#1) It hurts.
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| Exhibit A1 |
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| Exhibit A2 |
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| Exhibit B. |
Ok, yeah that last one isn't bad. I just wanted to share more pictures. :)
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Marcy me
Josh bought me a new bike. :)
Review from bikemagic:
http://bikemagic.com/gear/bike-reviews/pivot-mach-429-full-suspension-bike-29er-review.html
We've scrounged up the rest of the parts we need and are getting wheels built. Josh thinks he can have it all put together and ready by Thursday. I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to components or wheels, but I do know it is going to be light and fast and comfortable. :) I'll be riding it for Leadville, for sure.
For anyone who doesn't know and was wondering, the appropriate number of bikes in your stable is n + 1. n being the number of bikes you currently own. Yes, this brings the current number of bikes we own to nine (Jacque: 3 mountain bikes - Clyde, Marcy, and Tater, 1 flip-flop commuter - don't worry, you've probably never heard of the name anyway, and 1 roadie - The Lady Bird; Josh: 2 mountain bikes, 1 flip-flop commuter, and 1 roadie). Yes, I name my bikes. And yes, I call it a stable.
Review from bikemagic:
http://bikemagic.com/gear/bike-reviews/pivot-mach-429-full-suspension-bike-29er-review.html
We've scrounged up the rest of the parts we need and are getting wheels built. Josh thinks he can have it all put together and ready by Thursday. I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to components or wheels, but I do know it is going to be light and fast and comfortable. :) I'll be riding it for Leadville, for sure.
For anyone who doesn't know and was wondering, the appropriate number of bikes in your stable is n + 1. n being the number of bikes you currently own. Yes, this brings the current number of bikes we own to nine (Jacque: 3 mountain bikes - Clyde, Marcy, and Tater, 1 flip-flop commuter - don't worry, you've probably never heard of the name anyway, and 1 roadie - The Lady Bird; Josh: 2 mountain bikes, 1 flip-flop commuter, and 1 roadie). Yes, I name my bikes. And yes, I call it a stable.
Yankee Springs TT Lack-of-race Report
I missed my first big race for this year. :(
I was all signed up and raring to go for the Yankee Springs Time Trial, scheduled for April 21. Last year I raced Sport class and finished mid-pack. I was pretty pleased with myself, given that I'd signed up last minute and so was slotted at the very back of the pack for the start, then didn't really push it or try to pass much but just followed another girl for awhile, and still finished with a fair amount of gas in the tank. This year I decided I'd put on my big girl panties and actually RACE. I signed up in the Expert class, which means two laps instead of one and some stiff competition. (I googled the other competitors, of course). And a few days after I signed up, my secret (read: completely unaware) arch-enemy, who beat me in every race we did together last year, signed up too. But I was excited about it - I've put in almost twice the miles this year as compared to last, and I was ready to suffer.
Unfortunately, I started the suffering a little early, in the form of a knock-down, drag-out cold. Or maybe the flu. I was exhausted and sleeping 12+ hrs a day. I had convinced myself that I felt better by Saturday, the day before the race. When the crud moves to your chest and you start coughing, that is a good sign because it means you are clearing stuff out, right? Josh was not so convinced, and told me I really shouldn't race. And I finally had to give in to reason. I would have raced terribly, dug myself into a huge fitness hole, and who knows how long it would have taken me to recover. (Plus I had a job interview scheduled for two days later - race day temps were forecast to be in the 40s and who knows what that would have done to my throat and voice. Kinda need a voice for an interview).
So I didn't get to race. I really have no idea how I would have placed. I haven't really had a good test of my fitness yet this year. Super secret arch-enemy of course did very well. Now I'm trying to decide if it would have been better to race and place poorly, so that I can lower expectations and then catch her off her guard later in the season with my incredible pace, or if it was good to not add another notch to her belt and bolster that confidence...
It probably wouldn't really make a difference either way. Does anyone elseover-analyze wonder about things like this, or is it just crazy ol' me? :)
I was all signed up and raring to go for the Yankee Springs Time Trial, scheduled for April 21. Last year I raced Sport class and finished mid-pack. I was pretty pleased with myself, given that I'd signed up last minute and so was slotted at the very back of the pack for the start, then didn't really push it or try to pass much but just followed another girl for awhile, and still finished with a fair amount of gas in the tank. This year I decided I'd put on my big girl panties and actually RACE. I signed up in the Expert class, which means two laps instead of one and some stiff competition. (I googled the other competitors, of course). And a few days after I signed up, my secret (read: completely unaware) arch-enemy, who beat me in every race we did together last year, signed up too. But I was excited about it - I've put in almost twice the miles this year as compared to last, and I was ready to suffer.
Unfortunately, I started the suffering a little early, in the form of a knock-down, drag-out cold. Or maybe the flu. I was exhausted and sleeping 12+ hrs a day. I had convinced myself that I felt better by Saturday, the day before the race. When the crud moves to your chest and you start coughing, that is a good sign because it means you are clearing stuff out, right? Josh was not so convinced, and told me I really shouldn't race. And I finally had to give in to reason. I would have raced terribly, dug myself into a huge fitness hole, and who knows how long it would have taken me to recover. (Plus I had a job interview scheduled for two days later - race day temps were forecast to be in the 40s and who knows what that would have done to my throat and voice. Kinda need a voice for an interview).
So I didn't get to race. I really have no idea how I would have placed. I haven't really had a good test of my fitness yet this year. Super secret arch-enemy of course did very well. Now I'm trying to decide if it would have been better to race and place poorly, so that I can lower expectations and then catch her off her guard later in the season with my incredible pace, or if it was good to not add another notch to her belt and bolster that confidence...
It probably wouldn't really make a difference either way. Does anyone else
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Spin Class
The spin instructor played this song today during class.
I absolutely love it. I know I've heard it somewhere else before - maybe in the Race Across the Sky video? (<-- BTW, watch this if you're wondering what this Leadville thing is that I've gotten myself into.)
Anyway, back to the song. Pardon the weird music video, but I love the song because listening to it I can just see myself riding across the open alpine-scape, above tree line, suffering, just pushing and pushing and pushing those pedals.... and with a silly grin on my face because I love. every. minute. of. it!! Man it gets me going!
I did two spin classes in a row today. I was on the trainer for almost 4 hours yesterday, and so I wasn't sure how I'd hold up with two hard hours today. The first hour was a little rough, and I only did every other interval, to keep some gas in the tank for the next hour. But then I hit it hard the second class and really started getting into it, endorphins a-flyin. I'm finding that the harder the class is, the more I like it. Thursday's instructor had us do a 30 minute climb, just adding gear after gear, and that was my favorite class so far. Two classes is a row is pretty hard and sweet too.
And speaking of spinning: This year is the first time I've tried it. It's just too cold out to ride outside and I don't have the motivation to ride alone on the trainer at home, so I figured I'd try out the class at the YMCA. I'm still doing some of my rides (the really long ones or easy ones) on my trainer at home, but at least twice a week I'm at the Y. I was a little worried though whether all that silly spin stuff (jumps, jumps on a hill, etc), not using the exact same muscles as my mtn bike, etc, would translate once I'm outside again. But I felt great last weekend for the entire Death March, so that was really encouraging.
I absolutely love it. I know I've heard it somewhere else before - maybe in the Race Across the Sky video? (<-- BTW, watch this if you're wondering what this Leadville thing is that I've gotten myself into.)
Anyway, back to the song. Pardon the weird music video, but I love the song because listening to it I can just see myself riding across the open alpine-scape, above tree line, suffering, just pushing and pushing and pushing those pedals.... and with a silly grin on my face because I love. every. minute. of. it!! Man it gets me going!
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The trail up Columbine Climb. Not my photo - (c) Romping and Rolling in the Rockies 2009-2013; check out her blog, she has some awesome shots. |
I did two spin classes in a row today. I was on the trainer for almost 4 hours yesterday, and so I wasn't sure how I'd hold up with two hard hours today. The first hour was a little rough, and I only did every other interval, to keep some gas in the tank for the next hour. But then I hit it hard the second class and really started getting into it, endorphins a-flyin. I'm finding that the harder the class is, the more I like it. Thursday's instructor had us do a 30 minute climb, just adding gear after gear, and that was my favorite class so far. Two classes is a row is pretty hard and sweet too.
And speaking of spinning: This year is the first time I've tried it. It's just too cold out to ride outside and I don't have the motivation to ride alone on the trainer at home, so I figured I'd try out the class at the YMCA. I'm still doing some of my rides (the really long ones or easy ones) on my trainer at home, but at least twice a week I'm at the Y. I was a little worried though whether all that silly spin stuff (jumps, jumps on a hill, etc), not using the exact same muscles as my mtn bike, etc, would translate once I'm outside again. But I felt great last weekend for the entire Death March, so that was really encouraging.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Death March Preppers
In addition to filling our dining room table with camping gear and turning the kitchen into a bike shop, other preparations are occurring in relation to the Death March. A good prepper always has a B.O.B. ready for a long ride - B.O.B. stands for Bike Off-road Bag, duh. ;) But seriously, you don't just go ride for 6 hours without thinking about one very important thing.
This is not just because I love stuffing my pie hole (although I do). Biking for roughly 6 hours and 65 miles burns approximately 3000 calories. That's for a 130 lb woman; Josh will burn a bit more. So if you want to keep going strong for that whole time, you have to stoke the fires. During Ironman, I planned on taking in approximately 200-250 calories an hour on the bike and run. While I haven't really worried about nutrition for the last few years (I figured most Xterras were short enough that I didn't need much other than some sports drink), I need to start thinking about it again and practicing for Leadville. And a nice 65 mile race in March makes for perfect nutrition practice.
During Ironman, I ate mostly Clif Bars - 1/6 of a bar per 15 minutes - and Ironman Perform (i.e. Powerbar's version of Gatorade). This year I wanted to experiment with homemade energy bars. Nothing wrong with the Clif Bars, they're all tasty and organic-like. But I would like to find something that I can easily make and don't have to pay $1/bar for.
So I poked around pinterest (one of my other favorite addictions) and found this recipe for Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies. I just happened to have somerotting extra ripe bananas laying around, so it sounded perfect. Then I found this recipe for homemade fruit leather, and decided to give that a go as well.
The cookies turned out great. The fruit leather was a bit of a challenge. One, I didn't have parchment paper as suggested to bake it on. So I just greased the cookie sheet up real well with some butter. I could have used my silpat (as one commenter suggested) but it was previously occupied making cookies. The butter worked mostly okay - there were a few places that the leather stuck when I peeled if off the pan, but not too bad. Just use more butter next time.
The second issue was that I didn't have any of that fancy agave nectar. So I just used honey, no problemo.
The last problem was that my oven is old and only goes down to 170 degrees, not the 150 recommended. So I just stuck a spoon in the door to prop it open, baked it for a few hours, and then left it to coast overnight. Oh, and then promptly forgot about it for a few days.
But it turned out fine.
So here they are, our nosh for this weekend. Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies, Blueberry Fruit Leather, and of course my famous Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies. (Which basically consist of peanut butter, sugar, more peanut butter, more sugar, an egg, and some baking soda).
I'm guesstimating that the fruit leather is about 50 calories a strip, the oat cookies are about 90 calories a piece, and the peanut butter cookies are about 150 each.
For Death March, I'm planning two cookies an hour (one each PB and Banana Oat), plus gatorade and water, and a fruit leather whenever I feel like it. We will also bring peanut butter and banana sandwiches in case we decide to stop and eat a real lunch. I'm a bit surprised at how many calories I can pack into a cookie, compared to a Clif Bar. Two small cookies seems like a lot less to eat per hour than a whole bar - so the only thing left is to see how my stomach likes them while working hard.
What you're going to eat that whole time.
This is not just because I love stuffing my pie hole (although I do). Biking for roughly 6 hours and 65 miles burns approximately 3000 calories. That's for a 130 lb woman; Josh will burn a bit more. So if you want to keep going strong for that whole time, you have to stoke the fires. During Ironman, I planned on taking in approximately 200-250 calories an hour on the bike and run. While I haven't really worried about nutrition for the last few years (I figured most Xterras were short enough that I didn't need much other than some sports drink), I need to start thinking about it again and practicing for Leadville. And a nice 65 mile race in March makes for perfect nutrition practice.
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| Yeah, it can get complicated... |
During Ironman, I ate mostly Clif Bars - 1/6 of a bar per 15 minutes - and Ironman Perform (i.e. Powerbar's version of Gatorade). This year I wanted to experiment with homemade energy bars. Nothing wrong with the Clif Bars, they're all tasty and organic-like. But I would like to find something that I can easily make and don't have to pay $1/bar for.
So I poked around pinterest (one of my other favorite addictions) and found this recipe for Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies. I just happened to have some
The cookies turned out great. The fruit leather was a bit of a challenge. One, I didn't have parchment paper as suggested to bake it on. So I just greased the cookie sheet up real well with some butter. I could have used my silpat (as one commenter suggested) but it was previously occupied making cookies. The butter worked mostly okay - there were a few places that the leather stuck when I peeled if off the pan, but not too bad. Just use more butter next time.
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| Lots of butter, leather, and baking. And more butter. Who does that make YOU think of? |
The second issue was that I didn't have any of that fancy agave nectar. So I just used honey, no problemo.
The last problem was that my oven is old and only goes down to 170 degrees, not the 150 recommended. So I just stuck a spoon in the door to prop it open, baked it for a few hours, and then left it to coast overnight. Oh, and then promptly forgot about it for a few days.
But it turned out fine.
So here they are, our nosh for this weekend. Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies, Blueberry Fruit Leather, and of course my famous Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies. (Which basically consist of peanut butter, sugar, more peanut butter, more sugar, an egg, and some baking soda).
I'm guesstimating that the fruit leather is about 50 calories a strip, the oat cookies are about 90 calories a piece, and the peanut butter cookies are about 150 each.
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| Looks like the PB Cookies are the win. Eek for the Fruit Leather. This is what happens when you can only find organic frozen berries... |
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Sub 9 Death March Prep
The Death March is coming!!
I am really excited about this race. A mtb'ing friend of ours, Ben, clued us in to this fun-fest. The race is located down in southern Indiana, just south of the famous Brown County trails (which we have yet to ride - here's hoping we can squeeze some in the day after the race while we are down there). Basically they let you loose on the mtb trails and gravel country roads with a list of seventeen old cemetaries. First team to check-in via digital photo in front of the most cemetaries and then get back to the finish line wins. The interesting part comes in when they give you 3 mandatory cemetaries ahead of time, announce two more mandatory checkpoints 5 minutes before the race starts, and then assign time bonuses for the rest.
So we've been prepping. First we bought this sweet map from National Geographic, then we cut out just the section we needed (saving ounces saves lives people!). After some intense discussion with other CAMBr peeps who are also doing the race (Ben, Deanna, Martha, and Dan), we began mapping.
It looks like if we hit all 17 cemetaries, we'll be doing approximately 65 miles. So maybe 6 hours of riding? That's all if we don't get lost!! (I hear Callahan is legendary for screwing people over...)
We were originally planning on hitting this hard and seeing how we stacked up against the other riders, but Josh hasn't been able to get much training in yet this season (flu, then kidney stones, then late nights and 3 a.m. mornings with work). So the plan at this point is to just get some mileage in and enjoy.
Other pre-race plans of course involve packing up all the bikes and gear! It's a little too cold outside to clean the bikes in the garage, so we make do. :)
I am really excited about this race. A mtb'ing friend of ours, Ben, clued us in to this fun-fest. The race is located down in southern Indiana, just south of the famous Brown County trails (which we have yet to ride - here's hoping we can squeeze some in the day after the race while we are down there). Basically they let you loose on the mtb trails and gravel country roads with a list of seventeen old cemetaries. First team to check-in via digital photo in front of the most cemetaries and then get back to the finish line wins. The interesting part comes in when they give you 3 mandatory cemetaries ahead of time, announce two more mandatory checkpoints 5 minutes before the race starts, and then assign time bonuses for the rest.
So we've been prepping. First we bought this sweet map from National Geographic, then we cut out just the section we needed (saving ounces saves lives people!). After some intense discussion with other CAMBr peeps who are also doing the race (Ben, Deanna, Martha, and Dan), we began mapping.
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| Yes, all the camping odds and ends ARE necessary for mapping. |
It looks like if we hit all 17 cemetaries, we'll be doing approximately 65 miles. So maybe 6 hours of riding? That's all if we don't get lost!! (I hear Callahan is legendary for screwing people over...)
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| Google Maps didn't include all the mtb trails, so the route will be slightly different from this. |
We were originally planning on hitting this hard and seeing how we stacked up against the other riders, but Josh hasn't been able to get much training in yet this season (flu, then kidney stones, then late nights and 3 a.m. mornings with work). So the plan at this point is to just get some mileage in and enjoy.
Other pre-race plans of course involve packing up all the bikes and gear! It's a little too cold outside to clean the bikes in the garage, so we make do. :)
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| Mmmm, men in the kitchen... |
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Last year's (2012) training mileage
Last year's swim, bike, and run looked something like this:
(click to make image larger)
(click to make image larger)
As you can tell, I'm terrible at actually getting my swim and run workouts in. The biking is a different story! :)
Right now this year's plan is only set through September. But even if I stopped cold turkey then, I'm planning on putting in twice as much swimming, over 2,500 more miles on the bike (hello Leadville training!), and about 3/4 of the running, as compared to last year. Of course, that is the plan.... we can all see what happened to that plan (esp. swim/run) last year!
Looking at that now makes me a little nervous... I have the dissertation to worry about this spring and will be working nearly full time this summer. Stuff I for sure was not thinking about last year! I think I can do it though. It will just take some good time management and focus. And I mean that in terms of getting the work and dissertation done - don't need no focus to make myself go for a bike ride! :)
Right now this year's plan is only set through September. But even if I stopped cold turkey then, I'm planning on putting in twice as much swimming, over 2,500 more miles on the bike (hello Leadville training!), and about 3/4 of the running, as compared to last year. Of course, that is the plan.... we can all see what happened to that plan (esp. swim/run) last year!
Looking at that now makes me a little nervous... I have the dissertation to worry about this spring and will be working nearly full time this summer. Stuff I for sure was not thinking about last year! I think I can do it though. It will just take some good time management and focus. And I mean that in terms of getting the work and dissertation done - don't need no focus to make myself go for a bike ride! :)
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