This N That

I've completed two regional agility events with Gusto. Both results are very similar, great, fast runs but one mistake keeping him from getting a lot of IFCS (international) points. This year is a try out year for the international competition held in England in 2010. I was not sure I was ready to compete for the points race but decided to go ahead and give it a shot. I did not sign the intent to compete form though as I wanted to see how we did at the 3 scheduled events.

He handled really well (except for both Round 1 Grand Prix runs). His times were right there with the top dogs - sometimes he had the fastest time. BUT one bar, one missed up contact kept us from doing well. I'm thrilled with where he is right now but we were soooooo close to getting a lot of the IFCS points in the 26 inch height class. He is sitting in 10th place but many folks have only done 2 events, Gusto has done 3. Tenth out of 70+ dogs that have earned points isn't horrible all things considered. It sets me up pretty well for the next competition year which is 2011-2012. He will be a little more seasoned and will hopefully handle his excitement level better or I will or we both will as a team.

I feel great about how I handled the pressure. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone but my ground speed or rushing him has caused some errors. I put him on a fitness program at the suggestion of several folks in an attempt to see if he can do better with the bars. I didn't start soon enough though but maybe it will set us up to have a fantastic National experience this year.

On a workout note, I have been running 2 miles early in the AM before Greg leaves for work so that Robbie can be watched (trying to protect his injured shoulder from his crazy self). I have been tracking my workouts including my warm ups. I only tracked my run today and my pace is 9.25 average over the 2 miles. Much better than I had thought as most of my tracking showed 12+. I'm going to keep plugging away as I seriously hope to someday give a 5k race a try. I have much work to do before I enter a race though.

A Must Have Photo

Oh my! Look at Gusto's expression!!! Priceless.

http://www.pbase.com/barryrosen/image/113153602

Competition is Fierce

I was at Flexi's USDAA trial yesterday. Gusto is totally qualified for Nationals but my last GP Q down in Maryland wasn't flawless. I ran conservatively to get his final Q so I let him land wide to guard the bars. He has been dropping 1 bar per class lately so I was getting extremely annoyed with him. I realized that I cannot push him with my own ground speed and I cannot ask for real tight turns in certain situations right now because he cannot handle it.

This weekend I set a goal for keeping the bars up or carrying him out if he didn't. I have really been focused on teaching him how to deal with all kinds of situations while he is jumping. I still work his weavepoles because he will forget to rock back to get in but my primary focus has been jumping. I do not do jump grids with Gusto. He does them perfectly so I do not feel that is helping him. Instead, I set up weird angles, I send him to jumps that he notoriously cuts too tight. I send him to the backside - all kinds of situations while I am running, talking, throwing toys. If the bar comes down, he gets in trouble, bars stays up then he gets praised and rewarded.

Maybe the hard work is starting to pay off. He was truly amazing yesterday. We went 3 for 3 clean. First run was Snooker and he took a nasty leap off the frame because he didn't get on straight. After making sure he was ok, we finished the run and he won the class. Next run was Standard - he ran very nice but went wide in several places because I am letting him jump before asking him to do anything. He took 2nd - behind his brother, Whip. Not sure what the time difference was but it was at least .5 seconds. Grand Prix was last. I really wanted him to run another one clean. I only have 2 local GP Qs EVER.

I went to the line not with winning in mind but with qualifying. I wanted him to keep his bars up so I didn't push him. Although, I wasn't jogging either but I was not asking for tight turns. He ran a beautiful run but had several wide turns and got caught in the tunnel so he took 2nd place behind Drifter by .4 seconds.

I have taken second place to 4 dogs locally - all of which have placed or won Nationally. The competition is tight in this part of the country. It makes us all better handlers and trainers. I have alot of work to do to reach some of my goals or dreams with Gusto. He is not quite ready to be pushed. You cannot spare wide turns if you want to win or even place Nationally.

I'm off to Perry on Wednesday for my favorite regional event. I will be going down with running clean in mind and will have to live with whatever results that gives me. For now, I'm an also-ran.

A Short Spin

My whole agility career is up in the air right now. It looks like the owner of the current location that I teach is going to want us out of the building when she makes changes for daycare. Without a source of income, I can no longer show my dog. I am going to go to Nationals but it will probably be my last trip out unless I find a flexible part-time job.

I was so upset, I hopped on the indoor bike and pounded out my frustration. I went only 5 miles, I do not want to injure my IT Band but DARN it felt great to pound!

I can always revive my cycling attempt if I am not trying to save my leg for agility. Not sure what I will do with all of these hyper-active BCs though. They definitely are not for the quiet life. One is barking at me at the moment because he is bored - of course, he is in hobbles and can't do a darn thing but he doesn't care a lick about that. He is saying, "do something with me". Poor boy.

I'm So Relieved

Life has been a bit crazy lately. I've been trying to locate an alternative place to teach agility. This search is not going very well. It cost A LOT of money to rent space large enough to do agility and the start up cost is quite expensive. If you take on this endeavor by yourself, you better be willing to work many hours and maybe even put on run thrus and trials to help cover your rental fee.

I prefer teaching part-time so that I can be home with Devin while he is still young and wants to be with his Mom. My current agility location is really bugging me. She is increasing my rental fee but the extra income she is going to get will not be used to help me replace gear as it breaks or ages. So when the gear breaks or needs to be replaced, it is coming out of my pocket. If I was the only person using this gear, I would have NO problem replacing it. However, the building is rented by other folks, I do not get a cut from this rental income. Also, she is putting in doggie daycare this Summer. I can guarantee they will use my gear to exercise the dogs. Do I get any compensation for this if they break the gear? NO I do not.

I am searching for alternatives. This is all trivial in the large scheme of life though. It's bugging me to not have an answer but it is still a minor problem.

There are bigger problems in this world. Like the neighbor's boy that has been fighting cancer. He is in remission but gets scan every 3 months to make sure he is still clear. He went for his scan yesterday and we usually get the word rather quickly. Yesterday, the news was late coming and we all feared the worst because he had been quite sick lately. He was not fighting off strep. But the news was GOOD when we finally got it. They discovered that he actually had pneumonia which was why the antibiotics wasn't helping initially. The poor family, as if they haven't suffered enough. Tonight, I want to take a bottle of wine down to the Mother so we can drink and celebrate life. It is so precious.

Last LAX Game

What a game! Intense is the best way to describe it. The team we played wanted to win badly, they played with ferocity. Actually, a bit too rough for this age group. The refs had to stop play several times and explain to the kids that the checks they were doing were either not legal, or too rough. We played this same team on Saturday but I was not home so didn't get to witness how rough they were. The other team did a lot of over-celebration when they would get a goal.

We unleashed several of our football players to help keep these kids in check. It worked. They backed of a little bit when they realized we weren't going to back down from the contact. One of our players, my son, unleashed several checks with fury because he was a bit miffed at their illegal hits. He flattened several of their kids - legally. The Refs did tell him to tone it down a bit though cuz he sent a few kids flying.

In the end, we won the game. Our Head Coach's son, JD, actually won the game for us. He called a time out with about 1 to 2 minutes left in the game and pumped the boys up. They went out on the field in a flurry with much more intensity, got a final shot off at the last second that won the game!

I will miss coaching these kids. They were alot of fun. I believe that many do plan to return next year as does my son. He really enjoyed the last 3 games of the season.

LAX Pic of Dev

Dev in the red. We have had a frustrating season of losses but it is a great game. I am glad he played and I got a chance to coach him. I do not believe he will be playing next year. He would like to try agility if Robbie is able to run in the Spring.

Robbles

Robbie in hobbles for his shoulder injury. We are 5 weeks out, 7 more weeks in the hobbles and 4 to 5 months of rehab until I find out if he can do agility or herding. GRRRR!

Work Out Analysis

I am finally starting to feel a bit more fit for running. I still cannot get passed the 2 mile point. Sounds awful, like something is wrong with me but in reality, I am a sprinter and have always struggled with distance. I have a goal of doing 3 miles by the end of summer. I haven't been able to get out enough since Robbie has to be watched like a hawk for the next 7 weeks. I did find a partial solution, I take Abbey out as a running partner. She causes him to bounce his crate across the kitchen which is not good on his shoulder. If I take her with me, he is much calmer in the crate at home. She is a pain to run with though - she won't jog in front of me. She likes to jog behind my heals!!!! She is a former herding dog (broken) so I think she is trying to drive me on - she did have me in hysterics on Friday. Her weird leg, back issue does not seem to be bothered by jogging with me - my pace is too pathetically slow to irritate her.

So she is my new partner for now. Gusto was supposed to be my partner to keep him fit for agility but I got to do what I got to do for now so I can get out and run.

Howdy - I'm Back

I finally have some things to write about. Sorry those of you following my fitness write ups - there hasn't been much to say since I am stuck at home with my young dog during his post-surgery recovery. I have gotten out to run twice - need to record that in my fitness log. It was stinking hot on Friday when I ran. I felt like I was running through pea soup.

I have not been on the bike for weeks and my IT Band feels fantastic! So I do think that my cycling days are over and I will probably be selling my bikes for extra cash. Anyone interested? I have a gorgeous RED Specialized Allez with carbon forks, seatstays, with ZERT inserts. The bike is amazing - love it. It was my racing bike. I might keep my trainer bike though - just in case. I can't seem to totally give up on cycling. Have to admit, running is much easier. Only gear required are the sneaks and the Ipod.

Agility is going ok. My ONLY competition dog is dropping bars. I'm a bit frutrated by this; I carried him out yesterday for dropping bars and he decided to keep all the bars up in Grand Prix. I need this Q, it was the last Q to get him qualified for Nationals. YAY! He is totally Qd now. I am really not in the mood to drive all over creation, waste gas and entry fees to carry him out for dropping bars. Oh well, this year will be a year of getting his head straight. He is a super fast, super athletic boy so it will be worth it in the long term.

Howdy Y'all

I haven't been blogging lately because I just didn't feel like trying to be witty or clever or even interesting. Must be left over Winter blues or feeling stressed about my young dog's upcoming surgery or MAYBE it's because I haven't been working out as much. I noticed that as I train my dog (I'm down to one trainable dog right now), I tend to work out less.

I was just on Breaking the Tape to review my workouts and definitely noticed that I have dropped off recently but I have been working my dog more so it's not that I am getting lazy, I just have less time to fit the workouts in. My fitness level is good though, my legs feel strong, my IT Band is good.

Well this post wasn't witty or cleaver but at least I felt like writing something.

Happy Easter to everyone.

LAX First Game

We had our first Lacrosse game. What fun! the boys did quite well but we were out scored today.

Devin did well in all positions played and was our only goal scorer - he was thrilled. Yay for my boy! He flattened several kids to get ground balls, made several other really good plays. I think he is going to do well because he is not afraid of contact or being physical.

My voice is a bit hoarse from yelling to help coach the boys. It was a great getaway from the dog stuff.

On to some other topics - Robbie has to have shoulder surgery on April 13. They want to scope his joint to find out what is causing the instability. It will be expensive and the recovery time will be a nightmare but we need to be aggressive in treatment to try to give him the best chance to resume his active life and career. I'm so not looking forward to his therapy, trips to Maryland, the cost involved, and the restrictions on his active life. UGH!

Got on my bike today - had a great spin indoors. Listened to some heavy music; kept me motivated and my average speed was much higher today. I couldn't stay on long since we had to leave for the LAX game. I am starting to feel stronger and am getting used to the new riding position that my pedal extensions cause. I'm still not where I want to be and I may never ride outside but really - never say never. Just maybe not too soon.

No OCD

Robbie had his Xrays done yesterday at my local vets to rule out Osteochondritis (OCD). He does not have it - but he does have laxity in both shoulders with the right shoulder being more lax.

OCD would have been a much preferred diagnosis as the surgery repairs the issue with 100% success. He is scheduled to see a specialist near Columbia, MD. This vet practice specializes in orthopedic issues and has done arthroscopic surgery to repair tears in the shoulder ligaments. We can hope that Robbie's is mild and will not require surgery AND that he will return to normal function. It's all unknown at this point. Just the horrible waiting game to find out if he will be able to do agility. At this point, he can be a normal pet with minimal issues. The wear and tear of agility may affect his front though.

If he cannot do agility because of this issue, I do not know what I will do. I got him to do herding and agility. He probably wouldn't hold up to the turns necessary to keep up with sheep either. It's all a big question for now. I hope to know more on Friday after his visit.

I'm Amazed

Wow - the boys on our Lacrosse team are seriously out of shape. We had them run 2 laps around a partial lacrosse field. I ran with them and they struggled. I'm way older than they are and had no issues doing the laps and several boys were suffering. It really shocked me to see young kids not able to do a gentle, short jog.

On a good note, practice was a blast. I worked with one of the other coaches and we did some offense drills and I was able to help. The boys did really well and our future goalie is impressive. Very fast reaction times.

In talking with one of Devin's football coaches today, this boy plays ice hockey. No wonder he has good reaction times. He's fantastic. Devin did really well with all of his drills - his skills are really coming along. We have a unscheduled practice set for tomorrow for anyone that wants to join. I'm looking forward to it.

The Nightmare Begins

The news was not good. Robbie didn't have Xrays so we do not really know the extend of the news except that the vet was able to manipulate his shoulder in and out of the socket way more than he should which leads him to believe we are dealing with some sort of shoulder luxation. Shoulder luxation would be similar to having your knee give out on you when you went to put weight on it. It can be congenital, it can be from trauma.

He is scheduled for Xrays on Monday even though my appt yesterday was specifically for the f-ing Xrays. I was very pissed that they weren't prepared to do them when I told them that was why I was bringing him in!!!! UGH!

Prognosis depends on how bad it is and what the root cause could be - if that can be determined. Worse case scenario is that his shoulder parts are not formed properly - this is congenital and surgery rarely helps. This would be a career ending issue. Best case scenario is that his ligaments are loose from injury and they will heal themselves with rest. Surgery may be required but I do not know at this point.

I've talked to 2 friends that have dealt with this same issue in their border collies. One required surgery, one required rest and therapy. Both are doing agility and were seen by the same vet out in Pittsburgh. Believe me, I will take him to that vet if he needs surgery. I want the best possible chance for a full athletic career - the reason I got him. I cannot rehome this boy, my family threw an absolute fit when I told them we might have to place him in a pet home. Husband and son adore this dog as do I. Like I need another dog that sits at home and looks pretty! I'm down to one competition dog.

I will keep running and cycling in hopes that I can try some racing (running) to replace agility. I can't keep collecting dogs to do agility with and I get too attached to place them in new homes when they don't work out. If your shoes don't work out, you get news ones. I know some folks that take that philosophy with dogs. I'm not one of them.

Will post more information as soon as I have some details.

Not Sure What to Call This One

I hopped on the indoor bike and did a 30 minute work out - it is raining out today and I didn't feel like doing the Treadhell. My legs felt good but I had some kneecap slippage in my left knee. I'm wondering if my position needs to be changed now that I am starting to make progress. Something to pay attention to for sure. My speeds are improving - not by leaps and bounds but nice and steady. Woo Hoo! Running speeds and distances are improving too.

I had a discussion with a friend of mine about my 4 yr old Border Collie, Gusto. She thinks I should do some AKC trials and get him qualified for World Team try outs next year. This is not the first time I have heard this; it is now the third or fourth time I have heard this. Here is the catch - I dislike going, entering, doing AKC shows. Unfortunately, international competition for USDAA (my preferred venue) is every other year and Gusto probably will not be ready this year. Or I should say, I won't be ready. Gusto actually is doing quite well given who he has for a handler. I do have to say that I am getting a bit bored with agility. I just don't have any serious goals for this year since getting Gusto's ADCH. I plan to qualify him for Nationals and I want to do well at Regionals and I do have IFCS in the back of my mind but I am just not motivated. It may have to do with Robbie's upcoming xrays which will happen in the next 2 hours.

I'm watching college basketball, I cleaned, I cycled and I am trying to occupy my mind until it is time to take Robbie to his appt. I'm hoping for answers or at least to rule out stuff. Waiting sucks!

First Outdoor Practice

We did our first scrimmage with the boys at LAX practice last night. The sport of LAX is extremely fast and fun. I am surprised at how quickly the boys are learning how to throw, catch, craddle and scoop. I know it would take me MUCH longer to learn - I'm sure their youthful brains help them.

I am not able to really help; I'm observing and learning. If I see anything, I will talk to the Head Coach and ask questions. So maybe in that way, I can help. If he gives the kids instructions that I don't understand or they seem confused, I will ask a clarifying question so the boys know what to do. I did that last night for one of the drills.

Devin did extremely well in the scrimmage last night - he played a Defense position and was able to steal the ball several times and run down the field. The scrimmages will get Devin excited for the sport, he absolutely hates skill drills.

During one of the lectures (short but necessary), Devin got all fidgety - he learns by doing so listening to verbal instructions causes him to tune out. I was secretly laughing in my head because he reminds me of me. At the end of practice, I was talking to the other coaches and Devin came up and got my car keys and got in the car. Thankfully, he doesn't know how to drive yet, he probably would have driven off and left me there. He does watch me shift the Stang's manual transmission so I have a feeling it wouldn't take him long to learn. I better start hiding the keys, he loves the Mustang.

What a Beautiful Day!

Went for a run and remembered to take my IPod and Nike Plus equipment so I could track my results. I love that little piece of gear. It talks to me and I definitely push a bit more when I wear it.

I twisted my ankle on Saturday at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and could barely run my dog at this trial on Sunday. I iced it, elevated it, wrapped it and by Monday morning, it felt great so I thought I would try it out today. I wrapped it and went. Felt great. My left hamstring, however, was very tight so I will be doing lots of stretching today.

Tonight is our first outdoor LAX practice. This should be interesting. I have no idea what I am doing and am sure I am of no help at this point but Devin loves that I am out there with him. I guess that is important for now.

Robbie, my young Border Collie, has his xray appt on Thursday. We are checking for OCD or any other issues in his shoulders and elbows. He seems off in the front end after exercising so I need to check this out further. He has already been seen by a PT and a Chiro Vet. After his adjustment on Wednesday, he is showing improvement but I also have not done any agility training with him and will not until after the xray results are done. I hate waiting but I need to rule out any issues with his joints.

The weather is beautiful today - the perfect Spring weather to get outside and shake off the Winter blahs!

What Fun

I went back to Middle Creek today - dressed for the temps so I could stay longer. I sat at a picnic table and had my camera at the ready. I was pretty happy with most of my shots. The first picture here is an eagle stretching it's wings - unfortunately, my zoom lense is lacking. I already know what will be on my birthday and Christmas list this year - more camera gear.

I really enjoyed going up there and trying to get some pictures. I listened in on a presentation to a group of elementary school kids and got to view the eagle close up using someone's telescope lense (there is another name for it but it totally escapes me at the moment).

I joined a local photography group. Their new member meeting is coming up and I am not able to attend due to teaching an agility class that night. I will have to try to get to another meeting though.

No work outs to report - my left knee is bothering me so thought I should take it easy today.

A Very Cool Sight

I took these pictures today at Middle Creek Wildlife Management area. The tundra swans and snow geese arrive every Spring on their migration back to the North. The management folks at Middle Creek estimate the numbers ranging from 100,000 to 150,000.

Too bad I don't have a functional camcorder - the noise that goes with this vision is amazing. Tundra swans have a unique sound, the snow geese are just noisy and the immature bald eagle soaring is peaceful. Three different sounds all in the space of seconds.

Wishing I had a bigger zoom lense and a tripod - I had gear envy seeing all the photographers there trying to capture this sight. It is truly amazing and not everyone gets to witness this spectacle!