Catching Up, Again!

It's been another one of those super busy weeks, rushing from one thing to the next with barely a minute to think, so here I am playing blog catchup again.  Last weekend was our beardie club's regional specialty, embedded in a 4-day dog show, our 5th wedding anniversary and Jeff's birthday, not to mention the end of a huge training block that involved a LOT of workout hours over the weekend.  So, a quick recap via photos...

5 years ago we did this, with Max, baby Stanley, and Cujo

On Friday Puck was NOT enthused about another boring workday.  Little did he know he'd be going to the dog show with me instead!

Stanley showed the best I've ever seen him and I was super proud.  It's a lot of chaos to stay at a show for 4 days but he handled it as always, being a happy and easy dog.

Saturday started dark and early as I had 6 hours of bike-run to get done and didn't want to spend all day - Nigel and I were riding by 6am!  Mostly I was chasing the boys up and down hills, while sticking to my workout, so I didn't get a lot of photos along the way.

A peek at Crystal Springs Reservoir

Rolling by Larry Ellison's house in Woodside

And then Jeff and I hit the road for a mystery destination (mystery to me anyway) for our anniversary - a pretty resort in the midst of Napa vineyards

We did a little wandering around in Yountville before dinner at Bouchon (yum!).  Amazingly there was no alcohol involved in this photo.

Sunday morning I did my first long run of the day through the vineyards of Napa at sunrise - NOT a bad way to live!  On our way home, we picked Stanley up at the dog show.  He was a snuggly tired lap puppy that night but I still needed to get up and go for my second long run.  I waited till 6pm and it was still 84 out so I went for it - if nothing else it was a good confidence boost as far as managing heat.

Monday morning was my first rest day in 4 weeks and I learned an interesting truth...I am addicted to endorphins.  Without my crack, you could infer I am NOT a nice person to be around.  I felt actual chest-crushing stress from work on Monday evening.  It got worse on Tuesday as there were nearly 48 hours between my last run on Sunday and my bike workout Tuesday afternoon.  And then...I could just FEEL the tension release...phew!

Last night concluded 11 days of The-World-Revolves-Around-Stanley (well, he thinks it's every day but...) - 4 days of dog shows, 2 herding lessons, 2 agility classes, 2 nose work classes, 1 hike in the Sierras, 1 beardie playmate, and 1 day at the groomer.  He might be a little tired today.

At this point I'm quasi-tapering for the Silicon Valley Long Course next week.  Not a true taper, says my schedule in TrainingPeaks, but still decreased volume and a bit of rest for the body.  With my last big training block for Canada coming up after this race, I'll take all the recovery I can get!

Hope everyone is having a good week!