Work / Life / Training Balance

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

Tuesday evening rides and Wednesday evening hill repeats

With the time change yesterday came more sunlight after work, which means I get to ride my bike instead of going to the gym!

Tuesdays I'm riding with a friend of mine from work, who is on the on the tri team and training for Wildflower. We'll be riding from home to Mt. Eden and back - a 20 mile ride with some nice scenery and a good hill at the turn-around point.

Wednesdays I'm riding with my team in Woodside, doing hill repeats at Huddart Park on King's Mountain Road. Yikes! I know that doing hill repeats will make me a better cyclist in general, and better prepared for Tahoe, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to my Wednesday night trainings!

35 (aka 40+)

The calendar on the team website said our ride on Saturday was supposed to be 35 miles, starting and ending in Los Gatos. I woke up, drove to Los Gatos, ready (well, sort of ready) to ride 35 miles. During annoucements, our coach asked us to raise our hands if we thought the ride was supposed to be 35 miles. Looking around sheepishly, I raised my hand. Slowly, other participants, coaches and mentors raised their hands. I thought it was a trick question. It wasn't, but it did have a tricky answer.

Our ride on Saturday was 40+ miles. I say 40+ because my computer said 44.8 (clearly a bit off) while the coaches said 40 and MapMyRide.com said 41. So I'll say I did 40+ miles of riding on Saturday - the farthest I've ever ridden! I was nervous to start the ride and incredibly proud of myself when I knew I would finish. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.

Somewhere around mile 23 of the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in 2005 I had the "I will finish this" epiphany. Seeing the finish line was an emotional and incredible feeling at mile 26 or so, but the best feeling I had that whole day (and in all of my days either training for or doing other events) was at the exact moment I realized I would finish the race. It was my "Aha!" moment, as Oprah would say. Note: I don't actually watch Opera because I have boycotted her show ever since she ripped James Frey to shreds for his memoir "A Million Little Pieces," but I think she has copyrighted the term "Aha!" moment. I wish I could find the shortcut to put a copyright stamp next to that phrase.

I won't bore you with the logistics of the ride or my super-boring turn-by-turn analysis, but suffice to say it was long, fun (at times), hard (at times), flat (at times), hilly (at times), and 40+ miles.

I'm almost to the halfway mark, which is really exciting yet REALLY terrifying to think about. I can hardly believe that by June 7th I'll be ready and prepared (and willing) to ride 100 miles on my bike.

Thank you to my coaches, my pacegroup, my very generous doners (not the kind that are willing to give me a lung if one should collapse during training or the race, but the kind that donated money to help me meet my fundraising goal!), and Ken for letting my borrow his car so that I can take my bike places and for putting up with my never-ending-stories about my adventures in cycling. It really can't be that fun to listen to because I secretly loathe hearing the same thing from other people. Shh, don't tell.

Flexibility = -3

On a scale of 1 to 10 on flexibility, I'm at about a -3. Seriously. I blame it on my incredibly large and toned muscles and because I am "athletic," which I have heard a lot lately (I'm beginning to think it's a nice way of calling someone fat).

As part of our training, the coaches encourage us to participate in strength and flexibility exercises, like yoga and core strength. I went to yoga for a good four months or so back in 2007 with my friends Erin and Kristi at Planet Granite in San Mateo, which I would highly recommend. The instructor (is that what a yoga leader is called?) was awesome and the workouts were intense, to say the least. I noticed my flexibility increasing, even if I spent a large portion of the class trying not to laugh at some of the things we had to do.

Before that, I had tried yoga once at the Genentech gym, but decided not to go back after the instructor asked me, in front of the whole class, if I was trying to lose the "baby weight." What baby? Recently I started going back to the Genentech gym, who has since swapped instructors, and I'm finding the flexibility I gained in 2007 is completely gone. In fact, it regressed. Thus, the -3.

Yesterday during yoga class I noticed an odd trend. The poses everyone else could easily do, I couldn't do. And the poses nobody else could do, I could easily do. When we were doing poses I found difficult, I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself. When we were doing poses I could easily do, I was proud and cocky.

I may not be able to fold my legs over each other and have the soles of my feet lie flat on the ground on the opposite sides of my body, but I can hold a warrior-1 for hours.

35 (okay, 34.85) and counting...

We had our first buddy ride today, which is a ride organized by the team, but not supported by the team. The mentors and coaches all participate when they can, and my pacegroup's mentor, Brian, led us on an exciting 35 mile ride with a very cruel hill at the end.

We started our Saturday morning ride with a cloud-filled sky, but no raindrops in sight and thankfully it didn't rain, although it was very cold. At 9am we headed out from Edgewood and Canada, a very popular cycling spot (the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong timetrial took place there earlier in the day), and went out to Hwy 92 and back for a 7 mile warm-up. We followed Canada to Olive Hill, a popular Run Team route, to Albion, found our way along King's Mountain Road to Tripp and eventually to Woodside Road.

From there we headed up Woodside and split to Portola, dumping out onto Sandhill/Portola and eventually ran into Apline. We had the pleasure of heading downhill for the first time that day along Apline, but only for a short jaunt to Arastradero, where we turned off and headed up to Page Mill.

At Page Mill we took another short ride downhill (I needed it) and turned right onto Arastradero, only to make a U-turn and come back down to Page Mill and up Page Mill toward Junipero Serra. It's funny that in a car the hills never seem that challenging. Even in my hybrid. Who knew Page Mill gets kinda steep before you hit Junipero Serra?!

We finally had a good amount of flat and downhill riding as we made our way to Edgewood on Junipero Serra / Alamdea de las Pulgas. I knew the ride on Edgewood, up to 280 and back to our starting point, was about 2.5 miles of steady climbing. I had no idea how hard it would be, especially being out of shape and by no means a cyclist! But guess what... I made it up that hill without stopping and completed the longest ride of my life - 34.85 miles! Nevermind that for the most part I was traveling between 3.6 and 4.6 mph and was shaking terribly when I finally finished!

Some of my pacegroup were there - Johnny and Connie - and we picked up a few extras a long the way, a past participant helping out on the buddy ride, and a few faster females from another pacegroup. I trailed behind the group for most of the ride, but they were nice enough to stop and wait for me. We even stopped at Starbucks on the way back for an espresso break and watched the groups behind us pass by and cheered for them. Just a note: I opted for Gatorade and Sports Beans instead - my heart thanked me later on our climb up Edgewood!

Here's what the day looked like for all of us, on our first buddy ride of the season. 35 miles and counting!

Go Team!

Here's a photo of our whole team (look at all of us!), and a snapshot of what my first ride was like... click on the photo to get a better view. Go Team!

Pace Groups

The skies were clear for my first team ride - 25 miles through the rolling hills of Peninsula. The ride started a few miles from home, so I donned my arm and leg warmers, my bright yellow safety vest (after much debate on how cool I'd look) and headed out hoping I'd survive my first team ride - I hadn't been on my bike since October and I truly could be in much better shape!

The cycle team is HUGE - so much bigger than any of the run teams I've been on! I don't know the exact number, but I think there are probably 150 participants and close to 50 support staff. There are about a dozen or so coaches and each leads a group of participants on each ride. The groups are split up by experience and speed - last weekend the team did a 12-mile time trial in Portola Valley to establish pace groups, which I unfortunately missed out on. These pace groups will ride together throughout the season and at the goal event in Tahoe, promoting safety, success and a true team environment - hard to do with 150 people!

I guessed I'd be somewhere in the middle and was placed in a pace group with coach Hamid, and fellow participants Connie, Ellen, Johnny, Ken, Nicole, Brian, Alan and me. We talked about safety, voicing signals, and taking it easy for our first ride as a team, then headed out down Foothill to work on our paceline.

We had a slow start to or ride, hitting every red light on Foothill, but eventually made it through the mostly flat first half of our ride down Foothill to Junipero Serra, past Santa Cruz and onto Alameda de las Pulgas. By the time we got to Hwy 84 we were feeling strong as a team and ready to hit the rolling hills. We climbed up Hwy 84 to Mountain Home Road and onto Manzanita. I had never ridden Manzanita "backwards" to Sand Hill, and it was a lot of fun racing through the rolling hills on the small, winding, shady lane that houses multi-million dollar homes. We turned onto Sand Hill for short climb back to 280, then headed back the way we came along Junipero Serra to Foothill, and back to our starting point at Springer and Foothill.

I was very happy that my lungs didn't collapse along the way, and truth be told - I think I did really well! I feel very at home with my pace group and together we are ready for the challenges that lie ahead. Tahoe better get ready, 'cause here we come!

My first team ride, two weeks late!

The season started without me and I'll be joining my first team for my first (their 3rd) ride of the season. We'll be riding 25 miles on Saturday starting in Los Altos. I'm hoping for good weather and very small hills (if any)!

I was trying to think of something clever to write today, but couldn't come up with anything original... instead I'll repost a silly story from my first two times on my bike. From this story (and numerous others that I haven't posted) I have learned that I am one of the few who need to clip out BOTH feet with stopped. Seriously.

Don't expect updates like this every day - I can guarantee you it won't happen! Enjoy!

From August 2006:
On August 6, 2006 I went for my first-ever road bike ride using clip-ins that attach your cleats to the pedal. I was told that I would fall over at least 5 times before I got the hang of it. At guess what- they were partially right! I went for a ride with my friend, Team in Training Run Team Coach, and fellow Ironman participant- Amy. The ride was a relatively flat, 12 mile, out-and-back ride from her house in Palo Alto up to Foothill Expwy, down to Chain Reaction in Los Altos, and back again. Everything was going alright, although I was a bit unsteady and shaky on the bike for the first 8 miles or so. As I approached a busy intersection (Foothill and Magdalena), I clipped out as instructed and was completely stopped like an old pro when suddenly the force of gravity was too strong for the foot that remained clipped-in and I toppled over the other side of my bike. I wasn't hurt, but needless to say, I remained shaky and unsteady for the remaining 4 or so miles. But I completed my first ride without too much fuss!

The second ride was on August 9th with my friend, Team in Training Run Captain, and fellow Ironman participant- Marlies. She was a bit tougher on me than Amy (after all- it was my second ride), and we did a similar but more challenging course that involved "rolling hills" for about 15 miles in pretty bad heat. As I approached the Foothill Expwy and Magdalena intersection, I yelled to Marlies that this was the place of the incident on my last ride. Again, I clipped-out like an old pro, put my unclipped-foot on the ground, and was completely stopped when AGAIN I was overcome by the power of gravity on my unclipped-foot and AGAIN toppled over the other side of my bike. This time I landed half on, half off a curb so it really wasn't as light as
the last fall. I finished that ride with a few war wounds on my legs, my bike, and my pride. The good thing was, that after only two rides I was starting to improve! I am not the fastest rider, I am not the strongest rider, and I am definitely ready for many hills, but I like riding, and I love my bike!

I Don't Even Like DRIVING 100 Miles

The day after I finished my first (and only) marathon in 2005, a group of friends from Team in Training went to The Price Is Right. I tagged along, dreaming of Plinko and winning a Red Ford Escape. I wore my finisher's medal around my neck that day, and at a commercial break Bob Barker asked me about it. I told him I had just completed the Rock 'N Roll Marathon in San Diego. He asked me if I won and, when I told him I did not, he asked me why I got a medal.

People who don't run or walk marathons usually respond to hearing about someone completing a marathon in the same way. This is a very funny and widely-know fact in the running word. I would guess that every runner (or non-runner like myself) who has completed a marathon has heard at least one, if not all, of these questions.

1) Did you win?
2) How far was that marathon (as if marathons are different distances)?
3) Wow, I don't even like to drive 26.2 miles!

I'm not a cyclist. I have a bike I bought two years ago to keep up with my friends who cycle. My friend Amy took me on my first-ever ride and we went about 8 miles on Foothill Expressway. I thought that was a huge deal and was so proud of myself for cycling 8 miles. That night, after Amy helped me put a roof rack on my car that she had given me, I drove my new bike (on top of my car) into my carport, ripping the bike (with the bike rack) off my car and into my windshield. I fixed my bike and car and vowed never to use a roof rack again. I am not a cyclist.



I am not a cyclist. The longest ride I've ever been on was about 40 miles and I slept for two days afterwards (not really). I can ride my bike without tipping over (for the most part), I don't have a problem (anymore) with my clip-in pedals, and I really like riding my bike (when I don't feel like my lungs are going to collapse going over an overpass). I don't know how to change a tire or drink/eat while on my bike, but I will learn to.

I am not a cyclist, but am looking forward to training for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. I am not a cyclist, but I will soon by cycling well over 40 miles, and hopefully not having to sleep for two days afterwards.

Maybe after I cross the finish line I will be a few steps closer to being a cyclist. But for now, I am not a cyclist. And I don't even like driving 100 miles.

The beginning!

As many of you know, I have been involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training since 2005 – when I went from not being able to run around the block to crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles at the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in San Diego, June 5, 2005. Over the past four year I have played many roles on the TNT Run team and have raised over $8000 for the cause!

This year I’m up for a new challenge, something I never imagined I’d do! I just joined the TNT Cycle Team and am training for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride on June 7, 2009 – four years and two days after the first endurance race of my life!

America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride is a 72 mile race around Lake Tahoe, and just for fun the Team in Training crew will be adding 28 miles to that race, making it an even 100 mile event! You can find out more about the ride at http://www.bikethewest.com/AMBBR.html

I'm once again raising money for an important cause- the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Society is dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's Disease, myeloma, and other blood-related cancers, improving the quality of life for patients and their families.

Personally, I have made the commitment to raise $2500. Of this amount, 75% will go directly to research and patient programs (such as incurring some medical expenses, helping with the drive to and from treatment, and other such programs). I would very much like your financial and mental support in this challenge. It's easy for you to help - 100% tax deductible, and NO BICYCLE REQUIRED!

While this challenge, both training and fundraising, may seem extreme to you (as it does to me), it is nothing compared to the race with cancer that people compete against everyday. If you can help with any sort of donation, please access my website and donate online by going to this address: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/ambbr09/amcnutt

If you are unable to donate at this time, I would still love your support and encouragement! Please continue to visit this site to track my training progress!

Thank you,
Angela