cold snap blues

This is probably the most uneventful blog ever.

I haven't done much. I layed around on Thursday night, layed around on Friday night, worked on the house on Saturday, went to Masters Sunday (only got in 1000 before I decided I was tired) and did PT Sunday, and am still feeling crappy on Monday. Cold is progressing to my sinuses and to a small cough. Am thinking tonight is a good night for rollers. I really am trying to stay rested up and hydrated because I really want this cold to go away.

It has given me some time to tackle a few house projects. I need to really deep clean the house we are currently living in to prove to my parents that I am not a disgusting person and horrible housekeeper. Don't ever stand on a stool in your kitchen if you aren't in the mood to open a can of worms.

Also, our house is getting painted, the mechanical (radiant heat) put in, and the flooring will start going down. So suddenly we are making progress again.

Followed some Bozeman folks at IMAZ on Sunday. Was a bit jealous and made me motivated.

Schedule- Not much going on at work. Hopefully meet with the boss today to discuss a plan.

Weekend and Thanksgiving- We are here for this weekend and will be here for Thanksgiving. A few days off for us to work on the house is what I am thinking that probably means.

So glad the cold snap is over. That was way too much of a shocker. I don't mind the snow, just not the bone chilling cold. Took my yearly allotment of baths last week.

winter overnight

Schedule- Not much going on with work. Don't have any big days planned. Nothing until at least mid next week.
            - Home this weekend. Mule Party at 4pm on Saturday. Masters meeting after swimming on Sunday.


Warning- Never throw a cat on an exercise ball. I finally got an exercise ball at the PT. Jason blew it up and everything. I was pretty excited to add to my home PT abilities. That very evening Erik decided it would be funny to throw the cat on the ball. Immediately flat with a giant claw mark. Cat just sort of sauntered off. Not even phased.

Things and stuff...
Took advantage of the off season and the nice weather last week. Ran outside with a couple of girls I work with and rode with Lisa on Friday. Just took off during the day. It was so nice and one of the last days.

Racing- I am pretty sure I found the Xterra that excites me. http://www.qxict.com/. It is in South Dakota. I have been thinking it would be a fun trip to go to South Dakota. See Mt Rushmore and spend another day to see Devils Tower. Erik could come and we could do some other mt bike riding. Plus, it is only a 6.25 hour drive. It is likely on the same weekend as Polson, but my excitement for South Dakota trumps my excitement for Polson.

This week so far....

Spent the weekend laying sod. It did not just mean putting down sod, that part was actually very gratifying, insta grass. It was the back breaking, wheel barrel rolling and shoveling that went into the sod laying down job. I woke up on Sunday night massaging my arms because they are so sore. Got most of it layed on Saturday and spent Sunday watering. Then it snowed. Awesome. Now next spring we won't have to deal with landscaping and we will have a nice solid lawn of green.

Missed Masters on Sunday to have breakfast with Erik's family. I have the strangest mother in law. Sigh...

Started chipping away at my new list on Sunday evening. Started by riding the rollers. Also, while watering tended to a lot of PT. Finished off evening with hamstring strength exercises.

Ran on the treadmill on Monday and followed it up with PT. I fully intended on going outside but was so cold at work that it didn't happen. Spent the 30 minutes on the treadmill really concentrating on my form. Timed my cadence a whole bunch of times. Did all of it at a really easy pace.

Camp
Working on sending you a brainstorming camp sheet. I am curious what you would want to do? What does a hands on camp with coach Elliot mean? What do you envision as your job? Also, I was thinking of asking Jason if he would be interested in doing an evening talk, or some sort of a bike fit clinic. What do you think of that? I wanted to ask you before I talked to him about it.

Off season

I have an idea which I need to ask you about. If I organized a Bozeman training camp would you come and coach it? My initial thoughts are that it would be in the spring, maybe April or May. It would be 3 days or so. Maybe Thursday evening through Sunday. I can't take off a whole week of work. I would probably try and get the triathletes from Bozeman that I think could use it and appreciate it. It would be a combination of hands on training with you and talking. Since it would be Bozeman people I would figure out a way to feed people some meals, but everybody would be able to sleep in their own beds. We have amazing riding, amazing running, and access to lots of various hours at two pools. Why not try to get the tri community together and do this. I would say it would be for the serious triathlete who has some sort of level of basic fitness.

What do you think? Is it possible? Are you available? How much would it cost me to hire you for a few days? Does my plan seem beneficial or would it be better if it was longer or shorter?



To the week...
Friday and Saturday- Had a work meeting at 9am and another at 2pm. Painted between and after the meetings. Don't like running around like that. To work, to paint, find some food, back to work, back to paint. It was exhausting. Then had Art and Lawrence over for dinner and may have drank too much. Finished (almost) painting on Saturday morning. I was so exhausted. Went home and cleaned house. Scrubbed the bathroom like never before. I don't take naps well. My shoulder was sooo tired from painting.

Sunday at Masters was really fun. In addition to the Luma Lines I was telling you about, we were on it. 5x200s Odd IM on 2:00 and even free on 1:55. Couldn't make the IM in that interval but raced the free to get a few seconds before the IM. Honestly I could only get about a 25 fly on those but nonetheless we didn't let up. 2nd. I was able to pace a 1:40 in the 50m pool and I wasn't absolutely dying. Had a good practice.  Went to work right after  the BOD meeting and was there until around 6:30 or 7pm.

Monday- Am vowing to get back into a routine. I can already feel the fat settling around my belly and side ass region. Followed directions exactly.

Tuesday- Day off work! Went to PT. Good session. He said hamstrings are really hard to recover that last 15%. Need to be diligent about strength exercises for hamstrings. We refined things and I shouldn't have to go back for at least a month. Am now equipped with an exercise ball, foam roller, and yoga mat at home.  Need to stick to easy running and riding for a month to let it heal. I then went and voted. I love voting.  Went on a hike on a trail I have never been on. Most people ride it. It is steep but smooth. Excited to ride it. Took a huge garbage bag of stuff and a box of books to Goodwill.

Schedule- Nothing huge for the week. My experiments aren't showing much. Need to have a talk with the boss about where I am going. New lab dynamics are making work kind of sucky. It is like a roller coaster at that place. Just need to hang on for a while.
               - I would like to go visit my Grandma. I was thinking maybe this weekend. Just drive down for the day on Saturday and maybe take her to lunch. Or I have next Tuesday off. Maybe then. I need to find out when I can be more useful on the house.

Races- I found a few Xterra races that look promising. One in Portland and in Canmore. There was was in McCall but the website wasn't great and I don't want to drive all that way for a crappy race. Problem is that I would like to race Polson and the Portland and Canmore races are the same weekend or one before. What is the point of driving all that way when I have Polson? So I guess I should find something more near the end of August or the first weekend of September. (Sorry for all that rambling, writing my chain of thoughts)
Other races I can and would like to do: Tritons Olympic, Spring Meadow, Lake Como, Polson.

That seems to be all for now. Lots of rambling....

Mules, Unicorns, Friends and Fun

While running the other day I was thinking about next year in triathlon and the previous years. I am very humbled and happy with the journey. From Ironman to....  I feel like I have grown a lot a have figured out I want to do what I enjoy. Thanks for your help with that. I really, really like paying you to be my friend ;)

 Sidenote: That one person I keep complaining about (tri club coach). I think another thing that bugs me is that he doesn't put any stock (to his athletes) in winning or being successful. He says stuff like, this is supposed to be fun. It seems to me like if one is to enter a race they should race and be as successful as possible. Otherwise, what is the point? Why not just go on a ride? How many successful athletes does he have? Not many, I have looked up a few race results. Okay, I will stop. I just hate the way someone like that is so dominant in the community. A lot of Bozeman people go to him for coaching, he does bike fits, testing, puts on clinics. A big business and he can't even fit a bike.

Bozeman Superprestige weekend was a huge success. Did you know that unicorns poop rainbows? I love racing with fun people and Megan L is one of them. Saturday I had a great race. Lisa and I dressed up as each other for costumes and we had a lot of people very confused. Her helmet (which isn't crooked) or her GAS kit helped me go fast. I was even in front of her on the first lap for about 5 seconds. Megan, Lisa, and I rode a lot of the first lap together. Then they dropped me, but I hung in there not hugely far behind. Felt like I had a good race. Sunday I wasn't feeling so hot. Feeling cold, sore, and tired. There was a lot of sand both days and it involved a lot of running. Lifting the bike and running in the sand was hard and hard on my body. Lots of bruises. On Sunday I got tired of getting off my bike and tried to ride the sand a lot more. Slower but a different challenge. I kept my brain in it on Sunday though. Kept checking in with myself and asking if I was going as hard as possible. Since this was likely my last race I wanted to finish it off as well as possible. I am happy with it and too tired to race on Wednesday.

What is the difference between a strain and a pull? What am I supposed to do to heal a strain? It has kind of been bugging me for a while. It gets better and then I race hard and it comes back. I guess I have another issue for the PT.

I have had a few good PT sessions. My plantar and achilles are feeling much, much better. My hamstring/sciatica is still bugging, but I am going to keep working with the PT to get that better.

Have been looking into off road triathlons. Haven't really seen much, other than a Canadian Xterra tour. How cool is that? Except that most of the races are flying distance or not the right timing. Will keep looking. I did see the long Xterra events. They look like fun. That kind of perks my interest, but the locations. Louisiana and Arkansas? Not sure I want to fly there.

Schedule- Not going to Missoula this weekend. Too much to get done, either on the house or working so that I can have some time to work on the house. I don't think the weather is supposed to be great so may try to schedule some work around the crap weather. I want to go to Masters Sunday. There is a BOD meeting after, which I am now part of the board. Next week I don't have much going on, yet. Probably won't, except normal work day stuff. No more cyclocross racing. With the time change it is going to be hard to do much in the evenings. Don't tell any of my biking friends, but I sort of look forward to the trainer. It is easy, I am home, I am not cold, don't need a bunch of gear etc. I can't wait until the house is done and we have a dedicated room for things like the trainer. I think we may have to put a line down the middle. Erik gets half and Julie half. I am pretty sure we envision different things in the bike shop.
Tuesday- Election Day. I get the day off. Yeah!!! Hopefully I can get to tiling the house. Have a PT appointment on that day.

Other:
I came across your raincoat the other day. Should I send it to Missoula this weekend? Are you going to Rolling Thunder? Tis the season for a raincoat.

Amazing fall weather

The weather has been amazing. I have been very distracted the past few weeks trying to get the outside of the house painted. As I was over there yesterday, I realized I should be more grateful that the weather is holding out for us. We are slowing chipping away at the painting but getting it done.

St George- 99% sure. Another pro for going is that weekend is MSU graduation weekend. Last year I vowed to leave town for it. I have missed all the early bird deadlines for registration though, so not super motivated to get that done.
           Question: When would be the optimal time to go on spring break training camp that would directly  benefit this race?  Early April? Second week of April?

I like the idea of transitioning to some off road triathlons later in the summer. It looks like most of them are later anyway. I think the Bozeman is bringing back the Xterra at Hyalite. Maybe I will stay in Montana and do Lake Como instead of going to Calgary. It would be a great way to stay in triathlon but get out in the mountains more. I think this is a good plan and right now I am sticking with it.

Cyclocross racing- Last Wednesday I had a great race. Finally feel like I got my groove on. May be because I got antibiotics to kick that cold. Anyway, it was fun. I dropped my chain and watched a bunch of people go by. I slowly picked them off. One by one and left them in the dust.  Played with some tactics and did some drafting up a windy climb. Was able to recover and then pass those people at the top. Awesome!!! Also felt like I went harder than usual. Just had it in me to push on that day. You know those days where you say, I don't feel like racing? This was one day where I felt like racing.

This Wednesday- not so awesome. Work kind of sucks right now and I was looking forward to racing with like minded people. That didn't happen. It was a fun course though. Am glad that Rockford puts the series on.

Masters has been fun. It has been fun to work on other strokes. I think that swimming with the band has improved my backstroke. I used to just feel like I was an anchor and now can actually do a 100 pretty effectively. I try and think about positioning my body by leading with my head. Also, I had a breakthrough on breast stroke. My kick has been poorly timed all these years. And finally, fly is good for building strength and setting small goals to make the whole day feel good.

Running- Missed the Sunday run because of painting. The sun keeps disappearing earlier and earlier making  it hard to paint. So I did an 1:15 run on Monday. I explored some new trails in town and had a great run. Felt like I had a hand on my back going up some of the hills. Maybe there was a little tail wind.

Question- I think easy run should stay just that. But, is it okay to push the pace a little on those runs like Monday? I feel like if I can be comfortable going faster than I can be uncomfortable going even faster. Does that make sense?

Schedule- Bozeman cyclocross weekend. Muleterro is putting on Saturdays race. I should race and want to race both days. Fit in some house painting on the side. Hopefully.

Inspiration

Saturday
I had a date with my rollers and yoga mat for the last 2.5 hours of Kona when the pros finished. I busted out 1:45 on the rollers like it was :15.  So, so, so inspired by Ben Hoffman's race. I can't even express it. So happy for him and so happy for you. Something tells me you knew he was going to have a great race. Ben getting 2nd was definitely the highlight of the race but watching everybody was so inspiring. Mirindae Carafrae- damn that girl can run! 

Sunday
Masters. Lots of stroke work. In December they are having the 500 fly challenge. I know I won't be able to do a 500 but it has motivated me to work on it. I did a 100 the other day (in the 50m pool). Almost all full on fly. Only a few strokes of one arm as people went the other way.

Had a good run on Sunday too. Went up Sypes and ran all the way to where the trail splits. It is steep and I don't think I have ever run all the way up.

General- Trying to stick to the plan and do the highlighted items. Moved them around a couple of times but I think I got in all the important stuff.

Health
Went to Urgent Care last week after talking to you. Got antibiotics. Glad I went. Finally feeling normal. Have more energy and more importantly- motivation. So, basically health is good.

Had a great PT appointment with Jason. He thinks my left hamstring is a sciatica issue. Gave me some stretches and strength work. Lots of core too. Did the full PT routine on Friday and it took me about 45 minutes to get most of it done. I want to try and stick to it, or at least some of it every day, so that I can get better balanced and stronger. My run on Sunday was pretty nuisance free. 

Schedule-

Raining today (Sunday) so going to work for a little bit to start an experiment. Will take down on Friday which will be a big/long day. I have a 4 hour incubation. Then work a little on Saturday. Gives me time to paint tomorrow.

No Helena racing next weekend- we have to get a bunch of outside painting done. That is, unless, it rains again and then I might try and go on Sunday. Definitely not Saturday, because of work.  That leaves a lot of analyzing for the following week. 

Monday October 20th. We have another post doc interview. Haven't gotten any details yet, but probably includes a talk in the morning and dinner in the evening. This is usually at 530 or 6 so not much time in the evening. 

Racing
I signed up for Victoria 70.3. If you signed up before the 9th you got in a drawing for a new bike. I wouldn't mind a new bike or the money from selling it. Lawrence signed up too, so I am excited. Erik and I honeymooned on Vancouver Island by doing a bike tour. We got really lucky with traffic and had some amazing riding and other fun experiences. Looking at the maps of the course I think I can envision the bike ride, a little bit. We stayed at a campground out by the far corner of the loop. Also, from riding there, I know the terrain. Hilly. Anyway, our anniversary is June 19th. So I hope Erik goes and maybe we can spend a few more days there. My Grandpa was born in Ladysmith. I have even gone as far as asking a cousin who has done a lot of family research about it, and my chances of getting Canadian citizenship. Anyway. The point is that I signed up for Victoria. What do you think the dynamic of the race will be since there is no pro purse prize? Will it change anything for the age groupers. It sort of makes we want to have high expectations for myself. 

My current thoughts on triathlon and schedule etc for next year are and I want to qualify this by saying I was having these thought while I was trying to practice cornering on my cyclocross bike. I would like to race triathlon up until late July or mid August. I could do some local races later (Bobcat, Garden City), but would like to get out on the mountain bike a little more in late summer. Get in some long rides in the mountains. Mostly for the adventure, but also the bike handling. I can tell my cross racing is suffering because I have lost my bike handling skills. Then I would like to focus more on cross, not just use my fitness from triathlon to get me by. 

A few of my other thoughts are that I would like to race St. George again. I liked that race. The swim and ride were so nice. Which makes me think that I would like to go on spring break and train. Either in St. George or in San Diego. I was really wanting to swim in the ocean again, while watching Kona yesterday. 

Also, of course, there is the Grizzly. My swim time is going to go down again this year. 

A beautiful fall weekend

Well, I think the biggest thing of the week is that we got a huge, huge bulk of the house painted. It is Monday morning and I am so sore.

Raced Saturday- It was fun to get out but I don't think the course suited me very well, or I just wasn't 100% into it. Had to bargain with myself a lot to get it done. Ended up 4th. My friend Megan kicked my butt on her single speed. Very happy for her to be out racing. She had a kid a year ago. Amanda Carrey won and Lisa 2nd.

Raced Wednesday and felt much better. Course was better for me. Punchy with hard hills and recovery hills. Felt good on Wednesday and enjoyed the race.

Been doing the little runs and swimming with Masters. Everything  seems solid. My cold is still in me a little. Feel a little better every day though. My lungs seem to react badly when I get a cold. Just rode to work and it still feels a little difficult to breathe. 

Schedule- Home next weekend. It is Moosecross weekend but will have to miss it. We have a lot of small places to paint on the house and other projects like going through the house and packing and sorting etc. All of this will ultimately take a long time.  Work- Will probably start a new experiment this week. I am not expecting anything huge. So, probably not any big days.  Need to talk to the boss today or tomorrow.

Am working on sorting out racing for next year. I think Lawrence is on board for Victoria. It is really cheap right now and is for a couple more days. Don't be surprised if I sign up. Feeling like I need to focus on our house and getting moved right now. Not that we are moving for a few months, but it is going to be some work. 

That's all for now. Don't have a lot.