Well my posts have become not-so-regular these days! I warned that this might happen, but I'm trying my best to get back to it!
The weekend after my 72 mile ride, which was both mentally and physically challenging, I had a 75 mile buddy ride. For reasons unknown to me, I was not able to finish the 75 miles. I don't know if I was tired from the week before, if I didn't eat or drink enough during the ride, if I was just having an off day, or if I was just pooped! Whatever the case may have been, I rode about 56 miles and didn't make it to the finish that day. I was down on myself about it, until I finally realized that I still rode 56 miles, which is a long way to go on a bike!
Needless to say, the weekend after I was even more nervous about the team's first 80 mile ride. I ate and drank well all week, slept well, trained well, and rested well. I got up that morning and was really nervous about the ride. I had butterflies in my stomach and was just really doubting myself.
We started the ride in South San Jose and rode to Gilroy in the pouring rain. We got 4 flat tires along the way, were cold and wet and just couldn't get going. I was beginning to think I was having a repeat of the 75 mile incomplete ride. At some point after 30 miles I just decided that I wasn't going to have a bad day. I decided I was going to finish the ride, and I was going to finish it with a smile on my face and feeling good. The next 50 miles were almost perfect. I don't exactly know how it happened, but I finished 85 miles and was ready for more! I got home, showered, and then had enough energy to go directly to dinner and a movie! I was SO proud of myself and SO amazed that I had ridden 85 miles.
Last weekend we had another 85 mile ride, but this time it was a "Buddy Ride" which is unsupported and considered optional. Many people choose to use it as a rest weekend or to train on their own. I was nervous again about 85, but this time it was because I had such a great ride the weekend before! Funny how your mind plays tricks on you like that. I guess all this training is paying off - I finished another 85, although this one was admittedly harder than the last, and I didn't even have my pace group there to help me along! It ended up being me and a guy from my pace group - and the two of us tackled, conquered, and finished 85 miles all on our own!
I guess this means I'm ready for Tahoe! We have another 80 mile ride this Sunday in Santa Cruz this weekend, and then two weeks later is the main event!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
I rode 72 miles on my bicycle and all I got was, well, not much actually
I can't believe I rode 72 miles on a bicycle on Saturday. It seems outrageous and stupid, but I am very proud of myself! We started at Zott's in Portola Valley - we rode three different loops all starting and stopping at our cars. Mentally, loop courses are tough, which means they are great for training! We got to dump stuff off at our cars after each loop, refuel, and because I planned ahead of time, I had ice cold water waiting for me after each segment! The courses were familiar, both a good thing and a bad thing - the first 18 miles, the second 30 miles, and the last 24 miles.
All in all it was a great ride, but I was VERY happy to be finished! I couldn't have ridden much longer, which I suppose is the way our trainings are designed. I was so proud of myself and my pacegroup when we finished and I can't imagine how we will feel in Tahoe!
Next weeend is an 80 mile buddy ride and I'm already nervous about it!
All in all it was a great ride, but I was VERY happy to be finished! I couldn't have ridden much longer, which I suppose is the way our trainings are designed. I was so proud of myself and my pacegroup when we finished and I can't imagine how we will feel in Tahoe!
Next weeend is an 80 mile buddy ride and I'm already nervous about it!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Back to the road
After my break the weekend before, I was feeling nervous about last weekend's ride. This reminds me of when I was training for the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in 2005 and would go to sleep at 7pm the night before a long run. Ridiculous!
I didn't go to sleep at 7pm on Friday, but I did get plenty of sleep and ate a good meal of pasta with veggies the night before. I drank plenty of water last week, tried to eat well, and tried to get some good sleep - which was hard with my work week last week.
Saturday morning I met up with my team for a buddy ride starting in Cupertino. I rode with my coach (Hamid), three of my pacegroup members (Connie, Johnny, and Craig), and Connie's son. The ride was tough - longer than I've ridden before (close to 60 miles!) with a few challenging hills near the end of the ride. Good news is I made it, bad news is I almost got taken out by a Chevy Silverado going 70 mph on Foothill and a Mercedes Benz going 5 mph on the backside of Mt. Eden.
This weekend's team ride starts in Portola Valley. Who knows where will we go since we're scheduled for 72 miles! I hope the wind calms down, the promised sunshine isn't too sunny, and my legs don't feel like Jello after my week of yoga, pilates, and riding!
I didn't go to sleep at 7pm on Friday, but I did get plenty of sleep and ate a good meal of pasta with veggies the night before. I drank plenty of water last week, tried to eat well, and tried to get some good sleep - which was hard with my work week last week.
Saturday morning I met up with my team for a buddy ride starting in Cupertino. I rode with my coach (Hamid), three of my pacegroup members (Connie, Johnny, and Craig), and Connie's son. The ride was tough - longer than I've ridden before (close to 60 miles!) with a few challenging hills near the end of the ride. Good news is I made it, bad news is I almost got taken out by a Chevy Silverado going 70 mph on Foothill and a Mercedes Benz going 5 mph on the backside of Mt. Eden.
This weekend's team ride starts in Portola Valley. Who knows where will we go since we're scheduled for 72 miles! I hope the wind calms down, the promised sunshine isn't too sunny, and my legs don't feel like Jello after my week of yoga, pilates, and riding!
A weekend break (with Giraffes, of course)
I missed our April 4th team ride because of a mini-vacation I had planned for Ken's birthday. I planned and booked the vacation before I joined the team, so no comments about how I'm not committed!
Instead of riding, we drove up to Santa Rosa and stayed at Safari West, a wild animal reserve that offers all sorts of tours, as well as realistic Safari tent accommodations. On Saturday we went on a behind the scenes tour where we got to pet the world's smallest antelope (a blue diker named Lily), feed live meal worms to a acrobatic blue-throated roller, pet a porcupine, hang out with a vulture, and feed a 20 foot tall giraffe. It was a fun-filled, but crazy day!
After our tour we went to JoLe in Calistoga for dinner, an organic "Farm to Table" restaurant which proved to be one of the best restaurants I've ever been to, and I've been to many! After dinner we drove to Santa Rosa where our friends surprised Ken for drinks, which was quite a feat in many senses. Our plans changed at the last minute, I'm a terrible liar, my phone was ringing off the hook but couldn't answer it or Ken would know something was up, and three of the friends who met us there had just run a 50 mile race. Insane!
The next day we went to brunch at the Calistoga Inn, where Ken's mother, father, brother, and sister-in-law met up with us. Another surprise! After brunch we went on a private wine and cheese safari at Safari West. We saw all sorts of animals and the weather was perfect. I think everyone had a fabulous time!
Sometimes it's okay to take a break from training - especially for special occassions! Although I didn't train that weekend, I made up for the the following weekend with a buddy ride - post to follow shortly!
Instead of riding, we drove up to Santa Rosa and stayed at Safari West, a wild animal reserve that offers all sorts of tours, as well as realistic Safari tent accommodations. On Saturday we went on a behind the scenes tour where we got to pet the world's smallest antelope (a blue diker named Lily), feed live meal worms to a acrobatic blue-throated roller, pet a porcupine, hang out with a vulture, and feed a 20 foot tall giraffe. It was a fun-filled, but crazy day!
After our tour we went to JoLe in Calistoga for dinner, an organic "Farm to Table" restaurant which proved to be one of the best restaurants I've ever been to, and I've been to many! After dinner we drove to Santa Rosa where our friends surprised Ken for drinks, which was quite a feat in many senses. Our plans changed at the last minute, I'm a terrible liar, my phone was ringing off the hook but couldn't answer it or Ken would know something was up, and three of the friends who met us there had just run a 50 mile race. Insane!
The next day we went to brunch at the Calistoga Inn, where Ken's mother, father, brother, and sister-in-law met up with us. Another surprise! After brunch we went on a private wine and cheese safari at Safari West. We saw all sorts of animals and the weather was perfect. I think everyone had a fabulous time!
Sometimes it's okay to take a break from training - especially for special occassions! Although I didn't train that weekend, I made up for the the following weekend with a buddy ride - post to follow shortly!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
56 on Saturday!
Last Saturday was an "off-week" for the cycle team, meaning we had a buddy ride organized by the team, but not supported by coaches and staff. Since the start of the ride was only a few miles from my house, I decided to ride over instead of driving, which added about 6 miles roundtrip.
I expected most of my pacegroup to be there, but - much to my dismay - only one showed up! Craig and I decided to join another group, which turned out to be another rider named Kevin. The three of us braved the hills of Los Altos together, and each of us took a turn pulling the group, or waiting at the top of a hill, or being waited on as we climbed! We rode very well together, and really enjoyed our group, despite how small we were!
About halfway through the ride we passed a group of riders heading towards Edgewood. I said, "On your left" as I passed, and they responded with "MCNUTT!" Two of my teammates who missed the start of the ride had taken a shortcut and caught up. We had a bit of our group back together - it's amazing how much we've bonded in the short time we've ridden together.
I knew Ken was running with Jodi at Edgewood and Canada, but didn't expect to see them. When I got closer and saw Ken's car still on the side of the road I got really excited! I was going to leave some stuff on his car to take back home with him (arm and leg warmers) and was even more excited to (almost literally) run into Jodi and Ken just as they finished their run. Talk about perfect timing! Ken filled up my camelback for me and took my sweaty gear. It's amazing how emotional endurance sports makes me. I was so excited to see him! He even gave me a big hug, which was a big deal considering how yucky I felt after 2.5 hours of riding.
The rest of the ride went fairly well, but I was glad to get home after 56 miles and almost 4 hours on my bike. I'm so proud of myself for all I have accomplished on my bike thus far, and can't wait to cross the finish line in Tahoe. I'm still not sure how I'll survive the rest of the training, though. I was an absolutely mess for the rest of the day and I only went half of the distance as my goal event!
I expected most of my pacegroup to be there, but - much to my dismay - only one showed up! Craig and I decided to join another group, which turned out to be another rider named Kevin. The three of us braved the hills of Los Altos together, and each of us took a turn pulling the group, or waiting at the top of a hill, or being waited on as we climbed! We rode very well together, and really enjoyed our group, despite how small we were!
About halfway through the ride we passed a group of riders heading towards Edgewood. I said, "On your left" as I passed, and they responded with "MCNUTT!" Two of my teammates who missed the start of the ride had taken a shortcut and caught up. We had a bit of our group back together - it's amazing how much we've bonded in the short time we've ridden together.
I knew Ken was running with Jodi at Edgewood and Canada, but didn't expect to see them. When I got closer and saw Ken's car still on the side of the road I got really excited! I was going to leave some stuff on his car to take back home with him (arm and leg warmers) and was even more excited to (almost literally) run into Jodi and Ken just as they finished their run. Talk about perfect timing! Ken filled up my camelback for me and took my sweaty gear. It's amazing how emotional endurance sports makes me. I was so excited to see him! He even gave me a big hug, which was a big deal considering how yucky I felt after 2.5 hours of riding.
The rest of the ride went fairly well, but I was glad to get home after 56 miles and almost 4 hours on my bike. I'm so proud of myself for all I have accomplished on my bike thus far, and can't wait to cross the finish line in Tahoe. I'm still not sure how I'll survive the rest of the training, though. I was an absolutely mess for the rest of the day and I only went half of the distance as my goal event!
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Half-Way Mark
Work has been crazy this week and I haven't been able to update my training blog - but believe me, I've been thinking about it! I'm proud to report that Saturday I hit my half-way mark for Tahoe ... drum roll please ... 51 miles along the coast of Northern California!
We started out in Half Moon Bay, hoping to be back and off the raod before it started raining. The first few miles were flat, a nice warm-up along Hwy 1. After 10 miles we turned off the highway into the hills around Pescadero. We rode, we climbed, we descended, we felt good, we felt great, we felt terrible, I got a headache, it started raining, we climbed some more, we descended some more, we ate, we drank, we took a break, we headed back and finished 51 miles (see route map below).
I was very tired when I got home, a zombie actually. I think Ken was a little worried about me (I couldn't stop staring at the walls and even though we were watching Band of Brothers I couldn't pay attention). I tried to nap, but couldn't fall asleep so I read my People magazine. I looked at the clock and it was 5pm. 5PM! I like cycling, but man is it time consuming. Perhaps that is a hint to either ride faster or shorter?
This weekend's ride is about 50 miles throughout the familiar areas of Foothill, Los Altos, Woodside, etc. I'm riding from my house and back, so that means it'll be about a 55 mile ride for me. I'm hoping for no rain (and no hills! yeah right) and looking forward to dinner at my favorite restaurant afterwards.
We started out in Half Moon Bay, hoping to be back and off the raod before it started raining. The first few miles were flat, a nice warm-up along Hwy 1. After 10 miles we turned off the highway into the hills around Pescadero. We rode, we climbed, we descended, we felt good, we felt great, we felt terrible, I got a headache, it started raining, we climbed some more, we descended some more, we ate, we drank, we took a break, we headed back and finished 51 miles (see route map below).
I was very tired when I got home, a zombie actually. I think Ken was a little worried about me (I couldn't stop staring at the walls and even though we were watching Band of Brothers I couldn't pay attention). I tried to nap, but couldn't fall asleep so I read my People magazine. I looked at the clock and it was 5pm. 5PM! I like cycling, but man is it time consuming. Perhaps that is a hint to either ride faster or shorter?
This weekend's ride is about 50 miles throughout the familiar areas of Foothill, Los Altos, Woodside, etc. I'm riding from my house and back, so that means it'll be about a 55 mile ride for me. I'm hoping for no rain (and no hills! yeah right) and looking forward to dinner at my favorite restaurant afterwards.
Monday, March 16, 2009
A weekend off (plus a few days)
I had to take some time off from training last week and this weekend due to a stomach bug, and for the first time in my life I was rather upset that I couldn't train. I wish I could say that it is because I love cycling and exercise and activity so much that I can't live without it, but the truth is I feel like I NEED every training day I can get to cross the finish line in Tahoe!
Thankfully I'm feeling fine now and I have a week full of activities to prepare for this weekend's long ride in Half Moon Bay. I'm still working on my flexibility with yoga and prepping for Tahoe's hills with hill repeats in Woodside. I learned last week that I'm a very slow hill climber, but I do make to the top eventually! Practice makes perfect.
I sometimes forget how lucky we are in the Bay Area (and really in California in general) to have such great places surrounding us. Can you think of a better place to spend a Saturday morning on a bike ride than Half Moon Bay? Notice I qualified that last question with the term "bike ride." Unfortunately, I can think of many better places to be on a Saturday morning, but if I'm going to be riding - why not Half Moon Bay!
Thankfully I'm feeling fine now and I have a week full of activities to prepare for this weekend's long ride in Half Moon Bay. I'm still working on my flexibility with yoga and prepping for Tahoe's hills with hill repeats in Woodside. I learned last week that I'm a very slow hill climber, but I do make to the top eventually! Practice makes perfect.
I sometimes forget how lucky we are in the Bay Area (and really in California in general) to have such great places surrounding us. Can you think of a better place to spend a Saturday morning on a bike ride than Half Moon Bay? Notice I qualified that last question with the term "bike ride." Unfortunately, I can think of many better places to be on a Saturday morning, but if I'm going to be riding - why not Half Moon Bay!
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