Carbo Load!!

Today was fun because I could justify eating carbs, as it's a carbo load day! Last night was the 4th and final night of my awesome sports nutrition class with Dr. Deborah Shulman. We talked about carbo loading in preparation for bike races as well as race day fueling. I have a longish road race (67 miler) this Saturday with my team and it's one of my favorite races on the Colorado bike racing calendar. I learned how carbo loading should take place 2, 3, and 4 days prior to race day and not the day before...useful info I thought! As this is only a 3 hour race with probably 1-2 hrs of really hard riding, 1 day of carbo loading should do the trick. I just love implementing the nutrition info I'm learning into my training and racing. It will be fun to test it out on Saturday! Unfortunately I was too wiped out last night to get in my scheduled bike workout before bedtime, so woke at 4:15am to get it done. I think I did a great glycogen depletion session this am on the trainer, but really had a tough time maintaining wattage during my 15 minute LT intervals. I aborted the 3rd one after 10 minutes, figuring today should be a rest day anyway.

Got some great news today! Inside Tri liked my application for their age-group triathlon team and selected me to race for them this season, along with 29 other picks! I'm psyched to represent Inside Triathlon, and my buddy Laura Sophiea was also selected. Fun times!

Busy day at work today! I spent a while assisting one of our soon-to-be-graduating seniors flush a carpal joint on a wild Holstein heifer and suturing up a nasty wound right over the joint. Prior to that, tried to resucitate a dying mule foal and afterwards had a challenging colic case that ended up having a ruptured stomach. A sad day overall, but kept me hopping. Here's a picture of one of my patients, Pete:

He's had a rough go...first I resected part of his colon 6 weeks ago, and now he's back with a horrible colitis. So far he's hanging in there...

Fun Race Weekend

Just home from my second day of racing this weekend. Saturday was the Fast & the Furriest 5K run at the vet school where I work, and Sunday was the Golden Springs Criterium. The 5K race was an absolute blast, as I borrowed "Muddy," my neighbors German Shorthaired Pointer. He's the dog in the picture in the last post, as this is the 2nd time I've run with him. He is the world's greatest running dog, as he removes at least 1 minute per mile off my best potential running pace without him! We started out in front, and in typical "Muddy" fashion, I was hanging with the lead men for the first 1/2 mile of the race. I wasn't sure how fast we were running, but I was a bit worried that I couldn't keep up Muddy's pace for long. He was strapped to my waist for maximum pulling potential : ). As the 1st 2 miles of the 5K were pancake flat or slightly downhill, I passed the 2 mile marker at 11:55!! With my current running fitness, I'm guessing my best possible pace without Muddy would be 7:00 miles. Fortunately, my left leg was still working for the most part at the 2 mile mark (I have this lack of blood supply issue to my left leg when I go hard) so we pushed it all the way to the end. I thought we were on track to break 20:00 for the 5K, but a look at my watch showed 20:42. Turns out the course was long, but by how much I wasn't sure...hopefully by about 43 seconds ; ).

Sunday was race number 2 for the weekend. I had 3 other teammates from Team Rio Grande in the women's open race and we had a great time. All 4 of us put in at least 1 attack in a field of about 30 women. First Trish attacked and then Kate and Erin launched a great attack with 2 laps to go and got off the front for nearly a full lap (longest breakaway of the race). When they were reeled in with less than 1 lap to go, I was poised to jump on the wheels of the Vitamin Cottage gals who were in the front and made the final push to the finish. They were a bit too strong for me, but I still managed to hang close to them and separate myself from most of the pack as we neared the finish line. In my typical slowtwich muscle fiber fashion, I lost a few more places in the final sprint and ended up 6th in a solid field of women racers. Overall, our team had an absolute blast and got in a great hard effort. We also did a post-race ride up Lookout Mountain which was absolutely gorgeous. A great Sunday!!

Horsetooth Half Race Report

Today was the Horsetooth Half Marathon. My running training has been consistent, but very meager leading up to this race. I think I averaged 10-12 miles a week since last October with the exception of last week, where I loaded up all of my training in 6 days (~26 miles). Considering the preparation, I think the race went fairly well. I was hoping to average a 7:30 min/mile pace...which I did manage to do for the last 11 miles. Unfortunately the 9 and 10 minute miles at the beginning kind of screwed up my average : ). If you are not familiar with the course, there are some vicious and steep climbs in the first 2 miles of the race. Beyond that, most of the course is fast and somewhat downhill. I have this weird left leg issue where the blood supply gets cut off to my whole left leg when I go anaerobic. It's mainly an issue in criterium racing and not so much in running, but the steep start to this race made it an issue for me. I had to walk most of the 2nd hill...hence the 10-minute mile. Once I regained function of my leg, it was smooth sailing. Only problem was, I forgot to bring my gels along with me, and the race aid stations had nothing with calories. The only calories I took in for a 3hr 45 minute period (2 hr pre-race and 1hr 40+ of racing) were from 1/2 cup of dilute Heed drink at the 4 aid stations. Needless to say, I made it to about mile 12 before the glycogen was completely depleted and I was borderline dizzy with nonfunctional legs. Despite that, I managed to finish in a respectable time of 1:42:40, putting me 8th in my 30-39 age group (note, I'll be 40 in Nov). The conditions were perfect and it was a gorgeous morning with some quality training. I don't have a picture from today, but here's one from my last doggy race as a prelude to next weekend's Fast and the Furriest 5K. The dog in the picture is Muddy, my neighbors dog. He is one of the fastest running dogs on the planet ; ). Can't wait to test out his legs next Saturday!

First Post

Hi all,
I didn't realize how easy it was to start a web page, so here I am...digesting my breakfast before my first workout of the day. Guess I need to introduce myself...I'm a veterinarian at Colorado State University (I love my job) and I specialize in equine surgery and critical care medicine. I started at CSU in November of 2003 as a new member of the faculty, and have enjoyed every minute of it...clinics, teaching and research. I work very hard at my job, but also find time for a bit of balance in the form of training. I'm also an avid cyclist and triathlete. I like the long racing (road races and Ironman Triathlon), as that's what I excel at. I've had some great success as an athlete in past years, taking 5 podium spots in 6 years in my age group at Ironman Hawaii, but my focus has changed back to work since moving to Ft Collins, CO. I do about 1/2 the training volume I used to do in past years, but couldn't be happier with my current situation...and I'm still pretty fast ; ). That's it for now, but hope to keep up with my blog a few times a week, just for fun. I'll post race reports and other fun life events...and hopefully plenty of fun photos.