New Year!

Schedule

Monday (1/6), Wednesday, and Friday are big work days. Probably not much longer than 8 hours, but won't have time to leave in the middle of the day. I will get in early though so I can make it to the pool for the 3:30-6pm lap swim time. I might have to go to masters these nights if the day gets to long. Does that make sense?

Saturday- 1/11 - I will have to work for a couple of hours.  Finish up some stuff from Friday.

Other- Have gotten in contact with an MSU trip club member and a student senator. They are planning on putting on a race in the spring. I think April. I don't know how they are going to pull off anything good in four months. Further, everybody I have talked to says if I want MSU support for putting on a triathlon it should to be student directed. I call BS on this. We saw what happens with that this year with the cross race. Students come and go and have no long term interest in keeping a race going.

So this got me thinking and I think I am going to try and meet the pool director tomorrow. I might not even need MSU support to put the Bobcat on. I might have to pay to rent the pool, but I don't really care about MSU engagement for the race. The ultimate purpose would be to put on an awesome Montana race. It always has been.
Stay tuned.....

Nothing super exciting happened this week. My asthma went away on Friday. I guess the Advair really works. Maybe stress.

I got back at it on Friday and after some really good sleep Friday night felt so much better.

Saturday
Swimming was an adventure.  The 50 m pool was all lap swimming with one lane line in the middle of the pool. I was telling someone this and they were thinking we had to duck in the middle, but no the other way. I am so glad school is starting and I can swim at MSU on weekends if I need to. Worked a lot day. Came home and rode the trainer.

Sunday
Masters swim. I had fun. We did lots of sets of 14. In the end we had sprints and there were three of us. Tried to all sprint in one lane at the same time. Good open water but in the pool practice. It was pretty funny. Then we raced each other with just two each time. Ran after the swim. It was cold outside and the ground a little precarious at times.
Am feeling good about my run right now. One hour is pretty easy. I remember this not being the case in the past couple of years.

Monday
Swam. It was okay. Feeling a little off this day. Very wiggly when I try and go hard and have to breath on one side.
Rode rollers and watched bad TV. I feel guilty about it but I really enjoy the rollers in the winter. I like bad TV I guess. I don't like riding outside when it is cold.

Tuesday
Met a friend for the swim. She is usually faster than me but I held her this time. Excited about this! Also excited to maybe have a swim partner at MSU. I like having people to chase when I am supposed to go fast.
Got engrossed in my Bobcat planning and ran for an hour. I'm having a hard time finding a good 45 minute loop.

Wednesday
Ski was just shy of 3 hours. Wow, I am tired though. The snow after the 5 mile mark was really heavy and not recently groomed. I am blaming that on why I am so tired.  Went uphill for 8-10 miles and came down the same way. Beautiful. Love skiing up there.

Christmas

This blog isn't going to be very good. It's Wednesday night and I am pooped.

So some thoughts and highlights of the week. May be a little scattered. I keep thinking it is Sunday.

Sunday masters was Christmas fun day. We did the 12 days of Christmas. For example 5 golden rings was 5 50s doing a flip every 5 strokes. 8 was diving off the blocks 8 times which for some turned into  front flips etc. It was really fun and even hard. I was worked in a lot of strange places when it was all said and done.

Monday- the MSU gym is remodeling making it very easy to sneak in. Lawrence came and did the swim with me. We raced on the builds and really pushed the descends. I was keeping him in sight which has never ever happened. He even said I was getting faster. I can attribute a lot of it to my super awesome flipturns since I practice them so much in that pool.
BTW- why so much kicking with fins and strong kick? A more consistent kick? Stronger kick.

A cycling girl in Bozeman who is also a PT has two computrainers. I chatted with her about cycling a bit. Can we revisit power? Annalisa could set me up with some numbers (threshold test) and John and Lisa have the equipment I could borrow. I would like to get faster this year especially for doing those shorter races.

A downer of the week
I seem to be having as bout of asthma right now. My chest felt very tight yesterday skiing and I used the nebulizer 2x today. I think I would have been okay after the first time but Erik's moms is full of animal hair, dust, and smoke from the wood stove. Since my lungs were already bad I don't think that helped. Not actually feeling very well right now. Not sure what triggered it. Maybe have a little cold coming on. So, after all that I didn't get to enjoy my wonderful Christmas run.

Some quotes I accumulated in the last couple of days

My mom bought me a t shirt in a cute little bike shop in Wisconsin called Zuzu pedals "for a groovy bike life" the shirt says "run wild, my child"
Suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character. (I am not religious, but I got that from the bible. The bible says that character leads to hope but I don't really understand that last one yet, maybe someday)

Schedule-
Long work day Friday. A few hours of a work day Saturday.
Next week, not much going on. Lawrence is out of town and I am not sure I want to swim a long set by myself on New Years Eve? Thoughts?

Wouldn't mind skate skiing again. Either on the weekend or New Years day.

Hmmm (can't think of a title)

I changed the settings so if you go to those video links that I sent you last week they should work. I think

I think I should get a C- this week for my ability to read instructions and actually execute everything on the list. My ride on Sunday left me a few minutes short which made me suspicious because you never and I will repeat never, get the timing wrong. So upon further inspection those high cadence intervals were supposed to be done 3x not 1x. I was sooo tired though and it was already late. I didn't have the energy to do it. Then in the pool on Monday I ended up at the other end of the pool and didn't have my workout so wasn't sure what I was supposed to even do. Missed a 25 FAST. Made up for it by doing a 25 FAST but not in the correct order, so am not sure how effective that was. Also, forgot to use the paddles for a 200. Really not sure what is wrong with my brain.Suggestions for brain superfood?

Schedule- In Bozeman for Christmas. I only get Wednesday off. :(  However, I am going to take Tuesday off but am going back to work for a big day Thursday (ugghh). I was hoping to get in some good skiing on Tuesday or Wednesday. Most likely Tuesday. Will definitely have time for a run or ride on Wednesday. I need it after spending the morning with the mother in law.  Maybe a little ahead of myself for New Year's. When are you gone? Not sure about what we are doing. Also, only get Wednesday off. It would be fun to go on some sort of skiing or hotspring adventure.  I still need to think about it some more. Or, an epic New Year's eve day swim. I might even be able to round up some people. Will you write me something fun?

This weekend- Home with nothing but errands and some shopping for Christmas. Wouldn't mind getting in a ski!

Friday-
Wow, I was tired on this day. Masters swim on Thursday was a 1300 warm up. Long warm up, 800 descend, 600 (100 fast/100easy), 400 (50 fast/50 easy), 200 easy. 3300 total. I got lapped on the first 800 so only did 3200. My arms were tired and on Friday's swim my arms were more tired. Full PT session included all of the stretching. I woke up on Saturday feeling like I got beat up. Probably good to have a couple days to recover. Monday felt great!!

My weekend got kind of ordered around by my mother. Which means no inclination that I might need to get some exercise. It was a very nice Saturday though, so I am not really complaining. Lots of family in one day. My cousin makes chocolates, cookies, cakes etc. and I think I ate my fill for the whole year. Her's are just so delicious. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and still feel like I need to counter it with salty and vinegary. Feel like I gained 5lbs (stepped on the scale and have confirmation, need to get rid of that).  Sunday I got up and went for a run in Laurel. I decided these runs are my days to make peace with the wind. It was so windy I think I was stopped more than once and blown off the road when I finally got a crosswind. Got home from Billings/Laurel at around 6 and got on the bike. You already heard about that above.

Monday- Swim. Good swim. Finished 2700 in just about an hour. Liked those faster sets. Also heard about this above. Did this swim at lunch but had a huge work day. Left work at 8. Got on the rollers at 8:24. Got off at 9:24.

Tuesday- Went and did full PT session after work. In about 30 minutes I got in most of it.
Masters swim was very fly focused. In the 50m pool, so drills were 50m long. Chest press drill. I think it helped my fly. That is too long for me to swim lots of 50s. Focused on form etc for 25 and then swam free if I needed to. Did 2 400s where we did either 3 or 4 fly off the wall. That was really fun. Made the 400 hard but also broke it up. I could handle some of that in more workouts. Good solid swim

Wed- Another good solid swim. Liked this workout too. Going home to ride rollers.


That's about it. Nothing exciting. Not much new. Feeling good about the swim. Oh, I have bought some good shampoo but still go around feeling itchy, staticy, and like my hair is dirty.

Bobcat

First, I have decided to move forward with the Bobcat. I composed a letter appealing to the MSU year of Engaged Leadership and am sending it to a bunch of offices/people on campus to see who will bite. I was very nervous to hit send on that first letter. We will see how it goes. I think that if I can get permission to use the pool and campus the goal would be to have most of the ducks in a row before the Grizzly. Advertise at the Grizzly and maybe even open registration the Monday after. If I don't have things organized enough to do it by then, then maybe the race will start in 2015. A lot to do, but I need to get MSU permission first. Fingers crossed.
Can we talk a little more about the insurance. I don't really understand how you save $15,000 so was hoping for some more details. I am all about trying to save money so that it can go back toward the racers.

Also, should start trying to take a harder look at races and schedule? I can work on that this week. Got signed up for Calgary!!

Schedule- I am going to Billings this weekend for my Aunt's birthday. Probably a good weekend to go. No Masters because of a swim meet and no MSU pool because of the holiday schedule. Will leave mid morning on Saturday and come home Sunday.  Maybe a list for the weekend would be good. I can run in Billings on Sunday morning and can ride Saturday morning and Sunday evening. But I think a list would be less stressful.
Next Thursday I think I am going to some Christmas play with my mom. It probably starts around 7 so no Masters that day. As far as work, so far I am free. Have a meeting in a couple of minutes so will know more then.

I had Lawrence film me at the 30 minute swim. Out of the water, but thought you might like to have a look. I am the one in the awful black swimsuit. We had an ugly swimsuit competition and Audrey is the one wearing the skirt.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955140980780659634&oid=116359595224112393355

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955139337978423490&oid=116359595224112393355

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5955138091404705922&oid=116359595224112393355

(By the way, I may have tried to share these videos with you through google. I am still trying to navigate the google apps. I think I found a way to store them and thought I could email the link. I don't think it worked)

30 minute swim- I felt good about it. 1585. Stayed within 50 of almost everybody in my lane (a few were ahead by a bit more) at Masters and only missed the flip turn 2x. I think in the past my speed on the 30 minute swim was about 2:00/100. I think this year it was more like 1:50/100.

Did Sunday's run on the treadmill.It was still in the negative digits outside. Got a lot of Bobcat stuff workout out in my head. I cannot run fast on the treadmill. Not fast at all. This is one day where I was feeling particularly slow. Put the machine on random so I did go up lots of hills though. Is that bad or should I force myself to go a more normal outside pace?

Monday- Had one of those "couldn't deal with the day" mornings and called in sick. Finished my letter for the Bobcat and did some stuff around the house. Went to the pool and had a great swim. Was feeling really good. Did the whole PT routine. I did some straight leg dead lifts instead of the exercise ball for my hamstrings. There is another one called hamstring exploders that we used to do in g-fit. Is that okay? I find that plank, bridge, the back exercises etc really work my lower back. By the time I get to the hamstrings my back is so tired I don't get in much legs. Even if I do the lower back and then the hamstring it is tired. I guess I could do hamstrings first? What do you think.

Tuesday- Oops. Missed the pickups. Gave myself 30 minutes on the treadmill before meeting my mom for lunch. Didn't remember there was more to the workout until I was starting the run but then couldn't remember what was more to the workout. Ran faster than normal if that helps.

Rode the trainer in the evening. Since I have been avoiding all my bike issues since IM Wisconsin my cleat still had two screws in it. Ended up getting stuck in my pedal and I think I broke the cleat trying to get out. Crap. Why didn't I just fix it earlier? I meant to have Erik look at it. The metal part is still stuck to the pedal. Might have to switch to different pedals and shoes until I can get new cleats.

Wed- Swim. Looks pretty doable. Am going to get in a good PT routine tonight too.

Thankful on Thanksgiving

I had a couple of glasses of wine on Thanksgiving which I think was helping me to feel incredibly grateful to everybody in my life. I held back though and didn't start sending out random emails and texts. Still feeling so grateful for the incredible life I have gotten to have so far and all the people in it. Elliot, you are still my rock. Thank you very much.

The highlight of the whole week! I raced(really went after) the Huffing for Stuffing. Did the 10k in 45 minutes flat! The race was actually 6.63 miles or something so my final time was more like 47 minutes. 11th overall and AG 5th. I have never run a 10k that fast and I don't even think a 5k at that pace. Super stoked on the possibilities. It hurt very badly, but I was sort of in the mindset of cyclocross. It was supposed to hurt very badly. Otherwise I wasn't really racing. The girl that got 2nd overall and another one that beat me are the girls I run with at lunch sometimes. Good running partners I would say!

Second highlight of the week. I swam those 200s in 3:00. The first was 3:02 and the 2nd was 2:57. In the past I don't think I have been able to swim a 200 in 3 minutes. It would have been 3:10. Super stoked on the possibilities here too! After talking to you I focused on taking the pain out of my shoulder. It did stop hurting so hopefully I am actually using my lats not jut doing something wrong. Will have Larry watch me on Sunday.

So, about Friday. I was wasted on Friday. Back and shoulders were tired from swimming and legs shot. Erik made plans to meet his friend at Chico. I was going to stay home and ride outside but decided I don't often have a good chance to go and soak. Art also went (independently of us) and did a nice road ride before soaking. I could have been into that, but oh well.  So Friday was a pretty lazy day. Got the skis waxed for West on Saturday though!

Heading to West! Got in around 10 miles. Not epic on skis but fun. We were out for around 2.5 hours. Lots going on with the ski festival. Headed over with Art. Haven't spent that much one on one time with him which was nice to get to know each other better.

Sunday
Swimming was Sunday Fun day. Have you ever tried doing a backwards butterfly. Doesn't really work but makes you laugh. Lots of relays. One 50 doing the doggie paddle.  Not a super productive swim but a lot of fun.
Easy run. Felt pretty good. Legs sore from skiing and racing but hip and even hamstring felt okay.
Good PT session post run.

Monday
OMG those DPS were killing me. Some days in the pool are good, others are not. Just not feeling it this day.

Tuesday
The run was killing me. Some days running feels good this day it did not. It was also late. 7pm and I hard just gotten done working. I don't think my body wanted to cooperate. Did force upon it a good PT/core/hamstring session.

Schedule-
Sunday- 30 minute swim and masters holiday party in the evening. Prizes for ugly suit and sweater!

Work is not very exciting next week. Probably just lots of analyzing and maybe setting up one experiment.

This week is supposed to be cold. Good week for lots of swimming!?

Got an enticing email for Calgary 70.3. Should decide this week. 199.00. Plus a pretty limited race in size, a lot of Mont Tremblant slots, and a raffle for a new bike. Have a friend who will do it with me. Thinking that I may do this and not Saskatoon. Saskatoon is the same weekend as the Bozeman race and like you pointed out staying home is much cheaper. Race date is July 27, I think. Haven't signed up yet. Waiting until tomorrow when my firmed does. I don't want to sign up then close before she does. Don't really want to fly solo to Canada.

Had Larry look at my swim again. My elbow is doing much better. Now I need to think about rotation.

Ready to get after it after a pretty mellow and more "fun" oriented holiday.

Other: Since the Tritons are not holding the 1/2 distance race, I have been thinking about how although I didn't really like the race, there were a few people who did it every year and some triathletes who would like to do it because it was the only one nearby.  So, what if I put it on.  Maybe though a little ( actually completely unofficial). We could do it the Saturday before the real race. Change up the run course. Stash aid on the bike and run course. A bunch of triathletes meet for a competitive training day.

Also, I haven't given up on the Bobcat. It dawned on me the other day though that I have to get the MSU tri  club on board otherwise I probably won't get university support. Keep trying to meet with them but response time is very, very slow. I guess they are going to put on a race in April too, but not sure how good they are at planning. Also, I am not yet sure if I want that much commitment. I don't want to do it unless I am committed to many years and if this year goes as I would like it might take a couple of years to get that commitment. Sometimes I wish I had a trust fund and could just be a volunteer.

cats

This is the funniest most true cat owner description I have seen. If you have never owned a cat you might want to skip it or you might just think we are crazy.

http://distractify.com/people/personal/agonizing-struggles-that-prove-cat-owners-are-the-best-people-ever/

Schedule-
Tuesday (12/2) Big  mouse (24) experiment. This will take me at least 9 hours with not a lot of big chunks of time for breaks. Big day.

Thursday (12-4) I am planning on doing another experiment. Not huge, but a 4 hour incubation time. This will probably keep me at work pretty late and timing for Masters on this day will be pretty hard. (I have tried to think it through, but think it will just stress me out) I think I could get over to the MSU pool at some point for the 3-6pm time period though.

Think I am going to drive to West one day over the weekend and go skiing. Not sure which day yet though. Art and Lawrence wanted to go.

The week
Thursday- Masters swim. Got in around 3000. Did a ladder 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200,100. Was really working on keeping the elbow on my left arm high. I think I figured out what I have been doing. I have been entering the water with my elbow pointed down. Sounds weird, doesn't it? But, it is hard to keep it pointing up. I don't think the muscles in my back and arms want to go that direction. Someday. Do you think it would help to try using some light weight (like this cables) to get my arms used to the proper position?

Friday- Another big swim. I was pretty tired after this day and definitely woke up Saturday morning with my back and shoulders feeling like a have been swimming a lot.

Saturday- Mellow day. Erik's brother, family, and friend were all down for the Cat/Griz game. Hectic in the household. Makes me not want a bunch of kids. I like my quiet time. After they all left for the game and tailgate I went on a nice run. It was a beautiful day and I even got sunburned.  The run was really good too. Hard and consistent. Rode the rollers and did some PT.

Sunday- Master's swim. I tried to work hard and keep up with my lane. Still can't stay on toes doing backstroke, but was okay for the free. We did some fun stuff. A lot of one arms swim drills, which I think helped. We also did a bunch of focus on flip turns, which helped a lot. In the 50m pool I have a tendency to slack on the flip. We did a bunch of 100's starting in the middle forcing us to flip 2x.
Was so tired in the afternoon for some reason. Having Erik's family around always makes me a little anxioys. Like I said, I like my quite. Rode the rollers for 70 minutes. Did my PT and some core and then sat by the fire and read for a while. I even read work stuff so I was feeling super comfy but productive. For being so tired though, I couldn't sleep at all this night.

Monday- Swim and PT and core.

Another November week

Still super excited about my swim stroke. We can talk more about this if you want.

Schedule-Pool closed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There is also no Masters Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Masters and MSU are open for business on Sunday (December 1st). 

December 8th is the Masters 30 minute swim followed by (in the evening) the holiday party. There is also talk of laser tag. Imagine that, all those competitive swimmers chasing each other around with guns. I love laser tag. Super stealthy. 

Think I signed up for the 10k Huffing for Stuffing! Didn't get a confirmation email so will look into that. They have a list. I guess if I don't get on it in a couple of days I will know I didn't sign up. Haven't just run a 10k in a long time. It will be fun to see how it goes. Then be fun to be tired for eating a lot of food.

Have next Thursday and Friday off from work. 

Not much else to report on. Kind of a boring blog. 

Thursday- Ran at lunch and did PT. I think I did a bunch of core work this day because I was so motivated about it after talking to you. Masters swim after work. Nice to go to Masters. Group is so much fun. 

Friday- Swim and PT

Saturday- Had to go into work to run flow for my experiment on Friday. Got called to go to lunch with my sister and mom for my birthday. Met Lawrence at my house and we rode trainers (I rode rollers) and watched the Kona movie that NBC makes. We rode for something like two hours. Just kept chatting. I didn't get in the 60 minute trail run but Lawrence and I did run for 30 minutes post ride. Erik's Dad and brother and various nephew and friends stayed at our house on Sat. night so spent time hanging out with them. Am glad that the last Bobcat game is Saturday so don't have to entertain them all the time. Bad on PT this day. The whole day was really hectic. 

 Sunday- Masters swim. Lots of 50s 100s and 200s. Good swim. Had Jamie watch my stroke. Had a very lazy day after that. The weather wasn't bad but I just wasn't super motivated. Went grocery shopping and did some stuff around the house and then rode the trainer for an hour. Had a good PT and core session on this day after the bike. I now remember why it was such a mellow day. I have two friends from Bozeman who did IM Arizona. I spent a lot of time that day tracking them. Art had a really solid race and got a PR. Am happy for him. I am sure he is happy. Watching them race was giving me a little race envy. I am glad to have that back. It was missing for a while there. Maybe I will try IM Arizona some day. The course seems kind of boring, but the sun in November looked nice. 

Monday- Finished up the timecourse experiment. Ran flow at 5 so that I didn't have to do it Tuesday morning. Did the swim, which was short, because I didn't read the instructions very well. Did not do PT this day because of work and the swim. 

Tuesday- Birthday- Went to work in the morning. The boss called a meeting telling us that he is interviewing in Vermont. He already interviewed at Penn State but this feels a little more like he is really going to leave. So it looks like I need to find another job. Hate the job insecurity about this position. That will probably be some stress and take some time in the next few months. Left work around noon and went on a run and then did all of my PT and core work. Went home and made some lunch and went on a nice ride on the cross bike. Climbed some big hills and rode some trails. Very glad I did because it was a beautiful day and today (Wed) is yucky. 

Wednesday- Swim