Top of the Key

Received a postcard from my wife when she was in India, the front reads below, from the The XIVth Dalai Lama.  Take it to heart:

Never Give Up:
Never give up; No matter what is going on Never give up.

Develop the heart; Too much energy in your country Is spent developing the mind, Instead of the heart. Develop the heart.

Be compassionate; Not just with your friends, But with everyone. Be compassionate.

Work for peace; In your heart, And in the world. Work for peace.

And I say again, Never give up. No matter what is going on around you, Never give up.

Finally feel better today.  Been about 10 days of just enough to make it annoying.  Rode the bike on the trainer yesterday for the first time in a few weeks.  Hurt.  Even though it was a spin, those muscles are out of whack.  Been running alot up until last week.  This past week’s mileage = 0.    Oh well, makes you realize that everytime you can get out and run, you should.  Because you can be knocked down and out so quickly.  Looks like my marathon training peaked up in WP with a 22 mile progression run.  One thing is for sure, I’ll be well rested at the start line.

Kona was yesterday.  What a race.  Watched Crowie run his way to a second straight title.  His form is flawless.  My motivation was high after watching it all day.

Now, back to running for 2 weeks, then race, then slowly get back to cycling weekly.  A dash of running to stay fit, and a ton of swimming.

Yup, a little sickness in the household that’s been lingering for a week now.  Will beat it, just takes time.  No running lately, just trying to get back to healthy.  No worries, could always be worse.

Not so active these past few days.  With the return of my lovely wife from India, chances are she brought a little something, something back from their ‘dirty’ country.  Doesn’t sound like they are winning any cleanliness awards.  In any case, a sore throat has kept me at the desk the past 3 days.  Going to try and give it a go tomorrow.  Eager, and let me stress that, EAGER!, to get out and do something.  This weather is perfect, and I stare out the window at the changing leaves, light wind blowing our newly planted quaking aspens, and clear skies.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Run and swim is on the plan, not sure how far I’ll go, but just doing something will get my mind right again.

Lots of new races announced for the 70.3 distance…and as much as i’d like to sign up for a few, it’s just not in the cards right now. I have one goal, and so far one race planned for 09.  Leaving it at that for now, see what the new year brings.  If it’s not beneficial to that goal, then it gets nixed…philosophy for 2010.

Been running…alot.  Between just running and a few swims a week, i’m on a schedule that’s really manageable.  But I know i’ll be paying for it once I get back on the bike.  Been off the bike for 5 weeks now.  Running is really going well though.  Each run I’m getting more and more aware of my form and foot strike, when I get lazy and fall into bad form, and knowing that my running shoes are definitely suited for me.

A few photos posted from the recent Boulder Half Marathon:

Why don’t we go here more?  Spent the weekend in Winter Park at our place with Craig and Mike.  A much needed escape for both me and the dogs.  The weather was just perfect.  I mean clear skies, high 60’s, light breeze, no obligations….awesome.  Ran long on Saturday with the boys.  I needed 22 miles, wasn’t sure if I’d get it all in, after the previous night.  But I ended up getting it done.  Felt great too.  Here’s a snapshot that I’ve take a few times, but have to show you just how much Harrison loves it up there.

All he needs is ‘man’ and he’s all set.   Also a view from the deck north and you see Byers Peak.

Jess is on her way back from India.  One day longer, their flight was cancelled and they chartered a fiat to fly down the old curvy dirt roads from Dharamsala to Delhi.  All that’s left is a 14 hour flight to Chicago, then home to Denver.  It’ll be 11 days since I last saw her, and only spoken on the phone 3 or 4 times.  When you’re used to seeing someone every day for years, and then all of a sudden you don’t, you realize alot of things.  And  it all becomes clear…Time away is good for the soul….and mind.

Jumped into my first open half marathon on Sunday. Let’s say that there isn’t really a warm up in this race…you have to go right from the start. Felt pretty good, and really just wanted to get experience at running and see where I was for the upcoming Cape Cod Marathon. Legs are sore, so that means a pretty good effort. Massage on monday with Todd Ackerman, a fellow classmate of Jess while she was at BCMT, and a good friend. He’s very cool to fit me in while Jess is away saving the world. If you need some good bodywork, Todd is awesome.

Back to running and swimming lots.  Hitting Masters twice a week, Wed and Fri mornings at 5:45.  Then 2 other sessions of strict drills/technique work.  It’s been working well so far.

Another night of eating well for me, the bachelor.   Spinach salad with kidney, pinto and black beans, edimome, avacado, carrots, red pepper, chia and topped with lemon and olive oil.  So good.

Resting up, early morning at the pool tomorrow.

It’s a good thing i’m self-motivated and somewhat organized, as I’ll be drawing on these skills while Jess is away in India for 12 days. I already do things that are done while she’s here, when really they don’t need to be. But that’s cool, just routine.

I had a solid week of swimming and running. Masters class twice, and 2 runs with a bit of speed worked in. My running is coming along great. Getting comfortable at faster paces and relaxing not tensing up as the pace quickens. My swim is ok, really trying to get more comfortable while swimming with others, and sticking to the sets, trying to make each one. I’ve had to drop to the back a few times in my lane. Especially when we do IM….i’m toast, the last one.

Plan on planting another tree today and getting some work done for ClearPixelDesign. Then spend some quality time with the dogs. Maybe a long, long walk, that will exhaust them. Not that they don’t already sleep all day.