5K and Kisscross-Halloween edition!

This weekend was a whole lot of fun. I'm totally paying the price for it now because my eyes will barely stay open (darn early Monday mornings!), but oh well. It was worth it.

On Saturday morning it took a few moments for me to realize what was happening when my alarm started going off at 6:30 a.m. I was all, "why am I getting up so early?" and then once I remembered that I was doing a 5K I was all, "what am I doing?????????"

However once I had coffee I was really awake. I'm pro at putting a lot of pressure on myself before mountain bike races, but not so much at 5k's. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that we were at a race. There were about 800 people running down the streets and I felt like we were in a parade. There were a ton of people lining the streets with their kids cheering for us, and we got a lot of "go M&M's!" And I'm declaring this race a total success because I made it 3.1 miles without falling on my face or getting lost!

Julie and I before the race...

Doing some very serious stretches....

The rest of the day flew by. Scott and I went mountain biking out at Cannonsburg ski hill for two hours and then it was time to get ready for a Halloween party.

I had an idea of how I wanted my costume to look but never actually tried anything on until the day of. Luckily I have a lot of black clothing!!! The only thing that I really did in advance was chop 5 inches off of my hair, which I am totally regretting now :-) Oh, and Scott found my Edward Scissorhand gloves, which were a very necessary part of the costume.

Posing with my hubby. I don't think my hair will ever be the same....

Hanging out with my BFF....

For the most part we stayed at a club that was having a big party. I had no clue that they were having a costume contest, but ended up winning it for best TV/Movie Character. I've never ever competed in a Halloween contest before, and when they called me over the other finalists I started doing a few robot moves. I don't think I could have been more socially awkward if I tried.

I thought my prize was going to be a candybar or something, so I was very excited about getting cash!

I accidentally cut Juli's husband's forehead.

It was a fun night, but right about midnight I started to get tired. And by 2:30 a.m. I was very, very grumpy. I used to be able to stay out late all of the time-but not anymore! All I could think about was how much the Kisscross cyclocross race was going to hurt the next day.

I wanted to race as Edward Scissorhands, but there was no way that could happen. I was back to being a green M&M.

Can you tell that I was dragging before the race???

Then it was race time....

About ready to cough up a lung...
I had a pretty good race all things considering and was extremely happy that I did not puke up the chili dog I ate at 2:30 a.m. the night before. All I have to say is that I will never, ever, EVER do that again the night before a cross race!

My legs were pretty tired after the race. I'm definitely taking it easy for the next couple of days!

BOO!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and I have plenty of excuses to dress up this weekend. First up is a Halloween 5k that I am doing tomorrow with my friend and super runner Julie. Initially we were both going to dress up as female comic book characters because we thought it would be funny to run with capes flying behind us. It was a novel idea, but all of the costumes were cheap/skimpy/expensive. So now we are both going to be dressed up as green M&M's.

Awesome.

Since I only run once a week (if that) I have zero running clothes. And it's going to be cold tomorrow. I think temps are supposed to top off at 50 degrees and we will are running at 9 a.m. I guess it will be incentive to go fast, right?

When I was little I used to have asthma, and it would always flare up when I was running around the playground in the winter time. Since then, I've pretty much outgrown it, and the only time I ever even feel a hint of it is when I'm racing cyclocross in really cold temps. The only reason why I'm even mentioning this at all, is because I'll be running tomorrow in the cold. So if you live in the Grand Rapids area and see a green M&M gasping for air on the side of the road, you will know that it's me.

I'm sure I will be fine :-)

I'm just along for the ride for this race. Julie is in charge of pacing and I'm just going to try and stay with her. The best part will be crossing the finish line because then we are going out for breakfast, which incidentally is my favorite meal of the day.

(Late edit: I just read the above paragraph and had to roll my eyes at myself! Seriously...what am I talking about? Pacing and trying to keep up with Julie? I'm acting like I'm doing a marathon tomorrow)

My camera is about 95% dead now, but I'm still going to bring it along and try to get a few more pictures before I toss the thing. This one was a Pentax , and was supposed to be shock/waterproof/awesome. Somehow I managed to break it. I guess it's time to start looking for a new one, preferably with better picture quality!

Tomorrow night we are heading to a halloween party somewhere (I will not be going as a green M&M) and then the following day is the kisscross race. I've been crossing my fingers for muddy conditions for the last couple of cross races, but now I'm uncrossing them. I really, really don't want it to rain, because I'm pretty sure my halloween make-up is not water resistant!

Happy (almost) Halloween everybody! Now go eat some candy corn :-)

The little hydrapak that could!

This past week was pretty busy. No races, but plenty of riding! I always forget how much I love fall. Right now trails are in perfect condition and the weather is still warm enough that there hasn't been a need for layering. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way. Hopefully I didn't just jinx us. Cross your fingers people!!!! Maybe winter can just bypass us and head down South instead!!??

Anyways, I digress. Back to the purpose of this post. This weekend I tested out Hydrapak's new E-lite Vest. I think the e-lite vest was primarily designed for runner's, but it would work really well for short mountain bike races/rides too.

9.9 ounces=freaking light!!! I kept forgetting that I was wearing it!

The reservoir holds 30 ounces of water...

Pockets on the front for soft-flasks, keys or whatever else you want to carry. This will be especially nice for runner's since they don't seem to have the luxury of jersey pockets...

And speaking of jersey pockets....

The e-lite vest is perfect because it doesn't block jersey pockets or anything else...

Here's a picture of me demonstrating how easy it is to reach into my pockets. Actually, I was just doing what I normally do on a ride. Searching for food!!!

I think this is a good solution for racers who normally like to use bottles. At the last couple of XC races I've been at, I've seen a few racers wearing really big hydration systems. They were complaining about how they hate wearing them, but had to because they didn't have anyone to do bottle hand-offs. The e-lite vest is pretty perfect for situations like that because it's so light.

I really want to try this hydrapak next. I think it looks pretty sweet for looooong fall rides. And the orange color is perfect for hunting season, right?

PS. Have you seen the new Bell's team video for their iceman after party yet? It's starring 2 female racers who kick my butt on a regular basis!!! I have to say, Sue and Erin did an awesome job :-)

PPS. Check out this post from my favorite bike company! It looks like another new bike is in the works!!!

Peak 2 Peak race report

I wasn't completely sure that I was going to race Peak 2 Peak until the morning of the race. My entire body was ridiculously sore from my first week of weight training, and part of me thought that sleeping in would be a better option. However, all week I had been doing easy rides, and I wanted to get a hard workout in.

The race course is very non-technical, so I decided that my Mamasita would be the best bike to race on. Right now it's set up for cross, but we switched out the wheels so that I could at least have mountain bike tires on. I'm not a fan of racing on rigid forks, but it wasn't bad for this course.

Our start was really fast with Sue Stephens taking the lead and hammering through the wind. Before long I was part of a 3-women break with both Sue and her teammate Erin Vicary. Every once in a while I would hear them talk to each other and at one point I actually screamed, "WHAT???" Ha ha, I didn't want to be left out of the conversation :-)

Once we were in the singletrack I entered "hang on for dear life mode." Sue and Erin were flying through the trees, and I knew that we were getting close to the area where I fractured my clavicle the year before. I kept trying to leave a little room so that I could see where we were going, but then they would gap me immediately. I finally decided that NOT getting gapped was more important then trying to look for that stupid root anyways. It's funny. I thought about that crash during the most random times over the last year, but once I was racing I never thought about it again. And I never saw the spot either. I think it's safe to say I've moved on!

There were some open parts of the course that were really windy, and at times I felt like I was almost in a road race. It was mostly flat minus a long ski hill climb at the end too, so there was no recovery. Absolutely none!

I was shelled repeatedly during the race, and ended up riding in 4th until I finally caught back up to Erin during the end of the 2nd lap. We rode together for a while and I knew that I would have to try and get away before the long ski hill. Because after the ski hill we had a dual slalom like run to the finish, and Erin could bomb down it like nobody's business.

A few expert guys came up behind us, and once they passed us I decided to go with them. Part of me thought I would pop off and be stuck in no man's land, but I guess the whole point of XC racing is to push yourself to the limit, right? I passed Erin cleanly, but then had to pass another guy. It was the worst pass of my entire life. Not only did I get hit in the face by a tree branch, but then I almost crashed into him. We both kind of got tangled up and veered off course. I managed to stay upright, but I'm not sure about him. I think I heard him yell. Sorrrrrrry!!!!!

I managed to stay with a few guys until the end, and was very, very happy to see the finish line and finish in 3rd place. It was a tough day as Michigan has some really, really fast female racers! Not to mention our honorary Michigander :-)

I was one second away from collapsing at the finish line!

I wish that there were more XC races to do, because they are such a good workout and it's been great racing with friends that I normally don't get to see much of during the summer. Plus, I really need more practice at my starts and not getting shelled during the first hour....

Podium shot!!!!

Peak 2 Peak is a great race venue, and the promoters do a really great job putting it on. Afterwards there was an open bar, and lots of food. Oh, there was also a petting zoo of sorts.

Can you tell that I was terrified of this thing??? It was being really aggressive with the food and I thought that my hand was surely going to get eaten!

The little ones were much less intimidating!

PS. I raced cross today (day after Peak 2 Peak) but it doesn't warrant a race report. I had absolutely nothing left in my legs, and it was a very ugly 45 minutes with lots of snot and drool all over my face. . However, I'm still glad that I did it because Kisscross races are so much fun! The next one is on Halloween which means one thing and one thing only....COSTUMES!!!!

Confession....

I can't do a push-up.

This sounds ridiculous but it's absolutely true. And I'm trying to find someone else out there who can't do one either. Hellooooo.....are you out there??? Anyone????

So far, it seems to be just me, myself and I. Maybe I should open up my search a little. I mean, I'm sure there are some young children who can't do push-ups either!

Anyways, I discovered my push-up disability this summer while working out with Jason. He had me try to do one the right way (arms directly below my shoulders) and I basically fell straight on my face. I also can't do pull-ups, but that probably goes without saying, right?

Clearly I need to develop some upper body strength! And I'm on it. This Tuesday I officially started my winter weight training program. I'm really excited about this as I've never been able to train consistently with Jason over an extended period of time before. Basically we are going to work out twice a week. I'll work out early in the week with him, and then do the same workout myself but with different weights at the end of the week.

On Tuesday I did two exercises-dead lifts and Turkish get-ups-and I am so sore I can barely move. Poor Scott. He has to hear about it on a constant basis, and sometimes I just collapse to the floor :-)

I've also started running once a week so that I don't completely die going over barriers and up run-ups during cross.

Here is my super run buddy...Julie. I still don't like running, but it's much more fun with a friend!!!!

I think her t-shirt started to brain wash me because by the end of the ride all I wanted was chocolate cake!!! (PS. I realized I just said "ride," but really I meant run!)

I got home and VOILA!!!!! Scott must have read my mind because I came home to this. Homemade banana cake with chocolate frosting make from scratch. It's ridiculously good and I can't stop eating it!

So, despite the fact that I can barely walk or move it's been a really good week. And it just got better today. Remember my BFF??? She and her husband Chucky arrived back in Michigan today! Not only do we live in the same city, but now we only live two blocks away from each other.

Scott and I met them for breakfast today, then took Naomi over so that we could walk their dogs while they move in. I'm not sure how much exercise the dogs really got, since I was walking at the pace of a snail!

Naomi hanging out with her friends....

Tomorrow I'm doing my second weight workout of the week, and then I'm going to race Peak 2 Peak on Saturday. I'm going to be incredibly sore, but I don't care. I have to go back and conquer that one root!!!

I need to learn how to do a wheelie for situations like this!

Here is an interview with me Jason about how awesome I am he is.

I don't know what I was thinking when Jason first mentioned that the news wanted to interview one of his patients, but I do know what I wasn't thinking. Close-ups on TV. My hair was actually still wet when I got down there.

After the interview we went out to Cannonsburg ski hill so that they could get some footage of me riding my bike. While riding back and forth I had this strange urge to pop a wheelie, you know, to show off! However, common sense told me that trying to do a wheelie for the first time while being filmed by the news wasn't a good idea.

Oh well, at least my socks matched my jersey pockets!!! Thanks Twin Six!!!

Cutting myself off!!!

I'm sure it's obvious by now that I'm not doing 24 hour Nationals this coming weekend. I mean, if I were doing them I would at least hopefully be on my way!

For a long time my stubborn self tried to make it happen, but it's just too far away and too late in the season. I know I'm not the only one unable to make the trip, as a lot of my friends had to cancel their plans to do the race when the venue moved from Big Bear to Moab. In fact, right now there are only four women racing in the solo division...that's a bummer.

I'll be the first to admit that I had a few "feel sorry, cry like a baby" hours when I finally realized that I couldn't race Nationals. But I'm over it now. I had an amazing year with awesome support from my sponsors. I was able to ride/race my bike all over the country and I loved every moment of it...even the moments when I felt like I was "bleeding from my eyeballs" and was "borderline puking!"

That being said, it's also been a loooong year. It's hard to believe that my first race of the season was at the end of January. Gosh, that seems like over a year ago!!!

So, now I'm taking a month off from structured training and just doing whatever. This is the first time in 2 years where I don't have daily workouts and truthfully...it's driving me cuh-razy! Some people do really well without structure and I have come to the realization that I am NOT one of those people. Every single day I have to refrain from e-mailing my coach a million questions and asking her to give me intervals to do. Plus, I'm not sure if you can call my "month off" a true month off because I've done two XC races and two cyclocross races during that time :-) We have so many fun bike races/events in Michigan that it's been really easy to distract myself away from Natz.

Which brings me to the title of this post. I AM NOT racing this weekend...anywhere! There is a 6 hour race a few hours away from my house, and I'm really tempted to go do it. However, I think it's probably best if I take a weekend off from racing since my legs were pretty fried after last weekend. Instead, I'm going to ride my bike and eat cookies!!!

And if you live in the area you should too. The ColorBurst tour is this weekend, and it's a really great event. It was started by the Rapid Wheelmen after one of their members was killed on a training ride by a drunk driver and proceeds go to MADD.

I'm really looking forward to this as the route is pretty sweet and the weather should be perfect! Plus, the sag stops are ridiculous. I could get very used to having cookies and apple cider on the side of the road waiting for me :-)

PS. Good luck to everyone racing Nationals!!! When I'm not riding my bike this weekend I'm sure I'll be stalking the 24 hour real time results and cheering for everyone!

PPS. I just had one more "feel sorry for myself that I'm not at Nationals" moment as I typed that last sentence, but I swear I'm over it now :-)

Double racing (again!)

My blog is a definite reflection of how busy I am during the week. Remember when I fractured my clavicle last year and was typing daily/hourly posts on how sore I was? Not busy! This week? No posts = very busy. I feel like I hit the ground running since I got back from Las Vegas and have had no time to slow down. Actually that statement is really true since a 5k is the first thing that I did when I got back :-)

Anyways I was so exhausted and sore by the time the weekend hit that I almost didn't go do the Crybaby Classic, which was at nub's nob. This was my first time racing at the venue, but apparently they used to have a Norba race there, long before I started riding a bike.

Scott, our friend Shawn D., and I drove up on the race day, so I didn't have time to pre-ride the course. Once we got there I immediately started hearing "war stories" from people who had raced earlier. Basically all of the reports were the same. Super fast course, no singletrack, and lots of climbing. I also got repeated warnings about a climb called the "crybaby".

We had a strong women's class, and it was a combination of roadies and mountain bikers. Now that the road season is over, a lot of people are gearing up for end of season races, like Iceman. Our start went up a grassy climb and then immediately went down into fast doubletrack. From there we hit some sand pits, a minute of singletrack, and then more false flats. My legs were definitely feeling the hill intervals I had done a few days before, but I was able to stay with the leaders until we hit the crybaby climb. It was kind of gradual at first, with a few turns, and then all of a sudden it went straight up. I totally needed to be in my granny gear, but it was too late for me to shift down. I had to ride the thing in my middle ring and it just about destroyed my legs. I popped off the back really darn fast!

I spent the rest of the race by myself. It was a bad day to have forgotten my climbing legs, because I think 99.99% of the course was uphill :-) Personally I wish the course would have had more singletrack, but it was still really pretty. And definitely hard. We mostly raced on ski trail, and I would love to go back this winter!!!

The finish line couldn't come soon enough as I was starving. For some reason my preparation for XC racing is completely opposite then what it is for endurance racing. Meaning I try to bring triple everything for long races, and pack minimally for the short stuff. As a result, I didn't bring any food! It was a huge mistake because our race started way later then I thought it would. My stomach was actually growling during the race. That's not a good sign, right?

I ended up finishing in 4th place, which was still in the prize money. Gotta love getting cash for riding a bike :-)

Once we got called up to the podium I realized I still had my camera with me. So here's my reverse podium shot....

Afterwards our podium had to film something for Ford. I was to busy talking to hear the specifics, but oh well. Basically I was so bonked out I just followed what everyone was doing.

It was pretty easy as all we had to say was, "thank you Ford."

Try #1
Except that none of us were speaking in unison, and we were also tired from climbing our legs off for the last 2 hours.

Try #2

The guy in the front managed to muster up enough energy to swing his arm emphatically while "thanking Ford!"
Try #3

Heather got into the arm swinging action here....
Can you tell how enthusiastic we were? The poor promoter kept having to tell us to act more excited. My voice was completely monotone and I'm pretty sure that my neighbor Derek (in the Bissell jersey) was lip-syncing.

Try #4

Got a fist pump towards the right.....
Eventually we were done! I'm pretty sure the promoter decided to leave "good enough," alone!

All in all, it was a really good day. We spent way to much time in the car (7 hours total), but the race was worth it! And incidentally, our 7 hours of driving were spent in a Ford.

So, "Thank Youuuuuuuu Ford!"

The next day I rolled out of bed for some Kisscross fun. I wasn't completely sure my legs would even be able to pedal, but my parents were going to race. See? Did I not say that they would get addicted?

The cross race had a little bit of everything thrown into it. It's funny, there was just as much technical stuff as the mountain bike race that I did the day before. About a minutes worth. Actually I think the cross race was more technical because we had to ride through water and mud!

My plan was to ride behind my mom in her race, but my legs were super tired. After two laps I pulled off of the course. It was time for her to graduate and race on her own. And she killed it! She was the 3rd female to finish and 24th out of 46! My Dad did awesome too. He was 20th after having chain issues. Of course, now they are complaining about how their bikes are too heavy, and how they need cross bikes :-)

Luckily my legs decided to make an appearance for my race. They were still a little tired and I completely misjudged my jumping ability over the first barriers. After falling on my face and causing a pile-up (yes, I was that person today) I managed to finish as the first female and 14th overall.

Afterwards there was food...lots of food!

Yum!