Back in Houston

I'm back in Houston for a few days for work and to race Lonestar (aka Ironman Texas 70.3).  I'm a bit wiped from my IMTX course bike ride, so here's some observations in bullet form.

• Its green here.  Trees are fully leafed out, the air smells like blooms, grass in green.
• Its windy.  But at least for today's ride, it wasn't nearly as windy as last Saturday's Palmer Lake ride.
• Traffic is bad and the drivers are crazy.  Also: rubbernecking.
• I miss my friends.  I've done something with people every night since I got here.
• The "hills" on the IMTX course are not hills.  There were maybe 3 that got my attention.  I never had to go into my small ring.  Awesome.
• Its HOT.  Even with my Infit drink mix and taking some Enduralytes before the ride,e the heat still got to me.  The first 3 hours of the ride were awesome.  Then my HR got stuck at 162 bpm, much higher than my effort was.  Then I had a mental lapse and did a sweet sideways slow-mo crash while clipped in.  No idea what happened there.  I still had 30 min left on my ride schedule, but after riding back to the truck, I was slightly trembling and I had a pretty sweet heat headache.  Ugh, IMTX is going to be interesting....
• The IMTX bike course is PRETTY.  I've missed riding up there in the forests. 

IMTX course in the National Forest.

pretty pastures and wide open road in Grimes County, IMTX course

24-Hour Freakness

I'm in Houston for work and Ironman Lonestar 70.3.  I had ~2300 yards on my schedule, but since it was Thursday, that meant no Masters team to drop in on.  So, off to utilize my barely used 24 Hour Fitness membership. 

During my hour swim, I witnessed:

• A guy that would alteranate btwn doing jumping jacks and this weird sort-of breastroke/treading water thing
• A woman who was doing backstroke WITH A KICKBOARD under her back (trust me, she did NOT need flotation devices)
• A dude in a way too small speedo who lacked the skills to back up the speedo.  Unfortunately, he was in the lane that was on my breathing side. 
• This was accented by another guy (who looked like he was wearing boxer/briefs) who was in the pool for maybe 5 min, during which he sunk to the bottom of the 5' end (holding his breath) then swam across all the lanes to hang onto the wall and do a bunch of kicking.
• Finally, after my workout, when I was in the locker room, there was a lady getting ready to swim (with a noodle) who pulled her suit on over her underwear.   

I could not make any of this up.  It was freaky.  At least I wasn't bored?  (and THANK GOODNESS I had a lane all to myself).

March 2011 Totals

FINALLY - a good solid month of training :)  Its amazing what not being sick and not having family emergencies will do to keep you on your training plan!

Bike: 38h 04m 21s - 542.28 Mi (almost double of what I did in Feb)
Run: 12h 17m 27s - 63.57 Mi (almost double of what I did in Feb)
Swim: 11h 30m - 31200 Yd
Core Training: 30m

Evaluation of March's goals:

Goals for March:

• Survive training. More building and catch up in March. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better.  This has been a hard one.  Physically, I'm doing really awesome.  Mentally, its hard, mostly because I've done all of my runs and rides by myself, and the lonliness is really starting to get to me.  Last weekend all I wanted to do was spend a whole day on the couch.  But I still got up and out the door at my designated time and got in my workouts.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run". It hasn't been cold at ALL this month, so I get a free pass on this goal :)

So, goals for April.....

• Ride the IMTX course on April 8th to refresh my memory on the course, and hopefully give myself a confidence boost.
• Use Lonestar as a training race, not a race-race.  Really try to run the whole run, even though it will be warm.  Still, I'm curious to see how I do on the race overall compared to last year, since my fitness is so much better. 
• Get all my IMTX kinks worked out, specifically nutrition, clothes.  I switched to non-protein Infinit last week and I got a new Pearl Izumi Race kit for the IM.  Going to use Lonestar to test out both of these.
• Stay healthy.

I've got a big month ahead of me :)

I can put this down as "mental training", right?

I'm at the point where all this training by myself is really starting to get to me.  When I signed up for IMTX, I had grand visions of training with my friends on the home course and having a great time.  And then I moved to Colorado, which is triathlong mecca... just not right now.  I am off schedule with EVERYONE.  There are very few group rides - the few that I found are cyclists and not nearly enough miles for me.  I've joined a few of the rides, but its still a bit awkward (hi, you don't know me and I don't know the area, but I need to add 30 miles to your course... and don't wait around for me).  I had high hopes for making friends on my swim team.  Turns out they're very competitive and not very friendly. And I did find a running group, but my training plan doesn't seem to have much in the way of long runs, and when I do have them, they're on Sunday (the groups all run on Saturday).

I typically have 5-6 hours of training each day on Saturday and Sunday, all my my lonesome.  Or Lonesome Ranger as my friend put it.  For a while, it was fun, as I was discovering new areas of Denver and having a lot of "me" time.  Lately, though, its just become tiresome and well, lonely.  I'm still not very familiar with  ride that do NOT involve hills.  I've ridden quite a few times NE of Denver, but its nice to see new scenery.  So this past Sunday, I went and tried again to ride around Parker.  Did the Map My Ride thing, picked out an 85 mile route that appeared to be all pavement.  More hills and some wind, especially at the beginning of my ride... not really awesome for a warmup but ok.  The plan was to follow county roads to Strausburg then head back down to Parker.  20 miles in, I encountered this:

sand and washboard + tri bike = scary surfing.  not cool

I was hoping that this dirt would end over the next hill, but 2 hills later and nope, still dirt.  So, I turned around, hoping to find an alternate route, only to find more dirt roads that should have been paved.  So, at 2 hrs, I decided to make a pit stop at a gas station and try another road.  As I got underway, I got a flat tire (front wheel).  No biggie, I can change a tire.  I set up on the side of the road, happy that I had just bought new tubes.  Dumbass here rode 700 miles, including a 95 mile solo ride, WITH NO SPARE TUBES.  After the 95 mile ride, I realized how dumb I was and promptly got 3 spare tubes.  What I didn't realize, even though the guy at the store warned me, that the stems on the tubes were freakishly short.  So I'm changing my tire, bust out my CO2 kit, then realize that I lost the presta adaptor.  But I realized this AFTER I punctured a CO2 cartridge.  Boo.  Oh, no problem, I have my hand pump.  The ONLY reason I had the hand pump, because you know, I'm super smart and never carry it normally b/c I have CO2, was due to Will making a smart ass comment as I was leaving about said hand pump.  I decided that he jinxed me and took it along.  Good thing, as he was fixing the radiator in my truck, which meant I did not have a rescue option.  So, I'm working with the hand pump and realize that the stupid stem is too short for the pump to really attach to very well and the best I can do is inflate the tube to half pressure.  ugh.  I decide to limp back to the car, which was fortunately only 6 miles away.

And then I drove back home to do 2.5 hours of riding on the trainer.

Sad part is, I was actually kind of excited to be on the trainer because that meant I wouldn't be riding alone.  I had my kitties, Will, and Season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to keep me company.

Ironman Fitness

What has continually amazed me is how my fitness level has grown by leaps an bounds in the past 2 months.  Its amazing the distances I can ride or run, how little recovery I need between the long workouts, and how I'm barely even sore after doing these insane workouts.

A year ago, I was training for the LoneStar 70.3 and the Boise 70.3.  Back then (oh so long ago!) my longest weekend workouts was something like a 14 mile run on Saturday and a 4 hour ride on Sunday.  Or maybe a 50 mile ride and a 3 mile run.  I remember being absolutely destroyed by these workouts and super sore.

Now, these workouts are my mid-distance type workouts, which are generally followed by something even longer the next day.  Or sometimes by a easy recovery run 3 hours later on the same day. 

For example, the past couple of weekends I've been doing:

• Saturday: brick, with 4 hrs bike and 70 min trail running / Sunday: 6 hrs bike
• Saturday: swim/bike brick with 4000 yard swim, 4 hrs bike, plus a 30 min recovery run later in the day / Sunday: 15 mile run

After each workout, normally, I should be passing out in exhaustion.  Instead, I'm up and watching tv and usually have plenty of energy to go out to dinner.  Each Sunday morning I wake up expecting to be too sore to walk, much less run or ride.  Then each Monday morning, I expect to wake up and not be able to move.  And each morning, I wake up, shocked to discovery that I'm not even the tiniest bit sore.  Granted, I do an ice bath after each long workout now, but still....  I am not complaining though.  The only noticable side-effect from my huge workouts is insatiable hunger.  Its very cool but also very bizarre.

I'm really just blown away by my fitness level right now.  I'm still not too sure about being able to complete 140.6 miles strong.  I'm 100% confident that I can do 70.3 miles in 2 weeks without a problem (knock on wood).  I feel good and that's a great thing being 8 weeks out from the most physically demanding day of my life. :)

Figuring out where to live

Things are much better than they were a few weeks ago.  Something about not having anyone die, have a stroke, not being sick, and actually sleeping well may be the cause for my outlook being a bit brighter.  I'm a pretty tough person, but the combination of at least 6 very stressful things absolutely kicked my ass.

We looked at 22 (!!!!) houses last Friday, from 9:30 to 5 PM.  It was a marathon day and by the end our heads were swimming.  I grew up in a southern suburb of the Denver Metro area.  Work is on the far south end of Denver (I-25 and C-470).  So as a result, I'm basically moving back to where I grew up.    Not quite sure how I feel about that - part of me feels like I'm settling, but part of me likes that we're moving somewhere (mostly) familiar.  Also, the south suburbs seem to have more organized athletic activities (Masters Swimming, mainly).  We could live in the "cool" part of Denver and then I'd have a long work commute and likely a long commute to work out.  Or we could live in suburban hell with a short commute to work and activities, then drive once a week into town to do something fun.  We're going with the latter and hopefully that will work out.

We're shopping in Littleton, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, and Parker.  I grew up in Littleton/Centennial.  We now live in Highlands Ranch.  Parker was, when I was growing up, basically Kansas.  To my Houston friends, Parker is basically Katy.  Now its a newer community and you can buy more house for your money.... that is if you are willing to live in Parker.

Our wish list is that we'd like a 3 car garage (so Will can have a project car), wood floors, master bedroom on the main floor, decent yard, big kitchen.  Yeah, pretty specific and I'm pretty sure we won't find everything we want one house.

So out of 22 houses, we found 3 strong candidates.  Because we've been watching too much HGTV, I'm going to set this up like House Hunters...

#1: Big yard but a long commute:  This house is in West Littleton and is I guess a traditional style house.  Living room, newly re-done kitchen, 1/2 bath, family room (with fireplace), and a study on the 1st floor, 3 bedrooms on the top floor, master bath connected to the master bedroom, and an unfinished basement.  Yard is the largest of the three, 0.22 acres. Finished sq feet is 2250, with an add'l 920 unfinished in the basement.  Can't remember if this one has AC or not... if it doesn't this could be a deal breaker.  Also, this commute could be ugly - its 17 miles with pretty bad highway traffic.

#2: Awesome floor plan but only 3 bedrooms:  This is in Highlands Ranch and is really close to the pool I swam at.  This house felt more like "us" - really open.  The kitchen is also awesome.  Its got a huge deck (which needs repair - the railing is SCARY) and the yard is a decent size with a space for a garden.  Problems are that the windows are old, the 2 sliding glass doors need replacing, and it only has 3 bedrooms.  Not sure why we need 4 bedrooms, but that seems to be what we're looking at lately.

#3: Perfect... but in Parker:  This house is AMAZING.  3 car garage, new wood floors on the main level, huge (new) kitchen.  The master bedroom has a sitting area with a FIREPLACE. The master bath is newly re-done with a jacuzzi tub and a waterfall faucet.  This has 3 bedrooms (all upstairs) and a study on the main level (which neither of us remember seeing).  Unfinished basement and a tiny-ish yard (0.18 acre) and its a corner lot, which is good and bad.  Good means we only have 2 neighbors, bad because that's a whole lot of sidewalk for Will to shovel! Also, this house is 9 miles to work.  This house is on paper the best one, but I have to wrap my head around living in Kansas... I mean Parker.

Parker: Kitchen and Living Room

Parker: master bedroom fireplace (!!)

I really don't know which one we'll choose.  We had dinner at the Parker microbrewery on Friday (5 min from the house!) and it was really fun.  We even won a $10 gift card by winning their trivia contest.  I did the pretend drive commute yesterday.  There was ZERO traffic... but it was also spring break.  I rode my bike out there on Saturday (to get to know the area).  This was BAD because the winds were horrible and I nearly got blown off my bike numerous times.  So much that I called Will for a rescue pick-up.  I'm also going to swim with the Parker Masters team on Friday, so I can get that figured out. 

What's ridiculously silly is that both of us feel that the Parker house is "too nice" for us.  This is honestly the nicest place we've seen and we're not used to it.  Its almost like we feel like we don't deserve nice stuff.  Which is so amazingly dumb -we work hard for our money and of course we deserve nice stuff.

I did a pretend commute from the West Littleton house today, and it really wasn't that bad - 30 min.  This area is more estabilshed (it has trees) and is closer to the mountains.  This house also felt more like us.  But it only has a 2 car garage......

Honestly, the idea of having a fireplace in my bedroom sounds amazing.  I can see myself snugged in a comfy chair by the fire, reading all day long.  I just don't know if I can see myself in Parker.

And of course, Will found 3 more houses (2 of which have good sized yards and are ranches, so no stairs!).  We're looking at those on Friday, which could help, or it could add to the confusion.

Racing “Hills”

If there’s anything that’s been pretty well documented here, its my fear of hills on the bike. The first time I raced the IronStar course (which is part of the IMTX course), I really thought I would die. I actually ended up pulling something in my leg that stayed tweaky until after the Houston Half Marathon, 3 months later. Then there’s last summer’s Boise 70.3, where I’d drive 70 miles out to Chappell Hill to ride hills and I’d have nightmares about having to walk my bike up the hills during the Boise race. Turns out, the hills in Boise weren’t so bad – mostly because the wind was horrendous!

Since moving to Colorado, I am surrounded by hills. I get route recommendations from people, saying that its pretty “flat”, only to find out that there’s 2,000 feet of elevation gain. I’m trying hard to find a balance between getting better on the hills and not burning my legs up so that I can’t perform well in my next workout. I’ve also been trying to find somewhere to replicate the rolling hills that I will experience for IMTX. Replication is a bit challenging, because my memory is a bit fuzzy – and my point of reference has changed. I suspect that what appeared to be a huge hill a year ago is just a speed bump now. Because I’m a nerd and love data, I decided to overlay the elevation profile of IMTX with my ride that I did last Sunday.

Yep, I’d say I have the hills covered.

Back in the IMTX Training Wagon

Ok, so after 2 weeks of un-intentional (but sadly not predicted or preventable) not doing much, I am full ON with IMTX training. Last week was a “big week”, to quote my coach. Funny, I didn’t think the week day stuff was too terrible (although with my sinus infection and 2 weeks with little to no sleep, I was NOT complaining). The weekend was big stuff though.

What’s fun about the big weekends is that my thought process is usually like this:

• Sunday night: open Training Peaks to get my schedule for the week. Think to myself “OMG, Carole is trying to kill me.”
• Monday: print out my schedule to post at my desk. Stare at it in somewhat of a fearful state. 
• Tuesday-Thursday: obsession about the upcoming weekend and gradual acceptance  
• Friday: planning for the weekend. Plotting rides, routes, etc. 
• Saturday: Finish the workout feeling good but a bit sore and tired. Do an ice bath and hope I for a repeat performance the next day 
• Sunday: getting to business and being excited that I not only finished, but I finished strong. Ice bath and roll my legs out with my Stick to prevent soreness.

This past weekend, I had a 5 hour brick and a 6 hr ride. One of my friends offered to ride with me in Boulder Saturday, as she had yet to properly test out her new road bike, so that took care of planning out Saturday. Sunday I just decided to map out a course in Erie similar to what I’ve done twice previously.

Saturday

Schedule had a 4 hr ride / 70 min run brick. Met up at Marshall Mesa in Boulder and did what my friend called the “backroad cycling tour of Boulder”. What I noticed when riding with my friend was that on the decents and flats, I am actually pretty fast. It’s the climbs where I suck. I really hate being in my last gear and seeing 5 mph on my Garmin. Its just sad. Anyways, we did 40 miles in ~2:40. That’s all my friend had planned, so I was left to my own devices for the remainder of the 4 hours. I basically just did some out and backs along Eldorado Springs Road, then Cherryvale to Baseline and back. Nothing too hard – the goal was a zone 2 ride with time in the saddle.

We met at Marshall Mesa because my friend thought that would be good running for my brick. Ummmmmmm. I’m still getting used to this whole “running in Colorado” thing. Hills, trails, rocks. I’m not in Texas anymore! So, for the first 10 min of my run, I had to stay in HR z3. Not a problem, as the trail was mostly uphill with VERY uneven terrain. It was actually a bit scary – I really thought I was going to twist my ankle. Then (fortunately) after my 10 min mad dash up the hill, I came to this really steep section that I just couldn’t run up, so I walked. Then more slow jogging up up up until the trail leveled out to something a bit more practical. Still, it was a funky trail, since the place is used mostly for mountain biking and the trail is single-track. There were several times I’d have to stop to get off the trail to avoid mountain bikers, and a few times where I had to open/close cattle gates. It was hard, but definitely very pretty.

View of Flatirons from Baseline Road in Boulder

Marshall Mesa Trail Running

more trail running

part of the running "trail"

me, after 5:10 hrs of exercise

Stats: 61 miles in 3:57; 5.75 miles in 70 min

Nutrition: all EFS drink mix in grape, with 2 hammer gels. I had probably ~3/4 of a bottle left, which meant that I’m still not drinking enough. The EFS was fine on the bike, but on the run it just made my throat burn, like it was too strong, but I’m pretty sure I mixed it to the right strength. Also, I had a hell of a time putting my rings back on from water retention, which tells me the EFS has too many electrolytes for me.

And then I hit up Sports Authority for some more KT tape and a new shin split wrap (I have one, I just haven’t seen it since we moved). Turns out I let my running shoes die without knowing it, and my shin splits in my left leg are back. I think a few days with KT tape/wrap and some NSAIDs and I should be ok. I also got a moderately “puffy” jacket on clearance for more than 50% off. Score.

Boulder backroad tour

elevation profile

 Sunday

Goal today was a 5:40-6:00 hour ride with some z3 intervals thrown in there. This ride was all by myself and I wanted to do this in one loop with a stop halfway for water, to simulate the IMTX bike. For whatever reason, I feel comfortable out northwest of Denver (Erie), so that’s where I mapped my route. I’ve ridden there 2x before and the area is fairly straight forward – the country roads go pretty much in a n-s-e-w grid, pretty decent asphalt surface, and low traffic. There are some hills, but its not as hilly as other Denver rides, and there’s plenty of wind. When I’ve ridden out here before, I usually start from the park and ride in Northglenn, but that means you start and finish in Northglenn, which has traffic. So to avoid that, I started in Erie. I intended to leave my truck at this gas station, but as I was setting up, the gas station attendant actually walked out and told me that I wasn’t allowed to park there. Even though the lot was huge. I guess I won’t be filling up there anytime soon. So I moved a mile down the road and parked by a park, and was on my way.

The interesting thing with creating my route from a map on the computer is that you’re never quite sure if all the roads are paved. Sure enough, 5 miles into my 95 mile journey, I ran out of pavement. Ugh. So I backtracked and changed my route up slightly, hoping I’d still capture my mileage. An hour goes by and my bladder is threatening to explode, even though I made a stop before starting out. Fortunately, I was near a truck stop off of I-25, so I pulled over to a McDonalds. Its always fun going into places in your cycling gear. I managed to finally get east of I-25 and pick up my route where I left off. My speed was actually faster than anticipated. Last Sunday, doing nearly the same route, I averaged 15 mph. For this ride, I was holding 16+ mph, even with decent cross and head winds. I stopped WAY too many times for map checks – not sure what to do about that but I really didn’t want to get lost. Stopped halfway in Milliken (as planned) to get water. I had concentrated my Infinit 3x then added water for another 3 hrs of nutrition. Riding-time-wise I was ahead of pace (54 miles in 3:13 – 16.78 mph) but actual time, I was really slow. I started at 10:16 AM and it was 2:00 when I hit Milliken (3 hrs, 45 min). But, that included 2 bathroom breaks, re-filling my water, and several map checks. Still – 30 min of being stopped…. Gotta work on that. Heading back to my truck was fairly uneventful, as I’d ridden a good portion of those rodes before and knew my way. I made it back to my truck at 5:45 hrs and 95 miles logged. I thought about going for an even 100 miles, but my right hamstring was getting tweaky and my right quad was acting like the muscle was getting pulled. As cool as it would have been to log 100 miles, it would have sucked much worse to get injured in that last 5 miles.

Stats: 5:45 hrs, 95 miles

Nutrition: 1 bottle in the first hour of EFS, then switched to my Infinit protein mix. At the 3 hr mark, I had probably ~1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle left untouched (as in I’m still not drinking enough), but when the ride was done, the same amount remained, meaning I drank the right amount during the back half of the ride. I think Carole may have been onto something about my Infinit mix, though. A few weeks back I had side-stitches and she thought it was from the protein. I protested, saying I did two HIMs with this mix and didn’t think it caused me any issues. She had me talk to one of her nutrition gurus, and he suggested that diabetics/hypoglycemic don’t actually need protein during endurance sports. He sent me some EFS to try out, to see if I noticed a difference. The EFS was ok (except for the burning during my run on Saturday). When I switched to my Infinit, my stomach felt heavier and very slightly crampy within minutes of taking a slug. So, there may be something to that….. I dunno. What I do know is that I need to figure this out pretty quickly – time is running out.

I also had 4 hammer gels and a few bites of a protein bar (for the stomach grumblies). I had good energy for the whole ride.

Effort: This ride had me do 1 x 30 min at Z3 and 1 x 40 min at Z3. This was early on in the ride and the rest of the ride was “as you feel”. I added on an extra 1 x 30 min Z3. The great part was that I felt STRONG for the whole ride - stronger than I remember feeling ever before. I also really focused on keeping my chain on my big ring as much as possible – I think I dropped down to my small ring only 4 times, which is awesome. At about 4:30 my saddle region got sore but otherwise, everything else was fine.

 I finished the ride with a huge boost of confidence, knowing that I’d just ridden a hilly, windy 95 miles solo.

 The ride was followed up by a trip to Starbucks (whole milk latte and a choc chip cookie). Then home for an ice bath. Impressively enough, I’m barely even sore today. Pretty cool weekend – makes me feel like I’m getting ready for IMTX.



95 miles of fun!

hills!

Sad Week

The world lost one of the last true cowboys.  Will's grandfather died on February 24, 2011.  He had a heart attack the week prior, and we were fortunate enough to fly up for that weekend and had a good 3 days of laughter, conversation, and reminiscing.  We flew back home, thinking he was going to be ok.  The next day he had a stroke.  We flew up Thursday and got to the hospital right after he passed away.  Seeing his grandmother in the hosipital after he died, snuggling up to her husband of nearly 66 years, was one of the saddest and sweetest things I have ever seen. Even though he's my grandfather by marriage, he is very much my grandpa.  He died 5 weeks short of his 90th birthday.  He is definitely missed.

William Howard Walker

Obituary

William Howard Walker was born April 12, 1921, in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, at the home of his parents Gilbert and Lena Walker. Bill was the youngest of five siblings including Evelyn, Bert, Virginia and Pat. He passed away February 24, 2011 in Mountain Home, Idaho.

Together with his brother Pat, and father, Gilbert, Bill was part of a third generation family who owned and operated their ranch at Cold Springs Creek. Bill valued hard work, close ties to the land, and solid principles. He toiled to produce better crops, improve the quality of livestock, and clear new land. Opening up three desert entries and developing six irrigation wells were among their ranching accomplishments. When asked what the hardest thing about life on the ranch was, without missing a beat, Bill replied, “The shovel and the pitchfork.”

Bill played football and graduated from Glenns Ferry High School in 1939. He attended college in Pocatello and worked in Seattle at the Boeing aircraft plant, helping assemble the A-1 fighter. Coming home from Seattle in early spring, he bought a sporty Indian motorcycle in Moscow, Idaho, from Addison Stone, a childhood friend. It proved to be quite a task to keep the motorcycle upright for much of the trip was in icy ruts. By the time time he got home, he had a severe sunburn and was chilled to the bone--good thing he was young and tough.

After returning to the family ranch in 1944, Bill was introduced to a young schoolteacher at a friend's home. He and Margaret Blanksma dated and were married on March 30, 1945. They recall how ecstatic people were when the war in Europe ended that summer; Margaret drove down to the field where Bill was working to relay the good news. That evening everyone in the family went to town and celebrated.

Bill honed his musical talents in productive ways. His musical skill emerged in high school, whether he was singing the lead in a musical or entertaining at weddings and funerals. With Bill playing harmonica, and his brother Pat playing the guitar, many good times were had dancing and singing after the spring and fall brandings. At local square dances, he enjoyed being an announcer by calling out lyrics to songs like the Alabama Jubilee or Ghost Riders in the Sky.

Together with Margaret, Bill designed and built a home at the Cold Springs Creek ranch, doubling its size as the family grew to four daughters. He immensely enjoyed attention to detail and instilled quality in his carpentry. Later, he remodeled their present home on Rye Grass Creek and enlarged the Cow Camp Cabin on Bennett Mountain.

History of the local area, his family heritage, and a deeply embedded love of the United States were a great pleasure to him. He and Margaret especially enjoyed their trip to the East Coast and South Carolina, where they visited family and toured the nation's historical treasures.

In the seventies, Bill got a kick out of entering a competition to rename a local credit union. He sketched an oxen-drawn covered wagon and composed a narrative for the contest. His entry, Pioneer Federal Credit Union still stands. Margaret and he enjoyed a trip to Hawaii as the result.

Bill served on the Elmore County Soil & Water Conservation District Board over 20 years, as well as, the Glenns Ferry Highway District Board. He was a member and trustee of the Elks, chairman of Idaho Cattle Association Convention, and past president of the Elmore Cattleman's Association.

Bill was a “Jack of all trades, master of many.” He found satisfaction in adding quality and value to anything he pursued, whether it was improving the land or upgrading the cow herd. He enjoyed his horses and riding on the desert and Bennett Mountain. He designed and installed lines for numerous water troughs and other irrigation projects. He loved a special horse, good cows and special companion dog.

Bill valued his family very much. He was patient in teaching his children and grandchildren life skills and had a quiet and calm manner. He encouraged Margaret and all four daughters to pursue college degrees even though he did not have the same opportunity.

Survivors include his devoted wife of 66 years, Margaret, and their four daughters: Betty Ann Nettleton (Nick), Janet Mahler (Mike), Joan Barak (David), and Sandy Dryden (Dean). Grandchildren: Jeff Nettleton (Tina), Jason Nettleton (Robin), Will Trail (Erin), Amy Trail, Kate Armstrong (Joey), Rebecca Barak, Chase Dryden and Chelsy Dryden.

Rosary services will be held at Rost Funeral Home, 500 N. 18th E., Mountain Home, on Monday, February 28, at 6pm. Funeral mass will be held Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, 115 N. 4 E., Mountain Home, 10am, on March 1.

Suggested memorial contribution recipients: Elks Rehabilitation or Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Mountain Home.

February 2011 Totals

I had very high hopes for February..... then Will's grandfather passed away and I simultaneously got a sinus infection.  *poof* 2 weeks of training just didn't get done.  But, the weeks I was able to train, I did get some quality stuff done.

Bike: 19h 06m - 256.24 Mi

Run: 7h 46m 59s - 36.11 Mi
Swim: 9h 50m - 27650 Yd
Core Training: 15m

 

Evaluation of February goals:

• Survive training. I suspect that Feb will be a build month. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better. still working on hills, but altitude is getting better.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run". Last month actually wasn't horribly cold.  I did have one day where we had 5 inches when I needed to do a brick, so instead of running, I did a hike through the snow.  It was actually fun. 

Goals for March:

• Survive training. More building and catch up in March. Lots of cycling. On hills. At altitude. My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill. Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside. Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run".

Hills, hills and more hills

I think this state is trying to kill me.  NOTHING is flat here.

Weekend's workouts were:
Saturday: 3-3.5 hr ride, 1 hr run
Sunday: 5-5.5 hr ride

Its been like Hoth here for the past few weeks, which meant lots of quality time with my trainer.  Finally on Friday, the high was inthe 40's with highs of 50+ forecast for the weekend.  That meant that the snow would melt and I could play outside.  Thank goodness.  I can't even imagine a 5 hr trainer ride. 

Since moving here, I've been sticking to paved hike/bike trails.  I like riding on them - they're safe, I don't have to worry about getting lost, and I don't have to worry about cars.  My coach, however does not like the trails and is on my about riding on roads.  *big heavy sigh*  So with this big cycling weekend, I researched local cycling groups.  There's ~4 around with rides varying from 30 miles to 50+.  Friday night the trail didn't look clear of snow, so that meant unless I wanted 3 hours on the trainer, I needed to join a group for a ride outside on the street.  I decided to ride with Rocky Mountain Cycling Club, as they had a 43 mile route scheduled for Saturday in Northglen.  This was going to be an adventure, mainly because I've never been north of Water World (~5 miles south of Northglen) and I didn't know ANYONE with the group.

Ride started at 10:45, I got there around 10:20 and scouted out some roads to run my brick.  Got to the designated meeting spot and signed in.  They offered me a map, but I was smart and already printed my own out at home.  I was a bit intimidated, as I was the only girl, and the only one on a tri-bike, but I was determined to make the best of it.  After a small safety/route talk, we took off at 11 AM.  We stopped at a light and waited for stragglers, and I asked what the pace was for the group.  They all looked at me like I was talking a foreign language.  I explained that I just moved here from Texas and I had NO IDEA where we were riding.  I just didn't want to get lost.  A few guys took pity on me (I'm sure being a girl didn't hurt) and offered to wait and maybe ride with me, so I wouldn't get lost.  The first few miles I hung with the group easily, which gave me hope.  Turns out, they were just warming up.  Then we hit the hills.  Big ones.  I ended up climbing from 5274 feet to 5844 feet in 8 miles.  My HR was at 175, which is ridiculously high.  And as a bummer, on a big descent, there was a major cross-wind, so I couldn't fly down as fast as I'd like.  I hate that - I EARNED some speed.  The guys were super nice, always waiting for me at major intersections or where there was a tricky turn.  They gradually got faster and one guy was very kind and rode with me through a complicated neighborhood area, just to make sure I didn't get lost.  Then it was time to stop at a gas station after 28 miles to re-group.  They were all waiting for me!  I ended up being in the middle of speed ranges - too slow for the fast group but too fast for the slow group.  Typical.  My guide had to go home, so he left me.  Then I realized my map blew away.  Damn.  I figured most of the hills were over and I was hopeful I could hang with the guys, since I'm pretty decent on flats.  I genreally knew where I was and generally knew how to get back to my truck.  My goal was to stay within eyesight of them so I could see where they turned.  Turns out, they're more than decent on the flats and I quickly lost sight of them.  So fine, I'm just pedalling along, enjoying the scenery. Then all of a sudden I see I-25 and realize I missed a turn.  Damn.  Thankfully, my cell phone has GPS so finding my way back wasn't a problem.  (What did people do before cell phones, seriously???).  Total miles: 45, total elevation gain: 859 ft, total feet ascended: 1821 ft.

View of the pretty while on the ride:

Aftermath of riding around in snow melt...

My shoes WERE black:

My run wasn't great, but that was because my lungs weren't cooperating.  Boo

Sunday I had a ~70-80 mile ride, solo.  My plan was to do the trail "triangle", which is about 50 miles, stop at my truck, grab more drinks, then rid around for another 1.5 hrs.  I got to the trailhead and all I saw was white.  After 2 days above freezing, the trails were still covered with snow.  Boo.  I recently got some south Denver ride information, and I decided that since I didn't have time to drive around and find another place to access the trail (and then probably have to deal with more snow/ice during the ride), I would just head south on Santa Fe (US-85) and then do the Sedalia-Palmer Lake ride.  When I looked at the map that morning, I saw a 2,000 ft elevation gain and said "I'm going to die if I do that".  Well, there's only one way to find out.

Riding on US-85 wasn't nearly as freaky as I thought it would be.  Turns out, Colorado drivers are much more friendly to cyclists than Texas ones.  The whole time I was out, I never once encountered a bad driver.  I had the map in my head and looked it up on my phone before I headed out.  So I just kept riding south on US-85, looking for US-105.  Problem was, I somehow over-shot it and ended up in Castle Rock.  Oops.  I re-traced my steps, and turns out that there's an intermediate highway that I should have turned on to catch 105.  That only put be back 8 miles, so no worries.  So I was off and on my way to Palmer Lake.  While hilly, it was very pretty.  Lots of hills and trees and snowy pastures.  There was one hill that about killed me.  Really, it was very steep.  With this ride, you climb up from Sedalia to just before Palmer Lake, then you have a small descent into town.  I was very much looking forward to the tiny descent, but dammit if my legs were dead (or maybe it was windy, I don't know).  I was hanging out at 11 mph on flats.  Lame.  Stopped at the gas station for some gatorade and water (since this was unplanned, I didn't concentrate my Infinit for a 6 hr ride - I only had 4 hrs of regular strength with me).  Legs felt good and I had a Valentine's dinner to get back to, so I zoomed off.  I swear I had a tail wind going into town and a head wind leaving town, but I was cruising in what should have been a headwind.  I was having so much fun cruising that I missed the turn onto 105.  It wasn't until I saw a state park and a transformer cluster that I went "hey, this isn't familiar".  Yep, wrong road AGAIN, which put me back another 10 miles, for a total of 18 miles off-route.  Making it back to my truck would be interesting.  The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.  I had some sweet descents - hit 36 mph on one of them.  Had more climbing, although overall, it was mostly downhill.  My feet/saddle/arms felt good, which was nice, since at this point in the ride during my century, all of that hurt.  By the time I was ~15 miles away from Sedalia, I knew I just wasn't going to make it back to my truck.  Well, I could have made it (in theory), but it would have added another hour and 18 miles to my ride, on a very busy road.  I was pretty concerned about getting into traffic and going splat.  So, once I got to Sedalia, I called my valiant sherpa, and had him pick me up.  Poor guy, maybe some day he will get used to my random phone calls.  Still, better safe than sorry.  Total miles: 77, total elevation gain: 2,000, total feet ascended: 3624.  Wowzers.  And according to the locals, this was a "tame" ride.  Oof.  In hind sight, I think my lack of power up in Palmer Lake was more due to elevation than me being out of juice.  I'm still getting acclimated to elevation, and then to add another 2,000 feet?  No wonder I wasn't going anywhere fast!

Proof that I was up this high.

Snow Days

In theory, I really like snow. Its pretty. I love how snow muffles noise so the air has this magical quietness to it. I like winter sports, like skiing and snowshoeing.

In reality, I’m not really liking snow all that much. Sure, I grew up in the stuff and know how to “live” in it. Sure you have to drive a bit more cautiously, leave for work a bit earlier, watch the weather every night to make sure you dress appropriately for the following day. But I never had to train for an IronMan in the snow. And that part sucks.

Last weekend, we got ~5 inches of snow between Friday and Saturday. My training plan originally had me doing a 3.5 ride/1 hr run on Saturday and a 4.5 hr ride on Sunday. Mercifully, my coach adjusted my plan for the snow: 2 hrs ride / 1 hr run on Saturday and a 3 hr ride on Sunday. I cannot even comprehend 4.5 hrs on the trainer right now, although, I’m certain this is in my near future.

In preparation for my trainer rides, I saved the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to my Netflix on demand account. The few times I’ve tried to watch a movie while on the trainer, I’ve found that the time it takes for a movie to build the plot and do something is a bit long and doesn’t help much in providing a distraction. My hope is that a tv series will have a quicker pace and provide more distractions. My coach has also been giving me sets of things to do while I’m on the trainer. This really helps make the time go by, since I have something to focus on every 5-10 minutes and then move onto the next portion of the workout. These trainer workouts are also kicking my ass.

Saturday’s brick involved muscle endurance (ME) sets on the bike. The idea is to do say, 4 x 20 minute repeats, where you pedal at a maximum of 55 rpm but every 5 minutes you increase the resistance so your heart rate increases 5-10 beats per minute. Heavy leg stuff, that’s good for building leg strength. Then I had an hour run. I’ve decided that my neighborhood does not have a half mile of level ground anywhere. These hills are killing me. I headed out towards the rec center, thinking that it was in a gully and that maybe the street behind it followed that gulley. No such luck. That dang street provided me with 1.4 miles and 200 feet of steady uphill climbing. It sucked. Then back down the hill only to have another similar climb up back to the house. Fooey. The other thing with this run is that I had NO idea it was going to snow on Saturday afternoon (see my above statement about needing to watch the weather forecast daily). It was snowing a tiny bit when I started but the air temp was in the mid-30’s, so there was no accumulation. By the time my run ended, the flakes were bigger, temps were colder, and snow was sticking. If I had started my workout an hour later, my run would have been hazardous.

Sunday was just a simple 3 hour trainer ride, the main set was 3 x 30 min zone 2-3 HR intervals, with 3-5 110-115 rpm 1 minute spin-ups mixed in. I gradually built in the high RPM work, 3 the first set, 4, the second, and 5 in the third. By the time I got to the third set, I was dying. I will say that the nice thing with the cold and being stuck on the trainer, is that all I have to do is shut off the heat, turn on the ceiling fan, and open all the windows. I got the house down to a balmy 58 degrees. Will and the kitties were freezing, but I was perfect.

Monday was a swim day, so no big deal, as the pool is inside. Managed to swim 4,000 yards. I was still the slowest in the pool, but I wasn’t dying either.

Tuesday had me doing a short-ish brick in the morning. And as luck would have it, we had another snow storm scheduled for Monday night through Tuesday afternoon. Options were to a) indoor trainer then try to run outside, and scrap it if it was hazardous; b) indoor trainer and then hop in the car and drive to the gym to run on the treadmill (which kind-of kills the intent of a brick); or c) go to the gym and ride/run there. My coach decided it was best to do a modified Option A, where I’d do my 1:05 on the trainer, then strap on my snow boots, bundle up, and head outside for a 30 minute vigorous “hike” outside in the snow. The air temperature was -2 degrees and we had about 4 inches of snow. It was actually fun, for the most part. It was a bit scary when the snow plow came through a few times – they’re large and move FAST. And I think I surprised a few drivers, because really, who in their right mind is out walking in this stuff at 6:30 AM? And I got to become acquiated with sensations I’d not experienced since I lived in Montana…. Frozen nose-hairs. Moisture from your breath freezing on your eyelashes, making them stick together. Generally being covered with snow.

Got home safe and sound. Then when it was time to take a shower, Will had a brilliant idea to also take a shower, which used up all the hot water, so I ended up running out of hot water at the end of my shower. Fail. And really, why was he taking a shower at 7 AM – he works from home!

Roads tonight from my run will likely be icky since we’re still below freezing, so I get to do a hill run on a treadmill for 70 minutes. But then – hopefully – things will warm up to the 50’s for several days in a row! I may even get to ride my bike in Boulder on Saturday, if the weather’s nice enough and the roads are clear.

Weekend Workouts

I suspect that this is what most of my weekends between now and May 21st will look like.  It kicked my ass, but surprisingly, I'm not sore today.  Weird.

Saturday AM: 4,000 yard (1.5 hr) masters swim practice.  This practice was not the "pro" version and was much more managable.  Practice was only supposed to be 1 hr long, but after telling the coach that I needed to get in 4,000 yards, she wrote up extra sets and stuck around for a while longer.  Nice!  She was also very complimentary on my pacing, smooth stroke, and flip turns.  I may be a "slow" swimmer, but my technique is great!

Saturday PM: 4 hr bike ride (56 miles).  I did the "Denver Triangle" route, which I figured was about the right ditstance for the time.  I started at South Platte Park (green dot on the linked map) and headed east on the C-470 trail, to get the hills done with early.  1.5 hours of hills.  I will admit at about 1.25 hours, after I got east of I-25, the landscape turned to hilly plains (aka nothing) with WIND and I was not a very happy camper.  Once I turned north, the wind played nice and the hills went away and I could settle into a pace and cruise.  Since I rode these trails earlier in the week, my confidence was better and I could get a higher mph and stay aero longer.  At about hour 3, my shoulders and saddle were a bit sore, so I did the game where you play "stay in aero for 15 min and then you can stretch".  Considering this is the longest ride I've done since my century last July, I think I did pretty good.  After the ride, I treated myself to a whole milk latte and cupcakes.  mmmmm.

Sunday AM: 2 hr run with 18x3 min fartleks with 1 min easy jog/walk btwn each one.  Yes, 18 of them.  This was not super fun but I survived.  I will admit that I was finding excuses to walk after the firsrt 5 intervals.  Its hard to use your inhaler and jog, you know?  So yeah, not a stellar run, but it was banked.

Then I went home, showered, ate, and took a nap because....

Sunday PM: 40 min run.  Coaches notes were literally "your furst mile will suck but stick with it".  Honestly, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The hardest part was getting up off the couch, but when I was out, it wasn't so bad.  Probably because I knew it was ONLY 40 minutes.  I did a sort of out and back by the house and chose a way with a not so steep uphill for the out, so I'd have a mostly downhill cruise for the back.  My neighborhood is hilly..... makes training interesting.

Then off to the grocery store, cooked dinner, and vegged on the couch.  And had another cupcake. 

Also spent some time with my Stick massage thingy.  I swear, a good 15 minutes rolling my legs out and I'm good to go.  My legs are BARELY sore this morning... craziness!

Also, cold tap water is COLD here.  I did an ice bath on Saturday after my ride.  I only turned on the cold water and stepped in when it was ankle deep.  OMFG it was COLD.  Painful pins and needles cold.  I tried to get in a few more times, each time lasting maybe 10 seconds before saying "I just can't DO THIS".  And then I turned on the hot water for about a minute.  Much better.  Still cold, but not Polar Bear Swim cold.  Guess I don't need to be stocking up on ice anytime soon for my ice baths.

January 2011 Totals

December was kind of a wash... I did awesome in my half marathon, and then I got sick, and then I moved to Denver.  Numbers were so sad, I didn't even do a status post for December.  This month I've been back in the swing of things, even with traveling to Houston for 2 weeks for field work.  I think my numbers are pretty decent, considering December was pathetic.

Bike: 18h 20m - 142.74 Mi (8 hours were on an indoor bike)
Run: 11h 54m 14s - 59.14 Mi
Swim: 9h 32m - 25550 Yd
Core Training: 35m

No goals were developed for January, so here's what I had for December...

• RunGirl Half Marathon finish time of 2:25 (11:00/mile pace). I did the Houston Half Marathon in 2:31 and I'm a faster runner now, so theoretically, I should be able to meet this goal. The RunGirl course has some (small) hills, though, which could affect me. We shall see..... Ran this race in 2:20:42.  I CRUSHED my goal time - it was awesome.  And then I got bronchitis.  This may or may not be related to running this race (air temp was 40 degrees) in tri shorts and a tank top....
• We had a preliminary offer on our house yesterday, which is great, but it makes the month of December really, really crazy. The proposed close date is Dec 29th - we've asked for the option to lease it through Dec 31st so we have a few extra days. This means I have to get quotes for movers, pack, figure out logistics, survive the selling process, and move to Denver. To say I'm a little overwhelmed right now is an understatement. It wasn't pretty, but we survived the move.  I'm still missing a few items (steaming pitcher for my espresso maker and the clip-on handles for my pots/pans). 
• Find a run group in Denver for my long runs. Research swimming groups so I know what my options are, depending on where we end up living in January. I found a women-only distance running group that's very affordable.  Just need to start running with them.  There's another larger group, but I believe they think too highly of themselves.... Drop in cost is $20 (!!!) and they ask that you do not run more than 12 miles when you drop in.  Also, they don't provide paper cups (to be eco friendly) so you have to buy your own collapsable cup thingy.  Spring season with them is also ridiculous, something like $230.  So, we'll try the smaller women-only group and see how that works.  Funny part is that their track workouts are at my high school.... I don't believe I've ever stepped foot on that track, so this should be amusing.  For swim team, I'll probably join the Highlands Ranch Masters team.  Swam with them last Friday and they kicked my ass (I was the slowest one in the pool, very hard on my ego).  But they have AM practices M-Sat, so at least the schedule works for me.
• Keep up with the training, even with the moving craziness. Done.

Ok, February Goals...

• Survive training.  I suspect that Feb will be a build month.  Lots of cycling.  On hills.  At altitude.  My goal is to keep a positive attitude and keep working at getting better.
• Figure out how to train in cold weather, even if that means treadmill.  Or figure out what to wear when its cold and I run outside.  Or figure out how cold is "too cold to run".

Getting my ass kicked

Whoa man, hills and altitude are killer......

Tuesday was a brick, consisting of a 90 min ride and a 30 min run.  I wanted to do more exploring on my bike, so while I parked at the same starting spot, I went on the C-470 West trail.  As in west towards the mountains.  And duh, you end up with elevation increases as you get closer to the mountains, especially when you start in a river basin.  These hills really weren't all that big, but crap, they killed me.  I want to say it was windy too, but that may be me trying to be optimistic.  There are also some tunnels where the bike path goes under a busy street (to avoid having to cross the street).  Well, in one tunnel, I discovered ice stalactites and stalactmites.  Problem was that tunnels are dark and I had my sunglasses on.  I missed the first pile of ice (just barely) and took off my glasses just in time to see a big pile of stalactmites blocking the whole tunnel.  Eeps!  I unclipped one foot and limped over the ice, and was on my way.  Still, ice + bikes = bad stuff!  I went as far as I felt like going and turned around to discover I had a really nice mostly downhill ride back to my truck.  I didn't think the hills were that steep, but I did hit 31 mph without even trying.  It was also COLD going downhill, and I was very glad that I chose to wear my brand new lightweight full-finger cycling gloves. Total elevation profile from my garmin was 400 ft, a pretty steady climb to my turn around point. After the bike I had a 30 min run, which went actually pretty well, even with the hilly bike ride.  It helped that the run path was flat :)

Wednesday was a swim workout (on my own) then a 60 min run with hill repeats.  There's a large network of gravel and paved trails where we live, and its a bit intimidating, with the hills and not knowing the area.  I won't figure out the trail system if I don't actually use it, so I decided  to do this run on a gravel trail by the house (which has a huge hill).  The 12 x 40 sec hill repeats were killer.  My coach even said that every 3rd one should be so hard that I will be cursing her (if I had the breath).  The altitude and dry air are doing a number on my asthma.... I think I took a hit on my inhaler every 3rd repeat.... 

View of run trail from the street:

Thursday was a simple 90 min ride.  I once again started at South Platte Park and decided to head on the C-470 East trail.  Again, I'm climbing out of a river basin and up hills.  I don't think these were as steep as Tuesday's ride, but I can't be sure.  The elevation profile had a similar elevation change (400 ft), so chances are, they were about the same.  This path is part of the "Denver Triangle" that I plan on riding Saturday for my 4 hr ride.  Path was ok, but there aren't many tunnels so you have to cross streets at major intersections.  Boo.  At least I'll get practice clipping in and clipping out.  Especially when the trail goes down to the street, so you have to stop, unclip, then re-clip and climb up on the other side.  Lame.  View going out (east) was blah, but coming back was gorgeous.  It also helps that it was 50 degrees and sunny.

Mt Evans

This morning was my first Masters swim team workout.  I was a bit scared, because the description for the M-W-F group was that they're the fast group and you have to be able to swim 3500 yards in 90 min (easy) and hold 8 x 100 free on a 1:40 interval.  I could do that interval, but I would only have ~5 sec rest, so it would really suck.  But I figured that this is masters, and really, how hard could it be?  There's also at Tu-Th group, but its called "Triathletes Swimming", and with my swim snobbery, I really didn't want to be with the triathlete group.  I'm a swimmer first, then a triathlete. 

So, I went in this morning, hoping I'd hang and keep up with the group. Boy, was I wrong.  Turns out the M-W-F group is former collegiate Division 1 swimmers.  I was THE slowest person in the 8 lane pool, and I am not exaggerating.  My poor ego.  Warm-up was a 1,000 yard choice.  That should have been the first clue that I was going to get my ass kicked.  Then it was 4x100, 4x75, 4x50, 4x25 (free).  Then 4x100 IM, 4x75 back, 4x50 breast, 4x25 free.  THEN (yes, there was more), I had to do 6x75 kick with fins.  I looked at my watch and holy crap, it was only 6:15 AM and I was on my way to 3500 yards.  Once I was done with the kick set, I realized I was done.  Apparently, the team still have 2 more sets (6x150 free and something else).  Coach fully understood that I was done and I did a quick 300 cool down.  Apparently, the normal yardage for this group is 4000-4700 yards (!!!!).  I asked if it was appropriate for me to swim with this group (you know, since I'm so SLOW, compared to the rest of them), and she said yes and encouraged me to stick with it.  I figure that since my swimming skills and endurance are good, that she sees hope for me.  And maybe going to the triathlete group would be too easy for me.  Ugh.

So in addition to hills kicking my ass, I now have a Masters team to add to the list.  Its going to be an interesting 2011.

First Training Sessions in Denver

I'm working from home this week, so I have a chance to get my house organized.  This also gives me a chance to get in some longer workouts and explore a bit.

Sunday I did a 3 hour bike ride.  I was hoping to get in ~50 miles but due to navigational errors, I came up short (and did 5 min extra "bonus" riding to make up for it.)  Denver has a TON of paved bike trails which go all over the city.  Its going to take a bit for me to become familiar with things, so Sunday I stuck with what I knew.  Temperature was in the low 40s.  I wore medium weight socks, tri tank, long sleeve tech shirt, jacket, bike shorts, fleecy medium weight running tights, and regular fingerless cycling gloves.  A bit chilly at first, but once I got going, I was fine.  The other trick is figuring out where to access these bike trails, so I decided to start at South Platte Park, ride along the South Platte trail to Confluence Park, then hang a right on Cherry Creek until I needed to turn around.  Nice flat trail, no road crossings, AND I've ridden it before (although it was in 1993).  Ride was fun.  Only problem was the lack of bathroom stops.  After a failed stop at a park where the bathrooms were locked, I ended up stopping at a hotel which was right off of the Cherry Creek trail.  This could make things interesting on longer rides, if I also need to get more water.

Mile High Stadium from South Platte Trail:

View of downtown just south of Confluence Park on the SPT:

REI kayak demo course at Confluence Park:

This was the longest ride I've done in months.  Surprisingly, I felt fine :)

Monday was swim day.  The area where we're renting in gives you access to 4 rec centers as part of your HOA dues.  The rec center 5 min from our house is the one with a masters team.  I'm a bit nervous about the M-W-F Masters team (the one I want to join) because you have to swim 3500 yards in 1.5 hrs (easy) and hold 8 x 100 free on a 1:40 interval.  I could hold the interval, but it'd leave me with ~5 sec rest btwn 100s.  Hopefully they're not sticklers on that.  There's also a "triathletes" masters on Tu-Th, but my swimming snobbery doesn't allow me to consider joining this group.  I'm a swimmer first, then a triathlete, even though my swimming is MUCH slower since I started this whole tri thing.

I swam on my own, 3000 yd distance set.  Pool is nice.  8 lanes, wake-eating gutters, water temp around 80-81 (I think).  Could be colder, but definitely much better than the 86 degree indoor pool at MAC.

The rest of this week will be interesting.... 2 hr brick today, 2-3 a day workouts through Friday.  Saturday is a 4,000 yard swim and a 4 hr bike.  Sunday is a 2 hr run, chill out for 3-4 hours, then run another 40 min.  Ouch.  At least it will be warm (50's) and sunny here.  No need to be tortured inside on the trainer... yet.

Where's my stuff?

We've been in this house since the 7th.  I've physically been in the house maybe 5 days.  My pots, pans, coffee maker, espresso maker, and blender are all AWOL.  Very frustrating.  We hired professional movers.  I don't recall any boxes being left behind when we moved.  So they must be somewhere.  That's a lot of stuff to be missing.  I think the problem is that the movers did a crappy job labeling boxes.  We were so overwhelmed when we moved into this rental house that we did sort of a triage approach to unpacking.  Open a box, assume its labeled correctly, decide based on surface contents if it got unpacked or sealed back up for when we buy a house this summer.  Initially that worked, but about 2/3 of the way through the process, we started to realize that things weren't labeled well or packed by room.  We brought ~8 boxes to my mom's, and we were hoping our AWOL stuff was there.  Fortunately, my mom lent us A pot and A pan so Will wasn't totally without cooking pans while I was back in Houston for work.

Yesterday began mission: find our stuff.  Went to my moms, and nope, not there.  I did at least find a french press, so we aren't completely without coffee making tools.  (and Starbucks Via isn't a bad option, either). 

That means the stuff is in our garage....

GULP

I'm alive... just busy, and in limbo

We survived the move.... although I don't recommend moving on New Years Eve with a storm blowing through Kansas and Colorado on questionable tires.  Managed to find a 3 bdrm house to rent close to work, which also has access to free rec centers (with a Masters team and nice pool!) and ~60 miles of hike/bike trails.  Was home in our house for not even 48 hrs before I had to fly back to Houston for work for 2 weeks.  Presently, Will is at home (with a ton of boxes) being spoiled by my mom.  Word is that she stopped by the house, bringing stew and apple cobbler (!!).  Glad he's getting spoiled, but damn, I want apple cobbler.

That's about it for the update.  I very much feel like I'm in limbo.  Houston isn't my home anymore, but Denver still doesn't feel real.  Hopefully once I get back and settled and into a routine, things will start to feel real.

Moving update

As of last night at 5 PM, we are no longer home owners.  I've got mixed feelings about this.  I really, really love our house.  But I really don't like Houston.  I've joked that I wish we could take our house with us.  Hopefully we can find something we like in Denver - if anything, the view will be much better (hopefully).

Today is my last day in the Houston office.  We had a happy hour a week ago to say "goodbye", which was really nice.  As of yesterday, my office is about 2/3 of the way packed.  Wish I could say the same about the house.....

Tomorrow the movers show up to pack and load our house.  We'll be spending the night sleeping in our empty house on an air mattress.  Then Thursday, we'll be starting our migration to Denver, spending the night either in Stillwater, OK or Wichita, KS.  On Dec 31, we should be in our hotel in Denver.  Our stuff arrives in Denver Jan 7, so we have a week to figure out a place to rent.  We're not super picky - just really wanting 2 bedrooms and a 2 car garage.

Would like to write more later, but between being sick and moving, all my energy needs to go towards this.  We'll be taking photos along the way and I'll write up a move post.

2010 Training in Review

hoping for more of a big December, but the move and bronchitis had other ideas.... however, 2010 was a HUGE year compared to 2009.

2009
Bike: 92h 21m 04s - 931.87 Mi
Run: 59h 23m 10s - 314.55 Mi
Swim: 123h 15m 55s - 305325.1 Yd
Pilates: 31h 15m
Yoga: 16h 05m

2010
Bike: 106h 20m 16s - 1438.6 Mi

Run: 125h 24m 37s - 652.94 Mi
Swim: 101h 05m 38s - 254039.3 Yd
Pilates: 15h 50m
Yoga: 36h 05m

Bike:  the difference here is probably that I did once a week spinning for a good chunk of 2009 and hardly did any in 2010.  Also did longer 50+ rides and one century ride.

Run: HUGE difference - more than double the miles :)

Swim: not surprisingly (and sadly) my swim volume was down.  In 2009, I was still swimming 3-4 times a week.  In 2010, I had to drop down to 2 times a week.  Difference in yards is ~ 16 workouts.

Races:
Jan - Houston Half Marathon
Feb - Frost Yer Fanny Du
April - Ironman TX 70.3
June - Ironman Boise 70.3
July - Katy Flatlands Century Ride
August - TriGirl Sprint
September - Houston Oly
October - Firethrorn Sprint (5th place AG)
December - RunGirl Half Marathon

Race Report - RunGirl Half Marathon

My coach wanted me to do a half marathon before the big move to Denver... had a choice between the Galveston Crab Walk half marathon or RunGirl.  I ended up going with RunGirl because its organized by local RDs and the run was essentially the bike course from TriGirl, which is 100% in a park.  That, and the goodie bags from the RD are usually the best in the area :)

Pre-Race
It was pretty chilly out, but I prefer to run a bit chilly.  I decided to wear my Pistols for Pandas tank top and compression shorts, with a last minute addition of gloves and sleeves.  My friend and I hung out in the warmth of my truck until 15 minutes before race start.  What was nice about this race, as opposed to larger half marathons, was that this was a small race with maybe 300 participants.  Parking was right by the run start/exit, bathroom lines were small, and the start was uncrowded.  Since it was cold, I really didn't do a warm-up, except for a few leg swings and some half hearted leg stretching.

Race
My goal was a 11:00/mile pace and a finish time of 2:25.  My coach has been having me do a bunch of pace running that decends to a few miles at the end at sub-30 seconds under race pace.  My plan was to go pretty easy (11:15) for the first half of the run to settle into a rhythm and then push 2 miles at 10:30/mile and see how long I could hold my 5 k pace to the finish.  Its been a while since I ran 13 miles continuously (without stopping at water stations) and I've been having random issues (quad, heel, tight calves), so I was curious to see how today would go.

Since the race was so small, people settled into their paces pretty early on.  I went out a bit too fast - 30 seconds under goal pace for the first mile but quickly settled.  The course was a bit hilly but I managed to hold onto my 11:00/pace.  Around mile 2, my calf decided to lock up, making my left foot go completely numb.  I kept running, hoping that, as it sometiems does, my calf could loosen up naturally.  I ran ~2 miles and nothing, so at the second water station, I walked for a bit.  Crazy enough, a few steps in, just like magic the blood vessels opened up and I had feeling back in my foot.  Hooray, especially since its hard to run with a totally numb foot.  Especially when it starts at mile 3 of a 13 mile race.  My foot went a bit numb over the next mile, but not as bad as before.  I ended up walking the next water stop (around 5.5 miles) since I took in a gel.  Fortunately, after that, my calf relaxed and my foot was good to go.  After the 5.5 mile aid station, I felt warm enough so I ditched the gloves and sleeves (tied them to my fuel belt).  The people around me (wearing tights and long sleeves or jackets) thought I was crazy, but I knew as long as I was in the sun, I'd be fine.  We came back through the start area through this strip that during TriGirl is the last 1/2 mile of the run and is horribly hot.  I laughed as the wind was blowing and it most definitely was not hot today.  Looped thru the race start and went off to complete loop 2.  I wanted to hold ~10:30 pace for 2-3 miles then hold a 5k pace for the last 2-3, depending on how things were going.  Weird part about this race was that I ran most of it by myself - I had no one to pace off of.  I kept watching my watch and somewhere around 1:50 I figured that if I held on, I may finish around 2:20, 5 minutes under my goal for the race.  With 3 miles left, I kicked it into gear, holding a 10:00/mile pace.  I felt muscles in my quads that I've not felt before and my legs/knees were starting to get wobbly.  Running faster than the 10:00 pace wasn't going to happen, but I felt good about maintaining things.  For the last 2 miles I just focused on catching people ahead of me - I NEVER pass people, so this was fun.  My goal was to finish strong, and I was doing that.  I came back through the TriGirl run course and knew that once I turned the corner I had 1/2 mile to go.  At that point, I just kept pushing (although really, it probably wasn't that fast... I was just trying to hold momentum), curious to see if I could come under 2:20.  All said and done, I came in at 2:20:42.1.... 4:18 under my goal time and 10:48 under my last half marathon in January.  Huge PR, all due to me running my ass off all year.

Post Race
put on warmer clothes, ate 3 breakfast tacos, sat in my truck with my friend to get warm.  good times!  I was limping a bit, but nothing near as bad as at the end of other long races.  Only did a bit of stretching, which will probably come back to bite me.

Closing
In comparing this race to January's Aramco Houston Half Marathon, they were 2 different races, mainly because I'm a more seasoned racer. 

In January, this was my first half marathon and my longest running race to date.  I was training with a more beginner-oriented group, doing a 5:1 run/walk ratio.  The crowds were much larger, the race was run.  But the race was also much harder to finish.  The last 2-3 miles were just tough, mentally and physically.  Also, the week leading up the the race, I was super nervous/excited.

This race, I entered it really just for fun and to see how I'd do.  I had a goal time, but no pressure.  Now, running 2.5 hours is no big deal, especially considering that I've spent 7+ hours on a race course twice since then.  This race was smaller and lacked the "show" of the Houston Aramco race, but it was prettier and probably more fun, since it was low key and in a really pretty park setting.  Going into this race, I wasn't nervous at all but I had a plan to execute.  I knew I could execute it based on the weeks of speed work leading up to the race.  So today was more a matter of testing myself and seeing how much I could do - and have fun doing it.

And based on my perfomance today, I would say I had a great race :)  Great way to end the season and Houston and to say goodbye to the local community before I move to Colorado.

November Totals

First month of IMTX training - and my first month of being coached by Carole.  Focus this month seemed to be running, in preparation for the RunGirl half marathon on Dec 12th.  This was the first 100+ mile running month for me - pretty cool!

Bike: 11h 41m 47s - 125.58 Mi (mileage is short since I had 3.5 hrs on the trainer and my wheel magnet wasn't working, so I didn't get any mileage.  Mileage should be around 170 miles.)

Run: 19h 50m 06s - 104.06 Mi

Swim: 7h 40m - 17550 Yd

Yoga: 3h 00m

Review of November Goals

• Get up to speed working with Coach Carole. This means learning to work with someone new, adjusting to their workouts, communication style. It also means more time on the bike. It was a bit bumpy in the beginning - the first week was a HUGE run week, 37 miles, where I'd been running 25 miles in a week.  That freaked me out.  But I think that week was a test and since then, we're getting into a rhythm and I'm figuring out how she works and vice versa.  She's been having me do a Friday run, Saturday long run, and then a Sunday run followed by a bike.  I think these Sunday runs (which are not awesome feeling) will teach me what it feels like to run coming off of a 112 mile bike.
• Re-work my running schedule (again, with Coach Carole). I'm scratching the Houston Marathon (per Carole's instructions) and will most likely be doing the RunGirl 13.1 Dec 12th. I am running RunGirl, so this is done!
• Get regular massages.  I got 3 (?) massages in November.  Then some muscles started hurting and I can't tell if its due to training or the massage.  So I'm chilling out on the massage front for a bit.  I have been spending more time with the foam roller and my Stick, since my left calf muscle is VERY tight. 
• Keep my house clean - aka "show mode". We just listed it and we really need it to sell quickly. I am suprised and pleased to report that we have been doing a great job keeing the house clean. It helps that we don't have much in the house right now, so there's no clutter.  We also have our "show" routine down, so getting the house ready for a showing is pretty easy.

December Goals

• RunGirl Half Marathon finish time of 2:25 (11:00/mile pace).  I did the Houston Half Marathon in 2:31 and I'm a faster runner now, so theoretically, I should be able to meet this goal.  The RunGirl course has some (small) hills, though, which could affect me.  We shall see.....
• We had a preliminary offer on our house yesterday, which is great, but it makes the month of December really, really crazy.  The proposed close date is Dec 29th - we've asked for the option to lease it through Dec 31st so we have a few extra days.  This means I have to get quotes for movers, pack, figure out logistics, survive the selling process, and move to Denver.  To say I'm a little overwhelmed right now is an understatement.
• Find a run group in Denver for my long runs.  Research swimming groups so I know what my options are, depending on where we end up living in January.
• Keep up with the training, even with the moving craziness.