Xterra USA Chamionships 2010

aka - i write long race reports. :)

Leading up to the race:
i slept pretty poorly for probably a week or more before the race. Not sure what the deal was with that, but i was really stressed out at work, i was on the tired end of things and just a little overwhelmed by all that i had to get done before heading out of town. i was happy that this was going to be my last race because i wasn't sure if i could put in another month of training. The weather wasn’t helping the situation.
The sore throat was lame. I don't know if it was allergies, totally in my head, or whatever, but earlier in the week i was worried it was turning into something else, but by the time we got to Ogden on Friday it was pretty much ok. The dry air was tough on it though, especially on race day but i don't think it actually factored into anything, i just feels like maybe i've been smoking a few marlboro reds is all.
The travel day was totally relaxed, way more relaxed than last year. i think that had a lot to do with eric being there and him taking care of so much of it all. it was a good trip down, the pre-ride was fun. we met up with trish from Bellingham which was fun. We started at green pond like last year and then tried heading up out of snow basin for like 10 minutes and we all decided yeah, no. the air was getting mighty thin on us so nothing would be gained by us riding that last part, and thank goodness we didn’t.
We went to the dinner which was fun, saw Cori and Mat and his parents. Mat was regional champion again, so that was fun to see.
Eventually we headed back to the hotel. I just chilled out but Eric started to organize his stuff. I finally realized it was pretty late and I should really start organizing my stuff too, but I was still in denial. I was chugging water from the minute we got off the plane until the minute I went to bed but not sure if it was helping me at all.
I had bad dreams all night long then got up at 6am, ½ hr later than last year. I had my normal pre-race PB&J the second I got up to ensure it was about 3hrs before race start and we were off to set up transitions. It was chilly in the morning but the sky was clear so it was pretty obvious it was going to be a beautiful day.
We set up T1 first then drove up to Snow Basin for T2. Mat and his parents gave us a ride back down to T1 so we didn’t have to take the shuttle. When we got back to T1 I found out that Cori and I had racked right next to each other which was a fun surprise! Then I tracked down Shonny, we checked out the bike exit and then went down to the swim start.
The Swim: 1500m, two loops at Pine View Reservoir; about 4800ft above sea level
While I was swimming, I thought the swim was going really well. The start was nutty. I have been trying to be more aggressive in the swim starts, pushing up into the mix so I've gotten more used to all the contact but this was the first time I got hit really hard in the back of the head - pretty sure my brain jiggled loose in there and it was the first time my goggles got kicked off. Luckily only off one eye and thank goodness i didn't totally lose them! I was surprised how aggro people were but then remembered this was the national championships. There was still lots of contact until probably turning after the 2nd buoy. Heading from buoy 2 to the turnaround took FOREVER. I could have been standing still, but more likely I was off course. Once I looked up to site and I saw nothing. No swimmers, no boats, not Xterra arch, no kyakers. Nothing. I was going 100% the wrong way, i was totally confused and disoriented and had no idea where i was! After that i sighted more frequently.
I thought the rest of the swim went pretty well. I didn’t get lapped by any of the pros and only got caught by maybe a handful of the folks in the long course race who started 20 minutes after us and were on their first loop. I was surprised and disappointed to see 35 minutes on my watch when i was coming up out of the water. I swam the whole way and was working pretty well especially on that last lap. I hobbled up onto the pavement, the chip seal really hurt my feet but I got my way to transition even getting called out by the announcer.
T1 was really bad. I couldn't get one of my socks on and had to take it off and mess with it, whatever. Everything else was ok i guess, but i still wear that wrist brace and it’s a pain in my ass. Eric says to ditch it, and i thought about it for this race, but considering i still can't support my weight on it, i didn't want to risk it. In the scheme of things any time savings would have been minimal. but it is one of the things i am going to have checked out more this winter. Total swim and T1 time 39:25; 52 seconds slower than last year.
The Bike: 18.9 miles, 3000ft+ of cumulative elevation gain, climbing up to a max of 7500ft above sea level.
The bike starts off with about 2 miles on the gravel shoulder of the road. I was right on this one girl's wheel and last second she swerved and I almost nailed one of sign poles right off the bat. That would have been a disaster. It got my heart beating a bit and then i was extra cautious as to how close i followed her for the rest of that road section.
Once you cross the spillway, you head up into Wheeler Canyon. I was surprised how chilly it was and only then realized that my feet were pretty much numb from the cold of the water, too. i was working hard, i felt like i was riding well, i was passing lots of people and i don't remember getting passed by anyone, but could have been. that canyon part might just be my favorite part of the race. i was happy to get up to the green pond area and was happy that none of the fast dudes from the next race were up in my business through the descent. i thought i was going pretty fast for me through all that stuff and was happy the leaves along the trail had all been whooshed away by all the faster people since they were kind of freaking me out during our pre-ride.
i had this guy on me for that entire fast fun section and every time we hit a rocky section he was grunting and groaning and i swore he was crashing each time. it made me laugh but at the same time totally worried me.
i tried to stay in my middle ring as much as i could but fell into my little one every once in a while and sometimes for a long time. my right quad was on the verge of cramping and i was having a tough time getting comfortable on my saddle. my left arse was hurting (and still does!) and my left sit bone was getting all wacky, worrying me that my obturator inturnus was on the verge of a freakout again. luckily everything stayed in check. i was happy to get to snow basin and felt like a bad ass when i got to head up the hill while the sport racers turned into transition.
i was riding up up up, and that is when i saw shonny running up the hill. i kept riding because although i was willing to tell her if i walked, i didn't want her to actually see me do it! She was good inspiration at that point because obviously I was able to ride it no problem.
later on though there were two sections i had to walk up. the first about made my calves cramp with every step, then the second was that last final push up a total wall. i was happy to get to the top of that because i thought i was done with the climbing but it turned out we weren’t even close. i started to get a little panicky because we just kept going up and away from snow basin. i was feeling sick, on the verge of puking a few times, and just trying to keep it together. again i almost got off at one point but there was a guy sitting by his truck so i just kept going which was good because there was actually a short downhill once i got passed him.
once i got to the downhill i actually had some fun,. i was happy to get through all of the switch backs and i felt like i was actually getting through them well. i had two people behind me the whole time and they never asked to pass, so i was pretty happy. my right elbow was starting to hurt, which was new but i had to be almost done, really, right? I got to t2 and almost fell over trying to get off my bike - awesome!
i took 2 clif shots on the bike and drank about ½ of a big bottle of electrolyte drink - yeah, only ½. I was not drinking, which is odd for me because i usually drink like crazy. i wasn't thinking about it, and when i did drink i had mixed it too strong and my throat was burning from the air, and i just didn't even want to drink anything the whole time. bad move. my stomach even started to rumble because it felt empty and i just wasn't listening. it was a bad mistake on my part.
T2 was fast and easy and i ran outta there like no one's business. Total Bike and T2 time: 2:29:12, 1:38 faster than last year and on a longer course, too!
The Run: 6.3 miles, starting around 6300ft above sea level, topping out at 7500ft.
The mean thing about the run is that you head away from transition then go STRAIGHT UP HILL, so I ran out then started to walk almost right away. I got passed by some runners and I was passing some too. By the top of the hill i was ready to start drinking again but couldn't believe it when the cup of water I grabbed had only a tiny splash of water in it! Once the course flattened out a bit I was running all the flats and down hills and a few of the smaller up hills. Really i just couldn't breathe. Nothing really hurt, I had a little bit of a side cramp but it went away. I just couldn't get any air. When I got to the 2 mile marker I was convinced that they marked the course wrong. The 2nd aid station seemed like 100 miles away but I took two cups of water there. I was fighting the negative thoughts, trying to enjoy it. I chatted only with one guy for a short time about how I was pretty sure they said the run was only a 9k but he said no it was at least a 10k. so for the rest of it I tried to stay focused on what i was doing. On one terrible uphill i got pretty dizzy and was pretty sure i was going to pass out, and wondered how long i'd lay there before any help would come, but i managed to keep it together. That would have been embarrassing! And THEN my feet cramped up. I haven't ever had my feet cramp while running and it was particularly bad on the downhill. i did manage to run the whole run down the big hil to the finish, fending off the feet cramps the whole time, i couldn't not run that part - sheesh!

I was happy to cross the line. Last year when i crossed the line i was just like, oh, ok. now it’s over. this time, i was like, damn, i am pretty worn out, i want to go lay down somewhere. Total run time: 1:08:28, 1 second faster than last year.
Total race time: 4:17:05, 47 seconds faster than last year.
After sitting in the shade for a little I recovered quickly it seems and was able to get moving and changed my clothes and stuff pretty quickly. I couldn't eat anything for a few hours, and couldn't really drink anything either. Other than that I was in a pretty good mood.

Once indoors i cornered dan hugo and eric took my picture with him. poor guy didn't have his shirt on but that was his fault, not mine. 

so looking at the times and the numbers and stuff. i went into the race saying really that i didn't care if i came in last place, i just wanted a faster time. so, I didn’t come in last place! and i was 47 seconds faster! Hooray! but really I wanted to come in under 4hrs, so i am disappointed in that. i am disappointed in my swim because i don't know why it was so slow and i was disappointed in my run just because it was a disappointing run. on the bike i felt like i worked really hard, i wonder if i could have worked harder, but i am pretty content with how i did there. the last two weeks of training riding with april with her on her single speed 29er and me just trying to hang on on all those hills made me realize that i wasn't working hard enough on my hard mtn bike rides earlier in the season.

Eric on the other hand had a FANTASTIC race coming in 3rd in his age group only 2 minutes behind 1st place! I was so proud of him but knew he would wind up on the podium! He is a amazing!

We headed down the mountain, relaxed, showered, then went out for dinner. I had a frozen strawberry lemonade that with every sip gave me terrible brain freeze.

After we relaxed some more then went out to the Harvest Moon festival where we sat next to a giant great dane who farted non-stop, saw a totally drunk dude who had fallen, was covered in blood and had the Utah police all over him and we watched the highlight video from the race.

After we went to i-Fly Utah for some indoor sky diving then called it a night!

Sunday we chilled out, had some delish banana bread French toast served by the same waiter that served me breakfast last year, packed up then headed over to Matt’s house. Matt was one of my best friends from high school but sadly I hadn’t seen him since December of 1997. His parents and sisters were all in town visiting, too, so I got to catch up with all of them as well which was very fun! It was so great to see Matt again and I hope to see him again soon!

This morning I woke up more refreshed then I have in months. This week is for resting, attending the LUNA Chix end of year auction and planning for Sirus’s 5th birthday on Sunday!

soon, very very soon

yikes! xterra nationals are only a few days away. i'm excited but a little worried too. i don't feel very well. i was sorta on the verge of being sick for a few days but i seemed ok, saturday i was sorta on the verge but then did that hard workout then went to starcrossed and hung out in the rain. eric and i both realized that we are not built for standing around. if we are going to stay in one place, we best be sitting or better yet laying down. standing doesn't work so well for either of us. sunday was the start of the taper - a rest day with an optional 30' swim. i opted out of it to go watch eric race which i was very happy we did because he did awesome. but later that night i wasn't feeling so great. took my temperature and it was 99 then took it again a short while later and it was 101.8 but then quickly decided that the thermometer was wrong and instead used the kids' and it was normal. thats pretty much what i thot but wanted to be sure, just in case. i had napped both saturday and sunday - sunday being one of those where i'm sitting on the couch in full conversation with eric when oh no, i'm going to fall asleep, it doesn't matter that i am in mid sentence, bam, i'm asleep.
monday i slept through masters swimming, ok, i got up and debated as to whether i was sick or just wimpy or just tired still. i didn't go, went back to bed instead with intentions of going after work. which i did not. i went to bed early but woke up at 330 and couldnt go back to sleep. laid there for a few hours, dozed in and out then got up finally. i felt better this morning but not awesome. i really would just like to take a day off and really not do anything. maybe two days - first day clean the house top to bottom, 2nd day just chill out in a clean house. i'd like it to be sunny both of those days too.
went mtn biking after work with a co-worker which was quite, i felt pretty good. still maybe on the verge of sick. found out my water bottle cage is broken. :(
tomorrow is some swimming and some core, thursday is some running then FRIDAY is some traveling to SLC.

plotting

seamus is up to something and i don't know what it is. i caught her climbing up the door jam to the play room earlier today. there she was just going up up up. she didn't have anything in her hands but she was just going up. then she jumped down.

later in the day she was climbing the walls in the hallway. again she was going up up up. i just stopped to watch, not letting her know i was there, i wanted to see what she was up to. next thing ya know, she launched off the wall and spun totally around in mid air, landing facing me. i asked her what she was doing and all she replied with was, wow, that was kind of hard. funny.

and sirus, he is a funny guy. i was wearing an old school star wars shirt today. sirus pointed out that it had princess leia and r2d2 on it and also had that peanut butter guy. huh? so when i had taken them to build a bear workshop a week or so ago, they had a display of the new bears and outfits coming in that were star wars themed. i thought i had heard him talking about the peanut butter guy there, too, but didn't think much of it. so i pulled up some photos of r2d2 and c3po and had him come over and tell me who the characters were and sure enough, there was that peanut butter guy. he claims its because c3po looks like peanut butter. seems to me that c3po must need a good buff and polish if that is the case.

everybody's working for the weekend

wow, i am tired. long week. lots going on, the weather is crappy and last week of tough workouts before tapering for nationals. wasn't sure i was going to make it, and almost didn't!!

wednesday i came to terms with my fear of cyclocross and told my coach i'd rather do zn5s on the trainer than go to the cyclocross practice and race after. so she had me do some zn5s on the trainer. 2min at zn 5 follwed by 5 minutes of zn4 followed by 4 minutes recovery repeat 4 times. twice i thought i was on the verge of puking. eric says it was because i was in the garage. maybe it was because i was watching harry potter, or maybe it was the spider crawling dangerously close to the fan. regardless it was hard but i got it done and felt good about it.

yesterdays track workout... oh where do i start. i think i have a mental block on track workouts. or maybe just thursdays are bad days for them, but whatever it is, it seems like every time there is a track workout i find some reason for something to go wrong with it. yesterday was pouring rain, so i consulted with some friends and the responses included: "WWSVD?" "Suck it up buttercup", "Rule #5 - Harden the F up", and "Rule #9 Do a road ride instead since riding in bad weather means you are a bad ass. Period."
i opted for treadmill. since my car was in the shop eric picked me up from work and dropped me at the gym, and in the locker room i discovered i didn't pack a sports bra. its not that im totally boobalicious, but i am boobalicious enought that i cannot run if there is any bounce. called up eric to come get me since he wasn't too far away yet, drove home, changed into my clothes and drove back to the gym and proceeded to have my ass handed to me while watching the Bear Whisperer. i didn't hit any of the times, i was dying the whole time, and next time will opt to do the workout in the pouring rain because that was NO FUN AT ALL. it was scary though going up to 10 on the treadmill and i think that was part of the reason it went so bad, it was just damn scary.
i did sweat a lot which i like to do, it just didn't go very well. good intentions, poor execution.
friday was a good day! i got to pick my car up at the shop and it looks brand new! they totally detailed the car inside and outside, too! it even has new car smell which kind of made me sick, but it was so nice to have all the dents fixed and have it all so clean!!! also i got my wedding ring back. last weekend while at the mall we stopped into the jewelry store to get my rings cleaned and the discovered that one of the prongs had broken off! so i left it there and eric and the kids picked it up for me. it too looks brand new!!! so happy to have it back!
then today i met up with april. omg, she totally kicked my arse again. she was on her single speed 29er again and we did hills. and wow, she dropped me every time. and then we ran. 30 minutes uphill, 15 down. then i had to come home and GO TO SLEEP. eric got me a new pillow and between it and the flannel sheets i was in heaven!!
tomorrow begins the taper!!

HELLCATS

ok, so its not a total secret that I LOVE CHEER LEADING MOVIES. Bring it On is of course the best movie ever, and Fired Up was a pleasant surprise and quite funny considering its about guys who quit football to become cheerleaders, whatever. it was entertaining. so i about fell over last week when after America's Next Top Model, HELLCATS was on. I was like, what is this? the only thing that im not quite comfortable with is that its college cheer leading. the story line is a bit dumb and a little unbeleivable and as eric pointed out they covered too much in the first episode and some of what is going to happen is a bit too obvious but as long as they continue to put all the actual cheer leading in it each episode, and then mix in the drama around, it might wind up ok. oh and yeah she wears old school crocheted cycling gloves when she rides her two big 10-speed around with no helmet.
dude, hard workout today - masters swimming in the morning, zn5 intervals on the trainer tonight. ok, so yeah i said i'd rather do zn5s on the trainer then go to cyclocross practice because yeah, cyclocross is damn scary.
taper starts SUNDAY which is forever away it seems.

NW Trail Runs

So last night i iced my knee for a while, took some aleve, went to sleep.

this morning i woke up and wow, yeah, i really hurt my shoulder! i didn't notice so much while i was sleeping but the sleeping sure didn't help it.

on the schedule was the 5 mile NW trail run race. i had pre-registered so even though i wasn't so sure about my knee and everything i went, figuring i'd take it easy, make sure nothin hurt and then see how things went. i was happy to see janet out on her warm up run before the race and on her way back she sat in my car with me for a bit. then we went to the honey buckets and then sat in her car for a bit. then next thing ya know, the peeps were headed to the start, so we got out and went, too. it was drizzling by now, and we listened to the pre-race meeting, chatted with kristen, looked at mark from afar, and then GO! so my plan of going easy was over in about 4 seconds when i couldn't get through the rocks at the starting line quick enough. so i jumped ahead and then kept going. i felt really good, nothing was hurting and i was having fun. i had a woman in front of me who had a gap on me but i couldn't catch her and i had a dude on my back who i couldn't drop. run run run, i was feeling good, pushing hard. looking back i think there are a few areas where i might have been able to run harder. when i headed out onto the chip path towards the water station i didn't see anyone heading back, but i ran down there, turned around and headed back. that path back is hard. it was better than the last time when it was all mucky and thick mud but its hard, its up hill and sucks the life out of you. i didn't see anyone ahead and no one behind, but i kept going.
finally i got to the 800m mark and was like, yeah, almost done! but man that last 800 took FOREVER!!!! finally i could see the parking lot through the trees and i was done! yahoo!! and as a big surprise i won! 1st place woman, which i don't think i've done before. they don't put any asterixes in the results, and although i am super happy with my race and excited to have won, the super fast people weren't there. that's ok though because you can't win if you don't race. :)
two weeks to nationals!

compare

i am lucky in that i have a friend at work who is into making stuff like this:

he makes all kinds of cool programs with google earth and stuff and does all kinds of crazy stuff with my ride profiles. he is sorta interested in the actual rides themselves, i think, but mainly he is interested in the data and what can be done with it.
these charts are the elevation profiles taken from google earth from the ride at Paradise and the Mt Baker ride from last weekend. they are lined up with the appropriate starting elevations and it gives a good idea on how the two routes compare. i had been freaking out about the Baker ride, so he put this together so i could get an idea of what i was getting myself into. a few miles longer but really it was only about 10 miles of sustained climbing as opposed to the 18 up paradise, but mt baker had more overall elevation gain. regardless, both were fun, both were challenging and i'd like to do both again sometime when its not 2 degrees at the top of either. paradise i would still like to shuttle down, but the baker descent, other than that first few miles down, isn't so bad.
today i went and rode at tiger mtn with april. i hadn't been there since 2004. i don't know why it has been so long, but i know when i thought of going this year i was afraid of the naked guy and the guy with the taser. we didn't see either of those guys but we did see (barely!) two dudes in full head to toe camo with cross bows and stuff. it was a little freaky to see them out there, not sure what they were up to. but man, april kicked my ass. she was on a single speed 29er and just hammered up the hill and she is an awesome downhiller so she dropped me continuosly then, too. it was really quite fun and i should go there more often. a little late now for this season, but next summer for sure. i did have a crash on the downhill. i was doing pretty well, and happy with my ability to get through the wet and sketchy roots and rocks and then bam. down i went. i think i am ok, my left knee has a big old kitten head sticking out the side of it though. we'll see at tomorrow's trail run race if and how that might affect anything. but it was fun to ride with april, i just have to maybe try being a bit more aggressive and try to stick on her wheel a little. when we were almost done with the ride i remembered a bit more about the last time i had gone. it was prolly september or so, and a girl i worked with invited a few of us out. i hadn't been on a mtn bike in forever since i had had seamus and hadn't come out of retirement yet, but i said what the heck! plus another friend was coming, too. i don't remember that uphill being that difficult and the downhill for the most part was ok, too. the one friend however hadn't ever been mtn biking, was on a full rigid and in running shorts and shoes. given that she did an AMAZING job. but then the sun went down. since we had started after work, and since it was taking a bit more time then expected, the sun went waaaaay down. no lights! pitch black!! a few of the other folks went on ahead, got some lights and brought them back, but there weren't enough for everyone, so we wound up hiking the bikes out a good portion of the lower trail. it was nuts. luckily everyone stuck together and we got out ok, but yikes!

this

Artists Point

earlier in the week lisa asked me if i'd be interested in riding up to artists point.
we were going to take the same route that the Mt Baker Hill Climb race that is part of the Festival 542.
sure, i said. that looks fun. ok, so i am pretty sure earlier in the year charity asked me if i wanted to do the Mt Baker Hill Climb and i said no way, you're crazy, why would i want to do that. but i am feeling pretty fit right now, and its a 3 day weekend and i was feeling spontaneous so, my mom agreed to watch the kids for the day and eric and i headed up there.
i was supposed to do a hill repeat workout on my mountain bike followed by some hill repeats trail running, so i cleared it with my coach and she said the climb would be fine, i'd just need to do some work rather than just riding up it.
we stayed up waaaay to late, drinking lemon drops and watching the newest star trek movie. next thing ya know the alarm was going off at 5am, we were packing up the kids in the car and were on our way.
with no cell service in Glacier we weren't sure where to meet lisa, so we parked at the ranger station. eventually they came up the road already on their bikes and pulled into the lot to wait for us while we got changed. it was chilly but not necessarily cold. eric agreed to carry up a backpack, so we stuffed it full of warm clothes for the downhill, i mixed up two bottles of LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash in Pink Grapefruit, even had to crack open the last of 4 cans for this ride. and we were off.
i used the first 25 minutes as a warm up. it was fun and not too hard and just up, but there was some down, and a stop light because they were doing some construction. we got stuck at the light and then after i started my first 30 minute hard effort. quickly i realized 30 minutes was going to be a long long time. the minutes ticked away, and it helped a little that the road levels off for a few miles, but it also made the hard effort harder because i had to shift up and really work hard to keep the effort up there if that makes sense. finally the 30 was up. we re-grouped and we rode together for a while, chatting along the way. it was quite nice to chat and go along, still working of course but social. i was on the fence about doing the next 20 minute effort so i though i'd at least try for 10. i wound up feeling pretty good so i got in the whole 20, but when that was done was when the road turned skyward and went what seemed like straight up. there is this nice little lake with a parking lot, then you turn and there it is - straight up. while it was very daunting, it actually wasn't too bad. at that point.
the switch backs get more frequent, and narrower and scarier. it was getting colder and foggier. i was pretty beat by this time. i had decided that i was too close to the top to just start riding mellow so i kept up a good pace but eventually felt like i wasn't sure i was going to make it. there were plenty of signs point to artists point but NONE of them said how far. eventually eric was headed back down the road and around a corner we went and there it was! the parking lot at artists point. i say it that way because that was all we could see. there was no sun, there was no view. there was a parking lot and cars and clouds - we were in the clouds! we quickly put on ALL of our layers, wishing we had more as the slush began to fall from the sky. we got a quick snack and down we went.
after riding Paradise that first weekend of March i wasn't looking forward to the descent. the first few miles were totally sketchy with the clouds, the slush the no shoulder, the drop offs... heading down in the first part we saw a guy climbing up in just shorts and a short sleeve jersey. HOPING her had someone at the top waiting with some gear for him otherwise, not sure he'd make it down. i was shivering so badly and my hands and feet were frozen solid that it wasn't necessarily the safest trip down. eventually we got below the clouds, there was a tiny bit of sun and i started to thaw out. the first part of the road that allowed for pedaling was painful, my legs were bricks and wow, they were moving slooooow. but it was nice to pedal some. i was starving by the time we got to the construction traffic light but knew we were almost done. the descent overall was way more fun than Paradise. the whole ride was a ton of fun and i'm glad i went.
not sure how i feel about the fact that my descent was only a few minutes faster than Russell Stevenson's winning time UP the same route the year before, but considering when we did the Paradise route his HR never even hit 100, i'm not totally surprised.
at the car, we changed into some running gear, ate a quick 1/2 PB&J and headed out for a 1/2 hr run. this was the best race simulation workout ever - my legs were smoked by the end of the ride and my feet were frozen. the run wasn't pretty and i wasn't able to do the hill repeats i was supposed to do, but i got in a few hills and managed to run, which yeah, well, it was hard to do.



ride profile for the Festival 542 Ride:

photo of the little lake and where the road first heads up into the SKY:

and a view of what we could have seen had the weather been nicer:

and a photo closer to what we actually saw:

Naomi Cambell

i think it was naomi cambell, or maybe linda evangelista who said "i don't get out of bed for less than $10,000" or something of that nature. sitting here watching the tour of spain, after polishing off some ben and jerry's phish food after a visit to red robin that followed a 1:30 recovery ride, i came up with my own motto - i shouldn't do any training that burns less than 1000 calories. ok, well i do. all the time, but if i am going to chow down at red robin and then follow it up with ben and jerry's, i better burn more than i did on that recovery ride. better not slack on the core workout tomorrow, thats for darn sure.

so yesterday i did the 2nd track workout since i got hurt at the end of may. it was almost the same workout as last week, only i was to follow it with 4x200 all out efforts. so last week i had the trots. yeah, maybe too much information, but it was 100 degrees and i was in that honey bucket waaaay too often, and it was not pleasant, so i called it quits after getting in only 7x400 instead of the prescribed 10-12x400s.
this week i didn't want to do it. but all the planets and the stars aligned to make it happen. the weather was perfect, the track was open (although football practice was happening), the stomach was not upset. darnit, i had to get it done. i did the warm up set and that was fun then it was time to get started. wow, i got through all 10 of the 400s. totally amazing. and i hit all the times, too. yahoo! i had to run by those hs football players over and over again. then i did the 4x200s which weren't awesomely fast but faster than the 400 pace, so that was good and then when i was doing my cool down, what i assumed to be the varsity team started to trickle in. gracious, what are they pumping these boys full of?
big weekend planned!!!