Success at a "Long" Run -- My First Since BSLT 70.3!!!

Back to work! I definitely feel refreshed from the vacation, but the enormity of IMoo is starting to weigh heavily on me. Because of yesterday’s long ride and the fact that I have to be in court today for a docket call at 1:30 PM, there’s not much I can do about riding today. So, I decided to make today a "long" run. I was a little nervous about a long run because I haven’t been running much at all since the BSLT 70.3 injury.

Anyway, I took my running stuff to work and was planning to do a 45-minute to 1-hour run down at Town Lake after work. Actually, I surprised myself. Despite the long ride yesterday, I was able to run for 75 minutes today with no pain. I took an easy pace, and granted I hadn’t just finished 112 miles, but I felt really good. This was the first time I’d run continuously for 75 minutes without stopping to walk.

I walked from Jack & Adam’s down to the bridge at Lamar and Riverside, and then ran two consecutive loops of the trail between First Street and MoPac. I took two vanilla Clif Shots with me and I think that helped. I also stopped at the water coolers on each end to rehydrate, so I think that helped a lot. I’m hoping to increase my maximum run time up to over 2 hours before IMoo. I think as long as I run conservatively and with proper form (and get my new shoes – tomorrow, for sure! – I’ll be okay).

Tomorrow is a bike workout (short ride) and my Texas Iron run workout . . . most likely a pretty short distance.

The Build to Ironman Wisconsin -- Only 43 Days!!

Back to the training regimen! I really should have gone to church today, but I’m starting to freak out about the Ironman on September 9. My two rides in Colorado have convinced me that I’m not prepared to ride 112 miles and still have ANYTHING left for the run. I know I won’t be doing as much constant climbing in Madison as Steve and I did in Colorado, but still . . . I’m worried, particularly because of the paucity of my post-BSLT 70.3 training due to the knee problems.

So . . . today, I was resolved to do a long ride. I’d mapped out a 70-mile course from home. I figured I could get in a good 70 and then finish off my mowing chores for the day. I got up at 6:30 AM and was out of the house on my ride by 8:00 AM. I had decided to ride west down Crystal Falls Pkwy to Lakeline Blvd., and then take Lakeline to 183, cross under and turn onto another street and head back down (southish) parallel to 183 to avoid traffic on the feeder roads. I guess I got turned around. I wound up on RR 620 heading east toward Parmer Lane, which took me a good mile or 2 out of the way. So, I revised the plan and cut south down Parmer to Anderson Mill Road, and then made my way back west to 183. From there, I stayed on the access road until I got to Spicewood Springs Road and could take the short jog to Jolleyville Road, which has a bike lane. All in all, the unintended detour took me about 4 ½ miles out of the way.

Once on Jolleyville, I road down to The Arboretum and then around Arboretum Blvd. to Hwy 360. I took 360 south, past the suspension bridge, and down to MoPac Expwy. From there, I followed the "Dam Loop" path. I got on MoPac, and then right off again at Southwest Parkway. I took Southwest to Hwy 71, to RR 620 through Lakeway. That eventually hooked me up again with Anderson Mill Road, which I took all the way east to Parmer Lane, and then road Parmer north until I got to Crystal Falls Pkwy. From there, it was a 2-mile ride back home. All-in-all, I rode about 80 miles!

I had intended to do a short brick by running a couple of miles off the bike, but the extra miles and the two days of driving from Colorado had my legs just too tired. So, I bagged the brick and just showered and took a nap. At 3:00, I got up and finished edging the lawn. Lisa got home as I was working in the yard and so when I finished cutting the grass, we bagged up all the excess cut grass and called it an evening. We had PB&J for dinner with blue corn tortilla chips! I’m glad, because neither of us had the energy to whip up a hot meal! It was yummy, and certainly not too heavy!

Except for bagging the brick part of the work out, this was a pretty good day. The tri bike felt good to be on again, although my hard work at staying aero at BSLT 70.3 is pretty much gone now. I couldn’t stay aero very long at all in the last 30 miles of my ride. I just needed to sit up to get air and to feel comfortable. Hopefully I can get most of it back before Sept. 9.

I can't believe there are only 43 days until Moo!

The Trip Home (Day Two)

Not much to today. We drove for 10 hours to get back to Leander. We left Dalhart at about 8:00 AM. There weren’t too many stops or surprises. We did stop at a McDonald’s outside Amarillo because I was jonesing for coffee. Lisa ran in to get it while I walked the dogs in a field. A couple of young boys at the McDonald’s came out and wanted to pet the dogs. They were very friendly kids and so I let them walk the boys around. As Lisa and I were leaving, their mom came out and they had to leave too. One of the boys was so cute . . . he said as he was leaving that he wanted to take Reese with him! Our dogs were SO popular!

The only other momentous stop was when we stopped for lunch outside Abilene. We stopped at one of those roadside rest stops. Lisa made sandwiches while I walked the boys around. It was a very pleasant little picnic!

After that, we just had a few hours in the car and were home by 6:15 PM. We got unloaded and generally unpacked pretty fast. Of course, we’d been gone so long, and the rain had been so heavy in Austin, that the lawn was a mess. I got out the weed eater and started edging the front yard because I was afraid we’d get a notice from the HOA. Just before dark, Lisa called me in for dinner. I still wasn’t done edging. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

I miss the mountains and weather in Estes Park, but it’s nice to be home!

The Trip Home (Day One).

Well, today was our last day in Estes Park for this trip. We had to be out of the cabin and checked out by 10:00 AM. As usual, I was up early. I took the dogs out for a short walk and for a potty break. Then, the rest of the morning was spent eating breakfast and getting things packed up to go. Again, Lisa was SO efficient! I’d barely have one thing ready when she was ready with other bags packed! All of us managed to be packed and ready to go by 9:15 AM. We all caravanned down to the Y camp and checked out. We said our goodbyes to the others, and then Lisa and I took Reese and AJ to the dog park for some play time before heading out on the road. The boys had a great time swimming and chasing balls at the park. I think they were pretty worn out by the time we got them into the car.

There’s not too much to tell about this day of travel. We did stop in Castle Rock so that Lisa could check out the outlet mall stores there. She only went into one, though. I was walking the dogs around the parking lot getting them a bit more exercise.

Then, near the end of the day, we were passing through New Mexico, getting close to Clayton when we saw signs for the Capulin Volcano National Monument. Well, this really excited Lisa and she wanted to stop. Since it was only a couple of miles off the highway, I thought it sounded like fun. So, we went! It was cool! We have lots of pictures, but again, Lisa has them on the digital camera, so I’ll have to supplement them later on the blog.

After Capulin, we made to Dalhart, Texas by 9:00 PM. We stayed at a pretty awful motel, the Budget Inn. It was rather smelly and seemed dirty, but at least it was only half as expensive as the Days Inn & Suites in Dumas was! Still, $75.00 a night for that place wasn’t exactly a bargain. They did have an internet connection, so I got caught up on my emails. After walking the dogs, we had pizza for dinner and watched a really bad movie — Reign of Fire (Matthew McConaughy and Christian Bale) — and then went to bed.

A Scenic Drive to 11,400 Feet!

Today, I didn’t do ANY training. I had intended to get up and go swim again, but the pool was SO warm on Monday and my breathing so shallow, I just couldn’t force myself to do it. So, I just relaxed and hung out with the dogs until everyone got up.

In the mid-morning, Lisa and I followed Steve and Laura and the twins (in our cars) up to the top of a mountain (I forget which one). The mountain has two roads up to the top. The one we took was a dirt road with lots of switchbacks. I’m a bit surprised that the minivan made it! (Not really!). But, anyway, we were more than 11,000 feet above sea level at the top. Lisa has a lot of good video coverage of the trip up there, and I know we have some photos, but I’m not sure where they are. If I find them, I’ll add them later.

Anyway, at the top, it began to rain really hard, so we decided to leave pretty quickly. The road down was called "Trail Ridge Road." It’s paved and is very windy. On a good day, I bet it would be a LOT of fun to go down that road on a bicycle! By about noon, we were all the way down the mountain.

At that point, Steve and Laura took the twins for a picnic, while Lisa and I drove out to Charles Eagle Plume’s to look at Indian jewelry. One of our pastors had suggested we go out there to look at less expensive jewelry than what you’d find in Estes Park. It turns out that Eagle Plume’s is on Highway 7, past the Longs Peak trailhead. Steve and I had passed it on Tuesday’s ride, but I didn’t notice it. Anyway, we had no trouble finding it, but we were a bit disappointed by it.

The jewelry was beautiful, and they had an upstairs gallery with a lot of one-of-a-kind Eagle Plume memorabilia (not for sale) that really brought out the history buff in me. But, the prices were pretty darn high for the items for sale. I guess things have changed a bit! The best part of Eagle Plume’s for me was the big hummingbird feeder out front. We got some nifty photographs of hummingbirds hovering at the spouts. If I can locate them, I’ll post a few later.

By mid-afternoon, we were tired, so we went back to the cabin and hung out with Steve, Laura, the twins, and Matt (who had a bad cold and didn’t go on the Longs Peak hike with Shauna). We just sat around and talked. Lisa and I started to do a jigsaw puzzle, but it became clear pretty quickly that we wouldn’t be able to finish it (1000 pieces) before leaving the next day, so we snapped a photo of how far we’d gotten, and then put it away.

Dinner was left overs. We had lots of salmon, chicken (grilled and parmagiana), and even some of Laura’s lasagna left from previous dinners. After dinner and relaxation, it was bed time again to prepare for the long journey back to Leander.

The Glenhaven Loop . . . the Jester Blvd. of the Colorado Mountains?

Today was another bike day for Steve and me. Neither of us was all that sore from the 80-miler yesterday, so we decided to do "the Glenhaven Loop," a roughly 40-mile ride. Matt was supposed to come with us, but he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t get up to come with us this morning. This time, I remembered the cameras, so I’ve included some pictures.

Steve and I started at the Y camp again, behind the Sweet Memorial building again. Here are a couple of pictures of Steve getting prepared to ride.

Like yesterday, we headed down Highway 66 toward Estes and rode through town. However, instead of going right at Highway 36 and then right again at Highway 7, we stayed straight and got onto Highway 34. After a short climb to get out of Estes Park, we had a VERY nice, long downhill ride. It must have been 15 miles of descending! It was incredible! I’ve got a lot of shots of this part of the ride. Here are a few:

Riding view of the climb out of Estes Park. I thought the mountain was pretty against the blue sky. You can’t see much of the climb, but it was only about half a mile and not steep at all.









Here’s a shot of the road climbing out of Estes Park.
Steve was in front of me, so I got him in the shot.










Here’s part of the descent from Estes toward the Glenhaven turn-off.











This photo captures the winding road as it travels next to a river bed.
We’re still descending here.











This one is also part of the descent from Estes Park.
I love the curves in the road.
Not too sharp, and definitely conducive to high speed!





Once we hit the bottom of the descent on Highway 34, we turned off at a sign that pointed us to Glenhaven. I can’t remember what road it was, but I do have a couple of pictures of us on that road. It was pretty much a steady climb up into Glenhaven from the turn-off. There was less shade and more pasture land, too. Here are a couple of the photos:

This is just past the turn-off. You can see the slight uphill nature of the climb. It was very pleasant! It's obviously still a mountainous area, but look at the large open grassland area to the right of the picture. We're definitely in a valley here.




These two pictures were taken as we road up the road to Glenhaven. We were going relatively easy, so we took turns snapping photos of each other.

Here’s Steve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and, here’s me.









There was a great sign on the road and I can’t believe I forgot to snap a picture of it. Steve told me as we turned onto the road that we might encounter cattle on the road. Although we didn’t see any, we rode past one house that had a big sign on the front fence that read: "Cows Not Mine!" I guess the guy was tired of folks stopping by to tell him "his" cows were in the road! Funny stuff.

Anyway . . . we eventually made it to Glenhaven. Here’s a picture Steve snapped of me after we passed through. I stopped for a pose:














About a mile and a half past Glenhaven is a helluva climb! It can’t be more than 3/4 of a mile to a mile long, but it’s SUPER steep and has two switchbacks. Since I was on my Colnago, I had an 11-23 cassette for this climb. OMG!! That was hard. I was dying for a bail-out gear, but with a 39-tooth small chainring and a 23-tooth "granny" gear, I wasn’t getting any relief. I had meant to buy a 12-27 cassette before this ride, but I forgot. I wanted to get off the bike and walk up that hill SOOOOOO badly, but my ego wouldn’t let me do it. I ground it out at 5 mph or less until I finally made it up. Oh, my legs and lungs hurt so bad after that, but I made it!! I have a picture of the hill, but it’s on a camera that hasn’t been used up yet, so I’ll have to post it later.

After that big climb, the rest of the ride back into Estes Park was pretty much all downhill. Good thing, too, because my legs were TOAST for the rest of the day. Steve and I rode back into Estes Park and then made the short trek back up to the Y camp where we drove back to Broadview. We got back at around 9:15 AM or so. We had a little breakfast, chatted with Lisa, Laura, Shauna, and Matt, and then agreed to watch the boys while the girls went on a hike, and Matt went down to the Y camp to use the internet to do some work.

I crashed for about an hour and a half at about 10:30 AM. Sorry to leave Steve to watch the twins alone, but I was beat! Almost 120 miles in 2 days was a big strain on my legs, especially with all the sustained climbing we did yesterday and the steep hill we did today.
At noon, after I got up and had some lunch, Steve and I just hung out with the twins and the dogs and didn’t do much of anything! Matt came back in the early afternoon with some Tour de France news, but other than that . . . not much else until dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was our eating out experience. We had 5:30 PM reservations at the Dunraven Inn. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t eat so early, but Shauna and (possibly) Matt will be hiking Longs Peak tomorrow, and we need to be back home early. So, we loaded up and drove down to the Inn for a nice Italian meal.

Here’s a picture of Lisa and me in the car on the way to the Inn. Its doesn’t have a lot of significance other than we thought it turned out pretty nicely considering Lisa held the camera out in front of us and just snapped the picture.














Here are two pictures of us (individually) standing by the Dunraven Inn sign.













And, finally, a picture of Steve holding Duck at the table inside.

Eighty Miles of Cycling! It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This.

Today was all about the bike! Steve and I planned to ride a 60-70 mile route from Estes Park to Boulder via the town of Ward. The plan was to take Hwy 66 from the YMCA Camp down through Estes Park, and then turn off on Hwy 7 and climb past the Longs Peak trailhead and descend toward Lyons until we hit Highway 72. There, we’d turn off onto 72 and ride what we thought would be a generally downhill route to Ward, at which time we’d turn off onto a road called "Lefthand Canyon" and descend just east of Boulder. Unfortunately, our plan didn’t work out quite right.

We left Broadview fairly early in the morning, around 7:00 or so. I forgot to bring any of the disposable cameras, so I have no pictures of this ride, which is a darn shame. It was beautiful! We drove to the Y camp and unloaded our stuff back behind the Sweet Memorial building in the parking lot next to the pool. From there, Steve and I headed out of the camp and onto Hwy 66 to descend into Estes Park. Following our plan, we went through Estes Park and turned right onto Highway 7 toward the Longs Peak trailhead. This was pretty much a 6 or 7 mile climb with no real breaks. The grade wasn’t bad, but I don’t recall ever climbing for such a long distance straight. It wasn’t easy, but we warmed up nicely by the time we got to the trailhead and began our descent. The descent was a VERY welcome break. It lasted about 3-4 miles and felt great. At the bottom, we then had some rolling hills before we finally hit Highway 72.

At Highway 72, we turned right only to discover that what we THOUGHT would be a descent was really an 8-9 mile climb to Ward. Oh my goodness, that was a LONG hour! To make matters worse, when we got to Ward, we missed the turn-off for Lefthand Canyon. The road wasn’t marked and we just went right by it. We got a couple of miles outside of Ward before we decided to turn around and go back to look for it. Unfortunately, the 2-3 miles we went past the turn-off were all downhill, so we had to climb back up to Ward to find the right road. Since it wasn’t marked, we had to guess whether we were in the right place. Turns out, we were. But, by then, we were so tired from the extra climbing, we stopped for 30 minutes or so at a small general store in Ward. The sun had started to heat up the air, and at close to 12:00 PM, it was at least 90 degrees already. We refueled, topped off our water bottles, and then hopped back on the bikes for the descent on Lefthand Canyon Road.

Wow, what a ride that was!!! We must have averaged over 32 mph down that canyon road. We took turns leading the charge, and must’ve passed 10 other cyclists going down the road and more than twice that number coming up. I think the canyon road was more than 8 miles long, but it didn’t take us too long to get to the bottom. Once there, Steve pointed out the turn off that was part of Old Stage Hill, the big climb on the Boulder Peak triathlon course. We didn’t go that way, but we did end up a few miles east of Boulder on Highway 36. We then peddled into downtown Boulder and stopped to have lunch at Chili’s. By then, it was 1:00 PM and we’d already gone 65 miles! From our planning, we’d thought we would have only gone 35 to 40 miles by then. The missed turn off added at least 5-8 miles, and I think we misjudged the distance Ward was from the Highway 7/Highway 72 interchange. In any event, we were already pretty tired and were looking at hitting 100 miles if we tried to ride back up to the Y camp.

Although both of us wanted to try to do the whole 100 miles, it wasn’t going to happen. Tonight was Lisa’s and my turn to cook dinner, and I had to be back early to start helping out. If we’d ridden the whole 100 miles, Steve and I wouldn’t have made it back until at least 4:00 PM. Dinner was early tonight because Matt and Shauna were meeting a friend to play tennis at 7:00. So, Steve called Laura and she agreed to meet us in Lyons to pick us up and drive us back to Estes Park.

After lunch, we saddled up and headed out to Lyons, which was only about 17 miles from where we were in Boulder. The ride was pretty uneventful. It was mostly slightly downhill from Boulder, which surprised me. It was an easy ride, but about 2 ½ miles from where we were to meet Laura, my rear tire hit something and I got a flat. First time in about 600 miles on that tube! I changed it out okay (a little slow, but I wasn’t hurrying!) and we were on our way. We met Laura (and as it turns out, Lisa and the twins were with her) at the corner of Highway 7 and Highway 36 in Lyons. My odometer at that point read 80.56 miles! That’s by far my longest ride this year. We got there at 3:00 PM, so I was right about the time. If we’d tried to ride the additional 20 miles to Estes Park and the additional 2 more miles back to the Y camp, we’d never have made it in time for me to help out with dinner and Lisa might have been a little ticked by that! Although I’d have loved to do the full 100 miles, I think we made the right call!

Dinner tonight was good! Lisa and I had bought two large salmon fillets. She seasoned one with salt and pepper and the other with Italian dressing. We threw together a mixed salad and some long grain wild rice, and had a very nice meal. We even cooked up some chicken for Matt, since I learned after we got the salmon that he’s not a real fish guy! Lisa also whipped up a chocolate jello pudding oreo pie for dessert. It was YUMMY! Of course, more wine with dinner and after dinner!

Another fabulous day!

The First Day of Vacation . . . Easing Our Way Into It.

Today was relatively uneventful. Lisa and I basically used today to settle into the vacation mode. I got up at 5:30 AM and had a small breakfast with Steve. Then, we did a short, easy run about 1 ½ to 2 miles from the Broadview cabin down to the YMCA camp where we did a short swim workout. The mountain air was so clean, but very thin. I was huffing and puffing in the pool! After swimming, Steve and I warmed down by running back up to the cabin, so we got in a good 3 ½ or so mile run and a 40 minute swim workout. Nothing spectacular, but it was good to get some training in.

Later, in the early afternoon, Lisa and I met Steve and Laura and the twins down at the Estes Park Dog Park. We let all four dogs run around and play in the water until they were good and tired. There was some guy there with two yellow labs. Reese had a bit of a spat with one of them, but it was over quickly, and he played well with others for the rest of the sojourn. Then, Steve, Laura, and the twins went and did their own thing while Lisa and I walked Reese and AJ around downtown Estes Park. That was a lot of fun, too. We walked along the trail next to the Big Thompson River and just enjoyed being outdoors.

I know Matt and Shauna had plans to hike or do something with a friend of Matt’s who had relocated to the Estes Park area, but I just can’t remember what it was. In any event, after we left for the dog park, we didn’t see them again until late afternoon.

This evening, Shauna cooked chicken parmagiana for dinner. It was excellent! I tried hard not to overeat, but I just couldn’t help myself. When she brought out the creme brulee for dessert, I was in hog heaven. More wine and conversation made this an exceptionally pleasant day. Matt was funny . . . he’s been getting updates on the Tour de France for Laura and Steve, but he claims to have little to no interest in the race himself. However, our conversations seem to always devolve back into discussions of the Tour, the doping scandals, and Matt’s insistence that he’s not really following the Tour this year! It’s so nice being around intelligent people with quick wits who can hold an entertaining conversation!

Lisa and Laura seem to be bonding, and that makes me so very happy. I think the world of Laura. She has such a hard job caring for those twins! She’s been a terrific companion, friend, and soulmate to Steve since they met back in 1998 (‘97?), and now she seems to be equally good at managing the mothering role. I know that Lisa’s affection for the twins has certainly endeared her to Steve and Laura! She (Lisa) is SO good with little ones! Laura also has a very similar sense of humor to Lisa’s. Since Steve and I are so close, I’d always hoped that our spouses could develop the kind of relationship that would make it easy for us all to spend time together (which is hard to do now that they’re in Colorado and we’re here in Texas). Based on what I’m witnessing this week, I think we’ll have many years of fun to come!!!

Bed time tonight is rather early. Steve and I are riding from Estes Park to Boulder and back tomorrow, so we need a good night’s sleep.

Mr. and Mrs. Perkins' Arrival in Estes Park, Colorado.

So, a week after we got married, Lisa and I were off to Estes Park, Colorado for a week-long stay with Steve and Laura, their 9 month old twins, Will and Alex, and their friends, Matt & Shauna. It was originally going to be a mostly relaxing week, with Steve, Matt, and I getting in some bike riding and training for Ironman Wisconsin on September 9. However, Matt has decided to pull out of the race. He hasn’t been able to commit the time to training, and after his muscle problems at Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 a few weeks ago, he just didn’t think he could do it the right way. So . . . that leaves just the Perkins Twins’ showdown!

Anyway, Lisa and I (and the dogs!) left Leander yesterday, (Saturday, July 21) at about noon for the 17 or so hour trip to Estes Park. We made it as far as Dumas, Texas yesterday before we just had to stop for the night. Reese and AJ were so good in the car. They had a small area, but it was big enough to hold them both and give them some room to stand up, turn around, and be relatively comfortable. We made pit stops ever 2-3 hours so the boys could stretch their legs, we could top off the gas tank, and answer any calls of nature. Lisa has a few pictures from the trip up to Estes Park, but I don’t seem to have them available on the computer, so I’m sorry we don’t have them at the moment.

Anyhoo . . . let me just say ONE thing about Dumas: They RAKE you over the coals with the hotel rooms. We stopped at the Days Inn & Suites. The front desk clerk asked if I had any applicable discounts and I mentioned that I was a State of Texas employee, but that I didn’t have my ID. She said "no problem" and gave me the discounted room . . . which came to $150.00!!!! I’d hate to see the price of the NON-discounted room! I wasn’t too happy, but I took the room anyway. It was 9:00 PM, we had a long drive the next day, and I just wanted to walk the dogs, eat some dinner, and go to sleep. Well, for our $150.00, we got a smelly room with a sheared-off safety lock, a loud wall unit air conditioner, and crappy TV service. Note to self: don’t stay there again! Despite the outrageously expensive accommodations, it was an uneventful night. I took the dogs on a long walk to stretch out, and then it was off to bed to rest for the next morning’s long drive.

Today, I got up early to walk and feed the dogs. When we got back to the room, Lisa was up and getting ready for the day. She is such a fabulous travel companion! We complement each other very well. As she was getting ready, I was loading up the dogs and bags. I got in a quick shower (at least the shower was pretty nice!) and we got on the road by 8:30 AM.

Our first stop was in Raton, New Mexico, about 2 ½ to 3 hours after we left Dumas. We needed a bit of gas, and the dogs had to go relieve themselves. BTW . . . the gas prices in New Mexico are simply outrageous! It was almost $3.50 per gallon in Raton! Holy Schnikey’s! While we were there, Lisa was walking the dogs while I pumped gas and ran into answer the call of nature. When I came out to relieve Lisa so SHE could go inside, there were a couple of redheaded kids, a boy and a girl . . . no older than 9 or 10 . . . talking with Lisa and petting the dogs. When I took over, they were just non-stop questioning me about the dogs. The boy wanted me to "sell" one of my dogs to him. It was funny. I said "no way!" and he said, "well, what if somebody paid you a billion dollars for him. Then would you sell him?" Reminded me so much of when I was a little boy and said silly stuff like that all the time!! Anyway, we got back on the road pretty quickly and turned off of Highway 87 onto Interstate 27 for the long drive to Denver.

We made a few more stops before getting to Estes Park, but none of them were all that exciting. The traffic in Denver wasn’t bad at all, but getting through Boulder on Highway 36 was a hassle. I understand that it always is. I know Dad likes to stay on IH 25 up to Longmont and then cut over on 66 to avoid Boulder. Steve doesn’t think that’s any faster, but it’s GOT to be less frustrating than sitting in Boulder traffic. I might give that a try next time.

So, we rolled into Estes Park in the late afternoon today. There wasn’t time to do anything that day, so after we got settled in and said our pleasantries to everyone, Lisa and I took the boys on a short walk to explore the area and then we came back to the cabin for dinner and some catching up with Steve, Laura, Matt, and Shauna. We also got a little bit of nephew-time with the New Perkins Twins!

Laura cooked a fabulous lasagna for dinner! Yum! After the twins were down for the night, we all hung out, drank some wine, and just had a wonderful time enjoying good company.

Countdown to "The Big Day"

No training/triathlon stuff on today's blog entry. It is officially ONE WEEK until Lisa's and my wedding day! So much left to do; so little time to do it! All the big stuff is set to go, but little things keep popping up. This week is going to FLY by, I'm sure.

Anyway, I won't bore you all with details of that stuff, but those of you coming to the event, I can't wait to see you next Saturday!

Love to you all!

My First Experience with Active Release Technique.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with Advanced Rehabilitation, a therapy clinic here in Austin that caters to athletes and performs Active Release Technique therapy. I was referred there by my tri coach, Andrea Fisher, to help me with the knee pain I'd experienced at Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3.

I must admit that I had a little trepidation about going. I didn't know much about it, but everyone I talked to highly recommended it. It's not cheap either. They do take my insurance, but I have to get a referral from my PCP in order to justify it to HealthSelect. Since my PCP got dropped last week from the network, I didn't have one to refer, so I have to pay out of pocket until I can get in a visit to my new PCP and get a referral. The cost was something that had me thinking I might not go. I'm glad I didn't trust THAT instinct.

I had an 8:15 AM appointment with Dr. A.J. Zelinski. That guy is great! Younger than I expected and very, very knowledgable. All the literature (and wall decorations) in his office are a testament to his experience. He's been treating endurance athletes for several years, and has been an official ART therapist at the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships in Kona a few times, too.

So, when I got there, I had some forms to fill out and had a short wait. While I waited at least two other Texas Iron athletes came in. I recognized them and chatted with them both a bit. One of them, a woman named Summer, who is in my Wednesday swim class, told me that A.J. jokingly refers to his clinic as the "Texas Iron Triage Center."

When I got back to the examination room, I chatted briefly with A.J. about my main problems: the knee and the fact that my back was still tight and sore more than a week after the race. He asked a few pointed questions about what I'd done to prep for the race, whether I'd changed anything on the bike, etc., and then did a manipulation to release the muscle tightness.

It wasn't at all like I expected. The name makes it sound so imposing, but it's really applying pressure to specific points in the muscle and actively moving the affected body part in a certain way to stretch the muscle and "release" the tension. A.J. worked on my leg for about 5-10 minutes, and then had me go out into the main area to do some work with some rollers to massage the leg muscles.

The manipulation was incredible! It didn't hurt and only felt mildly uncomfortable in some instances. I felt immediately better afterwards and was really thinking this might be the greatest thing ever! The rollers were also good. I found some pretty tight knots in my calves, quads, and hamstrings. I probably should get some of those for use at home. I'm sure A.J. will recommend that!

So, after I did the rollers, they had me lie face down on a bench and applied electricity and ice to my left leg at the knee. They also had a technician apply ultrasound therapy to my left gluteal muscle. That all took about 15 minutes, and then I was finished.

When I got to the office that day, I had no pain in my leg at all. As the day wore on, though, my muscles tightened up a little more and I was beginning to think maybe I'd been hasty on my praise for ART. Oh no! Not at all. Although the immediate benefits faded a bit, this morning, I woke up with no back pain or discomfort at all! My knee was a little achy again, particularly behind the knee and at the bottom of the knee cap (not places I'd had pain during the race) but the muscles in my calf and hamstring didn't even feel tight anymore. I had a little bit of tenderness (as A.J. said I would) from the manipulation, but the pain was pretty much gone!

I have another appointment on Thursday, July 5, so I'm looking forward to continued improvement! IMoo, here I come!