Committed

I am being good to myself and my training plan. I am quite happy about this as June 20 is coming soon!


Last Friday I met friends out around 8 pm, 'cause I needed to get out and be social. I stuck to drinking water - need to hydrate for this heat - and went home at 11 since I had to be up for a 40+ mile bike ride on Saturday morning. It was a good ride. It was titled the NICE HINEY! ride. All due to the fact that we ride on Hiney Road for part of the route. hee hee. I did take some pictures, but communication between my phone and the computer has been at a standstill. Can't they just play nice? I did see cows, llamas, peacocks, and goats! And we road through one covered bridge. I love riding out in the country where the traffic is light to nonexistent. We did have a couple HUGE tractors that we had to move around, but other than that hardly any cars. LOVELY!


Now, I am going to the VA Beach area this weekend for my cousin's high school graduation (can we say National Merit Scholar and Cornell Scholarship recipient!!??!!). I am proud of him. Now, I tell my daughter and my neices -be like your cousin! No pressure! ha ha h ha Anyway, I have a training plan to keep, so I have found a bike shop near my Aunt's house with an early Saturday (and Sunday too!) morning bike ride of ~21 miles! CHECK! I will be up and out before anyone else is stirring. AND then I just went to map my run and planned a 6.2 mile run from her house. So the plans are there - I just need to execute. I am quite motivated, though, because I do want to finish and finish strong on June 20! I am thinking ride on Saturday morning and run on Sunday morning. I know this plan is missing some swimming, but I will do some laps in my Aunt's tiny pool.


Of course my trip won't be complete without some beach time. There better be beach time! I love the beach. I need the beach. The Atlantic even at VA Beach is still quite chilly this time of year, but I am sure I will still go in.


Okay back to the crazy short work week.

DON'T FORGET! PLEASE DONATE!

The Catoctin Challenge will be here before I know it! Please donate! Every $1 helps!

Thank you so much! Go to: http://CatoctinChallenge.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=333612&u=333612-225415862to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Catoctin Charities

A Thursday Three

1. I woke up thinking it was Friday and then wishing it was Friday when I realized it was Thursday.

2. Despite the nasty early heat and humidity I am opting to run instead of ride tonight. Since I had noted in a previous post that I need to run more, I should follow through! I road last night for a wee bit and I am riding a long ride on Saturday, so tonight I will run with the fine folks at Fleet Feet to get a little social interaction along with my run. Running with others will help me ignore the heat and humidity I hope!

3. I have been working on my calendar for the past few days. Coordinating my daughter's Summer schedule, with my schedule and her Dad's schedule. Who has her which weekend? When is she away? When are you taking her on vacation? And so on... Whew! And how does all of this coordinate with my race and training schedule? Pretty good! I am thankful for a cooperative and flexible ex-husband. It makes all of the scheduling so much easier. I am also thankful that my daughter is 100% behind me and my activities.


The Catoctin Challenge will be here before I know it! Please donate! Every $1 helps!
Thank you so much! Go to: http://CatoctinChallenge.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=333612&u=333612-225415862to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Catoctin Charities

Catoctin Challenge- Time to raise funds

This will be my third year participating in the Catoctin Challenge. Please help me meet my fundraising goal of a $1000. Every little bit helps! See more below!

I am riding in this year's Catoctin Challenge benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County Maryland and 1 in 6.org. The Catoctin Challenge is a very difficult and mountainous journey. My personal goal is to finish this two-day ride alive! The overall goal of the Catoctin Challenge is to raise $150,000, or enough to support the building of a new home for a family in need and to provide support for the 1 in 6.org initiative to help adult men who experienced unwanted sexual experiences in their childhood.

Would you please consider sponsoring me in this year’s Catoctin Challenge? You can do so in two easy ways:
1. Follow the link on this page (credit cards and bank account drafts accepted)

2. Send a check made out to Catoctin Charities inc. to Catoctin Charities inc. Catoctin Challenge Bike Ride, 8322 Jordan Valley Way, Frederick, MD 21702

Thank you so much! Go to: http://CatoctinChallenge.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=333612&u=333612-225415862
to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Catoctin Charities

No Race = No Race Report

So, yeah.. umm well.. it was raining. Since I am TRULY a novice bike racer and not a big fan of riding my road bike in the rain, I (and my teammate) opted not to go to the race on Sunday. Now, I know that I could hit a triathlon event and have to ride in the rain, but that kind of riding is so completely different than hammering as hard as you can on a 1 mile loop and trying to draft. It is better I didn't risk myself or anyone else. Of course as Sunday went on the weather got better. I hope that the later afternoon races went well.

So what did I do this weekend? Friday I worked until 6 pm, the office was absolutely dead when I left. I know I lead SUCH an exciting life. Then I got to wait around for my teen to let me know which movie she and her friend were going to and what time I should pick them up. Gotta love teens!

Saturday was my normal training ride with my tri club. I did 27 miles. One day I will bring a camera to take a picture of one of the best views in the county. And it is fun descent too! :-)
We had one newbie woman that joined us and did our 24 mile ride. It was her first time riding that far! We gave her lots of encouragement to return next week. She could have done the 27. The woman on the mountain bike returned too, she is a trooper. That bike weighs a ton and she is chugging along. If she gets a road bike we all better watch out. Along our ride, some dude in jeans and tennis shoes on a road bike starts riding with us. He just appeared in a creepy kind of way. He said he had ridden all the way from New York. He was asking which way was south. We provided him with some directional help, but then he followed us. We were not going south. Finally he left us when he realized we were going where he had just come from. DOPE. I am glad that we were a mixed group, I think I could have out ridden (out road???) him if necessary, but you never know. He had a few screws loose I do believe. I will say Saturday that I did get more head nods and waves from other cyclists out. They must have been happier. I am certain I see the same people each week. My little sociology experiment - see who acknowledges a fellow cyclist.

Sunday, once the decision was made to not race in the rain, I was a big girl and instead of going back to bed I went to swim practice. I was bummed that the weather was crappy. I wanted to race! I wanted to leave it all on the course and puke! I am glad that I did not go back to bed though. Swim practice was good - all 3100 meters of it.

28 days until my first Olympic Distance Tri. Hmmm My swim and bike are in great shape. I am not so sure about the run. Well, since it is the first time at this distance what ever happens will be a PR. LOL!

Consistency & Whining

My training consistency has been a little (probably more like a lot) lacking lately. I am not happy about this. I need to get my act together or June 20th is going to REALLY SUCK! I had this epiphany yesterday morning while getting ready for work. Does anyone else gets some good thinking in while in the shower? I usually start the process while I am out walking the dog and then when I am in the shower I am trying to assess, problem solve, and make a plan. Of course, if I had a coach or personal trainer perhaps this would be so much of a problem, but I am not in a position at this time for such and REALLY I am a true amateur out for the enjoyment of the sport, is a coach really necessary other than being a motivator? That being said, I would like to try it sometime (having a coach or personal trainer) and of course in my fantasy life I do hit the podium. For my reality, I just want to make sure I am prepared to be able to perform to the best of my ability considering the realities of my world.

So after my shower epiphany and planning, etc., I take my daughter to school. First, We have to stop at CVS to get some prints of photos from her camera for a class project. As we are walking into CVS, my left foot bumps up into the graduating curb from where the wheel chair ramp is - and down I go. I am sure it looked lovely in my dress and heels. Anyway, I now have lots of pain in my left knee. I have iced and taking Anti-inflammatories, etc. Externally it doesn't look bad, but man it HURTS. So much for the consistency plan - especially when it comes to running until this stops hurting so much. NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS. Then of course I have work and family commitments that are clashing with my normal training routine, ugh......... I know I am whining. I am not normally a whiner EVER, but I just feel like whining today. Perhaps it is my hormones. Blaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I want to get all my training in consistently!

Okay, back to you regularly scheduled programming.

Up next for me: Kelly Cup/Bike Jam in Baltimore on Sunday. 15 mile crit on a 1.1 mile loop.
I hope my knee issue isn't going to impede my cycling. Of course, I am not a contender in any sense at this point, I am still learning. I will have at least one other teammate racing with me that has experience. I am hoping this will be a good experience for me.

I hope others are having better days!

People are unreal!

This happened at last Sunday's bike race in Leonardtown, MD . I know I shouldn't be surprised that some idiot or idiots think it is funny to cause other people harm, but I am just amazed.

Wednesday is the National Ride of Silence. It is a shame that we have to have such a day. There are three rides organized in my area. Unfortunately due to work and family obligations I will not be able to ride. Accidents can happen, but so many driver's don't think that cyclists should share the road. I also recognized that it is a cyclist's responsibility to follow the rules of the road, ride with confidence, and be aware of the traffic. While I am still so much of a road cycling novice, I feel I am a safe rider and a confident rider (even in traffic!), but you never know who is driving around you. Recently, I was nearly clipped by a bus. It was moving into the lane I was in, as if I wasn't there. Thankfully, a woman I was riding with saw what was about to occur and alerted me to MOVE OVER and I was safe. So even if you have never gotten on a bike, think a little thought tomorrow evening about those who have been injured or lost their lives while riding a bike.

Stay safe out there!

Nice Ride in Frederick County and I lurve KT TAPE!

So dear readers I did not take any cow or goat photos during my ride on Saturday, but I did see some some very cute calves and cows along the way. It was an awesome day and a great ride. There were about 14 people that started out the day. Some were only doing the short ride, 40 miles, and myself and a few others were going for the 52.5 (according to the ride genius's cue sheet). All riders are together for about 22 miles. I stayed with a group of 4 others for the whole ride, we all kept a similar pace and it worked well. We got to the first rest/refuel stop at 18.5 miles and little convenience store in the wee town of Adamstown, Maryland. While we were at the stop, one rider gets a call from Phil, the ride genius, that another one of our riders got clipped by a car crossing a rather crazy intersection. OH NO! Thankfully, she was not seriously injured and her bike not totally damaged. She was also lucky that Phil and a couple others were close by. Her left pinky finger was tore up and she ended up having surgery, but was out of the hospital by the evening on Saturday. She was very lucky. The driver who clipped her stopped too. Whew! Glad that wasn't me!
The temp was great the whole ride. There was a bit of a breeze, but it wasn't too bad. This ride had some good climbs. You know you will have a climb when you hit roads with MOUNT anything in the name. Most of the ride was rolling hills that you can maintain a decent speed to get up the next hill without having to get down in the lowest gear to get up the hill. When we were at 35 miles, one of our group had a flat. While we waited for him to change the flat, three other riders caught up to us. It turns out they were supposed to do the shorter ride, but missed the turn. Two of them needed to get back to the start point soon, but were unfamiliar with the area. So all together, with the knowledge of some locals who were riding, we made a changed in the route and ended up at 47 miles for the day. I'll take it!

Sunday was swim practice and I was supposed to get at least a 5 mile run in. Well, I did go to swim practice - 3950 meters! If I had known while I was still in the pool that I was shy 50 meters of 4000, I would have done the extra 50. Oh well. We (my lane) are generally in the 3000 - 3200 m range at practice, so this was a big one today. Coach was challenging us. Some how between picking up my daughter from her Dad's, doing some grocery shopping and house chores, the run never happened. It was a nice day too. Oh well.... TODAY I will get the run done.

KT TAPE - I had a sample of this at home from a women's cycling even I had attended. As I had mentioned in another blog post, my Piriformis or is Periformis?? has been giving me pain. A TRUE PAIN IN THE ASS ha ha ha - :-) It was so bad Friday, it hurt to sit!
Well, KT TAPE has an application for the SI area (the low, low back) that should help- I decided to give it a try and see if it would help me. YEP! I was a happy girl, I road pain free on Saturday, was pain free Saturday night and on into Sunday. I ended up removing the tape Sunday evening as it was starting to come off (yes I swam and showered with it on ). I still have some pain in that area, so I will have to purchase a roll. I am thinking this has helped!

Okay back to the tasks at hand here at work. I am trying to get things done, but stymied while I wait for others to deliver things that I need in order to get my part done. UGH !!!!!