Congrats all around!

I spent the majority of the morning doing 2 things. Learning how to download my PowerTap files and calling Ted for baby updates. My friend Sarah was induced super early in the morning and I felt the need to call every half hour to see what was going on. 

Finally Scott told me to quit bothering them. He and I went mountain biking, and I did a really good job of not calling from the trail. I was tempted though.

And then Ted finally called. They had a baby girl!!!  And they haven't decided on a name yet which means there's still a 1% chance that it will be named after me. Ha Ha!

Ted has already posted some baby pics here. I wonder if they will let me borrow the baby for my hill repeats this coming Wednesday? I'm sure pulling a burley will just make me stronger, right?

I also have to send a huge congrats to my little sis Toni. She won her first Cat 3 road race today. She's racing again on Monday at the East Grand Rapids Crit, and I plan on cheering her on. Out of all the road races that she does, this one has the perfect location. It literally starts and finishes in front of Starbucks!

Legs like jelly

Today was day 1 of training with a power tap, and let me tell you. I am NO Floyd Landis. On the cover of my training guide, it mentions how many watts he can push for long periods of time. I can't remember the exact number, but it was insanely high.  I could walk across the room to check, but that would require usage of my legs. 

I didn't have to push a certain amount of wattage today (thank goodness!) but I did have to do intervals up a hill. I can honestly say that this was the hardest workout that I've ever done in my life. 

I actually puked in my mouth. 

And let me tell you, the Powerbar Sun Tea endurance formula tastes a lot better going down then it does coming up. 

Well, time for bed. My coach managed to give me a workout that made me too tired to sit on the computer. And that, my friends, is a first. 

BTW...I just ordered this shirt for myself, and one for Scott too. Everyone should. Proceeds go here.

Power!

Scott and I went to Velo City tonight to pick up my b-day/x-mas/anniversary/Halloween/Easter/Valentine's Day gift for the next ten years. 

Once again I have to thank Ted for staying late and hooking it up. Now it's all up to me. Tomorrow will be my first time training with power and I am VERY intimidated by the thing. In fact, I'm intimidated by tomorrow's workout in general. It's going to HURT. 

Ooooohhhhh......

Ahhhhhhh......

Ted and Scott doing inventory of things that I can sell....anyone need a handlebar? :-)

The weather for this weekend is looking unfreaking believable. Finally, it's going to warm up. This Sunday is the Velo City dessert ride (leaves the shop at 2 p.m.) Plan on 40-ish miles on the road followed by lots of good food. 

12 hours of Tsali-race report

The 12 hours of Tsali started at 11 a.m., which gave us plenty of time in the morning to relax and prepare my water bottles and food at the venue. Zeke had scored room for two tents the day before (thanks Zeke!) so I was able to pit next to Carey, Lisa, and Julia. 

It felt a little surreal lining up to race, since it had been a good full month since the Cohutta 100. Scott had taken my bike to drop it off in the designated bike area, and I felt weird walking around wearing my helmet and cycling shoes. I had a nagging feeling that I was forgetting something, but I figured it must just be the fact that I didn't have my bike next to me.  

I was standing next to Cara when I heard her mention her camelback to her husband. That's when I realized that I had left my hydrapak back at the pit area. I had to do a mad dash to go get it. I can't imagine what Scott's face would have been like when he saw me racing without any source of hydration. Especially because temps were in the high 70's. It felt really hot to me because it was close to 30 degrees warmer then what I had been training in. 

We had a typical Lemans running start straight up a hill. I felt good for the first couple of minutes, but as the hill got steeper I started to feel like I was running with only half a lung. I was happy to reach my bike and jump on. Pedaling is SO much easier (and way more fun) then running!

My goal was to try and keep consistent laps, so I started a lot slower then I normally do for races. The first couple of laps were muddy, and I switched between my hardtail and Racer-X every two laps. I was curious to see which bike I would like racing on more, and my opinion changed with every bike switch. I was all, "I like this bike better, no, wait, I like the other one better."  In reality, both bikes were equally sweet, and my lap times were within minutes of each other regardless of what bike I was on. 

As the day progressed I started to appreciate my Racer-X on a whole new level though. By mile 70 Scott couldn't peel me off of it. Let me tell you, that bike is the perfect machine for endurance races. It absorbed all of the bumps and roots without compromising any speed. I'm hooked!!!

Towards the end, I started to feel the effects of mountain biking for 12 straight hours, and my last couple of laps had nothing consistent about them. Tsali isn't that technical of a course, but it has a lot of little steep climbs that start to really wear on you. I pulled into my pit area after lap 10, and tried a half-hearted attempt to not go back out. I think I avoided all eye contact and announced "I'm bored, so I'm not going to go back out!"

Translation for bored: I want to sit down, drink coke, and eat pringles!

Scott just shook his head, handed me a fresh bottle and I was on my way. Of course I thanked him afterwards for making me go back out. Sometimes I just need a little (or big) kick in the ass. 

I finished with 11 laps (115 miles) which was good for first place in the women's field, and fourth overall out of the men. 

The 12 hours of Tsali is a really fun race, and I recommend it to everyone. The race promoter does a really great job, and there was a fun vibe going on. Everyone was super nice and courteous on the trail too. Best of all? I got a ton of compliments on my race socks :-)

 

Did this weekend really happen?

This past weekend was such a whirlwind I don't know where to begin. 

Here's the short version. Scott and I drove 12 hours down South, I raced 12 hours, and we drove 12 more hours back home. And I'm really tired. 

This was just a training race, but I can tell you one thing. My coach is awesome. And so is my husband. He was a one man show in the pit area and did the job of 5 people. I also have to thank Ted for spending so much time on my bikes before I left. 

It was really great seeing everyone again. And it was really, really great racing again. I'll post a full race report tomorrow when I can keep my eyes open. 

In the meantime, here's some pics....

Pretty bike.....

Pre-riding the day before the race...

The trail was mostly dry, but there were some muddy sections....

Scott doing his thing...

Part of pit row

Scott was apparently using my bike frame as a magazine holder while I was out riding...

Done!

Congrats to Carey, Lisa and Julia for first place in the open women's class. 

Me!!!

Men's podium

Smoky Mountains
Scott and I doing the tourist thing

Let the packing begin!

So much to do, so little time. We leave tomorrow morning for North Carolina. I am so excited. And nervous. Really, really nervous. 

The funny thing is that I'm not really nervous about racing. I'm not nervous about getting lapped by Carey and Co. (because it's not going to happen!) I'm nervous about hitting my knee again. It just can't happen. 

The swelling is completely down, and it doesn't hurt at all when I ride. However, my Patellar tendon is still bruised and it hurts when I touch it. 

I ordered a knee guard and it looked like the perfect solution online. Once I put it on though, I realized that there was no way I could race in the thing. It's was way bigger then it looked, and there is no way that I could deal with my knee cap rubbing against the plastic covering for 12 hours. 

Dang it. They were seriously hard core looking too. I'm going to keep them for when I start "downhill racing." Or I just need to find a really big rock garden to start playing around in. 

Oh well, I need to quit thinking about it. Because if I worry about falling while I'm racing I will surely fall. Plus, I need to focus all of my energy on trying not to get lapped by Carey :-) And that is going to take A LOT of energy. 

Now I'm off to Velo City to pick up my bikes. I'm using the hardtail as my back up bike, and Ted (my favorite mechanic in the world) had to build it "back up." I'm hoping to get out on the trail today to ride it because it's been about a month since I've been on it. It's pouring rain right now so I doubt it will happen. 

Here's some more examples of my picture taking talent!

New fork!

New brakes! 
Rotor cranks!

I'm racing next weekend!

Lots going on right now so this has to be a short post. 

I'm hitting up the 12 Hours of Tsali this next weekend. Carey and Lisa are both going to be there, which will make the race a ton of fun. Zeke will be there as well, doing support for the two of them. It's practically going to be a party. The only bummer is that Ted isn't going to be coming down to help Scott do support. My friend Sarah (Ted's wife) is due in a week, and that is waaaaaaaay to close for comfort. 

The last thing that I want to be responsible for is Ted missing the birth of his baby. If that happened, they probably wouldn't name it after me.

Anyways, back to the race. Carey already told me that she and Lisa are going to do their best to lap me.  

I have 3 words for them. 

Bring It On!!!

It's raining outside so I need to do a short spin on the trainer. My legs are pretty tired, so I wouldn't want to go riding even if I could. 

Tonight Scott and I are going to see a concert-The Police and Elvis Costello. I haven't been to a concert since....I started biking and spending all of my money on bike parts. I can't wait :-)

Here's a few pics of me at Georgetown Elementary. Ha! I look like such a dork posing with my bike!