First training block

I survived my first training block of the year.  I was really nervous about my extended break and leaving only 12 weeks to Boise.  Would my endurace come back?  Would I be strong and fast?  Injuries?

I'm probably not going into this in the smartest way, but I figure this will be an interesting test of what I can get my body to do.  Its also an interesting test in seeing what (if any) muscle memory I have.  I spent countless hours last year training and then a good 4 months of not doing much of anything.  My base has been a big question in my head - and how much and how quickly can I load it up for training.  I really wanted to push myself this week, and in particular, this weekend to see how I responded.  I wanted to see how quickly I recovered, what was sore, and if there were any signs of injury.

My main concern is my shin splints and calves for running.  My calves are tight.  So tight that my feet go numb while I run - it's a fun feature.  I've been getting ART done on my legs since early February.  It hurts.  Its basically a guy (ok, a trained and licenced chirpractor) digging his thumbs into your legs, while moving X joint through a range of motion.  The idea is to break up any scar tissue or adhesions which are causing the injury.  The dude leaves indentations into my inside shin.  Its impressive.  And painful.

Its kinda hard to see, but there's some pretty sweet bruising up along my shin.

Good news is that the ART seems to be working on my shin splits.  Not so great news is that he's not taking my calf tighness very seriously (or at least in my non-medical opinon, he's not hitting all of the right spots).  So, I may need to see a chiropractor who does Graston Technique.  I had it done at a race expo a few months back.  Lets just say that it resembles a Klingon version of brass knuckles and they use this "blade" to "massage" the muscle that needs attention.  Fun times!  Why am I doing this to myself again?

Anyways, back to my training week.  Focus this week was running.  I wanted to push things and see how my legs responded.

Tuesday - 50 min run
Wed - brick: 50 min bike with heavy intervals, 30 min run
Thurs - supposed to bike, but I was wiped and still a bit sick
Fri - swim
Saturday - 3 hr ride, all zone 2-3
Sunday - 2 hr run

My training calendar 2 weeks ago was completely blank.  Its either all ass or no ass with me!

Saturday I rode from basically my house to Cherry Creek, then I followed the Cherry Creek trail to the Denver Country Club and turned around.  It wasn't a very hard ride (for me... athough I nearly killed my friend.  her first time on a bike and I took her on a 3 hr tour of Denver!).  This day was more about time on the bike and getting used to riding again. 

Random sidenote: we are having record-breaking temperatures this week.  I actually rode in shorts and a short-sleeved jersey.  I really can't recall ever being able to wear so little clothing on any of my IMTX rides last year.  The irony!  Also, I did pretty good with the sunscreen application.  I have a very mild line mid-bicep on both arms and a tiny little red stripe above my ass.  I thought my jersey was long enough... apparently I thought wrong.

Then after the bike ride, I went out on the town!  Will had some coupon to Renegade Brewing for a free taster flight and a free growler.  It was awesome.


L -> R: pale, belgian strong, triple IPA, Scottish wee heavy, poblano lager, Rye IPA, blonde
Notice the accidental awesomeness of the glasses reflecting on the bar.

While we were out, I wanted to head over to Denver Beer Company to see if they had any of their ever elusvie Graham Cracker Porter on tap.  It seems that whenever we are over there, its out.  This beer is one of my top ten beers, I think.  Very tasty.

amazing.  I want more

Then it was off to the Avalanche vs Canucks game.  And for some strange reason (read: beers) I wanted some day-glo nachos with jalepenos.  They tasted good at the time... not exactly good on the stomach for a morning run the next day.

My (very rambly) point in including all of this extra-curricular activity is just that.  HIM training allows me to actually have a life.  No way would I have spent the afternoon/evening last March drinking beer and going to a hockey game.  It's something I need to consider when thinking about IMCDA in 2013.

Sunday was a 2 hour run.  I wasn't so sure how this would go, mainly since the last time I ran that long was in October 2011.  My most recent long run was a week prior, for 1 hour.  So, perhaps doubling my long run (and more than doubling my weekly mileage) wasn't so smart.  I packed up my gear and headed out, feeling slightly hungover and with a pretty unhappy stomach (stupid nachos).  The plan was to just run and listen to my body.  Give it 30 minutes and decide if I should head back.  This is how I approach most of my runs - give it 15-30 minutes and if things still feel bad, then turn around and go home.  But at least get out the door and give it a shot.  Not that motivating myself to get out the door is easy, but so much of this stuff is mental.

After 30 minutes of running, I actually felt pretty good.  I had started an hour later than planned (it was cold!) and I was a bit worried about it getting hot.  Fortunately, the cloud cover held and it was pleasant out.  My plan shifted to running ~45 minutes and then turning around.  That would give me a 1:30 run and I could add more miles by the house if I wanted.  45 minutes turned into 50 and then I turned around.

I'm trying out new nutrition this year, since I had such awful stomach issues after IMTX.  So, I'm trying out First Endurance EFS on the bike (Grape flavor) and Liquid Shot for the run.  The idea with Liquid Shot is that its similar to a gel but easier to digest.  I got Mixed Berry and Vanilla flavors to try out.  Keep in mind that you also have to drink some water with the Liquid Shot (like you would with a gel).  This whole one bottle for water, one bottle for nutrition is complicated for solo long runs. 

fits in the palm of your hand

I've seen people cram the thing in their tops during races so both of their hands are free.  While standing in my kitchen, I tried that and realized that I wouldn't be very happy doing that for 2 hours.  Tried storing it up the leg of my compression shorts.  Nope.  Then briefly down the back of my shorts, realizing they'd quickly migrate downwards.  So I had no choice but to bust out my handy fuel belt.  I dumped the Shot in an empty container - the stuff is thicker than I thought it would be.  Its still liquid, but more like a thin-ish honey consistency.  My other 2 bottles on the belt were water, 1/hour of running.  Kind of a pain for training, but during races (where water is available every mile), I can put the Liquid Shot stuff in my Nathan 10 oz handheld and be just fine.

Back to my Sunday run.... so in order to juggle both the Liquid Shot and my water, I would stop every 2 miles and take a swig from each flask.  Normally, I'd do this while running, but considering its early, I decided to walk.  Besides it was usually under 0.1 mile of walking.  It helped keep things reasonable too, since its been a while since I've ran this far.  Mile 6 was a slightly longer break.  I was getting warm so I had to take off my long sleeve shirt.  My first water bottle was empty, so I had to swap some stuff around.  I ended up not clicking in my front (now full) bottle all the way, so it crashed to the pavement and broke the top.  At least one of my two bottles were empty, so I had a spare lid.... 

At mile 9, the trail intersected with my subdivision and I was feeling good.  I decided to run an add'l half mile out (and then back) to bring my run to 10 miles.  Sweet!

Overall, my pace wasn't awful (it wasn't good, either!).  I didn't take any extra un-planned walk breaks and I ran up every (very small) hill.  All in all it was a success.  Then I had my recovery drink, took a shower and then an ice bath.  These new kitties are not familiar with me taking ice baths.  They were pretty concerned by all of my yelling when I got in the tub.


I have never met a cat that loves water as much as Zipper.....

Legs felt good but I was a zombie for the rest of the day.  I made sure to roll my legs out with my Stick before bed, and other than a tiny bit of hip flexor soreness, I'm good to go.

Gives me hope for the next 10 weeks.  Maybe Boise will be ok.

I think I miss Ironman a little

I was warned about this.  During training and the race, you think "once and done".  Then, after a while that feeling goes away and you start thinking "hey, that wasn't so bad...."  Maybe I'm caught up in the fresh season of IM training.  Maybe I'm bored and looking for a challenge.  I don't know.  I'm seriously considering signing up for IMCDA (Ironman Coeur d'Alene) in Jun 2013.  The bike is pretty hard.  But its not hot.  I don't know.  Registration will open at the end of June and I have a month or so to think things over before I hand WTC about $700 of my hard earned dollars.  So I have time to do some soul searching.

In an effort to drag out my Ironman Experience, here's a series of emails I sent out last year.  I was part of a fundraiser team last year, and my race was IMTX.  I think the emails were a fun way of personalizing my fundraising (other than "hey, give me your money!) and after the fact, they're fun to read and see what I did last year.

March 28, 2011
As you may (or may not) know, I am racing in Ironman Texas on May 21, 2011 in Houston Texas. This race is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 run which I have to complete is under 17 hours. Since transferring to Denver, I’ve joined a local fundraising team called Sweat Equity, which helps to raise money to support local Denver charities. Through Sweat Equity, I am raising funds for a very important local nonprofit organization - LiveWell Colorado. LiveWell is committed to reducing obesity in Colorado by promoting healthy eating and active living. In addition to educating and inspiring young people to make healthy choices, LiveWell Colorado focuses on policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that remove barriers and increase access to healthy behaviors.
I’ve been logging a LOT of miles to get me through my 140.6 mile race. Since the start of 2011, I’ve swam 80,600 yards (45 miles), biked 921 miles, and ran 159 miles. And I still have 8 more weeks until race day!

Please help me in raising funds as I log my miles and cross the finish line with a smile on my face.

Thanks!

April 18, 2011
Just thought I’d send you an update on how the training / fundraising is going….

So far, I’ve raised nearly $500 – just $750 more to go ;)

On April 10th, I “raced” in the Ironman Texas 70.3 in Galveston. “Raced” is in quotations because this was really a training event – the goal was to practice things in a race environment but not push myself so hard that I need a bunch of time to recover. I was also lucky enough to ride part of the IMTX bike course a few days before the 70.3 to test out my Colorado “hill legs”. My friend that rode with me can attest that my CO hill legs are MORE ready for those Texas hills :) The main thing I learned from my long weekend in Houston was to not under-estimate the heat. The week prior to the 70.3 race, I got snowed on during a training run….. Conditions on the 70.3 race day were windy (18 mph SSE winds – mostly crosswind on the bike) and warm/muggy (85 degrees, 90% humidity). As I found out on my IMTX test ride, what worked for me when I lived in Houston for nutrition/electrolytes clearly doesn’t work for me now that I live in the land of ice and snow. We’ll just say that salt pills are now my friend…..

Galveston was fun – even though this was a training race, it was very clear that all of my IMTX training is paying off. I kept my heart rate relatively low and my pace comfortable for the whole thing but managed to finish 28 minutes FASTER than my previous 70.3 time, with personal best times in the swim, bike, and run. Definitely a good confidence boost and clear proof that my training is doing what it should.

Training stats to date:

Bike: 1301.43 Mi
Run: 204.35 Mi
Swim: 109212 Yd

A little under 5 weeks to race day

Thanks again for your support!
Erin

May 9, 2011
My race is in 12 days!

Here’s an update on how things are going:
I’ve fundraised $674.62 – I’ve had some creative donation amounts, which brings a smile to my face. THANK YOU. I’m over half way to my goal.

Training Stats to Date:
Bike: 1640 Mi
Run: 261 Mi
Swim: 129212 Yd (73 miles)

I have officially entered my taper. This is a curious thing, as my workload decreases in an attempt to let my body heal from the past 17+ weeks of training and get ready to race. Based on what I’ve been told, I can expect to still be exhausted (true), have random pains crop up (I’ve already had a very strange pain in my knee and now my back is sore in a random area), and I may be cranky (not sure how this differs from the past 17 weeks). So, what does a taper week look like, compared to a regular week? My last heavy week was 19 hours of exercise – 2 recovery days, a crazy track workout (2 x 2 mile repeats FAST), 2 short (1 hour) rides, 2 swim workouts, a Saturday long brick (5 hour ride, 1 hour run) and a Sunday long ride (6 hours). This week, by contrast, consists of a whopping 6 hours of exercise – 2 recovery days, 2 short bike rides (45 min and 20 min), a medium track workout (4 x ½ mile FAST), 2 low-distance swims (2400 and 1200 yards), Saturday 1.5 hour bike and a Sunday 1 hour run. See – EASY?
For the race, the heat will be my main challenge. I experienced 80 degree weather for the first time in Denver this past weekend, and my Saturday afternoon easy run was not so easy! Goals for the race will be to survive the swim (mass start of 2,600 people in Lake Woodlands), have a good but controlled bike (ie don’t go out too fast and stay hydrated), and then avoid the medical tent (dehydration) during the run, even if that means I walk a LOT. When I registered for this race, my goal (as is usually my goal) is to finish and to have fun. I will do my best to keep those goals in mind as I’m slogging through the marathon in 90+ degree heat with 100% humidity.

I hand my bike over to the TriBike Transport people on Saturday, which means no more cycling after Saturday (until race day). Next week will likely consist of packing and re-packing my things and obsessing over the weather. We fly down to Houston on Thursday, where I have my event check-in, Friday is equipment bag (bike and run) check-in and bike check in, then Saturday at 7 AM the gun goes off and I have 17 hours to go 140.6 miles.

I’ll send out an email next week with my bib number (I’m # 354) and the link to where you can track my progress during race day.

Thanks again for all of your support
Erin

May 18, 2011
Here I am 3 days before IMTX and I met my fundraising goal (and then some) – THANK YOU for your support (and for putting up with me since I started this adventure!).

Taper has been going well, I think. I really don’t know because I haven’t done this before. I’ve been doing short workouts with some speed pickups, and the speed is there, so that’s a good sign. I’m still pretty tired, but not completely exhausted, so I’m taking that as a good sign too.

Right now, the most asked question (after you’re crazy? A full Ironman?) is if I’m ready. This is a hard question because I honestly have no idea. I’ve done my training and my coach says I’m ready. Having never done one of these before, I really don’t know if I’m ready – I’m not sure I’ll really know until probably 10 miles into the run. This is truly a case of trusting my training and my coach and putting all of my hard work to the test. I did the math, and even with a fairly slow bike, I would still have 8+ hours to do the marathon – this gives me confidence that I will finish with time to spare.

We fly down to Houston tomorrow morning to start the Ironman festivities. Thursday afternoon is athlete check-in, where I get my race packet and my race wristband. Thursday night is the athlete meeting, where hopefully all my logistical questions get answered. Friday morning they’ve opened up the lake to athletes, so I’m meeting up with some Houston friends who are also racing for a quick swim. Swimming 15 minutes hardly seems worth it, but it’s on my plan, so I will follow the plan. Then I need to ride my bike for a quick 15 minutes, just enough to make sure everything is working ok. After that, I drop off my run bag, my bike bag, and leave my trusty bike on its designated bike rack space. Then Saturday, at 7 AM, the gun goes off and I get to swim, bike, and run 140.6 miles with 2,600 other athletes in less than 17 hours. I don’t have a goal time in mind really – just hoping to finish and be happy. My finish time will likely be around 16 hours, depending on the heat. I have a feeling that ice will become my new best friend.

If you wish to track me, there will be 2 places to look:

#1- Real-Time Tracking with MyAthleteGPS:
On Race day, you should be able to find a hyperlink to my under Ironman Texas: (the website has last weekend’s races up – hopefully Texas will get loaded soon)
http://www.myathletegps.com/EventTrackingInfo.html

#2: You can also track me on http://ironmanlive.com/ or http://ironman.com/ using my bib number 354. Be sure you choose Texas and not the race in Spain!

Ironman Live seems to have some delay issues, so the best bet is the MyAthleteGps, plus you'll be able to see the course map and my little dot.... hopefully moving forward! :)

Thanks again for all of your support – I’m excited that race day is finally here and can get this thing done!

Erin

Sprung

Is it me, or does it suddenly feel like *wham!* it's spring?

It is 70+ degrees in Denver this week.  70.  In March. 

Last year, I was outside all spring but I really don't remember a sudden change to Spring.  At least not like this.  Of course, it could be that even though I was outside, I was too focused on running or cycling to actually take note of my surroundings.  And it did snow up until mid-May.  So spring may have been more gradual.  I dunno.

Whatever the reason, this week, all of a sudden, I am PUMPED for warmer weather.  I love the longer days (hello, it's light enough so I can run or bike after work!). I love the warmer days.  I just feel energized.  And I actually feel like training.  Is that was a proper off-season is supposed to do?  Leave you hungry and wanting to train again?  Craziness.

I went for my first "real" run of the season on Tuesday.  Maybe I should put "run" in quotation marks too... it was sad.  My endurance is basically nothing.  Strength feels ok.  I wasn't sore after, which is good.  But I can tell that my body is not used to running, as weird things were pulling or straining.  I kept it short - just 30 min - and I really wanted to run the next day, but I thought it was wise to wait a day or so.  No use doing too much and then getting hurt.  An interesting feature to this run?  Will came with me.  (I know... did anyone feel like hell was freezing over at about 6:30 on Tuesday night?).  He's even talked about buying real running shoes.  I know!  He had a hard time (partially because he's sick) so he did a bit less than me.  Still, it was so nice to have a buddy out with me.

In other "hey, it's Spring" observations are that my yard is doing some cool stuff.  The previous owners did practically zero landscaping, which was depressing.  How can you have a yard with no flowers?!?!  To remedy this travesty, we planted ~200 bulbs last fall.  Don't ask me what I planted exactly.  I do know that they are flowers, likely hyacinths, daffodills, and tulips.  Just don't ask me where I planted these things.  It will be a surprise.

With the warmer temps and snow melting, little green things are appearing.  It's going to be fun watching them and seeing what happens.

These might be daffodills

Autumn blaze maple with sap running down the side (dark orange staining)

do you see the fat bunny? he provides hours of entertainment to Zipper and Gunny.



skinny stuff is garlic, thicker stuff are irises.



No idea.  Could be tulips or hyacinths.

strawberry plant in the uncovered raised garden bed.  crazy thing stayed green all winter.

12 weeks

Until Boise.  How did that happen?

And hey, my total run mileage since October is 15 miles.  I know, I'm a complete over achiever.  Also: my longest bike ride since August was last Sunday.  A whopping 30 miles.  Amazing, right?

To fully illustrate my lack of fitness and training, I present the following metrics:



Distance... Wow, look at all that recent running.  Also: I biked over 500 miles in March 2011.  And 30 in March 2012. 



Time - hey, look, I've skied this year almost as much as I ran last year.  Sweet!  However, my blog hasn't been filled
with constant whining about training. Instead, its featured skiing stories.  :)

In developing my training plan for Boise, I've really just taken what my coach had me doing for IMTX and have dialed it back 1/3 to 1/2.  Of course, my IMTX training plan started in October, and with 12 weeks out from the race, I had a significant base, especially for running.  I've set the Boise plan to be aggressive, but I may have to dial it back a bit.  Prime example: I have a 2 hr long run in 1.5 weeks.  Probably not the best idea since I may have ONLY ran 2 hrs cumulatively in 2012.  MAYBE.

try not to fall over with laughter

I've been doing ok-ish on the swimming part of things.  Not ok on the speed part, but I can get the distance in.  I felt fine after Sunday's 30 miler, so I think/hope I can hang with the bike portions of the plan.  It may hurt, but I know I will survive.  Running is going to be interesting.  And probably painful.

My arm is easily twisted

I've added yet another race to my calendar.

There was another Schwaggle deal, and with my Active Advantage membership, it cost a whopping $36 (instead of $90 + Active fees).  And I have some friends from high school who have signed up as well, including a newbie.  Go Eagles!  (or something.... I still have my old HHS swim team towel.  That would be amusing for use in transition).

I honestly don't remember owning this.  One day, a box of crap from HS showed
up at my house (thanks Mom!) and this was in it.  For the record, the printing is very scratchy.

This makes Race #3 in July.  THREE.  How did that happen?

All of the races should be fun, though.  I love supporting new triathletes, so SheRox was pretty much a no brainer.  Will decided to enter the Survivor Mud Run with me.  (I know, I about fell over.  Mud runs are the gateway drug to triathlons.... maybe).  Will has also been talking about going running with me.  Not sure where this came from, but I like it.  And the third race of July is the Rocky Mountain Tri - Oly distance.  Elevation of 8,500 feet.  It may hurt, but it should be pretty.

Also....This showed up on Tuesday:

100 wild berry, 100 strawberry, 50 strawberry-banana (with carrot), and 300 BOGO coupons.  Woot!  Now the real trick is keeping Will from eating all of them....

Ski demo day

Back in February, I discovered that my season rental skis did not meet my expectations.  They always seemed slow, but then I did a bunch of bumps and learned that they weren't doing what I wanted/needed them to do.  At first I thought it was operator error, but once I really focused on making them do specific things and they wouldn't, I began to realize that these were not the skis for me.

Skis are funny.  There are so many of them out there with so many bells and whistles.  I posted in a few facebook groups, asking for recommendations.  And I rarely got the same answer twice.  The answer I really got: go out and demo.

The thing with demo'ing skis is that it takes time.  Typically, you rent demo skis, meaning, you are on that set for the whole day.  Want to try something different? Rent another pair and spend another day on the slopes.  Not that this is a bad thing.  It just takes multiple weekends and usually an extra $40 each time to demo.

I began searching the interwebs, looking for ski reviews, recommendations, and demo days.  Demo days can vary.  Sometimes its one ski manufacturer bringing gear to the mountain for you to try... sometimes its a ski shop bringing lots of different skis to try.  After some searching, I finally found that Outdoor Divas was hosting their third and final demo day at Loveland on March 1.  Sweet!  Loveland is reasonably priced ($59 walk-up, $50 on Liftopia) and I was able to take the day off of work.


brr....  15 degrees, windy, and snowy.  But its a powder day!

 I found the Diva area and quickly handed over my drivers licence so I could play for the day.  Their recommendations was to do 2-4 runs and to make sure you do the same runs for each ski you try.


First up - Volkl Kenjas

I was there fairly early (9:30 or so) and they had a full rack of skis.  On my list of "I've read about and need to try" were the Volkl Kenjas, Rossi S7W, and Blizzard Black Pearl.  They sold out of the Pearls long ago, but had 2 sets of the others.  I grabbed the Kenjas in size 156 and went up the mountain.

I do this thing at new ski areas where I don't even bother looking at the map.  I just head up the nearest lift and figure I can ski my way out.  I hopped on Lift 2 but, even though there was a warning about 2 miles something-or-other, I didn't expect that the lift would take for.ev.er.  Wow.  It was slow and didn't even go up the hill that high.  And it was WINDY. So windy that they built a wind-screen at the lift dismount area.  (I would have taken a picture, but my hands would have frozen off).  Also, notably, there weren't many trees.  At all.  Mostly windblown snow and rock.  Which, as I understand, is the typical Loveland experience (and probably the reason why I haven't skied here before).

I hopped off the lift and immediately felt like the skis were squirrely.  It could have been that this was my first run of the day.  or powder.  or wind.  or the fact that it was white-out conditions and I couldn't see.  And of course, new fancy skis with a whole bunch of technology that I've never skied on before.  Fortunately, it being Thursday, there weren't any people to witness my "I feel like I have never skied before" behavior. 

I took a deep breath and went into the powder.  That's all there was - powder, at least 7 inches of it.  And powder scares me.  Mostly because I was a spring skier and never did much powder sking.  The little that I did, was hard and I would spend the whole time slightly terrified that I would catch a tip and faceplant.  Powder was fun, but mostly in the sense that you felt it was your obligation as a skier and native Coloradan that powder should be fun.  Dammit.

I made my way down and was a bit wobbly at first but was otherwise ok once I got the hang of things.  For such a long lift, there sure wasn't much vertical drop.  I had one blue run then I was stuck on a wide green thing, headed back to the base.  Boo.  Back at the base, I looked at the map and decided that Lift 1 had the best terrain options in proximity to the Demo area.  I headed up that lift (much shorter) and took a blue down.  And experienced barely-tracked powder.  Wowzers.  So much fun - I kept giggling to myself on the way down.  Kenjas were zippy and easy to turn, and felt like they had some speed.  Back up the lift and did a small stretch of bumps.  All was well. 


barely tracked powder.  life was pretty rough at this very moment.

I felt like a change and decided to swap out the 156 Kenjas to the 163 Kenjas.  (for those not familiar with ski sizing, that's a whopping 7 cm longer).  I headed up Lift 1 again and hit the bumps.  In the past, I had intentionally longer skis and loved them.  We started the day out on the 156s because that's what I'm presently used to.  Turns out, I did not like the longer skis.  They were harder to control and a bit wobbly at the tips.  Turns out, shorter is now better for me.  I did 2 runs on the 163s just to make sure the wobbliness wasn't operator error.  It wasn't.  Back to the demo area.
Next up, I was really hoping to try the Rossi S7Ws.  They look cool, one guy at a ski shop suggested they might be good for me, and I'd read good things about them.  Problem was, they're a powder ski... and it was a powder day.  The demo girl said that I wasn't going to get a chance at those skis for hours.  Boo.  Nothing else in the rack was on my wish list.  The demo girl suggested that I try out the Volkl Auras.  They were wider and more stable.  In my head, stable = not responsive.  There really weren't any other enticing options, so I grabbed the Auras and gave them a go.

hummingbirds - pretty!

I headed back up Lift 1 to that small bump run and immediately noticed a difference.  They were still great at turning, but the slightly squirrely-ness of the Kenjas was gone.  Interesting.  I headed back up Lift 2 (the long pointless lift) and decided to go explore.  I really didn't think these were the skis for me, so I thought of this demo as "explore Loveland" rather than "test skis".  I found some powder, nearly bailed forwards but managed to recover easily.  This was under the lift, and apparently my recovery was impressive, as they remarked on my skills.  I was zipping along and then all of a sudden it seemed like the ground was going to disappear imminently.  So I scrubbed and crashed.  Yup, a small cornice.  Upon closer inspection (later, from the lift), it was only about a 4 ft drop, which was manageable.  However, at the time and not being able to see beyond it, I decided to be safe, flip around, and go around it.

the road is I-70 and where the road disappears is the tunnel.  weird! 

Loveland is really awkward where it goes over I-70 at Eisenhower tunnel.  So, essentially it straddles I-70.  That makes getting around really strange.  I found a lift that went up a different part of the hill, and it didn't seem like there were many tracks over there.  I wanted to hit a bump run but kept finding roped off areas.  And then I ended up on a very narrow cat-track which was bordered by "do not cross, avalanche danger".  Mkay!  I had no idea where I was at this point and my only choice was to follow this odd path and was thankful to finally reach another lift.  This was Lift 8, which apparently isn't open all that often (I dunno, I just saw a bunch of signs saying the lift was open, which I thought was odd).  I rode up with some guys, and apparently this area was where all the powder was.  He recommended some black with a cornice (no thanks!  maybe if I was with people but not by myself).  At the top of the lift, I inspected the trail map and discovered that the only way back to the base (or really, back to anywhere) was on a black chute run and through a tunnel under I-70.  Where the hell was I and how did I get here?) I headed down on the north side of the lift and had a great time in the powder.  Since I wasn't ready to explore that random black run and a tunnel, I decided to head back up and explore the other side of the lift.  The right side was a big open field of barely tracked powder.  A bit intimidating (if I died, no one would find me) but I had so much fun on the earlier runs that I was looking forward to trying the Auras out in more powder.  I had SO much fun.  These things did exactly as I commanded, even in the powder.  At one point, I was flying up to a huge rock (I even yelled "ROCK!) and all I had to do was apply a tiny bit of pressure and I was zipping around it with ease.  If I had tried that in any of my "old" skis, I would have either tumbled over or crashed into the rock... or both.  Powder was effortless.  You just pointed the tips and let the skis do the work.  AWESOME.

By that point, even though I was having a blast, it was noon.  And I had these skis out for over an hour.  I lurved them, but I didn't want someone else to have to wait for a chance.  I headed down the black run, which was really weird.  It was 3 tiers of black, ski-width tracks which wrapped around the mountain.  Each track had a steep dropoff.  All you could really do was wedge or side ski down them.  And once you got the the tunnel, they had an employee at the entrance who ensured that you took your gear off.  Once you could walk, you went under the tunnel, which was gravel and not snowy at all.  Then you magically pop out on the other side of I-70 at the base.

Once back at the demo area, I was hungry but also saw that the Rossi S7Ws were back.  People must be out at lunch!  Even though I was hungry, I didn't think the S7s would stick around for very long.  I decided to postpone lunch and take a ride on the S7s.

oh hey, the sun is out for this one!

The S7s are fat powder skis with really cool graphics.  My photo isn't great, but you can kinda see the anime girl on them.  The bottoms are equally cool.  I hopped up Lift 1 to hit my test bump/fast run.  Almost immediately, I knew these skis were not for me.  They took WORK to turn.  I could have been that I'd been sking non-stop for almost 4 hours, but I really didn't think so.  I really had to focus and work to get these things to turn and move around.  I wanted to try them out on powder, so I took the useless Lift 1 up to get some powder.  There was a bit left, but it was fairly cut up.  The Auras just plowed through cut up powder like it was nothing.  The S7s took some work and felt choppy and a bit sluggish.  Boo.  Two runs was all it took for me to know that these were not the skis for me.  Bummer, because they really do look cool.  Upon discussion with the demo girl, she confirmed my feeling that yep, these are really only good for powder.  Everything else is a lot of work.  I saw that the Auras were still there and I took them for a bump run.

Full disclosure: I took them and then headed in for a bite to eat.  It was 1 PM and I was hungry.  Also: do not get the chicken sandwich at the base.  I thought something was fishy when the chicken sandwich was cheaper than a burger.  I asked the guys at the counter if it was real chicken.  They said yes.  Then I made some comment while I was walking away about just wanting to make sure it wasn't particle chicken, and they looked at me funny.  I paid for it, opened it up, and it was an anemic formed chicken breast.  Not cool.

Now that I had a full belly, I wanted to test the Auras out on this nice long-ish bump run on the far side of the area. And perhaps play in the powder some more.  I was very happy to see that the Auras handles well on the bumps.  The bumps were still a bit powdery/soft but were controlled and I could do quick, tight turns.  YAY.  And then on the flats, I could zoom with stability and a bit of speed.  It seems that these could be the skis for me :)

It was now a bit past 2 PM and I wanted to try out yet another pair of skis.  I'd overheard the demo girl call Kastles "the Porches of skis" and I was curious.  She spoke highly of them and why not?  It was free to try them out.

pronounced Cast-Lee.  fancy!  Also: the orange was see-though.  double also: this was
taken after 2 PM and look at all the powder that' still there!

I took them over to the long bump run and some powder for a quick comparison.  They were nice but not quite as nice as the Auras.  Of course, it could also be because I was tired.  They didn't handle the cut-up powder as well as the Auras.  On the bumps, it was a wash, as best as I could tell.  Same with speed.  The main factor in these was price.  $1100 MSRP.  Nearly $300 more (new) than the Auras.  Ummm, no. 


Represenation of my adventures at Loveland

I ended up taking the Auras home with me to demo this weekend.  I liked them, but I wouldn't call the conditions during the demo as "normal".  And the terrain wasn't too close to what I like to ski (no trees).  I have the pretty hummingbirds in my garage and look forward to really testing them out at Mary Jane on Saturday :)

Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #3 - Race Review

AKA "why am I racing in the winter?"
AAKA "my run training plan is to only run during races.  Maybe this isn't the best plan...."

This was the third and final installment of this duathlon series.  I signed up for this series for a few reasons:  

1. to keep me a bit sharp (maybe not as dull would be more appropriate) and to ensure that I rode/ran at least once a month during the winter.
2. I got free sweat pants that say Chilly Cheeks.  The sweat pants are ok, but they'd be even more awesome if the race name was on my ass instead of down my leg.

And the race series did fulfill both of these reasons.  Was it fun? eh.  I suspect it would have been WAY more fun if I knew people who were also racing.  For some reason, most people in my club did the running distance series.  I had no interest in training for 10 mile runs this winter, so I did this instead.  And I have lost all my running base, so perhaps this wasn't the smartest decision.

The premise of the race is that it will be held, snow or shine.  Saturday, we had both.  We had a "suprise!" snowstorm on Thursday.  Weather forecasters said a "dusting" and we had ~8 inches or something ridiculous.  Then Friday was sunny and warm, but not warm enough to melt all of the snow.

Per the pre-race safety meeting, the bike course was clear, except for a tiny (and avoidable) patch of ice at the turn around.  If you were paying attention, the ice should be easy to miss.  The run course was "3 inches of fluff"  and a small frozen "lake" for the trail portion and clear on the road portion.  And the sidewalk going from the bike dismount line to transition was snowy too.


I dismounted on the clear and dry street and walked my bike through this.  No way was I going to ride.

 I set up in transition. It took me a bit to get orientated, as it seemed illogical that the RD would have us bring our bikes along a snowy sidewalk into T1.  I set up where I thought was a good spot (and DRY) for easy racking in T1 only to realize that I was at the Run Out entrance.  Not so convenient.  So I moved next to an aisle spot close to the snowy sidewalk.  Very convenient.  And also very snowpacked.


Buzz isn't so sure about this snow stuff....

 I set up transition like normal.  Small towel as the base, then shoes, gloves, water bottle, etc.  It did not occur to me that it would be above freezing and sunny.... and that nice snowy base would turn to slush.  Making all of my dry gear wet and cold. Awesome.

This race was a 10.8 mile out and back bike and a 4 mile run.  There were ~200 participants, and they started us off in waves of 10 people, 1 minute apart.  As karmic payback for last month's first wave, I was in wave V.  Start time was 10:00... my wave was at 10:21.  Super!

Notice the aero helmet and the mountain bike...... Yeah, I don't know either.

Bike
The bike wasn't anything exciting.  Legs felt ok, although I had to granny gear it up some hills.  (I don't know if that was me being out of shape or what).  It was pretty windy, so that made things a bit interesting.  The race was held at a state park, and there were signs all over the place making it very clear that there was a bike race in progress.  Well, after I went past the east entrance road, some d'bag woman in a pickup truck decided to yell "get in the bike lane" at all of us, individually, as they passed us.  I wonder if she finally figured out what was going on as they drove past a pack of cyclists that were ahead of me.  She had plenty of room and hello, its a state park with tons of runners and cyclists.  Clearly, she had anger managment issues.  I did see where they parked - by an RV.  Not sure who RV camps in February, but the whole thing was very random. 

The park is ok, but the back half of the road has these very annoying asphalt patches that go across the entire road (and bike lane) every 3 feet, essentially creating a tiny speed bump.  Its annoying.  And gets really irritating as you are jarred every 10 seconds or so.

The turn around was a non-event, the ice was easy to spot.  And the whole bike was pretty much a non-event. 

Bike time: 39:34 / 16.2 mph
142/202 OA, 20/29 AG

Transition
I clipped out early (on the street) as there was no way I was riding my bike on the snowy slushy sidewalk.  The girl in front of me (walking her bike) nearly fell, as her bike got caught in a slush-rut and decided to go its own way.

I was pretty cold at the start of the race.  I had on black tri shorts, black running tights, my favorite light, long-sleeved shirt, my Zoot windproof jacket, and my full cycling gloves.  I got warm towards the end of the bike, so I chose to ditch the gloves and jacket for the run.  I didn't want to just chuck my stuff in the slush, so I probably took a bit too much time hanging my jacket up.

T1 time: 3:53

Run
Lucky me, the start of the run was all uphill.  And as an added bonus, the first 2+ miles were on the trail, which had 3 inches of "fluffy" snow.  Funny thing happens when you're in one of the last waves and ~180 people are ahead of you.  Fluffy snow turns into slush.  Lots of it.  The run was a mess.  And I am in a serious run-training hole.  I couldn't even go 1/3 of a mile (uphill) before my HR blew up and I walked.  Sad.  And pathetic.  But I had a feeling this would happen and never had an intent of being competitive in this race, so I just took it easy.  I was crusing along and ran past some non-racing runners and I heard "Hey, is that Erin?!?!"  Turns out it was this girl I had met during the Denver RnR half marathon who is doing IMTX this May.  Random!  She and a friend were doing a 16 mile training run.  Even funnier, she intended on emailing me this week for IMTX advice.  I ran with them for ~1 mile, which helped to pass the time.  I basically gave her the same advice that her friend was giving (friend: SEE, you should listen to us!").  I also told her about the Pacu fish that someone caught in Lake Woodlands about a month before IMTX, likely giving her fodder for nightmares for the next few months.  Whee!  We parted ways and I was by myself in the slush.  Boo.  I came across a girl who was walking and said something encouraging to her.  She was young and didn't seem to be having a great time.  She managed to hang with me while I ran and chatted my ear off.  Turns out she was in 8th grade. Sigh. (I did hear her parents say at the finish line that she sped up, so I'm taking credit for that).  The rest of the run was on pavement.  My feet were wet but the rest of me was hot.  I debated stopping to put a fistful of snow down my shirt but didn't feel like stopping.  The finish was mostly uphill, but I toughed it out and ran the last mile.  Or did something loosely resembling running.  (getting back into running shape is going to suck).  And then the very non-exciting finish line. 

Run time: 49:45 / 12:27 pace (wah-wah)
171/202 OA, 27/29 AG

Post-Race
Nothing too exciting, mainly because I didn't know anyone.  Got some snacks (homemade banana choc chip bread for Will) and got my stuff.  Which was now soggy because all the snow had melted.  Learned a lesson that I need to bring plastic bags with me for snowy races, as my race gear... and also the bottom of my transition bag, including the things inside the bag, were wet and cold.

Turns out towels get wet when the snow melts... and the rest of your stuff gets wet too!

Overall stats:
Time: 1:33:32
162/202 OA
24/29 AG

Team Sun-Rype

I'm sponsored!!  Again!!

Yesterday, I recieved a very happy email about my being accepted to Team Sun-Rype.  Woot!  This marks my third team in 3 years through Active Ambassadors. 2010 was with Team Jamba Juice and 2011 was with Team Sony Walkman.  Sony ended in January.  Normally the Active teams want fairly competitve people.  I am not one of those people.  At least in the traditional sense (I'm not fast).  I always put on my applications something like "I'm not fast, but I like to have fun".  Most of the time, it doesn't work.  Occasionally, it does (or, most likely in the case for Sony, all of the top athletes were already matched with teams, so the pickings were slim).

Sun-Rype was the first ambassadorship that opened up in 2012 and I did not have high hopes, because usually, the early teams go towards podium-type athletes.  I felt that this team was a good match for me, though, as their product is 100% fruit.  Since switching to paleo, I'm really trying to cut out fake food, and thought this sponsorship would be a good one.  I mean, who wants to be promoting a product that you don't like or can't eat?  Not me!  Sun-Rype must have thought I was a good match, as they invited me onto their team.  I looked at the athlete contract - its through Dec 31, 2012.  A full YEAR!  I was going to buy an Altitude Multisport tri kit this year (since I am on the Board of Directors), but it seems like I will be wearing a sponsor kit instead.  Hopefully its nice and colorful (instead of grey... *ahem* sony *cough*)  (and, I do still intend to be on Team Beef for Boise.  Really, I just want a tri top that says "BEEF" on it).

Not quite sure what sort of promo materials I will get.  I'm assuming I'll be getting some tasty fruit snacks to hand out :)  The athlete meeting is next week and I'm super excited to learn about my new team for 2012.

Paleo Diet Update

I started eating Paleo/Primal/Caveman/Clean/[whatever label you want to stick] since the week of Christmas. Not one of my better ideas. But I survived. I started eating this way for a few reasons:

1. My metabolism hates me. Even with meds for my thyroid and insulin sensitivity, I can’t lose weight. I’ve had doctors tell me to workout more (?!?!) and when I tell them my workout schedule their eyebrows go way up. And then they tell me to eat less.  Helpful.  My metabolism is broken. I only lost 5 lbs during my IMTX training (ironically in the last month of training) and my clothes really didn’t fit all that much differently.
2. I already know that soy and beans to not agree with me. Beans = feeling like I have food poisoning. Soy really screwed up my hormones. Do you know how hard it is to stay away from soy? It's in EVERYTHING!
3. I went to a triathlon seminar a while back where the speaker was a dietician talking about nutritional periodization. A lot of what she said really rang true to me. Eat real foods. Limit grains during the build portion of your training. Train your body to burn fat.
4. I’ve had some good friends switch to eating this way with really good results.
5. With my hypoglycemia, I eat fairly low carb already and try to avoid sugars. This really seemed like a natural progression in my eating habits.

For those who don’t know, the paleo diet means no grains (including legumes), no processed food, minimal sugar, no (or some) dairy. Lots of meat, lots of fruit, lots of nuts, lots of veggies. Also: lots of cooking. I’m cooking a lot more than I used to.

So its been nearly 2 months. I really didn’t notice that much of a difference. I had some energy lags during workouts that are pretty common initially. I have maybe lost a bit of weight, but I’m not sure. I really wasn’t sure that eating this way was benefiting me much. Until we were in Idaho last week for my father-in-law’s funeral. Saturday, I had bread/pasta with EVERY meal. Sunday, my gut felt awful. REALLY awful. I had some sort of grain every day for 5 days. And my poor gut felt it. Bloated, cramping, overall feeling icky.

Those 5 days pretty much told me that I really do not need to eat grains.

So, what do I eat in a typical day?

Breakfast – apple with almond butter. Peanuts = legume, and are therefore off the list. I like Justin’s Nut Butter in maple almond, but I could make my own just as easy (and probably cheaper).

Lunch – mixed greens, meat (usually chopped up lunchmeat), hard boiled eggs, olive oil. Vinegar is iffy (depending on which paleo website you read). I didn’t believe it, until I put vinegar on my salad and felt awful 2 hrs later. So, my “salad dressing” is olive oil and maybe a squeeze of lemon. This lunch is easy and I can bring my own from home or hit the salad bar at work.

Snack – 2 clementines (I love Cuties!) and mixed nuts.

Dinner – meat and veggies of some sort.

Dessert – dark chocolate. Right now I have dark choc covered almonds which are way too good and they need to go away. Alternately, I’ll cook a fruit crisp with some sort of fruit, honey, coconut and a crumb topping with coconut flour or almond flour.

What are the challenges?

In the beginning, I struggled most with breakfast. I am NOT a breakfast person. Very few things sound good early in the morning, and still, sometimes I’m almost gagging as I eat. Also, I’m not much for savory foods in the morning. At first, I was eating a few hard boiled eggs, a Clementine, and some sausage for breakfast. But the eggs were hard to get down, were a pain to peel, and got really, really old really, really quick. Then I tried to make mini-egg “muffins” – egg, sausage, veggies, sweet potato. Did not like those at all. Then some blueberry muffins with coconut flower, which were just ok but left me wanting real muffins. Finally settled on the apple/almond butter combo. Its easy to bring to work, I don’t have to make anything, and really, I could eat this about every day. For now, at least. Weekends I’ll play a bit, making paleo pancakes, omelets, etc.

I’m trying to limit my carb sources. Cutting out bread isn’t that hard (as long as it's not in the house. You can’t eat it if its not there!). I miss noodles. I will have rice noodles occasionally (paleo websites say that if you have to eat a grain, rice is the best choice). I did find some crazy-good red yams at the grocery store. I do oven “fries” with them. Slice into wedges, douse in olive oil, sprinkle on some Hawaiian red salt, bake until done. TASTY. Again, I could eat these every day (but really, I shouldn’t). I also try to be creative with food. A good example is fajitas with guac. I’ll buy tortillas and chips for Will, but I forgo the tortilla and use red pepper and carrot sticks instead of tortilla chips as my guac delivery device.

Most paleo says you should give up all dairy in the beginning and introduce it slowly. I can eliminate all dairy except for my half and half in my coffee. I tried the coconut creamer stuff. It was nasty. I really don’t think that my splash of creamer will destroy my efforts. Also: a bit of feta in my salad or in my burger/meatloaf is tasty. And if you wonder, why give up dairy? Just do a bit of reading on modern dairy practices and all the nasties that go into milk. You’ll be giving it up. Really, milk is nasty.

Eating out, eating while traveling, eating with family is HARD. Eating out isn’t so bad as long as I pick the appropriate restaurant (ie Italian = fail) and make smart choices. Eating while on the road is impossible. Qdoba bowls (without rice) are about the closest thing to paleo as I could find. However, good luck finding Qdoba while driving from Denver to Idaho. Also: Qdoba bowls are impossible to eat while driving. So are salads. So, nasty fast food burgers or chicken sandwiches or whatever was at the highway exit was what we ate. Ugh. And finally, explaining my crazy eating habits to Will’s family is impossible. Especially when the person cooking dinner (who is AWESOME and I love) decided to give up any meat which the family did not raise (they’re ranchers), and dinner is a vegetarian stroganoff with pasta and bread. You should have seen the raised eyebrows at breakfast when I turned down toast. Essentially, its “eat what is placed in front of you or go hungry”. Basically, paleo is easy to do when you can plan, but its really hard to do on the fly.

Beer, technically, should be on the “food to avoid” list. But I love beer. So, for now, I drink beer guilt free.

 Tasty dinners I’ve made:

 It helps that I’ve had access to kick-ass meat, thanks to beef from Will’s family and meat from my CSA.

Grass-fed Idaho pot roast. Brown the roast in a pan. Put in a crockpot with onions, shrooms, and carrots. Add in half a can of tomato sauce (no sugar), some wine, and some salt. Cook for 10 hrs on low. Boil up some potatoes and serve as a side dish.

Sausage and sauerkraut. My favorite little grocery store has chicken sausage in all varieties for $2.99/lb. CHEAP. And they’re made with real ingredients, no crappy filler. Back in December, I didn’t know what to do with my 4 heads of CSA cabbage, so I turned them into sauerkraut. It was a bit scary (open air fermentation and the only thing I sterilized were the glass jars). But it turned out TASTY. Just put some sausages in a pan, add in kraut and maybe a little beer, then simmer on the stove for ~30 to 60 min. YUM.

Miscellaneous ground beef stir fry. I got a bunch of gluten-free asian sauces. Basically, sauté your veggies and set them aside. Sauté your grass-fed ground beef (or stew meat). Add veggies. Then add your sauce. Could be salsa, could be a tomato based sauce, or it could be some sort of curry. What you will end up with is something tasty (mainly because grass-fed beef is TASTY) and easy.

Will on a board

This winter, I've asked Will to really, truly, give snowboarding a try.  In years past, we would only have one day per year on the mountain.  He would take a lesson (sometimes) and generally be frustrated by his lack of progress.  Understandable.  So this year, I've asked Will to really give it a chance.  I bought a 4-pack of lessons and have a handful of lift tickets.  We went at Christmas (lesson) and he was placed in the next level up from "clueless" (which was the group I was in).  His instructor said he was ready to move up another level by the end of the day.  Two weeks ago we went with a group of people and he got tips from my friend who boards.  My friend said that Will looked pretty good, he just needed practice to get confidence.

I have 2 Copper pre-paid tickets and 2 more lessons at Winter Park.  Lucky for Will, that means another 4 chances at boarding.  Saturday was looking like a beautiful day, so I kind of twisted his arm and we headed up to Copper.

I felt that, if we got him on some blues that weren't too long, he could get some speed and really have a chance to figure things out. The area off the Timberline Lift was perfect for that.  Nice blues, long enough to practice on, but not so long that you get totally tired at the end and die.

How could you not LOVE skiing with views like this?!?!

We started the day in West Village, took the Union Creek lift up and did a warm-up on a green run.  He was all sorts of fail on that green run.  It really made me nervous for the rest of the day.  I also felt really bad for him, he was struggling and I don't have the slighest idea on how to help.  On the lift back up, I asked him to think back to his lesson in December, to focus on the steps and to not get overwhelmed.  We took a green run that connects over to Timberline.  He looked better, but not great.  I asked Will if he wanted to try a blue or stick with greens.  He said blue.  So we went down Copperfield, which as I remembered from my powder day last month, had potential to be fun.  Suprisingly, Will did much better.  There were still a few wrecks, but he was a bit more relaxed and was turning.  I managed to find a bunch of tree trails and jumps, so I'd go off and play for a bit, and pop out every once in a while to make sure Will was ok.  We did this run another couple of times and realized it was noon.  Time for lunch!  Rather than heading back down to the base, we ate at the cute little grill next to the lift (mid-mountain).  I really love this place, especially when its sunny.  Today it was SUPER sunny and temps were in the mid-30's.  Perfect for eating outside on the deck, soaking up sunshine.  Eating outside on a sunny ski day is about one of my favorite things to do in life.

its documented - he was smiling while on the hill!  (during lunch....)

After lunch, we headed back up the lift and did a different run which had a steeper pitch at the start of the run.  That went really well - he was getting the hang of turning on both edges and was a bit more relaxed.  He also skidded down the steep pitch because it was scary, which meant that we had to do it again.    That time wasn't so good, as Will twisted his knee somehow.  And he was getting tired.  We agreed that this was the last run (besides the one to get to the base).  Will was nice enough to hang out on the deck by the lift while I did a couple of quick bomber runs.  I felt the need for speed!

And I almost manage to jack up my left knee on the first speedy run.  Flying over an unfamiliar hill (which small semi-moguls and crud) may not have been the smartest decision.  Fortunately, the knee is completely ok today.

After two bomber runs (I was so fast, Will thought I had only done one!) we took the green run down to the base.  The cool part was that the green run was the VERY same green run we did at the start of the day.  And Will managed to go down it without wrecking.  Woot!

We wrapped up at 2:30, headed back to Denver by 3.  Traffic is usually very crappy on the way back in, but suprisingly, we made it back home in 1.5 hrs.  Cool.

Will wasn't "I LOVE SNOWBOARDING" this day.  But I was really happy to see improvement and progression.  Next time, we'll hit WP so he can get a lesson.  He needs an intermediate lesson so he can figure out how to be comfortable going faster and when doing steeper stuff.

only good things from here on out

I am tired of my life resembling a sine curve.

what's a sine curve, you ask?

Two weeks ago, we had a Superbowl Weekend Ski Extravaganza.  Will, myself, Will's sister Amy, Will's cousin Chase, and our friend Deanna had planned a weekend get-away.  We rented a house with a hot tub, pool table, and 42-inch tv for the weekend and I had procured cheap lift tickets to Copper Mountain and Winter Park.  FUN.

Mother nature tried to foil our plans with SNOWPOCALYPSE.  Chase's original flight was cancelled due to snow.  Then his late flight was delayed because Micron's CEO crashed is airplane at the airport he was leaving from.  Deanna had a stressful drive down from Boulder with snowy roads and I-25 closing down due to a wreck.  But once we got people in our house, life was good.  Saturday morning, Chase, Deanna and I took off for Copper Mountain.  Will stayed behind to pick Amy up from the airport and then head up to the rental house.

Skiing was EPIC.  The snow wasn't that great, but we had great fun.  We closed the lifts down and headed to Tabernash and the rental house.  Good dinner, fun conversation, a soak in the hot tub, and a roll in the snow.  Although, I managed to cut my big toe open on something in the snow.  Thank goodness I have thick calluses, as it didn't cut too deep. 

Sunday was Winter Park with the whole gang.  Amy hasn't skied in 13 years, Will is still pretty new on his snowboard, and Deanna brought her skis along (this is her first year skiing).  We went as a group, hanging pretty much on a green run.  I got a bit bored and taught myself how to ski backwards.  I got pretty good and was actually skiing backwards faster than some were skiing forwards.  It was a beautiful sunny day and everyone had a blast.  We came home to an amazing beef roast (crock pot) from Chase's family ranch and ate yummy food and watched the Superbowl. Tried to soak in the hot tub, but the breaker tripped overnight (and Will couldn't get it to reset until morning), so it was a bit chilly.  And then the breaker tripped again and wouldn't reset.  So, we decided that was a sign and went inside.  Chase and Deanna started some sort of flirty thing, which was cute and really sweet (and I'd be lying if I didn't say that it wasn't REALLY entertaining, but in a good way). 

Monday, Chase, Deanna, and I went over to Mary Jane to ski some hard stuff for a while.  Will and Amy hung back and we had arranged to meet them for lunch in Idaho Springs.  Again, skiing was EPIC.  Trees and bumps.  And tired legs from 3 days of skiing.  Then it was down to Idaho Springs for a late lunch at Tommyknocker, and then a lot of trying to stretch out the rest of the day.  We all had so much fun, and with Chase leaving that night, I wanted to give Chase and Deanna as much time together as possible.  So we windowshopped and hung out at a dive bar.  Finally, around 4, we split ways.  But before leaving, Amy dared Chase to kiss Deanna.    No hesitation at all.  In fact, he almost slipped on the ice in his excitement.  And now they've been outed.  Fun.  Then back to Denver, hanging out at the Breckenridge tap room to wait out traffic, and then dropping off Chase at the airport.  Really, this weekend was the most fun since I can't even remember.

Then Tuesday, Amy was still at the house, planning on flying up to Idaho to see their dad that night.  (We placed Carl in hospice care a month ago).  Then Will got a phone call from hospice.  Carl's heath was declining and he likely had days to live.  We went from EPIC fun weekend to sadness and heartache.

Carl died on Wednesday afternoon (Feb 8th).  Amy and their aunt (Carl's sister) were with him.  We flew out on Saturday. Funeral was last Monday.  This is our 5th loss in 12 months.  Today marks the anniversary of Grandpa's heart attack, which was the first of the losses.

I think we've paid our dues for sad things.  I want only good things for now on.

2012 Race Schedule

Every year, I say I don't want to plan out my season.  And every year, I end up planning it all out anyways.

This year, most of my races have used some sort of exellent coupon, making the race too cheap to pass up.  This will lead to an interesting season, as I'm doing some really random stuff.  Also: for this year being a "down year", why am I racing nearly EVERY month?  Racing addiction, anyone?!?

• January 21 - Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #2
• February 25 - Chilly Cheeks Duathlon #3
• April 15 - maybe do a relay entry for the Platte River Half Marathon
• May 20 - Colfax Half Marathon  (a half marathon for $50.  sweet!)
• June 9 - Ironman Boise 70.3
• July 21 - Survivor Mud Run ($18 through Schwaggle!)
• July 29 - Rocky Mountain Triathlon (probably Olympic - $33 through Schwaggle, although since its in Silverthorne, I'll probably have to get a hotel, negating the awesome deal)
• August 18 - Rattlesnake Oly
• August 19 - Rattlesnake Sprint (yes, the Crazy Back to Back)
• September 22 - Denver Rock n Roll MARATHON ($70.  lets see if I actually do the full this year!)
• October - December..... who knows.  I'll probably drink beer and reclaim my spot on the couch.

This makes me a bit tired just looking at it.

Hello people searching for mexican jello flavors

This is a recent (and not so recent) phenomenon.  Waaay back in August 2005, I wrote a small post about mexican jello flavors.  It seemed to be a draw to my blog, as I had people visiting my digital space to read my entry. 

It appears that, 5.5 years later (!), people are once again searching for mexican jello flavors and are coming here to read my thoughts on it.

random

And if you are one of those searchers/visitors, please post a comment expaining exactly why mexican jello flavors is something that you're searching for.

Powder days and power outages

I bought a season pass for this winter with the idea that I'd be skiing every weekend.  Season opened mid-November (or earlier, I can't remember).  I've been 3 times.  Partially because the snow has absolutely sucked, and partially because life has taken over.  I think I need to go 8 times to make the pass worthwhile - hoping I DEFINITELY make it up there at least 5 more times in the next 2 months.

The snow this winter has been very sad.  We got a ton in October, the ski areas opened up with enthusiasm, and then its barely snowed since. (sad face).  The past 2 weeks, however, have been really snowy, with the areas consistently getting 4 inches every other day or so.  Last weekend was the first big powder day - finally.

My pass is for Winter Park and Copper Mountain.  It looked like Copper would get more snow than WP, so my friend and I decided to go to Copper.  Good call - Copper had 9 inches of fresh snow, WP had 4.  We were up on the slopes by 9 AM and strangely, there weren't a bazillion people out.  I actually got to cut fresh tracks in a few places.

I am not a very good powder skiier.  I'm more of a "spring skiier", meaning groomed, packed, and sometimes icy slopes are what I'm used to.  Powder is tricky.  Instead of leaning forward, you have to lean back, or else you'll catch your tips and tumble.  Its also a LOT more work.  You can't ski as fast and you have to be more alert and able to pick up a ski quickly if it gets buried.  This is the one time where snowboarding looks better than skiing.  On mogul runs (we took several), my friend was gliding all over.  The definition of the bumps were harder to make out under the powder, which freqently led me to go *oof* into a knee-deep gully of powder.  Much more work.  Fun work, but work.  (especially after racing the day before).

We had done 5 long powdery fun runs and skiied down to the center base to hit the Super Bee lift and see what the bump runs looked like on the far side of the mountain.  Halfway up and the lift stops abrubptly with a pretty serious bounce.  A bit freaky as we didn't have the bar down on the lift.  Stopping on the lift isn't unusual, however, stopping and bouncing like that is.  We waited a bit.  Then waited some more.  And some more.  For what seemed like an unusually long time.  A guy on our chair whipped out his phone and saw that Copper had updated their facebook page:

A little more facebook investigation, and we discovered that Copper had to fire up diesel engines at the top of EACH lift to get us up the mountain and off the lift.  Huh. 

Occasionally we'd see a pack of people ski under us, presumably newly rescued from their own lift.  We were still stuck.  And we couldn't see the top of the lift, or any other lifts (trees, clouds, snow, and wind obscured our view) to see if things were moving. We also saw Copper staff hauling ass up and down the hill on snowmobiles, moving too fast to give us an update.  We assumed they were the mechanical crew zipping around, trying to get things running.



Also: it was COLD.  I had somehow decided to wear an extra layer before we left the car.  I had a new jacket and I wasn't sure how it would do in the forecasted windy conditions that afternoon.  This new jacket had vent zippable flaps under each arm, which I had unzipped that morning.  Sitting on that lift in the wind, I had to zip those suckers back up.  Once I did that, my body was pretty warm.  I just had a cold spot on my cheek (I think the wind was getting under my goggles at that spot) and my fingers were incredibly cold.  I kept making a fist inside my glove and moving my fingers around, but they were pretty cold and tingly.  I think if we were stuck another 30 minutes, my fingers would have been in trouble. 
Finally, the lift moved forward with a jerk.  And then it stopped.  And then we inched forward a bit, and stopped again.  We weren't bouncing so much, but a few chairs back were bouncing quite a bit.  Lots more stopping and starting, and each time, we were just hoping that we'd eventually make it up the hill.  Finally the lift was moving (although quite a bit slower than normal) and we could see puffs of exhaust from the diesel engine.  And hooray, we were finally off the lift after 30-45 minutes of being stuck.  A very nice Copper employee was handing out free comp lift tickets to be used later, which was a nice surpirse.  I would have been happy with a voucher for hot chocolate.  But seeing as the ENTIRE RESORT was out of power, hot chocolate probably wasn't even an option.

We took a bit to re-arrange our gear and to try and warm up our hands and took off down the mountain.  This was the final run of the day, so we had to make it count.  So we did, by taking a long bump run.  We got to the bottom at 1:30 and debated sticking around.  In the end, we decided that without power, even getting food or using the bathrooms at the base would be challenging.  Factor in traffic from thousands of other Denver people getting their powder on at the other resorts and crappy road conditions from snow and we decided to pack it in.  I would have liked more runs, but 6 is respectable, given the situation.

All in all, I think Copper handled things as best they could.  I would have appreciated more information when we got to the top of the lift (turned out they kept aux power going on the 4 main lifts to stay open for the rest of the day).  But in a power outage, communications even become challenging, as radios are operated by power.  And how do you communicate things to thousands of people spread out over an entire resort? In in the end, everyone was off the lift safely and pretty quickly (all things considered), and the free lift ticket is a nice bonus.

The only after effect is that my right index finger is numb.  I only notice it when I type or use my mouse.  Its weird.  And it tells me how close I was to getting frostbite.  I may have to look into getting better gloves....  Hopefully my next powder day goes a bit smoother :)