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December 31, 2008

two 2009 races on the books!

Oh I am so excited. I love signing up for races even though triathlons are very expensive! I am so excited about my 2009 season I can hardly handle it. I already have Timberman on my schedule, and thank goodness because that was probably the most expensive race I will do in 2009. Yesterday, after an email chat with my coach wherein I admitted messing up my schedule due to confusion about dates for Boulder Peak and Lifetime Fitness, I signed up for Lifetime Fitness on 7/11/09! Hooray!! This means I will not be racing at Boulder Peak this year as it is on 7/12 and even I am not crazy enough to think two races in two days is a good idea. I have to say I am somewhat bummed - I love Boulder Peak and I especially love getting an awesome tri towel for finishing! However, I do not love the weather for the race, nor do I love the run course. So I am not too bummed. I cannot wait to do Lifetime Fitness. I actually really like the Twin Cities so that should be cool. And this is so cool, I am in the Elite Amateur Division! I got confirmation from the race that I qualify, so it is for real and everything. Wow. I really cannot believe I did qualify but I did by 12 minutes so I guess I do belong there, even though it is a bit surreal to me sometimes. Now hopefully I can improve my swimming and mix it up with those chicks!

Overall it has been a great holiday season and I have had a lot of fun spending time with my awesome family. I have been training a decent amount although I took it somewhat easy last week as I did have a bad cold for a few days. I did take a trainer down to my dad's and watched The Birdcage and Juno while I rode my bicycle, that was fun! I don't usually watch movies when I ride, I did find that comedies make time go by faster than serious films (even though Juno is funny in parts it is way more serious than The Birdcage).

This past weekend the weather was actually warm enough to melt the ice and snow off most of the roads and bike paths so I ventured out for two outdoor rides in two days, on Sunday and Monday. It was extremely windy, especially on Monday, but wind is like a really big hill and it just makes you stronger in my opinion. That is if you can take it. For some reason wind always makes me mad whereas hills are just a fun challenge. Weird!

I have put together a few goals for 2009, tri-related and non-tri related. I am not really planning to share them here because I think they are very aggressive. But I did write them down, so I am going to take them pretty seriously!

I am off in a few, can't wait to get an awesome year of training and racing going tomorrow!! Happy New Year!

Posted by barb at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2008

Merry Christmas to Me!

Oh I am so excited, I just bought myself an awesome Christmas gift! It has been really cold in Denver for days and days. I have not ridden my bicycle outside in a long time as 30 degrees is pretty much my lower limit for outdoor cycling (yes I am kind of a wuss). I have also hit a limit with spinning class as they are always so intense and I am not supposed to get my heart rate over 157 which is difficult when spinning instructors are always trying to give everyone some insane workout and always want everyone going super hard. Also, in the spinning studio they do not have television. And I am in a television phase. Also, it is so convenient to ride the trainer and then shower at my house and take to my bed immediately afterwards. So if you didn't guess, I bought myself a bike trainer! Oh how exciting!! I used to have one but I lost it in the divorce, I was so sad and in fact had to use my old trainer occasionally. I didn't really mind it but I do not think Matt loved having me over once or twice a week!

I did ride the spin bike at the gym for an hour and 40 minutes today. Holy cats, if that doesn't push you over the edge to purchasing a trainer of your own, nothing will! I also lifted (a.k.a. got fully jacked) after I spun, and saw my favorite gym couple. They were in matching outfits today (orange tops, black bottoms). So cute! I felt quite jacked today for some reason, that was a nice feeling.

This week is going to be pretty busy - I'm going to hang out with Michelle tonight and we're watching Monday Night Football, then tomorrow I have a swim, run, and work. Wednesday I am getting up early, swimming, and heading down to my dad's to work and then do Christmas Eve/Christmas with my parents and my little sister Kelsey who is home from college for the holidays. On Friday I will be heading back to Denver, swimming, and going to work. Working on the day after Christmas is never the most awesome, but it shouldn't be too bad - it will be very quiet and easy to get lots of work done. Saturday I have a 2 hour ride so let's hope for good weather, or else I will be giving my new trainer quite a workout!

That is about all for now, although I do have to plug a new favorite blog - http://smittenkitchen.com/. If you like cooking and looking at pretty pictures of awesome food (yeah, I'm weird but I really enjoy that), you will love this site! I better run, gotta get over to Michelle's - later!

Posted by barb at 5:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2008

Cold Out!

I am sitting on my couch reading blogs, writing in my blog (obviously), trying to resist eating all 30ish cookies I just baked, and being really glad I'm inside instead of out at the Broncos game. It is freezing - 13 degrees!! It has been really cold all weekend. This morning I ran for an hour and it was around the same temperature if not slightly colder. I really don't mind running in the cold although my quads always get cold. I think I just needed one more layer like some wind pants or some such thing. I also swam outside today (yes, I may be slightly off mentally!), but I weighed the options - sharing a lane inside, or swimming outside in my own lane. I hate sharing a lane, I mean really hate it! Therefore I ended up outside. It really wasn't bad! In fact I had a pretty awesome time and wished my workout was longer than a 1500! I did have 4 x 25 with a maximum of one breath which ended up not being completely awesome however. I had never been able to do this before as I have truly abysmal lung capacity. However, I managed to do one 25 with one breath, on my second try. I was so excited! Therefore I tried again, freaked out under water somehow, and tried to breathe in while my face was still in the water. Um, whoops! I ended up standing up coughing for a few minutes. I did it one more time and then decided that I had to try again. I got really close to another success but after that I had to get going so I could shower and get over to my mom's house before I had to meet my sister for lunch. Anyway overall it was a solid day of workouts!

Because I was feeling ambitious I also ventured out to the mall. It was a bit crazy but really not as bad as I expected. There were a lot of good sales, but I ended up not buying a single thing. The only person I still have to get something for is my little sister and she wants a gift card to a place in Castle Rock, so I'll just do that on Wednesday when I'm down at my parents' house anyway (they live right near there).

I have not ridden my bicycle outside for 8 days - I am kind of a weather wuss right now! Hopefully conditions will improve and the roads will clear this week. It hasn't snowed for several days but it's been really cold so we haven't had the snow melt we normally do. However I did feel somewhat hard core getting outside for my run today, I only saw 4 other people running the entire time I was out!

This week is going to be kind of different as I am heading down to my parents' house on Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve). I am going to work from there all day, and then stay down there until the morning of the 26th. I think it will be so much fun! I am taking some cookies I just made (chocolate toffee, they are so good! I hope they last till Wednesday!), and I think I may make brownies for my sister on Wednesday. I am also making Christmas breakfast for my family. That has become a little tradition the last couple years, I think it is so much fun! I am making lemon ricotta pancakes with sauteed apples, and of course bacon on the side. My stepmom is an amazing cook, so I like to help out with a few things instead of just eating all her awesome food.

One kind of funny thing happened at the gym yesterday, I kept meaning to write about this and forgot until I was about to wrap things up. So I will leave you with this little conversation I had with a guy in my second spinning class yesterday (I had a 90 minute ride so I rode through 1 1/2 classes):
Barb (not talking to anyone, just spinning along while the second class gets going, bored out of my skull):
Random Guy: Hey, so are you doing a double class?
Barb: Nope, I just have to ride for 90 minutes so I'm doing part of this class too.
Random Guy: That's nice, it looks like you ride a lot. Do you do Ride the Rockies? [Note: this is some 6 day stage race or some such thing]
Barb: No, I just do triathlons. How about you?
Random Guy: Yeah, I usually do Ride the Rockies, the Race across Colorado (or something), lots of races. I just had a heart attack a few weeks ago though.
Barb (almost falling off my bicycle): Um, wow, that is horrible! I am so sorry to hear that. Do you really think you should be on your bicycle right now?
Random Guy: Yeah I don't really know, I just started back into it.

People at my gym are crazy. They are even more Type A than me!

Posted by barb at 5:13 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2008

Cold!!

Wow, it has been really cold here the last couple days. I think we hit a new record on Sunday night at -15. It is horrible! I guess the universe was punishing me for saying that it doesn't really get that cold here :)

Given the weather and my lack of desire to freeze to death I have not been outside on my bicycle since Saturday. I did have an awesome ride with a coworker on Saturday, so that was sweet. We rode about 2:40 and only had to walk through a few icy spots. I am a huge wuss in the ice on my bicycle - I am not too proud to admit that I would really rather not fall! I did have a wicked cross wind to deal with but that was not all that bad, luckily my friend shielded me from the worst of it. I love drafting!

On Sunday, the high was around 10 degrees. When I got to the gym it was 4 degrees out and I did actually consider running outside - running in the cold usually isn't that bad. However, there were several inches of fresh snow on the ground and I was worried about trotting around with a bum ankle on slippery ground. So I treadmilled it. It actually wasn't that bad! I really like watching the food network while I run on the treadmill and one of my favorites, Paula Dean, was on. It was so awesome, she was making a deep fried Christmas dinner! That means almost every component of the meal was deep fried. If it wasn't deep fried, it had fried bacon as a major component of the dish. She even had one of those fancy fryers like they have at McDonald's for french fries. She used it to fry asparagus. And she fried a huge ham leg too! Amazing. I love Southern people, I just don't think people from Colorado would even conceive of that idea. It actually did look delicious outside of the fried ham, but I do not really love ham in general.

So anyway I am learning all kinds of cool stuff now that I am exercising indoors. I am even swimming inside, it is far too cold to swim outside in my opinion! However, I did see several people coming in from the outdoor pool this morning. They are more hard core than I think I will ever be. I'm off to the treadmill for a tempo run and a lifting workout, I've had enough cold weather for today!

Posted by barb at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2008

swimming outside in the winter

I have gotten two comments on my blog in the last day or so (which is a lot for me, since I hardly ever blog!) with regard to my sweet outdoor swimming PR. People seem to think this is not possible! So I will explain how it works.

At my gym the outdoor pool is open all year long. It is heated and it is about 10 feet from the door to the indoor pool. So unless it's under 20 degrees outside, you can trot over to the pool in about 15 seconds. I do put my swim cap and goggles on while I am still inside the building so I don't have to stand around in the cold. Once you get in the pool it is really nice! The other day when I swam, steam was rising from the pool and it was so pretty. So the pool itself is heated (I cannot imagine how many polar bears this kills!), and it is actually refreshing to have your arms outside of the water. I do not overheat nearly as badly in the outdoor pool as our indoor pool tends to be way too warm for my taste.

It can be unpleasant to get out of the pool when it's cold out but I just put all my stuff in a pile, get out, grab it, and trot back inside. The other thing I should mention since I don't care as much any more how many people move here (I used to have a weird thing thinking that our state would get over-crowded and I could personally stop people from moving here, what a silly idea!), is that it is much milder here than people think. We probably have two or three weeks a year when it's really cold, like the high temperature being under freezing. Most of the winter the high is in the 40s which is actually quite pleasant. It does cool down more at night here than in other places due to the altitude but this is frankly a benefit in the summer when the highs are in the 90s and the lows are in the 60s. Now of course there are not a lot of awesome days to ride in the winter here, but since it is so mild and since the sun is so strong we do get a lot of snow melt as well. When I lived in Minnesota and Maine, we would have snow on the ground, streets, sidewalks, etc. from October to March (April in Minnesota, that is the worst place I have ever lived for weather!). In Colorado we rarely have snow on the ground for longer than a couple days. The notable exception is the winter of 2006 when it snowed once a week for three months. That was awful and it would have been nearly impossible to ride outside, although I am sure some people made it happen.

So that is how I swim outside in the winter! Fascinating stuff I am sure.

Today I have been spinning again but only for 1:15. Hoo boy, after Monday that seemed like a walk in the park! I have a 35 minute run after work and then I am meeting my friend Ashley for dinner, I cannot wait! I ran inside yesterday mainly because it's easier on my ankle, but for 35 minutes I think I will be heading to Wash Park. I am so excited about that too, I have not run there in ages!

Posted by barb at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 9, 2008

spin bike PR!!

Like Beth I track PRs for all kinds of random stuff. Basically if something can be measured I have a PR and get excited when I bust through to a new one. Yesterday, we had a big snowstorm. I think it only snowed about 3 inches where I lived but down South they got at least 6 inches. Thus an outdoor ride was out of the question and I had 90 minutes on the schedule. Eeks! Normally I would ride the trainer at my old house but my ex requested that I not do it last night. Therefore it was 90 minutes of spin bike time, and with a 7:00 Christmas cookie exchange on my schedule, I had to start before the 5:30 pm spin class. I went to the gym as soon as I was done at work and hopped on. I was able to ride for 45 minutes before class started and since the instructor was pretty good (aside from his horrendous taste in music) I stayed for the duration of the class. That led me to a spin bike longevity PR of 1:45!! Woo hoo! I am pretty proud of myself I must say. It actually wasn't that boring as normally I can ride for an hour on the spin bike without wanting to throw myself off it. And there is lots to look at in spin class including some guy who likes to ride without his hands on his handlebars, his eyes closed, and rocking back and forth like he is having a religious experience. There is another guy who is at the gym every time I am there whether it's in the morning, lunchtime, or after work. He is amusing because he has an ongoing flirtation with one of the personal trainers and it is funny to see them chatting it up in the weight room. A lot of times she will do her hair and bust out a full makeup ensemble in hopes of seeing this guy (at least that is the reason I've surmised). Clearly I must spend too much time at the gym if I notice all this stuff, now that I think about it!

At lunchtime today I set another random PR - coldest air temperatures, and most snow on the ground, during an outdoor pool workout. It was about 30 degrees and there were 3-4 inches on the ground when I headed into the pool. I felt pretty darned hard core, although truthfully the only reason I swam outside is that my fear of sharing a lane is greater than my fear of swimming outside in cold weather. I had a great swim - my ankle mobility is improving every day which makes my kicking way more effective, and I feel like my speed is improving every day as well. I was feeling pretty busted in the pool when I got back from my vacation but now I think my stroke is back to its old form and my speed is getting real close. So that's pretty awesome!

I am about to head out of here for a short tempo run and some lifting, a.k.a. getting Fully Jacked. Then I am having dinner with my brother. Should be a fun evening!

Posted by barb at 10:50 AM | Comments (2)

December 7, 2008

back to training

After my little injury situation, and my vacation, I am excited about getting back into training for real. I love training! I must say my first couple swim workouts were rough. I was at sea level for about two weeks and I could really feel it, especially on my turns. I was also out of practice - somehow all of a sudden my workouts went from 2000 meters at the most to 3000, which is a big difference for me! It has been so fun though. I love that feeling of getting back in shape, I know it's something I need to do even though I'd rather always be fit.

This weekend has been super busy as it is my first one back in Denver after my vacation. The vacation was fun but I always feel so behind when I get back! I feel like I still have so much to do. Right now I am watching the Broncos game, doing laundry, and waiting for cookie dough to chill. I am trying to make a homemade version of Golden Oreos for a cookie exchange I've got going tomorrow night. I am very nervous about both the game and the cookies - we are tied with KC and they are generally awful, WTF! - and the dough was VERY dry. Hopefully both of these things will turn out okay!

I busted out a 75 minute long run this morning. It was so beautiful out!! You could see the snow in the distance on the mountains, it was cloudy (which never happens here so I love it), and it was so nice and warm I could run in shorts and a short sleeved shirt! I think I ran about 8 miles, I am still taking it pretty easy with my ankle situation. After the run I swam 2000 meters in the outdoor pool which was delightful. Well that may be a strong word. I was kind of tired. But I was really glad I did it and I love swimming in the outdoor pool! I also had a nice ride yesterday, 2 hours and a little over 33 miles I believe. Today was really the day to ride as it was 65 degrees, but you can't always pick what will work with your schedule. Yesterday was a little chilly (okay, I really, really need booties, my feet were so cold!!), but it was a really nice day and I always love getting out on my bicycle. This week was pretty heavy on the trainer as we had some snow and some really cold temperatures. I fully admit I am a biking outside wuss - if it's colder than about 35 out and I have to go in the dark you will most likely find me inside on a trainer watching Top Chef. I have found that there are a few shows I can watch on the trainer and not want to throw myself off it after 15 minutes, and those shows are Top Chef and (don't judge me, it is strangely compelling) America's Next Top Model. There are some shows I really like such as Grey's Anatomy (well, I used to like it although it's been kinda stupid for a year or two), that just don't make good trainer shows for some reason.

This coming week looks like a big biking week which will hopefully be fun! I am definitely trying to ride outside at least once or twice a week conditions permitting so hopefully I'll be able to keep that up. It is going to be a super busy week, I am back to my normal workout volume full force, I have a big project wrapping up, I need to shop for Christmas gifts for my family, and I have social plans every single night. There is no rest for the weary! It's all so fun though, I cannot complain. Hope everyone has a good week, looks like the Broncos have taken the lead so I am a happy camper!

Posted by barb at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)