24 hours

Saturday was a great 24 hours.

The training schedule called for a long trail run so Gary, William and I met at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park when the gates opened at 8am. If you are not from Amarillo, the canyon  is the 2nd largest in the U.S. behind the Grand Canyon.  Spending time in nature has always brought me closer to God, and I know that is why I really enjoy training outdoors.  We ran the trails for 2 hours/13 miles talking and catching up with each other (really just laughing a lot at Gary's stories). Time spent exercising always goes by faster and easier when I do it with friends. After the run we were supposed to ride our mountain bikes for an hour, but I had to head to the airport instead.

                                          Gary and William on the Lighthouse Trail.

For Christmas, I got Susan a gift that I was incredibly excited about.  Tickets to see The Black Keys at the new Cosmopolitan Hotel in Vegas for a Saturday night concert. Now, despite the fact that Susan has never heard of the band, well, that's beside the point. If you know Susan, she was game. The show was AMAZING, and she is now a big Black Keys fan: they have a great bluesy-alternative rock sound. Their set list included some of my favorites : Meet Me In The City, Everlasting Life, Howlin' For You, Next Girl, I Got Mine, Strange Times, I'll Be Your Man, and Tighten Up (#1 for me). 

                                         The Black Keys concert in the Chelsea Ballroom.

"Sin City" is not a place that I like to visit often, in fact, I did not bet a dime.  However, it allowed Susan and me to have some fun time together.  We were only gone 24 hours, but I'll hand it to Vegas - you can really have a blast in a short period of time.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting. Enjoy some pictures we took that made us laugh during our stay.
Sloan

Snow Day

When my friends told me they were going to train for this Inaugural Texas Ironman, I thought they were nuts because we all know how the Amarillo weather January through March can be such a beat down with wind and snow. You can't take a break during these critical months for a race that's scheduled in May.

Sure enough, the other morning I needed to get a 90 minute run in and when I woke up at 5am to single digit temperatures, this is what I saw in my backyard.

No surprise when I called the Downtown Athletic Club to see if they were open and Andrew Chaddick answered the call. "Sure we're open, come on down. The roads aren't too bad." was his report. Andrew gets credit for running an outstanding fitness club but also for having the idea for me to write this blog.

Only the die hard morning crew made it in that day. Maybe I have more dedication than brains since the schools and even my medical office ended up closing for the day.

That's my good bud, Spencer, on the spin bike with yours truly pounding away on the treadmill. It seems that the DAC is my home away from home these days even with the arctic weather.

I will admit that there is nothing more beautiful than 6 inches of new snow on a sunny day regardless of what it does to triathlon training.

Keeping It Balanced

It was time for a break from training and work, so Susan and I headed to the mountains with some good friends. We spent a long weekend skiing at Deer Valley in Utah, our first visit to this part of the country. Coach Key wasn't too thrilled at the idea because he has had previous clients injure themselves on the slopes. He still gave me his blessing and reassured me that I wouldn't lose any ground in my training.

Prior to leaving town, I hit it hard M/T/W with 2 hours of swimming, 2 hours of running , and 2 hours of biking before our Thursday morning flight. Even with all of the training under my belt, it was still difficult to keep up on the slopes with Dale and Benson, my friends from Amarillo. We used a new iPhone app called Ski Tracks to monitor our speed and distance covered. Tim might read this so I won't discuss my top speeds but Dale was sure tearing it up.  It was two days of great snow and skiing and after we arrived home at 2pm today I thought I'd go for a swim, but fatigue set in.  I opted for the P90X stretch instead. This is a 45 minute total body stretch workout that I try to complete once a week to help prevent injury.

Sloan, Dale and Benson

On another note, I didn't realize how much my appetite has increased since starting all of this training. This is just my dessert plate. I am now black-listed from the Montage buffet.

Thanks for checking in - hope you have a great week.
Sloan

On Call

Just finished another week of being "on call" for my urology practice while trying to keep up with my training schedule. When I take call for the ER and my 7 partners,  the coverage includes the entire Panhandle North of Plainview and parts of New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  You never know what to expect while being on call, and honestly it is an unnerving experience because I have no control what I encounter.  This weekend I treated a lot of kidney stones; which is always better than the non-typical trauma case, like a lacerated kidney from a horse kick or gunshot wound to the bladder that I have treated on previous calls.
Philippians 4:6, " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God." I pray this verse before I start my "call" week and it is amazing how my worry and anxiety level disappears. Thankfully the good Lord answers my prayer by never giving me anything that I can't handle and He gives me the ability to treat patients the best that I possibly can.

It also surprises me when He still provides time for me to train. For example, on Saturday I was able to get a 2000 yd swim in early, round on my patients in the hospital, perform a few surgeries, and still had time for an 80 minute/9 mile run in the afternoon. Sunday morning started out busy with three surgeries, but I finished by 2pm.  Due to the snowfall, my 3 hour scheduled bike ride had to be done on my stationary trainer indoors. Below is a picture of my setup.  (yes, Susan was gracious enough to let me plant myself in our living room as long as I promised to put tons of towels down to catch the sweat!) I watched a movie "The Social Network" and the first half of the Super Bowl and even with the TV it was not as satisfying as a great ride outdoors.  Regardless, it kept my training on schedule and I am still having fun.

Have a great week and thanks for the visit.