Wonder Woman in Training

New location!

2009-09-25T21:13:00.001-07:00

I'm now running a WordPress blog where I'll be chatting about technology, all things web, and of course the usual bike races and adventures! Thanks!!

Indie Series Tucker Classic at S Seatac

2009-05-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

Last year this race was my second ever mountain bike race and I remember calling it a 'crit on dirt'. Yep, it hasn't changed. After seeing the weather forecast a few days ago I fully expected another muddy and wet race. What a surprise to have sunshine, warm temps, and a mostly dry course!

I didn't race strongly on this course last year and stayed true to form this year too. With no long climbs or technical sections I think it favors the power rider who can just drop the hammer and time trial the whole thing. Definitely not me. And definitely not with my legs totally wasted.

Yesterday I didn't think I'd be riding, so I did a tough track workout in the morning. Then a friend called me later and said the T-word: Tiger. Between Tiger and the track I woke up with some pretty damn tired legs today. They felt like lead on my warm up lap and never really came out of it.

We had a great turn out of women and actually staggered our start into age groups for the first time. Way cool! I managed a 3rd place start going into the single track only to lose it in under 5 minutes. I pulled out of my left cleat on a little uphill kicker and nearly crashed. Nice job. Note to self: fix that damn loose pedal.

I probably should have fixed my front derailleur issue too. I had to stop more than a few times to put my chain back on. Just recently it started falling off when I hit any kind of big bump or sizable obstacle and no matter how hard I try, it will not suck back on the ring. On the third lap my derailleur got a little too snugly with the chain and added some nice musical ambiance to the race. At least I wasn't having a strong race or that would have big time sucked.

So overall, not a great finish for me today. I was way too near the rear. In fact, I might have been the rear. Meh. But the race was fun, the weather was beautiful, and I got a good 15 miles and 1:48:08 of high intensity training. Any riding in the sun is good riding! And my teammate Mercedes killed it out there and took home the win. She is amazing! I told her I'm tying a rope to her bike at the next race.

Mt Si Relay

2009-04-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

What beautiful weather for the Mt Si Relay today! At least a gorgeous 70-degree sunny day can somewhat mitigate a 5am wake up call. I joined up with several other members of the CycleU triathlon team in the recreational relay. Our 8-person team has been decimated by injuries so our only expectation was to enjoy the sunny day.

My leg of the relay (#4) started at Remlinger Farms and headed out the Snoqualmie Valley Trail to Fall City. I completed a long run of nearly 5 miles last weekend and felt ready for the 5.5-mi leg. Then due to last-minute course changes the officials lengthened it to 6 miles. There goes my strict 10% mileage rule...

I quickly forgot about it as the excitement of running again in a race hit me a mere second into my start. A mile down the trail I checked my watch and whoah doggy! I clocked the first mile in 7:59, a bit off my 10-min/mile goal. I slowed way down but that first mile already did the damage. At the 3.5-mi mark the IT band tightened and then off and on between mile 4 and 5 I had to take some short walk breaks just to keep it in check.

The last mile of my leg turned downhill so I used caution since any semi-steep downhill grade really sets off the IT band. Surprisingly, it hung in there. The last half-mile flattened out and I sprinted the rest to finish up at 1:01:58, just 2 mins off my goal. I can live with that!

I have some worry about aggravating the injury. I did push pace and distance though so it's not completely unexpected. At least it recovered and I'm due in for PT this week. I'm pretty damn stoked I finished the 6-mi run though. My first in nearly 3.5 years! Now it's back to building some hopefully easy miles for the Rock 'n Roll Half in June.

Ah, the day after.

2009-04-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm moving a little slow today after yesterday's crash, but considering how hard I went down, I'm relatively unscathed. Just a bit of gravel rash, a sore shoulder, and a bump on the forehead and cheek. Yay! So far I've gotten up from every stupid stunt I've ever done and found them all funny. What can I say? I bounce well! The day that gift stops giving I need to worry.

Ironically enough, my mom is a wound care specialist, so I can thank her for actually getting all the dirt out of my scrape this time. I'm horrible at cleaning that stuff. Thanks mom! Now I just need to learn how to fall on my left side for a while. My right shoulder is already screwed up and could use a break.

Some more great pics from yesterday's race:

Indie Series Opener!

2009-04-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I can sum up today by saying: I think I broke my face. Yep, it was a great day! Big kudos to my awesome kick-ass teammates though! The uBRDO gals are a force for sure! Mercedes tore it up out there and won the Sport class with some fantastic riding. And Leigh rode strong and finished a very tough, wet, and muddy course. I love these pictures of Leigh and Mercedes with their $30 mud facials. Ha! Nice job ladies!! Ya'll rock!

The steady downpour created a muddy and slick course that became an exercise in controlled sliding. Nothing on the course was very technical, it was just a matter of slogging through mud and trying to find traction on some steeper pitches. I don't have much sprint in me so I didn't get off to a fantastic start. A few gals seemed a bit tentative going downhill on the slick mud so I stayed off the brakes and used it to my advantage to pick off a few people.

Ironic really, because brakes, or lack thereof, are what lead to my rather spectacular crash towards the end of the 2nd lap. Headed down a longer downhill pitch shortly before the start/finish line, I grabbed my brakes to slow for the corner at the bottom. The brake levers went straight to the handlebars and I wasn't slowing. I pumped the brakes to no avail and then had that fantastic "Holy shit, this is not going to end well" moment.

I should have made the corner, but by the time I wrapped my brain around the situation it was too late. I slid out hard on the gravel trying to make a fast turn and hit the ground first with the right side of my face followed by everything else. Not a good plan. I immediately saw stars and things were in trippy 3d vision. Sorta cool but not really. Thanks to the girl behind me for stopping for just a sec to make sure I was ok.

I sat there for a bit and then got back on the bike. I had just gotten into a good rhythm and really wanted to finish the last two laps but the rest of the ride to the start/finish line I couldn't shake off the stars. Pretty wack. When I crossed the line I asked the announcer if I was going the right direction and then thought it might be a good idea to not ride anymore. I wasn't even sure at that point if I had brakes or what was going on.

Shortly after I finished I shook off the head fog and felt ok, so I really wish I had just kept riding. Ah well. Not really the finish I was hoping for today, but there's always next time. With as hard as I went down on the gravel, I'm pretty surprised that I only have a shoulder scrape and some gravel rash and bruising under my knee. My head hurts and my eye socket and cheek are pretty sore. It will be funny if I wake up with a black eye tomorrow.

I have no idea why my brakes failed. Sure, conditions were crappy, but I've never had that happen before. I run Hayes Sole and Scotty said he's heard of them failing. Seems pretty widely reported in some online forums. Anyone else had that experience? Very weird. I think I see a new brake system in my future because that big time sucked!

Chile and Easter Island!

2009-04-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

I just booked my 9-day Sacred Rides surf and mountain biking trip to Chile and I'm stoked!! I'll be taking off right after XMas and spending about two weeks there.

I'll get to ride around Santiago and Valparaiso and then visit Maitencillo for some surf lessons. Then it's off to the Atacama Desert and the Valley of the Moon for a few days. Pretty rough eh?

At the conclusion of the Sacred Rides trip I want to hop over to Easter Island and spend a few days there. I've always dreamed of going so I'm thrilled to finally get the chance. Since Santiago and Tahiti are the only places in the world from which to get to Easter Island, I can't pass up the opportunity.

Now I just gotta book airfare and eat Ramen for the next few months to save up $$$. The excitement will make the Ramen bearable!

Put a fork in me...

2009-04-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

I know it's a shocker, but I might have over-rallied this weekend. Like I could say no to this kick-ass weather!

I spent a beautiful day Saturday sailing on the Sound in the Blakely Rock Benefit Regatta. The race took us more than twice as long as expected due to poor wind conditions. We lined up for the start in good position ready to crush the field. Then...no wind. We sat there for quite a while at a smoking speed of zero. Rest assured, we did finally get moving: backwards. About an hour after the start we made it back to the start buoy and eventually passed it. Progress!!

The sail out to Blakely Rock was pretty slow but after the turnaround we found some wind and got moving. We rounded the final buoy for the finish and surprise! Stalled out again with no wind. The final stretch of the race became a very intense 1 knot duel with two other boats. I'm proud to say we fought hard to finish second...to last. With a 7-hr sail time, the committee boat rudely gave up on us and headed back to dock while we were finishing.

What an awesome day with great people. Thanks to Kirk for the invite!

I started this morning with a kickin' run at the Arboretum, followed it up with a few hours of mountain biking at Philip Arnold, and capped that off with a 40-mi road ride around the north end of the lake. I don't think I'll do that sort of triathlon again. 10 miles from home on the road bike, very essential and necessary muscles started seizing and cramping. First my quads, then my calves, then my hip flexors. I'm sure my legs are atrophied and getting off the couch will result in a face plant.

At least I survived the weekend with no major injuries, though I did manage to sideswipe a tree on Tapeworm in a spectacular fashion. Didn't really know you could get "tree rash". I really need to quit hugging trees.

Cyclocross cat!

2009-04-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

Cyclocross, beer, snow, and ... guns!?

2009-03-31T23:07:00.001-07:00

There's been a lot a talk about cyclocross being included in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

From a post today on Cyclocross Magazine:

"...the event will be unique for several reasons, mostly related to the requirement that Winter Olympic sports be contested on ice or snow, a rule that the UCI was unsuccessful at convincing the IOC to change. As a result, the Olympic ‘cross race will be run at the Whistler Olympic Park and will share portions of the biathlon and nordic ski courses, and will be run entirely on snow."

No wait, it gets better.

"...the race will use the biathlon's shooting venue and will require racers to complete a target shooting round at the end of each lap."

Sound intriguing? Read the full article on Cyclocross Magazine.

Mud party!

2009-03-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

The 4th race in the BuDu West Side MTB Series took place Sunday at Soaring Eagle and one word describes it: MUDDY!

The course was the same as last month's race but conditions made it completely different. I lined up for the 11am women's sport division with my teammate Leigh and about 10 other gals. We spent the next hour slogging through mud at a high rate of speed: 6mph. I know a few people weren't so thrilled with the conditions, but for me, mud is the funnest! As is usually the case, I had a much stronger second lap than first and was pretty stoked to ride up all the hills after stumbling on them the first time around.

I didn't finish fantastically but I had a much better race than I did in early March. I haven't done a ton of riding, but at least I've been getting out and slowly finding the legs again. Mad props to my awesome team, uBRDO Team Project. Scotty and James gave my bike a quick once-over right before the race and quickly found and fixed some issues. Probably the reason I haven't been climbing well is because my rear shock was completely out of air. Duh. They pumped it up and readjusted my tire pressure so I was all set for the mud. Talk about awesome support!

Once I got home I had to spend the next hour or two running everything through the wash: bike, car, clothes, me, and the dog. And as you can see from the pictures, white isn't the best choice for mountain bike shorts.

NiteRider Minewt Review

2009-03-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight I hit the Wed night Thrilla ride with some racing acquaintances. The ride started without two of my friends who were stuck in traffic. Luckily for them I flatted a mere 3 miles into the ride. I decided to let everyone go on ahead and after some careful tire inspection finally found the culprit: a little piece of blackberry thorn. Yep, it drilled its way through my tire just enough to wreak havoc and likely caused last week's flat. My two friends caught up and off we went, only to be derailed by a broken chain halfway through the ride. Not me this time! Despite the mechanicals, we still logged 15 miles and over 1k of climbing. We had a great time and the Minewt turned out to be the highlight of the night. Cute eh?

The NiteRider Minewt USB Mini Pro Review....

I've had a CygoLite DualCross 200 headlight that I've happily road commuted with for quite some time, but decided that for night time trail riding I should get a helmet light to complement. I went light shopping at Gregg's today and chose the Minewt USB Pro for a few reasons. Compared to other lights at a comparable $100 price range, this one is USB-chargeable, has a longer run time (3 hrs), lighter battery, and faster charge time (3-4 hrs). The Pro version comes with a helmet mount that costs about $30 extra. It's well worth it though once you figure out how to install it.

I assumed the light would come with some directions, but no, nothing. Ok, installing the mount should be pretty easy. Well, it took some time for sure and it wasn't quite as straight-forward as I would have hoped. After about 30 minutes of fiddling and looking at a few images on Google I got it. Once you get it, it makes sense and it's a surprisingly stable little mount.

I've never ridden with a helmet light and expected to notice extra weight, which I did at first, but after a few minutes I forgot about it. The whole system is amazingly light weight. The mount doesn't rattle or move around and stays very stable so I never noticed I was wearing it.

When it finally got dark enough to use the light I was pretty damn surprised when I switched it on. Wow it's bright! A few minutes later I turned on my CygoLite and started checking the cables because it wasn't coming on. I pulled off the trail to double-check. No wait, it IS on, it's just being grossly out-shined by the Minewt. The CygoLite didn't even become useful until it was completely pitch black, and even then it just offered a wide angle ambience compared to the Minewt, which was much more directed.

The big bonus of a helmet light in general is that you can point your head at exactly what you want to light up. Duh, right? Well, you don't notice how useful this is until you switch it off and take corners with just a handlebar-mounted light. That lasted about 5 seconds before I almost ended up in the blackberries.

Overall, this little light is quite the bang for the buck. It's got a bright, highly directed beam of light. The sturdy helmet mount and light weight battery pack make it completely stealth. The on/off button on the battery pack is easy to find and use while using thick mountain bike gloves. USB chargeable rocks.

I could really only find two slight cons, and even at that they're not a big deal for me. Lack of directions for installing the helmet mount was a bit frustrating. Some type of illustration or directions would be nice. The light also doesn't have any multimodes (high-beam, low-beam, flash) but I don't personally need that on the trail so it's not an issue for me.

You could probably use the Minewt as a solo light source but I think it's best used as a helmet light paired with another lighting system. The Minewt definitely outshined my CygoLite in intensity, but the CygoLite offers a broader range of light and a very long 4-9 hour run time depending on the mode. These two in tandem worked really well. The darker picture at left is illuminated with just my CygoLite. The picture at right is the Minewt.

I ran the Minewt for about an hour tonight and would like to test it to the 3-hr run time at some point. I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities, especially if I do Spokane or Moab.

The weekend rally

2009-03-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

I said I needed to kick my butt into shape so away I kicked. Saturday I packed up the mountain bike and hit Tokul with a fun group from uBRDO. We spent the day climbing fire roads and winding through single track on our way to logging 25 miles. My Garmin shows over 5000 ft of climbing. Can that be right?

It was a pretty ambitious undertaking for me considering it was my second mountain bike ride of the year. Turns out it's the furthest ride I've ever done. The epic ride over 4th of July weekend last year at White River is the closest I've come to that many mountain bike miles: 19.

The trails at Tokul were a fun mix of fast singletrack, steep descents, overgrown vegetation (is that really fun?), and some fire road climbs. One thing is for sure: I've lost my climbing legs. I need to find them fast because dragging bricks uphill is just not fun. Saturday's ride put the Cream Puff into perspective. Hmm, I need to be able to ride 4x that distance by July with about a quarter of the lactic acid legs. Lots more 25+ mile rides in my future.

I woke up this morning surprisingly not too sore, so I set out for the Arboretum and shocked myself by running just shy of 5 miles. I haven't run over 4.5 since my injury three years ago. Maybe I should kill myself on the mountain bike more often! Sure, that first mile sucked and the legs were screaming, but once they loosened up I got into a nice rhythm. Maybe I can finally start dialing up the mileage and getting myself back on the Boston train.

After the run I hit the Ashram for a power yoga session, then managed to eek out just enough energy for a climbing gym outing. Thursday I flailed horribly after not having climbed for a few weeks so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Today felt great and I climbed better than I have in a long time. I even managed to flash two new routes. I think I was too tired to try anything clever so I just went with it. Good strategy.

Even Jake got in on the weekend rally. He always runs with me but got an extra special solid hour at the Marymoor dog park after climbing. I swear I have yet to find another dog that can outrun him when he's got a tennis ball in sight. Jake cracks me up. Just like mom, he's all out 100% of the time :) Both of us are happily exercised and tuckered out, so it'll be a quiet night for sure!

Time for a season change.

2009-03-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it's already March and soon to be April, wow. 2009 is just ticking on by! It's certainly past time for me to get my butt into shape for the busy upcoming summer. The past few months I've turned into a complete snowholic and have been practically living on the slopes. I love it!

Honestly, I don't know how I survived Seattle winters before snowboarding. It makes the winter pass so much faster and every time I hit the slopes I feel like a kid about to burst with happiness. SAD? What's that? All the night trips to Snoqualmie this year certainly paid off because my snowboarding skills have come a long way since my first venture up before XMas. I think I crashed at least 50 times that night and couldn't turn or carve to save my soul. Now I can truck through waist-deep powder, survive most black diamond runs, and even carve some trenches. Woo!

I spent Tuesday at Baker enjoying what may have been the last big powder day of the season. I guess we'll see how the weather cooperates. There's just nothing quite like the feeling of floating over tons of untracked pow, so at least if the season is over, I ended it with a bang.

Now I need to shift gears and get back on the bike. This year I'll be racing for the uBRDO Team Project and I'm excited about the team and the races we'll be doing. I did an early-season BuDu race a few weekends ago at Soaring Eagle and quickly found out just how out of shape I am. Time to get that turned around.

I'll probably start hitting Pacific Raceways next week for some mid-week intensity. That'll get my butt turned around pretty quick. The Indie Series kicks off in April and then in June I head to Fernie for an 8-day mountain bike camp vacation through Sacred Rides. I'm stoked about that one!

Probably the biggest event of the summer for me will be the Cascade Cream Puff, a 100-mile mountain bike race in Oregon in July. I wouldn't be true to form unless I got myself into something way over my head, right? I have a feeling July is going to come along way too fast...

Ooops...

2009-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty stoked about my vacation plans in June: an 8-day trip to Fernie for a kick-ass mountain bike clinic! "In the company of supportive coaches and other participants, you'll push your skills, ride incredible trails, eat delicious meals, stay at our lodge on the banks of the Elk River, and do other activities such as swimming, hiking and yoga." It just doesn't get any better than that.

A few weeks ago I signed up for the inaugural Seattle Rock 'n Roll half marathon and then suddenly realized these two events might overlap. A quick check of the schedule and....

...I get home from Fernie Friday evening on June 26th and the half marathon is the very next morning. Yikes. Not sure how I managed to do that...

A perfect day

2009-02-21T18:34:00.001-08:00

There's no better way to start the day than with some kick-ass mountain biking in the sunshine! Afterwards I blew off about an inch of dust from the Ruby and busted her out for her first ride in about 6 months. That bike is butter. Cruising on the Ruby made me delusional enough to climb both Lakemont AND Zoo Hill. Damn that hurt.

My legs are toast, which should set me up well for the first mtb race of the season at Seatac tomorrow. Hey, I'm in "race myself into shape" mode so if my legs aren't jello I'm not working hard enough. I even spent some time giving the Kona some love and she's all cleaned up, tuned up, and ready to go! Here we go race season. I can't believe I'm saying that...

...oh yeah, and I'm very excited to say I'll be flying some new colors this year: uBRDO! Though I guess I need a kit before I can really fly the new colors.

Divination By Google - Thanks Bridgette!

2009-02-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks Bridgette, I couldn't resist! Type in your name and the word "needs" into Google (e.g. "Paul needs") and type (or cut and paste) the first 10 things (eliminate repeats, of course!) that come up.

Christine needs to know where her inventory is located at all times
Christine needs some lovin'
Christine needs to have kids
Christine needs a break
Christine needs to see her doctors tomorrow
Christine needs to know when she gets back
Christine needs to pee!
Christine needs some sort of female support system
Christine needs to stop looking at clothes
Christine needs no one

Ha! These are too funny. Except for 3. That might not be funny right now...

A laundry list of things learned today

2009-02-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it was one of those days. So many lessons require a good explanation, so I'll actually make a real blog post this time :)

Lesson #1: Drug dealer's mean vicious dogs suck.
Lesson #2: Overdoing climbing not so good.
Lesson #3: Mats are there for a reason when you're bouldering. Not hitting them sorta sucks.
Lesson #4: About the time you put 110% faith in something, it fails.
Lesson #5: ALWAYS be focused when bouldering.

My day got off to a real kickin' start around 4:30 this morning when Jake decided he really needed to go to the bathroom. It's my fault for going to bed early instead of taking him out for his pre-bedtime potty break. In my neighborhood, I'm extra vigilant at 4:30 in the morning and it certainly paid off.

I walked outside the front door to our building and hadn't yet closed the door (good thing!) when Jake started growling and fussing. Immediately I figured something was up so I turned around to head back inside when out of nowhere these two very aggressive, very unleashed, very big dogs came running straight at us. I bolted inside and managed to shut the door right on the first dog, who got himself wedged about halfway between the door and the door frame. For what seemed like an eternity I was wrestling with the door, trying to keep this dog from wedging himself further inside, all while trying to hold Jake back so he didn't get attacked. At this point I was thinking my very life was dependent on not letting that dog get inside. Not a good feeling.

Finally I ended up giving the dog a swift kick straight to the snout, which was enough to back him up so I could get the front door closed. By this time, all the commotion and my screaming woke up my downstairs neighbor who proceeded to call 911. Yeah, good times. I woke up later today realizing how f'in lucky we both were that we didn't end up mauled or dead. Sure, stuff like this could happen anywhere, but I think I'm getting weary of this neighborhood.

Might be time to move to the eastside where my biggest concern would be neighbors calling the cops on me for not mowing my lawn or something.

Once I recovered from this fiasco, I decided to hit the climbing gym, which was not a good idea. I was already pumped out just driving to the gym and should have taken a rest day. I completed two 5.8 routes ok but things just didn't feel good and after two flailing attempts at harder routes I called it a day. Then comes lessons of the day #2-5....

I wandered over to the bouldering cave and started playing around. I did a V0, then a V0+ and didn't feel too bad, but I wasn't really focused, I was just playing around. Then I tried this V2 that had a bit of a tricky move towards the top. I had to move my right foot onto this little teeny feature and reach up and to the right for the next hold at the same time. For the first time ever, I put 110% confidence in my foot holding on to that feature and wouldn't you know ... it didn't hold. I was reaching way over and to the right and as soon as my foot slipped I fell sideways, missed the mat, and decked my shoulder straight into the ground. Pretty awesome.

The fall itself wasn't that bad and I got up thinking I was fine, but my shoulder is definitely zinged. Right next to me a girl was trying bouldering for her very first time. After seeing me fall she immediately started crying and screaming to her b/f that she couldn't move and wanted down immediately. She got really pissed he wasn't climbing up to get her, which was sorta funny. She was barely halfway up so he finally talked her into jumping off, then she went screaming and crying into the bathroom and I never saw her again. I guess I ruined her life :(

So, yeah. I shouldn't have been bouldering because I was way too pumped out and not focused. And I should have moved the mat. And now I need to work on my foot faith again because I'm sure I just knocked it back a few notches with that one. Hopefully I just tweaked the shoulder a bit and it'll be fine after a few days rest.

All in all, a really spectacular day!

Time to get serious...

2009-02-14T21:53:00.000-08:00

Instead of more junk miles I decided to do a shorter, higher-intensity ride today that ended with me actually puking on the bike for the second time ever. Yeah, betcha really wanted to know that. Then I topped it off with two "sprints" up Madrona. Well, I used to sprint up Madrona, today was more trying to keep my bike in a straight line and not crash on jello legs. Damn I'm outta shape. But I think I exercised my demons :) Followed it up with hot yoga and now I'm dead on the couch.

I think I missed the moral of the day. Throwing up on the bike is sometimes therapeutic??

2009-02-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

After 5 or so years away, I'm back in black!!

Ouch

2009-02-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

Raw, numb fingers and complete loss of upper body function either equals too much flailing or really hard climbing. I'll pick the second one.

2009-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

2009-02-03T23:41:00.000-08:00

Rallying on the board to near exhaustion is a good evening spent indeed.

Taking 6 weeks off from running sucks.

2009-02-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Time to get out there and start rebuilding again. Going from 4+ miles to barely gimping out 1.5 blows.

Recharging the batteries is good

2009-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

I must be getting old. I passed up boarding tonight to spend a nice, mellow evening at home with the cat, the dog, a heating pad, warm blankies, and hot chocolate. Ahhhh.

2009-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

I guess sometimes there are days where things are just off. Had a bit of a bummer climbing night and then burned myself with the stove. Boo. Maybe I need a recharge day...

2009-01-27T23:56:00.000-08:00

Playing in the snow and witnessing Winter X Games type jumping = awesome birthday!!

Lessons learned today...

2009-01-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

#1: Learned while climbing: most problems are only in your head.

#2: Learned after climbing: pumping out and then carrying a 50-lb bag of dog food is not a fun activity.

It's all about the positive...

2009-01-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months I've been accumulating this never-ending list of crap that needs to be done: fix the clogged bathroom sink, work on the bikes, fix broken things on the car, adjust snowboard bindings, and the list goes on and on. Naturally, I keep putting this stuff off to go out and snowboard and do other more entertaining things. Then this morning I woke up and my car tire was completely pancake flat. Not that this was unexpected. I've been putting air in it at least once a week for the past two months and noticed it was deflating much more rapidly over the last few days. I figured if I ignored it, it might just go away. Don't argue with my philosophy. So I did the adult thing today and gave up boarding at Crystal to fix crap. Here's the sum of my day.....

Wake up to totally flat tire.
I used a freakin' hand pump to get enough air into the tire to drive to the tire store. It took me almost 45 minutes of swearing and a few curious looks from neighbors.

Time to fix: 2.5 hrs
Positive spin: I got a good workout and learned the importance of not neglecting your tires.

Unclog bathroom sink that has been unusable for over a month.
Basically I used the equivalent of a plastic Fisher Price plumbing tool kit to pull out what looked like the entire hide of a Woolly Mammoth from my sink. More swearing.

Time to fix: 1.5 hrs
Positive spin: I will never grow my hair long again because it has magical sink clogging abilities. And I need some real tools.

Replace burned out headlight in car.
VW has gone to great lengths to make this impossible. Only after removing the battery and other useless crap in the way did I find a bolt that only VW has the power to remove. This of course was holding a plastic cover in place over the headlight bulb. Naturally, in a rage, I broke it. Then found the same thing holding down yet another metal cover. It's like the VW headlight chastity belt. WTF. No replaced headlight and I might have exceeded my F-bomb limit for the year.

Time lost to VW hell: 3 hrs.
Positive spin: This is tough. I guess my Golf has one less piece of plastic shit that is now in millions of pieces.

Winterize the Jake the Snake.
Some tires just really suck to change. And not all fenders are created equal either.

Time to fix: 1 hr
Positive spin: I have more tire changing experience?? And yet again, I need more tools.

Adjust Snowboard Bindings.
Ok, this is like the only task today that just worked, so I guess the lesson is that working on the snowboard is easy :)

Fix burned out track lighting.
The bulbs that came out of my track lighting have no distinguishing features. So it took me three trips to Lowe's and much yelling at sales people to get these right. And, those f'in bulbs heat up fast. Believe it or not, it was the first injury of the day.

Time to fix: 2 hrs
Positive spin: I'm a walking encyclopedia of track lighting and I know where to find it all at Lowe's.

Getting rear-ended in the car.
I then completed my day by getting rear-ended by an idiot in a Lexus who didn't realize that your stopping distance is severely compromised in snow.

Time lost: 45 mins
Positive spin: My car was saved because my T2 rack doubles as a Lexus hood ornament.

All in all a pretty productive day, though I think I'm F-bombed out for the year :(

Bye bye 2008, you kinda sucked I think.

2008-12-31T23:07:00.000-08:00

Since Facebook came along I sure have been neglecting the blog, so I figured what better day to post a quick update than the last day of the year?

Mostly I'm writing this for me so that one day next year I may look back and read this and remember 2008 for being the awful and wonderful year it was. Lots of good stuff happened this year, and lots of bad stuff happened this year. In fact, I consider this to be the single most traumatic and chaotic year of my life I think, but at the same time, I wouldn't have learned so much without the chaos. So without writing a novel....

Big lessons from 2008:

Live life to its fullest, because you really don't know how much time you have. I have a bigger fear of regretting something I didn't do, not something I did. Go big and have fun doing it!
There are a million guys out there. Not a single one of them is worth losing your soul over.
There are a million guys out there. Half of them are assholes and half of them are amazing, kick-ass rock-stars. One of those rock-stars is mine, he just doesn't know it yet ;)
Believe in yourself and never change who you are.
There's no room in life for drama. Shape up or shut up. Life is too short.

On a lighter note, I also learned the following lessons this year:

Snowboarding fucking rocks, especially when you start carving turns, picking up some speed, and actually passing people down the mountain.
Rock climbing is a fun way to terrorize your brain.
Pump tracks are highly addictive.
Crashing into prickly pear cactus sucks.
A year off due to injury healing isn't so fun, so take care of the body! (No more stupid home gymnastics....for now).

And of course, what year-end wrap up wouldn't be complete without a list of goals for 2009. I always have a lot of goals, so I'm just going to list the big ones.

Carve down Alpental on the board. Hmmm, maybe that's a dream for now....
Kill it in XC MTB races.
Become a dirt studette by doing some riding and clinics in BC. I'm guessing a Fernie clinic and too much time at Whistler will probably result in a budget rearrangement to procure a big bike, but that's a whole 'nother story...
Qualify for Boston!!
Complete a Half Iron.
Do some outdoor rock climbing.
Find a guy who can keep up and put up with all of this stuff. And maintain my bikes :)

Happy New Year!!

Not sure what did the most damage....

2008-11-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

...the 26-mi road ride I did Saturday? The hot yoga session Saturday afternoon after three weeks off? My first ever climbing outing at Vertical World today? Or the Colonnade workout and 3-mi run I clocked at Greenlake tonight?

One thing is for sure: I'm now hooked on a brand new sport. I've always wanted to try climbing but have just never gotten around to it. I accepted an invite from a friend to hit Vertical World today and had a blast. Heights don't really bother me, but I've always had a bit of falling fear, so I honestly didn't think climbing would be my thing. I was wrong. I was so freaked out on my first climb though I could barely hang on to anything. I learned pretty quickly that chalk is your friend!

After a few climbs I figured out how to move around and felt a lot more comfortable. I found the mental challenge to be the best part. There were a few times I got stuck but knew where I needed to go. It's weird how your body knows what it needs to do but your brain is screaming, "No way! You're going to fall!" Every time I went for it I made it, so it's just convincing yourself you can do it. I'm now signed up for the belay class and well on my way to making this a regular thing :)

I think tomorrow is going to suck. I'm already feeling the climbing mostly in my triceps, shoulders, and legs. Or maybe the legs are hurting from Saturday's ride. My core is killing me from yoga, but that could also be from climbing. Ugh.

Time for an update...

2008-11-29T14:22:00.001-08:00

This month has been busy mostly due to a huge work project. I took a much needed mini-vacation to LA to visit with my dad for a week over Thanksgiving and I can happily say it only rained for a day and a half. The rest of the time I spent soaking up sunshine, hiking, running, and mountain biking. I logged 60 miles of mountain biking, about 8 miles of running, and nearly 10 miles of hiking. Now that's my kind of vacation ;)

I flew back to Seattle Thanksgiving evening mostly because of cheap airline rates and empty airports. Travel is so easy on holidays. My mom and I had Thanksgiving together for probably the first time in nearly 10 years. It was awesome!

Friday I had my final follow-up with the knee doctor concerning my IT band injury and the great news is that the MRI shows no more inflammation or swelling in either my hip or knee. Might I finally be coming around?? On the flip side though, my right shoulder has been giving me increasing trouble, so I mentioned it to the doc, who decided to take a closer look and has now diagnosed me with a very mildly separated shoulder. WTF? The funniest thing was him asking me, "Did you take a spill on that shoulder that you can recall?" Hmmm, which one of my recent 50 accidents should I point to?

I honestly don't know how I did it. I took a good fall at Tiger about a month or so ago, but don't remember hitting it. I only started noticing the discomfort mostly during bowling or lifting at the gym. It's usually sore after bike rides, but it's not horrible by any means, more of just a dull, annoying ache. I've got some reduced range of motion on that side for some reason, but I did injure it probably 15 years ago, so who knows.

Good news is the doc said it's mild and a sling probably isn't necessary. Right now I'm just icing and taking some anti-inflammatory meds. At this rate, I should probably seriously consider retiring again from bowling since it's killing me, but I think I'll try to bowl through this season and then call it quits in April. At least the doc knows me well. He said I could choose to wear a sling during periods of inactivity, but he has no idea when that would be ;)

In other news, I actually got out on the road bike today for a nice south lake loop with a friend. First time in a long, long time I felt back to my normal self, except out of shape. My knee did great and I was able to stand and climb for the first time in a while. Hopefully I'm starting to come around and I just need to slowly build back my fitness.

Good luck to everyone running the Seattle Half and Marathon tomorrow! I'll be out bright and early to cheer for folks. Wish I was out there, but maybe next year!

Bremerton CX

2008-11-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday I finally got back to the cross scene and boy did I have a blast!! It was so good to get out, play in the mud, hang with the team, and have a great time on the brand new Kona!

I usually do a good job of staying upright in races but the course in Bremerton killed me last year and didn't disappoint this year either. Last year I showed up with a brand new pair of Sidis and new cleats. On my practice lap I found out my cleats were too tight and took a header into a barrier, leaving myself with a spectacular calf bruise that is still discolored and knotty nearly a year later. Awesome.

Sunday's race was muddy and slick and I did a fair amount of slipping and sliding, but stayed up. On the second lap though, I noticed I couldn't get unclipped. WTF? I was rotating my foot at nearly a 90 and not disengaging. This is not a good thing to find out when you're setting up for barriers. I unclipped way too late and got so off balance I took myself out and had this spectacular flop in the mud right in front of the team tent. I remember lying on my back for a few seconds imagining how stupid that must have looked and listening to everyone cheering. Ha!

The rest of the race I struggled to get unclipped with my right foot, so combined with my lack of practice, I was pretty much a train wreck on wheels! Teammates checked my shoes after the race and discovered a very loose right cleat. Duh. I need to start doing some equipment checks I guess.

I did manage to pass a few gals but pretty much got my ass kicked, which I expected. I was just ecstatic to be able to get out and ride, not have any knee or hip pain, and find out my limiter was my cardio and NOT my legs. My knee wasn't even sore after the race. Since when has that happened?

The new Kona handled like a dream and I love it, love it, love it! I've lost pretty much the entire year to injuries, so I'm eager to hit the few remaining cross races on the schedule. Competitiveness aside, it's just great to be back on the bike! I'm considering a double-header this weekend and can't wait to get the Kona out again!

Stoked!!

2008-11-04T19:41:00.001-08:00

I didn't get my Fuji back, but thank goodness for the rider I put on my insurance policy last year. State Farm is the greatest and sending me a check now so I can run out and get a new cross bike hopefully in time to race this weekend. Yay! They're not even requiring paperwork since I've been a customer in good standing for so long. They rock.

I thought my cross bike decision would be an easy one until I started looking at bikes and realized TONS of manufacturers make really great cross bikes now. Decisions, decisions...

Today I rode the neglected Giant into work and it's the first time in months I could ride round trip without blowing up my left knee. Stoked!! The road bike still puts some pressure on the hip (IT band issue) but it's miles away from how painful it was this summer. I'm still moving slow and standing on climbs is tough, but just getting back on the road feels amazing. What doesn't feel amazing is getting passed on hills. Grrrrr..... must ... control ... myself.

I even managed to climb up Irving to 31st from the I-90 bridge deck, but I probably shouldn't do that for a while. I'm hoping I can do a short road ride this weekend, but we'll see. I'd love to get out on a team ride but I don't think I'm quite up to that sort of mileage or pace yet.

Good karma coming my way?

2008-11-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight I did laundry and matched all my socks. ALL of them. When does that ever happen? Good karma must be coming my way...maybe I'll get my bike back. C'mon good karma gods, work your magic because after unstable exes, bank fraud, and a stolen bike, I'm due damnit!

Stolen Fuji Cross Pro

2008-11-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

After many, many years of owning bikes, today I had my first tango with bike theft. I hit the Colonnade for a ride today and when I got back to the car, my Fuji Cross Pro had been stolen right off my locked T2 rack. I have no idea how someone managed to do it, but I can only guess they may have gotten the quick release off and somehow wiggled the bike off the front wheel. Who knows. I got that bike two years ago on our Zoka team deal and it was a fantastic buy.

I haven't done much cross this year because of injuries, but was planning to get back to a series race tomorrow and finish the season. Now I don't have a bike to race with, so I'm pretty f'in bummed. I guess I'll have to race cross on the Kona and pray that my Fuji turns up or my homeowner's insurance helps me out.

I filed a police report, sent email to the WSBA, posted on the seattlecyclocross forum and craig's list, and contacted all the local used bike shops. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it turns up, but I'm not holding out much hope. And of course, it's the one bike I don't have the serial number for. Drat. I miss my baby :(

Information Below:
Stolen Nov 1 between 12:30 - 3pm. My car was parked a block south of E Blaine and Lakeview near the Colonnade.

2006 49cm Fuji Cross Pro
Black/Silver/red striping
Shimano SPD pedals
Cateye type computer on handlebars (not working)
Michelin Mud tires

If you see it, please let me know, after you've pelted whoever is on it.

I pick the bike.

2008-10-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a cocktail hour with a friend of mine who is lamenting the end of her 3-yr relationship. There's that magic 3-yr number again. Maybe they're just not meant to last any longer than that.

Then she asked me when I knew my last relationship was over. Hmmm, I had to think for a minute and realistically, I kept remembering this one incident over and over. I remember him looking at me one day and being very annoyed. Then he said, "Is it always about the bike with you?" Yes, I pick the bike. Is that wrong?

Happy Birthday IT band.

2008-10-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I joined the CycleU Triathlon team for a running clinic at Greenlake and learned a ton from Toby Swanson. Thanks Toby! One thing I realized is that I never had a clue what the hell I was doing when I ran races years ago. I didn't train, I just went out and ran fast a few times a week and that's likely what did me in with the IT band.

We did some pacing drills around the Greenlake track and surprise, surprise, I WAY out ran myself. I was supposed to do a 2:10 400m lap. 2:10? I used to run the 400 in high school in 1:05. I fought with myself the whole lap to slow down and clocked 1:45. Why can't I just slow down sometimes? Being aware of "goal pace" is really something I need to work on.

Today was the perfect day to have a "track day" since I consider it the 3rd anniversary of IT band hell. Hard to believe, but 3 years ago today marked the end of my running career at the Pumpkin Push 5k race at Seward Park. About a week prior I developed horrible knee pain and couldn't run, let alone walk down stairs. I took a week off, then lined up for the start of the 5k thinking it surely had to be healed. Wrong! I remember hobbling the entire course, running on one leg down the steep hill, and gimping across the finish line. After that, I made several lame attempts at running to salvage my Seattle Half that year, but alas, I finally gave in.

About a month or so ago marked my return to running and today just reinforced what I already know: I need to keep a careful eye on myself and exercise some serious discipline. I love running, but I'm already increasing mileage too quickly and I need to back down and take it easy. That said, I know Boston was a long shot for next year anyway, but I'm officially killing it. I'd much rather postpone a year to get myself injury free than risk another 3 years of IT band hell.

Now I'm thinking of turning that Surf City Boston Marathon Qualifier into a half-marathon instead. I think I can be ready for that by February. So anyway, happy birthday IT band. Now it's time to mountain bike...

Time for an update...

2008-10-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Since Facebook has taken over my life it seems I'm not doing nearly as many blog updates, so I guess it's about time. The last month has been seriously busy, mostly due to work. My typical work week runs about 50-60 hrs right now and probably will for the next few weeks. I love the projects I'm working on though, so it doesn't seem all that bad.

Joe kicked me into high gear at Headquarters about two weeks ago, so I'm on the big girl's lifting plan. Those first two weeks were brutal and it's a bit more tolerable now. Already I'm seeing big changes, so I'm expecting lots of new muscle in 30 days. Sweet!

I thank a friend for getting me into hot yoga, which has become my newest addiction. I absolutely think it's helping to heal my IT band, my bad knee, and various other issues. The most amazing thing is how awesome I feel after I'm done sweating my butt off for an hour in the studio. It's a great detox and resets me back to zero.

The most exciting thing to me right now is my running progression. I almost feel like I'm back to where I was three years ago, minus the speed. I'm running regularly 4x/week and just slowly building my mileage. Probably the most exciting part is that I'm running at Discovery Park again, which is awesome mostly because it's not flat. I'm finally able to run hills, especially downhill, and the IT band isn't even twitching. Just this past Saturday I logged a 4.5-mi run. Longest in years!!

On the flip-side, biking has gone completely to the wayside. The tendinitis in my knee is calming down, but the bike riles it up, so I just haven't been riding. Unfortunately, that also means my cross season is in jeopardy, but so be it. As it turns out, I've logged 580 miles this entire year, which is a far cry from the 2500 I did each of the two years before. And 150 miles of that 580 was RAMROD. Yikes.

I know myself well and I'm a very competitive person. I don't have enough discipline to not go 150% out there. Cross is fun of course, but frustrating because I'm not in shape, and I'm afraid it's a recipe for injury to try to go Zone 5 with no base right now. I even caught myself thinking about some 5K running races coming up, but I know I'd be trying to do 7-min miles in no time, and I don't need to do that right now either.

So, I think I've basically given myself a "No racing ban" for the remainder of the year. I think my time the next few months is best spent rebuilding. I have a ways to go, but I'd rather take the time to get fully healed and be back for next year. Afterall, I'm just ecstatic to be running again!!

And next year is going to be big....but more on that later.

I need some cross practice, fast!

2008-09-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Cyclocross Series kicked off today at Evergreen HS. It's hard to believe it's already that time of year! I hopped out to race this morning having not spent any time on the cross bike since last year's Kringle Kross. I had a blast as always, but finished pretty close to the rear despite having a front-row start. Ick, but I'll live with it.

The women's 4 field had a great turnout as usual with slightly over 30 riders. I seem to have an uncanny ability to place myself near the people who end up crashing or near-crashing on the start. One girl overlapped wheels with someone and caused a bit of chaos that made me unclip. Everyone stayed up, but I just lost my rhythm. My left knee has been screaming at me all week and sprinting and hill climbing right now are particularly tough. The fast start gave me trouble and I drifted to the back way too quickly. Note to self: despite a decent warmup, I still need to get more!

I lost most of my ground on the runup, believe it or not. The knee would just not cooperate and I almost bailed after the first lap it hurt so bad. Then by the second lap I seriously didn't notice it anymore. Not sure if I didn't care, if it was numb, or if it just quit acting up. My first two laps were horrible. I was less than graceful, cornering horribly, and hopping on and off the bike like a retard. The last half of the race went much smoother, so I just need some practice.

I think about 60% right now is fitness and the rest I can chalk up to no practice and a grumpy knee. Hello Zone 5, haven't seen you since Derby Days and the first half of the Indie Series. A few practices at Marymoor along with some knee taping should hopefully get me a little further at the next race. It was great to get out there again!!

After cross I spent an hour sweating my ass off in 105-degree heat or something like that. I have a friend who raves about hot yoga. I've never done any yoga, but since this year seems to be all about healing injuries, I might as well throw yoga in the mix. I joined her for a hot yoga session this afternoon and all I can say is: it was intense! Surprisingly, I managed most poses ok, though a few were totally impossible for me. The second half of the class was much tougher and the heat started to get to me, but I made it through only needing to lie on the mat once or twice for a quick break. I can't believe how refreshed and relaxed I felt afterwards. Guess I have a new addiction now :)

This past week was a tough one. I increased my runs to about 2.5 - 2.7 miles (hurrah!). On Wednesday I did a lunch run followed by my first leg workout at HQ in a month. That was not a good combination, especially when I realized my PT appointment was set for Thursday morning. Astym was particularly brutal this week and I'll be sure not to do a leg workout, run, and PT all back-to-back. Then I hit Discovery Park on Saturday for a 3-mi jog and hike. After adding on cross and yoga today, we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I think tomorrow will be a nice day off!

Visiting with dad. The chaos Part 2.

2008-09-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

After missing Starcrossed, a teammate suggested I head to Steilacoom Sunday for the Rad Racing GP. Great idea! My dad was on board with it, so the plan was to get up at 6am, head to Steilacoom, then do some hiking after.

Now here comes Sunday's chaos. I managed to set my alarm for 6pm rather than 6am, so I rolled over at 7, looked curiously at the clock, then unleashed some expletives. No way I wanted to do the "frantic running late trying to get to a race knowing I won't get a warmup" dance, so I went back to bed. My dad then came out at 8am surprised about the time and I told him I guess we were hiking instead!

After some discussion, we decided to hike Snow Lake, which is a relatively flatish hike. I used to be a hiking fiend, but the IT band injury made it tough for me to go downhill, so I really haven't hiked much in the past three years. I told dad I wanted to keep steepness in moderation. No need to push the IT band too hard yet.

We stopped in Issaquah for a great breakfast at Julia's, then proceeded up to Alpental where it was dumping rain. Neither of us or the dog were too excited to deal with rain, so we just kept driving. I figured there was a good chance it might be sunny east of the pass, and sure enough, a few miles over we had sunshine! Thank goodness for the iPhone and google! Weather forecast? Check. Hike suggestion? Check. I typed in 'Ellensburg hike' and got a Seattle PI review of the Westberg Trail complete with directions, so that's where we went.

This very impromptu hike was fabulous and we enjoyed blue skies and sunshine the whole day! Way better than rain right now if you ask me. Jake loved it too! I had some concerns though as we started the hike and sections turned upwards at an alarmingly steep rate. I worried I'd blow my IT band coming back down, but decided to just go for it and see what happened.

Once up top, we were rewarded with amazing views, lots of wind, and some beautiful memorials. We hung out up top for a while, ate some snacks, and let Jake run around and play fetch for a while. I realized that since I haven't been hiking due to my injury, Jake hasn't either, and he did great for his first real hike!

We started down and I descended one steep section near the top with no trouble. Before long I hit the halfway mark still going strong. I thought I wouldn't make it all the way without some type of IT band issue, but can you believe it? I made it the whole way, even through some really steep sections. Woo! I can't even tell you how excited I was!! Maybe I can start putting hiking back on my list of activities.

This trail did have one awesome little thing I've never seen before: loaner hiking poles! They were just sitting out there at the start with a sign that said "Courtesy of the local Eagle Scouts." I didn't even think to pack one and wouldn't have grabbed one unless my dad urged me to. It really helped on the way down, so thank you Eagle Scouts! What a great idea!

More hike pictures on Facebook.

Visiting with dad. The chaos Part 1.

2008-09-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

I had one of those weekends where nothing went to plan, but it was still a blast anyway! My dad flew in from LA and we had a few days to hang out and visit. The plan for Saturday was to pick him up from the airport at noon and head straight to Marymoor for my race at Starcrossed at 2:15. First hiccup of the day: I woke up late and then had an hour to get my cross bike in working order.

Considering I hadn't even looked at it since the USGP last year, it was in sad shape. Flat tires, old tubes, no seat, no brakes, and a very dry chain. Somehow I managed to almost get it back into shape, but my rear brakes were so out of adjustment that I just put the old ones back on. Who needs rear brakes anyway? As long as I had new front ones, I figured I'd be ok.

Second hiccup of the day: Dad's flight became an hour delayed. We left Seatac around 1 with me still holding out hope I could make the race until I hit the interstate and found that every freakin' road heading north was a parking lot. Why can't people deal with rain here? I really don't get it.

Still stuck in traffic at 1:30, I realized I'd never make it, so I bailed on Starcrossed. I hadn't ridden my cross bike since last December, so it may not have been an entirely bad idea. I was stoked to race for the first time in a while though, so I can't say I wasn't a little bummed.

Dad and I instead headed downtown, where we did some shopping at North Face and took in the Seattle Underground Tour. Not a bad tour, but not as good as I had hoped. After a few hours of sightseeing we headed across the bridge so I could cheer on some teammates at Starcrossed. Talk about epic cross conditions! Mud, rain, woo! It looked fun out there!

Big strides

2008-09-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I would have laughed if someone told me I'd be posting to my blog to brag about a 2.5-mi run. But yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing :) I've been running 1.75 - 2 miles pretty consistently over the last few weeks. Keeping the pace a bit slower is really key right now but I've always struggled with moderating my pace. I kick up the tunes and next thing I know I'm clipping along. Right now I have the Garmin set up to beep at me if I fall under 9-min miles and it's a good thing. Today I decided to test things a bit and try to shoot for 2.5. I kept the pace at a pretty even 9:30 and nailed it! And it felt f***in' great! I never thought a 2.5-mi run would put me on cloud nine, but this one sure did!

Starcrossed

2008-09-17T20:59:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention that unbelievably (at least to me) Starcrossed is this Saturday. I'm totally not ready and just got my cross bike in working order last night, but hey, it'll still be fun! My dad is visiting this weekend, so it'll be the first event since my high school graduation that BOTH my mom and dad are attending. Wow. Too bad I'm so out of shape I'll probably place last, but hey, cross is really all about the beer garden. And since I haven't done a mount / dismount since last December, hopefully I don't face plant right in the beer garden :)

Come out on Saturday and check out the fun!

Lethargy

2008-09-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've definitely been a bit lethargic with the blog updates lately eh? I've been pretty focused the last week or so on a big work project. It's fucking cool and probably the best project I've worked on in years. Sounds like a press release is imminent and the deadline is quickly approaching, so I really need to slamdunk it. No pressure! :)

I picked up a little head cold that sidelined me for about a week from everything but work. Last night I hit Headquarters for the first time in 2 weeks and I swear my workout wasn't that hard before. Damn. I'll be hurting this week for sure.

Running is going well. I got back on it this week and I've found that as long as I keep my pace no faster than 9-min miles, I do ok for about 2 miles or so. Much faster than that and the IT band starts to get a bit tight. Sometimes the pace frustrates me. I used to run 7:30 no sweat, but I have to constantly remind myself that I'm making progress. A few months ago I couldn't run faster than 11-min miles and for the last three years I haven't managed much more than a run around the block. I'm not so sure about my chances to qualify for Boston next year. For a while I was hesitantly optimistic, but now I'm not so sure. We'll just take it day by day and see how it goes. One thing is for sure, I'm training up for a Half Iron next year. Kick-ass!

Now I just need to kick this stupid patellar tendinitis in my left knee and I'll be golden. Can you believe that I've been banned from bowling but allowed to run? Bowling is ripping me up these days. My right wrist is still half-broken from a bike crash two years ago, so I can't grip the ball anymore. My sliding foot is the left, so my tendinitis is enduring deep knee bends all night long, which hurts like hell. And my broken left thumb causes problems just standing on the approach trying to hold the damn ball. Geez. Don't tell anyone I'm trying to bowl Thursday.

Lovin' the scoot!

2008-09-02T22:31:00.001-07:00

Last week I rode my little Aprilia everywhere: back and forth across 520, up to Edmonds, over to Ballard, and all over downtown and Capital Hill. I logged 150 miles with $8.00 worth of gas and parking is a no-brainer. Sweet! I just topped off the tank today and plan to ride it pretty much exclusively this week too. My Golf is getting dusty these days. If you're in the market for a great little scoot, check out the SportCity!

I had a great Labor Day weekend! Somehow I managed to not make it to a single BBQ or the Labor Day Cyclocross Championships, which I really had planned to do, but there was just too much happening and not enough time, so sorry I didn't make it folks! Saturday I actually hit the road bike for the first time in weeks and then motored over to Majestic Bay to watch the crazy Momma Mia movie. Hysterical, not to mention I had ABBA in my head all night. Definitely give this movie a viewing if you haven't seen it. Live entertainment!!

Sunday was Bumbershoot day and I hit the main stage mostly to check out the Keys and STP. The Keys had an amazing show and rocked their set. For just two members, they are incredible. STP played a mostly rockin' set, but as I expected weren't without some drama. They started the night 30 minutes behind schedule, likely due to Weiland drama I'm sure. They pretty much played everything I would have expected and wanted to hear, rocked out some songs, mostly salvaged lyrics and weren't too off beat, but just seemed uninspired. At one point Weiland said to the crowd: "Please don't throw beer cans up here. I'm not much in the mood for beer." Really? You don't say.

Sunday I took mom out for her first sushi experience at Blue C Sushi and then we hit the Aveda spa for some manicures and pedicures. Ahh, nothing like closing out the Labor Day weekend with some pampering. And now the weather is improving so I can bust out the sandals to show off my pretty painted toes :)

Aprilia SportCity 250

2008-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

About 3-4 weeks ago I sold my Ducati. I survived a few years on it with only one crash the day after I bought it. Ah yes, that was fun. It was a great bike: black, sexy, loud, very cool, and very fun to ride. I jumped right into this 900cc Monster straight out of the motorcycle riding class. I really couldn't handle it and I realize I was lucky I didn't kill myself on it.

This past year I rode confidently and felt like I could handle the bike, but then I had a bit of a close call on I-90 and realized I've never been fully in control of the Monster. It was just too much bike for me and at a bit over 550 lbs, very heavy for me. I was sad to see it go, but secretly relieved. I also sold it to someone with the means and ability to give it the TLC it greatly needed.

After only a week though, I missed my wheels, so I considered buying a smaller bike like a Rebel. Then I thought about scooters. Never in a million years did I think I'd end up going from a 900cc Ducati sport bike to a scooter, but it happened, and I couldn't be happier!

I started test riding scoots, but wasn't super impressed. I found most of them scarier than my Duck! They were sketchy as hell on those tiny little tires. I decided after researching scooters that I was going to get a little Aprilia Scarabeo 200. I stopped by Cycle Works in Renton on Monday to put a deposit on one from their next shipment and had an interesting turn of luck.

As I browsed the bikes, I noticed this little black scoot, the Aprilia SportCity 250, sitting right out front. I'd never seen one and was intrigued. The guy at Cycle Works couldn't stop raving about it and said I had to test ride it. That's all it took for love at first test ride.

Not only did it look like a little baby Aprilia sport bike, but it had big, wide, motorcycle-like tires, dual front disc brakes, lots of pickup, and even a little charger jack in the front storage compartment. Slick! The second I hopped on it I felt totally at ease and the little scoot handled just like a big bike. Amazing!

Then the bad news: it had a deposit on it already. Damn! But, the salesman at Cycle Works said a girl put the deposit on it a few days ago and hadn't come back to get it. He was a little irked to have already turned people away from buying it, so he called her and she opted out of the purchase. So...it was mine! They claim the SportCity is impossibly hard to get, especially in black, so it was certainly my lucky day.

I really can't say enough good things about the crew at Cycle Works. They were AMAZING! Not only did they sell me the bike, and I mean sell me the bike as in, "Here's the features, here's how it handles, here's what it does, etc", but they took the time to help me get the hang of the center stand, threw in $100 of accessories, answered all of my questions, and were a very fun and helpful group to work with. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a scoot or motorcycle.

I had the great fortune of riding home in the rain and it handled flawlessly. I never rode the Ducati in the rain as the power on that bike scared me on wet roads, but the SportCity is great! I brought it home Monday and have already put nearly 75 miles on it.

I work in Bellevue, so Tuesday I ventured across 520 to see how it handled, and was thoroughly impressed. At one point I was cruising close to 70 during one short stretch and the scoot just purred along. Again, handling is amazing with those big tires. Twice this week my 520 commute has been quite windy, but it handles the wind beautifully. It's really no worse than the Duck would have been. It's got enough pickup to leave most cars in the dust, the brakes will stop you on a dime, and it's just plain fun!

The biggest difference between the scoot and the motorcycle is probably suspension. I definitely feel more bumps on the scoot and I have to watch out for large bumps or potholes for fear of bottoming out, but I'm getting used to it. Only negative I have so far is that the under-seat storage won't fit my full-face helmet. Other than that, this little scoot is amazing! Nimble in town, fun to ride, fast off the line, great brakes, bright sport headlights, nice styling (though depends on your taste I suppose), and fast enough for short jaunts on 520. Hell, I'd even consider taking it on I-5 for short stretches.

It supposedly maxes out around 80mph, so it'll pretty much get me just about anywhere I need to go. If I had known scooters were this fun, I would have gotten one long ago!

Surf City? Maybe?

2008-08-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago I flew into a rage, frustrated by what I thought to be a lack of progress in physical therapy. I've been enduring ASTYM since May and could still barely run a mile without IT band issues. I blew up at my mom, then at PT, then at my knee doc. After that dismal attempt at running Tiger a month ago I've been pretty doubtful about the whole plan.

I took a few weeks off to think about my doctor's option of having more aggressive blood injection therapy done. I then talked with PT and they assured me that my range of motion was improving, things were feeling better, and everything was healing. I decided to give them a few more weeks. Well, guess what? All of a sudden some magic happened or something.

Starting about two weeks ago, I suddenly ran over a mile with NO problem. Two days later I did it again. And again. Over the weekend I just nailed a 2-mi run, first time in years. And I did it again on Tuesday, but at a bit speedier pace. So for just over 2 weeks, I've been consistently running 1.5 to 2 miles every other day and doing it pain free! Well, aside from the stupid patellar tendinitis in my left knee that is going crazy right now, but that's mostly tolerable.

I had completely ruled out the possibility of running Boston next year and figured my first opportunity wouldn't be until 2010. But, it's 35 weeks to Boston. And it's 24 weeks to the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach that I would consider for a qualifier. If this recent running success continues, it's not completely unrealistic that I could train up in time. Right now I have about 10% confidence in this plan, but hey, we'll just see what happens. No way I'm rushing things after this injury, but if I'm indeed healing, I may just have a shot.

Joe is changing up my gym workout to get me in Boston shape. I see lots of upcoming months of brutal workouts, killer leg days, and lots of speed and endurance work. At least it won't be boring!

RAMROD

2008-08-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I rode and somehow survived the most epic ride of my life: RAMROD. 154 miles around the base of Rainier. 10,000 ft of climbing. Lots of Gatorade. Tons of food. Destroyed knees. Double the distance of my longest ride ever. Quadruple the distance of my longest ride this year. This is a LONG post, but I have no idea how you sum up a 12-hr ride in one paragraph without just saying: F***.

I'll back up to the beginning for a second. Earlier this year my friend Ben challenged me to RAMROD. "Hey, I'm signing up. You should too." In a moment of weakness I figured what the hell, no way I'll get in. Thousands of riders apply for this thing, right? They only pick 800 so odds are against me. Of course the May lottery selected me and not Ben. Imagine that. No worries for him though, he did finally get in about a week before the ride.

I thought I'd be doing plenty of riding this year and had even planned to race the Elkhorn Stage Race, which is a few days of near 100 or over mile stages. Well, none of that happened due to my little Illiotibial band PT detour and the longest training ride I completed was a 40 mile jaunt around Magnolia. A few weeks ago I doubted my ability to pull this off and nearly bailed, but I still delight in doing things people tell me I can't do.

Realizing last minute I did not want to wake up at 3am to drive to the start, I booked a Yurt at Kanaskat-Palmer State Park for Wednesday night. It was the only thing I could find available in the area, but if you ever have a chance to stay in one, do it! The yurt rocked! It had a bunk bed, queen-sized comfy futon, lights, flooring, everything. I threw my sleeping bad on the futon, crashed early, and slept well. Good thing because my alarm was set for 4:30am so I could get a 5:30 start. That's way too early to do anything, much less ride your bike.

I drove 15 minutes to Enumclaw High School and enjoyed some pre-dawn views of Rainier. Wow it's gorgeous that early in the morning. For $10 some local organizations offered a breakfast feed and I took advantage of it, scarfing down waffles, eggs, and sausage before the ride. I hit the start line shortly after 5:30 very happy that I had packed my wind vest and some warmer clothes because the temps were frigid.

I knew I had a few keys to completing the ride: staying hydrated, keeping fueled, and NOT getting tricked into joining up with a fast moving paceline. With my lack of training, I needed to take it way beyond easy. Surprisingly, most of the morning pacelines moved way too fast for me. I could have hung for a 60-mile ride, but I did not want to work that hard so early in a 154-mi ride. I would hop in for a few minutes, then find myself going a bit too fast, so I'd hop out, take it easy, enjoy the views, then catch on to another paceline. I got to meet a lot of cool people and watch the lenticular cloud forming on Rainier.

I have to commend RAMROD for the ride support. The food stops were amazing! The first one in Eatonville 32 miles into the course provided awesome scones and coffee. I should have eaten more there, but it wasn't very long after the big breakfast, so I just couldn't get much down. The next food stop at mile 59 in Mounthaven was a ZOO. The chocolate croissants hit the spot though, so I grabbed a few, sat in the sun to warm up, and took a decently long stretching break.

Shortly after that stop I entered The National Park and started the fairly mellow 20-mile climb (4-5%) to Inspiration Point. The temps finally warmed up and I was able to maintain a fairly good pace up the climb. The amazing views of Rainier made it hard to keep going without taking a few photo breaks. What good is it to be out there and not stop to enjoy the scenery?

After Inspiration Point I bombed down Stevens Canyon at 40+mph. Man was that fun!! Being so aero definitely stressed the shoulders, neck, and back though. The Box Canyon food stop at mile 88 offered up cookies, fruit, bagels, and little baby boiled potatoes. Mmmm! I STUFFED myself because I kept getting a little hungry between food stops and had to break into my emergency food stash. Keeping up calories with my fast metabolism is always a challenge. The potatoes were so good that I grabbed a handful and stuffed them in my jersey for later. This guy next to me laughingly called me Napoleon Dynamite and shook his head. Ha.

I made the great decision to go Garminless for this ride. I had no idea of the time, mileage, or my heart rate, a refreshing change to being constantly fixated on the watch. I was very surprised to roll into the Box Canyon food stop and find out I had amassed 88 miles. Wow. 88 miles and still ticking!

After Box Canyon was a small climb to Backbone Ridge, then another awesomely fast downhill before starting the 11+ mile climb to Cayuse Pass, definitely the toughest part of the ride. I just set a pace and kept going, but near the top my stomach grumbled, I ran out of fuel, and had to pull off the road for a snack break. I took the picture at left somewhere around the century mark. Yay! My first century!

Cayuse continued....and continued...and continued. I nearly had a party when I finally saw the top of Cayuse Pass , 4720' and the 110 mile mark. A few spectators gathered to cheer on riders. Thanks for the support, it was much appreciated! Once at the top of Cayuse Pass, the remainder of the course turned downhill and I coasted all the way to the Crystal Mountain deli stop, the last food stop on the course.

Deli sandwiches, coke, and more resting in the sun hit the spot, but all I could think of were the remaining 36 miles back to Enumclaw. At this point I wanted to be done! I met some more awesome people who told me to get back to Enumclaw via a paceline. Despite the downhill, the strong headwind took it's toll, so I was lucky enough to hook up with one other rider for a while. Soon we had company and our paceline grew to about 8. About 10 miles from Enumclaw I bonked hard and it seemed the ride would never end.

When I finally hit the turn to Mud Mountain I knew we were close and the finish line came up quickly. I rolled across shortly before 6pm to make it a solid 12-hr day with about 10.5 hours on the bike. Damn. I hit the sack that night at 9pm and was out cold. Surprisingly, I felt pretty damn good the next day other than some neck and shoulder stiffness and unhappy knees. Damn that patellar tendinitis! Ah well, 150 miles with no training will do that I guess.

This ride was the experience of a lifetime for sure. Again, fantastic support and very well run! After chatting with most riders and finding that they had been training since January for this thing, I'm amazed I pulled it off. Score some points for me! Hmmm, what to try next?

More pictures here.

Looking ahead to Boston? Maybe?

2008-07-17T16:00:00.001-07:00

This week might actually mark a turning point in my three year battle with ITBS. If you haven't heard of ITBS or read my blog before, I can best describe it as a horrible, painful, completely crippling injury for runners involving some stupid piece of connective tissue that runs from hip to knee. And it doesn't like to heal, that's for sure.

Early this week I hit the pavement and ran a mile for the first time in a long time completely pain free. The next day I did it again. And the next. Woo! I'm not necessarily running fast, and I'm not always running continuously, but just the fact that I can do this now with NO pain and NO funny hip or knee sensations means amazing progress. I wish I could explain how thoroughly excited I am to be jogging again! I was born to run!

I've already talked to Joe at Headquarters since he's wanted to sponsor someone at Boston for a long time. I came very close to qualifying for Boston at the Seattle Marathon years and years ago, and if I can get slowly trained back into shape, I fully intend to do it this time. I'm especially motivated by everyone who tells me how tough it is to qualify with Seattle. Hills? I love hills! :) So maybe in another year or two, I'll be running the Boston Marathon covered in Headquarters logos. Awesome!

The Derby Days race report

2008-07-15T10:37:00.001-07:00

I guess I'm a little tardy but hey, it's summer and I'm busy enjoying the sunshine!

I'm glad I stuck to my original plan of racing Derby Days on Saturday. Nothing like taking the year off and showing up for the fastest crit of the season, but I had a surprisingly fantastic day! Ok, so I didn't stick until the end of the race, but I raced smart, fast, and hung in there until the very last 2-3 laps. Considering my only road races to date were VP back in April and a miserable half showing at Methow, I was pleased. My mom was a spectator too, which was awesome! She just moved here not long ago, so it was her first criterium experience. She loved it! (But not the crashes.)

We lined up with only 30 in the Women's 4 race, which was a bit of a disappointment since we've maxed out at 50 in past years. Maybe the nice weather lured folks out to other things. As usual, the race started fast and stayed that way. I really only remember one lull for about a lap and the rest of the race was just fast, fast, fast. I was hanging mostly in the back and once I started yo-yo'ing I knew I was in trouble, so I dug deep and moved up to mid-pack for a while. Sweet! I couldn't really make the jump to the front, so I just hung in, and before long, there were only a few laps left. How the hell could that be? Almost 20 minutes down and I actually felt pretty good out there!

The temps hovered around 85, but it sure seemed hotter than that. By the end of the race, the heat took it's toll. Someone put in an attack into the headwind after corner three and that was it for me. I just couldn't quite close the gap and poof, done! I only needed to suffer for another few laps to finish, but I was so ecstatic that I made it nearly the entire race that I didn't care! Damn it feels good to be back to racing and not be that far out of shape! I'm truly shocked, but maybe the mountain bike races have really helped my fitness. They're pretty much an hour-long crit on dirt.

I stuck around the rest of the day watching other races and saw too many crashes in the Men's 4/5 field as usual. It seems that every year it's a dicey race for those guys. The little road turtles caused some havoc in the corners I think, especially with a huge field like the Men's 4/5s. I swear they had 75 people out there!

My hip feels 150% better on the bike now and I'm attributing it to a saddle change. After having a casual chat with Matt Hill he suggested a narrower saddle and it's amazing what a difference it has made. Thanks so much for the tip, Matt! I owe you one! I'm stoked things are finally starting to come around and I think I will hop out there for the upcoming LWV series and see how things feel. Cross season, here I come!

Derby Days

2008-07-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Derby Days. At first I didn't think I'd race, but what the hell. I did my first leg workout at Headquarters in about six months yesterday. That's great prep, right? I have a feeling I will be so sore tomorrow it'll be misery, but hey, I love it. I've come very close to being crashed out in this race twice, so I hope third time isn't a charm.

I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from mountain biking at Tiger in the morning, so my legs will be tired, I'm not in race shape, and the course will be fast, fast, fast. What the hell am I thinking? But it'll be so much fun!

If you're bored, come to Redmond tomorrow and cheer us on!

The best mountain biking trip ever

2008-07-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I headed over to White River near Rainier with some kick-ass mountain biking guys to do some camping and epic riding. I had more fun than I've ever had on a bike!

We started Sunday with a brutal 6-mile or so climb up to Palisades and Noble Knob, threw in a long hike-a-bike in the snow, and then got to experience some fun, fast singletrack on the descent. At one point we were forced to take a mechanical break as Dan found his pedals at 3 and 5. Ooops! It took some magic to get the crank off and fixed, but we were underway again shortly. (Picture of guilty crank at right...)

The guys I rode with were unbelievably fast, so I was definitely outmatched all weekend, but it was fun as hell. I hiked a few of the the more technical sections of trail, especially a rocky, tight switchback section after some stairs. Those of you familiar with the trail probably know where I'm talking about.

The fog and clouds obscured our views but definitely didn't take anything away from the awesome ride. We were out there pretty much all day Sunday and I didn't do the best job of nutrition, so I bonked hard about an hour or so before the end. Somehow I managed to rally and make it, but barely. I crashed over during the last quarter mile and nearly couldn't get up I was so tired! I haven't been that wiped out in a long, long time. What a killer workout! We hit the Naches Tavern for some much needed fueling and beer and then set up camp near Skookum Flats.

Monday we hit the trail again and did a 7-mile climb up to Suntop. My legs were pretty unhappy the first mile, but it's amazing how the body finally settles into a rhythm and resigns itself to hurting for the next few hours. Then it's not so bad! Unlike Sunday, we had an absolute blue bird day, the temps were warm, and the views were incredible!

We stopped a while for lunch at the Suntop Lookout, but shortly after heading out my knee started giving me some trouble on the climbs. I called it a day rather than risk pushing it too far, and rode back down to camp to sit in the sun.

Dan went on to finish the ride and do Skookum as well. I've never done that much mountain biking, so I was happy to have made it that far! I think Skookum might have been a bit technical for my ability anyhow, so I felt good knowing Dan could haul ass through and not be hung up waiting. Sitting in the sun was heaven, especially after all that awesome riding.

Again, we topped off the day with a visit to the Naches for food and beer. Cheers to an awesome weekend! And thanks to Dan and Milos for being great riding buddies! You guys rock!

Relax and enjoy life

2008-07-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode my bike all day and it seemed that everywhere I went, people were in foul, shitty moods. C'mon already! The sun is out, the weather is beautiful, what gives?

My patellar tendonitis flared up again in my left knee, so I took it easy riding to work in the morning. Halfway across the I-90 bridge I coasted for a bit to give it a break and next thing I know this guy rides right up next to me, half startled me, and then proceeds to bitch me out for stopping pedaling without telling him! WTF? I gather he was drafting behind me and almost hit me when I slowed. Not my fault if you do that and don't announce your presence. That sort of thing drives me nuts.

Leaving Bellevue after work I was cruising down the bike line alongside traffic backed up on 108th. Traffic started moving but a car stopped to let another merge in from the gas station. This dude in some convertible Lexus starts screaming at the top of his lungs, "Go F***ers! Go F***ers! F***ing idiots!" Then he sees me about to pass and purposefully pulls his car into the bike lane to impede my path. WTF? I told him he was in a beautiful convertible on a beautiful day and should be enjoying life a little more. His response was great. "You f***ing bikers. You should have to deal with traffic like the rest of us." Hmmm....that's why I ride my bike. I avoid traffic and get to relax.

I rode to Greenlake for drinks with some friends and ended up in a tangle with a fellow commuter as well. I've done a fair amount of riding lately in just street clothes, and I find that without the team kit, I get yelled at more by other bike commuters. Weird, isn't it? I pulled up at that crazy Greenlake intersection next to another biker who then screams at me for pulling up next to him and not telling him I was there. He wasn't even moving and was in the far right area of the bike lane so I assumed that meant he wasn't turning left. Sorry dude....whatever.

Are there too many freakin' people here from California now or what? Everyone needs to take a serious stress pill and enjoy the sun. Damn folks.

Excitement

2008-07-01T23:26:00.000-07:00

Frustration with Saturday's Tiger jog turned to excitement today. I think I'm making progress in healing the IT band and just pushed it a little too hard. I was able to go out today and run nearly a mile, which is a huge accomplishment! Of course it wasn't all at once, but it was still a breakthrough. I have a routine of jogging a few blocks, then walking, then jogging, etc. I made it further today and felt better than I have in a long, long time. PT just reaffirmed that I can't really do hills right now, so I'm keeping it flat for a while.

I rode Mercer Island last night and had the strongest ride I've had in a while as well. My hip still fatigues towards the end, but I'm able to push it much harder now and I feel like my limiter is my cardio, which is expected. All I need to do is start hitting the training and I might actually be back in action for cross! Woohoo!

It feels awesome to be biking again and if I can get my running going, I may make a return to triathlons. It was so awesome to run today and I had this huge smile on my face. What a dork eh? I'm set for a return to Headquarters tomorrow, which should kick my ass and really get me back in shape. Can't wait!

Sailing pics!

2008-06-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

Check 'em out!

Love the sun!

2008-06-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Unlike most people around here, I love it when the temps go up and the weekend is filled with wall-to-wall sunshine! Fabulous!

Saturday morning I hit Tiger to do a light jog and test out the IT band. I made it halfway up the Nook Trail before I got concerned about the increasing steepness and turned around. It took me about 10 steps before the damn "IT snap" set in. All of a sudden, bam, and that stupid lateral knee pain snap was back. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Ok, sure, I had done some jogging on the flat trail and might have pushed it a little hard jogging uphill, but come on already. After two months of ASTYM I was really hoping to have made more progress than this. Once I got back to flatland I could barely even walk. Guess I have a topic of conversation for physical therapy this week....

Saturday afternoon I had an invite to go sailing and I spent a beautiful afternoon on the Sound. I've always wanted to go and the outing was awesome! In just over eight hours, we sailed north out of Shilshole, eventually made our way south to Blake Island, then headed back up to Seattle. The marina at Blake Island was too jammed up to allow us to stop, but it was cool to cruise in and check it out.

Sailing was just an entirely new experience. It was quiet, peaceful, fun as hell, and just a good, mellow time. There is definitely something beautiful about being on the water completely under the wind's power. I even got a crash course and got to captain for a while! Our hosts cooked chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen and we saw a school of porpoises shortly after leaving Shilshole. It just doesn't get any better than that!

I've had some trouble on boats so I was happy that I didn't get sick while sailing, but somehow I managed to get seasick once I got home! I felt disoriented, dizzy, and like I was still rocking on the water. After talking to a few friends, I guess "land sickness" isn't entirely uncommon after a long time on the water, but give me a break already! I went to bed and by morning was fine.

Sunday I skipped the Des Moines crit to give the knee a break. I don't need to push it right now. I was disappointed but it was the right decision. Sunday afternoon I headed over to Marcus' and we hit the water on the jet skiis for a few hours. Damn those things are fun! I'm getting much better and even caught some air, though I can only hope to be as good as Marcus is on them.

We were playing in the wake of the larger boats and I managed to launch myself and have a less than spectacular landing. Going down nose first isn't so good and I somehow flipped over the ski. At least I gave the people in the boat some live entertainment. I cracked my knee pretty hard on the ski and now have another bruise to add my awesome collection. Between softball, mountain biking, and jet skiing, my right leg is all sorts of pretty colors now. Ridiculous!

The lightning storm we had last night topped off a spectacular weekend. Can't wait for the temps to go up again! :)

Tapeworm hell

2008-06-26T11:29:00.001-07:00

Last night I should have stayed home and watched a movie. Instead, I had the most horrendously awful ride on Tapeworm I think I've ever had. Two of my friends bailed due to traffic, so it ended up being me and my friend Ben riding. When I pulled into the parking lot, I found Ben standing over his bike with a confused look and figured this wasn't a good start. Performance had installed a new rear hub and cassette on his bike and somehow turned it into a fixie. Awesome.

He took a quick jaunt down to Center Cycle to get it fixed while I did a warm up and then we met up a bit later to ride Tapeworm. I knew the night was off to a bad start when I wiped out in a flat sandy area trying to practice track standing. That should have been a sign. I just couldn't get into a groove and areas I usually ride gave me all sorts of trouble. Ben was having a rough night as well, so I didn't feel so bad.

About halfway through, something felt really wrong with my right shoe. I stopped and found out my cleat had come completely unscrewed and was sliding all over the place. Naturally, neither of us had brought any tools, so I had to suck it up and finish the ride that way. As we were nearing the end, I came around a corner and crashed HARD. It was one of those crashes where you find yourself laying on the ground thinking, "WTF!? What the hell did I just run into?" Seriously, the trail was dirt. There was nothing there!

The side of the trail sloped downwards, so I took a pretty good tumble. Of course I landed right on a tree stump that bruised up my right thigh and managed to jam my handlebar straight into my calf. When I got up it was cramping so badly I didn't think I'd be able to ride. Handlebar into the calf? I don't know how that happens. Once I got up, I found the crash culprit: a little stump on the right side of the trail covered by foliage. I must have caught my rear tire on that thing and just washed out.

As much as I would like to ride Tiger tonight, I'm taking the night off. I've got my calf wrapped in a compression bandage because I have a massive knot and every time I flex the muscle it cramps. Between softball and mountain biking, this week has beaten me down badly, so I'm having doubts about racing the Des Moines crit on Sunday, but we'll see.

30 miles!

2008-06-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd actually write a blog entry to express my excitement about riding 30 miles, but here it is! Since starting physical therapy in May I haven't completed many rides, let alone any over 20 miles, so this was a big win yesterday! At the same time though, it was quite humbling.

I rode the Magnolia loop with Marcus, who is an incredibly strong rider. Once upon a time I could stick to his wheel like glue, but that's definitely not the case now. I can usually hang with him partway up a climb, then I'm blown and clunking at my own pace. It's frustrating to have lost so much of my climbing and sprinting ability, but I know it will come back eventually. I'm just happy to be able to ride again mostly pain-free.

My hip was pretty fatigued towards the end, but considering the race in Methow Sunday, all the base running I did Monday night in softball, and the ride yesterday, it held up pretty well. Maybe I'm finally back on track for racing AND the Boston Marathon!

Apology

2008-06-23T23:26:00.001-07:00

I've noticed lately that lots more people are actually reading my blog than I realized. Go figure. Sometimes I write real stupid stuff folks!

I said something a little while ago I feel bad about now, because I wrote it while I was a bit pissy about other things going on, and I over-reacted and took things out of context that I normally would not have. Regarding the weekend in Methow, I really did have a great time, so I apologize for making it seem like I did not.

I expected to have a crappy race weekend, but not being able to race is still aggravating. I love the guys on our team, but sometimes it would be nice to have some estrogen in the house. My frustration over my inability to race and my lack of female teammates made me a bit defensive and sensitive. The bottom line is that I took a few negative comments said by one person and turned it into a much bigger deal than it was. For that I'm sorry. I really did have a great time, and I would be happy to travel with any of the guys on our team.

This blog thing is getting me into all sorts of trouble lately, geez. Since I seem to have such a large crowd, does anyone out there have any softball shin guards they're not using? I swear if I field another softball with my shin I'm going to have permanent damage.

Fun in the sun!

2008-06-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday night code posts at work are always a crap shoot. If we're out by 10 it's awesome, but then we're expected at work on Friday. If we're there late it sucks, but then we get Friday off. Our post was running smoothly this past Thursday and I thought I'd be out by 10, but we hit some last minute snags and 10 quickly became 3. The good news: Friday off to enjoy the most beautiful day of the year!

I caught a few hours of sleep, then hit the bike for a quick jaunt around the south end of the lake with a friend from TGH. We had a great time and couldn't have picked a better day for a ride. My hip held up well and I think I got more road bike miles in last week than I have all season.

I spent the rest of the afternoon boating around Lake Washington with a friend, drinking Dos Equis, and enjoying the sunshine. Thanks for the outing! I couldn't believe more people weren't out given the gorgeous weather. After bringing the boat in, the weather was still too nice to call it a day, so we hit the jet skiis for about an hour and I had probably my best run yet. Not until later did we realize we forgot life jackets. Oops! I can't believe we got away with that one.

Saturday I packed up the dog and my mom and headed east to Winthrop for the next mountain bike race on the Indie Series. Since my mom just moved here and hasn't seen most of Washington, I knew she'd love the drive over Highway 20. She also couldn't believe the climate change going into Winthrop. Ahhh, I love Methow Valley!

I woke up this morning ready to kick some ass but damn this course was tough! Thank goodness I only had to do one loop on the lower loop of the course. I heard the upper loop was pretty gnarly and tough. I found out quickly that Friday's jet skiing taxed my hamstrings, which I rely on heavily for climbing. My Garmin registered 1600 ft of climbing in just about 10 miles.

I got a great start and was 3rd going into the single track. The trail had some fast downhill sections, some steep climbs, a few edgy areas around a lake, and some steep, sandy descents. The terrain rolled just enough to not give me time to recover, so I hurt bad most of the race. The worst part was only getting a drop of water here and there because of a kink in my Camelbak tubing. Ugh. I lost a few spots a little ways in probably because I went out way too hard. Bummer.

I hiked a bike on a few steep climbs but my legs were completely blown halfway through the race. I started singing "the wheels on the bike go 'round and 'round" just to keep myself going. Don't laugh, it's a great strategy! The last mile or so I suffered the most. The trail gradually climbed just enough to be annoying and keep the speed down. I did manage to pass one girl towards the end, so I got myself into 5th, which is where I finished. That's my best finish yet, so I'm happy with it, though a little disappointed I couldn't keep myself in 3rd.

My saddle was too low the entire race, and I could really feel it on the climbs. I almost thought about stopping halfway through and raising it, but worried too much about losing my placing so I just kept going. My hamstrings are wrecked now and I think it's partly because of the jet skiing, and partly because of the doofy saddle height. Oh well. One thing is for sure: I'm sleeping well tonight!

RAMROD is when?

2008-06-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine somehow talked me into signing up for RAMROD a few months ago. I figured what the hell, and did it. I knew exactly what would happen: I would get in and he would get wait-listed and sure enough, I was right. He's dropping quickly on the wait-list, so I'm confident he'll get in.

Today I fell into a mild panic realizing that this event is slightly over a month away. Wah!? 154 miles with over 10,000 ft of climbing? Shit. I really thought I'd be trained up for this, but this year has gone so far off plan with the physical therapy that to say I'm off track would be an understatement. I guess we'll see what happens.

Last night I cruised around Mercer Island and felt good for the first time in months. My hip got a bit fatigued towards the end, but overall, I felt great! Of course, my riding partner completely annihilated me and I was Zone 4 the entire ride just sucking a wheel. Thanks for the workout though, I needed it! It was nice to be able to tax the cardio for a change. I did a brief foray into Zone 5 climbing up the east side of the I-90 bridge deck and I swear it took me 10 minutes to recover. Looks like I know what I need to work on, but just being able to ride hard last night was exciting! Woo!

The meth bust

2008-06-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

I didn't have as much fun as I had hoped this weekend in Methow Valley. Sure, I certainly had fun watching the races, supporting teammates, and enjoying sunshine and warm weather, but overall, I was a bit bummed.

I finished the TT on Saturday with a horrendously awful time that put me in last place by minutes. No surprises there really. The hilly course wreaked havoc on my hip and I could not get my heart rate up at all. It was strange to roll across the finish having barely pushed my cardio, but knowing I physically went as hard as I could. Hey, I had fun with it, cheered on other riders, and tried to take it in stride.

I started the afternoon crit but only raced two laps before pulling myself. I hung with the pack but had no acceleration, no pop, nothing, and it was clear the morning TT had fatigued my hip more than I thought. Sunday morning I woke up incredibly sore, so I took the day off and didn't even start the RR. I'm making progress in PT and after dealing with this injury for almost three years, there is no way I want to set myself back over a race I'm not even in contention for.

So sure, racing didn't go well for me over the weekend, but I expected that and I didn't travel to Methow to race. The disappointing part of the weekend to me was being razzed by some teammates about not finishing the crit and not starting the RR. I may piss off a few people by saying this, but believe me, it's really not my intention. I was asked more than once, "So how does it feel to come all this way and not race?" I was honestly a little shocked and a bit pissed.

I signed up for Methow way back in March not thinking my season would be derailed. Sure, I knew my chance of having a good race this weekend was next to zero, and I knew I wouldn't make it through all three stages, but I still wanted to go to have some fun, enjoy hanging out with teammates, and generally support the team. I was out there all weekend on every corner, yelling for everyone. I was at the finish yelling for ALL of our guys that rolled across, even Chris Hill who finished late in the day. I love the guys on our team, and they're all class acts. Maybe I took things out of context, but it really did piss me off and put a negative spin on a weekend that would have been a lot of fun.

I don't regret going because I got to reconnect with some racing ladies I haven't seen in a while, and it was good to chat with them. To be honest, I think I will start exploring some new teams for next year. I've been with Zoka/Cucina Fresca for three years and I love my teammates, but I'm tired of having no women to train with, no women to race with, and no women to travel to races with. I will get my hip back into shape and I'll be out there training this winter. I just hope to train with some ladies for a change and stop dealing with guys' bullshit.

Methow concerns

2008-06-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm headed to Methow Valley for a stage race and although I know it will be fun, I'm not thrilled from a racing standpoint. I've had little road bike time since starting physical therapy to heal my ITBS and Volunteer Park has been my only road race this year.

The treatment is going very well and I'm seeing substantial progress. I've been able to jog a few blocks, lightly run the Coleman Park stairs, and even get back to the gym. It's very exciting, but I still have a ways to go. It turns out the problem is really in my hip, but the pain presented in my knee.

Luckily I've been able to mountain bike race and for some reason, the mountain bike just doesn't bother me that much. The climb at Leavenworth was a bit rough, but tolerable. The road bike; however, is a much different story. It doesn't take long to fatigue my hip and hills really cause havoc.

I did a 25-mi flyer around Mercer Island last night that turned into a suffer-fest. Just climbing up the east side of the I-90 bridge was tough and once I hit the hills on the island I couldn't get my hip to crank. I guess I'm using a lot of new underdeveloped muscles and stuff is still healing, so it's just not working so well.

I don't think I will be able to pull off a 40-mile road race on Sunday, but I'm hoping to do the TT and crit and just get some training and intensity. It's frustrating to be at about 50%, but the weekend will be a blast regardless. My team rented a cabin, we get free pasta all weekend long, and the weather should be sunny and warm. I'm almost tempted to pack up the Kona and take a XC spin on Sunday!

Stupid Lakers

2008-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty funny read if you're into basketball. I especially love:

"Unfortunately, Tuesday's crowd of power players, millionaires, industry frauds, celebrities and trophy girlfriends were afraid to stand because they thought the change in atmospheric pressure would affect the Botox in their cheeks."

Oh yes, it must be the Lakers playing....

Thanks bro!

2008-06-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Just got an email from a friend of mine who was witness to my creek swimming escapade in Saturday's race.

"Sometimes there are moments when timing, grace, and athleticism all come together mere seconds before disaster and you astound the crowd with your amazing ability to dismount your steed and avoid the inevitable. Your creek crossing was not one of those moments. Get your cleat stuck?"

Hmmm...maybe the endo would have been more graceful. Thanks bro!

Leavenworth Bike and Brews Fest!

2008-06-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Leavenworth Bike and Brews Fest took place this weekend, which is the third mountain bike race in the Indie Series. I drove over Friday night with my camping gear to secure a spot at the race site. Many thanks to the land owner who let everyone camp out -- it rocked! I even enjoyed sunshine and warm weather, making the trip completely worthwhile!

I don't even have words to describe how insanely fun this course was, but damn I'm sore today. The first 4 miles were straight uphill, then the last 4 miles were straight down. The women's beginner class had a fantastic turnout of over 20 riders, so I knew I needed a good position at the start for the climb. Until nearly halfway up I rode solidly in the top five but then lost it. My endurance isn't so great right now, so I slowly started falling back and getting passed. I'm usually a climber, so this frustrated me, but I hung in there.

Once at the top, we were rewarded with a fantastic 4-mi downhill complete with waterbars, which are perpendicular dirt mounds that help prevent erosion. The first couple I took pretty easy but then started hitting them faster and faster until I had a near death experience on a steeper one towards the end. A few more pounds shifted to the front would have endo'd me for sure, but I saved it and continued on down to take 10th place. My climbing disappointed me, but given my sporadic and limited training this year, I'm happy with my finish.

I wish I could say I had an accident free race, but the third creek crossing sent me for a shallow swim. The trail dropped down a bit into the water and caught me off guard. My weight was too far forward and then I had a big no-no and grabbed a little front brake. I tried to pull off the "jump over the front of my bike and push it under me maneuver" but got my left foot caught in my cleat and took a hard tumble right into the water. Damn that was cold! My shoulder is a bit angry at me today so hopefully it heals up in time for softball tomorrow. Ugh.

The fourth creek crossing was nearly identical to the third and I managed to do the EXACT same thing on that one too. Nice job. Too bad there aren't any photos, but maybe that's a good thing! After the race I supported some teammates, drank lots of Fat Tire, then hung out at the beer festival. After heading into town and grabbing dinner with friends, I crawled back into my tent around 10pm and slept better than I have in weeks.

Cucina Fresca had a great weekend, taking home three podium spots and several top 10s. Way to go guys and gals! Cheers to a fantastic weekend of mountain biking, drinking, hanging with teammates, and meeting tons of new cool people!

An Indiana Jones Adventure

2008-05-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tropical Storm Alma sure has left some fun weather in the area. Right now I'm sitting on my balcony listening to screaming winds and picturing tomorrow's flight out of here. Ugh. Apparently another depression is forming off the coast of Belize, so I think I may be getting out of here just in time.

Today I had a total Indiana Jones adventure and it was the highlight of my trip. As soon as I boarded our tour van this morning and found it filled with Italians and Belgians, I knew it would be anything but boring. Luckily the three Belgian women spoke some English, so I was able to talk with them throughout the trip. The Italians were certainly an animated bunch! When we introduced ourselves I said I was from Seattle and they all said, "Ahhh! Americano!!" I've never figured out if that is a good or bad exclamation!

Our first stop was Coba. We toured the first group of ruins, then rented bikes to ride the mile or so to Nohoch Mul, the large pyramid. It was amazing! I scaled up quickly, but halfway up stopped to take a photo and then got a bit of vertigo. I took a small sanity break, focused on the steps in front of me, then I was fine. The view from the top was phenomenal and I'm glad it was a cloudy and slightly rainy day. Climbing this in the baking sun would have been murder. Getting down also went much better than I anticipated. Thank you to whoever installed the rope! Maybe my IT band is finally getting healed, because this normally would have thrown the discomfort into high gear.

After Coba, we started the adventure part of our trip with a swim in an underground cenote. Before the swim, we had to wash off and remove suntan lotion and any other "scum". The cave formations are pretty sensitive and they are particular about not affecting them. We descended some narrow stairs and found the water deep enough for diving practice. It was cool but refreshing. After the swim, we took part in a Mayan ritual that wishes good luck and good health to its participants, then trekked through the jungle and saw Spider Monkeys swinging from the trees. Very cool! We arrived at a beautiful lagoon, paired up, and had a brief kayaking excursion that returned us to the start.

From there, we went to PacChen where we suited up in harnesses to rappel and zipline. I can't even tell you how nervous but excited I was to try this! The worst part of the rappel was just getting to the edge, leaning back, and putting all of my weight into the harness. That was a damn freaky feeling, but once I started down, it really was a piece of cake and fun as hell. I may have to start climbing now!

Waiting for the rappel, I saw people coming in on the zipline and that thing freaked me out more than anything. I couldn't believe how fast they were going! Waiting for my turn nearly gave me a seizure, but as usual, the anticipation is far worse than the actual doing, and the zipline was probably my favorite part! We were instructed not to use our little hand brake stick until close to the end, but I got there quicker than I anticipated and I think you can tell in one of the pictures that I'm a little "concerned." Haha!

After the activities, the Mayan village supplied a fantastic lunch of veggie soup, pasta, chicken, and an assortment of tortillas and other things. We hung out at the village for a while and then got to see the pictures that the tour company took while we were out "Indiana Jonesing". The pics were great! One of my favorite parts of the trip has been spending time in little villages like the one we visited today. The living conditions are humbling but the people are amazing. They are all so friendly and welcoming, and the little kids especially like having their picture taken.

On the drive back to Playa del Carmen, one of the Italians decided to hook his phone up to our tour guide's radio and we all laughed over some great 80s music and other funny songs. The Italian said it best: "Music unites!" Language may be a barrier, but it's amazing how many people start singing along to certain songs! Oh, and the Belgium girls all agreed with me: Tom Boonen is the best! Too funny!

This trip has been way beyond my expectations. I absolutely love Mexico and can't wait to return. I also want to venture further south into Honduras and Costa Rica, and then into South America soon. I just pray that my flight gets out of here tomorrow! It's going to be a rough one for sure with all this weather from Alma. The winds are still whipping up out there and it's supposed to get worse tomorrow. Good times!

More pictures from today!

Tulum and a Mexican driving adventure

2008-05-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

The remnants of Tropical Storm Alma that hit Nicaragua are now affecting the Yucatan. Last night we had some thunderstorms that disrupted internet, so I didn't get an opportunity to post an update.

I set off early yesterday morning in my shoebox rental car for Tulum, about 30 miles or so south of Playa del Carmen. The drive went well and since I had been on the same road for the Chichen Itza tour, I was a bit familiar with it, which helped. The rental car attendant, Edguardo, also gave me a crash course in Mexican driving.

I wish the US actually adopted more of the rules (or lack thereof) that they have here. The main goal is to keep the most amount of traffic moving. Slower traffic moves to the right side of the road on the shoulder to let faster traffic pass. Of course, since many roads are 2-lane highways with each lane having about a 1/2 lane shoulder, that means cars in both directions need to move to let someone pass. So if you suddenly have oncoming traffic coming at you, move right! The road to Tulum is fairly well traveled, so it certainly wasn't as big an adventure as going further inland. That's when the roads get a bit sketchy.

Tulum was absolutely gorgeous! Iguanas were everywhere and boy did they have fabulous views. The beach area was a Caribbean postcard and it was awe-inspiring. This is one place I would not visit with a tour group. Renting a car and getting there early before the tour buses arrived was fabulous. There were only a handful of people, I was able to take extraordinary pictures, and I could enjoy the sound of the ocean and the quietness of the place. I'm very glad I read a few travel books and got the tip. I had about an hour to enjoy the ruins before bus loads of people showed up. I can't believe how many people descended on the place! I'm so glad I was on my way out when they were all coming in.

I had the best chilaquiles at a little restaurant in Tulum and then spent some time checking out the town and shopping for deals. It's neat to go into all the little shops and look at everything being sold. It rained a few times today, which made the humidity even worse, but it felt refreshing to feel rain.

Once I got back, I visited the Aviary Xaman-Ha and made friends with a pushy little Toucan. He kept pecking at me and trying to get into my backpack, probably for food. I hit the hotel for dinner, watched their nightly dance show, then took some salsa lessons sponsored by the hotel. I certainly don't claim to be a salsa expert, but now I know the basic moves and it's really not too hard to add to it. Who knew salsa was so much fun? I may have to enroll in more dance classes when I get back home.

More pics from Tulum...

Broken car

2008-05-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I befriended a couple from Vancouver, BC who were kind enough to invite me along with them on a trip to Coba. They said they had secured a car and would be happy to take me. They picked me up this morning at the hotel and when they pulled up I couldn't believe how tiny and old this car was. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't very happy. I assumed they were getting a rental, but this car clearly wasn't and I had some doubts about driving in it.

The car got us about 50 miles or so before dying. Luckily we had just passed through a town and weren't too far into the jungle yet, so we walked back and found a guy named Julio who was eager to drive us back to Playa for a generous offering of Pesos. We even gave him a 6-pack of Coke, which seemed to make his day. I'm not sure what they ended up doing with the car, but they said they would take care of it. Unfortunately I got no pictures, and it's probably a good thing we didn't make it to Coba, because I left my memory card in my laptop last night. I would have been one very pissed off chick, so I guess it all worked out in the long run.

I was seriously bummed about Coba so I hit the beach and after a few Dos Equis decided I would call Expedia and extend my trip another two days. I'm leery of driving solo to Coba, so I booked the Mayan Adventure guided tour for Friday. As part of the tour, I get to rappel 65ft into a cenote, do a z-line crossing over another cenote, kayak across a lagoon, have an authentic Mayan lunch, and then visit Coba. This should be fun!

I did decide to make the drive to Tulum in the morning on my own to beat the crowds, so I took the plunge and rented a car. This car looks a bit more reliable, but it's still barely a shoebox on wheels. Everything seems half normal size. Wish me luck on my hour drive to Tulum, though I've been reassured by many it is a much safer drive than to Coba. Now I'm off for ladies night at Senor Frogs!

Chichen Itza and cenote swimming

2008-05-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

I departed the hotel at 7am this morning for a guided Chichen Itza tour. We cruised out of Playa and it didn't take long to get away from the resort scene and into real Mexico. The drive to Chichen Itza was about 2.5 hours on mostly narrow two-lane roads through the jungle. We passed through several small towns that had Topas (crazy speed bump things) that required us to slow. Experiencing areas like this always puts things in perspective for me. It's unbelievable some of these communities are so poor.

A few miles before Chichen Itza we were stopped by Federales at a military checkpoint. We had to all get out of the tour van while they checked it for elicit items. It's fun to stand there with men carrying machine guns, hassling people over not having their passports. I had mine so I was safe! After a few more hassles we were back on board and entering Chichen Itza.

I can't even describe how awesome this site is. I've heard lots of people talk about crowds, but there were far less people than I was expecting. When our tour arrived, we were among the first and were able to view a lot of the ruins before other larger groups even showed. The exactness, precision, and detail in some of the ruins is amazing. How the hell the Mayans could build something so extraordinary is beyond me.

Our guide, Gregorio, offered up tons of great information and we spent about two hours touring the ruins. As the day progressed, it definitely got hotter and I became adept at finding shade. At the end of the tour, we were given 45 minutes to browse at our leisure before having lunch. I visited a cenote near the ruins but so many locals were selling gifts at the site that I spent my time with several others haggling and getting some good deals. Meeting and chatting with locals (and attempting to use Spanish) has been really fun.

We left Chichen Itz and headed to the Cenote Dzitnup o X'keken for some swimming. This sidetrip turned out to truly be a memorable experience! The cenote is subterranean and you descend down a set of narrow and slippery stairs to get to it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The roots of a tree growing at the top extend down through a hole all the way to the bottom into this crystal clear water. Swallows flew all around the tree roots in circles. It was really unbelievable. We all hopped into the chilly water for a quick swim, which was refreshing after the heat of Chichen Itza.

After the cenote, we completed the tour by making a quick stop in Valladolid, a beautiful old town with a gorgeous church. Once again we hit the crazy narrow jungle road to head back to Playa. As we slowed for Topas, I took some pictures of the towns we drove through. Overall, this was a most memorable experience and one I won't soon forget. I met some awesome people on the tour, bought some neat artifacts, was humbled by many Mexican towns, and won't soon forget the amazingness of Chichen Itza or the cenote.

Pics from today.
Pics from yesterday!

Dos Equis!

2008-05-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

Current drink count:

Margaritas: 3
Dos Equis: 5
Miami Vice: 3
Some weird fruit cocktail thing with a mega hit of alcohol: 1

Today was beach day and this morning I spent a few hours lounging and reading, then hit the town for some browsing and shopping. Met a nice guy named Julio who had iguanas, one of which was the biggest I'd ever seen. He took my picture and then asked me to go to Acapulco. Haha! Everyone here is very nice and outgoing, especially the locals.

I visited a very small Mayan ruin area in Playacar, then rented a jetski and cruised around for about an hour. While I was walking back through town all of a sudden a Policia stopped and said, "Una momento senorita." Talk about a mini heart attack. The Policia here have machine guns, so I was a bit nervous. Turns out he was very friendly and just wanted to check out my tattoo, haha!

We talked for a few minutes and when I told him I had plans to rent a car to drive to Coba, he said, "Caution! Jungle! Tarantula!" Grrrrreat. Apparently the road has tarantula crossings, no shit. I can't wait for this one.

Right now I'm listening to an awesome mariachi band, drinking margarita #4, and watching wild cats run around. Olé!

P.S. How many iguanas can you count in that photo? Hint: The big one I'm holding isn't the only one :)

More pics from today!

Welcome to Playa!

2008-05-25T20:09:00.001-07:00

For once I had pretty smooth flights and the time went by much faster than I anticipated. Maybe I'm getting used to this flying thing and finally just don't mind if I die. Landing in Cancun was a trip. There were some big enough air pockets dropping the plane that everyone on board collectively "oooh'd" and "aaah'd". Me? I sat in my chair, lounging, reading a book without a care in the world.

I assumed the plane would fly over the Cancun resort area and land near it. Instead, it descended into jungle. A few feet from the top of the trees I was thinking, "Ok....there IS a landing strip here, right?" The guy next to me even expressed some concern about the existence of an airport. Then suddenly right when I figured we were jungle bait, boom. There's the strip.

I then spent about 45 minutes in line to pass through customs, then another 30 minutes waiting on ground transport to Playa. Another 30-40 minutes for the drive to Playa and then surprise...more time waiting in line for the hotel check-in. I deplaned around 3:30 and finally walked into my room at 6.

The room is crazy huge. I swear it might be bigger than my condo. I have a partial ocean view, and it's really nice. I spent the evening strolling around Quinta Avenida trying to speak and understand Spanish. The atmosphere is very fun and energetic and everyone is trying to get your attention. I do wish I spoke more Spanish, I think it would make the trip much more enjoyable. I had some great enchiladas and Dos Equis for dinner and made friends with a couple from Vancouver, BC who are also staying in my hotel. We met this local guy, Miguel, who promises to hook us up with a cheap car to drive to Tulum later in the week. We'll see how that goes.

I'd love to check out the nightlife tonight, but the 30 minutes of sleep I got last night are killing me, so I'm checking out way early and getting some sleep. Tomorrow I'm hitting the beach.

More pics here!

T-minus 1 day to Mexico!

2008-05-23T23:06:00.001-07:00

I fly out Sunday morning for Playa del Carmen and I'm so excited! I can't believe I'm actually going! Here's to Negra Modelo, margaritas, and sun! Maybe this will finally jump start my learning Spanish. I'll be posting some pics and updates while I'm down there, but at $.99/minute for phone calls, no one will be hearing from me.

¡Cuidate!

Peace at last. Now on to Mexico!

2008-05-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm finally at peace with a lot of things that have been happening lately, and it's a relief. The movers finally showed up and my mom is unpacking and settling in. My friend with terminal cancer visited Seattle and is now on her way to Alaska. She's always dreamed of going, so I'm happy that she's able to make the trip. My ex-boyfriend and I had a wonderful night of dinner, drinks, and conversation, and I finally resolved a great many unanswered questions. Maybe we'll be together again, but probably not. And you know what? That's ok, because there are a ton of awesome guys out there, and I enjoy the time I spend with him as friends.

I've had a chance to reacquaint myself with softball, do some mountain biking, and of course, have a few awesome crashes. I misjudged a skinny at the Colonnade Wednesday and crashed pretty hard. Shin armor has got to be the best invention ever, though unfortunately it didn't protect my butt.

Tiger was wet and slick as shit Thursday. I was bombing down a part of Iverson, probably having one of my best rides, when I hit a log at less than a 90-degree angle. It's amazing how quickly you hit the ground when you do something stupid like that. Again, armor is my friend, but I think my thigh and shoulder will be sore for a bit. A guy a little ways back rode up to make sure I was ok. We laughed for a bit, then rode the rest of the way out together. He was very cool, very nice, and hot to boot! We set up a "mountain biking date". How dorky eh? It's about time I hook up with one of these hot mountain bikers. Damn I love Tiger!

I'm counting down the days until I jet to Mexico -- woo! I leave Sunday morning for Playa del Carmen in the Yucatan. I'll be hitting Chichen Itza, Tulum, and a few other Mayan ruins as well as chilling on the beach, getting a tan, and checking out Cozumel. I've wanted to go for so long that I almost can't believe I'm doing it!

Things are settling, life is returning to normal, and it's awesome. I guess a few weeks off can do wonders eh?

My journey into the bell jar

2008-05-16T01:53:00.001-07:00

I really haven't blogged much lately because I really only have one thought: wtf is up with the stars aligning against me lately? This might be a lengthy post, so unless you want gory details, just wait a day or two until I post a race report or something. Oh wait, I'm not racing :(

When I have drama, I don't do it on one level, I do it on ALL levels. Over the last few weeks I've had relationship craziness, family drama, friend crises, painful physical therapy, and work breakdowns. Awesome. Where do I even start?

I've learned lots of funny things about love and relationships over the past month. In my mind, I had built up my last relationship to be "the one". When it ended, it took me a long time to get over it. Just this week, over a year after breaking up, I found out that the person who I loved the most in my life never really loved me back. In fact, the entire three years we were together, he led me to believe he felt strongly about me when in fact, he never did. This is a tough pill to swallow, especially when you suddenly find yourself thinking that you are resurrecting the relationship. A good friend of mine said it best. "There's nothing like reopening old wounds and not being able to find a bandaid." How right he was.

There are many reasons I would still like for that relationship to work, but the honest truth is that it was unhealthy, and I have to constantly remind myself. I felt emotionally battered on nearly a daily basis and it continues to baffle me as to why I put myself in that position. There are times when he has treated me with little regard and done things he knew he should not have done. I'm a strong person, so I just can't understand why I would put myself in this position. I guess love is strange, but I deserve much better. It's difficult to cut ties completely because I enjoy having this person in my life. He's genuinely a good person who just needs to resolve a great many issues. At the very least, we're good friends, but it's difficult sometimes. We've set new boundaries, and I won't be taking a venture across them ever again.

In the friend space, I had a very close friend diagnosed with terminal cancer. She refuses to tell us what it is, but only says that she has very little time left. She's refusing treatment and just wants to relax and have a good time. Her attitude is absolutely amazing and I can't believe how positive someone in her position can be. She told me, "I don't want to go anywhere and I don't want to do anything crazy. I just want to be." My thoughts are with her.

Physical therapy is going well, but it's extremely painful and keeping me off the bike, and that doesn't make me a happy camper. I have my third treatment tomorrow and it's getting more bearable, but it's still pretty intense. I'm very excited for the results though, as already I have an increased range of motion and less weirdness in my knee. If I can start running again, f*** relationships, I'm golden! The Boston Marathon may actually start coming back on my radar, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself yet.

Since PT is making things sore, I can't do but a light spin on the bike now, so I'm out for racing Wenatchee this weekend. I'm not even disappointed. Wenatchee was supposed to be my A-race this year, but I'm not in shape anyway. At this point, I'll be happy to make it to Methow in June and be in shape for crit season and cross. There is a mountain bike race this weekend, so maybe I can give that a go. We'll see how the leg feels this weekend.

All of the drama the last month came to a head and I woke up one day and thought, "I'm quitting my job. I'm quitting relationships. I'm quitting everything. I'm going to set my hours, work from home, do whatever, just relax and get away from stress everywhere." That idea manifested itself into an email to my boss saying I was resigning effective immediately. It felt great. Then a few hours later I freaked out. Yes, my job is stressful, but I really do enjoy it. I love the people I work with and I love the work I do. One of these days I would like to have my own business or something, but for now, this is good.

I talked with my work, who was nearly as shocked as I was about the email, and they are letting me take the rest of the month off, which is a welcome opportunity to detox, relax, and get myself together. I got the Ducati running last night, and took her out for a spin today in the beautiful weather. Motorcycles sure are therapeutic in wonderful ways. I'm not really sure what happened over the past few days, but I think I may have had a complete meltdown on many levels. It's really not like me. I'm always brave, confident, and sure of myself, and lately I've been doubtful, unconfident, and insecure. What's up with that?

I blame it on the relationship. For three years I dealt with crap that took me six months of therapy to get over. Then I tried to reopen it all. It's amazing how damaging that shit can be. Then lump on my friend's cancer, my mom moving here, the painful physical therapy, and doubt and insecurity about my ability to meet anyone cool and I guess it adds up to one big breakdown.

My therapy? I'm taking the rest of the month off and I booked that damn vacation I've been wanting to take forever. F*** the last boyfriend for rejecting my repeated offers of an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Who the hell would do that? I'm hitting Playa del Carmen in the Yucatan for 4 days of therapy, sun, lounging, and relaxation. I'm finally seeing Chichen Itza. I'm finally going to Mexico. I'm finally taking a trip all by myself to regain my confidence, security, and ability to kick some ass. I'm tired of postponing my plans waiting for that perfect guy to come along. And when I get back, my friend will be having the time of her life, I'll have an awesome time at work, and I'll meet the coolest guy in the world. Cha-ching!

Here we go again

2008-05-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first appointment at Therapeutic Associates. This is my third attempt at alleviating the ITBS I've endured for almost three years. This time for some reason, I feel confident it'll be resolved. I started seeing a new doctor at the UW Med Center who has much more aggressive treatment options. I had an MRI that only showed patellar tendonitis and a very inflammed IT band, so at least nothing else was horribly wrong. He's starting me on a 6-week PT program, and if I don't see improvement, then we'll move on to blood injections and some other things.

The PT today consisted of ASTYM, which was excruciating to say the least. The therapist basically "scraped" my entire right leg with plastic instruments. It is supposed to break up any scar tissue that has formed and encourage healing. It felt very bumpy and gravelly and areas over my IT band were the most painful. I do have some mild bruising tonight and my leg feels like it's been beaten by a 2x4. Good times.

Afterwards I got an ultrasound and a thorough icing. I also have a set of prescribed strengthening and stretching exercises that will aid in healing. The therapy will continue twice a week for the next few weeks. Even though it supposedly gets easier, I'm certainly not looking forward to the next time. I've since read a lot about ASTYM and it seems very productive, so I'm really stoked to see if this finally gets rid of the ITBS. Running again seems like a dream to me!

I need a vacation!

2008-05-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm happy a long Memorial Day weekend is soon to come because it's been a crazy few weeks! My mom is accepting a job offer today, so she's really excited and it's great news for her. She'll be working in Bellevue about a half-mile from where I work, so now we can get together for lunch from time to time. She also found an apartment in Woodinville. Ironically, it's the same apartment complex I lived in when I first moved here 8 years ago.

Things are coming together for her and I know she's relieved. It's been very stressful for both of us to not have our own space and be living on couches and out of suitcases. The animal circus hasn't helped either! Hopefully she'll be moving into her new place in a few days and her furniture will be here soon.

Unfortunately I'm 0 for 2 on races lately. Sunday at 4am the fire alarm went off in my condo building and the Seattle Fire Department couldn't reset it. From 4am until shortly after 5 we were all sitting in the lobby, listening to fire alarms, and watching very hot firemen walk the hallways. One of the 3rd floor residents said, "Hey! Should we get Margaritas? Firemen party anyone?" The lack of sleep killed my Longbranch plans, so now I'm shooting to open up the road season with Ravensdale this Saturday. Third time is a charm, right?

The condo circus

2008-04-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

"Entertaining" doesn't even begin to explain this week. My mom finally decided to move to Seattle and flew in Monday afternoon with her two cats. Until she finds an apartment, which is hopefully this weekend, I've got her, me, three cats and a dog all living in my 670 square foot condo. Circus! Jake is doing pretty well with the fuzzy new additions and has only chased them a few times. Since mom's cats have never even seen a dog, it's been funny to watch. I can't figure out if they're too terrified to do anything, or if they just don't know what to do.

Surprisingly, the biggest pill in the mix has been my little Siamese cat. She's the sweetest, most loving, laid-back cat in the world, but she hates other cats. Mom's cats are having a harder time getting along with her than the dog. I think Jake can relate :)

I think the gym will be falling to the wayside this week while chaos ensues, but I'm keeping up on the bike by commuting to work. I might even show my face at Seward tomorrow. At least if I crash, mom is a nurse and will be handy.

This weekend I'm signed up for Longbranch, which will be the first road race of the season for me. I feel like I'm in better shape than I was a month ago, but still have a long ways to go. It will be nice to get out there and get in a good, hard effort. In the meantime, wish me luck with the circus!

Name this creature!

2008-04-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time...

2008-04-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

...there was a girl who thought she had found her Prince Charming. Every time they were together it was incredible. They competed day and night to out-run each other or out-bike each other, and enjoyed camping, hiking, and cooking. He was amazing, smart, caring, and so much fun. Much time went by and one day Prince Charming said, "This will never work." The girl was taken aback and couldn't understand. Things were perfect.

The next week Prince Charming told her how much he loved being with her and that he couldn't picture himself with anyone else. The girl was happy again, but this had started an endless cycle. One week the Prince would tell her how much he loved being with her and the next he would tell her to move out. Finally, exhausted, she moved out and was sad.

Months went by until they saw each other again and they couldn't deny the attraction, but the girl realized that trying to mend something so broken was futile, and continued on her merry way. A few weeks ago, the girl and Prince met again and still, there was an attraction. He told her again how he could never picture himself with anyone else and she realized how much she still cared for him. Much discussion ensued and one day, the Prince showed up at her doorstep. She was swept away and renewed her faith in him.

A few days later, the Prince told her again that it could never work and in fact, he was still with another. The girl was crushed and couldn't believe her stupidity. After the initial sadness waned, she could only think of ways to hire a dragon to rip the evil Prince to shreds, but alas, no dragons could be found.

The moral of the story is: Always keep a dragon handy. You never know when you could use one.

Thought of the day.

2008-04-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

Faith gets you nowhere. That little voice inside your head sure does though.

Kick ass f***ing weekend!

2008-04-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Friday evening I braved the Seattle snow and drove to BC with my friend JoAnne for a weekend long mountain biking clinic. I've been looking forward to this Dirt Series clinic for a while, and it turned out to be even better than I could have imagined. It was cold, but we had sunny skies the entire weekend and awesome riding.

Saturday
My beginner's group started the day with a straight-line riding session. We progressed from a fire hose, to a flat wooden plank, to elevated planks, to teeter totters. Once we got some elevation (and I mean only a few inches) our coaches became spotters to put everyone at ease. When we got to the teeter totter, I was really excited but also scared to death! I've always wanted to try one but have never had the confidence. I looked ahead, did everything the instructors said, and amazed myself by cruising right over it. Awesome! After a few more nervous tries I gained some confidence and had a blast riding over that thing again and again. Woo!

Next I learned pedaling front-wheel lifts. It took me a while to get it but by the end of the hour, sure enough, I could pedal with my front wheel in the air for a second or two. We finished with a braking and descending clinic and got to roll off the end of some boxes that simulated drop offs. After a lunch break, we headed out for our afternoon trail session.

My group rode at Seymour for the weekend and the trails were unbelievably tough with tons of wet roots, rocks, drop offs, and even snow. I couldn't believe how much more confidently I rode and how many more things I was riding over than ever before. Every time we would get to an obstacle, we would stop, check it out, then one by one get spotted by the instructors so we could try it. I definitely have a new found respect for North Shore riders. These trails are tough!

At the end of the afternoon ride, we headed back to the host bike shop for beer and snacks and several bike maintenance clinics. Afterwards, JoAnne and I hit a local Italian restaurant and then crashed hard Saturday night. What a long day!

Sunday
Sunday morning we woke up sore and a bit tired, so the Yoga session that started the Sunday clinics was awesome! We got to pick our morning clinics, and I chose to do more straight-line riding, cornering, and climbing. I really wanted to learn how to do manuals, but I decided I should focus on some basic skills first, then take another clinic to learn more advanced stuff.

After another half dozen shots at the teeter, I think I have a new favorite mountain biking trick! The icing on the cake was nailing an elevated corner twice in a row and finally gaining the confidence I needed to climb uphill over obstacles in the climbing clinic. Awesome stuff!

The Sunday afternoon ride was back at Seymour and the trails were a bit more technical than Saturday. We had some rocky downhill sections and every time we would get to them, I couldn't wait to try it! I love going downhill! I think I may have to try some downhill clinics at Whistler or something - ha! I truly amazed myself by riding parts of the trail that I never would have been able to do before the clinic.

I had an absolutely wonderful time and the coaches and sponsors that put together this clinic deserve huge props. I can't even think of enough good things to say! I've always had fun mountain biking, but now I'm 100% more stoked to hit the trails. I can't wait to hit Tapeworm this week and see how much better I ride!

Thanks Dirt Series!

Headed to BC

2008-04-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still at work....ah the fun of code release night! But tomorrow I head to BC with a friend for a weekend long women's only mountain biking clinic. I can't wait! I've heard awesome things about the Dirt Series so I can't wait to see how it goes. I'm a little nervous since I've heard they push you outside your comfort level pretty far, but I think I'm going to learn a lot, so I'm excited.

Only thing I'm not so stoked about is the weather. The North Shore forecast is barely above 40 and raining. Awesome.

Crazy bike commuters

2008-04-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, and I nearly got killed this morning getting onto the I-90 bike path. I never understand people who ride with their head down when they're coming around a blind corner. I was heading down to the bridge deck from the west side, and this guy was coming up the hill around the corner. He was totally head down, trying to shift his gears, veering all the way across the path. I started yelling, "Hey! Hey! Watch out!" He paid no attention and I squeezed as far as I could to the right, nearly going into the bushes while he just went right by. Once he passed me he nearly jumped right off his bike he was so startled. Idiot.

And I think stoked made an interesting comment on her blog a while back about using headlights during the day. What's up with that? This morning at 8am I passed four bike commuters with headlights blazing. It's the middle of the day folks! Save some energy for the rest of the world.

I'm done now.

The single speed anomaly

2008-04-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

I've been commuting to work much more frequently now because it's really the best way for me to get my bike workouts in. About a month ago, I rode my single speed to work twice and figured I'd benchmark my time. My route from Leschi to Bellevue isn't very flat and has some steep hills, but I always seem to get to work faster on the single speed than on any other bike. Whah!? I don't get it. One gear and I go faster? Even with all the hills?

Last week I rode my light, carbon race bike and had my slowest commute yet. Today I rode my semi-heavy rain bike and split the difference. So basically, one speed = faster commute to work. Light, carbon bike = slowest commute to work.

Of course, when I ride the Ruby I'm usually trying to rest my legs, but I'm guessing the lighter and easier the bike becomes to ride, the more lazy I become. Interesting.

The VP smackdown

2008-04-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

We couldn't have had a more beautiful day for the crit at Volunteer Park. As such, the turnout was huge and our Women's 4 field had over 50 riders! Awesome!

I knew this race would be rough. I've lost my endurance, my top end, and my climbing. To make it even worse, I hit the gym hard this week and totally killed my legs. My goal was to hang for a lap and then see how long it took to pop. After a few practice laps, I pulled off to the side with a teammate so we could get a good position at the start. Only problem is that we started talking and not paying attention. Suddenly I looked up and everyone was lined up. Shit - nice job! So we lined up in the back and all got crappy starts.

I went hard the first lap and then the second lap I started fading. That damn hill kicked my ass. Last year I launched right up it but this year I couldn't get my legs to spin and my heart rate was through the roof. 2 laps and poof - done! A handful of gals were off the back behind me and slowly they all started catching me. I made attempts to grab a wheel and stick but my legs felt like lead. I couldn't get up the hill, and pretty soon that stupid post-pneumonia cough hit.

At the halfway mark, barely 15 minutes, I called it a day and pulled out. I had my fun, got a good high intensity workout, and didn't need to annihilate myself quite yet. So overall, pretty much what I expected, though I did go out a bit stronger the first lap than I thought I would.

Tomorrow I'm off to Seatac for the morning mountain bike race, then I'll head over to Boat St to watch the crits. The mountain bike race is early enough that I had contemplated doing a double-header, but I think I need to keep the intensity in check and chill.

Indie Series Seatac Shuffle pics

2008-04-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a few good action shots from the Seatac Shuffle last Sunday. Did I mention how much I love my new Kona?

Today I got shelled and annihilated at Volunteer Park. Yep, knew that one was coming and my only expectation was to hang for at least a lap, which I did. Yippee. Funny thing is that I died today after only 3 minutes in Zone 5. Most of VP was Zone 4. I spent nearly an hour in Zone 5 for the Seatac race and faired way better. Guess hammering my legs at the gym this week wasn't such a good idea. The VP race report to follow....

This is going to get expensive...

2008-04-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Premature gray runs in my family so I've been dying my hair all sorts of funky colors for a while now. Usually I go with bright red highlighting, which eventually turns my naturally black auburn hair to a very blondish brown. My gray streaks tend to turn pinkish, so between those, the brown, and the red, I had a disaster of rainbow colors going on.

Tonight was my much anticipated appointment at Vain. I've never had my hair professionally colored, so I was really looking forward to this. Carissa did an absolutely awesome job with my color, considering how horrible it looked when I went in. Then I had it topped off with a kickass cut.

The red highlighting she did looks so bright and awesome! But what's really shocking me about the whole thing isn't the red, it's that the rest of my hair looks so close to my real natural color. It's been years since my hair has been this dark! The red: not shocking. The black: shocking! Go figure. I love it, which means more expensive hair maintenance in my future.

The Indie Series crit at Seatac

2008-04-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

I just woke up from my post-race nap after the opening Indie Series MTB race today at Seatac. Yep, it was so good it required a nap. Awesome!

To be honest, after suffering at Budu's technical Black Diamond race in February, I lost some excitement for this new mountain bike racing thing. I'm really glad I raced today though, because it was fun as hell. I fully expected it to be pouring, but there were blue skies and the sun was even out for a bit this morning. I lined up at 9am with a good turnout of 11 gals in the beginner field.

The course wasn't technical and was really fast, which was a fun change. It had some nice climbs that taxed the legs, a few mud puddles to make you dirty, and some short, fast descents. The corners were a bit slick, but by the second lap I was fully comfortable with fish-tailing around them. I got a good start and hung with the lead gals for a bit, but finally started loosing them mostly due to lack of fitness. I fully expected to be bringing up the rear, but instead I was near mid-pack, which motivated me to keep riding as hard as I could to get some distance.

By the second lap they were a ways behind me and I eventually started catching the 6th place lady. Every time the trail turned uphill, I would catch her, but had nowhere to pass. Then once it pointed back down she was off ahead of me. We played this little game for a while and close to the finish, I got jammed going up a hill and had to get off my bike. For the life of me I could not get clipped back in (damn SPDs) and lost too much time to pass her at the end. Oh well.

I knew I was hauling ass the whole race and when I downloaded my Garmin data I found I was in Zone 5 for pretty much the entire hour! Whoa. No wonder I felt wiped. This wasn't a mountain bike race, this was a crit! That's the most time I've spent over Zone 3 since last October! :)

I finished up 7 out of 11. My teammate Josee got 3rd - woo! I'm sure they'll be some good pics shortly, so I'll post some when they're up. I'm off to hunt down some food....

Owe.

2008-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

As if I didn't hammer my legs enough last night, I had power builders on the menu for today, so I substituted them with a cruise to work on the single speed. I barely made it up the hills this morning. Ouch.

Next up is the opening race in the Indie Series at South Seatac on Sunday. Woo!

My mojo is gone.

2008-04-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

I found out tonight just how badly 3 solid months off the bike wrecks your race fitness. Yikes. And that month-long bout with walking pneumonia certainly hasn't helped my cardio at all, that's for sure.

I lined up with the Masters field at PR tonight and as soon as we took off I was thinking, "Whoah. Can we go a bit slower?" I think I was Zone 4 in no time. I'm not supposed to be close to Zone 5 for a few weeks, so when one of my teammates had a wicked front wheel shimmy going down the escape route, I took it as an opportunity to make sure he was ok and soft pedal a lap.

I caught back on to the Masters field for another lap and then got promptly shelled on the climb. This was a bit of a surprise, though I guess it shouldn't have been. I've always been a strong climber, and usually I pass guys on this climb, but not tonight. Every time I was off the back, pulling bricks, bitching and yelling swear words all the way to the top. I had to be entertaining the spectators for sure.

I rode with a HUGE Cat 4/5 men's field for a lap or two, then called it a night. Deanna said they turned out just under 180 people tonight, which is crazy. The Cat 4/5 field alone was near 90. Even with all of those bodies to draft behind, I still couldn't hang. I guess I'm not surprised given my lack of training, but somehow I thought 3 months off the bike would translate to amazing fitness.

The next two months will be brutal. I definitely have my work cut out for me. Not only do I need to get back into race shape, but I have to deal with getting pummeled out there for a while. Burning myself out so badly that I need 3-4 months off the bike is not a good strategy, so I'll definitely be keeping close track of things this year.

Tonight will hurt

2008-04-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to PR tonight to finally kick off some training and race with the boys. Given my ambitious winter (yeah, right) this is going to hurt. I'll be lucky to hang half a lap, and that might be optimistic. I just pray that I start out my PR season this year better than last. Last year at my first race, I had an awesome crash on the wet track compound that left me with a cracked rib and severe whiplash. Good times!

Baker or bust

2008-03-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I certainly picked a great weekend to head to Baker. They've had 45" of new snow since Sunday and 9" in the last 24 hours.

I'm not so sure about the North Shore race tomorrow because of weather, but we'll see. I liked the course so much last year that I'll probably get out there in the freezing, pouring rain anyway. Hey, I've got tons of toasty clothes and a rain jacket, right? I'll just pack some toe and hand warmers and I'll be set.

Here's to an upcoming weekend of racing, boarding, and snowshoeing. Woo!

A Dog's Life

2008-03-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

While I was hard at work last night sitting on the couch crocheting my new blanket....

I'm back baby!

2008-03-24T21:03:00.001-07:00

I actually hopped on the Ruby today for a big whoppin' 3-mile spin around the neighborhood -- woo! When I haven't ridden the Ruby in months, the first time back on brings tears to my eyes. I can think of only one word: butter. Damn that bike rides smoothly. Of course, I have to remember how twitchy it is, meaning very light and very responsive vs. a 27-lb single speed or 30-lb aluminum Giant with full fenders, tools, lights, and various commuting necessities.

My lungs feel good, the cough is gone, and my legs actually don't feel too bad either. Just wait until North Shore this Saturday. Those 100 miles I put in over the winter along with the last three weeks of rest (i.e. pneumonia) have me poised for victory.

My mom always tells me my sarcasm sucks.

Back to normal?

2008-03-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today is first the day in over two weeks that I feel almost back to my normal self. I took the last of the meds and I'm so happy to be off them. I'm dying to get on the bike now and probably would if we weren't having 30+ mph wind gusts. Drat!

I think I'll start commuting to work this week and getting back on my training plan. Since I already had plans to head to Bellingham for the weekend, I'll be doing North Shore, though I doubt I'll be "racing". I'll be lucky if I can hang for half a lap!

A fantastic drug cocktail

2008-03-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

I'm still derailed from biking while I've been battling this horrible plague that's going around. Over the weekend I started feeling better, but my lungs and chest felt tight, horrible, and crappy. Yesterday I started feeling worse again so I finally threw in the towel and hit the doctor's office.

Turns out I have walking pneumonia, so it was probably a good choice. Now I'm on a kickin' drug cocktail that should wipe out everything in about 7 days. This is awesome drama for me since I'm allergic to nearly every antibiotic out there. I haven't been on meds in probably 3-4 years.

One of the meds they prescribed me I've been able to marginally tolerate twice before. It's in the same family as something else I'm allergic to, but for some reason, I haven't had a full blown allergy to this one yet. Last night after downing my first pill, my throat started swelling and by the end of the night I could barely swallow, but I had no trouble breathing so I just hung in there. My face ended up all swollen and puffy, so I told everyone I had botox done, but I doubt they believed me. Mild allergic reaction? Yeah, probably. Let's hope I can get the two remaining pills down without some major drama.

I guess this is keeping me from starting my cycling season too soon, which I probably would have done. I was shooting for a debut at North Shore, which was earlier than planned, but that's probably in jeopardy now. I think I'll lay low until Volunteer Park, then come out and get my ass kicked. Good times!

Stupid cold

2008-03-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row, I got started on my bike training plan, then got promptly derailed by the cold from hell. Friday I had a 103 temp and spent the evening in bed, but felt good enough by Saturday that I ended up riding 60+ miles over the weekend. By Sunday night I was down and out and I've spent nearly 48 hours in bed since then. I haven't even been out of the house since Sunday night. Pathetic.

I don't do well with serious disruptions to my routine, so I really can't wait to get back to work tomorrow. I'm finally starting to feel better this evening, so hopefully I'm on the downside of this crap. I really want to get back on the bike and back in the gym and get going! Sunday is the Big Climb for Leukemia, but if I'm not 100% better, I think I'll be bowing out.

I checked the calendar and can't believe racing starts at PR next Tuesday evening. I think I will start going down there again since racing with the Cat 4 men will get my butt in shape pretty quickly. I need all the help I can get at this point!

F***inghill!

2008-03-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

Two of my big goals for this week were to get back in the saddle and commute to work on the bike. I'm happy to say I've accomplished both! The winter of low motivation and lack of riding seriously had me worried, but now I'm honestly happy to be back on the bike. I guess I just needed a long break.

Last night I checked out veloroutes and bikely to see what route commuters were taking into downtown Bellevue from I-90. Most just cruise straight up 108th from Enatai, but I did notice many people's routes detoured off 108th at Bellevue Way and reconnected a few blocks north. I couldn't figure why, because Google Maps showed a bike path or large shoulder, but today I found out.

Since power builders were on the training menu today, I dusted off the 'ol Univega single speed and hit it. This route is hilly for the vega and the best part was the wall on 108th just north of Bellevue Way. Yep, that's why people detour. Halfway up I seriously thought I would have to walk, but mustered about a 30 cadence and somehow barely rolled over the top going about 3mph. Ah the joy of having no gears! I checked out another bike site later in the day that had a note on that intersection that said "F***inghill!!". No doubt.

The highlight of my day was the brand new set of Armadillo tires I snagged at Gregg's. They were made for my bike, because they have redwalls! The guys at Gregg's got a kick out of my red sparkly bike and couldn't get over my matching red sparkly chain and redwall tires. Groovy indeed!

I got to cruise back home after dark and I always forget how fun it is to ride in darkness. I think more night rides will definitely be in my future. Now I just need a red neon light for my bike ;)

Icebreaker TT

2008-03-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

I signed up for Icebreaker pretty late in the game and contemplated bailing on it this year, but decided I couldn't live without the fun. My result wasn't what I wanted, but was more or less what I expected. I was the poster child today for what not to do before a bike race. 5 hours sleep? Check. Half a muffin for food? Check. No water for about 12 hours? Check. About 6 hours on the road bike since October? Check. Awesome.

When I took off I felt surprisingly strong all the way to the turnaround, then massively collapsed. The 5 miles back sucked and I just couldn't get my legs to turn over at all. My endurance is for shit right now after taking an entire winter off, but it's what I expected. I crossed the line in 31:36, which is way off last year's time of 29:13.

I'm finally emerging from my winter hibernation and it feels good to get back on the bike again. I'll be riding this week and starting to build base miles and endurance back up. I'm just not in a hurry this year. I'll be doing some road racing and may be at a few early season races, but I'm waiting for later in the year to really get started.

I think I may have spent about 5 minutes all total over the winter in Zone 5, so the 30+ mins today killed me. I'm beat and headed to bed.