Day 2 started out well. We departed at about 10:15am and headed umm... I don't know what direction, i'm going to guess north. Anywho- we did Gates Pass today. I was shocked as to how easy my legs felt- the first few poppers def. let me know I had worked yesterday and hadn't been on my bike in a while but being in the midst of a group I was able to sustain over them w/o letting my HR jack too high.
Here are my totals and then I will describe the wreck- but must keep it short as I am tired.
today's Distance: 70.79 miles
Week Total Distance: approx. 151 miles
Time: 3 hours, 58 minutes
Week Total Time: approx. 8 hours, 30 minutes
Today's Calories: 3501
Today's Average HR: 137
Okay now onto the good stuff. We headed up over Gates Pass, which split the crew up a bit. It was a good few mile popper that def. made me work. D hung by to teach me some tactics as to how to get up the hill and keep my heart rate down. Got up the hill and headed down a short but steep decent. Which was fun but again could tell its been several months since I have been on my bike and even more several months since I have decended. Anyway- about an hour and a half later is when it got spiced up again. We were on a long, straight, long, straight, flat, long, straight road--- get the point-- and D and I were hanging on the back after we lead a few short minutes to pull the groups back together.. Now it happened so fast in slow mo, i know oxymoron but just wait, that I'm not sure i'll recall the exact details but.. now I know what it is like falling off my road bike and hitting the pavement at umm.. 18-21mph. So we were in a nice little grove, D and i were chatting it up and I guess I was feeling rather comfy. I was sitting up with my hands on the top of the bars, bent down with my right to grab my water bottle and out of the corner of my eye noticed the guy in front of me tire was getting really close, and he wasn't going backward, that meant one thing... I was moving faster than the group ahead of me and didn't have a single hand on the break. I sat up as quickly as I could and attempted to hit the break BUT my hand missed grabbed the top of the break and the rest happened in slow mo. I saw my tire just miss his tire, but overlap, then watched as my tire connected with his derailer.. from there, all I know is that I flew in the air, hit the pavement, and heard Daniel yell "babe." I sat up, wiped myself off and noticed blood was literally running off my body-- it didn't phase me much but soon, I saw the van stop and two people get out (no big deal-they are our support) then I saw two riders turn around and come back, as I looked up (the downside to wearing my contacts) I could see the entire group stop ahead at a stop sign and look back. UGH. I told the crew- I'm fine keep riding, so luckily the two others headed back to the group and got them going. I was left with a scene of 3- this I could handle.. we wiped me off, put some numbing cream on my arm and hand and headed back out to complete the 20 miles..
20 miles later back in the hotel.. I checked out my arm and those are the pictures to come.. You could see lots of tissue (seemed like hanging out). My leg is scuffed like a turf burn.. all in all, i'm okay, it doesn't hurt that bad and NOTHING is broken.. cleaned it out, showered, got dressed and headed out to dinner at a fun Japanese Restaurant..
hang on for the stories to come- 3 more days of long riding and hopefully I have NO more stories such as this one.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Day 1- Tucson, AZ
Day #1: Tucson Base Training Camp...
so I claimed that i would start to make this a training blog, well I think this is the third time i've claimed to make it that, nonetheless back to the point... you'll notice it is lacking some training logs. It is virtually impossible for me to blog everyday....and I guess most importantly, my training hasn't happened every single day. BUT......that will change this week.
Daniel and I spent 13 hours in the car driving to Tucson, AZ. I must add the drive through NM was long and boring.. Man, it was almost like KS, the exception was mtns. off in the distance otherwise, flat and brown for HOURS. We'll be doing this again on Friday. As soon as we hit AZ the traffic picked up a bit- but not bad, and the scenery became a bit more lively. I'm not a fan of the desert but Tucson is actually very pretty. A lil to brown for me, but surrounded by mtns. which leaves for a beautiful backdrop, sunrise, and sunset. Not to mention the 60-70 degrees weather with sunshine is a nice boost.
so onto day 1- 80 mile out and back ride to Mammoth, AZ.
I was completely nervous this morning as I haven't been on my bike in AGES. I truly mean AGES. I had a few bad runs on it the end of this summer and well.... got cranky. I felt like I wasn't making any gains so I just hung it up. With the half marathon in San Fran in October, it was early September (first weekend) when I decided to hang my bikes up for a few months. Well a few months turned into December 29th! yikes, that is almost four months. I have to be honest and admit- I jumped on my trainer one day about a week and a half ago for a matter of 60 minutes, and have done three spin classes throughout the entire fall.... Thats it. j
so... of course this morning, I was cranky. I was riding with a bunch of guys and females that ride their bikes regularly, put in long miles, have put in years, and... pretty much only ride.... Not to mention there was about 20 people, and i've only every ridden in a group twice. so i was set for a disasterous, disappointing day.
Luckly, the new garmin D got me for a Christmas did me wonders. I headed to breakfast, to the hour lecture, then back in the room to prep and get dressed. As i strapped the heartrate monitor around my ribs I thought..."what have i gotten myself into?" and I was very short with D. I haven't been that nervous in a long time. My goal was to get at least 50 miles in and keep my HR around 70% of my max. (yes, something I learned from the lecture this am).
plugged in and ready, I hit the pavement with about 19 other riders, this morning at 10am... returning 4 hours and 30 minutes, or 80 miles later! I was shocked I did the entire ride and wasn't feeling too awful bad. In the middle of the climb of the ride was a 12 mile climb. I started up the climb with the guys and one other gal. I quickly popped out "the back" of the group and was on my own... I decided to settle in at the slowest pace I could to make it up the hill, keeping my HR slightly above where it should be: 165-177. I decided this was the best I was going to do so for about 12 miles my HR sat a bit higher than 70% like I was adviced. Soon another guy caught up with me, we rode together for most of the climb. Then he decided to attempt to catch the group ahead. Without the group behind or the group ahead in sight, I was riding again on my own. I kept him and another female rider that had dropped out of the group within eye shot. Towards the top of the climb I got them within 300yds or so... I thought I would catch them but was also trying to be good and keep my HR where it should be. So needless to say, I didn't catch them. They disappeared out of sight at about mile 60ish or so.. then i looked behind me and I caught a glimpse of a rider--damn I didn't want to get caught but I also was tired for riding alone on a busy road... they caught me (a guy and a girl) at mile 68 and we rode the last 12 miles into town together. It was actually nice to be able to chat with someone again, as opposed to riding along a busy highway with weird wind by myself. I was surprised how well I felt today.
My garmin registered 4:35 for time, 79.82 miles, 3864 calories, and an average HR of 149. Not to shabby for my first day out in almost 4 months.
D and I then got cleaned, stretched, and headed out for Trader Joe's to buy some good healthy food instead of having to eat the fried potatoes, mushy waffles, and other food filled wtih high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils that the hotel is providing. My stomach just can't seem to handle that stuff anymore! in the midst of our grocery shopping experience I got a call from a long time very dear friend from middle school, Heath, she is engaged! I'm so excited for her I can hardly stand it. She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids and i'm so honored!!!! then D and I grabbed a bit to eat at Saffron- an Indian restaurant. it was yummy... I'm not going to say what i've done since then because it hasn't been much... i'm embarrassed to admit i've laid around all evening in the hotel room, rather than out site-seeing a new city.... oh well what can you do! If anything, i should have been working on the mounds of work I brought with me for Jan. 5th.. yikes again. it has been so nice however not having to worry about work for almost 2 weeks now!
Tomorrow is a 100 mile ride, i'm planning on attempting to put in 75--- so more to come on how may legs will feel after I wake in the morning!
so I claimed that i would start to make this a training blog, well I think this is the third time i've claimed to make it that, nonetheless back to the point... you'll notice it is lacking some training logs. It is virtually impossible for me to blog everyday....and I guess most importantly, my training hasn't happened every single day. BUT......that will change this week.
Daniel and I spent 13 hours in the car driving to Tucson, AZ. I must add the drive through NM was long and boring.. Man, it was almost like KS, the exception was mtns. off in the distance otherwise, flat and brown for HOURS. We'll be doing this again on Friday. As soon as we hit AZ the traffic picked up a bit- but not bad, and the scenery became a bit more lively. I'm not a fan of the desert but Tucson is actually very pretty. A lil to brown for me, but surrounded by mtns. which leaves for a beautiful backdrop, sunrise, and sunset. Not to mention the 60-70 degrees weather with sunshine is a nice boost.
so onto day 1- 80 mile out and back ride to Mammoth, AZ.
I was completely nervous this morning as I haven't been on my bike in AGES. I truly mean AGES. I had a few bad runs on it the end of this summer and well.... got cranky. I felt like I wasn't making any gains so I just hung it up. With the half marathon in San Fran in October, it was early September (first weekend) when I decided to hang my bikes up for a few months. Well a few months turned into December 29th! yikes, that is almost four months. I have to be honest and admit- I jumped on my trainer one day about a week and a half ago for a matter of 60 minutes, and have done three spin classes throughout the entire fall.... Thats it. j
so... of course this morning, I was cranky. I was riding with a bunch of guys and females that ride their bikes regularly, put in long miles, have put in years, and... pretty much only ride.... Not to mention there was about 20 people, and i've only every ridden in a group twice. so i was set for a disasterous, disappointing day.
Luckly, the new garmin D got me for a Christmas did me wonders. I headed to breakfast, to the hour lecture, then back in the room to prep and get dressed. As i strapped the heartrate monitor around my ribs I thought..."what have i gotten myself into?" and I was very short with D. I haven't been that nervous in a long time. My goal was to get at least 50 miles in and keep my HR around 70% of my max. (yes, something I learned from the lecture this am).
plugged in and ready, I hit the pavement with about 19 other riders, this morning at 10am... returning 4 hours and 30 minutes, or 80 miles later! I was shocked I did the entire ride and wasn't feeling too awful bad. In the middle of the climb of the ride was a 12 mile climb. I started up the climb with the guys and one other gal. I quickly popped out "the back" of the group and was on my own... I decided to settle in at the slowest pace I could to make it up the hill, keeping my HR slightly above where it should be: 165-177. I decided this was the best I was going to do so for about 12 miles my HR sat a bit higher than 70% like I was adviced. Soon another guy caught up with me, we rode together for most of the climb. Then he decided to attempt to catch the group ahead. Without the group behind or the group ahead in sight, I was riding again on my own. I kept him and another female rider that had dropped out of the group within eye shot. Towards the top of the climb I got them within 300yds or so... I thought I would catch them but was also trying to be good and keep my HR where it should be. So needless to say, I didn't catch them. They disappeared out of sight at about mile 60ish or so.. then i looked behind me and I caught a glimpse of a rider--damn I didn't want to get caught but I also was tired for riding alone on a busy road... they caught me (a guy and a girl) at mile 68 and we rode the last 12 miles into town together. It was actually nice to be able to chat with someone again, as opposed to riding along a busy highway with weird wind by myself. I was surprised how well I felt today.
My garmin registered 4:35 for time, 79.82 miles, 3864 calories, and an average HR of 149. Not to shabby for my first day out in almost 4 months.
D and I then got cleaned, stretched, and headed out for Trader Joe's to buy some good healthy food instead of having to eat the fried potatoes, mushy waffles, and other food filled wtih high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils that the hotel is providing. My stomach just can't seem to handle that stuff anymore! in the midst of our grocery shopping experience I got a call from a long time very dear friend from middle school, Heath, she is engaged! I'm so excited for her I can hardly stand it. She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids and i'm so honored!!!! then D and I grabbed a bit to eat at Saffron- an Indian restaurant. it was yummy... I'm not going to say what i've done since then because it hasn't been much... i'm embarrassed to admit i've laid around all evening in the hotel room, rather than out site-seeing a new city.... oh well what can you do! If anything, i should have been working on the mounds of work I brought with me for Jan. 5th.. yikes again. it has been so nice however not having to worry about work for almost 2 weeks now!
Tomorrow is a 100 mile ride, i'm planning on attempting to put in 75--- so more to come on how may legs will feel after I wake in the morning!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Training Report
Training Log!
I'm hoping this will create some motivation! So I am starting with my goals:
Short-Term:
Goal #1- lose weight and tone up! lose about 8lbs.
Goal #2- Get into a 2 day a week lifting program
Goal #3- 5k race in under 22:00
Long-Term Goal:
Goal #1- enter a cycling race
Goal #2- run a 1/2 marathon in under 1:40
* I know they look lame now but I'll increase them as soon as they get better**
I'm hoping this will create some motivation! So I am starting with my goals:
Short-Term:
Goal #1- lose weight and tone up! lose about 8lbs.
Goal #2- Get into a 2 day a week lifting program
Goal #3- 5k race in under 22:00
Long-Term Goal:
Goal #1- enter a cycling race
Goal #2- run a 1/2 marathon in under 1:40
* I know they look lame now but I'll increase them as soon as they get better**
Wow, it feels like it has been ages since I last posted, but really it doesn't appear to have been. All in all, I haven't had much to report really. My life has consisted of sleep, work, maybe workout, meeting, work, and go to bed. Its been a little better lately, but this week really has just accumulated a messy office and piles everywhere! It is horrible.
Anyway, not much is new with me really. I haven't felt the best lately and we are trying to get to the root of the problem... it has been interesting...
I went dairy free for 7 days- was supposed to 10 days but didn't quite make it. Thanksgiving fell in there and ya know, I lost all control. Then upon return to Colorado, I started to be good again and hung in there wheat, barley, and rye free for about 11 days..bummer didn't make my 15! I'm not sure if any of it has helped or not- I felt that I had more energy when I went wheat free, my asthma seemed a bit better when I went dairy free. So.. I guess that means I'm headed back to my doctor to get the scratch test and check out allergies. I was diagnosed with asthma when I was in high school but literally used my inhaler 2 weeks out of the year, once in the fall when it got cold, and once in the spring when it got warm. Now, it is every time I work out and most days of the week... I don't think that is so great!
What else.... my racing season is technically over- you would have NEVER known I raced less than 2 months ago, as I feel like I don't have much speed and just make it through 5-6 miles. I've got to get motivated again. For some reason my excitement about the bike has diminished has I feel like I get less and less time on it- not to mention it is nearly impossible to get myself motivated to jump on the rollers or trainer.... Anyway, running has been going better. I seem to do well in the morning but the evening is rather difficult for me.. I'm working on that motivation so if anyone has any ideas!
As for my first year of work- I absolutely LOVE Fountain Fort Carson. It is sooo much better than my previous employing district. I feel so supported, and also don't feel the unethical pressure that I did last year. My supervisor is amazing and I am learning oh so much! That doesn't go without stating that the learning curve is tiring and this year has had its challenges. Nonetheless, it is nice to be in a place that I believe in and enjoy going to!
I think that is about it. I'm going to give racing my bike a shot this year and race.. I'm headed to Tucson for a training camp- the average daily mileage is 100 but i, must to my dismay, won't be putting in such miles.... So, I just have to work my way up and get strong again. Okay, I brought a pile of work home to get done so.. I must get moving.
Happy Holidays :)
Anyway, not much is new with me really. I haven't felt the best lately and we are trying to get to the root of the problem... it has been interesting...
I went dairy free for 7 days- was supposed to 10 days but didn't quite make it. Thanksgiving fell in there and ya know, I lost all control. Then upon return to Colorado, I started to be good again and hung in there wheat, barley, and rye free for about 11 days..bummer didn't make my 15! I'm not sure if any of it has helped or not- I felt that I had more energy when I went wheat free, my asthma seemed a bit better when I went dairy free. So.. I guess that means I'm headed back to my doctor to get the scratch test and check out allergies. I was diagnosed with asthma when I was in high school but literally used my inhaler 2 weeks out of the year, once in the fall when it got cold, and once in the spring when it got warm. Now, it is every time I work out and most days of the week... I don't think that is so great!
What else.... my racing season is technically over- you would have NEVER known I raced less than 2 months ago, as I feel like I don't have much speed and just make it through 5-6 miles. I've got to get motivated again. For some reason my excitement about the bike has diminished has I feel like I get less and less time on it- not to mention it is nearly impossible to get myself motivated to jump on the rollers or trainer.... Anyway, running has been going better. I seem to do well in the morning but the evening is rather difficult for me.. I'm working on that motivation so if anyone has any ideas!
As for my first year of work- I absolutely LOVE Fountain Fort Carson. It is sooo much better than my previous employing district. I feel so supported, and also don't feel the unethical pressure that I did last year. My supervisor is amazing and I am learning oh so much! That doesn't go without stating that the learning curve is tiring and this year has had its challenges. Nonetheless, it is nice to be in a place that I believe in and enjoy going to!
I think that is about it. I'm going to give racing my bike a shot this year and race.. I'm headed to Tucson for a training camp- the average daily mileage is 100 but i, must to my dismay, won't be putting in such miles.... So, I just have to work my way up and get strong again. Okay, I brought a pile of work home to get done so.. I must get moving.
Happy Holidays :)
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