The Devil is in the Details

Last weekend I did my first triathlon of the season. I had been considering doing a race, but didn't register due to the fact that I hadn't been in the pool since October and I really wasn't consistently running or biking yet. Well, to make a long story short I did race and it was a slap in the face. I really need to train! The swim wasn't bad, luckily I have 15 years of highly competitive swimming in my back pocket to get me through a 400yd swim. I was happy with the bike, felt good and the course did have a couple tough hills. I didn't have my aerobars and I do think that made a difference. Then we get to the run, which I thought I would breeze through since I have been doing the most running, boy was I wrong! I had such bad abdominal cramps that I walked the first mile. I was able to get it going again and ran/jogged the last 2 miles. I ended up 26th overall and 6th in my age group and no where near ready to meet my goal of placing at Milk Man in June.
So this week, my training has been stepped up a notch, to say the least. So far a 20 mile bike ride, a 4 mile run, a Brick, and a swim workout. I also registered for a 10K run on Sunday with the goal of breaking an hour (which will be very tough for me). I have approximately one month left to get ready for the next sprint triathlon.
I'm still looking for someone to travel to Ireland with me :) My plan is to be there a little more than a week, August 28th to September 5th, with the triathlon on September 4th.
On the veterinary side, I have paid for all my rehab classes, which is a huge step for me right now. I am learning a lot working with two special dogs. I hope I'm lucky enough to find a rehab job in Colorado. I am doing a lot of the exercises I have learned with Brink, mainly for strengthening and remembering he has back legs.
Today I did a great agility work out with Brink. It consisted of 3 jumps in a pinwheel and the dog walk. I was super impressed with how things went. I believe he only knocked two bars and I think both were due to hitting the stantion not the bar.
Some of the exercises we are doing include cavaletti's, front leg waves, back leg kicks, and core work. He's still going on runs with me also, so he should be the fittest dog ever!

P.S. I'm selling a triathlon full sleeve wet suit on ebay. It's new, never been worn, and comes with a travel case. Please pass this on if you know anyone needing a wet suit!

Decisions

So Chris has decided to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder for his Masters in Speech Hearing Pathology. The program starts August 1st, yes this August as in less than 3.5 months from now. So, the question is how to we get ourselves up there? At this point I think my best plan is to start looking for work with hopefully a starting date in mid September. This hopefully would give me the break needed to do my Ironman 70.3 in Galway and hopefully get to spend at least a week in Ireland. I also will be done with my rehab course by then, so again hopefully I would be able to get a job just doing canine rehab and pain management. My biggest decision is do I somehow make it work that I can come back to Albuquerque once a month to work? I didn't want to get attached to my job, but now I feel like I do have an attachment to some clients and I also have been building my massage business. I'll have to look at all the logistics for this and see what can be done...

On the training side, I did 5 massages at the ASCA trial on Sunday. I try to use the massages to get my hands on as many dogs as possible. Every dog teaches me something new and adds to my skill set and usually makes the dog feel good as well :) I spent about an hour or so working with my horse, Quid. I was very proud of her. We did only ground work, but I was able to start putting my weight in the stirrup of the English saddle. She's only ever been worked with a Western Saddle before, so the goal is to be riding her English by the summer. I don't know much about horse training, but Quid is a great teacher. Monday was a day off from any training(very bad allergies). Today, I got in a 3 mile run with brink and a 20 minute conditioning session. Tomorrow I need to get in a long bike ride. Thursday will be another hike with the dogs.

Happiness is found within. The search begins and ends with yourself.

Things are looking up. Due to my lack of motivation, I have to set goals for what to do each day. It feels so good to get things done. I'm basically setting a mental To Do List. So far this week, I wanted to take Brink to the park every morning to work on his jumping. Check. We worked on jump shoots, serpentines, and single box so far this week. He's still dropping bars, but I think he is starting to understand he only gets to play with the squirrel when he keeps the bars up.

Today my plan was to take Brink to the park, go to lunch with Leila, take Tundra for a hike. Now Brink is sleeping under my legs and Tundra is passed out on the couch next to me. Happy dogs, make happy people. I would still like to get out for a bike ride today. The stitches came out on Tuesday, so I'm ready to get active again.
I don't know when my next agility trial will be, but I'm hopeful I can save up for the Rocky Mountain Regional.
I've been very good about sticking to my goals of no Starbucks coffee and cutting down on my trips to Einsteins for breakfast-only one time this week :) Every penny counts!
The rest of the day will be getting my business more organized for Sunday. I already have 5 patients lined up - very stoked about that. Maybe I'll sell some tugs too!