Hitchhiker

Picked up a hitchhiker today. After I put her in my jersey no one tried to cut me off or throw stuff at me. She may have to come on more of my road rides.

The first of MANY

It was highly recommended that I do a lactate threshold heart rate { LTHR} test to establish my training zones. I feel like I am learning a new language. It turns out that the old rule of "220- your age" is not always accurate. Mine was a little off, so I am glad I did this simple test. Basically you ride like hell for 30 minutes. After 10 minutes hit the lap button and finish the last 20 minutes. Your biking zones are based on the last 20 minutes. Lucky for me I have a 'self professed' numbers geek in my corner this year . I was able to send Jeff my Garmin link and he hooked me up with my numbers. I should probably be paying this guy huh?

I loaded Felix in Stella, the van, and took the 15 minute drive to Busch Wildlife. Busch has 3 separate loops to ride as well as many other off road options. There is low traffic, I only saw 5 cars, and sometimes you can score a beer from the fisherman. I did my 30 minutes and felt like I could puke afterwards. There are several hills and some challenging gravel. Many stretches that looked like this.

Since I was already there I did a couple laps of the A loop. I ended my day with 26 miles and lots of smiles.

I started using dailymile in November to track all my workouts and see what other athletes are doing. I even have friends in Alaska and Switzerland. I would call it a facebook for athletes. I recently added their training widget to my blog to help keep myself accountable. Go to http://www.dailymile.com/ to sign up. Its free!!

Damn, thats a great bike! A picture doesnt do it justice.

My first week of training may be a challenge. Sydney is on spring break and the weather looks awful. Just a couple obstacles to overcome. Thank goodness I have a Cyclops. I plan on doing this http://gravelgrinder.blogspot.com/ next weekend. You should too. I am looking to carpool so hit me up if your interested.

SURPRISE!!!!!

Well, not really. For the past 12 years my wonderful husband has given me gifts, but ALL of them early. For instance, I received my Christmas present in Oct. He just cant wait. I am not complaining, I am used to it. He gave me my birthday presents yesterday. My birthday is still a week out. He bought me http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetail.aspx?p=206001209&mc=&t=&lat=. Its perfect for a base layer and will be great protection from the sun. At $21 its a steal. My next gift was http://www.breakthroughfitness.org/. Bootcamp! I have been to Marla's Boot Camps before , she is the real deal. She helped me knock over 20 inches off. She has her clients keep food journals that she checks regularly and makes suggestions in. Marla showed me that I was not eating enough for my active lifestyle and made suggestions on better options to fuel myself. I look forward to her a$$ kicking class on 3/21 at 530 am. She may still have spots open, so check it out. You will not regret it.

Doing the Dirty

Immediately after signing up for this: http://www.dirtykanza200.com/, I threw up in my mouth. What the hell was i thinking? Can I finish this? Why does 200 miles of gravel appeal to me? Am I crazy? Just to name a few. I do not sign up for races I dont think I can complete. Why did I sign up for this? Since then, I have been very busy dissecting this one and figuring out how to get to the finish line.

I started by gaining some knowledge by reading this http://www.amazon.com/Core-Performance-Endurance-Nutrition-Revolutionizes/dp/B00381B82C/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c. I figure the more I know the better off I will be. Mr. Verstegen has written others, but I highly recommend this one if you go LONG. I also read Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes by Monique Ryan. There was a lot of info here, but nothing earth shattering .

I reached out to several members of the cycling community for advice and received a lot of useful info on training and nutrition. Would you believe that one elite cyclist drew up a 12 week plan specifically for me. It was perfect. Thanks Jeff. So, I have a plan. I feel somewhat prepared , yet nervous about all the other stuff I need to figure out. Such as tire choice, race day fuel and finding the perfect pack. I like this one http://www.golite.com/carry-gear/mens/hydration-and-day-use , the Slipstream, yellow one. I am left wondering if it will be big enough. The new Osprey I bought is overkill and larger than I will need. Plus last year it reached 103 and I would like less on my back.

My weapon of choice will be my 2011 Jake The Snake, unless something ' crazy' happens. Kona sure knew what they were doing when they made this one. I have just over 1300 miles on this , since Nov, so you can tell how much I love it. I know it will not let me down and is quite comfortable for a cross bike. Besides , its only 200 miles right?

I am pumped to start my first official day of training on March 14th. Last year I just rode my bike, A lot. No certain distance or intensity , just A LOT. This year I feel comfortable with the more structured plan. It looks good on paper. I dont know what is more exciting for me though. The journey to get to the race or the race itself?

Make sure you check back and see how it goes. I plan on weekly reports of what did or did not work and how many hours / miles I have endured. Your comments and advice are welcome. I know there are others who may benefit from them too.

Death by Hills

As I watched the parking lot fill up with cyclists for the Death by Hills ride, all I could think about was how the hell am I gonna do this. I was drained and exhausted from having been on THE CLEAN diet for the past 6 days. Expect a blog about that soon. I was down 6 pounds and felt awful. My legs felt weak and heavy. I had no energy. Thanks a lot CLEAN.

Sunday was my first time on road tires. I was hoping to keep the rubber side down and just ride as long as I could. I found that not looking at the tires helped a lot. I also prayed for no flats since I could not even put the tire on. Fifty-six of us clipped in at 9am and off we went in a pack. I have never been in a pack and backed off. Once i got comfortable I moved closer to other wheels. I quickly understood the advantages of riding in the middle. But, it did feel like cheating somehow.

As the day went on I learned some "road etiquette " Cory, rocking that new pink kit, kept pointing out debris, potholes, and those grate things while we rode along. Can you imagine if mountain bikers did the same and pointed out roots and rocks? I also saw the "slowing "hand signal. I was able to ride in a pace line. That was cool. Now I get the drafting advantage.

I like riding hills, but found myself disappointed with these. I couldnt keep my front wheel on the ground, so there was no way I was going up any of them.I was in good company with Gina, Nicole, Cory, and some teammates so I wanted to keep going. I learned that I am a better climber on my single speed. Something funny... a couple of hills were quite hard and when I looked down I realized if I shifted out of the big ring it would get a lot easier.

I am very pleased with my 7 hour "legs on" approach to road biking. I got to ride with some strong women and finally caught up to Emily to finish the ride with her. Next year I hope to keep up with Mary, who I only saw for a brief moment. Entering the lot I was just under 65 miles , so I did a couple loops to even it out.

I want to ride that route again, several times. I want more .