saddlesoretosebring

New Home & Focus for 2008

2008-01-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

It's always worse the second day...

2007-11-29T08:38:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Activity:
2 Hour Road Ride

Though my legs were a bit sore yesterday, I spun them out with a good warm-up on the bike and they didn't hinder me too much. This morning they're tight as all get out. Ouch. I should have known. After a hard leg session, it's always worse the second day after. It's a weights day again, but I'll be going hard on the upper body today, and just stretching out the lower body with some low weight, high rep DLs.

It's time to start making and finalizing calendars, isn't it. 2008 is right around the corner. We're making plans at Casa Dein, as well. More me than el Jefe. The DH races never post dates this early. I tried to see if we'd be going to Icycle this year (nighttime, freezing cold DH race), but the site expired. That doesn't bode well.

I have some definites. I have some maybes. And I have some months/events about which I'm totally unsure. But that is what this time of year is about. Plotting, planning, budgeting time and money. Figuring out if the dog has to be boarded, or if one of us will be home while the other is away.

So I'll leave you with my definites, and I'll ponder some more on the maybes. And I'm sure I'll post some maybes that will have to be changed later. It's all part and parcel.

2008 Definites (not in proper date order):

At least one Snake Creek Gap TT
24 Hours of Sebring
BURN 24 Hour
Baker's Dozen
Lumberjack 100
Fools Gold 50
12 Hours of Dauset
13 Hours of Santos

Two For Tuesday

2007-11-27T18:09:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY's ACTIVITY:
90 minute spin on trainer
75 minute weights

Gotta make up for missing a post yesterday!

Tomorrow's ride is probably going to hurt, as today's full body weight workout was pretty leg intense. Squats, deads, good mornings...all sure to make my hamstrings scream as I try to move tomorrow. Oh well...all for a good cause, right?

Missed a post...

2007-11-27T09:42:00.001-05:00

BUT, not a workout!!!

Monday Activities (Active Recovery Day)
30 minutes full body, light weights
45 minutes yoga

Yesterday got away from me with work and nasty rainy weather induced blahs. Never got to post, missed my second day of thirty on the posting front. Sigh.

But I did get in the workout, and I did stay on track with my food, despite the grey and gloomy day that seemed to require me to search out chocolate. I didn't succumb! Another few days and the craving for junk will subside and sugar-free jello will seem a treat again!

On tap today...90 minute easy spin on the trainer. The sun is out and shining, but the trails will be wet and muddy and the roads possibly under puddles, and I've got to stick close to home due to work...so I'll get in those ninety and maybe a bit more, while prepping my pardukey for any bad weather days in my future (there will be some, even in the relative warmth of GA).

Not letting the blahs get me down, at least not again!

Countdown to Christmas

2007-11-25T17:07:00.000-05:00

Today's Activities:
1 Hour Interval Session on Trainer
20 minutes upper body lifting

What? No the blog isn't going to turn into a holiday festivity extravaganza. It's just that as of today, there are 30 days until Christmas. Yep! And I've been in need of something to smack me across the face and/or boot me in the pardukey to get back on track after the wedding. So I gave myself a thirty day task with a countdown.

In these thirty days I'm going to complete a real weight training course, as well as get the necessary base miles and hours under my chamois. I'll also be dialing in the diet, which I've let get too far off track with stresses and overindulgence.

You may ask, won't it be hard to stay away from the yummies of the season. Probably not too hard. I'll be working from home this month, as my boss knows and appreciates that I get more done here than at the office. So there won't be co-workers bringing in yummies. And once I get into the groove again, I generally lose cravings for the bad stuff. It usually takes me 4-5 days to get into the groove, so you'll all be expected to help hold me accountable.

I'll soon be receiving my next training plan from Coach Musto, which will take me through the holidays, so I'll have something to plot and plan around. I know many of the rest of you are also diving back in after off-time, so I'm hopeful that you'll support me while I do the same for you.

Today was the first day on the trainer since last year. I forgot how much my pardukey hurts the first few times back on the trainer. No standing or change of position means sore girl parts. But they'll sort themselves out soon. I also forgot how much I sweat while riding indoors. I was toasty and drippy when I'd completed my hour. Nothing like intervals to wipe you out.

The last part of my countdown goals is to post every day up to Christmas day, so that the blogosphere and all the cool folks within it can help hold me accountable and encourage me to get on the bike even if it's cold and wet, even if I'm tired, even if work is stressful...yadda yadda.

Day 1 of 30, COMPLETE!

So here I am...didja miss me?

2007-11-23T09:04:00.001-05:00

So much to catch you up on. But, first and foremost, the blog's moving up on my list of important things, again. It fell toward the bottom with all the wedding schtuff. But now that the wedding's behind me, it's time for training to move back up to the top of the priority list.

THE WEDDING: Was beautiful. And exhausting. It was three days of non-stop running and doing and errands and girlification. Pictures are slowly trickling in, so there's only a few to post now.

My sister, the gorgeous bride...

It wouldn't be a wedding without the "chicken dance"...
that'd be me on the left, with the bride and groom

The bridal party rode to the reception in an open trolley,
so I'm looking a little windblown...but you can see I'm pretty girly!
Jeff, me, my sister Robyn, my brother-in-law Mark

RETURN TO THE BIKE: Sunday just didn't happen. We got home around 2:30 in the AM and Mallie, who normally can't sleep past 6:30 or so, didn't get out of bed until 10 AM. Then I spent the bulk of the rest of the day there. I was toast.

Monday saw an hour long spin and some yoga. Tuesday was supposed to be a 1.5 hour ride, but as I slept only 1.5 hours the night before (my schedule was all out of whack), I was barely able to walk through doorways, let alone ride a bike. Wednesday was a 2.5 hour SS MTB ride. T-Day saw me doing a 2 hour road ride on the SS. It started sprinkling 6 minutes in, then raining at the 15 minute mark. But I did the full two hours. We'd planned a trail ride for T-Day, but that didn't happen, so I shuffled things around.

Today, tomorrow and Sunday all have hours of planned riding and I'm looking forward to them!

TRACKING TRAINING: I'll be adding some sidebar links and new categories over the next day or two. It's back on and DEcember's going to see lots of miles and lots of strength training.

We'll talk about nutrition in the next post!

hope you all had a fantastic T-Day and that you're all enjoying an easy Black Friday!

Leaving Today...Back At It On Sunday

2007-11-15T07:32:00.001-05:00

After a whirlwind morning which will be spent transporting the dog to the vet for his mini-vacation (he loves it there), picking up my dress, grabbing last minute items (I need a black bra, and maybe a different color nail polish...not sure the one I initially chose is "natural" enough...what do I know?), I'll be heading up to Atlanta for two and a half days of wedding intense girl time with the sister and her other main bridesmaids.

Hopefully it will pass fast. As I won't have my bike. I'm taking up some crocheting (yeah...I'm girlie in that way) and some Christmas cards (might as well get 'em written early, especially as there will be plenty of downtime on Saturday - make-up and hair begins at 11:30 and goes until 4 o'clock or something).

What do I dread most? The picture taking. Why? Because it's November and we're wearing strapless dresses. Somehow I don't think Karen's going to approve if I throw on my denim jacket to ward off the shivers! I'm so cold natured. Plus, I'm not particularly photogenic. I get a weird rictus look when I smile on cue. The digital camera is going...so I'll have someone document my transformation into a complete girl!!! Sigh.

Now...on to the other portion of this post. My slackness of late.

It's not difficult to eat healthily. It's just easier to eat junk or not eat at all. Either way your metabolism revolts and you gain back the pounds you lost.

It's not difficult to get your workouts in. It's just easier to let work and other stress get in the way (this wedding for example). And even though my coach tells me that sometimes life gets in the way, and though I appreciate her allowance that the three weeks have sucked, it doesn't mean I can't do everything in my power to get back on track.

So, we're coming home Saturday night. I can't spend the entire night at the reception, and luckily the sis knows and understands this about me. And after a little sleep-in (maybe a whopping 8 a.m.) for Mallie, I'll be out on my singlespeed, doing everything that I should have been doing these past three weeks.

I'm going to ask some of you to keep me accountable. You'll know who you are when I start posting regularly next week.

Thanks for sticking around through the lack of posts and the lack of bicycling when I did post.

Pictures...

2007-11-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

I promised these last week, and am just getting to them. There will be more photos, the ones of my girlification, posted after the wedding weekend. I'm very much looking forward to getting the wedding out of the way, as with a hectic couple weeks of work + wedding schtuff, training has been virtually nonexistent. It bites. I need some serious SS therapy. And I will get it next week...mark my words.

Anywho...

After visiting grandmothers and the parents of el Jefe, we found our way to the Santos Trails in Ocala, FL. We didn't have a lot of time to explore the trail system...as we had a long drive to make it home...but we did play a bit on the beginner and intermediate trails and we did check out the skills and dirt jumping areas.

Me playing on the skinny in the skills course...

Me on one of the DJs in the skills course

Look up at the top to the wood structure...
the big bike riders (like el Jefe) drop in here...YIKES!

Another big bike drop...not quite as scary as the first...

Jeff competing in the bunnyhop contest at the Dauset fest...
That's my arm and shoes holding the jump rope...the bunnyhop
limbo stand didn't make it to this year's festivities...

Girlification...

2007-11-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

So I haven't been posting a lot. I've been pretty busy with work and we spent most of last week visiting relatives. Some riding did occur, and I'll be posting some pics tomorrow. But for now I leave you with this, the next week and a half will involve much girlification.

My sister's getting married on the 17th. I'm a bridesmaid. That means a dress, strapless, of course. Which means part one of girlification is trying to even out my tan lines some. Luckily it's finally gotten cold, so no new tan line should appear. But I have to even out the ones I've veen sporting all summer and fall. I'm on it.

Dresses for a group of girls mean modifications are always in order. For me, since the boob fairy decided I was undeserving, I have to have the bust taken in quite a bit. I also have to get it hemmed to work with my shoes.

The shoes. Open toed, strappy, with a heel. Means I have to practice walking in them, since my usual kicks are of the running shoe/sport sandal variety. Next, the bubonic toe has to be dealt with. I have to get a pedicure. However, the feet are so bad from years of cycling shoes, and prior to that, years of cleats, that I'm spending some of each day sloughing calluses and doing other foot biz.`And, no duh, I have to get a manicure, too.

Hair...I've been keeping it long, despite random thought about hacking it off, as I'm pretty sure the sister would prefer we all could wear our hair up. The husband likes it long, too, so it works. I did cut some long bangs. Since I haven't had bangs in like a gazillion years, they require training. What does that mean. Weird parts and a headband around my forehead as the bangs learn where they're supposed to go. Also gotsta get rid of the gray, so sometime in the next 5-7 days I have to color my hair.

I'm really not a very girlie girl. So this is rather a lot of girlification for me. It's daunting. Scary. I don't know how well I'll succeed. This is harder than riding a bike, believe me!

Greetings from FL

2007-11-01T17:09:00.000-04:00

We're down visiting grandparents and Jeff's folks. Got in a very headwind intensive ride this morning and heading out to MTB tomorrow. Blog should get back to regular post frequency once we return. Hope you all have a great weekend of riding, running and swimming fun!

"P" is for...

2007-10-25T15:51:00.000-04:00

Poppin' Pills and Protein Powder!

No, I'm not a junkie or a hypochondriac (at least I don't believe I am!). Those who wandered over from the "ee" site know I had a bad bout with severe anemia a while back. While I do "eats my spinach", I also have to take iron pills. Poops the color of pondscum (more "p" words!!!) are a small price to pay for the lack of heart palpitations and other symptoms that had me almost hoping I was dying.

Then add in folic acid because I hate green vegetables (uncooked spinach is like lettuce, so it manages to go down), cranberry tablets cuz I don't want to deal with UTI, Vitamin "C" so if I overtrain I don't fall prey to every illness that waves germs at me (this last stomach bug has me hoping that was it for 2007) and a buttload of BCAAs to ensure I don't breakdown more muscle than I build, and I'm poppin' pills all day long.

Did I forget to mention that I have a very hard time swallowing large capsules. And the BCAA's, the cranberry tablets are pretty big capsules. And the dosage of the BCAAs is like six, twice a day (which I have to break up into 2-3 even more times a day). Yikes. Gag reflex tries to get me several times per day!

As for the other "p", the protein powder, it's not bad at all. And for a gal that isn't super fond of the "meat group", it's a must. I like it, actually. As long as I can use the blender. When you try it in the shaker bottle it's nasty...clumpy, BLECHHHH. I've got some groovy recipes for some pretty yummy protein shakes, so if anyone wants them, holler!

Little Things

2007-10-23T08:21:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the unexpected and unexplained hiatus. Jeff and I both came down with some sort of weird stomach ailment, Jeff had it much worse than I did, and it pretty much derailed us. No real training completed with a stomach constantly doing flip-flops and that weird empty headache going on.

We rode a bit this weekend. Went up to Carter's Lake and I actually tackled portions of the beginner DH trail. It was funny that the drops really didn't scare me, it was the very loose, rocky downhill section at the bottom that had me hopping off my bike and walking precariously down to the "session" area. Thankfully I didn't feel like too big a puss when several guys on real DH rigs made comments about how sketchy that section made them feel. I was on my XC rig, so I felt rather vindicated.

Took my road friend Stephanie out for her first MTB ride yesterday. That was awesome. She took to it pretty much immediately. She'll be joining us for some urban rides and she's looking for an XC bike to call her own.

Back on track with the "plan" this week. Today involves lifting and core. YIKES. And some sort of cardio...but Mother Nature appears to be putting the kaibash on doing anything outdoors.

The changes I mentioned in my previous post will take effect sometime this week.

Until then, for Brian, here's a few tunes:

Blueprint by Russian Spy Planes

Dark Times by Wax & Wane

Run of the Mill Boy by Awestruck Dumbfounded

And I leave you with this final question. What do you do about someone in your life who constantly takes little digs at you? Most of the time I can just let it slide, but of late I just can't. Thoughts?

ch...ch...ch...changes!

2007-10-11T14:06:00.000-04:00

There will be a few minor changes around here, starting to show up later today, tomorrow and throughout the weekend.

1. I'll be tracking the hours of my workouts on the sidebar, so as to track the build of actual hours of exertion as I build stamina and strength.

2. A new blog, actually a whole site, will be up and running early next week. The music bits and pieces I've been posting at random here will have a new home, with the help of some of my coolest blogging friends.

3. SSTS will take on a training log feel again, though I will continue to offer random thoughts on the things I encounter as I lift and bike, from spider webs to butt calluses.

Just wanted to put up a quickie. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather. We had about a ten degree drop here in the Maconga, and it is glorious!

Upping the Ante

2007-10-09T07:52:00.000-04:00

So, I just got my next three weeks plan from Coach M. I figured it might be time to fill you in a bit on what I'm doing.

(EDIT: Renee's correct...photo credit should go to Icanhascheezburger! Those pics make me laugh my a** off)

I'm lifting twice a week, swapping between high rep/low weight days and the reverse (lower reps with higher weight loads). Lifting days also involve at least an hour of some sort of cardio workout. Sometimes a bike, sometimes a hilly walk, and now that the bruises on my hip won't shock and awe the little old ladies too much...I'll be heading back to the pool.

I generally do full body routines each weight day, rather than swapping out upper/lower. The various lifts change around a bit each day, so that I don't get too bored and so I can vary reps/sets as well as weight load. Regular lifts include:

Squats | Dead Lifts | Good Mornings | Step-Ups | Walking Lunges | Split Squats | Triceps Press | Biceps Curls | Forearm Curls | Military Press | Upright Rows | Bent Over Rows | Bench Press

I am working my core three days a week. I swap the various exercises around because nothing is worse than crunches. Crunches are evil!

Of course I do crunches, along with stability ball reverse crunches, planks, butt ups, back extension, hip extensions, ab rolls, medicine ball woodchops, legs lifts and about a bazillion others so I don't end up in a core-induced boredom coma.

And, of course, I ride my bike. The butt-in-saddle times are increasing. The intensity and frequency of intervals are increasing. I spend seconds, minutes and hours at various heart rate levels. My HRM is used basically every day but Mondays (my much needed off day). I'm switching between the MTB and the roadie a lot. And as soon as the geared bike arrives (this week...fingers crossed), there will be another bike to add to the mix.

And lastly, though Coach M isn't instigating this, I've really cleaned up my diet. I went two weeks without a cheat meal, and now I get one a week. Other than that it's clean eating. Once I got through the two weeks it really was easy. No cravings and I've lost 5.5 pounds and several inches. Granted most of that was from a bad-carb induced flub up just recently...but it's nice to see the changes.

That's the story. Now I better get some work done so I can get in my ride followed by weights!

Worked

2007-10-07T07:25:00.000-04:00

If Bryan can post pics of cute bears...I can post some cuteness of my own!

Mother Nature and some technical difficulties sort of changed up my Saturday plans. Instead of 5 hilly hours on the roadie, I did 5 hilly hours on the SS. Urban ride.

It's funny how you notice things when you don't have gears. You're climbing, and you stop to think, "this isn't killing me or anything, but on the geared bike I never noticed how long this climb lasted".

Because I'm being careful of the knee, I didn't do any of the gutwrencher hills our downtown boasts. But Macon's got some decent steady climbing, and I found as many streets to climb as I could. And I've got some new ones to try out on the next knobby ride.

Rocked the tunes for 3 hours of it, and B-Mac kept me company for two. It was great to catch up with her and those two hours flew by...couldn't have done it without you "Aunt B". Couldn't resist.

I'm up and about, though I'd rather be snuggled up with el Jefe. Leading a beginner ride this morning. So it fits with Coach Musto's schedule for today. 1.5-2 Hour fun MTB ride. Better go get packed up.

Begging Again...but not for me!

2007-10-03T12:10:00.000-04:00

Two really super-cool, super-awesome bloggers need your assistance. Regular readers know I did some design work in trade for charitable donations over the summer. Well, I'm asking you to dig into your wallets for Danielle & Bonnie. They're both planning to do the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes in Death Valley. They each have to gather $4,000 to be able to ride. They've both made great starts, but they need our help.

If you've got an extra few bucks, please take the time to make a donation. To either one of them. Even $5 bucks helps them and helps find a cure for juvenile diabetes. It's tax deductible, so you'll save yourself some bank come next April, too.

To donate to Danielle, click here!

To donate to Bonnie, click here!

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In other news, it's pissing rain, so I'm not going to be able to get in the ride that's on my plan for today. It happens...you have to be flexible. I'll do more core and strength work and mix it in with some good 'ol calisthenics. I'll probably hurt even more than I would after my ride with intervals.

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And of course...a few tunes:

Sorry, Tornado by The '89 Cubs

I'm A Sucker For Backwards Drums by The New Trust

Maggie Waterloo by The Superman Can Flys

Just Once More by Dressy Bessy

Oh, Let's Race by Big Big Car

Web Girl: Part 1

2007-10-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

It was chilly enough to wear my new, and really awesome looking, long sleeved 55nine jersey. So that put me out the door despite losing my "most of the ride" partner, who had a last minute change of plans. Sure, I wanted to crawl back into bed. But I didn't. Four hours on the MTB. That was the plan. That's what I did.

After two harder than expected road rides on Friday and Saturday, I was actually glad to get out on the knobbies and work on my turns and form, as per Coach Musto. When the dew flew up off the grass as I made my way to the trail entrance a little before 8 AM, I was very glad I'd stuck to plan. It was quiet and chilly, but I wasn't the only one out there. I startled a rabbit trying to warm up in the first morning sun. I saw deer in several spots. I spoke to them all. Telling them they were gorgeous and that I was sorry to disturb them.

I disturbed a few other homes, too. Hence the title of the post. The only bad thing about being the first one out on the trails is being the one to break all the spider webs. It's not so bad if you can see them coming, and duck and miss the worst of the stickiness. But the ones that come out of nowhere, much like wrecks that seem to come out nowhere, are always rather nasty. For some reason they seem to catch me across the eyes or the mouth.

Luckily I've never had an uninvited guest, my name for the web builders, land in my mouth. That'd be pretty nasty. But, even though I'm not particularly scared of spiders, or bugs in general, it's always a little disconcerting to look down and see an eight-legged beastie walking up your thigh or forearm a couple miles after you busted through the last web.

I was alone for most of the ride. Saw two of the Geicettes (two of the girls from GEICO who have recently taken up the sport) and squired them around for about thirty minutes. And I did see el Jefe when he came out to meet me. I got the encouraging "pardukey" pat when we crossed paths.

Otherwise it was just me and the woods. For four hours and eleven minutes. I worked hard on my turns...not one of my strong points. Worked on staying off the brakes before the turns, or if I did need to brake - just giving them one good tap. Worked on accelerating out of the turns and into the ones that aren't that sharp. I watched my MPH increase through several turns throughout the ride.

That long, lonely MTB ride capped off a good week under Coach Musto's tutelage. 2 days of core and weights, three days on the road bike and one on the MTB. Lots of hours, lots of energy expelled, and lots of miles under the belt. Today's an off day...a little yoga and foam roller...then back to the plan.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Dauset...the story of the wrecks

2007-09-28T08:53:00.000-04:00

12 HOURS OF DAUSET: OK. I don't really have a race report, per se, as we did this race for fun. But a good time was had by all, and I did say I'd recount my wrecks and our technical difficulties.

Our only goal, besides having fun, was to come in at least one place above DFL. We did better than that. We were holding steady at 7th place through my second lap (the teams' 6th) out of fourteen. We dropped a bit, then came back up to 8th before the technical difficulties. We ended up in 9th in the official standings.

So? What were those technical difficulties? Lights. We borrowed an HID light set from our friend for Jeff to use. SNAFU 1: It wouldn't charge. We thought we'd take it to the race and see if we could get it to charge. SNAFU 2: We left the damn thing on the kitchen table when we left. No worries, we had my 10 Watt POS which isn't great but can work (it's all I've ever used) and knew Ralph was bringing his light and would be done before night laps started. Jeff would do the first two night laps, using my light, swapping to Ralph's so I could recharge mine, making the cut-off so I could the final lap at Mallie speed. SNAFU 3: Ralph's light was charged, but after getting it all situated on Jeff's person, the button to engage broke. No light. ARGHHHHH. We charged my light for about 50 minutes and Jeff went out for a last lap with my crappy light and Dean's headlamp. Thanks Dean!

Teammates Ralph & Hillarie turned in two great laps each, turning them out in almost exactly the time I'd budgeted for them. They rode hard and gave it their all. Congrats on fantastic laps in your first endurance race, guys.

OK...the wrecks. There were two, one immediately following the other. Wreck 1. I had just descended the very rooty Pine Mountain on the rigid. It will send shocks up your arms even on an HT, so you can imagine my arms felt like jelly after careening down it at my race pace. So I was a bit blown up (arms, not lungs) when a guy called for a pass. It was nice and wide, so I moved over a bit toward the right edge of the trail. Sigh. I forgot how wide my bars are on the 29er. Don't get me wrong, in general I love them, think they help me feel more comfortable descending...but on passes, you gotsta remember they're WIDE. I clipped a tree and went down hard. One of those wrecks where you're on the ground almost before you know it. The guy who passed was freaked out and stopped to see if I was OK. I told him I wasn't sure, but that he should go on. I only did the most cursory check. Hip, yep big scrape and lump. Elbow, lots of scrapes and already swelling. Legs, oh yeah, scratches everywhere. Major bleeding, no. Bones sticking out, no. So I hopped back on the bike.

In hindsight I should have taken a few more seconds to check myself over and to clear my head. About 200 yards later there was a hard turn off a bridge along a creek bank. I went up too high and as I went over the rock in the turn my nose ended up heading straight down into the creek - and I was still too befuddled to save myself. This wreck should have really hurt me. It's a short, but steep embankment with rocks and roots. Somehow, somewhere, the goddess of post wreck riders was watching over me. Instead of an endo or an immediate fall onto the rocks, I somehow made it all the way down and kind of flew off the side into the water and sand. Painless. I think it's kind of like how drunks don't get hurt in the accidents they cause. I was so loose and out of it from the first wreck that I was almost boneless as I went down the embankment.

I'd wanted to do an hour lap. Even with the hard, painful wreck and the slow painless wreck, after which it took me several minutes to haul my bike and myself back up the embankment, I still turned a 1:06. So I wasn't too upset about not meeting that personal goal.

One other thing I learned...when you fall into a creek bed, check how much sand has gone down the back of your shorts. My waist line all across the back had those tiny friction burns from the sand rubbing as I completed the lap!

That's it in a nutshell. I'm still covered in scrapes and bruises. New bruises pop up every day. Don't know where they've been lurking up to now. The ones on my elbow are getting better. The one on my hip/butt is only more beautifully technicolor. It's all good!

For Brian & Bryan

2007-09-25T13:00:00.000-04:00

I probably won't get to my race report today...lots of work, a weights/walk workout and just not enough time to really sit down and lay it out. So, for the two fellas who read and respond when I post new tunes...this is for you! Hope your ears get happy.

I Died In A Mall by Kissing Tigers (I love these guys)
So Stay In Love by Kissing Tigers

Dress On Fire by In The Pines
Never Say Too Much by In The Pines

The Residents of Gloom by The State of Samuel
Square Roots by The State of Samuel

London Belongs to Me by The Crabapples

Friends & Fenders by The Loch Ness Mouse

Bicycle Thieves by Saloon

Ouch!

2007-09-24T12:11:00.000-04:00

Just a few photos. I'll post a race recap later tonight or tomorrow. I don't take very good photos of wounds. Lighting just never seems to work out right!

It's a bit more colorful than it appears here...
But the swelling has gone down some

Tried to ensure this wasn't too "X"-Rated
Again...it really doesn't do it justice

I have scrapes covering smaller bruises pretty much all down my left side and have more scrapes on my right arm and lower leg. Also have plenty of those "haven't decided to surface yet" bruises that make themselves known to me but aren't visible to the world yet.

And because I showed you my butt bruise, I leave you with
a pouting, but oh so cute puppy, who was very unhappy
to have spent such a long day without parental lovin'.

Quick & Dirty

2007-09-22T23:55:00.000-04:00

We're Home. I put in two good and hard and fast, for me, laps on a fully rigid singlespeed, despite wrecking pretty splendidly, twice, mid-way through my first lap. El Jefe posted a blazing first lap, and even with technical difficulties (lights), which kept me from doing a third lap (recharged the light so Jeff could get in a final lap before the cut off), posted two more fantastic laps. Our two newbs to the racing thang had two awesome laps each. AND, most importantly, FUN was had by all.

Pics of my horrific bruises and scrapes to be posted tomorrow, as well as the blow by blow of Mallie plowing her body into the dirt and taking a dive into the creek, tomorrow.

Thanks for all the well wishes.

Ready for Racing Fun

2007-09-21T16:14:00.001-04:00

As ready as I'm gonna get...that is. Actually I'm really looking forward to it. After a really hectic week at work, several hours spent on stuff today when I'd been planning a day off, I'm ready to hang out with the huge crew that will be representing OMBA (Ocmulgee Mountain Bike Association). Some 40 people will be sheltered under 8 pop-ups. Special thanks to those who were able to go up today to get the pit area set up. YOU ROCK!

I did manage to get in my pre-race Coach Musto doings. A 1:45 spin with several pick-up intervals. It was drizzling through most of the ride and I had to bust out the arm warmers. A nice change after the nasty heat we dealt with for so long!

I'll report on Sunday. Don't look for any podium finish. We're "Team Just For Fun", and the only expectations are for everyone to have as much fun as possible at the awesome Dauset Trail system.

Talk atcha later...

When real life gets in the way...

2007-09-20T05:43:00.001-04:00

Work has been a nightmare. It's going to continue to be be one for several weeks. Though I'm immersed in that, I've been, until yesterday, getting in my rides and weight sessions per Coach Musto. And I've decided that no matter how hectic it gets, I'm not gonna miss a workout or slack off on this blog anymore. The riding and weights will help keep me sane when what I really want to do is slap an uncooperative co-worker or throw my laptop at my boss! And the blog will just keep me sane because you lot won't let me go completely crazy.

So, to catch up a bit, hmmmmmm...where to start? So, Coach Musto has been sending me weekly plans, and I'm loving it. She's got me back on the road bike, which had sat, gathering dust since Booty. My girl parts were not prepared for a 50+ miler...but training is about getting the parts working and I'm sure my booty callouses will return to form soon.

Last Friday I did a killer weights day, lifting upper body in the AM and then lower body in the PM, after a very hilly walk just to get the hammies screaming. Saturday was a 3.5 hour spin, supposed to be a recovery pace...but when you ride with friends, the pace always gets a little faster than it should. And though my hammies were still crying a bit, I had a great ride on the 29er SS on Sunday. We took some newbies out to Dauset, and they had a blast and I had a slow and steady ride and my legs felt good, even on the steeper climbs. Those big wheels roll over rocks, so there will only be a couple rough spots for me during the 12 Hours of Dauset.

So...I waffled a long time on Dauset. I thought about doing it as a solo training ride. I thought about finding someone to do it as a duo, then I decided to do the 4-man team thing. Lots of reasons. If I did it on a for fun only team, one of my good friends could experience it without feeling like she was slowing anyone down. It also means I can do it on the rigid SS. Despite the big tires, I know I'm not currently up for twelve hours of those roots with no suspension. The descent on Pine Mountain might have me crying by lap 3! And I just wanted a day to have fun in the pits with the crew. I don't do that enough, in races or on fun rides, and that's something I want to remedy. So...we're a "fun only" team. I think we may come in DFL in the co-ed category. But I couldn't care less. The test for me is to see how well I handle 4 or so laps on the SS. Depending on the pace of my teammates, it may only be three...but we'll see!

I hit the trails with one of my teammates on Tuesday. Was slow, and I didn't feel awesome like I did on Sunday. Hoping I get that back. Don't want to kill my legs with weights...but maybe that contributed to my great ride on Sunday. Who knows?!?! Also saw that I'm going to have to play with my tire pressure throughout the event. When I picked up speed on the back side of Sandy Creek, I was bouncing around a bit, and feared I'd hit a tree. Still getting used to the rigid, obviously.

Lots to do in the next couple days. Pack up my stuff. Charge lights. Hit the grocery store. Dig up my card table. Yadda Yadda.

I leave you with some tunes. What? You didn't think I'd forget the couple of you who actually hope to hear music when I post?

A Hiding Smile by Apple Orchard

Melody, Not Malaise by the Aislers Set

Kicked Out of The Band by Toothfairy

The Not-So City Life by Pants Yell

Traffic by the Transmissions

While the Gods were bowling...

2007-09-13T19:32:00.000-04:00

Mallie was bicycling.

You'd have to have parents who bowled to get that one. Young child asks what that noise is (thunder). Parent answers, "the Gods are just bowling, sweetie".

Another title for this post could have been: Mallie 1 - Mother Nature 1

On tap for today was a three hour moderate MTB ride on the SS. The radar an hour before the planned departure wasn't too pretty. But it was patchy. Those darned "scattered thunderstorms". You never know where they might hit, which cities they'll deluge, and which will come out with nary a drop of rain. I decided I was going to go out and get in as much riding as I could before the rain, if it was a reality, came.

The trailhead was busy when I got there. But it was all cars of cross-country runners. There wasn't a bike rack to be seen. I heard very distant rumblings as I made my way out. But the sky was relatively light, though cloudy, there was no wind, and no rain.

I had planned an hour of slow and steady, a half hour of some hard riding, then another hour and a half of just having fun on the bike. Initially I was expecting company for the final 90 minutes. But those folks decided not to chance it. Can't blame them. Since there was every chance that the ride would end early. I decided I'd just go out decently hard and see how long I could.

I had a great ride. At first there were intermittent rain drops. The kind where one actually hits you every 200 yards or so. The thunder was still rumbling far off. I just rode at what for me is a speedy pace. My legs felt good and I was invigorated by the energy of the far off (at that time) storm. There was no one else out there...so if i got squirrely, there was no one to see. I skidded out a couple times, as I'm still getting used to the wider bars, and I left too much air in my tires after a SS knobby road ride yesterday.

I think part of it was knowing that I'd not given up as soon as I saw the radar and decided to do a less than stellar gym workout instead (I hate going to the gym in the evenings...if I don't go right when I get out of work, I don't enjoy it). I could have let rain ruin my plans and sat on the couch. But I didn't.

I felt like I was flying. The ground, the roots, they just kept rolling by. My legs which had been "good" sore all day after the road ride, felt great. I was happy. Grinning. Swooping though the pines. Spinning and standing the various climbs. Rolling over roots with my big wheels.

The sky slowly darkened, it was gradual. The rain still held off. The wind kicked up only slightly. Creating a nice breeze. I don't know how far I went, nor how fast. No computer on the Monocog yet.

Finally the sky started to really darken, the rumblings came closer, and the wind kicked up enough to blow pine needles into my face. I was on a last little pine segment which would lead me to a double track grass cut through to hurry back to the car. The rain picked up to gently steady as I made my way out of the pines. As I pedaled for all I was worth up the grassy slope I saw the first jag of lightning way off in the distance. With 100 yards to the truck the skies opened up and the rain poured down.

I got in an hour. Not three. But I'm calling it a draw with Mother Nature. Because it was one of the best rides I can remember in a long time. I've had fun and even productive rides. But this one just had everything.

Here's hoping Mother Nature allows me some riding tomorrow, Saturday & Sunday.

Back...FINALLY

2007-09-11T15:54:00.000-04:00

Nine days off the bike. Four days off work. Too many hours spent sniffling, sneezing, hacking, coughing and feeling woozy from inner ear issues. That was way too much time spent on such SO NOT FUN stuff. I've missed posting to this blog. I've missed reading and commenting on other blogs. I've missed my bike. I've missed the "good tired" feeling you get when you've put in a good workout.

I'll be catching up on blog reading and commenting, and I should be back up to snuff on my own blog posting. And I'm very much looking forward to catching up on my bike. I've got lots of riding goodness planned over the next several days. Going back in slowly for a day or two...then lots of dirt over the weekend.

Since not much to say, I'll fill out this post with some photos and some music links (OldMan...just for you!!!).

You can't be feeling too poorly with these two
babies hanging out with you!

Love her to death...but she's 4.5 pounds of
pure evil. Just check the stare.

(EDIT: Photo credit for all the beastie pics goes to my father-in-law, Bob Dein. You should see these in 8x10...they're gorgeous. And Yoda looks even more evil at full size!)

And here's my handsome hubby, on his way to
a 6th place finish at the DH event at Snowshoe.

And for those of you wanting a little listening interlude:

Emo Phillips by Arrah and The Ferns

Let Her Go by The Lodger

Animals by Mathletes

Incommunicado

2007-09-07T07:31:00.000-04:00

Hey All. I haven't been away on some fancy vacation, nor have I been abducted by aliens. I've been sick. Nasty summer cold with all the trimmings. Sore throat, nasty cough, difficulty breathing, ear ache, fever...it has run the gamut. And it hasn't left my body yet. Sigh.

It'd be different if I was sick and the weather was nasty. But that's not the case. The weather's been very nice. The rains from last week have disappeared. And while the temps are still warm, they're nothing like the 104+ heat wave we were dealing with weeks ago.

On the upside, Coach Musto is busy getting me ready to start Musto training camp next week. I'm looking forward to having real guidelines and workouts again, especially after this unexpected, and unwanted, hiatus. So look for me to be back to blogging with a vengeance next week.

And for Old Man...who was wondering where I was, here you go:

When I'm Gone by Kind of Like Spitting

Dear Katy by the Boyish Charms

Kids Can Be So Cruel by the Ocelots

Decapitated by the Faintest Ideas

Antediluvian by Patience Please

and because I'm really ready for fall and winter weather...

Winter Clothes by Snoozer

Rolling Again...

2007-08-27T05:47:00.000-04:00

A lot of painting got done (though there's still more, which I'll get to slowly) and the visit with the in-laws was very nice.

I'm ready to get back to some regimented pedaling and crosstraining. I think I mentioned before that the month of September (yeah...I know I'm a couple days early) is pre-base. So rides will be shorter and more fun, and often done on the SS, while there will be more cross-training and strength work, as well as some concerted core work (gotta make sure my back doesn't take the brunt of singlespeeding).

Yesterday we got to go to Dauset, despite worrying on Sunday that there might have been too much rain. After a quickie circle on the beginner loop, I was thrilled to run into Maria, Mike and Mike's Dad. That meant a cool little group was set to take off on a little riding adventure.

I learned a good mental lesson yesterday. Don't see yourself short too early. In the car on the trip out to the trails, I was ruminating and trying to figure out which climbs I'd have to walk on. Well, I only had to hop off the bike on three occasions. Once at the top of the short twisty climb to the Huff & Puff extension (I realized I didn't have enough speed to get over the root at the top and that if I popped a wheelie it would not be pretty), once on the first steep climb up Pine Mountain (I didn't go in with enough speed and didn't stand early enough), and once for just ten steps on the final, long climb out of Pine Mountain - after those ten steps I hopped right back on and cranked it out.

I felt really good the whole time. After letting enough air out of the tires on the Monocog, it handled the trail like a champ. Our local LBS pumps up all tires to road bike rigidity...so I had to let out a good bit of air. The rigid fork wasn't a big deal on my hands and forearms as long as I stayed loose.

I don't have a computer on the Monogoc, yet. I'm estimating that we rode about 17 miles. We also had a run-in with a trail-nazi...but more on that later. Today I'm hitting the gym after work for some time on the elliptical and some weights with weight higher than those I've been lifting at home of late.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Team Solo

2007-08-22T05:12:00.000-04:00

We interrupt this "little blogging while mucho house painting and reorganization" hiatus to start some early discussion on next year. Remember that previous post about not having much competitive drive as an adult after years of ultracompetitive team sports as a teen and young adult? Well, the idea for '08 is to actually train as if I'm planning to compete in the events I sign-up for, instead of just participating.

So, what's with the whole "team solo" thing? Well, even though I'll do the bulk of these events and the bulk of my training all by my little lonesome...there is a small, but awesome contingent that I'm sure will help me along the way. Just some of those folks are:

(1) My family! I think my dad got a little of the bike racing bug into him when he was hanging onto a tent in gale force winds and torrential rain. My sister and my in-laws both think I'm nuts, but they're ultra supportive. And el Jefe, well he believes in me more than I have in the past believed in myself. So I expect he'll have to do some mental-attitude butt-kicking before 2008 draws ever closer.

(2) My friends and riding buddies. They don't see me all that much. Our schedules don't often overlap. And they understand that a lot of the time it's more my thing to ride and reflect by my lonesome. But e-mails wing across the digital sky almost daily, and they always have that perfect combination of interest, acceptance and plain old friendship. Seriously...once the painting gets done, I'm definitely gonna have you waiting on me at the tops of climbs while I get used to the SS!

(3) Bloggers! Yep...you guys. I don't have a huge following like Sara or Wil, but I've got my own little posse of folks that really make my day with each and every comment. I hope you'll continue reading as the blog turns back to a more training oriented retelling. I'll still post tunes, OldMan!

(4) Coach Musto. That's right. The superfast, superfly and superdupercool Danielle Musto has agreed to be my coach during the prep for and actual racing of the 1008 season. Even though she's so "super", I'm sure she's planning to make me hurt. You've seen her "knee" shots, right? I'm sure she intends for me to have some of the same. I think there will be another addition to the "coaching" roster...but can't get ahead of myself here.

So...with that all out in the open, it's time to start thinking about which events and races I'll be adding to the 2008 calendar. Right I'm doing a lot of thinking, plotting and planning, but there are a few definites:

24 Hours of Sebring in February '08
Baker's Dozen in April (missed it on 07 cuz of the knee, rain cut it in half in 06...and thinking maybe I'll try it on the SS...too early to tell)
Relay for Life 12 Hour event in May
24 Hours of Booty in July (this year my donations goal will at least double, if not triple)
Fools Gold 100 in August

In other news, I swung through the bike shop yesterday to see about the SS 29er and was thrilled to see a huge Redline box on the floor. My bike. I'll be picking it up today and testing it out for the very first time on Thursday!!! Very exciting.

And final news...my knee's been mildly acting up. Nothing major. No huge flare-ups. I think it might be the constant climbing up and down and contortions as I paint shelves, ceilings, etc. One big part of training for 2008 will be pre-hab, ensuring I don't have any big issues like late winter/early spring of 2007.

And for you folks who are coming to expect some music links:

Me & My Vampire Friends by Bunnygrunt

A History of Snakes by Boyracer

Let Her Go by The Lodger

Weekend Catch-Up

2007-08-19T06:52:00.001-04:00

Sorry for lack of posts...just been busy with a lot of house things as we prep for an in-law visit. Plus, we just needed to get some things done.

Four HYOOGE pine trees were cut down on Wednesday. One was dead, the other three were leaning scarily toward my neighbor's house. Cleaning up the debris in 100+ degree heat ain't fun. Note to self. Get trees cut down in fall or winter.

Lots of painting getting done at Casa Dein. Kitchen's a new sunny yellow with white cabinets. Accents of black and red. Pics coming soon. Gonna finally finish up the trim and bookshelves in the family room. Added some new chairs, we'll recover the old wing chairs and move them to the living room. We're about to start the conversion of the living room into the bike/hangout room. Pain colors choses, bike racks purchased, etc.

Got 25 miles in urban style yesterday with Hillarie. She's meeting me at the Pig this morning for some trail riding. No SS yet. Snafu with the dealer sending it. Should be in Tuesday, so I hope to ride it Thursday on another urban assault ride. We'll see how I handle the fully rigid dealio.

I leave you with some tunes to round out your weekend!

Tetherball by the Yum Yum Tree

Hiding In The Park by the Pipas

Weekends Away by Math & Physics Club

Song for L by the Marlboro Chorus

Hope everybody enjoys the rest of the weekend!

Return to the Dirt

2007-08-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

So, this weekend I got in three days of early morning dirt riding. Short rides, as I'm still on the diet and you just don't do 4+ hour rides on restricted calories. I can break down the return to dirt in three ways.

THE GOOD: My climbing was better than expected. Even my technical climbing. I guess all the road miles really did work on my leg strength. I felt great on all the climbs. Short and steep and extended. Over roots and rocks.

The BAD: I've got to work on tight turns. I'm not real smooth in the area right at the moment. Especially tight ones to the left!

THE UGLY: You know it, the descents. Never the most brave downhiller, I'm currently a serious brake-grabbing weenie. Well, I'm not quite that bad. I didn't cause myself to endo, but I'm slowing down a lot more than necessary and I', not feeling comfortable even on the descents that normally don't phase me. Walked a few that I've never had to walk before. Ah well...it will come back.

All in all it felt really good to be back out on the trails. Though, when you're the first one out you do have to be the breaker of the spider webs. I hate breaking through one with my face. And I'm not particularly fond of the castaways you sometimes get when you bust on through, both dead and alive.

The reduced calories thing is going quite well. I dropped 5 pounds in the first week, cuz once you stop eating the bad carbs you stop retaining water. I'm now burning the fat and don't expect weekly numbers to be as big...just steady.

SS 29er should be here by end of week and I'll take her out, hopefully on the trails, this coming weekend.

Thoughts on Competition

2007-08-11T14:07:00.000-04:00

I used to be very competitive. I played soccer at a very competitive level all through junior high, high school and a couple years beyond, despite injuries and working my way through college. I was also pretty darned good at volleyball. Playing in women's leagues during college and afterward. I was the girl diving for every ball. Into the bleachers if need be. I was the girl who played through injuries, some minor and some fairly intense.

Maybe it was all those years of competitive sports, maybe, that have led me to be a less than competitive endurance cyclist. For the most part when I sign up for an event I have no thoughts of the podium. The only person I'm competing with is myself. I've simply wanted to ride farther and faster than the year before. I've managed to make it to the podium a time or two. Often enough because I was the only person, or we were the only team, in a specific class.

So, what's brought on these thoughts on competition? I'm not really sure. But, they're there. They've been discussed with a couple other bloggers, who don't think I'm crazy for thinking maybe I want to give being competitive a go. Who plan to help me out as much as they can with their experience and expertise as I sit down and plot out an actual "race" schedule, rather than an "event" schedule for 2008. I hope they both know how much that encouragement means to me.

So, yeah. 2008's gonna be different. I'll work hard to keep there from being any injuries (2007) and no illness (2006). I'll have to create and maintain a "competitive" mindset. I'll have to work on speed, strength and flexibility along with endurance. I'll have to put in the determination as well as the hours. Proper nutrition will have to be a constant rather than something to fall back on whenever the scale number rises above what's acceptable.

I'll have to sit down with el Jefe and plan out the year...who's going where. Will the animals have to be boarded. Budgeting will have to occur. Parts and accessories will wear out faster and have to be replaced. $$$ will be spent.

So you know I started earlier this week by making it a priority to get down to my fighting weight. And the next "step" will be arriving next week.

The goal with the SS is to build leg strength, speed and smooth cadence. I'm looking forward to testing it out and making it a part of a regular and real training schedule.

Who knows what I can accomplish? There are always limiting factors. But setting my mind to it is the first step. And I believe I'm doing that now, with a little help from my friends and fellow bloggers.

"M" Is For?

2007-08-08T08:53:00.000-04:00

Man It's Hot! Taking the dog out at 4-something AM and feeling the heat and humidity pressing down on you just ain't all that fun. It also makes it hard to sleep. No matter how hard or long the AC runs, it's just not enough to battle a brick house soaking up all that hot, hot, hot!

Muscles! Last November I got pretty lean, but I didn't stay disciplined and I'm back to slightly flubby. But I'm determinied to get back there and stay there. I liked my visible triceps, especially. Sigh.

Mirah! I did say I'd be linking to some tunes on the blog going forward. No better time than the present.

The Light

Oh, September

Cold, Cold Water

Mary! The Haro Mary XC, that is. I'm 99.9 percent sure that I'm going to sell the Stumpy HT and go for this. I don't want to go back to an FS...I like a hardtail. So the 29er wheels/tires should give me that extra bit of cush I might want. There may be an SS in my future...but a cheapie, for fun SS. Like the Monocog 29 from Redline. More on that once I've plotted and planned some more!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Day two of strict regimen under way. Day one went well. Once I get to day three or four all cravings seem to go away...so we'll see how today and tomorrow unfold.

"Back" To It

2007-08-07T16:07:00.000-04:00

Little pun in my title there. My back's 95% back to normal after I did something to it either while hanging on to the tent as it tried to blow away, or as I slogged through the "flood" waters overburdened with all my packed items as we decided to make our way out of NC. When I look over my left shoulder, as I'm backing out of our driveway, I'm still noticing a slight twinge. Otherwise...it seems to be healing up.

This morning marked my return to early/early morning workouts. I had been doing the 6:15 a.m. rides as a lead up to Booty. But this morning I hit the pavement at 5:15 a.m. for a run/walk as I try to add back in a lot of the cross-training activities I'd basically dropped in my bid to get plenty of saddle time. My lungs were fine, but my legs weren't sure they wanted to be involved in this return to non-cycling activities.

So, since I've decided to look on 12 Hours of Dauset as a fun time to hang out with friends and get in a good training ride, I'm making some decisions/setting some early plans to get ready for next year. The first plan/decision making effort took effect today. I've been yo-yo-ing the same ten pounds on and off for the past year. It's time for them to disappear for good. So I'm embarking on a strict diet (not starving myself Nam...don't worry!) and workout schedule for the next two weeks. I'll see what I things look like at the end of those two weeks and I'll make adjustments as I add back in some longer rides. Right now I'll be doing shorter more intense workouts, twice a day...as I work toward calorie deficits. Chris...I'm joining the fat busting camp with you!

So today had my 45 minute jog/walk and this afternoon had me hitting the weights. I'll probably do some core work tonight, as I want to ensure my back and knees stay healty and a strong core helps with almost everything.

Send me good flub-busting thoughts if you've got any to spare.

100 Things on My 100th Post

2007-08-01T17:24:00.000-04:00

EDIT: I started this on Wednesday...but didn't post until today, Friday. Blogger timestamps are kinda whack!

100. I'm going to list 100 random things here.
99. They won't all necessarily be things about me.
98. Some might mention groovy products, like yummy Muscle Milk recovery shakes. YUM!
97. On the way home from work today I was listening to Breaking Laces. Check 'em out.
96. Today I placed the order for the dress I'll be wearing as my sister's bridesmaid. My bust is smaller than a size 4. My hips are a size 6. My boy shaped lack of waist is a size 8. I'm ordering the eight knowing that we'll have to lop off like 4 inches in the bust part of the dress. It's an empire waist, so the hip area being a little too big isn't gonna matter much.
95. I started this new blog on March 1, 2007. As of today (Augist 1, 2007), I've had over 25,000 visitors.
94. The average visitor spends 6 minutes, 10 seconds reading my blog.
93. I'm averaging around 300 visitors per day, with 250 absolutely unique daily visitors. I'm wondering which of you are coming back more than once each day. Impatient!
92. My left big toenail fell off again. I'm beginning to think it will never grow back properly.
91. Said toenail was initially injured in an adventure race more than a year ago.
90. I was unable to do that AR this year, as it fell on the same weekend as Booty.
89. Based on the debaucle that was Booty, perhaps I should have done the AR.
88. Because I designed and maintained the AR web site, I still get a t-shirt.
87. Plus they're talking payment for services in schwag. WOOT!
86. Jen and I are planning to meet in Atlanta in September.
85. Currently my only regular blog visitors that I've met are Namrita and Renee.
84. I have an OMBA meeting toight.
83. OMBA stands for Ocmulgee Mountain Bike Association, our local MTB and trail advocacy group.
82. On Sunday I'm course marshalling at the GSC MTB series finale, to be held at the Pig Trail.
81. Hudson Bell is one of my very favorite indie artists. Check out his stuff here.
80. I'm off to the dentist in a moment...not looking forward to coming down from the numbing shots again.
79. We've pretty much determined that the numerous shots required to numb my jawline are the reason I have lingering jaw pain.
78. Looks like a liquid diet again today.
77. Back from the dentist and the crown doesn't fit properly, even with numerous jabs and digs to my gums.
76. So I get to wait on another to be made and go through it all again.
75. Yippee!!!
74. Right know I keep thinking about a lot of the things that I like to do, that I've had to set aside for lots of time on the bike.
73. Like crocheting scarves.
72. Making cool gift items out of bike parts.
71. I really enjoy all sorts of arts and crafts.
70. I'm thinking about making everything we give out as gifts for Christmas this year.
69. That probably scares the pardukey off of friends and family that are reading this entry!
68. Anybody who rides a bike should like a song called "In Your Dust". Listen!
67. The song that start playing when you first go to this site is one of my current favorites.
66. We share middle names in my family. With different spellings. There's Lori Linn and Mary Lynn. Robyn Lea and Donald Lee. And Karen Suzanne. Serves her right for being the baby and for being an odd number!
65. When Jeff used to write regular articles for the national BMX magazines, he often used the alias "Mike Brown" when he didn't want folks to know it was him doing the writing.
64. One of his favorite new riding buddies is named Mike Brown.
63. I'm currently having thoughts of a 29-er MTB.
62. Don't know how I'll swing that one past el Jefe.
61. Though he has twice the number of bikes I have.
60. Evening out the numbers a bit would only be fair, right?
59.I'm currently having secret discussions with two blogger friends about the 2008 season and my thoughts on what I might try to undertake.
58. Once some things get ironed out, those discussions might be made known to the blogging public.
57. After years of being a skate rat, el Jefe traded all of his skate goods for a BMX biker and he's been a biking fool ever since.
56. I often wish I had his natural grace and ability on the bike, as it's so effortless and awesome to behold.
55. Then I think about how he can't even play spoons.
54. And I realize yet again, that if we were all good at the exact same things, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
53. I'm very much looking forward to returning to the gym.
52. I've missed real weights.
51. I'm sure my squats and deadlifts will be incredibly pitiful for the first couple weeks.
50. I'm also looking forward to doing some hill repeats on the trail on the MTB.
49. Masochistic much?
48. You might have deduced from the numerous links that I'm kind of a music geek.
47. An indie music geek.
46. So here's another tune for those who care to listen.
45. I used to run an indie music review web blog.
44. Today I don't have the time to do that, so I prefer to listen and simply link out to stuff I like.
43. I'm thinking to make that a regular feature on the blog.
42. Yes or no votes on that idea?
41. So here's another link...I like Ms. White most when I'm feeling sad or contemplative.
40. I like the two new sport bean flavors better than the original two.
39. I still haven't tried the Clif Shot Bloks.
38. I was going to test them out at Booty, but, OBVIOUSLY, that didn't happen.
37. My back is feeling much better.
36. I'll be hitting parts of the Thomson trail tomorrow as my first stab at returning to the dirt.
35. I think I've forgotten how to descend in the dirt.
34. I hope I don't grab too much brake and endo.
33. I'm guessing I'll dance with a tree or two.
32. And I'm sure I'll dab a lot.
31. I'm alone again this weekend, as el Jefe is currently on his way to Virginia for a downhill race.
30. I sometimes think I'd love to be able to DH with Jeff.
29. But right now I'm way too much of a technical and descent puss to even think about it.
28. I think I just need to find the right someone, who isn't my spouse, to get me the coaching I need to fear descents less.
27. Funnily enough I don't much mind hopping logs or decently constructed log stacks.
26. Nor do I much mind rocks and roots on a climb.
25. I'm just a descent weenie!
24. I'm looking forward to the 12 Hours of Dauset at the end of September.
23. But I still plan to just treat it as a long training ride, not as a race.
22. Right now I don't have a real competitive drive, and that's fine by me.
21. For so long it's just been about competing with myself...seeing what I can accomplish with these two legs, my lungs, etc.
20. The cahoots I talked about earlier are partially in the hope of building back up my once very competitive nature.
19. My second favorite number.
18. I like Troubled Hubble. Maybe you will to!
17. Listen to them here.
16. And here!
15. I'm thinking of adding some pink accents to the MTB.
14. To match the blog and to add something to the unrelieved black.
13. My favorite number...someday I hope to have it as a race number, or part of a race number.
12. When I was little my mom listened to a lot of country, and I pretty much hated it.
11. The occasional Dolly Parton tune was great, though.
10. So to this day I'm sorta shocked that I like lots of indie Americana, Alt-Country and folksy rock like this.
9. I'm getting down to the wire here and running out of things to say.
8. This has been a fun exercise and I hope it hasn't bored you too much.
7. I have a post-lunch meeting to discuss a possible website and marketing plan, then I'm free to lift some weights and prep for a semi-long ride in the woods tomorrow!
6. I have to finish Daisy Duc's blog redesign tonight too.
5. And finish up the new blog I'm going to be using to help other blogging athletes make money for great causes.
4. You can see the bare beginnings of it here.
3. I'll leave you with two final MP3 links...
2. Of course I have to include a tune by a band called Bicycle Day, right? Listen.
1. This one's a .wav file. Sorry. But I thought it would be cool to finish this off with one of the bands I miss most. That Dog.

Hope you have 1/2 as much fun reading as I did putting it together!

Back Pain Blues

2007-08-01T08:34:00.000-04:00

It's really not that bad, but I managed to do a number on my back either while hanging on to the tent or during my laden slog through water and mud to the car. So this week has been pretty light as to physical exertion, though my lack of miles meant it didn't necessarily have to be a recovery week. My back's telling me differently. Oh well. I have my "hopefully" last visit to the dentist for a while tomorrow. Getting the permanent crown attached. They'll have to numb me and I'm prepared to be sore once the many dulling shots are no longer doing their job. My plan is to get on the MTB Friday and Saturday. Then, on Sunday, I'll be hooting and hollering as I course marshal during the local XC series finale on our home trail, the Pig.

The back pain just reminds me that while my attitude and mental faculties are still young and carefree, the body has aged and I don't recover as well as I used to from things like back tweaks, pulled muscles and muscle soreness. Sure, I know it's just part of life. But I don't have to be thrilled about it!

I'm going to do 12 Hours of Dauset at the end of September...but I'm not looking at is as a race. It's simply a long ride surrounded by lots of cool people. I have no plans to even try to be competitive. It will be a training ride where I guage how well my return to the dirt goes this month and through the middle of September.

Sure...I have plans and hopes for next year. But I'm not ready to reveal them just yet. I've got some discussions going on with some of my "peeps". And once some things get ironed out, I'll let the rest of the blogging world in on my plans!

Hope you all get good training in the rest of the week, and keep those backs healthy!!!

A long post...

2007-07-29T10:23:00.000-04:00

on what turned into a short endeavor!

Let's see, where to begin? I went to bed pretty late Thursday night and got up early, hoping I'd be able to get a decent nap in while Dad drove the 5.5 hour-ish trip up to Charlotte. I of course got no sleep, and read Harry Potter instead, while chatting with my Dad. After a stop to eat and a quickie stop to get my dad a chair (I'd forgotten mine), we made it to Booty Headquarters around 2:45.

It was first come, first served as to where you could put up your tent. I was unable to hook up with Monte to get the OMBA tent and banners, but luckily Brady came through at the last minute Thursday night and I was able to grab the Thomson pop-up. After three back and forth trips to the car we got the tent up, with a bit of assistance from a nice co-camper and helped another camper put up her tent. It was incredibly hot and humid, we were both sweaty, hot and tired. Dad settled down in his chair with a book and I sat on top of the cooler hydrating, filling bottles, and doing last minute prep like swapping the batteries in my lights, as packet pick-up didn't start until 5:00 p.m.

Packet pick-up was easy-peasy, lots of great volunteers and great schwag. Some of which will be passed on to Jen, the contest winner. The rider meeting took place around 6:30 and we found out that 1400 riders woule be going out on the parade lap. YIKES. It's a small loop, no real room to spread out. If folks were stupid, wrecks were gonna happen.

We lined up where we could on the street and I actually was pretty close to the front. It was nice to see so many folks out riding for something so awesome. People were very friendly and chatty. At the meeting we'd heard that $600,000 had been raised and more would be coming in. That meant folks gathered an average of a little over $400 each. So again, HYOOGE thanks to all of you who donated, as I'm at $1,050 donated so far.

There was a short countdown and were off. Very slowly. The average speed on the first loop was around 5 miles per hour. "Slowing" was hollered out about every ten seconds. There were all kinds of bikes out there. Road bikes, tri-bikes, beach cruisers, hybrids, recumbents, MTBs with slicks, MTBs with knobbies. There were many small children, which could get sketchy, especially at turns, as they couldn't hold a line...but most folks were riding smart and there was only one big pile-up during the first couple laps. The pace didn't pick up until about the 4th loop.

Once folks spread out a little bit, it was a really fun loop. Big chain ring all around, with only one short steady climb that I knew I'd eventually be dropping into the middle ring to climb so I'd conserve energy. Lots of flat and short descents. It was easy to hammer in the mid-twenties, slowing only for the turns and when things got congested. Most floks were good about staying to the right and passing was pretty easy most of the time.

It started to rain around my fifth loop, but it was still light out and except for feeling a little sketchy in a couple of the faster turns, I felt really good. I was ready for this event. I'd done the time on the bike and I was feeling good, despite not sleeping on the way up. The rain continued for another loop, then faded away. Leaving it a little cooler and I just kept pedaling.

People were super nice and I chatted with several folks as we kept on looping around. Saw my Dad several times, wearing his hat and rain vest. It was cool to have him there cheering me on. However, I had to holler out to him as he didn't always recognize me with my helmet on and my head down watching the riders around me!

I got a bit hard to see when twilight came around. Though the streets had been blocked off in the direction we were riding, there was lots of traffic coming from the opposite direction and with raindrops clinging to my glasses, the lights from oncoming cars played tricks with my vision a bit. I was looking forward to full dark, and turned on my headlamp as the police started hollering for lights to be used.

My plan was to go out for about 2 hours, until full dark, then go in for some quick food and to grab my arm warmers as it was just cool enough with my being damp to give me slight shivers when the wind swept over me. As I went out on another twilight loop it started raining again, and the wind picked up. Then it started raining hard. Drops were splashing up underneath my glasses and the salty drops made my eyes sting. It was very hard to see and I decided I'd head in a bit early, as I was getting cold and thought I'd just wait out the rain a bit until it slowed.

As I walked my bike across the grass of Bootyville toward the pop-up the rain started to really come down and the wind picked up again. I leaned my bike against the tent pole and ran underneath with my dad. Now, I mentioned earlier that I'd forgotten my chair...well, the big deal was that I'd completely forgotten to pack my folding table (D'oh). So all my stuff was on the ground, which hadn't bothered me much at the time. It was all in plastic bins and sturdy duffle bags.

I explained to my Dad why I was in early and he was glad as he'd started to worry as the rain intensified. We chattered for about a minute before Mother Nature quickly and relentlessly let loose with a bang. The skies opened up and the rain was pouring down. The wind that had been fairly gusty to begin with began to howl past us, knocking over bikes and picking up entire tents and flinging them on top of other tents that were either low enough to miss some of the wind or were better tethered. The pop-up we were under started to go. My father and I grabbed the metal supports above us and hung on for dear life, while scanning around us to make sure no flying objects might come in and hit us. My bike got caught by a gust and went flying. With a quick look at my Dad, I ran to grab it, laid it down under the tent with us and then flew back to help my dad hold the tent in place. He admitted immediately that without my added weight the tent would have flown away.

While it's kind of funny in hindsight, my dad and I chuckled about it a bit on the phone yesterday after we both admitted to getting zero sleep. But at the time, and even in hindsight, it was pretty scary. Kids and many adult females were screaming. Small items, helmets, bags, etc. were rolling past with the gusts.

All of this took place in about five minutes. The wind was blowing the rain in sideways. We were both soaked to the skin. The rain resistant jacket I'd thrown on when I first came in had given up the fight and I didn't want to let go of the tent to grab the rainproof jacket that was in my bag, as I was already soaked and was hanging on to the tent for dear life.

The brutal winds didn't last for more than about 15 minutes, thankfully...but it was a long fifteen minutes, and my arms and back were sore from holding the tent down between gusts. The grass and dirt field was soaked and as the rain kept pouring down we were standing in about an inch of water. The wind finally die down. The tent was relatively safe from blowing away but there was more to deal with.

As the wind died down the rain picked up and Mother Nature decided to throw in her next neat trick. Jagged, bright white lightning. Dad and I immediately let go of the metal supports which we'd been clinging to. Strikes of lightning danced around us in every direction. There was no need to count out after the strikes as the thunder boomed loudly within a second of each strike. The rain was pummeling down and now that we weren't holding the tent down we saw how much rain was accumulating in the tent top. We both got to work pushing with our hands to get the quickly accumulating water off the tent top so it wouldn't collapse in on us. As soon as you cleared off one corner another was full. The tent was just high enough that I had to use both hands and jump to send the water cascading down. All around us other folks were doing the same and the tents that didn't have anyone under them started to collapse (many folks had run to their cars).

Folks who had been out were coming back in. Many had had to pull over and hold on to their bikes for dear life, as they could not stay on them in the wind. I was told by a couple how treacherous the roads had become in just minutes, as standing water had accumulated almost immediately and folks were skidding out and basically hydroplaning as they tried to get in to shelter.

Many folks gave up the fight long before Dad and I. I'm guessing many of them were locals who could get home quick. Headlights popped on in the parking lots and cars slowly made their way out of Bootyville.

Now remember...I'd forgotten my table. All my stuff was on the ground. My plastic bins had an inch or so of water in them. My clothing was all in my sturdy duffle. It was soaked clear through. I could have wrung a bucket of water out of it. My bad for forgetting the table, but being completely honest, I think it would have been nearly that bad had it been up on the table with the amount of water coming in sideways. I mentioned that the wind had died down some...it had not gone away. On a side note (fellas might want to skip this part), Mother Nature had hexed me again by having my period start earlier than expected meaning I'd brought girlie items along with me. Girlie items were soaked through and useless.

As the lightning continued to come down in bright blueish white jags it was time to make some decisions. I tried calling Jeff to see if he could look at the radar and let us know what else was coming. He didn't answer and I left a message. I knew I would not be doing any night riding, as even if the rain had stopped right then, the roads still would have been plagued with standing water until morning. And as a relatively new roadie (have been doing it for less than a year) I have absolutely no experience riding in adverse conditions, let alone extremely adverse conditions. And the rain wasn't letting up...it continued to pour down. We were now standing in well over an inch of water, mud and grass. We were both soaked to the skin...I was beginning to shiver and I was pretty sure my Dad wasn't faring much better.

Knowing I was not going back out on any night laps, it was time to make some real decisions. I had one dry change of clothes in the car, the clothing I'd planned to wear home on Sunday morning. My dad had no dry clothing, he'd brought all his packs out to stay under the tent. There was well over an inch of standing water and mud under our tent. Nothing was even remotely dry. His chair was soaked...anything that wasn't plastic packed (food) was sopping. And the forecast I'd checked earlier in the day had called for chances of storms throughout the day Saturday. All of my cycling clothes were drenched, shorts, socks, jerseys, etc. Even if I did manage to get back out on the course, I'd be freezing.

This wasn't a race. It was a charity event. Sure, I had goals for myself, and I'd worked hard to be prepared for riding 24 Hours. I was more than ready physically. I felt so good on the loops I was able to complete. I felt strong and the course was so fun you didn't even realize you were doing the same thing over and over again. Before the rain there were spectators camped along the route, cheering, slapping hands, hollering, even handing out food. Once the rain started coming down, all of that disappeared very quickly. I started skidding on that last rain-soaked lap, as the water began to accumulate on the roads. That was the one thing I wasn't prepared for. I don't ride on the road in the rain and I didn't have the skills to do it even in the light of day, let alone at night.

Finally I spoke to Jeff and the forecast wasn't good. A huge storm system was sitting over Charlotte, but the gusting winds didn't seem to be moving it on eastward. It was hovering over Charlotte, with another batch waiting to move in after the first. My Dad and I had a short, intense discussion. My Dad was game for the adventure of staying up all night to cheer me on, but he wasn't game for worrying about me trying to ride through the terrible conditions. And I was absolutely not game to make him stay under a tent fighting off rain all night long. There were two options. Cut out for the night, get a hotel room and try to come back in the morning. Or cut out and head home, stopping at a rest stop if we were too tired to make it all the way back to Macon.

It was both a very hard and very easy decision to make. Hard because I was physically prepared and ready to get my goal of 325-350 miles. Hard because I was riding for all the fantastic bloggers and friends who'd donated to the ride, people I certainly didn't want to disappoint. Easy because with so much help from bloggers and friends I'd managed to get over $1K donated to a fantastic charity. Easy becaause I knew in my heart that my Mom would be rolling over in her grave thinking about me trying to ride through those conditions. Very easy because I just couldn't make my Dad sit around in wet clothing all night, then expect him to sit in a drenched muddy field in wet clothing, with the temperatures climbing and the humidity and bugs only made worse by the huge amounts of standing water for another twelve hours. Extremely easy because there were were flash flood warnings for the entire area. And the forecast for rain on Saturday was still strong, with a 60% chance. We were going to make our way home.

I made two trips to the car, rolling my bike, laden with bags thrown over my shoulders. Through mud and water that often came more than an inch over my ankles. I was accompanied by many folks doing the same. Bikes were wheeled through mud and water. Already heavy packs, made even more heavy soaking rain were lugged. Ruined paper goods were dropped into trash receptacles filling with rain. I spoke with folks from northern NC, SC, GA, and TN. All were heading home. None that I spoke to were planning to try to come back the next day.

The third and final trip to the car was slow. My Dad had to rest twice trying to lug the sodden tent and tent bag back to the car. It must have weighed twice what it had when he'd schlepped it out. Wheeling the cooler through the mud and water was no picnic either as I juggled the last small bags, the tire pump and other random objects. We were both shivering. My teeth had begun chattering uncontrollably. I left my Dad at the edge of the parking lot, as I didn't want him lugging his heavy load any farther. I precariously drove the car over to him in soaking wet cycling shoes (my flip-flops were buried amongst sopping wet clothing). We managed to get the heavy tent into the back of the car and we collapsed into our respective seats, my Dad driving once again. Need I mention the rain was still coming down in a hard and steady fashion.

It continued raining for the first 90 minutes of our trip home. We tried twice to get into dryer clothes, to find no gas stations that would allow us in to change. I didn't get into dry clothing for more than thirty miles. We drove to the accompaniment of my chattering teeth while my Dad's feet squelched in his sodden running shoes. Just across the SC state line I was able to get into the dry clothes I had. Thankfully I'd packed a long sleeved shirt, but I only had shorts. It's funny to be freezing in the depths of July in the deep South. Miraculously my dad's jacket had kept his upper body fairly dry, but his shorts, shoes and socks were sodden.

Another thirty miles and we came upon an exit with real gas stations and we each got that much needed cup of coffee. And while he was sad that I didn't get to test my limits riding for 24 Hours, and while I was sad about the same thing, we couldn't help but laugh a bit as we thought back to how we'd been hanging on to the tent supports for dear life. It was funny in retrospect and it will be a story I can tell to family and friends going forward.

I'm expecting the "quitter" comments. Let 'em come. I went into this event for two reasons. To get as many donation dollars as I could for a fantastic cause. And to test myself to see what I need to do to be 100% ready for Sebring in 2008. I believe I succeeded fantastically on the first, with the help of so many of you who read and reply in comments. I barely made a dent into the other. But that's the way life goes sometimes. There was nothing I could do about Mother Nature. I can't control what she wants to dish out. I'm sad I didn't get to try for my 325+ miles in as I'd hoped. But I know I did this for the right reasons all along, from the moment I started "begging" for donations to the final second when I realized I wasn't going to ask my Dad to be miserable for another minute longer than he had to be.

How many miles did I get in? Twenty six. That averages to about $40 per mile. You're all more than generous. Thanks for reading. It wasn't the kind of exciting post I'd planned for you...but you have to admit, it was an adventure. I'm actually sore, despite the low miles. Why? First from the fifteen minutes standing on my toes frantically hanging on to the tent. And I'm guessing my back's sore because I made the long, wet walk to the car with my bike while laden down with one too many sopping wet bags slung across my shoulders. :)

Anticlimax - Mother Nature Rears A Very Ugly Head

2007-07-28T10:49:00.000-04:00

I'll do a full post later. I'm home, obviously much earlier than anyone expected. No injuries, nothing bad, except the worst weather I've ever experienced. Think winds so intense my father and I had to hold onto the pop-up tent together for dear life. Think 2 inches of standing water all across the field we were camped out on within 30 minutes of the storm stopping, and water up over my ankles in many other spots. Think lightning and thunder so intense people were screaming and some folks were even crying. It was INSANE.

I made it through the horrific earthquake that rocked California during the 1989 World Series, and thought that was the most scared I'd ever be. I was wrong.

Jen, JBM Mommy, you won! You will get the prize. I'm gonna get some sleep and will post the full report before the nights over.

Heading out in less than an hour...

2007-07-27T08:12:00.001-04:00

Thanks for all the well wishes and good luck thoughts! Jeff will be posting from time to time to let anyone interested know how the event is going.

Last minute run through my stuff to make sure I haven't forgotten anything.

Have a great weekend!

TUESDAY: 3 Days To Go

2007-07-24T09:44:00.000-04:00

I never got that second post up yesterday. I ended up taking my TOTALLY off day yesterday instead of today. Today will also be a VERY easy day. Just some light upper body weights and lots of stretching, yoga positions. Last day of weights until after Booty.

I'm starting to get a a bit of nervous tummy. I generally get it several days before an event and don't suffer from it day of. Which really is a pretty good thing, though I know we all wish we never had to deal with nervous tummy.

I had Jeff remove my saddle from the MTB and put it on the roadie. It was a decisions I'd been contemplating for some time. With the road saddle I suffered more from "girlie part" pain, while the MTB saddle causes more sit bone soreness. I find it much easier to deal with sit bone soreness, so decided to move the MTB saddle over for 24 Hours of Booty. I'll be testing it out on a really short ride Wednesday morning and a longer, but very slow ride on Thursday. I can always swap it back and will bring the roadie saddle with me in case I need to make a swap during the event.

GACK! Just went through all of the Booty web site and just saw that headphones are not allowed. So no tunes during the ride. Since I still haven't located my MP3 player, I have been suffering through the long rides without sound, and know I can make it through the event without it. But I had been planning on borrowing Jeff's and using it during the really slow times. Sigh.

I'm VERY close to my $1K fundraising goal. I know I'll meet it. I've got a couple folks on tap and we'll just see how far I get over the goal. Thanks again to everyone who donated. I'm so proud to have such great blog and real world friends.

BUMP! There is a contest. Guess my total miles and get a goody box of riding/training/fun schtuff. All you have to do is leave a comment with your guess. See the sidebar to see the guesses of other folks. No average MPH guesses. Total miles. Chris...I'm talking to you, my man!

Packing will start today...and more listmaking as I decide what I need to get at the bikeshop and grocery store.

MONDAY: 4 Days To Go (Part 1)

2007-07-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

Quickie post with another coming later...

HYOOOOOOOOOOOGE congrats to Jen & Joe!Q They both completed their first Ironman triathlon yesterday at Lake Placid.

SUNDAY: 5 Days Until Booty

2007-07-22T16:17:00.000-04:00

The alarm clock went off at 5:20. I didn't roll back over to try to get more sleep, even though I desperately wanted to. I got up, took the dog out for a quick squirt, fed the crying cat and gathered all the stuff I'd prepped last night. I was out the door a little after six, and on my way to six hours of steady urban riding on the MTB.

I've been riding the MTB on the road the past three days to change things up a little bit. I live in a VERY hilly neighborhood, so Fridays' 2.5 hours and yesterdays' 4.5 hours were spent doing shorter, more intense rides throughout each day. Friday I did two 75 minute rides with plenty of short and steep hill repeats, and Saturday I did more of the same with two 75 minute rides and two 60 minute rides staggering throughout the morning and early afternoon. Why'd I do that? So my body could do the rest and get cold thing and deal with getting back on the bike when it really didn't want to. Not that I plan on 30 minute breaks during Booty. But even a five minute break can cool you down enough you just don't relish getting back on the bike.

The other reason I switched over to the MTB was for a little different stimulus. There's an abandoned school just down the street from my house, so on Friday and Saturday I could get little bits offroad action and some fun staircase descents in to keep things from being incredibly dull. The school sits on a rise, with short little grass and downhills behind it, so it was fun to drop down those between hill climbs.

Today the only objective was to get in six steady hours of pedaling and make the final call on putting my MTB saddle on the roadie (I think I am going to do so and will post more on that in a different post sometime this week). Toni met me for 90 minutes of the six hours...the rest were spent feeling pretty bored and hoping more minutes had passed than actually had. Toni's been dealing with several random health issues so I had to step it up once she headed out to get my average speed up to over 12 MPH and I finished my six hours with 5:55:07 of ride time and 72.28 miles. Again, I hit as many staircases as I could for a little fun and also had a blast screaming around the turns of the parking garage.

My legs are fried, I'm starving and I'm sporting some glorious and very cycling specific tan lines. We're hitting dinner with Maria & Mike. And I've earned one more day of guilt free norking!

Another Wandering Wednesday - 9 Days To Go

2007-07-18T11:25:00.000-04:00

TAGGED:First and foremost, I've been tagged! The ever awesome Siren has deemed me worthy of being a rockin' girl blogger...and now I need to pass the title on to those of my blogging buddies who've likewise earned the honor! I can't choose five easily...so I think I'm gonna do six, if it's all cool with you. I still had a very hard time narrowing this down!

So, I'm tagging: Renee, Danielle, Jill, Namrita, Jen and Jodi

ANOTHER CONTEST: So, we did the guess Mallie's mileage for the 12 Hours that composed Relay For Life. And if you remember, Jill won the prize of some music. Apparently she's been enjoying it, which is good, because prizes you cannot enjoy really bite. So, I figured since Booty is my biggest event of the year (have you not seen the eight million posts begging for donations, hmmmmm?), it calls for another contest. But I'm not giving you any hints this time around as to my goals, my guesstimated average MPH, nada. You just guess a number. Sure you can pour through previous entries trying to glean any bits and pieces that might help in your guess. But I don't believe I've posted anything of the like.

What will you win? A goody pack. What's in the goody pack? You won't know until you win it. Let me just say it will be unique and will have items that athletes can use during training as well as some fun stuff!

All you have to do to enter is post your mileage guess in a comment. C'mon...you were gonna comment anyways, weren'tcha?

PLANNING, LOGISTICS & OTHER PREP: It's getting down to the wire. So between getting all those final work projects completed and getting all the final miles in on the bikes, I have to plan for the non-pedaling parts of this endeavor, including, but not limited to:

booking hotel

finding my friggin' MP3 player

final clothing choices

purchasing and sorting nutrition items

getting pop-up and banner from local club

teaching my dad (support crew) some basic bike maintenance

purchasing and packing extra batteries for lights

making a Performance Bike order for last needs

hitting up the LBS for any donated goods (it can't hurt to try)

getting together with Namrita to get my awesome 55nine jersey for some new night lap fashion!!!

putting together some tent decorations to thank all who donated

putting together tent decorations to honor Mr. Wood & my mom

doing some final beggin' and blog purtifying to get me over $1K

and way too many more to list

ON TAP TODAY: Hit some weights again this morning and I've got a 2-2.5 hour ride on tap this afternoon.

Hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday!

Alterations & Adjustments - 10 Days to Go

2007-07-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

Yeah...24 Hours of Booty is just a bit more than a week away. I'm really not nervous yet. Maybe it's because it really isn't a race. The only prizes go to the donations leaders. I'm happy with the amount I've collected (though I'm still collecting), nearly 1K so far, but I'm nowhere near the solo leaders or some of the teams. So this event is, athletically speaking, just a chance for me to see how much I've improved since 24 Hours of Sebring in February...and will let me know what else I need to work on for my first big event of 2008, my return to Sebring.

Right now I'm not doing any huge rides for distance or speed. If I don't have what I need to meet my goals with only ten days left, I'm really not going to make gains of any huge worth in less than two weeks. So these last rides are mostly going to be staggered around different times of the day so that I can work on keeping my pedal stroke steady while fatigued. They'll involve me finalizing my nutrition plan for the event. They'll involve me making the ever so crucial shorts decisions. Sure...I've got a decent coochie callous, but 20+ hours in the saddle means sore girlie parts pretty much no matter what.

Since last week was spent recovering from more tooth pain and running around like a chicken with my head cut off making 200 something cupcakes for my sister's engagement party - amongst other party tasks, this morning was really my first ride in over a week. I didn't go out to really accomplish anything, but I had a great ride. Normally these morning rides I average around 16mph, as I don't want to be a complete mess when I get to the office. But this morning I easily averaged 17 mph, and I don't feel too much of a mess, nor, after a week off the bike do I feel overly tired. In fact...I feel kinda revved up...which bodes well for the work projects I have to get done since I'll be taking a couple days off for Booty.

Many of you will be happy to know that I postponed my appointment to get the permanent crown set into my mouth. I met two awesome new friends at the shindig over the weekend, and both happen to work in dentistry. They said that the torn up gums probably weren't the culprit after a day or two. Instead they believe that my gums and jaw are extra sensitive to the shots given during the numbing process. I don't numb up as easily as other people (the dentist who's done the work the past two times told me so), thus I have to get more numbing shots, thus my poor jaw hurts for several days to a week afterward. Today's the first day I can touch my jaw without wincing. So...I will NOT be getting the permanent crown the day before the event!

This morning I got 1:17 in, 22 miles, 17.0 mph. This afternoon I'm going to be doing my knee strengthening exercises (the knee's been randomly talking to me over the past couple weeks) and some upper body lifting, followed by some easy hill repeats on the MTB, finishing off with some yoga.

I leave you with two photos from the shindig...and the rare site of me in a sundress. I'm still a little puffy in the face from the jaw and carrying some water weight from the week of soft carby foods...but I hate that I photograph so chubby. Oh well...such is life!

This week kinda bit it...but bloggers rule!!!

2007-07-13T20:42:00.001-04:00

WOW! You bloggers are a generous and awesome bunch. I've collected $880 for the charities that benefit from 24 Hours of Booty.

The latest bloggity redesigns are:

Cheryl a.k.a. FE Lady's Blog

Bonnie a.k.a. Speed Leopard's Blog

Molly's Blog

Danielle's Blog

On tap I've got Courtney, Speed Pacer Brian, and Christine.

Now...there have also been a ton of awesome bloggers who have made a donation without requesting a blog design. I hope you all know how much I appreciate your donations...and if you EVER want that redesign...it's yours. Check out their blogs and give them a little comment love:

JBMMommy, Reenie, Laura, Jonah and Nick Hawkins.

I have not had a good week when it comes to training or the state of my mouth. Weather played a small role in the lack of riding...but the fact that I can't touch the side of my face without pain, THREE FREAKING DAYS LATER, is really bugging me. Could the dental assistant, who finished the procedure, possibly have fouled something up. It's no longer my gums. This is pain in my jaw if I touch the side of my face or try to sleep with that side pressed into the pillow. This is just my temporary crown. I'm worried that my face will hurt this bad when they put in the permanent crown. That appointment is currently scheduled for the day before Booty! Perhaps I ought to postpone it until I return. Thoughts?

This weekend will be relatively ride free too. My little sister is getting married (think I mentioned that before) and her engagement party is tomorrow night. I'm acting as the hostess, but at her home. So I have to spend most of tomorrow prepping food and decoration. I plan to sneak out for an early ride before we make the drive to Hotlanta. Then Sunday there's a DH race a bit north of Hotlanta. I plan to actually watch el Jefe and take some photos. So there won't be many Mallie training photo opps, but I'll post one of the Dein's cleaned up for "visitin'" and will try to get some DH pics as well.

I leave you with some footage of Mr. Dein, a.k.a. el Jefe, doing the big bike thing.

In this video Mr. Dein is the fella in front demonstrating the "right" way, not the fella who shows up second and nearly eats it.

And in this video he's goofing around with some other local huckers at a place they call "the Pit".

Butchery!

2007-07-11T15:09:00.000-04:00

So...I had the remainder of my root canal and my temporary crown work completed yesterday. Nothing hurt at the time. They numbed me up so much that I couldn't feel my lips or tongue until 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon and my appointment was at 9 that morning.

The dental assistant requested I regularly rinse my mouth with warm salty water as sha said my gums had been bashed a bit during the proceedins. Bashed a bit?!?! Once the numbness wore off I found that it was more than a bit. I've got big old tears and scrapes on my gums and cheek. It hurts almost as bad as the work after the initial appointment.

But I do have to admit I don't feel sick like I did after the initial work. Thankfully we aren't dealing with infection this time around.

So...I'm not minding so much that Mother Nature is dropping a deluge in the midst of a hyoooge thunderstorm right now. Anything but water makes the gum sores sting like a beeyotch.

Weights day for me...could a few of you send me a few good vibes so that I can get back on my bike tomorrow!?!?!

Beggars CAN Be Choosers

2007-07-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

Apparently I'm a beggar...

No, it wasn't said by any of you lovely bloggers who've made a donation either for a redesign or simply out of the fantastic goodness of your hearts. So don't think I'm fretting for a minute. I figure if I ask too often for donations some of you will just take a blog-reading vacation until the event's over. Easy peasy.

Nope...it was someone else. Someone who should have known better. The good thing...I didn't even take it to heart in the slightest. It was a final push for me to make a decision that I'd been wavering about for some time. So I made a clean break instead of waffling.

But if asking for donations for a worthy cause is begging, especially as I've been providing a service for said donations (and not making one red cent for my own biking bank account), then a beggar I am and a beggar I'm quite proud to be!

As for the weekend. Had an unexpected but very nice visit from my little sister...so that pretty much put the kaibash on Saturday. Like you can say...hey, I know you drove down to see me, but would you mind hanging out with the cats by yourself while I go ride my bike for numerous hours? And Sunday was plagued by Mother Nature. I think Chris sent his monsoons over from Texas. Supposed to rain again today, plus the roadie's going in to the shop cuz she's making some crazy squeaking noises. So I've only got the MTB and the trails are swamped. So I'm actually gonna have to drag the trainer out of the dust and set her up for some intervals.

Since I'm a beggar and a borrower and probably a lender-be...here's links to the two blogs I bloggified this weekend:

Namrita's Blog

Jameson's Blog

On the bubble...the fabulous enduro-ace Danielle Musto, IM Bonnie and the Adventurous Mo (Molly).

Could someone please take the rain away for a couple days. I'll be your beggin' best friend!

Upping the Ante: 21 Days To Go

2007-07-06T09:34:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here at the office waiting to do one final task and then I'm off for another polygonic spree (sorry Brian...I had to!). 3 or 3.5 hours. Haven't really decided yet. Followed by a 45 minute second ride with el Jefe tonight. Prep for the way I'll feel should I have to take any longer rests during Booty. There will be several of these split days over the next two weeks, before I do a little taper for the event itself.

And I'm upping the ante on the fundraising front as well. I've got Namrita, Bonnie #2, Molly and Danielle on the bubble. And I think Jameson will be coming through later this week or next week. I'm almost to my original goal of $500, so I raised my overall goal to $1K. So who else wants a bloggity-beautification?

I haven't been very good about beautifying my own blog with photos lately. I promise to take out the camera this weekend and get some good stuff to enhance the all text posts of late!

Degrees of Training: 22 Days To Go

2007-07-05T17:17:00.001-04:00

When I started my ride yesterday, at 10:30 AM, it was 77 degrees. 45 miles later it was 97 degrees. Hot...lots of sun, very humid. Of course the clouds rolled in and it cooled off about five degrees as soon as I got off the bike.

I rode some bigger polygons yesterday. 16-14-15 miles respectively. I explored a bit on the second loop, choosing to ride a loop we normally do in the opposite direction. YIKES. It always amazes me that you can figure from riding in one direction how riding in the other direction is going to be, and then get it so completely wrong. It was HILLY. Very HILLY. I wasn't planning on much hill climbing, but it was probably good for me.

Today's a weights day. A mini-rest before I hit it pretty hard the next three days in a row. I'll be tired come Monday, but I'm expecting it will be that really good tired that comes from getting the workouts in despite the heat and the idea that sitting in a lounge chair sipping a cool drink might be more fun!

Two more blog redesigns under the belt:

Bob's Blog

Duane's Blog

Sidenote: OK Danielle...I've finished Bonnie's redesign and I'm about to do Nam's. You know I want to do yours. Step up!

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th!

24 Days to 24 Hours

2007-07-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

Wow. It's really getting close.

First of all, thanks to all of the folks who've expressed interest in the blog redesign for charitable donation trade. I'm getting requests left and right and I'm loving it.

Here's the two I completed over the weekend:

Jodi's Blog

Danny's Blog

And an even bigger thanks to Jodi, for posting a note about the trade on her blog. It really drew some new folks to my site. If any of my other blogging friends would consider doing the same thing, I'd be most appreciative! I'm going to be adding a new section to my sidebar about the blogs I've worked on. You might also notice that I added some more blogs to the blog roll and added some new photos!

MALE READERS! You may want to skip this paragraph. So...my friend flo arrived yesterday. While it messed with my ride yesterday and I'm feeling not so hot today, I'm also very glad. Because it means there's no way she'll be around during the 24 Hour!!!

Loving my aerobars. I can definitely tell that there's a big difference pedaling into head and cross winds. And I'm getting faster. I'm still nowhere near my fast friends...but considering that I'm going for distance not speed, it is nice to see the average speed on even spin type rides picking up the way it has been.

MTB ride tomorrow if the trails aren't too wet. Followed by some food and hanging out with friends. Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July hanging out with family and friends!

Weighty Wanderings: 27 Days to Go

2007-06-29T12:41:00.001-04:00

"we'll have to go back to that moment in time,
when you couldn't see the light,
the night it took over your body and mind,
without an end in sight,
waiting, watching, over you,
just leave all your things, to take you away from the things that you knew before,
beautiful boy, carry the weight of the world, beautiful girl, nothing's the same as before"
Weight of the World, Sense Field

Nothing I'm gonna talk about today is that "weighty". But I've begun the incessant thinking that generally occurs in the weeks before anything that is important to me. And the 24 Hours of Booty is important to me.

I find myself wondering how many times I can hit folks up for donations before they're totally fed up with me! I figure I'm allowed a couple more shout outs here on the blog...as I had another interested party contact me about blog redesign this morning. Here's the one's I've worked on so far:

1. Jen's Blog

2. Sara's Blog

3. Mark's Blog

4. Eddie O's Blog

4. Chris' Blog (still under development...have to add in title graphics)

I have a couple more in progress and I've done still others that no longer exist...either folks dropped their blogs completely or they lost their designs when they made the jump to the new Blogger and we haven't had time to work on them again. So...if you're interested in donating to a great charity (Lance Armstrong Foundation) and you'd like to get something in return (a new blog layout)...please don't hesitate to click on the link in my sidebar, donate $25, and shout at me that you're ready for your "close-up"!

I'm also a little worried about the timing on this race. It's a reverse 24 Hour. Meaning you do the night portion first...and finish up during the heat of the day. It's gonna be freaking hot in Charlotte at the end of July. As I grow tired I find it harder to hydrate. So my dad's gonna have to be very good about checking that I'm sucking down my water, gatorade, GU20, etc.

I'm also trying to figure out a way to honor my donors, and my "in memory ofs" at my pit. I'm generally pretty creative. So we'll see what I come up with!

Finally...I'm hitting the weights today. One more reason for my post title. Then two days of decent length rides over the weekend. Hope all of you enjoy your weekends.

In Circles: 28 Days To Go

2007-06-28T08:18:00.000-04:00

"I Go
In Circles
Running Down
In Circles
I'm Running Down"
Sunny Day Real Estate

Just four weeks to go until Booty. I'm not really nervous yet. I'm expecting that will kick in during that final taper week. That's when the nerves generally strike. In about a week I'll start the anal-retentive list making, list checking, and list revising. How many jerseys? Shorts? Socks? Will I need long sleeves or arm warmers? How many spare tubes should I bring along? Etc.

Riding in circles, squares and polygons really hasn't been all that bad. I've even been doing it sans MP3 player, as it's somehow gotten lost in either the car or house detritus. Sigh. As I continue to put in the miles over the next couple weeks, it's going to become more crucial, though. So I better spend some serious time looking for it. Maybe it's on a road trip somewhere with DaisyDuc's jacket.

But back to the circles. It's not as mind numbing as some folks expect it to be. As long as I don't watch the actual time or mileage passing on my cyclocomputer, I don't start feeling too itchy to do something else. 3, 4 or 5 miles of scenery is still much more stimulating, even over and over again, than rolling out the miles on the trainer. This morning a deer skittered across the road in front of me. Definitely was the highlight of that four mile loop.

I'll be counting down, as these four weeks pass. And I may get slightly more nutty than you already believe me to be before it's all over.

Yesterday was a conversation pace downtown MTB ride. A little over 20 miles in 1 hour, 45 minutes. This morning I snuck in 24 miles before I came in to work. And found my skirt's zipper was broken bejoyd repair. YIKES. So I'm hoping my paper clip combo is going to see me through the day. Group ride tonight, probably "C" group pace.

Who's doing anything exciting over the weekend? I'll be riding in circles, squares and polygons!

Aerobars and Almost

2007-06-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

We put the new aerobars on the bike Saturday afternoon after my morning ride. I meant to test them out on a second shorter ride that afternoon, but I was feeling kind of "off". So we just kept close to home and did some housework (not nearly enough to catch us up) and hanging out.

El Jefe was getting up early to go hucking on his DH bike, so I headed out early to get in my planned 75 mile ride. I made it 28. Why so much less than planned? Remember that bit of feeling "off". Well, I still felt "off"...and as the miles passed I started getting those random hiccups...you know the ones. The kind of hiccup that lets you know the contents of your stomach are intent on making a round trip. As those hiccups increased in intent, I knew it was time to head home and find my bed.

During those 28 miles, though, I really enjoyed the aerobars. I didn't immediately feel sketchy and I loved how they helped me against the wind. Sure I have to put a lot more time into them before I'm swerve free. But I was worried I'd be monstrously sketchy right off the bat.

Yesterday I still felt off. So I hit the bed straight off work and didn't move the rest of the day. I think it was just what I needed. I feel pretty normal this morning. So the plan today is 3 hours on the 4 mile loop I'm using to get myself inured to the boredom of loop riding. The loop gives me a safe place to work on my aerobar use.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend. Renee moved to AG and did great despite being really sick the entire preceding week. Jill & Geoff competed and won at the 24 Hours of Light. Danielle killed it at her 24 Hour race, only one week after winning a hundie. Namrita had a great race at the Cowbell Challenge. And the biggest props go out to Jodi who hammered her way through Ironman CDA.

Schtuff & Tings

2007-06-21T09:58:00.000-04:00

Whenever Jeff or I ask the other "What're You Doing"...the title above is our standard reply. So this post is about random stuff and things going on.

Phantom Bruises: I managed to give myself a doozie at the AR. It's been there, in all it's large and multi-colored glory since Saturday night when we got home. But it just started hurting when touched this morning! This pic was taken a couple days ago...it's darker now.

SO Not Fluffy: We've discussed Turkey Trot and her need to bite anything and everything that crosses her path. Yesterday she was really on a tear...so I put her into the "baby hold" and pacified her with her favorite chew toy.

Morning Rides: If you've been reading the blog for a bit, you know I like early morning exercise. Be it an early run, some yoga, or weights. Well today I started on some morning biking. I got up at my usual 4 a.m., did an hour + of work, then took myself and my bike to Central City Park for an eighty minute ride. It being the first, I didn't really push it. Wasn't sure how sweaty I'd get. So I got in just over twenty miles with an average pace of around 15 MPH. I plan to do this T-W-Th each week. And I'll generally do about 90 minute rides.

And now...the good SCHTUFF. Pics of the scwhag I got from the race, cuz I just needed it and cuz it was my birthday!

The following items are on their way:

Group ride tonight...easy pace, as I'm lifting beforehand. Then eating out with the gang. The birthday festivities just keep on keeping on!

36 Thoughts

2007-06-19T05:43:00.000-04:00

36. How can one small wound be such a pain in the pardukey? The chafe cracks every time I move, oozes, sticks to my shirt, then cracks again the next time I move. Sigh!

35. I almost totally forgot that I won some pretty cool schwag at the AR. They had a raffle at the end and I actually won a really nice tech jacket. It will be great for riding in the rain over the fall/winter.

34. My jaw and tooth are starting to hurt again. I don't go back to the dentist for round two until July 10th. That's a ways away. I don't know if I can hack the pain for that long.

33. I'm double jointed in my knees. It's most obvious in the winter when I'm wearing cycling tights.

32. My eyes were blue until I was six years old...then they turned green. Only one of five kids without blue eyes.

31. I'm the queen of the phantom bruise. The ones that show up out of nowhere and you have no idea where they came from. I'd understand if I was a heavy drinker or something...but this is not the case!

30. I'm still offering blog redesign in exchange for a donation to 24 Hours of Booty. I've collected $160 for the event. But I'd love to collect $500.

29. I've never spent bank on a comfy saddle. I've always managed to do fine on the ones that come stock on my bikes. But I'm thinking of looking into a new saddle before Booty and Sebring.

28. My little sister's getting remarried in November. I was Matron of Honor at her first wedding. I'm simply a bridesmaid at the second. She's already warned the other members of the bridal party that I'm a bicycling weirdo and will have abhorrent tanlines that the strapless dress will not mask!

27. I love all fruit except melons and oranges.

26. I hate almost all veggies. Exceptions are tomatos (yes...some call them a fruit), corn, lettuce, cucumbers, celery, carrots and radishes.

25. I went from a full suspension (FS) MTB to a hardtail. Most folks generally go in the other direction as they get older.

24. I've lived in Georgia for sixteen years now. I'm still not "used to" the heat and humidity.

23. Why do I look fat in all my race photos? Bugs me. I know I'm not a skinny minnie...but really...I don't look like that in most photos in my regular attire. Sigh.

22. I've found a shampoo/conditioner/hair goop combo that manages to make a difference to my sweat and chlorine damaged locks. Sunsilk. Hate the ads, but the product is a keeper.

21. I have a thing for cars and shoes that most of my family, friends and neighbors think of as ugly. We drive a green Pontiac Aztek and I love chunky, odd colored sports sandals like Keens and Merrells. Only my bike/workout buddies understand the allure. I'm guessing you bloggers get it too!

20. My dad does exist...even though you've only heard me speak about my dearly departed mother. He's going to be my support crew at Booty. I think we'll have a blast! We're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate Father's Day, his birthday and one other "special" occasion all in one fell swoop.

19. Nineteen is my second favorite number, after thirteen. I always worked very hard to get one of those numbers on my soccer jerseys.

18. Soccer gives you funky tanlines, too. Though not quite as bad as cycling. But as a goalkeeper I had glove lines, sleeve lines, shorts lines, knee pad lines, shinguard lines and sock lines!

17. My oldest sister was born June 17, 1957. She turned 50 on Sunday.

16. My brother is 5'6" tall. I'm about 5'7.5". He handled that OK by standing on his tiptoes in family portraits. When my sister shot up to nearly 5'10" he had to admit defeat!

15. I have extremely short legs for my height. My inseam was the same as my 5'3" mother. This means I'm all torso. Most shirts are too short for me. I have to get men's cycling jerseys and I still have an inch or two of back showing when I get real low over the bars.

14. There's a 60% chance for rain this afternoon, 80% tonight. I really wish it would hold off.

13. Thirteen is my absolute favorite number...it has no scary or negative connotations for me!

12. My first bike was a 12 speed. It was blue. I endoed the first time I rode it as I grabbed too much front brake. I think I was ten at the time.

11. When I was a teenager my family adopted a litter of kittens. I named mine Tybalt (after Shakespeare's Prince of Cats). My sister named hers Atalanta after the mythical racer. My dad got real original and named his Mr. Cat. And finally, my older brother named his Shitty Kitty.

10. The big toe on my left foot has been black since last July, when I competed in my first AR, an overnight 12 Hour event. Right now it's the only toenail that's painted. My husband calls it the bubonic toe.

9. I had to basically give up caffeine when I was having anemia issues, as caffeine inhibits iron absorption. However, I still make coffee every morning for Jeff.

8. I don't like ketsup any more, as my mom used to force me to eat eggs, which I loathe. The only way I could force them down was to slather them with ketsup. Ditto on grape jelly.

7. I'm a super picky eater...don't like much meat, veggies, etc. But I like some really odd things, like horseradish.

6. I'm the fourth of five kids, but there was a pretty significant gap between children three (my brother) and four (me). So my mom was pretty blase about the process, but at the same time seemed to have forgotten how labor progressed. She barely got to the hospital on time. I was born on the gurney.

5. Jeff and I met on the Internet. We did not exchange photos. We met face to face for the first time at Lullwater Park on Emory's campus. We got married at Lullwater ten months later.

4. I don't like small dogs. I mean I'm nice to them when other folks own them. But they really don't ring my bell, so to speak. Give me a 50+ pounder who slobbers and likes to try to sit in your lap.

3. I prefer Pepsi to Coke when I'm drinking a "sugar soda'. As many of you know, that's downright scandalous when you live in GA.

2. When I get really angry, upset or nervous I flush bright red. But it's not a uniform bright red. It's splotchy mess going up my chest, neck and face. I've learned there are numerous situations in which I just have to wear a turtleneck.

1. If you haven't already guessed by the post title, or from a couple of the thirty-six thoughts, today's my 36th birthday. The last year of my "middle" thirties. Guess I better make it a good year!

Siege on Ft. Yargo AR - Race Report

2007-06-18T08:04:00.000-04:00

Kinda long...LOTS of pics

The alarm clock went off at 3:20 a.m. I'd told my teammates that I'd meet them around 6:30 a.m. That meant we had to leave the house by 4:30 a.m. I had to sort out the animals, get some food in, get the husband alive and kicking with coffee, etc. We left the house on time and made the two hour drive to Winder, GA. Big thanks to el Jefe for driving on the way up (we thought I might have to) as it was foggy and I got to relax a bit while he dealt with it.

Met up with Terri and Katie around 6:45 (the signage directing folks to parking, etc. could have been a lot better, as in there was no signage!). We checked in (got a nice water bottle and a really cool tech t-shirt), set up our transition area, got our boat, paddles and PFDs situated...then just waited on the race meeting before we could start.

Time passed pretty quickly, and we were to start. The prologue before we could get our passport (the document you punch to show which checkpoints you managed to find) was sheer chaos. All teams in the event were three-person teams. So at the bottom of a hill they'd tacked down index cards with team numbers (three for each team). One at a time each team member ran down the hill to locate a card with their team number on it. It was like old maid...of course the cards weren't all in one spot. Terri, our team captain, took off first and was nearly mowed down in the chaos of the start. Luckily by the time I headed down (2nd) it had thinned out a bit and I managed to see both of our final numbers so I was able to tell Katie exactly where to go!

Then we were off to find the first 4 checkpoints. We had the choice of trekking or swimming...and we chose to trek as swimming in a pack, PFD, and tennis shoes is not only tiring, it would have made it hard to eat and drink regularly. I was the pacesetter and the hydration nazi. I hollered when to drink and made sure we stayed within 100 feet of eachother throughout the event. We found that our fast walk kept us up with the shuffling runs of the other teams pretty well. We didn't want to blow up before the paddle and bike so kept it in check. I still remember Terri asking me, "How'd you learn how to walk so fast"?

We found the first two easily and found another team heading backwards as they'd missed CP1. Whew! At least we hadn't gotten into trouble that early. But maybe we spoke too soon. We got all out of whack searching for CP3, ended up finding CP4 first after too much dithering and essentially DQed ourselves right there. Then we made an unfortunate bushwhacking vs. regular trail decision and managed to set ourselves up as the last team out on the trek/swim portion. Sigh. We were 10 minutes behind the preceding team and they actually sent someone out to look for us. When they saw us they kept asking us if we were OK? Like we'd been injured, thus causing the delay. D'oh!

We got to the boats and realized we weren't going to be able to get all three paddling CPs in enough time to get us through the MTB section that would at least have us finishing the CP portions of the official race. Plus, paddling was our weak point. So we chose to get CP7 and then paddle to the transition area to pick up our bikes. If we hadn't DQ'ed already...this would have DQed us. But it was the right choice...and not all AR races have CP "musts" like this one. Surprisingly, except for Katie getting fatigued and needing a rest while Terri and I kept paddling, we manuevered the boat really well, especially as we had to "dock" under a tree to punch the CP. With some practice we'll be fine paddlers.

After hauling the boat up the shore (canoes are freaking heavy and awkward)as we were not allowed to drag them, we got our bike gear on. But before we could head out on the bikes we had to complete a special task. Basically we had to catapult a hackeysack into a circle with a piece of 2x4 propped on a section of PVC pipe. Katie didn't have nearly enough oomph and I had way too much. After about ten tries Terri got us close enough that the race officials let us go on.

Onto the bikes...we caught up to several other teams. YIPPEE. We passed several teams. YIPPEE. We managed to get off track once or twice. Causing us to have to climb the powerline in the blazing sun and humidity after we'd bombed down it. We had these girls that shall henceforward be known as the "black t-shirt girls" who were cluelessly trying to follow us. We would have been glad to assist them if they'd attempted to work with us, but they didn't even pull out their maps. They were intent to just try to follow us. However thay had no MTB experience so we dropped them!

SIDE NOTE: My teammates met me when they came to one of my beginner mountain bike rides at a local trail system. They showed their stuff at this race and made the jump from newbies to MTBers. So proud! They climbed things they thought they couldn't climb and only occasionally got off their bikes.

We grabbed CPs 11 & 12 and decided to forego CP13 as it was off trail and we had to make CP14 at a certain time to ensure we'd get back to the start/finish by 2:30. We made it! With that under our belts we grabbed CPs 14, 15 and 16...all the while climbing and climbing on the bike. The trail is bi-directional and Saturday's direction had us climbing up the steep switchbacks that are the ridearound to bypass the rock garden. Katie and Terri both made it up all the switchbacks though they never had before!!!

We caught several more teams as we hit the last CPs and we stayed in front of them as we rode in to the start/finish. But we weren't done yet. Oh no...we still had to go through the mud pit.

It was not cool and refreshing mud. It was very warm, red clay mud. It stained our feet and hands despite hopping into the creek afterward! But we crawled through (you had to go under ropes they'd strung across the pit and then dashed up the hill to turn in our passport.

All in all we had a fantastic time. We laughed the whole time and we learned that we're a great team. Terri had instigated an "hourly" compliment rule...but we complimented eachother about every ten minutes. "Terri...way to hold down that sticker bush so it didn't whack me". "Katie, way to eat that Power Bar". We'll definitely do many more of these together and we're planning to train up for some longer ones in '08!

The aftermath...I'm ready for an off day today. I've got one chafed spot from my pack. It doesn't look bad, but it's in a spot that gets rubbed constantly by my clothes, my computer bag, etc. It hurts. Plus I've got a monstrous bruise from a spot where I had to hop off the bike when this one girl didn't make a rooty climb. Must have nailed myself with my top tube or my seat, somehow.

Very short post...

2007-06-17T09:01:00.000-04:00

Full details on the AR later...

We got totally bass-ackwards on one of the early checkpoints and ended up getting two out of order which essentially DQ'ed us an hour in. We continued on as "unofficial" finishers.

Legs scratched up and one monster bruise from some bushwhacking that got hairy.

One large scab on my back where pack rubbed.

Great time seeing my teammates, recent MTB newbies, really show themselves on their bikes...passing several times during our bike leg...moving us up from our DFL position.

We only paddled one checkpoint but we manuevered well and nailed both our shore landings.

We had a blast...even though the mud pit was warm!

TGIB

2007-06-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

Thank God It's Back!

What's back? My mojo (you have to say that in a cheesy Austin Power's accent). My legs. My stamina. My verve. My joie de vivre. To put it in the simplest terms...my ability to ride my bike without bonkage.

I added more protein to my Paleo intake...cut out some fruit, threw in more MEAT!

I upped my iron intake, as the heat hampers absorption.

I made sure I was really well hydrated.

I ate more calories...I freaking eat all the time (BONUS...the weights still dropping).

It was also a bit cooler. Not nearly as hot as last weekend. Hopefully this will allow me to acclimate, as the temperature will rise over the next several days. Rather than me going from two weeks of air-conditioned inactivity right to a ride in 100 degree temperatures in GA humidity.

After a light weight workout I headed out to the park to do some urban MTB. I met my new riding friend Toni. She's just off a knee surgery and some time off. She was on a hybrid with slicks and I was on the MTB with knobbies and with my fork engaged (not rigid). She rode with me for about the first two hours. Then I kep going for another hour and picked up the pace. Overall I got in 40.23 miles in just a shade over three hours. Not the fastest pace, but good and steady. Stayed in my big ring the whole time. And I never felt wonky or bonky. Which was the real highlight of the day.

Today I'm going for a 45 minute swim followed by a 90 minute tempo ride on the roadie. There's a loop I'll do which gives me the opportunity to big ring some sections in between recory sections. Since Booty is a 2.97 mile loop...I may as well get practice in the boredom of repetitive loops while training.

Tomorrow I'm going to do a walk and a very easy swim, an active recovery day before the AR this weekend. I probably won't post again until Saturday night, with the debaucles and hilarity that I'm expecting as we paddle, bike, bushwhack, trek, swim and traverse a mudpit! I'm hoping to get lots of pics!

What's To Say Wednesday!

2007-06-13T08:19:00.000-04:00

THANKS FOR...NOTHING: Guess what my training consisted of yesterday. That's right. Nothing. Not an active recovery day. Absolutely nothing. I enjoyed it. And I'm raring to go today.

SLOW SWIMMING: As I'd felt bonky during all of my rides over the weekend, I decided to keep my swim slow...extra slow. Well, by golly it really made the difference on that darned freestyle gasping. I settled in smoothly and was breathing every fourth stroke. It felt so good. And my kick drills and my resistance breast stroke lengths felt great too. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can repeat the easy breathing at a slightly faster pace on today's swim. Just slightly...though. My swims through Booty are meant to be recovery swims...not really swims to improve swim speed.

SWIMMING SHENANIGANS: Now I do my fair share of dorky things in the pool. I've managed to drop my water bottle many times (you think I'd be able to hang on to a bottle since I manage to do it on the bike) and I'm a dab hand at concentrating too much on form or speed and not enough on breathing so that I end up thrashing my way to a stand and hacking up a lungful of water (the folks up above on the jogging track must love that one!). But Monday saw a whole lot of folks with other shenanigans:

A) Not one but two slam-dance swimmers. That's what I've decided to call those swimmers that make so much noise and so much commotion as they move down their lane. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to leave a wake so big I bob violently three lanes over! :)

B) Ms. Prepared. You know her. She sits on the poolskirt taking up a lane for 20 minutes as she dons, removes, and dons her swim cap over and over again. Then she cleans her ears (yeah...you heard me right) with her finger over and over again. Where's she putting the wax? I don't want to know. Then stretching. More stretching. Then the same multi-on and off deal with her goggles. Finally into the pool for about five lengths.

C). He Who Should Not Be Wearing A Speedo. You know this guy. Large belly. Covered with hair. Hair on the back and shoulders too (just for extra saucy viewing pleasure). GACK!

PALEO: It's going really well. I dropped about three pounds through the tooth debaucle. Since I was eating pudding and not moving at all...no huge weight loss to speak of. But I've dropped another five in the last ten days. Water weight from all the pudding sugar carbs, sure. But also some fat...I'm definitely leaner through the waist, hips and thighs. Pants are all loose. Arm muscles standing out more. It's pretty noticable in my face (especially when I scrape my hair back). And, alas, in the area of my already minimal boobage. Sigh. My co-workers have always looked askance at my weird and frequent meals. But they really love to see me eating meat salad or meat loaf at 9-10 a.m.

AR PREP: E-mails flying back and forth between the teammates as we decide who's hauling what team gear, filling out our forms and making some "race" plans. As I've said before we haven't really been able to practice together at all. So we just want to finish with as many checkpoints as possible. And we hope we don't capsize the canoe. And I hope the mud pit we have to crawl through is relatively clean mud...if you get my drift!

Fluffy...

2007-06-11T08:58:00.000-04:00

My husband and I have a running joke that started with our short-haired cat, Bad News. He wasn't a cozy kitten kind of cat, nor was his hair soft or strokey. So when he was being bad or extra bad (hence his name) we'd comment that he wasn't being very "fluffy". Fluffy meaning he was a sweet kittie - based on our fluffy puppy, Puddin' who has tons of hair and the sweetest disposition on earth. After BN passed away, we continued with the phrase when we adopted the very lovable, but also very ornery Turkey Trot. Her behavior ranges from fluffy to not so fluffy and all the way to SO NOT fluffy.

So you can see I changed the color scheme and layout of the blog...it's a fluffy pink now. Not that I'm incredibly girlie or anything. But I like pink...it actually is a good color on me and I'm thinking of pinking up my black mountain bike a bit. But the real reason for the pink is for Booty. This is one of my "fluffiest" undertakings...so the color seemed right for the rest of the summer.

And now on to the fluffy, not so fluffy and SO NOT fluffy stuff that went on this weekend!

BONKAGE: I very nearly bonked on my Friday road ride. It was my first real activity back after nearly two weeks totally off, post-tooth. I swam twice and lifted weights prior to this ride, but that was it. I think the huge rise in temperature over the last two weeks, the time off, and the changes in diet may have contributed. Not so fluffy. I'll be tweaking the diet and making sure it's all dialed in over the next week. With the short AR this weekend, I can practice carbing up and racing within the limits of the new diet. If it doesn't work...I'll make bigger tweaks next week.

FEELING BONKY: Though I never came as close as I did on the Friday RR, I felt bonky and weak on my short MTB ride on Saturday and I just had no legs or stamina on Sunday's urban MTB ride. I'd planned on a six hour ride. I have done so many times in the past with little to not real fatigue...just the good tired feeling Danielle mentioned in her last post. I made it 2.5 and realized the smart thing was to throw in the towel. Post ride shower and I collapsed on the bed for 2 hours...not falling asleep, just drained and snuggling with Turkey Trot. Again...I think it's a combo of everything that I mentioned about the previous bonk. SO NOT fluffy - feeling bonky. Fluffy - riding with friends. Terri on Saturday and Toni on Sunday.

Not much else to report. Weights and a very easy swim today, as I plan to try a four hour urban MTB ride tomorrow to see where I stand.

Friday: The First Day of the Week

2007-06-08T09:05:00.000-04:00

Well, it will be for the next 50+ days or so. 24 Hours of Booty starts at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 2007. I've started putting together my training blocks and the first of those workouts will happen today. So my weeks will be Friday-Thursday through Booty.

I'm going to try using Courtney's star method. As I'm not only setting up a Booty exercise/training plan...but also a nutrition plan. I'd started on a modified Paleo diet before the Tooth Debaucle. It got sidelined for the duration of the TD, as pudding isn't exactly Paleo friendly. I'm of course having to add in some grains for carbs...as the Paleo diet doesn't provide enough for the kind of loads I'm needing. But I'm excited to be able to chew well enough now to really see if it makes a difference.

What with more thunderstorm misdiagnoses...today's my first day back on the bike. 30-40 on the road. Steady pace. Just getting my legs back. Plus some upper body weights. And modified Paleo diet. We'll have to see if I earn those stars!

To everyone racing, riding, running, swimming, ARing or volunteering this weekend...best of luck!

Project BOOTY

2007-06-06T08:03:00.000-04:00

No...I'm not trying to vie with Beyonce or anything. I'm just beginning the preparations for 24 Hours of Booty on July 28th. Here's some random ramblings as I begin that process.

TOOTH: I guess it's karmic payback for being born with no wisdom teeth. Thus, in order to feel the kind of pain, nausea and lethargy most folks endure when dealing with wisdom teeth removal, impacted or not, I had to deal with this. It's been a week of inactivity, soft food, weird drug induced dreams and lots of sleep. I managed a swim and weights session on Monday, and am ready to get back to it starting today! I'm finally on ibuprofen only, which will hopefully help with the dreams and lethargy.

D'OH!: I was planning on doing the C-Paced group ride last night as a means of slowly getting back onto the bike. But we had a nasty little thunderstorm at about 2:45 and the forecast called for thunderstorms untl 8 p.m., with warnings until that time. Of course once we decided not to go, the sun came out right as the ride would have been starting. Had we gone, I'm sure we would have been stuck on HWY 41 in a deluge. Typical, eh?

THE PLAN: Yes...you heard it. While I like to be flexible, as you never know what's going to come up, I do feel the need to set a plan for the 52 days leading up to Booty. So I'm going to be printing up a calendar and penning in my proposed plan over the next day or two. Couple things I definitely know now...(1) lots of bike time; (2) not much running time; (3) swimming as cross training and active recovery; (4) yoga and core work to hopefully ensure less back, neck and hamstring pain during 24 hours hunched over the handlebars.

AERO, YES OR NO: Booty takes place on a 3+ mile loop. Over and over again for 24 Hours. So I know the MP3 player is going to be a MUST! The course is relatively flat...I believe the only climbs are rolling. I'm trying to decide if I should test out aero bars or not. I definitely plan to use them at 2008's 24 Hours of Sebring...as they'll come in especially handy on several of the long flats during the century and the 12 mile loop, and pretty much the entire last 12 hours on the 3 mile track. I have a great place to practice using them...to hopefully keep me from swerving into any other riders should I decide to use them!

BIT 'O FUN AT THE AR: We haven't managed to get together to practice our paddling. And let me just say...we're pathetic at it. I'm the only one with any real experience paddling and unfortunately when you can't get together, you're just not going to be able to paddle in sync. I'll be the one steering, so I can only hope the water's extra calm and that the wind won't make me have to fight much, as my awesome teammates aren't going to be much help should we have to make any hard turns. Yes, they're well aware I'm saying this. We could only laugh the one time we've managed to paddle together pre-race. I'd call out a directive and the silly girls would, EVERY TIME, stop paddling and turn around to look at me. Since my job is steering, their job is getting us speed...which you can imagine is hard to do when they STOP paddling!!! It's a beginner AR, 3-5 hours, and we'll be fine on the bike/trek portions. As long as we aren't stuck out on the water for more than an hour or so, we should do fine. Until we have to crawl through the mud pit at the end! I'm wondering whether I should take off my knee brace for that...I don't want to ruin it!

IN MEMORIUM: You guys remember that I dedicated the 12 Hours at Relay for Life to my mom, who passed away in 1995 after complications from lung cancer treatment (one day I'll fill you in on the whole story...while sad, it's also a testament to my mom). I'll be dedicating the 24 Hours of Booty to Arthur Murray Wood, who passed away this past Saturday. Mr. Wood was my little sister's future father-in-law. He wasn't able to hold on until their wedding in November. I never had the chance to meet Mr. Wood. Plans to do lunch were in the works when he went into the hospital this last time. But from everything my sister said, he was a kind, generous and loving man. May he rest in peace.

Yuck Mouth...

2007-06-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

First...thanks for all the "get well" messages. Who'd have thought one tooth could lay me so low. Let me just say...I never want to go through this again.

It's been a week of inactivity. A week of pain and drug induced sleep. The medicine/pain combo has been a double edged sword. If I take the pain meds, even the lowest doses, I'm sleepy, groggy and nauseous. If I don't take the pills the entire right side of my face pulses and there's a constant steady pain, which gets sharp when I swallow, chew or move my jaw. I've gotten the hiccups several times during this convalescence and they've been a nightmare. The pain eventually makes me sick to my stomach, too.

Yesterday I finally got anough of an appetite to make taking the pills less of an issue on my stomach. I still have to eat relatively soft foods, but I'm starting to feel like me again.

I'm planning to do something exercise related on Monday. Probably an easy swim and weights session. Back on the bike starting Tuesday. I spoke with the dentist on Thursday and they think I should be starting to feel back up to snuff by then. I have to get back on the stick relatively quickly as my "big" event is at the end of July. Less than two months.

I've missed Blog land. I'll be playing catch up on your blogs tonight and tomorrow. I'm hoping to have some exercise related something or other to post about sooner than later.

Thanks for sticking it out with me...

short post.

2007-05-29T19:50:00.000-04:00

Please excuse my spelling...I had an emergency root canal this morning after breaking my tooth on Memorial Day. I was curled up in the fetal position in tears straight through the night and Jeff drove me in this morning for an emergency appointment.

I'm still in a lot of pain but now I've got good drugs. They make me very sleepy and spacey so no driving for a couple days and no riding, either.

I'm going to attempt some soup now. Will catch up on all your weekends as soon as I can.

Tagged by DaisyDuc

2007-05-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

So here goes: 7 Random Things About Me

1. When I was about thirteen my folks got it into their heads to move from our San Jose, CA home to the Santa Cruz mountains. Not such a biggie, until I mention that the home had no electricity. That's right. Throughout high school, no electricity. We ran small appliances off golf cart batteries that had to be charged regularly. We had a generator we'd run only for laundry, etc. Luckily I wasn't very girlie at the time and could hack having no access to a blow dryer, etc.

2. I'm the 4th of five children, with two different fathers, same mother. My little sister and I are both taller than my brother (different dad) and it drives him nuts!

3. I was in the 1989 earthquake that stopped the 89 World Series. I was working at a yogurt shop and it happened while I was helping customers. They were fine, but I still have small cut scars on my legs where bottled and canned drinks flew through the glass refrigerator door behind me. As there was no power once the quake stopped, they got their yogurt for free.

4. I met my husband on the Internet. We e-mailed and phoned for a over a month, without swapping photos, before we met for our first date at Emory's Lullwater Park. We were chased by the geese we tried to feed. We got married at Lullwater Park ten months later, 4-16-99.

5. I threw the shotput and discus for two years of varsity track. I was 5'6" tall and weighed around 120 pounds. Most of the competition were from 2-3 inches taller and outweighed me by 50-100 pounds. I placed third a couple times at regular meets, but I never made it to regional meets. I had good form...but not enough body to power it.

6. I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was ten years old. We'd lived on a very busy street prior to that and my folks hadn't wanted us riding. I got a bike on Christmas Day and my dad agreed to take me out right then. He was running behind me when the hyooooooge Great Dane next door, Vista, took a bite out of his backside. She thought he was chasing me...she loved all the local kids. Luckily she got more wallet than butt and he forgave her because she was trying to protect me.

7. There was no girl's soccer team at my junior high school. So a group of about eight girls tried out for the boys team. I was one of only two girls who made the team. Soccer was pretty much all I did from grade school through high school. 5-6 days a week, 2-3 hours a day.

That's it. Seven things. So...I'm tagging Bonnie, Danielle and Reenie.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

I'm going off on a 3 hour urban MTB ride this morning. I have a new knee brace, as my last one basically fell apart after my 49 mile ride on Thursday (I'll recap at the end of the long weekend). I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend.

EDIT: D'uh. Happy birthday, Jeff! Hope you're having a good time DH-ing it up in TN.

Return to the pool

2007-05-24T05:29:00.000-04:00

Top Ten Reasons I Need to Swim Regularly:

10. No sweat! When you live in the Deep South, you look forward to summer exercise that doesn't involve the heat and humidity.

9. Where else can you see elderly men in baggy speedos sporting an overabundance of body hair?

8. Defogging my goggles after every 5th/6th length counts as cross-training, right?

7. Ditto checking to see if my wedding is still on my finger every 5th/6th length.

6. I can get a new swim cap...my bright pink one has a hole in it.

5. If I build up some lats I might be able to finally find a bra with straps that don't slide down my shoulders every fifteen minutes.

4. If I build up my pecs I might be able to pull off the strapless dress my sister thinks I should wear in her wedding in November, despite my almost complete lack of boobage.

3. Chlorinated water does such fantastic things for my already dry skin.

2. The runners upstairs love to watch you gasping and gagging if you misjudge and take in a lungful of water when you were going for a lungful of air.

1. I enjoy it...despite anything contrary posted above!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Hit the pool for the first time since late '06. It went exactly as I expected it would. My breastroke, my old standby, felt good, and I traded it out 2:1 with freestyle. I knew I'd be winded on the freestyle, as I always am when I'm just getting back into the pool. I didn't count laps...just went for a total swim time of an hour. Concentrated on form and keeping my stroke count per length consistent. Used my weighted swim gloves for the last 15 minutes to really work the chest...I can feel it this morning.

I'm compensating for the left leg...as my right leg was pretty tight this morning. I'm going to hit Academy on Friday to look for a brace I can use in the pool, as well as a more heavy duty one to use on the bike/run, as the metal supports are already pushing out of the drugstore version I've battered for the last couple months.

Planned to do a 2.6 mile run this morning, but the tightness in my legs had me reconsider and I did a slower 1.5 mile run with a 1.5 mile walk at the end. I really just wanted to get out and about, as I've been taking it easy after RfL, as my sleep schedule got seriously out of whack and I had some serious chafing (I'm not going to go into detail). Back on the bike for about 40 miles tonight, 20 solo, 20 at the "C" pace with the group ride crew.

My last post...

2007-05-20T10:39:00.000-04:00

I'm really sorry if I offended anyone with my last post. I was trying for humor and a little self-deprecation, but it appears I failed miserably.

Shane and Diana Walden deserve all the kudos for getting a big group together to earn money for a fantastic cause while still making it a fun time and a challenge for our local cycling community. They put in many hours before the event itself and they made it happen (well, the cyclist portion). All congratulatory statements here really belong to them.

I had the honor of riding many of my last laps with Jesse. A cancer survivor who made two batches of fantastic cookies for us all to enjoy. Who we all watched doing the survivors first lap. Who had his longest road ride ever and whose smiling face lit up the entire night.

I also had the honor of speaking with several of the walkers each time I pitted. The bathrooms were right in the middle of the lap the walkers used, surrounded by luminaries, and their good cheer and determination through a cold and windy night was so impressive. Survivors and friends and family of those who may or may not have survived, this event was about all of them. On many of my solitary laps I had lots of time to think about my mom, who was one of those who didn't survive. And Diana's dad. And so many others.

I'm taking a break from the blog for a while. To get my head on back on straight. I'll still be reading and commenting on your blogs. Some other bloggers are doing incredible things and I'll be watching them all along the way.

and the winner is...

2007-05-19T07:58:00.001-04:00

Well, there are two winners.

Jill wins the MP3 compilation because she had the closest guess. I did 145.7 miles. Average speed 15.2. Overall ride time, 9:?? (I'll check once I get some sleep).

So who else won? Me! I rode more than any other cyclist in our group. If it was a race which it absolutely wasn't, I'd have been the overall winner, not just the overall female winner. But, being honest, if it had been a race, several of the guys would have dropped the hammer and kicked my ass.

Full report later. The shower, then my bed beckon.

the morning before...

2007-05-18T08:22:00.000-04:00

Hey all...there wasn't much to report yesterday. Took Wednesday and Thursday off completely to ensure the bum joint was well rested and raring for some time on the bike. The knee's talking to me this morning, but I think I just slept on it funny and some warming oil and my brace will get me all fine-tuned and raring to go!

Last night saw me setting up my nutrition box, purchasing caloric fluids (Gatorade) and getting my clothing together. Weather calls for dry, mild temps, with some wind overnight. I'm taking arm warmers just in case, but believe I'll be fine in my shorts and s/s jerseys. I also added some new tunes to the rotation and removed a few that just weren't working for me right at this moment:

Additions include:

Hudson Bell
The Thermals
Menomena
New Pornographers
All Girl Summer Fun Band
Head of Femur
plus a few other fun ones...

Have to make a brief stop at the LBS this morning as my red blinkie is nowhere to be found. I think it got lost in the shuffle when I swapped out seatposts during my 55nine fitting.

I've felt good on the roadie since the fitting, knee aside. Feel like I climb more smoothly and get more bang for my buck in my big gears. I feel like my legs are more evenly handling the exertion load...my hammies and quads equally engaged. So...we'll just have to see. But I wanted to plug Eddie & Nam...as they've really been making strides with their new company. I'm gonna have Nam work out some nutrition training for me as I wend my way toward Sebring!

There's still time to get in your guess for the contest. Thanks to all who put in their numbers. Though the loop is a little over five miles, and if I paid strict attention I could keep track by laps, my plan is to get into the zone with the MP3 player and not look at my mileage until it's over. That's what I generally do on long rides. I put the cyclocomputer to time or maximum speed and don't look at the total miles or pace until I'm done. I'm generally happily surprised! I think this will also keep me from "pushing" it. I won't be worrying about keeping a pace or hitting a mile mark.

It's time to get a few more hours of work, with intermittent final prepartory packing. Turns out we ride from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., so look for a brief post before 9 a.m. if you feel like checking on a Saturday!

Get Your Guess On!

2007-05-16T07:39:00.000-04:00

I thought we'd have a little bit of fun and mix up two of my interests, cycling and indie music. And everybody likes to participate in contests that don't really have any bearing on anything of importance at all, right?

As many of you know, if you at least skimmed yesterday's post, I'll be participating in the local Relay for Life this weekend, but cycling rather than walking. And it won't really be a relay for me, as I'm going it solo. Anywho...I thought I'd offer up a prize to the blog commenter who gets in the closest guess as to the mileage I'll manage to cover during the 12 Hour event.

What's the prize? Well, of course you want to know that before you post your guess. The lucky winner will receive a mix of indie MP3s, chosen carefully by me, to be added your rotation of cross-training musical goodness. They'll vary in tempo and agressiveness, as we all know that different types of workouts require different kinds of tunes. Since I'm a crafty person, it will come in a custom made CD envelope that won't look like any other jewel case in your collection. Plus I'll throw in some cool little training/competition schwag...just to sweeten the pot!

Some things to remember as you make your guesses:

1. Since the knee injury the longest ride I've completed is a metric century.
2. I'll rest as dictated by the knee and the girlie parts...I'm not setting any pit stop goals.
3. At Sebring my ride time was 13:44 hours, or something close to that, and I did 178.1 miles, more than half of that after the injury made itself known.
4. It'll be mostly in the dark...we start at 6 p.m. and go through to 6 a.m.
5. I believe I will have support, as several folks will be hanging out at the pit area that aren't riding.
6. My average speed on the rides I've been doing of late have been in the 14-16mph range.
7. I don't plan to "push it"...remember that I'm a recovering gimp! This is just a "we'll see how we're feeling" so I can begin prepping myself for 24 Hours of Booty.

All you have to do is post a comment with your guess. The commenter that comes closest to my actual mileage will win the prize.

So go on, get your GUESS on!

12 Hours For Life

2007-05-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

This Friday night I'll be participating in Houston County's Relay for Life event. Though it's generally known as an event for walkers, one of our local bike clubs started riding at the 12 hour event last year and I'm participating this year in memory of my mom, Sam Coffey, who passed away in 1995.

Am I really ready for a 12 Hour event? Is my knee ready for it? Not in terms of racing one. But this isn't a race. It's a participatory event. I'll be doing repeats of a 5+ mile loop, over and over, for as much of the 12 Hours as my knee can manage. It's mostly a test of the overall recovery I've managed to achieve by backing off, icing all the time, and wearing my knee brace. It's to see if my backside can handle twelve hours in the saddle, as it's been a long time since I've spent that much time with ass-to-seat. It's a "we'll see" that will give me ideas as to what I need to do to prepare for 24 Hours of Booty in late July.

Renee asked if I really thought it was a good idea. It's a fair question. If it was a race, then no...it wouldn't be a good idea. If it involved a century, followed by 12 mile laps, then 3 mile laps, like Sebring...again, NO, it wouldn't be something I'd attempt this soon after the knee pain finally began to subside. But, as I'll only ever be around five miles from the pits, I can and will take it easy if things start to hurt. I'm not setting any huge mileage or speed goals. I'm not setting any goals at all. I'm simply going to ride my road bike for as much of the 12 hour period as I possibly can. Maybe the pace will be slow. Maybe I'll feel great and keep a great cadence. Who knows? No one knows. We won't know until I report on it sometime Saturday!

My deal for a blog header still stands. Donate $25 to the RfL event this weekend and I'll hook you up. Or donate to 24 Hours of Booty. Same deal.

Gotta get back to work...

Weekend Recap

2007-05-14T06:10:00.000-04:00

SATURDAY:

It started early. The alarm went off at 4 a.m., as I had a few things to do before I left the house at a bit before 6 a.m. to make the two hour drive up to Ft. Yargo State Park. The drive was pretty easy, I didn't make a wrong turn at any of the various intersections and I made it to the park a but before eight. I parked down in the "B" lot, where the AR training sessions were to take place, hopped on my MTB and rode it up the road to the "A" entrance to watch Renee & Beth compete in their tri/duathlons.

Found a good spot on the bike leg, where I could watch them going in and coming back out. It forced folks to climb in both directions and you could see folks working hard. Cheered on my girls on both of their bike laps (because the park doesn't have that much roadage, they had to do two bike legs...see Renee's blog for details).

Both girls get HYOOGE shout-outs. Beth won her age group and came in, I think, third overall? Renee won the Athena category and thought she would have placed third in her AG.

After I saw the girls off toward their last run legs, Katie and I went back down the the "B" lot and got ready for some AR training. First thing first, we worked on getting Katie out of her full face helmet, and wearing a regular helmet on the MTB trails. She's had a phobia for some time that's had her wearing a fullface no matter how hot and heavy the darned thing was. She did great. She even cleared a root section that she'd always walked in the past.

Terri showed up and we did one more short little MTB loop, as we wanted to get down to the canoes. Katie ran her mouth while Terri and I pulled the canoe down from the trailer (we'll get her for that later) and we took our positions. We had some minor problems at first as I had them paddling on the same side (which would be right if they had kayak paddles - my bad) but once we made the proper adjustments we were doing fine. But slow. Neither Terri or Katie have done much paddling, and their muscle endurance was pretty low. There were several occasions during our 45 minute paddle when they both rested and I paddled solo. Thank god for upper body strength. They've got a month to build up some shoulder and back endurance. Gotta put them on a plan! :) We made several good buoy turns and we'll get in at least one more paddling session before the event. It's going to be our weak spot, but we'll do fine.

After the paddle we listened to a short orienteering lecture and then we were off to look for four checkpoints. We really worked as a team reading the map, judging the contours of the terrain and we found all four checkpoints in really good time. We trekked and ran for an hour to the four points, doing a little bushwhacking as well. I've got the stickerbush scrapes and scratches to prove it.

It was a great morning of training, and I set off for home a little after one PM, and, lucky me, got stuck in a terrible rain storm on backcountry roads. I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me. I hate that kind of storm. But I made it home safe and sound and got the dog inside before the storm hit the Maconga.

I'll post about Sunday separately, later!

Demerits...

2007-05-11T08:02:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm dropping some demerits on myself. Why? In the hustle to get el Jefe off on his DH race trip, while at the same time trying to get myself ready to grab Maria for the group ride, I forgot one pretty crucial item. Nothing that would force me to forget the ride. I forgot my knee brace.

I've forgotten it on a few runs and it hasn't been TOO bad. So I thought, hey, it's a group ride, it's short, one night without it won't be a big deal. Plus, I'm so anal about being late, I didn't want to chance missing the group if I turned around to get it.

That was pretty dumb. The injury took place while riding. Riding is the activity that brings on the most discomfort and pain.

The ride was great...don't get me wrong. Pace was faster than we'd expected. Mostly due to the route, which was fast and flowy with only one or two real climbs, lots of rollers.

I knew I was an idiot when we turned into the headwinds that would batter us all the way back to the car. It was the headwinds at Sebring that brought on this whole mess.

I'm lucky that the knee held up pretty well. No shooting pains during the ride to hammer home that I was stupid. But it was pretty swollen and tender afterward. And this morning, while it looks and basically feels fine. It just feels a bit off.

So my idiocy requires a change up of plans again. Since I have AR training stuff tomorrow and a long ride planned for Sunday. Today I'm resting lower extremities, but still plan to get in some upper body and core work. Maybe a bit of yoga to stretch me out for a long weekend of fun and training. During which I WILL wear my knee brace!!!

Best luck wishes to Renee and Beth. Renee's doing her second tri of the year and Beth's tackling her first duathlon. Since our AR stuff is at the same park, I'm gonna head up early and cheer and take pics. Send some good vibes to my hubby, el Jefe, as well, if you have any to spare. This weekend he's racing in his first DH event of '07.

Groggy...but got'r done

2007-05-10T08:15:00.000-04:00

Let's just say that I had an unplanned rest day yesterday. As you know from yesterday's post, I didn't sleep well at all. Thus, I skipped the planned morning run and was planning to do a road ride in the afternoon/evening. As I was running some errands, pre-ride, (vet, bike shop, drug store) I realized I was having a hard time concentrating on the road and just as hard a time keeping my eyes open. I got home and literally conked out on the couch. In that super-fatigued state, there was no way I was chancing a ride on the road bike. Sleepy me and cars...there's a recipe for disaster. Besides, my knee had been acting up on the stairs at work, so I took it as a "sign" and I'm reordering my week.

Took one Tylenol PM as well as my iron pill last night, hoping to ensure I slept through the night. Still woke up at 1:30, but managed to doze back in and out until Jeff woke me up at 3:45 (the alarm was set for 4:00) asking if I'd crawled back into bed after my run. He'd left the hall light on all night and it confused him as he rolled over. So I ended up getting up a bit early.

I always end up feeling groggy the morning after a Tylenol PM dose. Even if I only take one instead of two capsules. This morning was no different. But I'd had an off day, so I wasn't going to skip my run. I adjusted by simply run/walking (steeper hills still get to the knee going either up or down) for a set time. 75 minutes.

There was a gorgeous half moon shining between the trees as I headed out the driveway. The pace was steady and the temps were nice. The tunes on the MP3 player were smiling at me. "One More Hour" by Sleater-Kinney left me knowing that I could just keep on keeping on. "Open Road Song" by Eve 6 got me daydreaming about the group ride I'll be doing with Maria tonight. I always run more steadily when I'm running good daydreams behind my open eyes. I ran about 80% of the 75 minutes, and I added in some shorter hills and 1/2 ran some of the longer ones that had been taboo just weeks earlier.

I have no idea how "far" I got, how many steps I turned, how many miles I put onto my shoes. I just know I felt good, I beat back the groggies, and I put in 75 good minutes of activity while my neighbors and husband slept. It's a good way to start any day!

Group ride with Maria tonight...recovery pace, I'm guessing. Tomorrow's a longer trail run/MTB brick.

Group Rides & Sleepless Nights

2007-05-09T07:58:00.000-04:00

Had a blast on my first ever group ride with Maria and el Jefe. Pulling into a packed parking lot, I was a bit apprehensive as I do most of my riding solo. I've never been part of big road ride groups. Even at centuries I tend to do my own thing.

The large group immediately split up into three smaller groups. The hammerhead guys took off first, then the rest of us moved off at a meandering pace on our various routes. The pace started out really slow, so the three of us moved to the front of the no-drop pack and rode a really fun route with just enough climbing to make you work, just enough hammering to make you feel you could one day be fast, and plenty of long coasting downhills for recovery. I got to chat with some new folks, got to ride with Jeff and Maria, and got to feel even more like the old Mallie again, as my knee only grumbled and I felt good on the climbs.

We did a little over twenty miles. Pace meandered between average of 15.5-16.0. Ended up with a 15.6 average after rolling into the parking lot. I'm definitely hooked and plan to start attending as many Tuesdays and Thursdays as I can. I think Maria's gonna hit it with me again on Thursday.

One funny note, we came to one section of road and had two of the folks we were with tell us to beware the "gravel". Definitely not mountain bikers, as Maria, el Jefe and I plowed right through the "gravel" with no worries. Guess all that sand at EM finally paid off!

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Not sure what's going on sleepwise, but I'm waking up a lot and having difficulty falling back to sleep. I've upped my iron, as one of the symptoms of anemia is insomnia. It might be due to the increase in activity. I'm experiencing the weird inner ear/vertigo symptoms that are another sign my iron levels are low. Hopefully a few more days of doubled up iron dosage will get me back on track. Until then, I guess I'll be taking a Tylenol P.M. for a night or two to ensure I sleep through the night.

There was no way I could have done my run this morning in three hours of sleep, so I skipped it and will just rotate things around. I'd planned to run this AM and do a recovery ride this afternoon. Now I'll simply move the run to tomorrow morning and do the recovery ride tomorrow night. I'll do a longer ride this afternoon.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

As per the flub...the flub fluctuator (also known as the bathroom scale) tells me I'm back at the weight I last noted a week or so after Sebring. Since the un-flubbing is going pretty well, I don't see any reason not to try to drop the last nagging 5-8 pounds and try to be as light as this body allows for the AR and 24 Hours of Booty.

Baby Brick

2007-05-08T08:06:00.000-04:00

Blogger ate my first attempt to post this morning. GRRRRRR!

Some of you might be wondering why I'd need to do "brick" training, as I don't have any triathlons on my calendar, and don't necessarily see any in my near future. Well, I got bit by the AR bug last year after doing the 12 hour, overnight Ocmulgee AR. I had a great time and we managed to come in first place (yep, you guessed it, we were the only all female team!). Anywho, swap out paddling for the swim + mountain biking + trekking + orienteering + various obstacles & challenges (mud pits, wall climbs, rope climbs, etc.) and I'd say that most of you would agree that AR is a multi-sport.

With that in mind I completed my first brick in preparation for the Siege on Fort Yargo AR in June. It was a small brick, a baby brick, as:

1. I haven't done a brick since last year
2. I haven't been trail running since last year
3. I haven't run in the heat of the day since last year

Luckily the temps were quite cool, with a very nice breeze, so the weather and running in the afternoon vs. the early AM didn't cause problems. Here's the breakdown:

MOUNTAIN BIKE | 9.38 miles in 1:00:01 (I chose my course perfectly and rolled up to the hatchback of the Aztek at just one second over an hour)

TRAIL RUN/WALK | 2.5 miles in just under 24 minutes. So slightly under 10 minute miles, even with the occasional walk. Not gonna complain at all.

I did almost get caught with my shorts down in the woods! When you gotta go you gotta go, and for us girls it means baring bootie in the trees.

My trail route was a pretty flat one for the bike and run (I climbed a bit on the bike, but not at all on the run), wanted to go easy on the knee the first time out, and also wanted to remember how to trail run. I messed up once and trod on a root instead of going over it. Had that moment of panic as I felt my ankle twinge. But after walking it off for about ten steps I realized I hadn't done anything but make it holler at me to be careful. I also didn't have my knee brace on, as I'm esperiencing some nasty chafing from the metric on Saturday. I need to get some Body Glide to keep that from happening on the longer rides.

This morning I did a light upper body workout: 5x15 of standing row, biceps curl, overhead press & overhead triceps press. After work I'm going to do light lower body and core, followed by the no-drop group ride. Tomorrow will be a tougher day, with a longer road run in the morning and a couple hours on the road bike.

Thanks for reading in between your swimming, biking, running, bungee jumping, mud pitting and whatever else you guys do!

Sweet Onion Recap

2007-05-07T05:41:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Mine went pretty well, until about 1:30 this morning. More on that later. First, the metric century.

Tina showed up about 9:20 Friday night and we quickly stowed her bike and gear in the back of the Aztek so we'd only have to load ourselves, our clothes and our nutrition in the early AM. The alarm went off at 4:50. We were off by 5:40 after some peanut butter toast and some bottle filling.

The drive down was pretty uneventful, though we had some directional issues at the very end as we neared our destination. Don't you love it when you're told to turn on a highway that isn't marked with the highway number. We managed to find it through shear dumb luck. As we pulled into the parking lot we saw a couple locals, Shane & BK. Quick little registration, quick trip to the ladies room and we started to get our gear together and on our bikes.

We planned to ride with another local, Debby Kinman, who had done the ride before. The consensus was that a 13.5-14 mph pace would work the best for Debby and Tina. And I figured that would be safe for the knee. The course was described as rolling, which can mean a multitude of things. I've seen "rollers" that I'd definitely call hills. I'd never ridden this course, so I went in knowing nothing, except that Pops thought I'd be fine.

Tina & Debby pre-race

Tina & Mallie - I'm not all that tall, Tina's freakishly short!

The weather couldn't have been better at the start and throughout the event. It was overcast and cool. The temps didn't hit the eighties until almost noon. We left the parking lot at a bit after eight and made our way to the first SAG, at around mile 15. We had to stop at every SAG to sign in, which was different. I tend to like to skip the first SAG or two and get some momentum into the ride. But since we were riding as a group, it made sense.

Debby took the lead as she knew the course, and once we made our way past some of the slower riders, we slowly built up the pace. At the first climb I took the lead spot in our train. I felt good, and the pace was just too slow. I couldn't ride at 13.5. Luckily Debby had lots of pep and she wanted go faster. She was good for 14.4 average, and we pulled away from Tina. She knew we'd be waiting for her at the SAG stops. She was having trouble with the rollers, but made up time on the flats and small downhills.

We met Ralph, another local at the 1st SAG. He stayed on through the third SAG as my ride buddy. Debby stayed close through SAG 2, where we met Toni, a Macongan that we'd never seen before. As we left the second SAG, poor Debby managed to fall in the parking lot and hyperextended her pinky which slowed her down as she couldn't grip her bars very well. She gave us the nod to leave her behind when we got to SAG three. Tina left us at the second SAG, too, deciding to settle for 50 miles. As her longest ride, fifty miles, had been on the Silver Comet, she realized 50 on a rolling course was something to be quite proud of.

Debby, Toni and one of the SAG volunteers

Ralph, my ride buddy!

The section between SAGs two and three was so freaking fun. Rollers stretched out as far as the eye could see. Green trees on both sides and swooping, sweeping rollers in between. I never felt like I was working hard, even though I was pedaling the upsides in the high teens and low-twenties. There were one or two spots with actual hills, but there was plenty of flat for recovery spinning and lots of decline for some coasting. Ralph and I pulled away here and had a blast. We even passed several folks, which is always kinda fun, even when it's not a race. Ralph outweighs me by a decent bit, so I kept waiting for him to fly past me on one of the descents. But he had marvelous restraint and when safe rode next to me so we could chatter. I had a blast nattering with him as we pedaled. He did get frisky on one of the last descents before the 3rd SAG and flew past me with a cheeky grin and a snappy comment. Of course I couldn't let that go and hammered past him as the inevitable climb started, with my own grin and verbal accompaniment!

Ralph and I left SAG three together and he hung on for a couple miles, until we hit the headwinds. They weren't brutal like the ones at Sebring, but they were enough to make you work. I kept my speed up and had a pretty decent ride through to the 4th SAG. The road was rough, that course gravel instead of smooth pavement, but the chatter didn't get to me and I kept the pace up, managing to bring up my average to 15 mph, which made me happy.

Alas, there was no one manning the 4th SAG, as they'd had to shove off to take a downed rider in. I filled up my bottle with straight gatorade (something I rarely drink) and took off on the last 11 miles or so. My speed fell off here ( down to 14.7 average) as I got lost once and the course started going through n numerous stop signs. Hard to keep up pace behind an old beater truck with a bed full of mattresses! Once I figured out I was on the right route and I passed all of the traffic, I tried to get back up to 15 average. I made it to 14.9 and stayed there as I rounded the corner to the greeting crew back at the start.

Overall I was really happy. I knew I could have averaged 16-17 if I'd taken off on my own. But I had a fantastic time with Tina, Debby, Toni and Ralph. My total ride time was 4:07 for 62.5 miles ( when I got lost I added about a mile over what everyone else rode), with a 14.9 mph average. I loved the route and will not only go back next year, but hope to grab a few folks to go back down to do it to see how much faster we can go! I got a pretty nice T-shirt, a Vidalia Onion (which I promptly gave to Tina) and a mug, which I gave to Tina as she was kinda sad she hadn't managed the metric. The sun even came out for about the last fifteen miles and I got some nice color on the arms and face!

Two slightly sunburnt, but happy riders at the finish
(don't let my lack of smile fool you...I was just a little warm!)

The knee grumbled and moaned the whole time, but it never started screaming. I'm still not out of the woods there, but I'm hoping I'm making my way to the trail that will lead me out of them for good! Gonna be a lot more road miles put in now that I know the bum joint can handle some intensity and some mileage, as I prepare for the 24 Hours of Booty!

Sweet Onion...

2007-05-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the names of events are just "too cute" for contemplation. This weekend, Elizabeth is doing the Flying Pig, Renee, Mark and several other Macongans are doing the Dirty Spokes 12 Hour, and I'm doing the Sweet Onion Metric Century. Why "Sweet Onion"? Because the event is in Vidalia, GA. Home of the sweet Vidalia onion. Ever had one? Not being a fan of onions, I don't have much to say...but some folks swear they are the sweetest, tastiest onions around.

It's not a race. It's a fun ride. So I'll be participating, not competing. A friend of mine from Hotlanta, Tina, is coming down to join me, and this will be her longest ride to date. I don't think the pace is going to be get much above 13 mph average, so it's going to be a good ride for the bum joint.

I haven't done a ride longer than 25 miles since Sebring. When you've hauled your carcass around for 178.1 miles, a 63 miler shouldn't be daunting, but add in the knee and, well, I'm not scared, and there are shortcut options, so I'm just gonna ride from aid station to aid station and see how things go. It's supposed to be rolling terrain, and should a real climb appear, I have no qualms about possibly having to drop the bike into granny, though I haven't had to do so before. That IS what it's there for.

So what am I doing the day before? I chose to switch things up a bit and I'm holding off on my run until Sunday morning. So this A.M. I completed several supersets while doing some full body conditioning. And this afternoon I'll warm the legs up a bit with some hill repeats on the road on the knobbies. Nothing too intense...don't want to be sore. They won't be hill sprints. Just some standing hill repeats to get the legs moving and then I'll ice and stretch really well.

The supersets this morning looked like this:

Set 1: Bent Over Rows | Squats | Overhead Press - 5x15

Set 2: Crunches | Medicine Ball Trunk Twists | Medicine Ball Leg Lifts - 5x15

Set 3: Calf Raises | Overhead Triceps Extensions | Lunges - 5x15

Set 4: Medicine Ball Side to Sides | Medicine Ball Leg Press | Jackknifes - 5x15

I'll post some pics and commentary on the metric sometime Saturday night.

Wednesday Gets A Woo-Hoo!

2007-05-03T07:59:00.000-04:00

So, yeah. I had a pretty good day yesterday. It started out at 5:15 when I stepped outside for a 3.9 mile run/walk. The full moon was glowing down from the deepest dark blue sky I'd seen in a long time. I looked around at all of the dark houses and knew deep in my heart that all those still sleeping folks were missing out on something pretty special. At 5:15 in the morning there aren't too many cars to worry about. You can smell the blooming jasmine, gardenias and other fragrant flowers because exhaust fumes aren't covering their light and sweet scent. You can watch the moon slowly fade as the sun starts to make it's way up for the day.

Add in the fact that I dropped three minutes from my 3.9 mile time on Monday, and I was one happy camper. Granted, I do realize that these big gains won't continue for long, as I'm reaping the benefits of starting back. But I still gave myself a hearty mental pat on the back. And I'm looking forward to seeing if I can shave off another minute or two on Friday's pass at the same distance.

Fast forward through a fairly hectic day at work and some rapid getting ready, including forgetting the water bottle I'd carefully filled with concoction, and I was out on the road bike before our monthly club meeting. Since the injury, I haven't been on the road bike for more than about 45 minutes at a time, and I've kept the pace really slow, 13-14 mph. So I had two options, a longer, still slow paced ride, or an hour long ride where I'd push the pace a bit. I chose the latter.

There's a nice 2.5 mile loop through the Industrial Park where the Thomson Trails (the location of our monthly meeting) are located. No climbs, no downhills, flat and easy to get up speed. But there are some amazing headwinds as you head toward Byron. I knew that would be where I'd have to push it to keep up pace. And my second Woo-Hoo? I did keep up the pace. In a just a few seconds over an hour I did 17.3 miles. So, the average pace, though certainly not fast for my local and blogging friends who have long been able to push it, was a decent increase in pace for this blogger. I won't lie, the knee hurt. Especially against the headwinds. But I saw that I could push it for an hour, and I can only assume that with continued efforts I'll get back the minimal amount of speediness I once possesses. We all know I've never been fast...so medium pace is fast for me, and that's the tempo I want to see return for good.

Today is an off day. Don't really know what I'll do with myself all afternoon and evening. Catch up on some housecleaning and laundry, for sure.

Send some good thoughts to my local chicas, Renee, Beth & Debbie, as they're leaving this evening for the Dirty Spokes 12 Hour. Weather forecast isn't looking great for them or for my metric century, so some good weather vibes are most welcome!

Something new on the sidebar...

2007-05-02T04:31:00.000-04:00

If you're one to look at the sidebar, you'll notice a little change in my charity events. There's just no way I'll be up for the back to back 100 milers that make up the Action Cycling 200 on May 19-20. All of you who made donations to that event, DON'T FEAR. The money still goes to a cause I believe in and I'll have one of my teammates write up a race report as a "guest" blogger so you'll know how it went.

The same weekend our local crew will be participating in the Relay for Life event taking place at the nearby Georgia National Fairgrounds. Several RfL events have worked to include cyclists. Our local RfL isn't quite there yet, so out ride is being done as a grassroots kinda thing. There will be a 40 mile loop to get us started, then we do repeats of a five mile loop for the remainder of the twelve hour event. It will be good prep for me for Booty...and will let me see where I'm at with the knee, as I have a follow-up visit with the doc a couple days afterward.

There's another good reason for me to take my place in that charity event. If you choose to make a donation to that particular event (yes, I'm still offering blog redesign for charitable donations) you'll see that my page is in memory of Sandra Coffey. That's my mom. She died in 1995. She was only 54. Lung cancer was part of a tumultuos chain of bad health luck, ending in a stroke and resulting in her last year+ spent residing in a nursing home. So any miles I do at the RfL event will be for my mom.

**********************************************************************************

OK. Less sad. My weights workout went well yesterday, if you discount the fact that the weights I was pushing were PITIFUL. But, hey, I did promise not to dive in too deep, too quickly. And I stuck to that promise. The knee was still stiff and kinda uncooperative after Monday's ride, so I didn't even attempt BB lifts. DBs were the ticket.

Now, I'm no powerhouse. The numbers I was lifting in the past were not huge. But I was one of the only women inmy gym who used the squat rack for anything besides stretching. And I used to get lots of comments when I did step-ups, especially from folks over fifty. So I got some odd looks from the gym "regulars" who are used to seeing me lift a bit differently. I would have thought the knee brace might have told them something!

So from squatting 75-85 pounds (I told you my numbers aren't high) I was down to a 20lb DB on my neck while I did 1/2-3/4 squats (doc doesn't want me to do full squats yet). Same for the goodmornings. DB dropped to 15 for a few lunges, which I don't normally do. Step-ups dropped to tww stacked aerobic steps, down from seven...but did 20 lbs again.

I know the numbers will go up, and I didn't feel down or discouraged. I knew I'd have to take baby steps to start out. But think how excited I'll be as the numbers rise quickly. Once you reach a certain level you have to look for those smaller gains. I get to be a newbie again and enjoy the benefits of huge gains in a short amount of time.

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Flub-busting update...still dropping water weight which is good. Evil junk carbs and their after-effects leaving the body can only be a good thing. I'm off for my run. Hoping I feel less sluggish than I did Monday!

Flub Busting - Day 2

2007-05-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it's amazing how fast you can see a difference when you cut back on the oh so junky carbs and drink enough fluids to ensure you run down two flights of stairs for the bathroom every 45 minutes or so. Sore knee be damned! I gotsta pee.

The sign on my fridge says it all!

The folks at the office are used to this. Before my sojourn into junk food debauchery and knee-related inactivity, I was a regular gallon+ per day liquid lovin' gal. Starting it back up not only resulted in an immediate water weight drop on the old scale, but brought back memories of the Mallie I'd like to be again. A Mallie who careened down spiral staircases like they were small curbs to be hopped on knobby tires. A Mallie with visible abs, not one singular flubby ab. Yesterday allowed me to realize that Mallie isn't too far away. She's just buried under a couple months of injury-induced junk food solace and now that she's back on track, soreness be damned, it isn't going to take that long to look like her less flubby self again.

Short knee update...yep, you guessed it. Still hurts. Still flares up on the bike like noplace else. Even after multiple light/rest days, get on the old bike and the grinding, crunching and popping begin and soon bring along an unwanted ride partner named pain. But since two doctors and one physical therapist have told me that based upon their many "possible" diagnoses, there doesn't appear to be anything that I can make worse by continuing with my regular activities, I'm going to get back to them all. That's right. A few posts back I mentioned that I can tolerate pain pretty darned well, so that's the plan going forward. Tolerate it as I get back on the bike for more than twenty miles at a time. Tolerate it as I get back to the gym and the squat rack. Tolerate it as I get my better-floating through flub self back in the pool.

Now, tolerate does not mean continue until I'm a writhing mass on the floor. I'll build back up. I'm not going out and doing 6 mile trail runs. My 3.9 mile road loop is gonna be my mainstay as I slowly add back in shorter trail runs (gotta get used to running over obstacles again). I'll be increasing mileage slowly. I'll be adding lower body weight-lifting slowly, with pretty unimpressive weights to start. There won't be any 3000 yard swims right off the bat. I'll be kicking it with shorter swim efforts coupled with some pool running to strengthen this slightly atrophied left leg. Why this diatribe...so that you know I'm not going out and returning to normal activity levels with nary a thought. I'm gonna take the knee into account, SERIOUS account, and build back up to my regular levels so that I have something to say to the doc when I go back on May 24th.

Anywho, in the war on flub and the return to a Mallie with a waistline and abs, I completed a two hour knobby-tired ride around the park in downtown Macon yesterday. Like I said, the knee flared up pretty quickly, so my average pace was more "spinny", 11.8 mph with two slower circuits of the levey, and I got in a 23.5-ish miles in the 120 minutes. This morning I did the "dreaded ab and core exercises" that include jacknifes, crunches, butt-ups, bridges and more. This afternoon marks my first "real" return to the gym. Good-mornings and squats return to the line-up, though with probably the bar only for this first day out. Back to the leg press machine, too, again with pitifully light weights. But, hey, you gotsta start somewhere.

And now, I bid you, my blogging friends, a fond farewell. Why? Because I have to book it down to the bathroom, of course!

Ugh...the flub stops here!

2007-04-30T04:59:00.000-04:00

More on the title in a moment.

Much like Shannon a few weeks back, I needed a break this weekend. Though my training levels were much lower over the last month, I'd been trying to build back up and think maybe I built a little too quickly. I ended up sleeping from 9 p.m. Saturday night through 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Then, after taking the puppy out and feeding the little furries, I went back to sleep for another two hours. Sheesh! Needless to say, it was a lazy Sunday, involving me doing little more than mowing the lawn and doing some laundry.

And before I dive in to the title, I gotsta to say CONGRATS to Renee, who came in first in her division at her first tri of the season, despite a bad hammie. WOO HOO!

OK. I'm feeling flubby. The reason, I've gained several pounds through inactivity (damn knee) and bad eating. Yeah, I've been hitting the junk a bit too much, and that junk has definitely moved to my trunk. I always have a little junk in the trunk, but right now I'm looking a bit too well-packed. It's simply a matter of discipline. Deleting the junk completely, watching my calories and upping my protein intake. It's something easily done if I just decide to do it. Looking at my posterior yesterday certainly gave me the impetus needed. YERGHHHH!!!

I'm off for a run. And I'm going urban MTB this afternoon after my day of super rest yesterday. Mondays are always good training days. I guess to make up for the fact that they are also back to work days. Sigh!

EDIT: 3.9 sluggish miles this morning, 75% run/25% walk. I felt OK, but it was definitely a sluggish run, with the walks being kinda slow. I'm gonna blame it on that time of the month and on getting a little too much sleep Saturday night, which meant I didn't really fall asleep hard last night. I'm guessing I'll see a marked improvement on my Wednesday morning run.

Skill Rebuild

2007-04-26T08:23:00.000-04:00

I'm definitely not a natural on the mountain bike. I don't feel comfortable hurtling downhill and I'm not the smoothest on downhill or flat turns (though for some strange reason I'm fairly adept at uphill turns). I've worked really hard to build better skills, and to feel more natural on the dirt. Alas, this forced time off the bike has resulted in a reversion to my poor turning, scaredy-cat braking bad habits of old. They were very noticeable last night when I was riding at the Pig with the girls, and Jeff also commented on my "riding timid" manuevers when we were warming up.

There's a solution. I just have to spend some serious time on the knobby-tired bike rebuilding the skills that have diminished. Though I'll never slam downhill with quite the speed and grace of my husband, I can and must overcome my "bad braking" reversion or I'm gonna find myself flying over my handlebars in a picture perfect endo. When I was riding with Renee on Saturday, I had a few dire moments when I thought I might go OTB, but I seemed to even out after we warmed up a bit, so I was a little surprised at how "off" I felt last night.

So, what's the plan? Some more time at the Pig and Dauset over the next few days. Neither trail is all that technical, nor do they have any really gnarly DH sections (well...there's that one on H&P), but there's enough of the twisty singletrack that I'll need to get better at leaning my body and not turning my bike. A few passes down Pine Mountain should get me back to feathering, rather than grabbing, my brakes. Once I feel comfortable at Dauset and el Piggo again, I'll venture back to Arrowhead and Thomson, and tackle my weaknesses a bit more so I don't get any of these:

I don't need any of these anytime soon, thank you!

I'm also going to be taking my "wheels", the ones I was born with, not the ones I procured, back out on the trails to get myself ready for my upcoming AR. It's a shorty, 4-6 hours, and we'll be paddling and biking at least 2/3 of it, but I do want to get my legs used to the nuances of trail running again, as it's a whole 'nother animal.

More possibilities...no real headway

2007-04-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

So...the new doc was very thorough and I liked him a lot. He asked a lot of questions, he really manipulated my knee and asked me to guage pain and discomfort. And he gave me two more "possibilities" as to what's causing me all this discomfort and down and out pain.

It could be a meniscus tear that the MRI just didn't reveal. This was already an option, but he really doesn't think this is the case.

It could be that all the damage I've done my poor bones in my soccer past are coming to haunt me sooner than I'd ever expected in the form of arthritis. Possibly Sebring brought things to a head that had been brewing for some time.

It could also be: Plica Syndrome

Plicae are important to know about as the way in which they can cause problems is often misunderstood.

First of all, one must know that many cause no problems at all. But often the plica fold can get injured and swollen and then get nipped between the bones of the patella and femur (thighbone), or between the patella and the undersurface of the quads muscle in the case of the SPP. This problem, with its attendant symptoms, is known as the 'plica syndrome'.

One of the problems with diagnosis is that surgeons do not often use what is called a 'superior portal' - looking into the knee cavity from above - and the mechanism of pain production by a suprapatellar plica and often a medial plica, too, can be virtually invisible unless one does.

Symptoms of the plica syndrome will depend upon which plica is causing the problem. A problematic medial plica may have the following associated with it:

* pain along the inner aspect of the patella
* a string-like cord under the skin in this area
* intermittent 'catching' of the joint at a particular point in extension
* occasional 'pseudo'-locking, ie the joint seems to lock but can be easily unlocked
* stiffness and pain after sitting still for a long time, eg at a movie
* occasional giving-way

A damaged plica may settle on its own, or respond to non-surgical measures such as physiotherapy or injections. However, sometimes the nipping continues and the joint cartilage becomes damaged and arthritis may set off. In this case surgery to remove the plica is the best option.

I'm currently dealing with all of those symptoms on a regular basis. But that still doesn't mean this is a definite diagnosis.

So I'm playing the waiting game. Again! I'm to wear my brace for any and all activity where my joint is going to get a workout, even casual walks and swimming (meaning I have to get a separate brace for pool use). I'm to ice numerous times each day, even off days and active recovery days. I'm to take 550 mg of Naproxen twice a day for the next month. I'm to work really hard to strengthen my quadriceps muscle, as I'm still dealing with the atrophy stemming from me overcompensating for the pain.

I go back in a month and if the pain is the same, then, apparently, we go the arthroscopy route. I'm going to go back to my regular routine as quickly as I can, and just see how it feels. So, no more updates on this old, and tired, issue for a month or so.

Three, Not Four

2007-04-24T08:12:00.000-04:00

So, I posted last week that I wanted to get in four days in a row on the bike(s). I didn't quite make it, as my knee was aching pretty bad Friday afternoon. Despite that, I had three good days on the bike, finishing up yesterday with 24+ miles on the knobbies:

Saturday: 18.5 Miles MTB Trails with Renee
Sunday: 13 Miles on the Road (Recovery)
Monday: 24+ miles on the MTB on the road and in grass/dirt

After my stellar Monday morning start on my run, I was feeling the effort, but didn't want to bag my ride. So I loaded up the knobby-tired ride and hit Central City Park. For the first time in weeks a train wasn't blocking my access to "Rabbit" road, so I got in some good hard spinning efforts, along with some offroad time on the dirt track and two semo-speedy tours of the levey. I went out fairly hard for the first 90 minutes, battling stiffness and pain as well as some serious headwinds, even on the levey, where I don't think I've ever had to hunker down so hard to keep speed. I did 19.11 miles in 1:30, a 12.7 pace, which is fairly fast for this slow-poke when coupled with the bum joint and the winds.

I even managed to find myself a rabbit, not the fluffy, big-eared kind, the kind you set your sights on and try to catch. There was an older, but very fit, man out on a hybrid bike with slick tires. He was pushing a decent pace, and I knew my knobbies would put me at a disadvantage. He passed me about 3/4 of the way down "Rabbit" Road, heading back out to the park and I decided I was going to catch him. And I did. Just before we turned off back into the park proper. Sure, he didn't know I was chasing him, but he laughed when I caught him and told me I looked like I was getting a fine workout.

Renee and I will both "hopefully" find out some more about our gimp left legs today. She's seeing her massage therapist and I've got my second opinion appointment at 10:45. I think we might be planning another pines ride for tomorrow night, depending on what we find out. There's supposed to be a local club social out there, so we'll see what happens.

Today's video. I was going to remove the auto-play feature for those of you surfing at work, but then the video wouldn't play at all - so SORRY. Also, I'll be deleting the previous day's video as I add each new daily offering. Just to keep the blog from taking eons to load. Happy viewing.

Music Video:THIS IS OUR EMERGENCY (by Pretty Girls Make Graves)

Music Video Code provided by Video Code Zone

Today, I do like Mondays

2007-04-23T08:04:00.000-04:00

Got a great night's sleep, had a fantastic run this morning, have a 2nd opinion appointment on the old knee tomorrow, and I am going to ride my bike this afternoon. If we forget the fact that I have to actually work today as well, it starts to look like a might damn fine Monday.

I just felt on it this morning. Maybe because I slept so well. Maybe because I had two great days of riding with friends. Maybe it's because I've got so many notes typed out for the 2nd opinion visit that there's no way the doc can tell me to "suck it up - it's nothin". Who knows what caused it, I'm just happy I woke up feeling so great.

I stepped it up on the run this morning. Still not running 100%, but I'm definitely up to 75% run/25% walk. I added on an extra loop this morning, so I'm increasing distance and speed. My knee did complain, but the tunes on the MP3 player were just what I needed to shelve the discomfort and I had a hard time stopping when I knew I should walk and give the knee a little relief.

I'm not sure why music is so important to me when exercising. Maybe because it's important to me all the time. I've always got something going when I'm at work, until the office fills up with other folks who might not have the same taste that I do. I love running and biking to music, as I spend so much time running and biking solo. I don't feel that it makes me less aware of my surroundings, in fact, I believe it makes me more aware of my surroundings.

Anyway...since I don't have my music blog anymore, I'll be adding more and more music related stuff to this blog, along with knee news (I know some of you are probably getting tired if the continuing saga, but this is my journal), training stuff, pics, etc.

First off, I'm going to try to post a daily video. It may turn into a weekly video if I get short on time, but for now, I think it's doable daily. This first one is kind of a blast from the recent past. I've loved these guys since I first heard this song. I'm a big fan of lesser known Irish/Scottish bands, and these guys are one of my very favorites. This isn't my favorite song, but my favorite tracks don't have videos. Of course!

Got to give credit where credit is due! B-Mac rocked Baker's Dozen, her first solo endurance event of over 6 hours. She took a second place spot in the podium behind my Sorella teammate Linda, despite a nasty cold that was further irritated by the fact that the event was going on despite a controlled burn in the surrounding forest. I'm hoping to snake a pic to post soon!

Weekend Update

2007-04-22T14:54:00.000-04:00

Pics coming later on today or tomorrow...

First off I had to skip ride one of the planned four, as my knee was giving me a little more grief than I'd expected after Friday morning's run. Must have been the longer run portions and increasing my pace a bit.

Saturday saw Renee and I spinning out 18.5 miles at Dauset. Pace was slow and steady...around 8 mph on the first lap of just over eleven miles, with a slower second lap bringing our average speed down to 7.5. And for those of you who already know that I'm slow, 7.5 is REALLY slow, even for me. The second lap decrease probably came from taking a wee bit too long on our protein bar break, hamming it up with the adorable Henry B. Then, our chosen route for the second lap had us climbing what's normally a pretty benign little gravel and paved road climb. But let me tell you, we two gimps both felt this one...and it took us a little while to get back on track. Finally, I had to save Ms. Martinez from a fearsome beastie on the trail, a big, but amiable, black snake. I moved him with a stick while she made girlie noises and passed him by. If it had been a rodent of any kind, I'd have been making the same noises...so I can pick on Renee just a tad.

This morning we did a quick but conservative 12 or so mile loop on the road bikes. Maria borrowed B-Mac's road ride and liked it a lot, though we think it's a rad too small for her. She plans to try to borrow a slightly taller, but still smaller gal's bike, the awesome Karen, for the whole 24 mile loop next weekend. It was my first real road ride since Sebring, and my first chance to really test out the new fit of my recently Wobblenaughted bike. It felt good. I went out pretty conservatively, due to the knee and the new bike set up. 14 mph average for a recovery spin. We'll crank up the speed next time.

Waiting anxiously to hear how B-Mac did at her first 12-Hour solo extravaganza!

P.S. Got a second opinion appointment scheduled for Tuesday morning. I've been keeping detailed notes on the intensity and location of pain during various activities. The doc won't know what to think of all of my detailed notes!

Riding: 4 Days In A Row?

2007-04-20T08:02:00.000-04:00

That's the plan, at the very least. In the past two months I don't think I've done more than one double day of riding in a row. Honestly. But my last post stated my intent to gat back to business, regardless the final diagnosis on my knee (on that note, I finagled a second opinion appointment for next Tuesday), and that intent starts NOW!

Ran/walked this morning to really kick things off, and the knee behaved a bit better than I'd expected after the two day stiffness aftermath of Wednesday's run/walk. I'd guess that the fact that I forgot my knee brace Wednesday morning might have played a part in that. I believe I bumped the running up to 65% of the hour I was out, and the plan is to continue to bump it up slowly over the next week or two until I'm running 90-100 percent of my planned runs (I plan to continue to treat the knee gingerly on the hilliest of hills - up and down).

The plan this afternoon is to hit Central City park and the levey for about 90 minutes on the knobbies (so I can ride the levey). I want to go hard on the flats and on the levey to see how the knee feels. I'm using this week/weekend before the second opinion to catalogue the different aches different activities put on the old knee. The pain while running is much different than the pain while cycling (leading this uninformed individual to believe that the running bothers the bone bruise, while the cycling is another issue altogether).

Saturday, after a morning spent catching up on some long overdue house cleaning, I'm meeting Renee, and hopefully Maria, at Dauset for some long and steady in the less hilly parts of the awesome Dauset trail system. I'm going to avoid climing Pine Mountain, but would not be averse to going down it once or twice, and I also intend to avoid Huff-n-Puff, the harder portion of Sandy Creek and Brownlee, as they're the kind of twisting up and down climbing that bothers me the most. But I believe I can handle Turkey Trot, the back half of Sandy Creek, the H-n-P extension, and the swoopy, droppy, short climby beginner section. The camera will be coming with me and maybe we'll finally get a pic of me riding.

On Sunday el Jefe and I plan to meet Mike & Maria for a recovery pace road ride, half of the triangle loop, then get (or cook) a late breakfast. The remainder of Sunday will be spent on some more of that overdue house cleaning, interspersed with a little relaxing with my handsome hubby, who's had a rough week at work!

We'll see how it goes. If it goes well, I'll do a repeat of the run in the morning, ride in the evening on Monday. And that would bring me to the fourth day IN. A. ROW. A few months ago that would have been laughable. With all that's been going on, it's now a lofty goal. Wish me luck.

Onward and Forward

2007-04-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

So...decisions, decisions. I tried to get an appointment with another ortho this morning, but was told by the appointment admin that they don't do "second opinions". WTF? Am I not supposed to say I'm looking for a second opinion? Do I just not know the proper etiquette when it comes to getting a second opinion on an injury? I mean...they still get paid, right? I'm confused. Seriously.

Beyond that, I'm dedicated to moving onward and forward. I'm going to do what I need to do to get ready for what will now be my first event of the season. The Siege on Ft. Yargo Adventure Race in June. I don't know how quickly things will be resolved as per my knee, and I've lost a leve of fitness not being able to ride for more than an hour or two at a time, so don't believe I can/should do the Action Cycling 200. Everyone who made a donation, don't get up in arms. Several of my teammates are doing it, and you made a donation to a good cause. I had every intention of taking part in the ride, but I never imagined an injury of this persistence.

So...I'm going to be getting back to basics with a couple weeks of base level riding and running. At the same time, I'll be keeping careful track of exactly when the knee hurts. For example, if it was simply a bone bruise it would hurt more on chattering downhills than on spinning climbs, which just ain't the case. Etc. Yadda Yadda. Ad nauseum. I'm also going to start adding back in some lower body weight lifting, which I've really been missing.

I started things off with a double workout yesterday. I ran/walked in the morning (60% running to 40% walking...have to slowly build it back up). I can't guesstimate the mileage, but know it was a good 55 minutes of outdoor activity. Then I hit the Pig trail and worked my way through the pines, slowly, adding in some of the climbs I've been avoiding for over two months. Renee met me after I put in about forty-five minutes and, as she was supposed to not climb at all (bad Renee) we rode a circuitous route through the pines for a little over an hour with Beth managing not to run us over despite her lack of membership in "Gimps-R-Us". I pushed myself a bit on the solo portion of my ride, climbing the off-camber section in both directions and was feeling it when I got together with the girls.

This morning I started off with some core work, ab work and some light weights. I'll be hitting the gym this afternoon for some cardio and a bit of heavier lifting. I also hope to return to the pool one day next week, as right now kicking motions aren't too fun!

F.A.T.S. and Drats

2007-04-17T17:48:00.000-04:00

First...the fun stuff. The anniversary weekend was fantastic. We checked out F.A.T.S. (Forks Area Trail System)in South Carolina and it was some of the best dirt riding fun I've ever had. For those that know and love Dauset, think of it as the best rolling parts of Bootlegger, but for miles at a time. There was some climbing, but it didn't phase you at all because the downhills were long and flowing, with tons of rollers and dips and whoops. The only downside was that you had to brake often, else you'd get so much speed that you'd get unintended air. As I can't land, unintended air can be a problem!

The anniversary couple

Jeff taking off a small lip

This was a really fun roller section

Super Hubby changing my flat

New friends we met on the trail...

We met an awesome couple on the trails and they rode the last ten miles with Jeff and I. She, Andrea, had just found out she was pregnant, so she took it easy on the climbs...which was nice, as it made me take it easy on the climbs. The worst part was getting a flat in one of the swoopy downhill sections, but Jeff made quick work of it for me like a good husband. I could have done it myself, but it was our anniversary weekend, so I figured he should showcase his husbandly skills, right!

I got in 26 careful miles. It was fantastic. I hurt some on the climbs and some on the really long downhills, but it was so awesome to be out on some fabulous trail that I just didn't care.

Now for the Drats portion of this post. Went to get the results of my MRI today. Nothing conclusive on my meniscus issue. But several things were brought up. Appears I have an enchondroma, a benign tumor, in my femur. Radiologist suggested I get a bone scan. Yay! They can cause knee pain in extreme cases, but this could just be something I've had for years and is of no consequence. They can, rarely, turn to malignant, so it's something docs will have to watch. I also have a popliteal cyst, which most often occur in older individuals, but "can" be caused by a meniscus tear. My doc was worried about this, as he thinks the cyst is probably masking the actual tear in the MRI. He had a surgeon come in, but the guy was a huge jerk. Basically told me to sit and wait it out. The last thing that the MRI showed was a spot that might be a deep bone bruise. This one's a puzzler, as they generally occur if someone steps in a deep hole or something of the like. I haven't done anything of the sort.

The jerk surgeon left it up to me...I can get an arthroscopy, but there's no guarantee they'll see anything. Jeff and I, as well as my original doc and Heath are of the mind that we should schedule the arthroscopy and get a definitive answer. Otherwise, I can go get a second opinion, but the same things are going to show up to any doc who views the MRI. I guess I could hope for a less jerky surgeon at another medical establishment.

So I still don't really have any answers. Just more fodder for my anal and antsy mind to glom onto. How'd the rest of you spend your weekend?

Anniversary Weekend

2007-04-14T07:21:00.000-04:00

After an easy ride on the skinny tires Thursday night and PT, followed by an off day and plenty of fun (we saw Blades of Glory...hee-larious!!!), Jeff and I are off this morning to spend our 8th anniversary weekend doing some mountain biking, some relaxing and some hanging out in a spa tub. Pics will follow...

Here are some pics from the past couple days.

For Pops...here's the langster:

Jeff and Mike riding their fixed gear roadies:

Mike

Jeff, in the peanut helmet...

And here's me...saying goodbye to the beasties before we head out on the road:

Me, Puddy & Turkey...yes, she's about to attack her big bro

I won't overdo...look for some riding photos when we get back Sunday night!

Loud & Long...But Not Bad

2007-04-12T06:11:00.000-04:00

The MRI wasn't that bad. I was forced to listen to some really cheesy music, Journey and Eddie Money come to mind, and I could feel my leg wanting to twitch despite being weighed down with a little sandbag. Otherwise, it really wasn't any big deal. Like some commenters mentioned, I only went in up to my shoulders. So no worries about claustrophobia or anything.

The funny thing was, as I was leaving they told me to wait for my films. What? Shouldn't those go to a radiologist or to my doc? Apparently I carry this second set with me to my doc at my next appointment. Since I have PT early Friday, I'm dropping them off then. Maybe the doc will look at them early and have a plan formulated when I go back in next Tuesday. Hey...it's worth hoping, right?

They told me not to leave the films in the car. Well, duh? Apparently some of their more brilliant clientele think it's OK to leave films and X-Rays in the car, in Georgia heat and humidity, until they see their doctors several days later. Smart folks abound in Middle Georgia.

Short run this morning. Knee's not feeling real hot, so I didn't push it. Slower pace and shorter run segments. It was t-shirt and shorts weather again. Sorry if I'm rubbing it in for some of the folks who are still living in the Great White North. I also wanted to save some juice for a "group" ride tonight. Don't know if anyone but Jeff and I will show up, but I'm hopeful that some of my buds will come ride their knobbies with me around Macon's downtown tonight.

Today I'll be spending several hours speaking to Introductory Advertising and Marketing classes at Mercer. I hope I can give them a real sense of what it's like to work in the creative field. The professor, my friend Graham, asked me to give them some ideas on how it is working with clients...so I'm digging up my best stories. More on that after the fact.

Midweek Random Ramblings

2007-04-11T08:22:00.000-04:00

No big news...just random snippets from the last few days and thoughts for the future.

Yesterday morning I met my riding buddy Beth bright and early at 5:15. She brought along the newest member of her family, our newest exercise partner, Max. My run/walk restrictions were perfect for Max. He got some short runs in and some walks to even out his panting. He'll be an endurance runner soon, probably faster than me. The way he gazes up at Beth adoringly as he trots along next to her is incredibly adorable. We were out for an hour. It was great to get to do something with Beth again, as being on the DL has kept me from doing things with friends.

Here's Max!

Jeff bought a new bike on Monday. It's a Specialized Langster, a fixed gear roadie for my non-roadie husband. Who'dathunkit? He swears he'll still wear his peanut, baggies and his DH shoes...so I guess he won't be shaving anytime soon. This gives him a 4-2 advantage over me. Not sure I like those numbers. He says I have to take up DH or BMX. Not gonna happen!!!

Here's the Jeff we're used to seeing!

MRI is scheduled for 2:45 today. I'm not really worried about it, as I've never battled any feelings of claustrophobia. But I doubt I'll fall asleep whilst inside. Anyone have any tips, tricks for not getting freaked out when the noise starts?
Have my final prescribed PT session with Heath on Friday. I told him that Jeff and I have already made plans to spend our anniversary weekend (eight years) mountain biking. So I told him I expected him to pull out all the stops and do something magical to allow me to enjoy the weekend away. He told me I can't really do any more damage than I've already done...and just warned me not to overdo it. I plan to heed this advice. The weather forecast isn't looking so hot for our weekend away. Pretty please send some good weather vibes our way...my mojo really needs to be upped with a fun weekend away.
Tomorrow I'm speaking at my alma mater, Mercer University. Well, I'm not speaking in front of an assembly or anything. I'm hanging out with my friend Graham's advertising classes, talking to them about my experiences in the creative field. Should be interesting. More on that after I spend the day with them.
To all who can train...train hard, smart and strong. I'm living vicariously through you!

MRI Tomorrow

2007-04-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

Just a short and quick post to let you all know that I've got an MRI scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Won't know anything from it until I go back to get results next week, but scheduled sooner rather than later, as the pain is increasing in intensity and it's occuring more often, during normal daily activities like rolling over in bed at night.

I'll fill you in on anything else tomorrow. I have a blog header to work on!

The Meniscus Mix: Power Pop

2007-04-09T08:04:00.000-04:00

More on the title later...

It was another chilly morning, but the weather is supposed to warm up. Good. Of course, some rain is forecast. Not so good. But you can't always win with Mother Nature. You gots to take the good with the bad.

The alarm clock went off at 4:00 a.m., as it always does on weekdays. And I rolled out of bed after a short 5-minute laze. Took out the dog, shivered in my sweats and fleece pullover, then grabbed a glass of water and my morning vitamins and sat down at the computer for an hour's work before my run.

Hit the outdoors at 5:15 with yoga pants, full-length bra, long-sleeved wicking tee and a short sleeve tee over that. It was cold for the first few moments, and my hands never really adapted (should have dug up some gloves...but that might have been too hot), but I soon warmed up and was sweating a bit as my breath puffed out in white wisps.

It's such a great feeling to be out and about early, when so many others are still curled up in bed. It makes you feel alive, strong, athletic, and so many other awesome adjectives. This was the first morning I've run as much as I've walked, as I'm bumping up my visit with the ortho and know that the next phase will likely involve little to no running/cycling/or any activity that makes me feel the way this morning's jaunt felt. But that's OK. I plan on loading up over the next few days.

I'll be smart-ish. I'm not pushing it to the point of the pain becoming unbearable. I promise. I'm still keeping my PT sessions and I'm still doing all the prescribed exercises at home, as well as at PT. I'm just tired of feeling mopey, and pretty sure the blogging world is tired of mopey posts. Since yesterday's bike ride was a semi-success, I'm going to see how another ride, post-run, feels this afternoon. I'll not push it...I just want to see how things feel, as that gives me more to tell the doc when I see him.

So...on to the title of my post. I've been kinda mopey, and I'm sure folks want to hear about something besides the knee. So how about hearing some music. Lately my love of music has been more mood-enhancing than normal. So, I'm going to share some tunes with my blogging friends. There are some oldies but goodies and some newer bands...it's a mix. They're for listening only, don't want to infringe on any copyrights. But holler if you something and can't find it on i-Tunes or other online music retailers. I'm sure we can work something out.

I give you the Meniscus Mix - Power Pop!

Roll over the speaker graphic, then press play.

1. TAG TEAM TRAMPOLINE - Another Apology

2. BUNNYGRUNT - Hometown Rockstar

3. THE RIVERDALES - Outta Sight

4. THE MURDOCKS - Da Da

5. SILO THE HUSKIE - When To Run

6. ASH - Girl From Mars

7. RED FIVE - Gasoline

8. DANCE HALL CRASHERS - So Sue Us

9. THE SLATS - Automobile

10. SILVERSUN PICKYUPS - Kissing Families

Hope everyone's Monday, and week, is off to a good start!

Weekend: What & Why

2007-04-08T17:41:00.000-04:00

Friday and Saturday weren't so hot for me. The knee pain was at an all time high, cropping up during activities that had not been painful previously. I admit I got a bit mopey, again. Pisser.

I fell off the 100% clean wagon and put myself into a carb-induced coma last night. It made me think, though. Except for the few weeks post Sebring, I'd been really clean and I'd enjoyed my Saturday & Sunday night cheat meals. Though I've had to cut back on the bike, I've been adding in enough other activities that I'm not going to worry overmuch about enjoying some food once or twice a week. The rest of the time I look at it as fuel, but hey...I gots no bike joy, so I'm going to enjoy some food joy. The scale's actually down a couple pounds, even after my nork-fest...so I'm not real worried.

I went out for two hours on the knobbies on the road. I went out hoping to get in 90 minutes, and while it hurt, with my new knee brace it never got to the point of excrutiating so I tacked on another half hour for almost exactly two hours of riding. It was basically flat, no real climbs, no real descents. It was mostly road, three out and backs on the levey, a couple turns around the dirt track. While it probably wasn't the best thing for my knee, it was exactly what my spirits required, especially since the husband and most of my crew were out enjoying Dauset without me.

I'm going to call the ortho's office tomorrow and see if we can't bump my next appointment up several days so that we can start the process of the MRI and the arthroscopy sooner rather than later. I'm ready to take action.

Coming to some conclusions

2007-04-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

First of all, Jill really nailed how I was feeling on the head. Her blog has gorgeous pictures, too.

I'm 95% ready to admit that I'm going to have to give up the idea of participating (notice I didn't say competing...as I'd already conceded that I wouldn't be competitive with all that's been going on) in my first MTB event, Baker's Dozen. The trails cause the pain to make its presence known and known alarmingly within just minutes of turning the pedals. I can go a bit longer, a bit, before the pain kicks in on the road, if it's flat. But it still isn't even close to thirteen hours. Hell, it isn't even close to ONE hour.

It upsets me because I really enjoy this event. But I'm not gonna get all disgruntled because I have bigger, charitable, fish to fry in ensuing months and I want to ensure that I'm able to participate and even compete in those. So, BD, I believe I'm going to have to give you a raincheck and tell you I'll see you in '08.

Heath worked me yesterday at PT. But I'm seeing patterns in the pain now. Seeing what motions/movements cause the pain, and feeling the difference in pain when I undertake different actions. I'll know more after today's session, which he told me will be a good one.

I can't constantly harangue you all with bad news, so here's something that brightened my mood a bit and I think I should share. Heath said that my short running intervals on the flats aren't doing any additional damage to my knee and if they make me happy, I can continue with them as long as I'm honest and I really don't tackle any hills and keep them short. Yippee!

A post in song quotes...

2007-04-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

This morning was just one of those spectacular mornings, even with knee pain in the mix. Even though it rained lightly. Even though I couldn't just go 100%. It was a good morning with good tunes, hence the title and the format of this post.

Plan to Stay Awake by The Deathray Davies: The alarm clock is still going off at 4:00 a.m., but with the decrease in the intensity of my workouts, it appears I need less sleep. So I'm enjoying an extra hour or so in the evenings with Jeff. And I'm not feeling any desire to roll back over for an extra ten minutes. I'm getting up and getting into it.

Punch Me Harder by Superchunk: Heath keeps stepping up the PT. I know Monday was more difficult than last Thursday. I don't know what's on tap for today, but I'll do it as best I can and I'll know he's tracking every wince and attempt to compensate with my right leg.

Banquet by Bloc Party: Day one of eating clean went great. Once I get through day three I generally have no more cravings. And it's not like my good and healthy can't be tasty. I've even got my protein shakes tasting especially good with the addition of unsweetened chocolate almond milk. Yum!

My Exhibition by Catherine Wheel: So I ran a little bit during my "walk" this morning. I know, I know. But I didn't push it, I promise. I'm slowing down hugely on the bike...only 30 minutes yesterday. I only ran the flats, no hills, either up or down. It was lightly raining the whole time, but not cold. And I just felt great. Except that I was running in cotton yoga pants and when the lower legs got wet they had a tendency to travel south when I did the running jaunts. Exposing a bit of Mallie upper-pardukey. It was early...I don't think I offended anyone!

Guilty by Gravity Kills: Not only am I guilty of listening to some techno-industrial "lite", but I ran. I know. I know.

Rebound by Sebadoh: My mood has taken a good turn since the debacle that was Sunday's ride. I hyoogely miss my bike, but since that's the real pain-instigator, I'm letting it go. No trail riding. No climbing or descents. Flat stuff. Knobbies on asphalt. And I'm rebounding because I'm doing what I'm supposed to, slacking off, so that Heath can do his job and so I can get the proper diagnosis.

The Unbroke Part of It by Deloris: I'm on a two-day on, one day off program for upper body strength, since I have to baby the lower body right now. First day on is higher weight/lower reps/building while the second day is lighter weight/high reps/to fatigue.

Million Dollar Man by Imperial Teen: So, surgery is a subject that's being bandied about by my doc, Heath, Jeff, and, of course me. But, hey, medicine can be a marvel. And if surgery is what it takes to get me back on the bike, back to trail running (that's out as you can't trail run flat) and back to lower body weightlifting, then that's what this girlie's gonna do. I doubt I'll be as cool as the "Bionics", but I'm not afraid of the prospect.

Stumble by R.E.M: So I'm having a "downer" time right now. Who doesn't have them? I've hit a stumbling block. But this, too, shall pass.

The Science of Myth by Screeching Weasel: So, I'm no dummy. I know medicine isn't always exact, cut and dried. Especially with something like knee pain. Medicine is a business. I pay before each PT session. I'm reserving the right to be skeptical. I'm reserving the right to second, even third, opinions. We'll get to the bottom of it. I'm not gonna sit around. I'm not gonna "wait and see".

Ruby Soho by Rancid: Much like the song says, my "destination" is "unknown"...but I'm not ignoring it. I'm being proactive rather than reactive.

Gigantic by The Pixies: I've got the best support system a gimpy girl could ask for. Great husband who doesn't get phased when I get a little teary from time to time. Great local friends who send me e-mails and holler at me if they think I'm pushing it! And a super-duper set of digital dudes and dudettes that keep me up with their own training logs and offer loads of encouragement and advice. I'm lucky. Thank you.

T-T-T-Tuesday

2007-04-03T10:01:00.000-04:00

Not a whole lot to report...but if I'm not good about posting one day, it tends to turn into two, three, twelve days. There are a lot of random things going in.

Jodi did awesome at her first 1/2 IM. I can only imagine how she'll rock the full later this year.

Sara's finally posted the good news, even though several of us were pretty sure what that news was for a while now.

As for me...well, my attitude is back on track. Saw Heath yesterday and we added to the first day's routine. He assured me that we'd do even more on Wednesday & Thursday and that he'd be able to tell me something at least "fairly" definitive by the end of the session Thursday. I'm going to hold off on the 2nd opinion until then, but I've got my eye on a few docs should it be necessary.

Amazingly, now that walking and pretty much any and all bike riding (even flat easy stuff) hurts like all heck, I can row without pain. So look to see some long rowing sessions to replace other aerobic activities. I'll also be getting back into the pool as soon as the resurface is complete (sometime at the end of this week).

And finally, at a time when I can't control a whole lot about my physical condition, I can take control of my diet/lifting. Back in November '06, in the midst of some tough personal stuff, I got down to the nitty gritty and really cleaned up the diet and hit the weights hard. I saw the lowest weight I'd seen since my lightweight days as a soccer player. I was strong and I looked pretty damned good. I had abs even. Now I've got one single ab, which we all know isn't the ticket. I haven't gained that much weight back...but its soft. So I'm posting this on the blog so you'll all hold me accountable. I'm gonna get back down to that ideal/goal weight I reached in November. And I'm gonna stay there, while at the same time undertaking a pretty intensive upper body weightlifting regimen (can't do anything with the leggies, so might as well get buff up top, right?).

So some new goals while I'm in limbo should keep me from worrying overmuch and going quietly, or not so quietly, insane.

It starts today. 100% clean until Saturday, April 14th. We're celebrating our anniversary that weekend, so I'll allow myself a yummy dinner and some dessert.

Gimp...Grit...Guilty

2007-04-02T07:44:00.000-04:00

First and foremost...thanks to all who let me feel sorry for myself a little bit yesterday. That's over and done now. But I think I needed it. Special big thanks to Jill, who, while going through much the same thing, just GETS it in a way I can't expect of everyone.

So. Yeah. I'm back to being the usual Mallie again. Like Chris commented, Klondike Bars can cure a lot of woes. They can also make you feel sick to your stomach and remind you why you gave up a steady diet of junkfood!

First, a clarification. I wasn't told, "30 minutes on the bike, not a minute more, missy!" I was told to base my ride on what I'd normally try to do. Heath, the PT, gave the example that if I normally rode for an hour, I should try 20-30 minutes. So, since I'd normally be tackling 4-5 hour rides on the weekend several weeks before a 12-hour event, I chose to try for 45 minutes. And as to why I kept going even when the pain started at 37 seconds...well, duh! Anyone who's had an injury has done this. You think the pain will subside, not get worse, that you'll warm up and all will be well. Then, of course, you think, I can ride/run/swim/whatever through it.

Yep, good old grit. It can get you into predicaments. Let me give you a little background here. I think it will be all to familiar to many of you, who I'm quite sure have similar "segments" of your own sporting history that match up to mine.

I'm 15, sophomore year of high school. Starting varsity goalkeeper for the soccer team. My coach (a clueless weirdo, unfortunately) is warming me up. I tell her I'm done and start stretching my arms out in front of me. Clueless she punts another line drive at me. My outstretched hand takes the full brunt on just the end of my left ring finger. I hear a crunching pop, it hurts, and I give the coach a seriously dirty look. But I'm a goalkeeper, right? Fingers get smooshed all the time. Stepped on. Bent backward. Slammed into the posts. Etc. You shake it off and keep playing. 'Nuff said. I shook it off, played, had a shut out and went on home.

The next morning I noticed my finger was the size of, oh, my wrist, and a gorgeous black, purple, green combo. But I figured I jammed it. Happens. Went to school. Didn't even mention it to my folks. Didn't even really think anything was wrong until the dork in front of me in biology managed to send his chair winging back into said finger as I had it dangling over the edge of my desk. Decided maybe it was worth seeing the school nurse, who freaked out (she never really liked me...but that's another story)and called my father to immediately take me to the emergency room.

Turns out that the force of the ball hitting my unready and straightened out finger had actually sheared off my knuckle, which was floating around under my dermis toward my wrist. Yep. Not just broken, lopped clean off.

So, why the long, involved story? To explain. I "gots" grit (unfortunately this doesn't extend to descents on the MTB, damn it). And a pretty freaking high tolerance for pain. I'm not just saying this. Several doctors noted it during my soccer injury heyday. I still remember going to see the doc for a follow-up visit on another injury and getting smacked on the arm with a rolled up newspaper. Why? I'd been told not to play for several games. The paper he smacked me with had an article about my stellar performance. During a game that I was supposed to watch from the sidelines.

I was, and still am, one of those folks who "plays through the pain". At least I've been trying to thus far. And though many of you think I should just park my keister on the couch with an ice bag, I'm admitting right here that it's not really an option for me. Not right now. So, I'm slowing down. But I really can't just stop.

Thus, this week is about finding the athletic pursuits that I can continue to do regularly, so that I don't have a nervous breakdown. I walked this morning. It hurt, but it was a pain I could handle, unlike the pain after my 45 frustrating minutes. I iced, stretched and pill popped afterward...and that's gonna be my modus operandi for the next three weeks or so. Walking instead of running. Downtown spins instead of trail rides. Upper body weights instead of squats. Swimming. Yoga (yes Renee, you read it, YOGA). And PT. But a PT I understand and feel good about(more on this after I meet with doc and Heath today).

Thanks again. Done wallowing. Done reacting. Time to act.

45 Frustrating Minutes

2007-04-01T15:29:00.000-04:00

Warning! I'm going to allow myself to feel down, scared, and depressed for one afternoon. I've been upbeat throughout the past few weeks. I feel I deserve an afternoon of reflection, fears and some junk food. Read at your own risk.

45 minutes. That's all the knee could take. 45 pitiful minutes on the easiest of easy portions of the Pig trail. Portions of the trail toddlers can clean easily. The pain kicked in as 37 seconds registered on my cyclocomputer. Yep. 37 SECONDS. It steadily got worse. Until it became nearly unbearable. I saw friends on the trail, and I tried to put on a happy face (did I succeed guys?), but as I left them I felt the first tear roll down my cheek.

Yesterday, after a mid-paced walk, it hurt worse than it hurt last week after a run.

I was only able to spin for a few moments before the pain kicked in last night while I was getting a bike fit.

Yes. I "can" ride. If you can consider barely rolling tires and constant pain riding.

Right now I'm gonna feel sorry for myself. I think I need to. I think I need to let it out.

Tomorrow I'll put the brave face back on. I'll get the doc in with the PT and let them know that I'm worried about the "plan". I'll schedule a second opinion (I liked the first doc, don't get me wrong, but I want a fix, not multiple PT sessions being billed to my CC). I'll be Mallie again.

Today I'm going to be a puddle on the sofa, eating a Klondike bar. With a sweet dog panting beside me. Just one afternoon. I promise.