it at all, but another reminder that this is really happening. And then of course, I only got to swim 350m before the pool got closed for lightning!

To end this post is a few pictures from the weekend that we spent house hunting in CO. We didn't take a lot of pictures during the house hunting part. That was mostly, drive on the highway, look at house, take notes, drive more, look at another house, take more notes, etc, etc.

After1.5 exhausting days of house hunting we got time to stop and take a breather. I went for a run at Deer Creek Canyon Park which was a nice place to trail run and will be a nice place to mountain bike too.

Here I am pre run. I ran up to the top of the hill to the right and other than my nose feeling like it was about to start bleeding, the altitude didn't seem to bother me too much. I loved running on the trail.

Getting my shoes on! So excited to run after an exhausting couple of days!

After we ran we had more houses to look at! Ahhh! After we were finally done for the day Saturday we saw a sign for houses for sale up a dirt road so we followed it all the way up the mountain. Not that we were going to live up there, but the views were great!

For now, we didn't end up with a house in the mountains. But maybe someday, and for now, we are close enough!

Adam turned 27 on Labor day this year. For his birthday he wanted to do something epic. No one seemed to want to show up homes on Sunday and I think we had our fill and had made our decision anyway. So, Adam rode up Mt. Evans, a 27+ mile climb and the highest paved road in the US. He was on his own for this one in terms of biking. I would offer the support.

While he rode the first 14 miles, I drove up and ran at Echo Lake. It was beautiful and surprisingly felt good and the altitude didn't bother me that much there.

I did fall towards the end of the run because I was staring off at the mountains and tripped on some rocks.

After Adam arrived at Echo Lake I drove up a few more miles and made sure he was okay, then ran 15 mins which was much more difficult.
Much less oxygen here for running.

Then every 2-3 miles I stopped to check on Adam. It was a scary drive up in the car. I didn't enjoy the views while I was driving, but did enjoy them when I was stopped.

Here's Summit Lake at around 23 miles into the climb.

And the top of the mountain. It was really windy up there. I don't know how he biked up in such high winds!

The first of many adventures in Colorado.

Update

2010-09-09T20:32:00.003-04:00

I have written on here for awhile. I've been very busy and very tired and this isn't going to be long because I'm still tired and still busy.

But, I have some exciting news which is part of why I have been so busy. I got a job offer in the Denver, CO area and will be moving! I'm very excited to move out west even though it is a big change and moving is a lot of work. A few months ago I started to realize just how much I needed a change and that while I like NJ, I really don't want to live here for the rest of my life. And that I don't like it enough to put up with the things that I don't like about it. I really never planned to live here. I ended up here at the last minute after Mark's job transferred us here with only 2 weeks notice. And while I have made many great friends here and have had some great experiences, I just felt like it was time for me to move on and move to a place where I chose to live, not a place that chose me.

When I thought about it, I also realized just how much time I waste sitting in traffic and what a positive lifestyle change that will be for me in that respect. I currently spend and average of 8-9 hours a week commuting. With the changes I will be making, I will getting back over 5-6 hours of my life that I was wasting sitting in traffic. And while I suppose I could have done this in NJ by moving closer, living closer wasn't really an affordable option for me in NJ. 5-6 hours a week is a lot of time that I could be sleeping, working out, playing with the dogs, whatever, just not sitting in my car.

Adam ans I flew out to Denver last weekend and picked out a house to rent with a nice big yard for Cooper and Frito. It was an exhausting trip and the houses all started to look alike after awhile. I did some trail running and managed to trip and fall because I was looking at the views instead of the trails. Whoops!

On Tuesday am, I went to get blood work done to test for celiac, iron, and other stuff. The guy took a lot of blood. 5 or 6 viles. I don't like having blood taken. I got nauseous. Then really hot. Then he said I got pale. Then my skin got clammy. The guy got out wet wash cloths and put them on my forehead and neck and then I started to slump over in the chair and he scooped me up and put me in another room on a table where I was laying down for a long time. That has never happened to me before from just having blood drawn. Maybe it was the flying, or being tired, or being at altitude, or since they took out more blood, but I felt horrible and tired all day and even on Wednesday. Yuck!

Anyway, I'll write more another time. I'm tired!