Yeah, I suck

I know. I haven't updated in a coon's age (what exactly IS a coon's age). I haven't been the most positive lately and I felt I may be best off not bringing that into the blogsphere. BUT, I'm doing better today.

Work has been crazy, seriously. Don't believe all this crap you hear about the housing market being in the toilet, homes not selling, EVERYBODY and their brother being foreclosed on, yeah, it's just not that bad of a picture. The media has a way of making EVERYTHING all doom and gloom.

This past weekend I was a "single parent". It was tough, but I made it through. Saturday the weather was less than perfect so I opted for a trainer ride. Yes, a trainer ride. Sometimes I really don't mind the trainer. I get to watch a movie, I get to keep an eye on my puppy and she gets to explore the basement instead of being stuffed in her crate for an additional 2 hours. So the ride was good. Then Squirt came over and we took Thunder out for a little hike to release some of her energy. Seriously, she's SOOO much better if she gets her hikes. If she gets no exercise (like the past 3 days), she's a little terror.

Sunday I took her to puppy class by myself. . . . . . .and her sister was there. It was a riot to see the two of them together. They didn't care about any other puppies, they only wanted to play with each other. It was the cutest thing.

After that I headed down to Muir for another mtb ride with my peeps. Thank GOODNESS it was better than the week before. CK was nice enough to swap out my tires so I had some new treads on there. Holy cow did that make a difference. I no longer had to try and corner like a citizen rider. Sweet. Another ride out to Emma and back. I was working a cold out of the body so I wasn't feeling the best. . . . .but it was a good ride none-the-less.

After that, the cold seemed to really want to get a hold of me. Sunday night had me sleeping like CRAP and feeling like I was going to puke. Thankfully that passed and Monday I hit the pillow at 8pm. Slept MUCH better. Yesterday I was wiped, but not feeling too crappy. Today just some sinus pressure, but ok. After taking Thunder for an hour hike, I'm a little tired. . . . . but I think I'll still have enough energy to hit the dirt on my own for a bit this afternoon.

I was nervous cuz the yaking flu is going around. That's one thing I do NOT do well at. I'd rather have my head feel like it's going to explode than to yak for 24 hours. Seriously. I'll just keep the fingers crossed that doesn't come my way.

So that's my update. Boring as usual. First WORS race this weekend, a camper to pack, groceries to buy, puppy stuff to organize, bikes to get ready. . . . . .and work, work, work to do. Yeah, it will be a "fun" next couple days. Can't wait to kick back Friday night at Iola pines with a cocktail.

Beautiful temps

I'm truly liking the weather these past few days. Even yesterday with the morning storms (yes, it POURED here). . . . . .topped off with sunshine and WARM temps again. Nice! It's hard to NOT be in a good mood when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the temps warrant NO jacket!

I took Monday and Tuesday off from working out. I had "planned" to do a ride yesterday, but had such a stressful day by the time it finally ended, I just looked forward to making some delicious food and laying low. My body was still sore from the weekend, riddled with stress knots and my puppy was ALL wound up from spending half the day in her crate. I felt it was more important to take her for a little walk and take some time to myself. Today I know I made the RIGHT choice. :-)

I FINALLY got a very good night's sleep last night, leaving me refreshed and ready to conquer all my "stuff" today. THAT was awesome. I even ended up with some time to take Thunder for a 50 minute hike. Now she should sleep like a baby while I go ride my bike tonight with my friends. Cool.

Amazing weather

So they thought it would be cooler and rain for most of the weekend. Once again, they were wrong. Thankfully this time they were wrong in OUR favor.

Friday allowed me some time to take Thunder down to Blue again and hike the trails some more. She really enjoys getting out and getting exercise. It makes her a MUCH better puppy. Guess that's what Cesar says. . . . most "naughty" dogs simply don't get enough exercise.

Friday night we introduced Thunder to her first camping experience. We thought it would be a good idea to do a test run before we subject her to a weekend away on race weekend. As we thought, she settled in just fine, playing with her toys, enjoying being around people. She whimpered a little around 5am when Bill got up to head to the bathroom, but he pottied her and she was back asleep until about 6:40. Sweet.

Saturday Bill and I waffled back and forth trying to decide what to do for a ride when my phone rang. Some new peeps from our team were planning on heading down to Blue and wanted to know how the trail conditions were. That sealed it for me. Bill took off on the road bike, I headed down to Blue to ride with them. I'm too out of shape to ride any intensity for too long, so I managed a 85 minute ride with some efforts before I headed back home to relax.

Sunday we debated back and forth if we should head down to try and race Rock Cut, or hit the trails at Muir. Muir won. Tons of peeps there. . . . . .I rode alone, questioned my existence, wondered why the HELL I decided to move up, why I didn't train more or at LEAST do what I did last year. . . . .I face planted once, in the pines mind you. . . .on the FLAT STUFF. What an idiot. I didn't see the tree stump and hit it head on. My bike stopped abruptly, I kept going. I forgot how much I dislike flying over the handle bars.

While the weather was absolutely beautiful, my ride left something to be desired. Probably FITNESS. I've decided it's MUCH more fun to ride when you have fitness. Without it, it's a HELL of a lot of work. Today, I just wanted to be done. 2:30, a few scrapes, a couple bruises, and hopefully one step closer to not making a fool of myself this season. Oh well. It's too late to cry now. Instead, I'll just try to have some fun. I THINK I still remember how to do that.

A glimpse of Spring

The sun popped out, the birds were chirping, the wind was blowing at phenomenal speeds. . . . and the temps slowly rose into the 70's. What beautiful day.

Most of my afternoon was tied up so my ride waited until the evening yesterday. Thankfully Mother Nature decided to smile on us with warm temps well into the evening. . .. .so a 6:00 ride time was perfect.

A group of us met down at Blue to get a nice mtb ride in. Thunder came along and hung out in the back of the truck. . . . .I think she thinks it is like one HUGE crate. She just sat in there, played with her toys. Watched stuff going on. So far, so good.

We assembled at 6:00 and set off to ride soon after. Tweak had an early mishap and as the girls circled back through the lot we found him perched on the back of his truck with a nice cut on his leg. Too much power I guess. . . . . .pulled right out of his pedal, almost flipped over the bars and managed to mess up his front wheel in the process. Poor guy.

Shooter, Squirt and myself rode most of the time together. I rode so hard I puked in my mouth. . . .and not just a little bit. It was so much I had to spit it out. I guess that means we were riding hard. Really I think it means I'm out of shape. Whatever.

We hit the "new trail" a couple times, once both ways. We hit the hills hard. . . . .tried to work the turns fast. . . . . .chatted on the flats. I decided I'm way behind where I should be, but then I also decided I didn't really care all that much. This season will be a learning curve. My goal is to finish every race, hopefully not finish last in EVERY race and to have fun. If I can't meet those goals, I need to find something else to do with my time. Yes, mountain biking is hard work. . . . .but for me, it's supposed to be fun. The day that stops is the day I should reconsider my fitness goals, my goals in life, etc.

This morning proves to be another nice morning. The showers are supposed to be moving in a little later. I'll have to try and get Thunder out for another hike sometime this morning. It will be an off day from riding for me. . . . .but it's deceiving how difficult hiking with her can get. When I wear my heart rate monitor, I'm actually in my endurance zone hiking. Of course I'm using different muscles and such. . . . .BUT it's still exercise and at this time in my life, that's what I need. Exercise with my puppy. That way we BOTH win. Sweet.

Tuesday recap

Biggest Loser - Ali won. YIPPEE!!!!

Did some more trail maintenance today. Now we're ready to ride.

Thunder is a sleepy puppy. We happened to catch her during her nap. What a dork.

Weekend

Sorry peeps, not a lot of exciting riding for me over the weekend. I'm probably the ONLY one who didn't do crap, but such is life.

Saturday I sat my butt on the trainer which was just fine with me since the snow was flying nicely. Is it December? Oh wait, no, it's APRIL. Yes, that's it.

Sunday was an action packed day. We took Thunder to her first "puppy class" where she met about a dozen other German Shepherds. She was the youngest one there at just under 12 weeks. Most of the others were around 4 months, and 4 or 5 of them were litter mates. Thunder did nicely, a bit timid at first unsure about all the barking, but then she settled in just fine. She "socialized" with everybody, came when called, sat when told to sit, climbed through the little tunnels (confidence building drills), etc. She really didn't want to leave, she just wanted stay and play with her new friends. But we dragged her home and headed out to New Fane for a hike.

New Fane is already in excellent condition. Almost dry with just a few wet spots. Some debris down on the trail. . . . .but nothing TOO bad. A tree here and there. We looked over some of the sections we'd like to add again. . . . and they look good. Our 12 hour race should once again prove to be a good time.

The weather people say today is the last day of "winter", at least for this week. I sure hope they're right. We're planning a mtb ride Wednesday after work at Glacial Blue in West Bend if anyone is interested. They SAY it's going to hit 66 on Wednesday. I sure need that!

Where

Is the sunshine and warm temps???

Better late than never

As I sit here at my kitchen table at 5:30am on a Tuesday morning, I'm reminded of the beauty this world possesses. While we've had only a brief glimpse of spring, I can hear the birds chirping outside. . . . .I can see the tulips and daffodils slowly poking out of the ground. . . . . . the sun is resting for it's big debut of the day (maybe). . . . . .my puppy is doing hot laps up and down the hallway while my husband tries to get a few extra winks of sleep today (usually he gets up with her).

This past weekend Mother Nature was in a spectacular mood, bringing us warm temps and sunny skies. Saturday I had the most spectacular ride, even if it was on the gravel trail. I set out on my own, with my iPod cranked to a selection of tunes that kept me smiling. I headed north, and while I think the wind was more at my back. . . . . .it was still as windy as could be. There were people scattered here and there along the trail, some cleaning up the debris from the winter, some walking their dogs, others jogging or riding their bikes. But everyone had a smile. Good weather does that to people. . . . .it puts a little smile in our hearts.

I figured since Bill was off on his own ride and the puppy was tired from her "play date" the night before, I could take a good 2+ hour ride without any "guilt". I headed north about 1:15, almost making it to Eden. I peeked at my heart rate a few times as I knew I was riding a LOT harder than I needed to. . . . . . .but I didn't care. It felt spectacular and so I pushed on.

Getting back took almost the same amount of time. The sun warmed my skin, the wind blew my hair through my helmet, the wheels spun at a nice pace on my bike. My heart rate responded nicely. All in all, 2:33, AHR 163.

Sunday was a different story. Apparently I used up all my mojo on Saturday because the hellish winds were nearly impossible for me to battle on the road bike, even with 2 other peeps as shields. My legs filled up with acid the moment I tried to exert them and raising my heart rate above 166 seemed like an impossible feat. I decided to just take in the sunshine, chalk up my lack of energy to a hard ride the day before, and call it a day after 90 minutes out and about. Hard. . . . .painful. . . . .but STILL enjoyable.

Later in the day we took Thunder for her first walk in the woods. She loved it. I told her she had to get used to the trails because we'd be spending a LOT of time down there raking and hopefully building some new stuff. I think she's in.

We're waiting for her ears to BOTH stand up, and stay standing up. Right now she looks like a special ed. dog. . . . .but she's far from it. Intelligence oozes from this one. She's already catching on to many things. I think she's "gifted". Yeah, I know she doesn't "look" it though.

Belated b-day shout out

We celebrated. . . .but I didn't do a shout out.

Happy Belated Birthday Lt Dan.

The pryamid was NOT my idea. . . . .and notice the addition of another pyramid virgin. One by one we lure them in.

Also - a birthday shout out to Tiny! Happy B-day!! Hope it's a good one.