Well tomorrow is it, we are heading home. We have had a great visit here in Colorado, turns out 3 and a half weeks or so is a really long time away from the comforts of home. But we were surprised at how time flies! We really enjoyed seeing all of our family members, I think this is the first trip in a long time where we actually got to see EVERYBODY on the must see list!
While we are sad to be going back to Utah, in some ways we are excited. No more dog walking! Buddha can romp in his very own backyard. I am looking forward to getting back to my diet and exercise plans. The first part of our trip went really well here in Colorado, but the last week or so has been rough. The kids were asking about their scooters the other day, and I think they may be missing some of their friends and toys. Bridget misses working for real, c'mon you know she loves it! Just kidding, she is already complaining about a totally booked schedule on Friday!
Well, wish us safe travels on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see our gas mileage with the topper and the bike on the roof of the car heading into that relentless Wyoming wind. On the way out we got right around 25 MPG with the same set up, but the wind was at our back for most of the trip.... Thanks to everybody for making the Colorado stay the most excellent extended stay ever!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Triathlon Thursday
I thought it would be a good idea to go out and try to run myself into the ground. So I did a super triathlon today! Here are the nitty gritty details:
Swim - 1600 yards 27:04
Bike - 18.56 miles - 1:03:27 (super hilly course in the wind!)
Ran - 3 miles - 28:14
So I was pretty pleased with the swim time, as usual I got confused on lap counting...must be something with all the flip turns and trying to swim my little heart out! The bike time includes 3 or 4 stop lights where I had to stop but the timer didn't. The distance is accurate though. And the 3 mile run was really supposed to be 6, and I had no real good reason to stop other than I was pretty hungry and had a rather tight hamstring. Anyway, I was happy overall with the effort...as usual I would have liked to run faster, but the mile from 2 -3 miles was faster than the first 2!
Swim - 1600 yards 27:04
Bike - 18.56 miles - 1:03:27 (super hilly course in the wind!)
Ran - 3 miles - 28:14
So I was pretty pleased with the swim time, as usual I got confused on lap counting...must be something with all the flip turns and trying to swim my little heart out! The bike time includes 3 or 4 stop lights where I had to stop but the timer didn't. The distance is accurate though. And the 3 mile run was really supposed to be 6, and I had no real good reason to stop other than I was pretty hungry and had a rather tight hamstring. Anyway, I was happy overall with the effort...as usual I would have liked to run faster, but the mile from 2 -3 miles was faster than the first 2!
Playoff hockey at its best!
Tonight at 5:30 PM the Colorado Avalanche square off in a best of 7 playoff series versus the dreaded Detroit Chicken Wings. I am so looking forward to this series as both teams seem to be hot right now, so regardless of who wins we should see some good hockey. But I do want to see the Avs win! I think will happen in 6 games, Colorado over Detroit. Just to give anybody a refresher, or get everyone fired up for the game here is a nice recap of the bitter rivalry from the late 90's when the hatred was at an all time high. I like it when Claude Lemieux starts jawing with the Red Wing player on a face off and they go at it as soon as the puck is dropped. Classic! GO AVS!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Runnin Ragged
Seems like I have a list a mile long of things I'd like to do in the last week here in Colorado, how much will I actually complete.....probably not much. I am working on Bridget's parents patio, they had some water damage to the drywall ceiling, I have replaced all of the drywall already, now I just have to finish it all up and paint it. That project will take a while with the two kids assisting (or lack of assistance, more like distraction). I have a whole bunch of pictures I'd like to put up on the website, again time seems to be against me! My digital camera actually fell into a full glass of milk the other day, I think it still works. We took it apart and let it dry out overnight, when I put it back together the next day I only had 1 leftover screw!
It really has been a great visit to Colorado, in some ways I don't want to go home....In other ways I can't wait. I am a person of routine, it has been most difficult to maintain routine in CO. But at the same time it is nice to constantly be around people over the age of 4, and to actually be able to talk in my grown up voice!
On the exercise front things seems to be going well. Although my feet are really killing me, I can trudge through it. Seems like they loosen up in about a mile or so of my run....although the rest of the day I gimp around like I'm 90 years old! Biking doesn't seem to bother it, so I might do more biking. I did some research into heart rate training yesterday, I got upset out what some of the "experts" were saying so I gave up. Basically, you do a conversion based on your age which gives you a target HR. One site, written by a 3 time Ironman Champion said to stick to that HR no matter how slow that means you have to go. For example the guy said he was killing himself to run 5:00 miles, a coach told him to train at a HR of 155 which meant he had to slow his pace down to 8:30 per mile. He did this for weeks and months, eventually he got back to 5:20 per mile at 155 beats per minute. Patience has never been a virtue I possess, I need more immediate results.
It really has been a great visit to Colorado, in some ways I don't want to go home....In other ways I can't wait. I am a person of routine, it has been most difficult to maintain routine in CO. But at the same time it is nice to constantly be around people over the age of 4, and to actually be able to talk in my grown up voice!
On the exercise front things seems to be going well. Although my feet are really killing me, I can trudge through it. Seems like they loosen up in about a mile or so of my run....although the rest of the day I gimp around like I'm 90 years old! Biking doesn't seem to bother it, so I might do more biking. I did some research into heart rate training yesterday, I got upset out what some of the "experts" were saying so I gave up. Basically, you do a conversion based on your age which gives you a target HR. One site, written by a 3 time Ironman Champion said to stick to that HR no matter how slow that means you have to go. For example the guy said he was killing himself to run 5:00 miles, a coach told him to train at a HR of 155 which meant he had to slow his pace down to 8:30 per mile. He did this for weeks and months, eventually he got back to 5:20 per mile at 155 beats per minute. Patience has never been a virtue I possess, I need more immediate results.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Popped
So I bought my road bike when I was a sophomore in college, 1997-98 ish. In that time I have ridden a lot of miles and knock on wood I've never crashed and I had never had a tire blow out. Well at least not until last night! I was out riding with Melissa, who I just convinced to buy a road bike for our upcoming Utah Half ironman in August. We were just riding along, somewhere around 22 miles per hour, when I hit a pair of rocks in the road. With in a second the tire was completely flat and my tire started to wobble. It was kind of tense, but I stopped and didn't crash or anything. So I sent Melissa on ahead to get a vehicle to come pick me up. I went back and found the two culprit rocks and threw them as hard as I could into a nearby pond! Then I started jogging with my bike in my cycling shoes with cleats on the bottom. I must have been quite a sight, I was imagining all of the passers by saying "you're supposed to ride the bike!" But in my own sick rationale I was practicing for the transition areas in a triathlon where you have to dismount from the bike and run to your spot in the bike racks. It isn't ever as far as I ran, but I figured what the heck else am I going to do...sand around on the side of the road? I'll get it fixed today and hopefully be back up and riding soon!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Oddity
So I can't figure out my mind. We are here in colorful Colorado for the better part of a month. Since I am not a rich and famous jet setter, I don't get to take month long vacations. So why does my head think this is a vacation? I guess this mostly has to do with eating. I am trying my best to help put with chores around the house and keep the kiddos entertained so they don't go nuts. But for what ever reason I can't get it through my head to eat correctly. I don't know what it is. So yesterday we went to Old Chicago and I had a TON of Italian Nachos and 4 pieces of Double Deckeroni pizza. On Saturday we went out to Qdoba and I had a Fatty McFatFat burrito. Then there has been the ice cream sandwiches around the house, not to bad if you only eat one.....but......
So, I need to get it straight in my brain that I still have to work on things. And for a majority of last week I did pretty good. But this week I would like to do all of the fun stuff Colorado has to offer, but with eating a LOT better!
So, I need to get it straight in my brain that I still have to work on things. And for a majority of last week I did pretty good. But this week I would like to do all of the fun stuff Colorado has to offer, but with eating a LOT better!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Snow in April? How Random.....
I couldn't believe my eyes here in Colorado today. It looks like a veritable winter wonderland out side. The weather reports say we may get as much as 6 or 7 inches! Although it looks like it will be mostly sticking to the grass and not the streets.
Good thing I took advantage of the weather yesterday! I went on a 7 mile run, I finished 1 second under 60 minutes. It was pretty cool, I felt good and it was a ton better than running on a treadmill!
Still losing weight, although not as consistently as I would like! The other night we were over at a friends house and I stuffed myself on pizza and wings, well I guess it wasn't that bad 3 slices and 3 hot wings. But that plus the ice cream sundays we made was enough to put 5 pounds on. I keep trying and keep working hard. I've lost almost all of those pounds, so that is a good thing!
Good thing I took advantage of the weather yesterday! I went on a 7 mile run, I finished 1 second under 60 minutes. It was pretty cool, I felt good and it was a ton better than running on a treadmill!
Still losing weight, although not as consistently as I would like! The other night we were over at a friends house and I stuffed myself on pizza and wings, well I guess it wasn't that bad 3 slices and 3 hot wings. But that plus the ice cream sundays we made was enough to put 5 pounds on. I keep trying and keep working hard. I've lost almost all of those pounds, so that is a good thing!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Been Workin Hard
After Aiden's birthday weekend I had some work to do in the ole' weight loss department. I gained a lot of weight, probably from that frosting! I am happy to report I am back to the weight I was before his weekend, and I'm rolling forward! I hope to be at that 100 pound mark soon, I'll keep you posted. I think it may be soon!
Now I have a real challenge though. We are in Colorado for 3 and a half weeks! That means different foods, different routines, added temptations, and a whole plethora of other potential trip ups! But I keep reminding myself to be strong, and take it one day at a time.
My feet. So my feet are killing me. If I could buy new ones and swap them out I would. When I did the triathlon a couple of weeks ago I decided to try sockless racing, I got heel blisters. Actually they weren't blisters they just wore straight through to bleeding. And me being stubborn, I don't give them any rest, so they pretty much break open and bleed on each run I take. So that's the problem with the outside of my feet. On the inside I have some wicked plantar fasciitis. Which is sort of like a cramp in my arches that hurt with each step. I talked to a sports medicine doctor about it last year when it first popped up and he gave me some tricks to try. Again, I'm stubborn and I don't do them. The pain usually ceases in the first mile of a run, so it is liveable. The same doc said as the fasciitis gets better it could lead to a heel spur on the inside of my heel. I think I am at that stage, because there is a spot about the size of a dime on each heel where if I push on it I will literally be in tears (and I don't think it is because I am a wuss, I think it is because it feels like I am getting stabbed in the foot). Anyway, it's not too bad either as long as it doesn't get bonked or pushed in just the right way.
Now I have a real challenge though. We are in Colorado for 3 and a half weeks! That means different foods, different routines, added temptations, and a whole plethora of other potential trip ups! But I keep reminding myself to be strong, and take it one day at a time.
My feet. So my feet are killing me. If I could buy new ones and swap them out I would. When I did the triathlon a couple of weeks ago I decided to try sockless racing, I got heel blisters. Actually they weren't blisters they just wore straight through to bleeding. And me being stubborn, I don't give them any rest, so they pretty much break open and bleed on each run I take. So that's the problem with the outside of my feet. On the inside I have some wicked plantar fasciitis. Which is sort of like a cramp in my arches that hurt with each step. I talked to a sports medicine doctor about it last year when it first popped up and he gave me some tricks to try. Again, I'm stubborn and I don't do them. The pain usually ceases in the first mile of a run, so it is liveable. The same doc said as the fasciitis gets better it could lead to a heel spur on the inside of my heel. I think I am at that stage, because there is a spot about the size of a dime on each heel where if I push on it I will literally be in tears (and I don't think it is because I am a wuss, I think it is because it feels like I am getting stabbed in the foot). Anyway, it's not too bad either as long as it doesn't get bonked or pushed in just the right way.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thursday
So I am all recovered from the race, although there wasn't really much recovery time. We hosted Aiden's birthday on Sunday, he is now officially a terrible two! We had a very nice party, there were 14 kids under the age of 4, and 7 of their parents. It was a madhouse to say the least. Bridget and I took a shot at making the cake, what do you think:
We got the recipe from a book that a friend lent us, it really was to die for. If anybody is interested I'll get the name. The cookbook is based off of store bought cake mixes that you add extra stuff too. Like our cake was a Devils Food Cake mix, with a package of chocolate pudding, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and something else chocolaty. The frosting was pretty crazy too. Also out of the same book, we decided to make a double batch so we could add a good layer of frosting between the layers. Anyway, it was peanut butter frosting and because we did a double batch I used an ENTIRE 16 oz jar of peanut Butter, plus real butter, and powdered sugar. All I know is there was about 2700 calories from the peanut butter alone! The cake was a big hit, everybody loved it (both the looks and the taste). But man oh man it was a lot of work, now I know what Grandma Karen goes through each time she makes a cake. Now I can truly appreciate her cakes even more! Kinda like one of those things you have no idea how consuming it is until you actually do it!
We got the recipe from a book that a friend lent us, it really was to die for. If anybody is interested I'll get the name. The cookbook is based off of store bought cake mixes that you add extra stuff too. Like our cake was a Devils Food Cake mix, with a package of chocolate pudding, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and something else chocolaty. The frosting was pretty crazy too. Also out of the same book, we decided to make a double batch so we could add a good layer of frosting between the layers. Anyway, it was peanut butter frosting and because we did a double batch I used an ENTIRE 16 oz jar of peanut Butter, plus real butter, and powdered sugar. All I know is there was about 2700 calories from the peanut butter alone! The cake was a big hit, everybody loved it (both the looks and the taste). But man oh man it was a lot of work, now I know what Grandma Karen goes through each time she makes a cake. Now I can truly appreciate her cakes even more! Kinda like one of those things you have no idea how consuming it is until you actually do it!
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