Late Recovery Week...And Early Fire Season

The eerie light on the tree trunks this evening and the hazy sky are a reminder of last spring's High Park fire, but this is March, and it's a different fire. The Soldier Canyon (now named Galena) fire broke out near Lory State Park this morning, first a small fire, then grew to 40, then 200, then 800 acres as of now, 6 pm.

Today when I went outside to walk the girls, I thought it smelled smoky, but thought maybe someone was grilling in their backyard. And my eyes have been burning all afternoon. It's been windy and gusty, but rain or snow are in the forecast for the weekend. Let's hope we get the moisture.

Already there are evacuation orders for everyone living west of the reservoir near Horsetooth Mountain and Lory State parks. Having to do this again, so soon after last year, has to be extra traumatic for all those people, and anyone who lives in those fire-prone areas. Looks like it will be a repeat of last year's fire season. Not fun.

Looking out the window and seeing the hazy sky is depressing, I'm not looking forward to dealing with the smoke. Also, if the fire doesn't get controlled soon and does a lot of damage in the park, that could mean problems for the Quad Rock races that will be held May 11th this year.

My intention was not to write a depressing blogpost but this sure is going that way. I apologize. This week has been a rough one.

Recovering from Delano Park has been harder than I expected. I think it was because of the traveling and so much jammed into a short weekend. I went to work on Tuesday and I was so tired. Wednesday I was completely worthless. I had terrible brain fog, couldn't think clearly at all. I walked 5 miles on Monday, then all I did Wednesday was walk the girls for a short one, I had no energy.

Thursday I ran 8.5 miles easy and that was better after some good sleep Wednesday night. I toook long naps both Thursday and today, and those have helped. I'll try to get a few miles in over the weekend, but I'm pretty much blowing this week off. My legs are still slightly sore and tired in places, too.

Today I got word that a particularly young patient I took care of over the past 2 years, died this morning at home. I really liked him, he was so smart, talented, athletic, and had a great spirit about him. His parents are my age. I feel terrible for them. Some deaths hit you hard, and this is one of them for me.

The Buffaloes went for their annual vet appointment today, both are doing well, approaching 12 years old. It's hard to believe my babies are almost 12. They've slowed down a bit, but they still have plenty of energy and Iris especially loves to run. Isabelle is not so sure about the running, but she loves to get out for a good fence fight.

Having several friends who have lost their dogs or cats lately to old age, it's a sad thought of what's ahead, but I try to focus on each day and what they can do. We try to have some Buffalo adventures every day, and those work days really put the guilt trip on me. It's beyond a blogpost to describe how much the presence of these two girls has enriched our lives. Dogs just don't live long enough.

Today Iris kept the vet and his tech entertained while Isabelle trembled. The girls have such opposite personalities. Iris was obsessed with the thermometer, once the tech whipped that out, she kept her eye on it until he put it away, then she watched his hands to make sure that nasty thing wasn't coming at her again. You can't get away with anything when Iris is around.

And I finally got around to getting my labs drawn before I left for Alabama, so I got the results this week. My thyroid results are right where things should be, so I don't think the anxiety I've been experiencing is due to that. I'm sure it is those other hormones, the dang girl hormones, or lack thereof. Everything looks great except for my cholesterol, thanks to my genes I have high total cholesterol and my LDL is high, too. But my HDL so high it's off the charts.

I know I could make a few dietary modifications but not much, I really don't consume all that much crap, my one bad daily habit is having half and half in my coffee, so maybe I need to go back to Silk. And on my work days I can do better. I can probably add more beans or oatmeal to my diet, but I don't really like oatmeal and I don't really like what beans do to me all that much, either. Beano, I know.

I will not be sold on statins, I still need to go through menopause completely and see where the dust settles. As far as cardiovascular risk I don't have any other risk factors except for family history on my mom's side, the men in her family all had early heart attacks. They were also overweight sedentary smokers. I was a little surprised when my doctor suggested I might try dietary modification first but then was really sort of pushing for statins as a backup plan. That's not like her.

As an athlete, statins can cause a lot of problems with myopathies- muscle aches, muscle breakdown. Repair of muscle tissue and recovery from hard workouts are a problem, also statins have been associated with elevated blood glucose. Really, do we need any more help inducing diabetes in people?

There are other risks with statins and I'm not really convinced that any drug that is so widely marketed to the public with so-called results is good for people. By results I mean lowering actual numbers in lab tests. The numbers might be pretty, but what does it do to the person long-term and what are the realistic and practical effects of taking the drug itself on other body systems and overall health?

Also, athletes have special needs to consider when getting on a drug that can affect how they feel when training, how they perform, and whether those impacts will have a detrimental effect on quality of life for that person. For example, putting an athlete who is hypertensive on a beta blocker, that is not going to be the right drug for them.

Also, my feeling, for myself, is that I'm going to die of something. If that something is a sudden heart attack or stroke at age 80, well, good for me. I'll make damn sure they don't try to rescusitate me. If nothing else gets me by then, and lots of things could: cancer, accidents, meteor strike, gunshot, getting hit by a car while running, eaten by a gator on a run in Florida, whatever...then it will be my time to go.

Really, the way the world is going, I don't really care to live to be very old. I see what happens to people as they age and it doesn't look like fun. As long as I'm able to run and take care of myself independently, I'll stick around. Once I need to have my butt wiped, forget it. Paging Dr. Kevorkian...please, put me out of my misery and everyone else's too.

I'm hoping that this weekend will recharge my batteries. Some rain or snow would be a nice thing at this point. I might have to drive to Loveland or Windsor, depending on the wind direction, to do my runs to avoid the smoke.

Sorry to end on sort of a down note, but this is where I am today.

A Day of Surprises

I enjoyed having the day off today. Normally I work Monday and Tuesday together, but it's a nice break right now just doing one day at a time. I don't get nearly as exhausted that way. I took the girls for a walk early this morning and the day was heating up fast. I got an e-mail from Miles, the sports editor at the local paper, who was interested in an article on the Quad Rock, so I got to work on that right away. Nick's in Europe, but I was able to reach Pete who gave me all the information I needed.

I went over to the sauna for 35 minutes and felt pretty good in there. I can tell my tolerance isn't quite what it was last year. Partially because I haven't been doing it, but I also suspect thyroid. It's a fine line, if I want good heat tolerance, I have to make myself get hypo enough, but that comes at a price: gaining weight and poor running performance. It's a trade off for sure. Since this year my priority is not to do any major events in the heat, I'll stick with what I have now.

After the sauna I was pretty wiped out. I drank an S-cap smoothie and worked on the article until I had it basically done, minus some details from Pete and editing about 200 words out. I went for a bike ride along the Spring Creek and Poudre Trails, about 21 miles, easy. I forgot about the big Hewlett Gulch fire up Poudre Canyon, and the smoke was visible above Grey Rock and the foothills north of town. The river is starting to rise a little, but it's low this year.

Then as I was riding back home, I came across this: swarming bees. I've had some experiences with swarming bees around here. One time Allsion Horn and I were running along the ditch near Tavelli Elementary, a million years ago, and we were stuck on the canal bank, with nowhere to go, unless we took a dive in the icky water. The swarm was just high enough and Allison and I are both short enough that we decided to run underneath the swarm. Fortunately we never got stung, but found out later that was really a dumb thing to do. At least we don't have the killer bees here like we did in Arizona. We had a 4 foot honeycomb in our garage rafters from those bees.

After my bike ride I came home, ate lunch, worked on a few things, and took a nap. Then I got ready for my run with Shannon. I had no idea what to expect. I thought I'd struggle with running a faster pace and decided to just go with whatever happened. But once we got out there, I was moving well, even pushing the pace up the hills without realizing it. I managed 8:30 miles for 10 miles. Not bad for a week after my race. I feel like my effort in Iowa was much more mental than physical. My knee felt decent tonight too. I could feel it slightly in the last 3 miles but it's not even what I'd call sore. It's just there.

Not a bad day's work!

This weekend Ed and Dale and I are meeting in Boulder to take Rocket for a test run at Boulder Reservoir and then we'll do a planning session somewhere afterwards. The Double Mick is only a month away!

The Six Mile Week

I'm wrapping up a recovery week, it's been nice to have the extra time to do things.

This week I did two easy bike rides of 10 and 20 miles, two runs totaling 6 miles, 5 of which were in this morning's run, went to the sauna once, finished Rocket (thanks to Dennis), and had a birthday party for Iris, who turns 11 today.

It was weird to be in the sauna again, it's been 10 months! But it was relaxing. I did 30 minutes this first time, which wasn't bad. I felt like staying longer, but I didn't need to. I want to get some heat training in before South Dakota, and it's probably a good idea because this year is looking to be a hot one everywhere. With my plans for Lean Horse in August, and just being out on the Badwater course in July, a little heat training will help. It's already been 110 in Death Valley and it's only mid-May. My stepmom said it was supposed to be 105 in Phoenix when I talked to her today. Last year I remember I went down to train in the heat and it didn't hit 100+ until June.

We had pupcakes from Arfy's for Iris and Isabelle, for Iris's birthday. The girls sang Happy Birthday, and Iris blew out her own candle, she's so talented. I was trying to take a video and forgot to snap a few pictures, but Isabelle's birthday is coming up in July and we'll have pupcakes again.

The other thing I did this weekend was go up to Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park to check out the Quad Rock 50 and 25 mile runs. This is Fort Collins' first real trail ultra race, unless you count the Blue Sky 50km race that is also a trail marathon, that has been going for a few years. Not to say that a 50Km isn't a legitimate ultra, but having a 50 mile race is a big deal for this area, we've never had one up here before. Nick Clark and Pete Stevenson were the main forces behind this event and it looked like they did a superb job. I heard lots of runners saying good things about it and that they'd want to come back and run it again, even those who struggled with it this year.

The weather was probably perfect running conditions for many of the runners. It was on the cool side, only hit a high of 49 degrees in Fort Collins all day, and the course is on terrain that is 1000-2000 feet higher than town. It was overcast and I heard there was some snow on the higher elevations of the course. If the weather was following it's recent pattern it would have been close to 40 degrees warmer and then it would have been a bit more difficult. The cold weather also kept the snakes away. May is unpredictable in Colorado, you can have any conditions from blizzards to extreme heat, so I think the weather gods were smiling on this race.

They had a 50 miler and a 25 miler. The 50 was two loops of the 25 mile course with the second one done in reverse. It took runners on a variety of trails throughout both parks, with 5500' elevation gain and descent on each loop. That's 11,000 feet gain and descent on the 50, which qualifies it as a very challenging 50 miler. The aid stations looked well-stocked, and while the cold weather seemed to take everyone by surprise, I saw the aid station on the south end providing hot drinks for the runners when they came through at 40 miles.

I think this event puts Fort Collins on the ultra map as a having a legitimate ultra destination run. We have so many great trails and scenic places to run, it's going to catch on fast as a popular race. While I was out there I wished I was up to running trails enough that I could have participated in the 25 miler. Maybe by next year. People seemed to be coming into the finish area happy and I didn't hear any griping. I hope Nick and Pete are happy about the result because putting on a race is such a huge effort, it's a commitment, and they did a fantastic job. Once you put on a first time event and it's successful, people want to come back. I think this one is going to be big.

I go back to work tomorrow, and I need to get my butt back in gear. Only 5 weeks to the Double Mick. Next weekend Ed and Dale and I are going to hook up for a planning session and a test run with Rocket. When I ran today I felt good, just a little soreness in that right knee after 4 1/2 miles, and I came home and iced it.

The weather is supposed to warm up this week again. Bring it on!

Loaded Rocket!

It's recovery week, and things are going well. I still have some residual soreness in my left hip and the inner side of my right knee, which I presume are from the track curves. Each day they've gotten better. Today I hardly notice the hip. It's the knee that I can still feel.

The swelling is gone and I can see tendons in my feet again, my ankles and knees are back to normal size, and my appetite has settled down some, after a major sushi binge Tuesday night.

I've been taking naps and getting some good sleep and I feel like I'm mostly recovered already. I'll find out the truth as soon as I try to run fast again, that should be interesting.

Having these few days off with nothing urgent to do has been great, it's given me a chance to kick back and think about what I want to do the rest of the year with my running. I'm full of ideas today, but I have a plan that should work well.

I took Rocket for a run this afternoon, my first run since the race. I only ran about a mile with it, in the heat of the afternoon, 83 degrees or so. I put a big cooler in with tons of full water bottles in there, and it was heavy. It's comfortable and it feels fine, both pushing and pulling. Dennis ordered a bigger wheel for the front, so we're waiting on that to make the adjustment, and then Ed and I will have to take it for a test run. I'll do a few miles each day and build up slowly, I think getting about 20 miles max with that thing is all I need.

The other thing I need to add to my training now is heat. I'm going to add a couple of visits to the sauna each week from now until Double Mick, and continue some of that all the way to Lean Horse. If we have a hot summer I won't have to spend much time in the sauna, I'd rather be out running in the heat. But it's there if I need it.

I rode the Surly 10 miles yesterday and 20 miles today, easy, and I feel pretty good. My butt got sore from the seat, since I haven't been riding the bike. I'll have to get used to that again. It feels good to ride, I'm going to do a lot more of that this summer than in the past.

I go back to work tomorrow, just for one day, which is an extra shift I picked up for someone. If I didn't, it would have been a full 2 weeks off, but this just means less vacation time I have to use, which is fine with me. I feel like I got enough of a break from work that I am ready to go back. I have this weekend off, then I have a weird schedule for the next two weeks, work a day, have 2 off, work another day, 2 more off, etc. As of Memorial Day weekend I'll be back on my normal schedule, just in time to go away in mid-June for the Double Mick.

This weekend is Nick's Quad Rock 25 & 50 mile race, unless I find some other pressing thing to do, I will go up to the park and cheer for the people I know who are running. I hope the race goes well and becomes a popular one. It's a great course, and I'm hoping it gets some media coverage too. If it doesn't get local coverage, I'll put it in my running column at the end of the month.

I just found out about a new race, the Equinox Half Marathon, this fall in Fort Collins. I'm going to sign up. It's September 23rd and it runs down the Poudre Canyon, like the Colorado Marathon, but from Mishawaka to Ted's Place. Lisa Sinclair is organizing it and she's got her act together. I don't run too many local races these days but I think this one will be good, even in the first year.

I need to find a few short races this summer, anything from about 20K to 30K, to use as fast training runs. That will be one of them. I'll have to find something in July, August, and October too. Maybe a marathon in early October. As soon as I get my August schedule and am sure I have the time off in the end of August, I'm signing up for the Lean Horse Hundred. And the same with the race in Oklahoma, 24 The Hard Way, I'm going to do a 12 hour there.

And I saw on Nick's blog that he made it up Longs Peak last week, so that's on my list soon- I want to at least run to the Boulderfield. Most of the trail isn't too rocky until you get up higher. I can test out my ankle up there with a good high altitude run. I'll try to do that before Memorial Day- when the crowds come back. I used to run a double Boulderfield or a triple Twin Sisters once a week years ago, it was a staple of my training when I used to run Leadville.

I don't enjoy the drive to Estes Park so much anymore, but I'd like to get back to doing those trails, at least once in a while. I don't spend enough time in the mountains anymore, since I spent so much time doing heat and road training the past several years. Now that trails are an option again, I can look forward to more variety this summer.