I’m feeling so beat up this week.  I took Wednesday off and needed it bad, had a great massage.  Every ounce of which hurt like hell but the good hurt like hell.  I’m finishing up week #8 of training, I’m taking on more clients than I have in the past but still….am I or am I not an Ironman?  Does any of that stick around?  My goodness, you’d think I just swam the English Channel or trekked across Antartica based on the way I’m feeling.

I’m not seeing clients today and I just have a small workout.  Meeting Craig at the track for some cadence, pacing tests.  Figuring out my optimal speed (using that term loosely of course).  Just working for the college today and hopefully recouping for my brick tomorrow then long ride on Sunday.

Next week is stabilizer….yes please!

Seeing as my work day didn’t start until 3pm on Monday I wanted to get a few good workouts in and some gumkowski admin stuff done.  Still setting up my files for 2009 now that taxes are in the trusted hands of our accountant….eagerly awaiting the good news on how our year ended up.  Tax season is always an adventure with 2 businesses….some years that adventure turned into a terrifying death hike but in recent years we’ve been able to keep up with our quarterly responsibilities and what we owed in the end was somewhat painless (or just somewhat painful).

Decided to get my long run in yesterday - 6 miles with 4 mile repeats in Z3.  After talking with BJ, my coach and BJ talking with his running coach - we’ve all decided that perceived effort is that way to go for me right now on the run.  So I’m gladly ditching the heart rate monitor and tuning into my body to gauge my paces.  For me, I think this is the way to go….I am confident in my level of body awareness that I can be in the zones I need to be without relying on the finite numbers of my watch (which really just piss me off most of the time).  Yesterday’s run was one of my first using PE and it felt so good.  My mile repeats were 8:50, 9:19, 8:30 and 9:21 (I ran the same mile back and forth…the way back is a false flat thus the slower pace).

Finished my run and caught the 11:45 C2 class at Core Power….oh my, that’s just not easy.  I had one more visit to use up, so sad that I’ll be taking a hiatus from this practice but I”ll be attending classes at the Rec centers that are ‘free’ - love that word.   I need to keep up with my yoga practice once a week, it’s something I highly recommend for everyone, especially athletes.

Great day - a little bit of everything.  Busy week ahead, the good busy.

Yesterday was my re-entry into the competitive running world...gasps of intimidation abound….

I ran the 5-mile race at the Chatfield Res and, for me, had a great race.  I felt strong and paced myself well.  Final time was 46:16, I was 7th in my age group.

Mile 1: 9:16
Mile 2: 9:25
Mile 3: 9:27
Mile 4: 9:09
Mile 5: 8:46

Fun morning, the SGs were there and Harry, Lhasa and BJ too.  Great support, perfect weather.

Came home and rode the trainer, lay comatose for 57ish minutes, went to an engagement party, ate a ton of cheese, in bed at 11.  Lhasa and I slept in until almost 9 this morning.  BJ and Harry were out having some guy time and Weke was on an adventure.  We hit the pool for 2250yds - more of a struggle than it needed to be but I got er’done.  Lunch at Whole Foods, stocked up for the week.

It’s always good when you and your best friend are the same size, that way you can share clothes….wait….oh well, clothes or no clothes Lhasa is the best friend a girl could have.

To rest and digest.  A simple explanation of the actions related to the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).  The PNS is the place we need to be in order to find the deep healing of the mind and body. This deep healing should be an ongoing journey and a regular practice for everyone.

Wednesdays have become my day to rest and digest.  I have decided to hold this day as my day off from seeing clients and from training.  Instead it is my day to focus on my work with BCMT and receive my weekly massage.   It is such a nice break in my week and just what I need to recharge my systems and slow down my physical being.

Today was no less delightful.  Morning coffee in bed, breakfast at Southside Walnut, back to the house for 4 hours of work and tea, off to my massage where I lost my ability to speak and fell into my body.  Drove very slow home for a wrap up of the day at work and onto a restful night.

Sunday started with the typical too much coffee and half bagel (yes, I’m back on the bagels and slowly pulling BJ over to the dark side).  They are just so damn good - sesame toasted perfectly, MaraNatha no stir organic PB and wildflower honey.   Oh my….so delicious!

Not the best breakfast before a swim but I couldn’t hold out, I had to have it.

We headed to the pool with full bellies for a 2800 yd swim.  800 yd TT: 12:43 - I believe that is 1:35 per 100yds.  Not the fastest but not the slowest either.  Definitely a speed decline between the 400 and the 800 as I can hold under a 1:30 pace for the 400.  That’s what these weekly TTs are all about, stretching out the pace over longer distances, getting stronger in the pool.  Next week is a 1650 TT - no idea how that will end up especially after our friend’s engagement party Saturday night.  We’ll see, could be a battle as I don’t sacrifice fun (i.e. wine drinking) for training.  I’m prepared to pay the price.

BJ gave me these beautiful flowers for V-day - he also took me to my favorite store, Rags to pick out a few new items (granted it’s a consignment shop but its my favorite and I felt like Pretty Woman), then a movie and dinner.  Great weekend, today is my long run, OD bike and seeing clients.  Looking forward to a solid week with no sickness, just energetic days.

This week started out strong with a 400 TT in the pool on Sunday, I ended up at 5:54 - I guess we’re doing an 800 TT tomorrow.  I feel good about it but I haven’t be in the pool for a week.  You see, I headed out for a vacation to hell on Tuesday morning at 3:36am.

Woke up to a battle in my GI tract which persisted for the next 18 hours.  Health eventually prevailed but it was dicey there for a while.  I took a homeopathic  remedy and some digestive aids that helped to balance the microflora in my battlefield.  My body was incredibly painful so I gave myself  lots of massage with arnica and used a heating pad to increase blood flow and maintain movement towards change.  All of this helped the process quite well and I was feel like a different person on Wednesday although I battled a nasty ass headache through Thursday.

Yesterday was my first day back into the world of activity - I opted for NIA, ‘through movement we find health’.  I needed to move and move laterally.  I felt so fluid and comfortable in skin.  It was just what I needed.  It felt like a bit of a rebirth; my re-entry into implicit health and joy.  At the end the instructor was talking about creating our house - constructing our physical world in our hearts and minds.  Making it just the way we want and embracing our choices.

Choices to love.  To love our body and mind, spirit and self.   The choice that we all have to love our house and everything in it that makes us who we are.

So today, the day dedicated to love (and millions of dollars in marketing), love your house and embrace your life.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

You can vary the recipe sometimes by adding a schmear of cream cheese down the middle of the corn tortilla before spooning in the sweet potato filling.  We didn’t use cream cheese - taste great without it but I also read goat cheese, ok now that sounds incredible.

Quickie Green Chile Sauce (I bought some organic green chile sauce at Whole Foods):

1 cup light vegetable broth
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch dissolved in a little cold water
1 generous cup chopped roasted green chiles- hot or mild
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder, hot or mild, to taste

For the filling:

1 15-oz can organic black beans, rinsed, drained
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh lime juice from 1 big juicy lime
2 heaping cups cooked sweet potatoes, smashed a bit, but still chunky [I cube mine, then soften just a little]
1/2 cup chopped roasted green chiles
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or curry, mild or spicy, as you prefer
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

To Assemble:

2-4 tablespoons light olive oil or vegetable oil, as needed
8 white corn tortillas (we used red chili organic flower tortillas from Whole Foods)
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, or vegan cheese, if desired

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Choose a baking dish that would hold 8 enchiladas.

Make your Quickie Green Chile Sauce by combining the broth, dissolved arrowroot, green chiles, garlic and spices in a sauce pan and heating over medium-high heat. Bring to a high simmer. Simmer until thickened. Taste test. Set aside.

In the meantime, using a mixing bowl, combine the drained black beans with minced garlic and lime juice. Toss to coat the beans and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the lightly smashed sweet potatoes with the chopped green chiles; add the spices. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the Quickie Green Chile Sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.

Grab a skillet and heat a dash of oil. Lightly cook the corn tortillas to soften them - one at a time - as you stuff each one. Lay the first hot tortilla in the sauced baking dish; wet it with the sauce. Spoon 1/8 of the sweet potato mixture down the center. Top with 1/8 of the black beans. Wrap and roll the tortilla to the end of the baking dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce. If you like, top with a sprinkle of shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the enchiladas are piping hot and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.

ENJOY - these enchiladas rock it out.

Thursday was a great reminder of why I live in Boulder, why I work for myself and that I’ve managed (with BJ) to carve out this simple life of flexibility and gratefulness.  Never moreso than yesterday did I feel the reasons why I live here and why I live the life that I do.    My practice has been crazy since the beginning of the year with lots of last minute schedule changes and reshuffling of my day.  It’s not a problem, it’s just the way it is this time of year.  I have more last minute availability so I have the flexbility to move things around.  Thursday was no different I had some shifts in the schedule which left me with all day free and my first client at 3:30.   What to do?  What to do?  Train, that’s what I’ll do.

Headed out around 10am for 40 miles, decided to do the Boulder Peak course, can’t get enough of Old Stage right?   The weather was incredible, no wind, no clouds, not a lot of cars on the road, my body felt incredible and my head was totally in the game.  I had no pressure and plenty of time to get my workout in.  The entire ride was nothing less than sheer bliss.  Finished off with a short run off the bike, stretched, fueled and headed down to my office to work.

No stress, no pressure just flexibility and a goregeous day.  I love living in Boulder, specifically in Boulder.  The only other place I could live is on the ocean and I’m going to need that again in my life.  Ideally it will be the combo of two homes, one in Boulder and one on the ocean.  Why not?  Nothing is out of the question.

That pretty much sums up my Tuesday and man was it a great day!  Saw clients in the morning then went out for my long run, I have great trail access behind my office.  Came home, stretched, showered, ate and then back to work for afternoon clients.  Came home around 6:30 and on the bike for an hour OD ride.  Ate dinner and to bed.  The one thing I’m really battling with is that I had to take 3 showers yesterday - not good but a necessity nonetheless, I’m sure my clients appreciated it.

Today is my day off from massage and working out.  Just able to focus on my BCMT job and oh yes a 90 minute massage with one of my fabulous therapists Jen.  Boy do I need it.  Time to reset.