Weekend Warrior

I feel like I live weekend to weekend these days, plugging away at my job and workouts during the week just to survive to the fun stuff.  This weekend was no exception in my current trend of crazy-busy – Stanley had a dog show and I had a big training block to wrap up!

Since we were down in Carmel for the dog show, e21 teammate Mary took us out for our long ride on one of her usual routes on Saturday morning.  30 miles out from the coast on Carmel Valley Road, it gets very quiet and sometimes VERY steep.  But it was gorgeous and we had a blast!

Made it to the top of the pass!

I returned to the dog show to discover Stanley had gone Best of Breed and was about to head into the Herding Group – perfect timing!  I had so much fun cheering him on in his first Group outing and was thrilled he made the judge’s cut to her final dogs.

I was fast asleep by 8:30 that night, all worn out from our big adventures. And back on the bike by 5:10am and out for my long run by 6:10am and back at the dog show by 9:30am. Phew!

On the upside, I was able to replenish some depleted calories Sunday night with a birthday dinner for Nigel!

We are all grateful today was a rest day.

And He’s Talented Too

I’ll be spending the rest of summer/fall working on weave poles and dogwalk in trial-like settings (fun matches) since they are great in class but he’s not carrying it over to trials.  Otherwise I’m quite happy with his runs though!

Stud. Muffin.

I FINALLY got Stanley’s win photo from Woofstock!

I hope he remembers how to be a show dog since he gets to do it again this weekend, while I’ll be out roaming the backwoods of Carmel Valley on my bike with Mary Tanner!

Central Valley Adventures

Stanley and I had an agility trial up in Dixon today just south of Sacramento – in the flat farmlands of California’s Central Valley.  I also had a long workout on the schedule and so I planted my dog at the trial with a friend and hit the road for my longest ride of the year. 

Since I’ve never ridden in the area, I came up with a route online and was just hoping it would work.  For the most part it was good.  I survived the first 9 miles that I knew were on farm roads with fast traffic and no shoulder.  The hilly section was FAR steeper than I expected.  And the headwind was STRONG for 25+ miles of the ride – I went through all 99 bottles of beer on the wall plus several recitations of The Jabberwocky.

Oh look, another hill…

And more to go still…

A flatter moment

Sunflowers

Faking my appreciation of the worst headwind I’ve ever ridden in, much less for the entire last hour of the ride

Tomorrow I’m getting my long run done at home, where it’s NOT 90 degrees, before I go back to the agility trial.  I hope my legs remember how to work by then…

Splash & Dash #2 Report

What a difference a month makes!  Last month we froze our butts off doing the June Splash & Dash.  This month it was sunny and 90 degrees out.  Instead of putting our wetsuits on to stay warm while we waited for the start, we put them on so we could jump in the water and cool off!  I opted to race in a swimsuit this time because it seemed like the cooler choice for the run.  Nigel signed up for the race this time so I had someone to float around with while we waited. 

Having learned a bit more about what I’m capable of, when it comes to swimming hard, at the 1 mile race a few weeks ago, I was determined to carry that over into the swim this time around.  I think the new wetsuit has made a difference for me because my shoulders no longer hurt while swimming open water.  So my goal was to draft the entire 2-loop swim and go as hard as I had to in order to stay on a pair of feet.

I’m thrilled to say I did it!  I stayed in a pack for most of the first loop, trading off feet as needed but always surrounded by others.  This turned out to be especially beneficial for one leg of the square course that put us swimming directly into the sun – I couldn’t see a buoy AT ALL!  Instead of popping up to look for it, I just stayed on the feet of the pack and ended up swimming right to it.  I literally never saw it till it was a hand’s length away, that’s how hidden it was in the sunlight.  On the second loop, things became slightly more sparse so I stuck to drafting off the same 2 girls.  At one point I was bumping with someone for my share of those feet and glanced over at her purple cap thinking “wouldn’t it be funny if this is Jill (a friend who’d asked me about my plan for the swim and drafting) I’m fighting with?”   Lo and behold, I exit the swim after the 2nd loop and I see her heading out of transition, it WAS Jill! 

In any event, the plan worked and my swim was 3 minutes faster than last month!

Transition also went much more smoothly as I asked Jeff to cut 2 inches off my wetsuit legs this week.  They still extend to my ankles but now I’m able to get them over my heels without 2+ minutes of frustration because they are stuck.  Knocked 30 seconds off transition right there.

And then it was off to the hard hilly 5k run, with my HR sky-high from the swim.  As I headed down the first long hill and was just passing Jill, a passing car honked loudly and Jill laughed “well someone really likes your outfit.”  I looked over to see it was actually Jeff, coming to see Nigel and me finish.  I told her, “He’s married to me, he has to like it.”

I knew the course this time around, where to take the speed of the downhills and where the big SUCKY-STEEP climbs were.  I still had to walk part of the 2 big climbs as my HR was around 197bpm, but I got through it.  And though I was certain it was slower this time around, I ended my run 35 seconds faster than last month!

In the end it was a race PR of 4:26 over the same course last month – woohoo! 

Happy at being done!

Next up is – EEEEK! – a 2.4 mi swim race.  I’ve only done one of those once and it was followed by a long bike ride and a marathon :)

Southern California Collie Club Trial

My boys had quite a good time at the trial in Camarillo last weekend (we stayed in Ventura since it was closer to the beach/fun). 

Max got 1st places in all of his runs and finished his NJP title.  Sadly it looks like he hurt his neck again and I won’t put him through the pain of dealing with it again so I think this is the end of his agility career.  However, he went out with a bang with a happy sweet perfect run as he finished yet another title after a long and successful agility career.

Stanley had some great runs and some crazy runs.  Apparently spending all day in 90 degree heat does not diminish his enthusiasm one bit!  This was a very nice Excellent Jumpers run he did, with just the weave pole bobble to prevent us from qualifying, but I’m pleased I ran him without holding back.  He’s young and still learning but he’s getting there!

Ventura Vacation

I’m in the midst of a big training/agility trial trip on the coast in Southern California.  Jeff and the dogs and I rolled into Ventura Friday afternoon after fairly event-free 5-hour drives (the dogs, the luggage and the bicycles all came in the minivan with me, while the husband enjoyed a top-down roadtrip in his convertible). 

It was a wee bit windy when we attempted dinner on the Ventura pier Friday night.

In the end, long drive + wind + beach sounds/scents + kids throwing rocks below us + skateboards + other dogs on the deck + flags whipping = overstimulated dogs and they were happier when I stashed them in their crates in the car while we ate.  I know *I* was definitely happier.

The original purpose of this trip was to cram in one more agility trial (beyond the one I am entered in for next weekend) before training takes over my life.  I managed to talk Jeff into coming down for a little beach fun with slightly cooler temps than home and promised some fun meals/beers/etc.  And the trial schedule worked out perfectly to allow for fitting in my long workouts before I had to be there to run the dogs.

Saturday morning at 6am we headed out for a long ride up the coast from our hotel.  I did some research on the local bike club websites to find ideas and more detailed directions for the route I chose.  It turned out to be a popular one as we saw LOTS of riders headed out as we made our way back into town.

Started out with citrus groves on the way to the coast

Then onto a bike path along the ocean

And then onto Highway 1 paralleling the beach

And then onto Highway 101 for a brief stretch where it’s the only route available (but it has a BIG shoulder)

The only hiccup in our ride came when an RV very carefully passed us, pulled into the bike lane in front of us (WTF, we’re thinking, but we’ll just pass him) and then proceeded to pull a u-turn right in front of us.  I was able to swerve off and slow down at the last second but Jeff didn’t and went down on his bike.  As if the bloody knee, scraped elbow and badly bruised wrist weren’t bad enough, his brand new biking sunglasses fell off and were run over by a car. Booooooo!

Riding sans sunglasses and with blood running down his leg

I was honestly thrilled with how the ride went – I haven’t ridden this long since March so I was a little nervous but it just goes to show how important that big base period I put in was and how much 2 weeks of rest prepared me for the next step!  It was heating up by the time I had my run off the bike but it got done and one more big day was in the books – done by 9am and I was off to spend the rest of the day doing agility with my boys.

Unfortunately Jeff’s day just got worse and worse.  While visiting one of the local beaches (after buying a new pair of sunglasses!), his beloved BABY (the car) was hit in the parking lot and gouged pretty well.  He gave up and went back to the hotel to drown his sorrows in a beer at that point.  And then when we got back from dinner at a brewpub, the power was out at the hotel.  So we sat in a dark hotel room listening to the screams of 30 children in the pool for a couple hours.  You know the kid that yells “Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!” for 3 minutes straight before being acknowledged by parents that learn to tune that shit out?  Yep, we could hear every word of it like it was in our room.  Romance. Killer.

Jeff headed home this morning as planned, so he can enjoy BBQs with friends, while I stay on till the trial ends on the 4th.  I headed out this morning for another brick – short bike/long run – and figured the path along the ocean would be a nice route.  With nearly 50 miles of biking on my legs in the 24 hours before I started the run, I wasn’t quite sure how I’d survive it – but again, I guess all the things I’m doing right (nutrition, rest, hydration, etc etc etc) are working because I had a blast!

And then it was off for another day of agility with some great runs for the boys!  I’ll post about that another day when the videos come.

And so…we end our week tired but happy and excited about what is to come! (And *sniff*sniff* missing Jeff a lot even though we know we’ll see him tomorrow night at home)