New Post New Post!

I'm finally getting around to writing a new post, which is super exciting! The Legislative Session started 2 weeks ago and things are pretty much in "attack mode" in the office. Although sometimes attack mode better describes what we do to the snacks in the kitchen rather than pieces of legislation. There are some pretty exciting things cooking under the Gold Dome so here's a synopsis:

1. Frenemies

This year started as any year starts with a bunch of "we'll work together, we will work for Colorado, we won't fight, we will find solutions...blah blah blah". It is great sounding rhetoric on opening day speeches, but in practicality there is still a very strong election year vibe of hatred going on down here. Some of you might ask why, why don't they just suck it up and work together. The answer is complicated, but in the short of it elections matter, who controls the House/Senate matters, and this is decided by what you do during the year because the Corporate Personhood People will run ads this summer about who voted for what and why they are bad. The House spent a good chunk of their time last week discussion a House Resolution to hold a Constitutional Convention to repeal the Federal Healthcare law. Pundits are in agreement that this was largely done because two House Democrats are running for federal office and they wanted them "on the record" voting for Federal Healthcare. The resolution is: HR12-1003, it is nonbinding and the Senate won't even bring it up or discuss it. This is coupled onto some fighting within the same party which makes for a really joyous lovable attitude down at the Capitol.

2. Screw you Feds we're going home

There are a lot of bills this session that have to do with repealing federal requirements, asking for waivers from federal requirements, and overall anger over "big brother" telling us what to do. There are several bills that look at health care, the federal healthcare law, and one that deals with assessment testing in education.

3. Jobs jobs jobs

Jobs, that's the theme, and by golly we are going to create jobs in Colorado. The Democrats and Republican's both released their "jobs package" on the first day. Republicans are looking at it from removing red tape and regulations, Democrats are looking at it from creating opportunities for employment. The real interesting part of the story will be what happens to these bills when they go over to the other house.

I'd love to write more, but I'm about drained for the day. Hopefully I'll be able to update on more specific bills that I'm interested in and keep tabs on as they move through the process. If you don't understand how a bill watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-eYBZFEzf8

Training: Day 1

So training Day 1 actually happened on Sunday, but I'm just getting around to writing it...

My good friend Ryan (who also writes a great running blog called feets of pedestrianism) let me know that sadly Leadville has filled up for this year. All I can say is, "lucky for you runners because I just ran 6 miles". The race is in August so let's just say that Training Day 1 does not mean I'm racing this August.

I am doing a couple races this year with the potential to do more. It sort of depends on the frisbee season. If I play I usually cut off my running in June so I don't get hurt and that means all my races have to happen from March to June. Which seems like a lot of time, but not a lot when you look at weekends and recovery. Here's my race list so far:

Salida Run Through Time Half Marathon - March 10th
Canyonlands Half Marathon (Moab) - March 17th
Grandma's Marathon (Duluth) - June 16th

I am looking into more races and it sort of depends on how I feel. There are a couple I've done in the past that I literally signed up for the week (or a couple days) before. Those include:

Platte River Half Marathon - April 15th
Bentonville Running Festival - March 31st (I did this one on a whim because I was visiting Arkansas at the time for my nephews baptism, it was a fun race and I got a full size bottle of mustard in my race packet).

I'd like to get in another full marathon so if anyone has an idea shoot it my way. The Salida race has a full marathon component, however it is a trail race so I am still working up to doing a full on trail. I also don't think I can get enough training in before then to feel good about it.

So anyways, training day 1...
Sunday was nice out, cold but really sunny so it was warm to run. We just got some snow so I wore my trail running shoes in case I encountered any ice. I ran the "Sloan's Lake" route, which is about 6 miles. Here are the details:

Length : ~6miles
Time: 1hr 5min

Not really a fast pace by any means (over a 10min mile), but I'm trying to remind myself that right now I just need to rebuild my base for mileage and speed isn't a big factor right now. For training I'm using the www.marathontraining.com guide Mileage Buildup Schedule. I hope to move into the actual marathon training schedule for marathon training and beyond. Jeremiah used this and he got second one time so I'm pretty hopeful this will slingshot me into the olympics.

My goals for this month of running are as follows:

1. Run at least 4 days per week (one of those runs a morning run)
2. Go to either crossfit or yoga one day a week
3. Lift at least 2 days a week
4. Run a total of 75 miles.

Wish me luck! Yesterday was a "rest" day so today I need to run 3 miles. The way this training guide works, the runs during the week are not so long that I can't fit them in because of my work schedule which is awesome.

Oh yeah, the Colorado General Assembly starts tomorrow. I'm going to try really hard to post something about the first day and what to expect for the next 120 days.