Yesterday I did my first big run since Ironman. On tap was to run 26 miles from downtown Littleton to downtown Golden. The reward was to be a yummy buffalo burger at Table Mountain Inn.

We had an alpine start at 10:00am. The sky was clear, the sun was out and the temps were forecasted for the 40’s. The first crew consisted of Coach Andrea, Delinda, Janette and yours truely. We took off heading south on the South Platte trail into Chatefield Resevior. We found some single track and ran the dirt as much as possible.

The Runnin Gals

About 5 miles after we started we were in Chatfield and it was time for Delinda and Janette to turn around and head back. That left just Andrea and I to carry on.
We headed onto the bike path along C-470 headed to Golden. We pulled the big hill out of the res and had a bit of a downhill as we started our gradual accent to Morrison.  It was nice to be running with Andrea since we hadn’t done anything together for ages.  That’s one of the nice things about a super long run….you can talk while your running!

I was feeling really good and strong.  I was suprised by how quickly we passed Wadsworth Blvd and got to Kipling.  It was around here that Andrea started to have IT band problems.   She told me to not wait for her and to continue with my run and we would meet up in a bit.

With that- I was off.  I had the bestest, bestest run ever!  I was feeling strong and just rockin to my own rythym.  I tried to remember to stay in “proper” form- something I constantly work on seeing as I was never a runner in a past life. 

Something that has helped my running is an article I read in Triathlon Mag about this guy who ran a 10K with his dog tied around his waist.  He wrote this helped put him on his forefoot better and he PRed by 5 minutes.  When my puppy was young (he’s approaching 15 yrs) and I ran with him I would tie his leash around my waist.  As I ran yesterday- I remembered what that felt like and found I ran much better and faster!  I was leaning forward from my core and not my chest…..I just love it when some “que” helps me with my form…..

There I was, running and running and next thing I know I’m about to drop down into Bear Creak Lake Park.  I called Sharon and told her I was about 30 minutes from the Conoco Station in Morrison (we ALL know that landmark!).  I ran through the park, crossed the street, and there was Sharon waiting to join me for my last 8 miles!  My garmin read 18.8 miles and I figured I had at least 8 more to go until Golden.

I filled my water bottles, ate, and hit the road with Sharon at my side.  Now this is where it got HARD!  That 20 minute break did me IN!  See once you leave the Conoco station there’s this lovely, long (did I mention long?) hill to climb….and needless to say- I was having a tough time getting my groove back.  I tried and I tried….and I tried….the hill was tough.   We finally made it to the top and we were able to enjoy some downhill.

Running with Sharon was such a treat.  She talked and kept me occupied while we ran towards Golden.  I know if she had not joined me for this last push- I would have been miserable.  She kept me entertained and we had some nice conversations when I wasn’t sucking air! 

Sharon helped me a great bit.  One thing she pointed out twice to me as we were about half way to Golden was that I was running “tight”.  I realized because things (my legs) were starting to hurt (after 20 miles on concrete), I was shortening my stride and not moving freely any longer.  This was a great help!!!  Not that I did much about it at the time, but now- looking back- I can see that I will be able to move more freely when I’m starting to hurt!  Running “tight” serves no purpose and actually hurts more!

We meandered the bike path and then…..there we were!   At “The Taj” (Jefferson County Court House).  Yippeeeee!!!  I was so excited.  Just a few more miles and we would be in downtown Golden!!  Only thing between us and Golden was a few long rollers on the bike path….WE COULD DO IT!  I looked at my Garmin and my mileage read 26.6 miles.  I had already hit my planned mileage…but with Golden just a few more miles away…I had to do it!

Why did I have to do it???  For the Buffalo Burgers of course.  We were planning on meeting Andrea and Steve at Table Mountain Inn which serves the best Buffalo Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries you could ever eat…seriously!  So, we ran the rest of the way into Golden walking down Washington St for the cool down, and then through the blue doors to our much anticipated reward for a day well spent.

We chowed down on our burgers and then made our way home….all in all it was a fabulous day- spent with wonderful, supportive friends.   And yes- running 28 miles for a buffalo burger is definitely worth it!!!!!

The Buffalo Burger!!!

Yesterday I escaped the 4 feet of snow and headed out of Mt Shasta to Redding with my friend Craig for a 4 hour run.

We drove over the pass to I-5 and drove south from snow to rain for a lovely day of running along the Sacramento River.

By the time we got to the trailhead it was close to 11:00 with a heavy drizzle (not quite a rain). I put on my Newton Motion All Weather Shoes, we bundled up and headed out for two out and back trips.

The day was a bit gloomy and wet but being out in nature was a welcomed relief from a week of being indoors.

This trail is spectacular as you run along the Sacramento River the whole time. With all the rainfall in the past week there where waterfalls cascading into the river and swollen creeks dumping gallons of water to merge with the current. Ducks and other waterfowl dotted the water and river banks adding to the serenity of the run.

Sacramento River Rail Trail- minus the rain

The joy of running in this type of weather is not many people will brave the conditions to be outside. During the course of 4 hours I met a family fishing; two people walking their dogs; one person on a mt bike…but no other runners!

I found so much peace and serenity with this run. I was able to think about my Dad; pray to God; listen; and just feel. One thing my Dad instilled in me was a deep appreciation and love for the outdoors. The outdoors is my church and where I practice my spirituality. Outdoors is where I commune with God and where I am in awe of the beauty that is all around me.

So yesterday was a perfect day for me. As I spent 4 hours running I also spent time singing, just out of the shear joy of being alive and in such a beautiful setting on such a perfect day.

One thing I realized on my run, is that my Dad is no longer in a house in McCloud- but that now he can be with me where ever I am. I don’t have to call him up to talk to him- I can talk to him anytime, anywhere! He is no longer confined to a body… And something else I realized is if I’m real quiet…I can hear Dad answer!

And with all that- I think I’ll just keep Running and Singing in the Rain.

Oh my oh my….talk about a winter storm! 

Here I am in northern California in the midsts of a 4 day snow storm.  And did I mention I’m out in the boonies?  Like, in a small town of about 500 people? 

I use to live in this area years ago and since moving to Denver and our “champange powder”- I have forgotten all about  “Sierra Cement”.  Forget about trying to shovel…. I swear- half a shovel weighs about 10 lbs! 

Famous Sierra Cement- off the back porch

When El Nino storms “march” off the coast with “copious” amounts of moisture, you have the perfect recipe for downed tree and powerlines and closed roads!  And that’s where I find myself today…..stuck in the house with no where to go. 

We’ve been without power for 48 hours now- the roads are closed- as are all the businesses.  Thank goodness for the large generator that has been purring for two days, a wood burning stove, and Verizon Wireless Access.  I have all the luxuries I need 

One problem…is the propane for the generator is getting low, and Suburban Propane can’t fill their trucks because the eletricity is out and therefore can’t deliver more propane. 

So, we’re going to shut off the generator for today.  Oh yeah…did I mention we’re on well water and when the generator gets turned off so does the water??  Pots and pans and bottles are filled…

The forecast is for more snow.  The power isn’t suppose to be back on for about a week.  Hopefully we can get propane before then…but in the meantime……

Who said California was all sun and warm weather anyway?????

Francesco Augustino DeRoss

My Father Frank is rich in tradition. He always came home on time, never drank, never smoked, a solid family man, a steady guiding hand

My Father Frank is rich in things that you can not buy and if you could buy them it would not be wise to do so

My Father Frank laughed a lot, because that brilliant smile would have been an awesome thing to waste

My Father Frank engaged his faith with his outstanding intellect and that is where truth lives

My Father Frank can listen to the words you say even when you don’t say them

My Father Frank held still in those moments that most rush to ignore. He knows that true beauty lives there, in between the notes

My Father Frank is brave and stood to fight and never broke and never winced

My Father Frank took in the earth and sought it out and honored it’s worth

My Father Frank recognized talent and ignited confidence in other’s abilities without the need for personal glory

My Father Frank knew passions that ran deep and hot under ice cold waters

My Father Frank was loyalty, was melody, was kind

My Father Frank was industrious with wrench n’ hammer, muscle and mind

My Father Frank danced with common sense, and upon God’s grace he dined

Mt Father Frank.  My Father Frank.  My Father Frank.

La Famiglia DeRoss

When I wrote my last post, in the back of my mind I was thinking about my father and the uncertainty of his health. I wrote that I was excited about this next season of racing and all that goes with it. I knew though from my experience this past year that life can change in a moment.
I write this post as I am sitting at DIA waiting to fly to California to be with my Dad in his last few days.
I’ve packed my swim and run stuff and have brought a pair of bike shoes…. What will be appropriate I don’t know at this time…I do know that it is important to continue self care and the way I do that is by exercising and trying to eat well.

Blogs sometimes are fun and light and full of laughter. But as a dedicated triathlete I must also face other challenges in my life that have an impact on my training. Life can throw us a curve ball sometimes. I don’t know what the answers are or the best way to do things. I do know that I can show up and be present for those who need me…and try to do the best in continuing to care for myself.

Tis officially the opening of my 2010 training season.  I started the year off back on my offical training plan after a month of relaxing and recovering from my first Ironman.  Not sure what I enjoyed most….the Ironman itself- or the excuse of not having to follow a training plan for one whole month!  (Hands down the Ironman itself wins!!!! )

I spent my down time relaxing, sleeping in, went to a movie, visited friends, training 30 mins to an hour a day, and losing some fat!  Yeap- I lost 3% body fat over the holidays!  How cool is that!  Some people thought it was kinda strange it “diet” during the holidays…but I am glad I did!  I don’t have to worry about those infamous 5lbs that can be gained from Thanksgiving to New Years….I actually have come through the holidays leaner and a bit lighter (I am going back to ditching the scale).

January is starting off with about 1 hour of exercise per day and will build to a 26 mile run from Littleton to Golden on January 23rd.  I am looking forward to a big run this month.  I love the feel of being in motion for that long….something I have missed in the last month. 

I am excited for what the new year may bring….snowshoe races, ultramarathons, another Ironman….and the company of many amazing friends and fellow athletes….

Here we are at the close of another year. 

 Heck, we’re done with a whole other decade!  It seems like just a few years ago we were worried about what would happen on New Years Eve of the new millennium.

The end of an old year is a time of reflection and then looking at what the next year might bring.

This past year was interesting to say the least. The year began with a commitment to completing my first Ironman; then a divorce; followed by a summer and fall of family leave from work to care for my father as he went through cancer treatment. To say this year was a year of unexpected occurrences is an understatement.  I never thought when I signed up for my first Ironman that I would be faced with these other challenges.  I thought the hardest thing would be getting all the training done….well- I got all the training done and navigated this past year. 

As I look toward the coming new year I now know that I may set out to achieve certain goals or think that my life may play out a certain way….yet no matter how much I plan things….life will happen, won’t it?

So that is why I’ve decided to spend some time reflecting on what my New Years Intentions will be rather than resolution.

With this thought in mind and after a wonderful lunch with a friend…I’m going to work on putting together a mission statement for myself. What is my focus going to be? What am I really trying to achieve and become in this next year?  What do I want to give back to this world. How do I want to walk through life??? 

I like the idea of writing a mission statement for myself.  Every business, agency, etc has one….why not me?  Why not us? 

As you think about your resolution for this coming year…maybe think about what you would like your intentions to be instead?  I’m hoping to find my through a mission statement………

May you all have a wonderful new year filled with health, hope, and love for you and your families!

Well, I’m officially in my third week of  “weighting”!  I’ve made it for two weeks….Through Christmas and everything without getting off track!

BreakRoom Treats

All those delicious cookies and cakes sitting in our breakroom at work…Didn’t even tempt me!  How cool is that!  Although today I walked in there and thought I’d walked into a bakery/candy shop.  It was a virtual smorgesboard of delectable, mouth watering treats.  My gaze fondly caressed the Blondie Brownies and I had to say to myself  “Nope-Ain’t worth it”.  I got my butt out of there QUICK like!

Not the dreaded scale

I got on the scale yesterday morning and found I had lost only .8 lbs….I was kinda discouraged.  I called my Medifast Coachand we discussed the upcoming week.  I had been hungry all the time last week, and as she expected I had not been consuming enough calories…and therefore didn’t lose much weight this week.  We adjusted my meal plan for more calories and took into consideration the fact that I would begin increasing my training. 

Although I was a bit disappointed- I didn’t get too bummed out.  I have noticed in the past week that my body compositon has changed.  Places on my body (like the back of my arms and legs) have much less “fat’ on them!  I am close to two notches smaller on my belts….and my jeans are looser out of the wash!  I know I am making progess to getting leaner and that really is my main goal in all this….leaner and lighter!

So, dispite the dreaded scale not telling me I’d lost close to 3 lbs again…I’m ok with the fact that my body is changing and getting leaner.  I am going to continue to follow the meal plan outlined by Terry.  I trust that this will give me the results I want….if I do the work.  Hummmm…funny that theme seems to come up a lot in an Ironman’s life 

I hope to report more positive results next Monday when I weigh in again…..I’m feeling good physically and mentally.  I’m not missing all the holiday foods and am actually glad I decided to do this during this time.  One thing for sure is I’m not gaining the dreaded 5-10 lbs from the holidays….

I had heard and read about this thing that supposedly happens to triathletes after they finish an Ironman called Post IronMan Depression or PIMD.

There is suppose to be this big let down afterwards. I mean you’ve trained you’re butt off for close to one year, foregoing all relationships and forgetting about sleeping in until 7:00 on the weekends.

You’re constantly on the go either working or training. You’re life becomes defined by the last big workout you did and competing in an Ironman.

The let down can be huge, leading to depression. Next can come lethargy and the inability to motivate for any type of workout. And heck, while you’re at it, all those delicious foods you abstained from while training, you might as well start enjoying again.

And so the cycle begins…depression, no exercise, bad food choices…and then more depression.

PIMD - Say it ain't so!

So what’s a (newly) ordained Ironman to do?

I don’t know about anybody else but I can tell you what I’ve done to stave off  PIMD.  I gave myself some goals…..

1.  Sign up for next seasons Ironman.  About 3 months before Ironman Cozumel, I signed up for my second IM.  Not knowing if I would actually like this Ironman stuff, but pretty sure I was going to….

2.  Lose some FAT.  After training for a year, and never having the opportunity to restrict calories to reduce my weight in fat…Two weeks post IM I have begun a “diet” to drop fat during this down time.  After consulting with my sports nutritionist and coach, it was unannomous that this would be my only opportunity to do this.

3.  Embrace and Enjoy a month of no serious/planned training.  Since I had decided to restrict calories and now was the best time to relax on my training plan- I have opted to enjoy my friends, movies, sleeping in until 7:00 on the weekends, no 5:00 am Masters swims….you get the picture.  I just wake up and do a half to full hour of  WHATEVER I WANT!  How fun is that!  And the key here…is 6 days a week I do some type of exercise.

4.  Plan an early season Race. Get your first race of the season on the calendar.  I am kicking off 2010 with Rage Long Course Triathlon.  They will have two qualifiying spots per age group for the Worlds Long Course Team.  Now this is movitating me tremendously!  I am motivated to stay motivate!  I am motivated to lose fat!  I am motivated to kick butt when I get back to serious training in January…..You get the picture.

5. Try a New Sport- or get back to an Old Favorite.  I was an avid rock climber for 15 years, many years ago.  I say that climbing is my first love yet I haven’t taken time to climb in about 7 years.  So, in this down time I have dusted off my climbing harness and shoes and gotten out to the climbing gym.  It’s great cross training and I’m hoping to keep it in my training plan once January rolls around.

I have been able to stave off PIMD.  I’m over 3 weeks post Ironman and have not felt depressed nor unmotivate.  Actually, I am really looking forward to January 1st and getting back into serious training.  I have embraced this month off and looked for ways to use this time to my advantage…plus having the goal of qualifiying for Worlds is really, really motivating me!!!!

Don’t know if this will help anyone, but I hope it can….I know this game plan has kept me positive and hopefully lighter at the end of it all!

I made it through week one of weighting and it paid off….2.8 lbs lost in the first week!  Thank goodness for that….

Jumped on the scale this morning scared $hitle$$ that I when I looked down I would see the same numbers staring back at me.  The numbers never seemed to change over the past year, no matter how many miles I ran, biked, swam….But today I struck gold…..The numbers changed and they changed to smaller numbers! 

I’ve been following the Medifast Plan  and it seems to be working for me.  I have never found something so easy and healthy to do.  I don’t have to think about 5-6 meals and how many calories vs carbs vs protien….just grab the meals and go…..Plus I get one huge meal with 7oz protien and veggies. 

The first three days were tough, with the headaches and such, but by the fourth day I was feeling good again. 

One of the things about reducing calories is I have reduced my amount of training.  Ok, I shouldn’t call it training because I’m basically doing 30 minutes of whatever I want every day.  How cool is that?  I get to do what ever I feel like doing for exercise and I need to keep it to 30 minutes for the first two weeks. 

So far, I’m enjoying the food, enjoying the reduced exercize load and loving the results……….I’ll let you know how it goes next Monday!