Brownie & The Rocket

I have not lost my mind. Even though it would appear that a woman walking the streets pushing a hybrid bike trailer/baby stroller with a bag of brown mulch, and talking into her phone might seem like she crawled out of a cave (which she did!) and is off her meds (which she isn't!)...

I am just multitasking the best I can, dictating my various business and content ideas into my email while I get some exercise.

Last week was an incredibly busy week from a networking standpoint. I had some enlightening and highly motivating conversations with several different people. And I also participated in a Google Hangout with a number of international bloggers with similar interests trying to improve the patient experience interacting with the entire healthcare system and all its players. That was so cool.

I got my tire cover for my car, so now I'm officially promoting my soon-to-be-completed but not-soon-enough project.

If you want to see what it's all about, I now have a landing page, which you are welcome to visit.

So, among all these things, I'm still struggling with finding the motivation to get some sort of consistency in running and working out. Pushing the Rocket, whether it contains Isabelle or the bag of mulch, aka "Brownie", is a good workout, and I can get a lot of my thoughts down in voice memos and email messages. Occasionally I can tweet or post to Facebook, but I haven't tried doing a moving tweetchat yet. Eventually I might have a full moving desk, Bluetooth and all, though I'm not that technologically advanced yet, by intention.

I ran twice this past week and there were three days when I got some decent miles on my feet.

I did get an awakening yesterday when one of the runners I know from NorthCoast in Cleveland contacted me, asking if I was going to be there at the race this fall. Uh, no....but I realized it's been a year. A full year of not training like an athlete. September 20th was nationals last year. So I am telling myself that September 20th is when I need to start working on consistency again, even if I am not training for anything.

It's weird how for 30 years the priority of my day was getting my run in. And after just one year of a break, it's so hard to get started again.

But I have additional motivation now that the mornings have turned noticeably cooler. I need to make sure I can fit into my pants when I need to start wearing warmer clothes. I've been wearing skirts and dresses all summer. Now, for the reality check...

I am so looking forward to the cool weather. I have been in super hot flash mode lately, with the sleep disturbances and all. Hopefully this is it, finally, the real thing, now that I've slowed down and gained enough weight, menopause can finally catch up to me and stay. Bring it on!

Being Disruptive...and Loving It

Yes, that's me. Disruptive entrepreneur that I am, sitting in my woman cave in running shorts and sandals, commuting to work through the backyard garden, working in between dog cart runs.

If you hear someone say the word B.I.T.C.H...

maybe they meant Brazen Institutional Terrorist and Corporate Hellraiser, because I suppose that would be me. Dogma and bureaucracy be damned, I'm moving forward, glad to be independent of the weighted down, soggy conformist culture. Going on two years now.

Besides, Bitches beat Dogma, anyday.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it, too. I have a new student working with me, my exercise support group just started up again, I have some new clients, and I'm busy. Really busy!

Despite many distractions I have been getting some work done out here, but I can tell I need to put a stop to the social interactions soon and sequester myself for a few weeks to get things done. I have a big chunk of work that needs completion before I am ready to pay attention to some website details and then testing.

Went to Denver the other morning. What a beautiful sunrise, it redeemed the hour and 40 minute drive in traffic that should have only been an hour and ten. Damn, Denver is getting to be like California.

I will do almost anything to avoid crowds and traffic. I absolutely hate Denver traffic, especially I-25 between Northglenn and 270. It sucks, it's always backed up, and it was a parking lot for a good 20 minutes for that 4 mile stretch. Arrgh!

I was there because I went to a meetup group I heard about, it sounded interesting to me. It's a group of physicians and other professionals in health care and related industries called Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, and it well was worth getting up at 4 am to drive down in traffic, and the hour and twenty minute drive back.

Let's just say I have found a great place to get support for my endeavors. There was a very good presentation, and just by listening to the members of the group in attendance, I have the opportunity to connect with some great minds!

The Bella seems to be doing fairly well, she goes for her rides, she's been more vocal and excited to see us, and hangs out with us more. The Canna-biscuits have been on board for only a couple of days, too soon to see if she's feeling better from them yet.

It's Labor Day weekend, and my niece Jenny is coming to visit us before she goes off to college in Oregon. She's a mini-me, in some ways, but I'm a lot shorter than her. She got her mom's height and the Nitzky weirdness. We'll wine and dine her, or beer her, whatever she wants, and take her to fun places. And take The Bella with us, of course, in the Rocket.

Running? Still on the horizon. I have a lot more work to do before I can stick to a workout schedule, but the Rocket works well, whether I take The 60 pound Bella or a 40 pound bag of mulch (or two), I'm getting a good workout, and I hope to return to running in fairly decent condition as a result.

Happy weekend all.

The Ninety Three Degree Reprieve

Tonight was my tempo run night with Shannon. Before the run I thought, he is going to kick my butt tonight.

Except it was 93 degrees and both of us were hurting when we started at 6 pm. So we decided to just do the miles and not push the pace.

When I suggested that, he let out a big sigh of relief. We'll get back to it next week. He's been pushing the mileage, and I'm still recovering, because I am still sore from the run on Longs Peak Friday. I guess my legs weren't quite ready for that.

I went to the sauna this morning and got a total of 14 miles today, but slow.

I need to start getting supplies together for South Dakota. It's not much, but I do have to make a plan for what I'll want when I'm there. I need to get some supplies for Rocket, like spare inner tubes, some tools and extra bolts and stuff. And a pump. But I have most of that already, just have to dig it all out.

This week there was a solar eclipse, and I swear, it brings out the weirdos. Worse than a full moon. I worked Monday night and it seemed like the day got weirder the longer it went on.

I've always wondered what it is about me that seems to draw people who are weird. Am I weird? Maybe so. But it's always been like this. In places like Boulder people always ask me for directions. They say I look like a local. That happened to me the first time I went to Boulder, in 1983, or something like that. I was just walking down the street and I get stopped. I lived in Steamboat Springs one winter back in the mid-80s when I did seasonal forestry work, and people used to do the same thing to me there.

And then occasionally I'll draw some weirdo, like the weird dude in the sauna, last year. They start talking to me like I'm their psychiatrist. Excuse me, but do I look like your new age therapist? Should I whip out my crystals and heal you?

Anyway the other night there was this patient who addressed me as "Ma'am" and I wasn't even his nurse but he proceeded to start telling me the most private details of his personal life that I really didn't want to know about. I finally got away from him and let his nurse know about it. I don't even think he knew I was a nurse. I could have been some random employee walking by.

Sometimes people can wear you out.

I suppose there is some degree of compassion for people, that goes along with being a nurse, for most nurses, though I have encountered a few nurses who seem to lack these qualities altogether. But speaking in terms of the general population, some people don't have the capacity for appropriate social interaction with others. And some don't have the capacity for social or emotional connection with people, period. I happened to love my psychiatric nursing clinicals when I was in nursing school, but I can't imagine working in it. Nursing anywhere provides enough psych, anyway.

One thing I recognize is that there are a lot of people out there who struggle with behavioral problems, have difficulty in social situations, and might even be considered personality disordered, but it's them and they're unlikely to change. It's usually not something you can fix or cure. It's painful to interact with them and very difficult to deal with them, but once you learn not to take it personally and accept them for who they are, it's a lot easier.

I've had to learn that the hard way with someone I care about a lot, a friend who probably would be diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. It can be extremely frustrating until you take yourself out of the equation, then it's easier to deal with it objectively.

Anyway, enough psych for now, back to running.

I'm hungry. I want food. I only ran 40 miles last week, might hit 50 this week with some miles on the bike. I'm not in a big hurry to increase mileage before South Dakota. I need to maintain the speed I have and once I recover from that week, start building the speed again. I have some ambitious ideas brewing in the back of my head, once I get them into words, I'll share them.

And I got this in the mail today, my mileage and name to put on the Iowa-shaped wooden plaque we got after the Cornbelt. Cool. Along with a personal note from the race director congratulating me on my PR. Another reason why races like the Cornbelt are so special.

Are You Nuts?

As planned, Ed, Dale, Rocket and I met in Boulder at the Reservoir Saturday morning at 9 for our test run and planning session for the Double Mick.

Dale, the weatherman on our team, who is a meteorologist, one who studies meteors...advised us Friday night that the weather was supposed to suck all day Saturday.

So we decided to go ahead anyway and if it sucked that badly, we would just hang out in a Starbucks and plan things, and leave a test run for a later date.

Fortunately when we all arrived at Boulder Reservoir, nothing was coming down from the sky at the moment. There were big puddles and the sky looked like it would dump on us any time, but we decided to go ahead, and just run on the dirt road on the northwest side of the Reservoir, up to Niwot Road and back. That gave us a little over 5 miles with hills to test it.

We loaded a big, heavy cooler inside of Rocket, strapped a tent on the front to balance out the weight a little. I pushed Rocket on the way out, and Ed pushed it on the way back. About a mile from the cars on the way back, it started raining in a steady downpour that lasted until we were done.

We were amazed at the number of runners we saw on the road that morning. Then we remembered that we were in Boulder. The People's Republic of Boulder, that is. That's one of the names that local people give to Boulder, and it works regardless of your political orientation.

Things Ed remarked on were the number of women out running on the road. And Dale mentioned how fast everyone runs. The other thing we noticed is that pushing this Rocket contraption along the road, no one gives you a second look. This is considered normal in Boulder. In any other place people would be pulling over or slowing down to ask if you were okay or needed any help. Or asking, "Are you NUTS?"

We adjusted the handle for Ed's height. It was good for Ed except going up the steepest hills, but the hills on that road were a lot steeper than anything on the Mickelson. Going downhill it was no problem. For me, all I have to do is put the handle at the lowest possible setting and it works great.

The biggest issue we had was the front wheel's tendency to go up in the air, we can fix that by placing some weight over the front and as will most likely happen during the Double Mick, carrying a lighter cooler. The Rocket is ready to go! We'll bring some spare inner tubes for the tires, a pump, and a few tools and extra screws and bolts.

It was great to have Dale along, he's making a steady recovery from being sick last year. He kept making stupid jokes and promised me I would be sick of him after 5 days on the trail. He calls me Nurse Ratched and I threatened him with certain tools in my arsenal...

Afterwards we went into town to the Starbucks at 28th & Pearl and talked about what we'll need for the trip. It's pretty simple, all 3 of us have been through so many Badwaters that it becomes a lot easier. Also, on this trip we'll have the luxury of being able to re-stock in Custer, which is centrally located on the route, so we won't be having to worry about having 5 days worth of supplies and food.

Our biggest challenge is to find the points along the route where Dale will be able to crew us without having to carry things from the car. Dale and I are familiar with the sections along the Lean Horse 100 route, but the other parts of the trail are new to all of us. Rocket will be there in case we need it. We need to do more research by looking at Google maps and maybe the Black Hills area maps if we can find some good ones. We've talked to some local people but there isn't much along the route.

Only 4 more weeks to the Double Mick! My legs felt fine during the Rocket test run, but I took a nap late Saturday afternoon and since then I can feel my quads from the descent off Longs Friday. I tried going for an easy evening run and my legs were just dead.

Dennis gave me a massage last night but my legs were so sore he couldn't do anything with them. This morning I'll go for an easy run and then to the sauna. If the day warms up I'll get on the bike and spin easy for a while, too. You never know what the weather will do from one day to the next around here. It's freezing this morning, 42 degrees is freezing for me! By Tuesday it's supposed to warm up to 91 degrees. I might get brave enough to take off my jacket, tights, hat and gloves!

Hangs With Marmots

The Hewlett Gulch fire has filled the Fort Collins area with smoke off and on for the past few days. When I woke up this morning it was smoky again, with about 1/2 mile visibility in town. Time to get out of town for a run. I've been wanting to go up Longs Peak, not to climb it, but to get on the trail and do some high altitude trail running. Since my longest trail run so far was less than 6 miles, I didn't need to do too much more, but I wanted to get a decent workout in, and I needed some vertical. This was perfect.

I drove up to the Longs Peak trailhead, and the air is a bit hazy up in Estes, especially looking back toward Loveland, but it's a lot clearer than the Fort. It's been a while since I've been on trails and above 10,000 feet. I didn't have too ambitious of an agenda. Just up and back to the Boulderfield, if it was passable, without too much deep snow, postholing and slipping would not be so good. I didn't even know how my legs would respond to a 3000+ foot climb and descent, each in about 5 miles, less than 2 weeks out of my 100+.

Going up the trail, I hit my first patch of snow near the Goblin sign, about a mile from the trailhead. Hmm. I kept going, there weren't too many people out and the parking lot was empty. I wondered what I would find. As it turned out most of the trail was in great shape, runnable and dry. There were quite a few big soft deep snowbanks in the upper trees before you hit treeline and come out in the exposed tundra below Chasm Lake. Once I hit that, there was almost no snow to deal with. I only postholed once all day, which was amazing since the snow was so deep and soft.

The trail looked clear past Chasm, and I headed up toward Granite Pass and the Boulderfield. It was slow going, I wasn't pushing hard at all, and taking lots of pictures along the way. it was a little windy but not too cold. I stopped to put my fleece shirt and gloves on once I made the turn past the pass and started heading up the last few switchbacks to the lower Boulderfield. I decided that once I hit the Boulderfield I would choose a spot to stop and turn around, the footing gets worse the closer you get to the Keyhole, and I didn't want to stress my ankle too much. I twisted it good a couple of times and I felt it, but I only felt it when I twisted it, not afterwards, so that was good.

I didn't feel too lightheaded above 12,000 feet this time. I was able to run all of the flat strecthes and the not-so steep uphills without getting too winded. That surprised me most of all.

I found a nice rock in the lower Boulderfield, took some pictures, ate a peanut butter and jelly Lara bar, and then started down. The clouds were moving in and it looked like rain. I hope it would rain, that fire needs something to keep it from spreading.

About 10 minutes after I started down the trail, I ran into a familiar-looking runner coming up the trail toward me. It took me a minute to figure it out and then I realized it was Reid Delman, who puts on several trail/adventure races around the region, such as Desert Rats, 24 Hours of Boulder, Moab, Laramie, etc.,and the Spring Trailrunning Festival in Fruita each year. I haven't seen him or run any of his races in so long since I had to avoid trails. We talked for a while then each went on our way. He was doing the same thing as me, to the Boulderfield and back.

I stopped for more pictures on the way back to the trailhead. This pair of marmots hanging out on a rock stayed there and I got my iPhone ready to take their picture. But by the time I snapped the picture, the male had mounted the female and they were busy making baby marmots. Fortunately I didn't catch that in my photo. I took off to leave them to their marmot business.

On the way down there was this group of 4 older people, well into their 70s at least, I had passed them at the beginning of my run near the trailhead. They were still coming up and approaching Chasm Lake, and I was on my way down. The man leading the group saw me and said, "Oh, no, not one of THOSE." The dreaded trail runner. I wished them a nice hike and kept going.

Once I passed most of the snow I picked up the pace and ran hard down the last mile or so, trying to not worry about rocks, since the lower trail is in such good shape. It took me over 3 hours to do the run but I was taking my time. I got at least 10 miles in, with +/- 3200 feet of vertical gain and descent. I guess I'll find out in the next two days if that is enough to make me sore these days. I hope not.

Driving down Big Thompson Canyon it looked like rain. it smelled a lot less like smoke when I got back to town. The flowers in the front yard are opening up and it's getting more colorful out there every day. We need rain!

Tomorrow, I meet Ed and Dale for our Double Mick planning session and Rocket Run in Boulder. I hope there's less smoke by tomorrow. It's supposed to rain!

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.

Cemetery Run, and Fun Facts...

I woke up at 4 am today. I have no idea why. Once I realized I wasn't going back to sleep, I figured it would be a good opportunity to get my run in early, since a front is moving in that threatens to take away our spring weather for a couple of days. I wanted to run on dirt again, and I needed to get 20 miles in, plus some strides.

I decided to run 20 miles in the cemetery. Grandview Cemetery, at the end of Mountain Avenue, is not only a beautiful place to run, with it's carefully kept landscape, flowering trees, and variety of birds (great horned owls, herons, cormorants, golden eagles, etc.)that inhabit the place, the roads in the cemetery are packed dirt and gravel, a nice running surface.

But the best part for runners is that the outermost route around the cemetery is just about a mile: somewhere between 0.98 and 0.99 miles. Perfect for mile repeats or paced runs.

So now I have half the day ahead of me, and we're going to work on building Rocket this weekend, plus I'm going to make salsa, and hopefully take a nap. If the weather doesn't get too nasty this afternoon, maybe another run, or I'll just tough all the miles out tomorrow in whatever conditions the weather gods throw at us...April in Colorado could be anything.

Irreverent, irrelevant, and fun facts on the fourteenth of April:

The 50th anniversary of the day my dad and mom were married (a marriage of oil and water, which thankfully, ended 14 years later) is also the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Technically, the Titanic sunk on the 15th of April, but it struck the iceberg on the 14th. So it was the disaster of the 14th of April, much like their marriage. Not that it has anything to do with the Titanic, but I always find it to be an interesting coincidence.

Happy running!

Work Hangover Wednesday: A Beautiful Day in the Hood

It's that day of the week again, the day after my two 12 hour shifts in a row. I wander through the day brain fogged and worthless until I can finally get my nap.

Work was busy again. I'm glad it is, it's job security in a time of uncertainty in health care. Cancer doesn't slow down in a tough economy.

So I have a lot of little things to report on today. Easter Sunday was a good day, except I never made it to the sunrise run. I was having trouble sleeping and was still awake at 1 am, so decided to turn off my alarm and bag it, and just meet Paul at the lakes. I ended up getting 20 miles for the day. Afterwards Dennis and I went out to some friends' for Easter brunch and hung out in the yard, it was a gorgeous day.

I'm not sure what Paul was doing here. Trying to prove that middle-aged ultrarunners can still catch air? He has less gray hair than I do, I think he was just showing off.

While running at the lakes, we saw this snake, nearly a four footer, this early in the season! It wasn't even that warm out. But the snakes are back.

This morning while I was brain dead I went to the bike shop and talked to a bike nerd about the "Rocket" project. He gave me some pointers on building this thing from the two strollers I have. I just need someone with some tools and creativity to fit it, and make the bolts stay without too much adjusting. This is going to be interesting. Dennis thinks he can probably do most of it, and our next door neighbor is a retired high school shop teacher who might be able to help, too. We should be able to do it without any welding.

Tonight I run with Shannon and hopefully I can keep a decent pace for 10 miles with him. I went for an easy run this morning with Iris through the neighborhood. Our neighborhood is mostly awesome in the spring. Lots of flower gardens and blossoming fruit trees.

Somewhere on a stone tablet it says thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's garden. But I do anyway. I am hoping to get our phlox to spread like this, but I haven't had much luck.

And then there's always the oddball in every neighborhood.

What would Mr. Rogers do?

Rocket's First Run!

Easter is tomorrow. I have a full day planned, a 10 mile sunrise run at Horsetooth with some of the Fort Collins Running Club runners and then afterwards, I'm meeting Paul for another 10 miles at the lakes. Dennis and I are doing an Easter brunch afterwards with some friends. And I will need a nap. Getting up at 4:30 am is not my favorite thing to do. But the coffee is ready to go.

I did a "race pace" run at the track today, trying to see how slow of a pace I could run and still maintain comfort. It's so hard to force yourself to run super slow. I was incorporating a few walking laps just to get an idea of how my walking pace feels. I haven't been doing any walking at all in my training so far this spring, so I need to remember to do a little of that. A 10:20 pace felt just about right for as slow as I could go- I was comfortable there without forcing myself to go any slower. I will need to do a lot of walking in the first half of the 24 hour to keep myself from putting too many miles in too early.

After my workout today, I pulled the "Rocket", the Batmobile, out of the box and put it together. It was so easy, even I, in my incredible mechanical ineptitude, could figure it out and get it together without Dennis's help. I was extremely proud of myself.

I tried taking the girls for a test drive, but they wouldn't stay in the seat. Isabelle did bettter than Iris. They got claustrophobic when I pulled the canopy down, even though they could see through it.

I adjusted the handle on Rocket the Batmobile to my height and that worked great. It's lightweight and comfortable, and easy to steer even with the awkward swivel wheel in front, which we will get rid of. I didn't load any weight in it to push it except for Isabelle, and she's 55 pounds. That was easy to push. She didn't stay in there long enough for me to really test it, so I'll have to put a loaded cooler in there next time.

I think the handle can adjust high enough for Ed, but he'll have to try it himself before we know. The problem we're going to have to solve is the swivel wheel set that came with the package. We need to replace the front wheel with some kind of a fork that will allow us to put a fixed-axle wheel on there (Gerry Z's). But figuring out how to do the fork will take someone with talent for these things, and that's not me. So I have my next project cut out for me.

Iris found the peeps with no problem and tipped the trailer over to get to them. She got the yellow one.

We were playing with Siri the other night on Dennis's iPhone and we got Iris into a conversation with Siri. Siri is clearly going to need some instruction in Australian Shepherd-ese.

That's all for now, and just three peeps left for Easter tomorrow.