Tinkerbell & Marsha

Tink, "It is now time for dog food. I am
going to stare at you until you put food in
my bowl."

Run with Tinkerbell this morning. I thought it would be nice to have some 4 legged company. She was all excited and wanted us to run fast. I was all sore from the half marathon and planned on a slow run. I won. She played along with it. We did some hills together, practicing both uphill and downhill. 

Elevation Gain:	313 ft
Elevation Loss:	315 ft

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:57:31	4.00	14:21
1	00:14:16	1.00	14:16
2	00:14:43	1.00	14:43
3	00:14:28	1.00	14:28
4	00:13:58	1.00	13:59
5	00:00:04	0.00	18:28

Maximum Heart Rates for Humans and Dogs

An old agility friend of mine, Pamela, has a nice agility blog that has an interesting article about dogs and their heart rates compared to humans. She shows that you really don't give a dog that much beneficial exercise with agility alone. I think a dog gets mentally tired from agility, but not likely physically.

"For humans there is an optimal "training zone" which is generally between 50-75% of the maximum heart rate. In humans, the maximal heart rate is about 220 beats per minute, so the training zone is about 150-175, depending on the age of the individual.

Problem is, dogs have maximal heart rates far above humans. During exercise, the canine heart can beat 300 beats per minute, which would prove fatal to any human athlete. At 300 beats per minute, the canine heart pumps several times every second! By the time your own feet begin to hurt and you're running out of air, your dog is actually just getting warmed up. In reality, dogs have to work very hard to reach the upper levels of their training heart rate zones. Workouts that are taxing for humans exert the dog much less. For example, running at a rate that exhausts humans is far below even the lower range of the canine training zone for a fit dog."

So no wonder I could never exhaust Tinkerbell or Chip. I just gave them a bad case of the zoomies with running so slow with them.

Thank You Robyn

I am just really bursting with happiness and near tears tonight as I sit here on the couch thinking about my day .... I've had to take a break from doggie sports to do my running and although I love what I am doing with running, biking and swimming .... I do miss being a team with my dog. Right now I don't have time to "do it all" but my dear friend and teacher Robyn handled Tinkerbell today at the 2 WWASC herding trials. This left me free to run. And so pleased at the outcome of both my and Robyn's accomplishment for the day. 
Robyn and Tink took 1st place & Q in Started Sheep & High in Trial Started Sheep in the first trial under Judge Canby Scott with a score of 80 and a time of 2:23. In the second trial they took 2nd place &Q with a score of 86 and a time of 2:38.
Then each trial had the duck runs. Tinkerbell has only been worked on ducks once before this trial, about 3 weeks ago. They gave the ducks a try in both trials, in the first trial Tink got a 2nd place, score of 66 - time 5:17. The second trial she got another 2nd place with a score of 39 - time 4:56. No Q's but ducks are new to her so I'm sure with experience she will improve. I can hardly wait to watch the video that Jan took of all sheep and duck runs.
I got done running my 20 miles in time see her last duck run. When Tink doesn't quite know what to do she wants to do it her way. Many things I let her get away with at home that are "cute" don't help with controlling her in herding. She is very out spoken and likes to be bossy. I know I am responsible for some of this rebellion in the ring.
Robyn did a wonderful job with Tinkerbell and it is very touching to me that she would do this for me. I love that my dog was able to go herding today and do this trial. Tink's skill level is way above mine and it will take me too long to catch up in this sport right now. I can enjoy Tink herding without handling her myself. I just can't say enough how thankful I am for this opportunity for Tinkerbell. When I finally get serious about wanting to be her team mate I will practice and teach her weaves and other agility skill and we will play there together. Less frustrating for me to see her not have to suffer through with an unskilled handler. A mom can still enjoy her doggies accomplishments.  
Well, when I started this post Tinkerbell was sitting here on the couch talking to me.... she does not like it when I write and is vocal quite a lot when I am on the computer. She will perch on the arm of the couch and hit me with her paw or just talk and talk to get me to stop. Now she is sleeping soundly by my feet, finally tuckered out after her big day.
Thank you Robyn, you are AWESOME.      

Got Gu?

Spencer

Last night by the time we got done with our quest to help our friends find a Sheltie to love when we got to Wasatch Running a little after 8 to buy GU they were closed. But Ale & Larry bought this beautiful Sheltie boy Spencer from Doug & Pam so it was all worth it.
Meanwhile that meant a trip today in preparation for my Saturday long run. And  instead of driving back to the running store I decided to hop on my bike and head to Infinite Cycles. I wimped out and didn't take the big hills out of our track, but I'm trying not to stress my legs before the long run Saturday. Yes, it will be another personal record for me. 20 miles. Now you know why they call it long run.
What use to be a grueling ride up 12600 South is now an easy ride. Did I mention I love my Cannondale bike? Now that I understand the shifting - thanks Evan - I am able to practice to see how the gears work for me on different grades. I am hoping practice will make me a more natural shifter.
Once I got to Infinite Cycles, parked bike and took off coat and helmet. Found the GU I needed and made my purchase. While there I met Dani, one of the organizers for Goldilocks. Cyndie, Dani went on the Infinite Cycles Saturday ride in the snow - yes her bike was dirty! She was bringing it in for a tune-up. She also spent a few minutes telling me about her experiences mapping the course for the Idaho Goldilocks. Miles and miles of flat roads except for this one hill by a mesa - she said it was so steep that it looked like you would flip over backwards if you tried to ride up it. After lots and lots of driving and exploring all the identical roads going up it she finally found a way around it. Goldilocks Idaho - maybe next year since we are doing Women Rock Triathlon that day.
My ride home was mostly downhill. I went a different way, I love to cruise around. Ran into some construction but on the bike I was able to get around easily. So stats for the ride 13.1 miles, 1:12:32.

Short Walk With Sweetheart & Shelties

Today was a relaxing walk with Jan & the dogs. It got cloudy all the sudden before we even got out the door. Then once we were walking it became windy and then mild snow showers and by the time we got home - SUN.  We enjoyed walking and seeing the Jordan River full of water and the geese in the fields. The sky was also very beautiful along the Wasatch Front. Jan's time was short so walk was 1.7 miles. We walked so slow that my Garmin wanted to pause a few times. LOL.

Sunburn

An early run today around noon with lots of sun. I was running with Chip and Tink - and we did the run / walk, 2&1. It was quite warm, 62 degrees. I had decided to head north today to do the hills but I had forgotten about high water. So we had to turn around and run south. Was surprised in just an hour I got a little sunburn. Also tried a new GU flavor. Vanilla. So if you want to be running and want to pretend like you are licking the frosting off .... choose Vanilla GU. Here are the stats from my run:  Mile1 12:33  Mile2 12:29  Mile3 12:54 Mile 4 13:04 Mile5 12:26.

4 Dog Walk & Marathon Shoe Test

Today I went for a walk for my cross-training day. Tink, Chip, Glitter & Vito. Nice breeze and lots of sun. Just a nice pace, a little fast for Glitter but she did manage to keep up pretty good. I think we all enjoyed the time together - if wagging tails are any indication.
Shoe test. Well the first time I wore my new shoes my toe got a sore on the top. I thought it was from a new sock that I bought. It finally healed. So guess what, not the sock. It is something in the way the tongue of the shoe is sewn. I think. Nice sore again one the top of my toe after a 2 mile walk. And since I was in a hurry to go walking I just put on the shoes... got home and took them off - no inserts. And when I say no inserts, not even the ones that came in the shoe. The good ones I use are in the my other shoes. No wonder they felt sloppy on the foot. Geezz.
So here are my walk stats:  Mile1 17:04 & Mile2  17:03. Glitter wanted you to note she went one second faster on her second mile. And that darn leash messed up her hair.

Saturday Long Run - 12 miles

Two happy girls after our 12 mile run. Cyndie took this nice picture of us. This was a beautiful morning to run. It was pretty cold when we started out at 8am but it did warm up and we were able to drop our jackets at the car part way through the run. I had a great time running with Cyndie, her legs were pretty sore from yoga the day before. My calves got a nice massage at my pedicure this afternoon. My legs are pretty sore tonight, hopefully they will enjoy their recovery day tomorrow. Both Tink and I had a 20 mile week. 
I wanted to make sure that Tinkerbell was hydrated, and well it's very hard to MAKE dogs drink. So I got out the K9 Go Dog - Total Sports Drink for Dogs. Well she loved it, and so did the other dogs, they all started drinking, and drinking - well I finally picked up the bowl. I had forgotten just how much dogs like it. But it sure made her have to pee. She usually doesn't have to go at all when we run because I potty her first at home. Which I did today. And then poop, luckily I brought a poop bag, I think she had to go four times! Don't tell her I posted this about her, I know it could be embarrassing.
Stats for the run: M1 12:22  M2 13:03  M3 12:08  M4 13:09  M5 13:32  M6 12:34  M7 13:07   M8 12:43  M9 13:07  M10 13:17  M11 13:17  M12 13:17   

Sick Happened

Due to over-indulgence of fatty hamburger, onions, great tasting food with milk in it and chocolate I got SICK and therefore had to miss my first training day yesterday, also missing a day of warm Arizona running. grrrrrr. I hope I learned my lesson this time. It was a painful one and I do know better. And I missed some precious time with Alicia and grandchildren, especially sweet Marley's talk in primary.

On the positive side, Jan and I were still able to make our drive home from Arizona by switching drivers often so the other could rest and snore if necessary. I didn't hear any snoring.

This week I will be switching running to Tuesday & Thursday, with the long run still on Saturday. And I will get in a swimming day tomorrow. I felt a little weaker today and my times will show that. I am sure with some good fuel in the next few days I hope to be good as new. It sucks to have to eat good all the time. It sucks when I eat things my body does not like.

Today's run was 3 miles with a short walk home afterward. I had to bundle up again, no shorts for awhile. Temperature was a chilly 34.7. My cute little running buddy today was Tinkerbell. She did a great job and tried to keep me moving at a quicker pace then my recovering body could do. Mile 1 11:46 > Mile 2 got worse 12:12 > and then Mile 3 was 12:21 and would have been worse had I just not pushed because I saw I was on track for 13! But I got it done and legs held out after their visit with Stacey from Muscle Works earlier in the afternoon. Another goal met.

Two Shelties + Running

Today was an afternoon run with the temperature at 34 degrees with a little wind. It was Chip's turn to run with me, but because I didn't want to leave Tinkerbell behind I decided to try running with both dogs. I put 2 leashes on my run belt on my right side and then hooked up Tink and Chip and off we went.

Since this week is my "rest" week where I decreased my training time I decided to see if I could run a little faster since I was only going 2 miles. First mile was fast for me: 8:44. My second mile I started getting a little stitch in my side so I slowed down a bit and finished in 10:54. Overall it was a nice run and I was pleased. Worked the stitch in my side thing out. Tinkerbell and Chip loved the faster pace and when I started walking after the two miles they were disappointed and kept looking at me like "come on 2 miles is for wimps, we're marathoners!" with the walk back home I had total miles of 2.58 and 29:29 for my time.

29.5

What is 29.5 you ask? Is that how many miles you are going to run for the month? Is it how much you paid for your new "skinny jeans" as everyone calls them? How much weight you lost? Your waist size!!?? Times up, no more guessing, it was the temperature this morning when I put on my running shoes to go running. You say that is nothing new, you have run when it is colder - but there is a twist. It was 6am, dark, and lightly snowing. Well, it was dark yes and no. With the 2 inches of snow on the ground it was actually light enough to see because of the reflection.

Crazy?! Well, well we already established that when my fingers and credit card signed me up for a marathon. I saw only one other person on the trail. And there were lots of animals out. Their footprints were everywhere in the snow. It was really peaceful and very fun looking to see where all the animals go. And Tinkerbell was loving it. Since we didn't expect to meet anyone I let her off leash to run beside me.

This mornings run log, not as bad a times as I thought they would be with running on the snow. Right on goal for marathon training schedule.

Mile 1 12:19
Mile 2 12:03
Mile 3 12:22
and the walk back .33 mile

Happy Saturday Run

The weather cooperated and it was a nice 34 degree morning. At 8am Tinkerbell and I were out the door to begin our first official 4 mile run. After the GPS came up we were off, Tink giving her official happy woof as we began. I think she'd be happier with a faster pace but luckily I was in charge. I decided to try some different scenery so we took to the parkway path heading north and then went up into our neighborhood and around to try some uphills and downhills.

Here are the results:
4 miles, 51:43 fastest mile 12:29 and slowest 13:16.
After the run we had a cool down walk for a half mile.

When we got home Tinkerbell got THE worst case of the zoomies. She was ALL over the house, upstairs and downstairs. Jan had a special breakfast for his volunteer work as a sound technician at the Festival of the Trees so I hurried to the shower. After my shower Tinkerbell finally looked more tired than me.

Here is my elevation summary:

Elevation Gain:	206 ft
Elevation Loss:	207 ft
Min Elevation:	4,285 ft
Max Elevation:	4,406 ft

Week Two - Day One and the sun is out

And that means running outdoors! Yeah. Today was the first day running with a GPS on my arm. How cool is that! It takes the guess work out of how far I am going during practice runs. It was a great temperature: 43 degrees. Got the clothing right today. I picked the right shirt, pants, ear covers and I almost thought I misjudged by running with no gloves because my hands became cold quite quickly but it didn't take long and they warmed right up.

Miss Tinkerbell was my running companion today, and she was all fired up. Took a couple minutes for the GPS to find satellites and then we were off. All this time I thought to the bridge and back was under 3 miles, come to find out I've been telling everyone I haven't run further than a 5K when in fact a couple of weeks ago I actually ran 4 miles during my practice for The Human Race. Needless to say I was excited.

Stats for today, I will be brief because now I have lots of details for each mile... Ran 3 miles, 38:18 and then walked another .58 mile. Made today's marathon goal of run 20-35 minutes.

Beat the Blizzard

Looks like Utah is in for a blizzard. Many activities canceled for the evening. Someone in the weather department is really trying to challenge me. No canceling of the run today. So off work a little early to get it done before the storm (and hair appointment - critical since I am using photos). In agility it was pictures of the dog, sooooo much easier. They were always cute!

This is my training run for Thanksgiving morning. Decided I needed a running buddy, so since Tinkerbell's agility class was canceled she got picked. Today's temp 41 degrees, the wind again from the north about 20-30MPH - with lots of big gusts. Into the wind caused me to push pretty hard to go forward and I got a very cold face, wind at the back gave a nice push. Tink looked back several times wondering who was blowing on her butt! I was tired when we got back, Tinkerbell on the other hand got the zoomies as soon as we got home after jogging 40 minutes. So much for tiring her out.

My thoughts on the run....with such a crazy day I was thinking there must be another reason I am doing this! No one else is out running. And then I remembered- 6th grade and the President's Physical Fitness Award. I qualified in everything except the One-Mile Run. I remember getting two chances. I know my second try was very close to the time. I did not get the award. I was crushed- I wanted it bad. So this marathon will erase the thoughts stored in my head that I can't run distance.

BTW lost my black cap to the wind. I got that cap last year on clearance. Grrrrr.

It starts with an idea & then I think could I?

Many of my greatest accomplishments start with something I see or hear and it puts a thought in my head...could I do that? Many years ago, back when I was raising my family, I went to an obedience trial I saw a little Sheltie named Merlin. To me he was magical and amazing. He was an AKC Obedience Trial Champion. Could I do that? So I went out, bought a Sheltie puppy, gave him the magical name of Yoda. I bought some training books and he eventually became OTCH Windshadow's Master Yoda. Then I saw tracking and thought...could I make an obedience champion pull on the leash?, another book and a friend Barbara's help and sure enough we got a TD title together too.

Fast forward. About eight years ago I watched my sister Nancy with her agility Shelties Gizmo & Rush. And here again I thought...could I do that? So, I went out looking for...you guessed! A Sheltie. This time I fell in love with one a little over a year old named Nick. I promised the breeder that I would do agility with him if they would sell him to me. All the while thinking...I know NOTHING about agility. What am I thinking!? No book this time, but I found a class and got started. It wasn't long before I was completely hooked and we were competing, winning, and getting so many titles after his name it was hard to keep track of them all. Of course, there are champion titles for agility and that is what my goal became. With the help of my friend Christa to drive us all over the west we finished two NADAC champion titles and Nick became V-NATCH Paramount Winter Mist. What a wonderful time that was. It broke my heart when I lost him to cancer.

Feeling a bit lost losing my mom to leukemia (one of my biggest supporters who always cheered me on) and Nick within a month of each other I was looking for something to bring me back on track. It needed to be something different. Agility with my sweet dog Glitter was not helping me heal. This time my "could I" happened in a phone conversation with my son Neal, who had just completed a sprint triathlon. I asked him, do you think your mom could do a triathlon? His answer gave me confidence, "you could totally do this mom." Then the little voice in my mind started really thinking, are you sure you want to do THIS? Let's think about. It will involve more exercise than you've been doing. Probably some pain too. You don't know how to train for one of these. Then I answered, "Let's go online to the library and find a book!"

Fast forward to the present. I'll come back later and blog about my triathlons, but right now I am trying to figure out how or why in the world my crazy brain came up with the idea of a marathon. I don't really like running. I've never ran more than a 5K. Running has been a weak link in my triathlon experiences. I went from planning to work up to a 10K so the 5K would be easier and all of the sudden I am asking a marathoner Kelli her favorite race and I go online, find the race, the entries are open for 2011 and are filling very Quickly. This race is going to be sold out soon, I think it was one of those split second decisions you make. No time to think, no time to talk myself out of it, I just sign up and become one of the 3000 entered to run in the 2011 Ogden Marathon.

I've been reading several "first marathon" books, I'll be blogging about them later. I haven't finished any of them yet! I decide against the advice in the book where it says tell everyone what you are doing so you'll be committed. I decide to tell no one. That way I will have more time to decide if I am actually going to show up. One fatal error. I guess I hit print with realizing it and it printed out at work and my boss saw it the next morning and said, "You're running a marathon?!" I was floored, how did he know? Then he handed me my entry. So much for my big secret. Ready Set GO!