And...right back at it!

First of all, thanks for all of the well wishes. I'm definitely feeling better.

The moment I got back from Barry-Roubaix I put on PJ's and stayed that way for 2 days. The most activity that I got was while watching Dancing with the Stars.

That show is a secret weakness of mine (I guess it's not secret anymore, huh?) but I usually just watch anonymously.

This time I actually voted....

3 times...

for The Karate Kid.

I think I reached an all-time low...ha ha!

Anyways, the fact that I was actually texting votes during Dancing with the Stars was proof enough that I was feeling better. I jumped on the bike the next day and felt almost human again.

Today I had hill repeats and they were brutal. I still feel a little weak, but not close to how I felt last weekend. Phew. Tomorrow...more hill repeats. These ones are only 30 seconds long, and I hope that I can push myself to the "almost puking" level. I just have to remember...30 seconds is not long at all!!!

The weather for the rest of the week is promising, and I'm crossing every finger and every toe that I can ride Yankee this coming weekend. It's usually the first trail in the area to be ready...and I can't wait any longer!!!

The Art of Racing with the flu (or something)

Wow. Barry-Roubaix did not go as planned. NOT AT ALL!!!

Actually I didn't have much of a plan going into the race, but I did want to get a really hard training day in. I wanted to go out hard, and stay in a fast paced group the entire time. I figured that my legs would be a little tired going into the race, but hoped to just push past that.

Now here's what happened:

The flu is going around here big time, but I usually only get it once every couple of years. And when I do get it, I know that I am sick-because I'm usually flat on my back and unable to move. This was different. All week leading up to the race I felt crummy, but never to where I couldn't function. I was abnormally tired, but blamed it on training. I was slightly achy, but thought it was due to training. And my stomach was all swirly-like and I felt like crap anytime I ate. I thought that part was a little weird, but figured I would be better by race day. When my legs started cramping the night before the race I got a little worried, but there was nothing I could do at that point except try to stay hydrated.

Race Day:

Trying to keep warm at the start...

There were 12 women registered in the 65 mile class, but we were all mixed in with the guys and I had no clue where anyone was. Within the 1st mile I realized it didn't matter where any of my competition was anyways. I felt awful. And not the "tired from training," type of awful. It was the I am completely depleted-I can't move-flu type of feeling. ugh...ugh...ugh.

It basically took all of my willpower just to keep pedaling. The worst part of the race for me were the climbs. I wouldn't say that I'm a great climber, but normally I can hold my own on them. Not this time. My legs were aching and I felt like my muscles were completely gone.

There were over 900 racers out on the course and I ended up riding the whole thing alone most of the time. First the front pack dropped me. Then the middle pack dropped me. Then the end of the pack dropped me. I'm quite certain that if my mom were racing she would have dropped me. In fact, after the race I kept trying to tell her how slow I was going, and kept saying, "I was going SO SLOW even you would have beat me mom." My poor mom. I think she got a little annoyed after my third time of saying that, ha ha!

So, this race ended up being a battle all right, but not for the podium. It ended up being a physical and mental battle with myself. Physically because I was certain that I was dying and mentally because I wanted to quit. The race was 2 laps long, and going out for another 35 miles was not pleasant.

BUT....

I am really glad I didn't bail for a million different reasons. First of all, I never want to think I have the option to quit. Because I think that once you quit it becomes easier to do it the next time. Plus I know myself well enough to know that I would beat myself up about it forever. And I'm already down and out with the flu. Think of how much worse I would feel if I were also beating myself up :-) And believe it or not, I try to keep things in perspective. If all I have to worry about is racing 65 miles while feeling like absolute poo...then I'm lucky.

So I finished...proof that if you keep pedaling you will eventually get to the finish line. I ended up in 5th place out of 6 finishers. Woo hoo. To tell you the truth, I was just really, really happy to get home and in bed. And I spent the rest of the day in bed...plotting for Barry-Roubaix 2012. Ha ha, just kidding. But I do plan on going back, hopefully sans flu. It's a great race and Rick, Cathy and co. do a terrific job of putting it on.

After a day and a half of non-stop drinking (diet Canada Dry) and watching TV, I am slowly starting to feel human again. I think I can finally eat again too. Scott just spent 4 hours making chicken pot pies from scratch, and they look ridiculously good!!! Apparently he thinks I eat a lot!

Ready or not...it's time to race!!!

Pinch me....I can't believe tomorrow is race day!!!

There are over 900 racers pre-registered for the Barry-Roubaix.

And there are going to be 10 kegs waiting at the finish line for incentive to go fast :-)

The first bike race of the season is always scary, because it's moment of truth time. No matter what training you did over the winter, you never really know what shape you are in until the promoter says "go," right??? Right now I'm trying to think back over the last couple of months, and for some reason I drawing a complete blank about workouts. I know I didn't just sit on my butt all winter long.....

I have to admit that I haven't been paying that much attention to this race (until today) because I'm training straight through it. A lot of my friends have been pre-riding the course multiple times over the last couple of months, but I was never able to get down there. Now I wish that I would have because I don't remember much from last year. Luckily it's mostly dirt/paved roads, so I guess I don't have to worry about anything super technical right??? I guess I can always watch this (while drinking coffee and sitting in a warm house) to refresh my memory.

Initially I was hoping to race on my Chili, but it's still getting built up. Plus, I've learned enough over the last couple of years to know that it's smart to get fit to a bike before jumping on it and racing 65 miles! So my Mamasita is going out for one last hurrah!

Speaking of my Mamasita...I finally took it off of my trainer. On Wednesday I decided that I should probably take it into the Ada Bike Shop to have Ted look at it before racing on it. It's a very good thing that I did as the parts were completely trashed. Apparently I did a lot of spinning this winter :-)

Today is going to be pretty busy. I feel like I have to dust off the "winter cobwebs" and get my gear together. Like I said, I'm doing this race strictly for training, and I want to be deep in the pain cave. And I have no doubt that I will be. Barry-Roubaix is basically a road race, and the majority of people will be on cross bikes. Trying to keep up on my mountain bike is going to HURT!!!! It will be very good practice for Paris-Ancaster!

Well, time to start figuring out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. To tell you the truth, I think the hardest thing about this race is going to be the weather. It's going to be so cold at the start....waaaaah. I think the temperature high for tomorrow is going to be 33 degrees which means we will be freezing in the morning. Michigan is not cooperating with an early spring, that's for sure.

100 miles more fun then the run

So, this weekend was supposed to be my big showdown with Jason and Gareth at the Irish Jig 5k.

Needless to say, it did NOT happen.

Gareth had to go out of town (conveniently) and I let Jason off the hook.

It wouldn't have been a good race for a showdown anyways. There were so many participants the men and women had to run at separate times. Imagine 3,000 racers trying to run 3.1 miles at the same time...it would have been ugly.

We are going to have a rematch as soon as I find another 5k. This should not be hard seeing that there seem to be running races every weekend, especially around holidays. What's next? Easter? There must be a cadbury egg 5k somewhere around here....

Anyways, back to the race. I met my friends Bonnie and Roxane at the race site in the morning. It was cold out and I was shaking in my running shoes. I thought that I was being creative by wearing bright green shorts (for St. Patty's day!) but everyone else outdid me. They outdid me big time! There were over 1,800 women lined up at least 500 of them were dressed as leprechauns. I'm not joking about this. They were wearing little green hats and everything.

Because I'm a complete idiot I did not warm up. Bonnie and I stood with all of the leprechauns until we could see people waaaaaaay up front running down the street. There were so many people there that the race started and we didn't even know it. Eventually we made it over the timing chip and bam! Complete deadlock. It was a walking start. With so many runners in the street no one could get moving. It was a anticlimactic start, but really cool to see so many women out there racing!

Eventually we got going and I spent the first mile running around people. At one point I was running on a curb, over grass and through a snowbank. At other times I was running diagonally across the street trying to dodge people. It was crazy!!!

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but it was a fun. Once I made it across the finish line I had to keep running as I had exactly a half hour to find my car (I managed to forget what street I parked on) and get layered up for a bike ride. The rest of the day was awesome. My legs felt really good and Juli and I rode our Dos Niners out to Grand Haven. Lynda had me scheduled for a 4 hour trail ride but sadly the trails here are still unrideable. There is still a little bit of snow in the woods, and then we have to wait for the spring thaw to be over. Come on already!!!!

Anyways, I figured that 4 hours on the trail was the equivalent to 100 miles on the pavement. My total tally for the day was 103.1. And I really haven't stopped eating since :-)

Prickly Pear 10 Mile race report

I found a link to the Prickly Pear trail race when I was searching for mountain bike races, and decided that I would do the 10 mile for fun. I mean, how often do you get the chance to do a trail race named the Prickly Pear in Texas? Not very often.

One would think that I would be afraid of the distance, or the fact that I had never run on trail before. But nope....for some reason the thing that had me the most worried was finding the start line. The online map looked so foreign to me that I kept picturing myself wondering around in the wilderness for hours.

The park was only about 13 miles away from our hotel, so my mom and I went to check out the scene the day before. And it was pretty obvious where the start line was...ha ha!

There were a ton of race promoters around marking the course. And a lot of really fit looking runners were out running on it. I started to get really, really nervous which was ridiculous since I was just doing the race for fun.

I spent the rest of the day walking around San Antonio with my family, and by the time I went to bed I was completely exhausted. My middle sister kept telling me that it wasn't too late to bail, but once I decide to do something I have to do it. I think it's called being really stubborn.

Then it was RACE DAY!!! Woo hoo! I had no clue how long it was going to take to do the race, because I had never done anything like it before. I checked the winning female time from the year before and it was 1:17. However, it was a pretty big race and the times varied all the way to 3 hours. For all I knew, it would take me all freaking day! We decided that my mom and sister would drop me off, and then go watch Toni in prelims. After that they would come back and get me.

Have I mentioned that I felt like a fish out of water? Because I did. I had no clue where to put my race number on because I saw all different variations. Front, back and side. Eventually I just pinned it crookedly to the front of my shirt and called it good.

And then it was time to line up. My goals for the race were simple: don't get hurt and have fun. And not fall on my face. Oh, and not get a side stitch. And while I was at it I decided that I wanted to be a top age group finisher so that I could get a Prickly Pear beer mug. Initially I lined up near the back, but I found myself inching forward slowly. I couldn't help myself. By the time the promoter said "go," I was in the top third of the pack.

The race started on pavement to break up the field, and then quickly turned to dirt and grass. I settled behind 2 guys who were running between 7-7:15 minute miles, and figured that I would try to stay with them. I was breathing hard, but it didn't feel uncomfortable.

But then we hit the actual trail. I think I had a few moments where I went into actual shock. It was rocky and off camber and there were random roots all over. Even more shocking (to me) was that the guys didn't slow down at all. They were flying over the rocks like they weren't there and I was trying to keep up with them without falling flat on my face. I had to make a split second decision to slow down or try to stay with them.

I decided to stay with them. Eventually the trail emptied out onto grass, but then we would enter more singletrack and the rocks would start right up again.

Eventually one of the guys dropped me, and then I dropped his friend...ha ha. There were a few really sketchy parts of the trail near a ravine that required serious trail coordination, and I managed to run it without any major problems. I think I just got lucky.

Finally I could hear people cheering at the finish line. It seemed like it took forever to get there though, because I had to keep running around a million trees. I finished with a time of 1:18:33, which was good for 8th overall out of the females and 40th overall in the field. I also won my age group-but by default. They had a separate prize for the overall female winner, who happened to be in my age group, so they took her out of the age division standings. BTW...she had a ridiculously fast time of 1:13:11.

Afterwards, I had a few hours to kill before I was picked up, so I was able to watch the 50k runners coming through. Can I just say that I was so happy that I wasn't one of them? I can't imagine having to do multiple running laps on that course. The weather was awesome out, and there were huge bins of oranges out-which tasted amazing. I was eating so many I felt like the volunteers were going to cut me off....ha ha.

I have to say, I'm glad that I didn't chicken out of the race. Despite the fact that it was a running race, I had fun and got a pretty good workout in. And I'm definitely proud of my new beer mug :-) My luggage was lost and Scott had to leave for Chicago before I could show it to him, but it's waiting on the table for when he gets home. And I put his Founders mug next to mine for comparison.

Who says size doesn't matter???

PS. I forgot to mention that I ran the wrong way at mile 8! Yup, leave it to me to run over a big giant "X" and keep going. Luckily I realized my mistake before I got too far down the trail. At least we know my lack of direction is consistent between cycling and running, right???

I'm back!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh....it's good to be home. I don't even know what to say about our Texas trip. It was a lot of fun, but so freaking busy that I need to decompress. I'm starting to realize that I'm kind of a homebody.

So....Texas. Where to start? We went down to cheer for my littlest sister Toni at swim nationals. I have to admit that it was kind of hard to watch. Toni went from being ranked in the top 3 in the country all season long to feeling really tired by the end of the season, and added on time at Nationals. She still made it to the finals, but didn't make the times that she wanted. I know how hard she worked all year, so it was really tough to watch her get disappointed. I have to give her credit though. She got in the pool and tried her hardest the entire time and really, what else can you do???

I started thinking about her season and realized that she has been racing non-stop for almost a year. She started out with road racing, then moved on to tri's, and then it was her swim season. No one can stay in top form that long. It's just proof of how important rest is!The good news is that the swim season is officially over and Toni is going to take a few weeks off.

Toni with her "game" face on :-)

When I found out that I was going to San Antonio I spent a good amount of time searching for a mountain bike race to do. I had a really hard time going to warm weather and dry trails and not bringing my bike. It's a good thing that I didn't bring it though, because we were so busy traveling back and forth to the pool etc.

However, I did find something to do. While I was searching for mountain bike races, I somehow stumbled upon a 10 mile trail race right in San Antonio. When I mentioned it to my friends, everyone was like, "yeah, go do it," and "it will be fun!" Apparently no one was worried about the fact that I barely run....or the fact that I had never run on trail before!

And that's how I ended up running a 10 mile trail race in San Antonio.

I'll post a race report tomorrow. To tell you the truth, I still can't believe that I went through with it. All I have to say is that after this race I will never, ever be nervous about Lemans starts again.

Right now though, I need to go to bed and get some rest. I'm feeling seriously sleep deprived from this trip. BTW, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so we are going to have our usual spin class at the Ada Bike Shop. It will probably be one of the last ones, since it won't be long before the Tuesday night outside ride starts. Hurray for the time change and warmer weather!!! And hurray for new bikes. I have a new cross bike at the shop and I am counting down the seconds until it is ready for me to ride!!!

If I lived in Texas...

I would own a cowgirl hat in every color....just so that they could match my hoodies!

Greetings from San Antonio.

Our first day here has gone by so fast that my head is spinning. This morning my mom and I woke up super early to cheer for my little sister Toni at her swim nationals, did a bit of trail running (more on this later), and then we had to pick up my middle sister Mikey from the airport. One would think that a simple trip to the airport wouldn't be a big deal, but we seriously missed our exit at least four times. In fact, I can't believe that we aren't still out there on the highway.

Now it's time to relax. Our hotel is right on the riverwalk, and there is plenty to do around here. Mikey and I took a river tour, tried on cowboy hats and are finally back at the hotel lobby, messing around on our computers and eating organic gummy bears.

Yes....organic gummy bears.

I feel like we should still be out on the town, but I have to admit that sitting in the lobby with Mikey is more fun. She's supposed to be writing a paper right now on Freud, but I just caught her on youtube watching a tutorial video for beating a level on angry birds. I can't say that I blame her.

Well, time to turn off the computer. I'll have to tell my trail story tomorrow. Right now there are a bunch of drunk Texans in the lobby, and I might have to put my turquoise cowgirl hat on and go regulate the situation. Ha ha, just kidding. I did not buy that hat. It was actually so small that I had to force it on top of my head. But it would be a good look for the podium, especially if I can find some matching turquoise cowgirl boots. And I shouldn't say IF, because trust me, they have cowgirl boots in every color down here.

Up, up and away

I'm currently hanging out at the airport with my mom. Today is a very, very good day to be leaving Michigan, as it's rainy and cold. I think it's going to be very warm and sunny the entire time that we are there.

I imagine that I will have wireless while I am there, so I should be able to do an update or two!!!

Bicycles and icicles

I rode outside again yesterday!!! That makes for a grand total of two days in a row of pedaling in the great outdoors. However, I was dragging big time. I think it's because I'm sick of wearing one million layers :-)

I have to admit that it was very tempting to stay home!

Very, very tempting...

Once I was layered up though, I was happy to get outside. The sun was out (which was awesome), but it was deceivingly cold out. After an hour of riding I met up with Juli and my bike already had icicles growing on it...
Initially we were going to meet up with the Jim Allan group ride, but the roads were icy and both of us felt like having a "flat road" day. So we rode out to Lowell for hot chocolate.

I figured this would wake me up...
We spent WAY too much time at the gas station, but it was so warm inside that it was hard to go back out. That's why I hate stopping! At one point we were actually looking at the cooler and picking out ice cream that we would want to eat IF it were summer out. Juli's top pick? Mackinac Island Fudge. Mine? Rocky Road. I don't think we could have stalled longer if we tried.

Finally we forced ourselves back out for the final stretch of our ride. Once again I felt like I was getting a cold slap to the face. Mental note: no more stopping to look at ice cream flavors. At least not until summer :-)

I ended up getting a nice 4.5 hours in and felt much better towards the end of our ride then when I started. I was still happy to get back to our warm house though.

Even my fender had an icicles on it!

Counting down....

Only 4 more days until I leave for San Antonio. Am I excited? Yes, kind of...except for the fact that I absolutely HATE flying and I won't have my bike.

I don't think I ever told the story about my last flight, the one where I was coming home from Interbike. It was awful. So awful that I was dropping F-bombs in a very loud whisper. By the time I was on the ground I swore I was never flying again, right after I got done kissing the ground.

But then again, I always say that :-)

When I land in San Antonio I'll be kissing the ground too, but for a different reason. I'm going to be kissing the ground because it's going to (hopefully) be dry!!! I think I might actually see grass!!! I'm only going to be gone for 3 days, but I plan on soaking up as much sun as possible.

Tomorrow is the last day of my "unstructured" training week. I've been keeping it pretty easy and am ready to start some intensity again. Today I was really, really tempted to just spin on the trainer because it was snowing out, super gloomy, and I was just doing a recovery ride anyways. However, I decided I would rather end up spinning easy outside rather then inside and I'm glad that I did. I ended up staying outside for 3 hours. And I actually thought it was warm out. And if I think it's warm at 35 degrees I wonder what I'm going to think about the 70-80 degree weather I'm going to be in next week???

As long as I stay perfectly still, I'm fine!

Holy moly....

Last night I worked out with Jason and Gareth and today I am sore in every single part of my body.

Except maybe my littlest toe.

I think my soreness level is a combination from taking the last two weeks off from strength training and a really awesome workout last night. I should never have taken two weeks off, but Jason abandoned Gareth and I for the bobsled world championships in Germany, and I fell off the weight lifting bandwagon in a hurry. I think I attempted one push-up while he was gone, but that was it.

The good news is that he's back and our workout group is back at it. We ended last night's workout with kettlebell swings and it was a toughie. 20 seconds on with 10 seconds recovery for 3-4 minutes. It's funny...3-4 minutes doesn't seem that long now, but it felt like an eternity last night. I really liked the workout though, and want to do it again once I can actually lift my arms again.

I am so happy that it's almost the weekend, because I think I'm going to be moving very slowly today!

Let's go to Canada, eh???

I've officially started adding dates and races to my 2011 race schedule and I have to say that I'm excited aboot it. My early season is looking pretty similar to last year. First up is Barry-Roubaix for some dirt road awesomeness. It's such a good training race and the fact that it's only an hour away is a huge bonus. After that I'm heading over to Canada for Paris to Ancaster. Last year I said that I wasn't going back, but look at me now. All it takes is a few months of being stuck on the trainer and I'm all ready for more pain and suffering....

I'm actually really looking forward to doing Paris to Ancaster again. It's a huge race and AWESOME training for upcoming endurance events. The race has a lot of dirt roads, and I remember riding through a few little cities with people lining up on the streets cheering us on. I also remember drooling snot and bleeding from my eyeballs, but I'm trying to block that part out :-) Last year I was completely blown to bits but that's because I made every mistake possible in the first 10 miles, ha ha.

It's going to be a good race...I do like those Canadians. And let's not forget that they have Tim Hortons!

Anyways, there you have it. Add in Lumberjack and Iceman and I'm officially signed up for a whopping four races. It seems weird that I'm signed up for my early season races and then Iceman, which is in November. I don't know about you but the last thing that I want to think about for many, many months is doing a race in NOVEMBER. Sheeshhhh...we are still dealing with snow on the ground from this winter!

There are plenty more races to add and I will continue to do so as I sign up for them! But now, it's time for bed. My legs are complete toast from lifting with Jason on Monday and spin class on Tuesday. And speaking of Jason and Gareth...they are both signed up for Iceman this year. Hopefully they will be recovered from the St. Patty's Day race that we are doing by then!!!

PS. A certain somebody beat me to a bike build....I'm jealous!