Another weekend bites the dust

Thanks to CK for the wonderful race post regarding the 12 hours at New Fane. It was once again a success thanks to all our wonderful team members, friends & family and all the racers of course! While I do enjoy putting that race together, I'm glad it's now behind me so perhaps I can finally start training!!

Sunday we did race course clean up and I got 4 laps in myself. A bit under 2 hours. I was feeling completely lethargic and SLOW. . . . . .even more so than usual. But I got a nice ride in and tear down went quite fast. The weather was nice as well, which made riding all that much better.

Monday Captain had to work so I headed up to the Reforestation Camp with some peeps. A bit drained from Sunday, I had to take it down to endurance to get my ride in. Just shy of 2.5 hours, overall a good time. I think these last 2 days I've ridden more than I have in the past 2 weeks. Yikes! No wonder I'm tired (and slow). :-)

Back to the real world tomorrow. I'm so not ready. My house is a disaster, there are doggie hair balls everywhere, crushed beetles, stuffing pieces from Thunder's toys. . . . .I need another weekend just to rest and get caught up on clean up. Yeah. Guess that's not gonna happen.

SOLD

We decided to keep the old dog. . . . . .but we sold the camper.

Yes, that was in less than 48 hours. If I can sell a camper that quickly. . . . .just IMAGINE how quickly I could sell your home. . . .or your neighbor's home. . . .or your friend's home. . . .or a relative's home. . . . .

Sell or Buy with Brittany Nigh. :-)

For Sale!

2001 R-Vision, Trail Lite, 23 ft travel trailer. Queen bed, double bed, couch, large eating area, heat, A/C, water heater, microwave, bath w/shower (perfect for after the races), lots of storage, excellent condition. $6995

Race Recap

Yeah, I don't have one. I didn't race. I was one of the idiots who fell in the rock garden on pre-ride and hurt myself enough that I couldn't be at the start line on Sunday. So much for having skills.

For some strange reason. . . . . .I'm not too upset about not being able to race.

Props to those who were brave enough to endure 4 laps of that course. Awesome job.

For Sale - CHEAP

15+ year old Black Lab, lives by her stomach, wakes up 10 minutes earlier every day, thinks it's time to eat the moment she wakes up. . . . .thinks it's time to eat ALL the time actually. Barks continuously until fed (then you've got about an hour of silence if you're lucky), mostly deaf, low patience tolerance, molting like a bird, can only walk about 2 blocks at a time before needing a nap, doesn't care much for German Shepherd Puppies.

Is it Friday yet?

Somehow I lost a day. I keep thinking it's Thursday today. . . . .all day I seem to have had that problem.

While I am not looking forward to the Lake Geneva race this weekend. . . . .knowing what the course was like LAST year. . . . . .I am looking forward to camping again this weekend. Which reminds me. . . . . .we'll be looking to put our camper on the market in the next few days. We need to get it set up this weekend and snap some pictures, do the run down on what it's all got, and then we'll get it on the market. We're ready to make the next move up the ladder. . . . .or so we think. After hearing what the retaining wall at our duplex will cost us. . . . .maybe we'll be LIVING in the camper. . . . .but whatever.

So if you know anyone looking for a reasonably priced camper. . . . . . .let me know. It's in very good shape, lots of room. I'll keep you posted on the details.

Monday Miles

While Monday started off a bit cool in temps, I decided the rising numbers on the scale wouldn't allow me to sit and NOT ride. . . . . . .so I bundled up and headed on out on the road bike for a ride. The temps only read 43, but the sun was shining and I had the time, so I really didn't have an excuse (even though I tried to come up with one).

I thought heading to the State Forest Headquarters to drop off our Special Use Permit for the 12 hour race at New Fane might be a good option. That way I couldn't try and cut my ride short. . . . .I knew I'd be out at least 1:45 with a destination in mind.

Apparently my 2 hour mountain bike ride at New Fane Saturday took more of a toll then I thought it would because raising my heart rate was a complete chore. My mid 160's felt like upper 170's and my legs immediately filled with lactic acid. I guess that's one of the downfalls of losing your fitness. . . . .rides seem to hurt a lot more lately. But I bucked it up. . . .I had a destination I had to get to.

With all the back roads I take on my bike and in my car, I rarely get lost. Yesterday, I got lost! I knew roughly were I was, so maybe you can't really call it getting lost. . . . .but I was on several roads I'd never been on and my ride was extended a bit as it took me longer to get to my destination with a few wrong turns. But the scenery was pretty, the birds were chirping and there weren't a lot of cars so it was just fine.

I think it took me a whole hour before I could hit a hill and have at least a little energy. Unfortunately that didn't last long. . . .. . .about 90 minutes in that energy faded and the hills started to hurt again.

My ride was a reminder of my lack of fitness. It was also a reminder that I really don't like to ride my road bike. It's a good break I guess, and it certainly does help you train into shape for the mountain bike, but the mountain bike is where time stands still for me. That's where I'm in touch with nature, where I can demand things from my body that it can't normally do, where I can push the limits physically and mentally. That is where my love truly is.

On the mountain bike, I also don't have to endure 75 year old men on motor bikes yelling at me for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. . . .only to see them slowly coast through the stop sign ahead. I don't have to worry about almost getting clipped off by some asinine driver who thinks it's funny to see how close they can get to the chick on the bike without picking her off. I don't have to worry about dogs trying to race me, people thinking I'm not moving and pulling out in front of me, or stupid people hanging out in their yard shouting stupid words at me.

And you wonder why I don't enjoy the road bike as much?

I wrapped up the ride yesterday at a whopping 16 something mph average - I guess I'm even SLOWER than I thought I was. 2:25. Mostly enjoyable. The more exciting thing is, today my body actually feels a little better vs feeling drained. That's kind of strange. I guess we'll see how the work day pans out. Hopefully I can squeeze in a little mountain bike ride this afternoon between work, the rain showers we're supposed to see and my yoga class this evening. We'll see.

Weekend wrap up

Monday morning seems to be when I get time to do the weekend wrap up. And quite a weekend it was.

Saturday we spend the day at New Fane, getting ready for the 12 hours at New Fane race, Memorial Day weekend. The DNR is nice enough to let us create some temporary trails for that day. . . . .and that's what we laid out. With a nice sized crew we put the rakes to work and added 3 sections of twists and turns amidst the fast, open track. After everything was laid out, we put it to the test and rode. Fun stuff. We'll need just a little more work out there before the big day, grooming a few of those turns. The laps took me about 28 minutes at a moderate speed. Pretty fun stuff.

Sunday we AGAIN awoke to our 15 year old black lab telling us it was time to get our butts out of bed and feed her. That's really getting old. But once she's up and fed, she typically goes back to bed. And that's what we did as well. Our little Thunder wasn't ready to get out of bed. . . . .she had a play mate for the trail work day. She played her little heart out and she slept MOST of the day Sunday. We had to go purchase her some Benedryl tho'. She woke up with her snout about twice the size from some type of bug bite poor thing. And she's such a sensitive puppy. .. . . .try and touch her when she's not feeling good and whimpers you'll hear.
A few errands, some odds and ends, and an afternoon/evening with Bill's family for his dad's birthday and Mother's day and that wrapped up our weekend. Bill seems to have pinched a nerve in his neck/shoulder, or pulled a muscle or something, as it hurt all weekend, making it virtually impossible for him to lift any weight (including Thunder) yesterday. From what I hear, today is even worse. Guess we'll be prompting him to call the DR to figure that out today.

I can't believe it's Monday again already. Crap.

Thunder puppy is right at home

Camping this past weekend with the puppy was better than expected.

She hopped up on the couch and made herself right at home (although at home she is not allowed on the couch). Of course I know we should be happy. . . . . .I hear some puppies jump right up on the kitchen table.

Other than being a little antsy Saturday afternoon/evening, she did very well. Slept through the night, didn't whimper much, met LOTS of new friends, got lots of compliments on how pretty she was, got laughed at cuz her ears often form a triangle on top of her head and napped through our whole race.

I think the whole "she's so pretty" comments went right to her head. She seems a little stuck up now if you ask me.

Overall she's a pretty good puppy. She's got those moments of terror, where all you can do is shove her back in her crate and hope for brighter moments. . . . . .but when she gets enough exercise and lovin', she's pretty darn good.

So sore!

Wow. That extra lap sure adds some extra soreness to the body. As if it's not hard enough doing 90 minutes at an AHR of 181, add another 34 and I'm ready to trade this model in for a younger one with more upgrades.

Today I felt a little better in terms of major aches and pains and I had a tad bit more energy. But the muscles that were/are tweaked are REALLY tweaked.

After 75 minutes of yoga (the relaxation kind) and 60 minutes of intense, deep massage, I'm thinking I'm about ready to turn the corner tomorrow. Either that, or I'll not be able to get out of bed. One or the other is a sure bet.

I tried a short hike with Thunder today. . . .only made it 40 minutes and my body was toast. I'd better find my endurance soon or I'll NEVER get to train. I'll be recovering all the time. :-)

First Elite Race

My first elite race was what I would consider a success.

pic courtesy of Rusty

The weekend had a whole different undertone. I can't even explain it, it was just different. I didn't have the nerves I always have. I didn't have to hit the bathroom 5 times in the morning. I wasn't nervous on the preride. I didn't cry during the national anthem (well, ok, I did tear up on that one, but not as much as usual). I didn't almost puke when Don said GOOOOOOOOO because I was so unbelievably nervous. It was just different. I wasn't even nervous. It was something I'm TOTALLY not used to.

I had a plan. My plan was to finish 4 laps, hopefully somewhat consistently, not to bonk big time on lap 4, to NOT pull over when I was passed but instead to hold my line or pull to the side a bit but keep moving, not to get worked up if I encountered any "less than cordial boys passing me" and to finish, hopefully not dead last, but if that was the case, so be it. And I accomplished just about all of those goals.

We lined up at the start and as I'm conversing with my peeps, I'm looking ahead of me and behind me at ALL the boys I see. The thoughts running through my head were "holy crap, ALL these boys are going to have to pass me at some point". And "wow, I'm out of my league standing here". And "crap, I hope I can make all 4 laps". Don yelled GOOOOOO and off we went. The start wasn't as fast as I was prepped for it to be, however I'm a fast starter so I was right at home redlining it out of the gate.

Lap one I pulled an insane pace. I was breathing so hard I thought my lungs were going to explode. The top comp guys caught me about 2/3 the way through the first lap. We dumped into tight single track sections with me wedged between comp boys. I rode like I've never rode before. I had no idea I could even ride technical sections that fast. . . . . .let alone that clean. I wanted to stay out of the way and avoid pissing anyone off. My heart rate was insane. My head kept saying "there is NO way you can hold this for 4 laps". But I didn't care. I did what I could and figured how am I going to know, unless I try? I managed to hit my lap timer for each lap and the first one took me a hair over 29 minutes (29:16). Off to lap 2.

Lap 2 was similar to lap 1, riding at or over LT for most of it, hammering it as hard as i possibly could through the single track to stay out of the way, pulling the pace back a bit on the flats to let people around me. I still rode relatively clean, pulled a 31:40.

Lap 3 I thought I was going to die. I kept thinking "if I was in sport, this would be it". I was so tired I made a few stupid mistakes. I dropped my chain going into one section and that prompted a group of comp/elite boys to be on my tail. I biffed a tree, cranked my gears, and had to pull over to let them by, about 4 times. I got a little angry at myself, kept wondering how in the WORLD I was going to do a 4th lap when I wasn't even sure I was going to get through this one. . . . . then I yelled at myself and said "who cares?!?" I took a deep breath, concentrated on riding clean and forgot those around me. That seemed to work MUCH better. According to my watch, that one took me 32:03. Had I not had to do a 4th lap, I think I could have pulled a little quicker time on lap 3. . . .but looking at sport, it looks like those lap times alone would have put me in the top 10, which is cool.

Lap 4 was much more relaxed. Only a few passing me, a much calmer pace. . . . . .one of my goals was also to make it up all the hills on ALL the laps vs having to walk anything on lap 4. It hurt like hell, but I did it. I saw Christine just ahead and tried to keep my pace up so she didn't put to large of a gap on me. Again, I rode the single track hard, rested on the flats when I needed to. . . . .tried to ride clean. Then I hit those stupid downhill, off camber turns towards the end. EVERY SINGLE YEAR I endo there and this year wasn't the exception. My first 2 laps I rode them like a pro, my 3rd lap I fumbled a bit, my 4th lap I sailed over the bars and face planted in the dirt. Idiot. I got up, shook myself off, watched the Goat ride effortlessly past me, assessed any damage and rode on. I was so close to the finish I could almost smell it. I wanted to be done. I hopped back on and rode my heart out. Christine was long gone but there were a few boys on my tail. I tried to stay out of their way and get to the finish in one piece. I succeeded.

Almost every boy that passed me was kind and courteous. Many of them knew me by name and cheered me on. Some of them even coached me though the turns, helping me ride even faster. Only a couple were less than nice, and I didn't let that bother me. Overall, a success.

4 laps, 2:04:40, AHR 181. 17th out of 20. A couple dumb mistakes, one endo. . . . . . . .my first elite race under my belt. Sweet. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Yeah, I suck

I know. I haven't updated in a coon's age (what exactly IS a coon's age). I haven't been the most positive lately and I felt I may be best off not bringing that into the blogsphere. BUT, I'm doing better today.

Work has been crazy, seriously. Don't believe all this crap you hear about the housing market being in the toilet, homes not selling, EVERYBODY and their brother being foreclosed on, yeah, it's just not that bad of a picture. The media has a way of making EVERYTHING all doom and gloom.

This past weekend I was a "single parent". It was tough, but I made it through. Saturday the weather was less than perfect so I opted for a trainer ride. Yes, a trainer ride. Sometimes I really don't mind the trainer. I get to watch a movie, I get to keep an eye on my puppy and she gets to explore the basement instead of being stuffed in her crate for an additional 2 hours. So the ride was good. Then Squirt came over and we took Thunder out for a little hike to release some of her energy. Seriously, she's SOOO much better if she gets her hikes. If she gets no exercise (like the past 3 days), she's a little terror.

Sunday I took her to puppy class by myself. . . . . . .and her sister was there. It was a riot to see the two of them together. They didn't care about any other puppies, they only wanted to play with each other. It was the cutest thing.

After that I headed down to Muir for another mtb ride with my peeps. Thank GOODNESS it was better than the week before. CK was nice enough to swap out my tires so I had some new treads on there. Holy cow did that make a difference. I no longer had to try and corner like a citizen rider. Sweet. Another ride out to Emma and back. I was working a cold out of the body so I wasn't feeling the best. . . . .but it was a good ride none-the-less.

After that, the cold seemed to really want to get a hold of me. Sunday night had me sleeping like CRAP and feeling like I was going to puke. Thankfully that passed and Monday I hit the pillow at 8pm. Slept MUCH better. Yesterday I was wiped, but not feeling too crappy. Today just some sinus pressure, but ok. After taking Thunder for an hour hike, I'm a little tired. . . . . but I think I'll still have enough energy to hit the dirt on my own for a bit this afternoon.

I was nervous cuz the yaking flu is going around. That's one thing I do NOT do well at. I'd rather have my head feel like it's going to explode than to yak for 24 hours. Seriously. I'll just keep the fingers crossed that doesn't come my way.

So that's my update. Boring as usual. First WORS race this weekend, a camper to pack, groceries to buy, puppy stuff to organize, bikes to get ready. . . . . .and work, work, work to do. Yeah, it will be a "fun" next couple days. Can't wait to kick back Friday night at Iola pines with a cocktail.

Beautiful temps

I'm truly liking the weather these past few days. Even yesterday with the morning storms (yes, it POURED here). . . . . .topped off with sunshine and WARM temps again. Nice! It's hard to NOT be in a good mood when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the temps warrant NO jacket!

I took Monday and Tuesday off from working out. I had "planned" to do a ride yesterday, but had such a stressful day by the time it finally ended, I just looked forward to making some delicious food and laying low. My body was still sore from the weekend, riddled with stress knots and my puppy was ALL wound up from spending half the day in her crate. I felt it was more important to take her for a little walk and take some time to myself. Today I know I made the RIGHT choice. :-)

I FINALLY got a very good night's sleep last night, leaving me refreshed and ready to conquer all my "stuff" today. THAT was awesome. I even ended up with some time to take Thunder for a 50 minute hike. Now she should sleep like a baby while I go ride my bike tonight with my friends. Cool.

Amazing weather

So they thought it would be cooler and rain for most of the weekend. Once again, they were wrong. Thankfully this time they were wrong in OUR favor.

Friday allowed me some time to take Thunder down to Blue again and hike the trails some more. She really enjoys getting out and getting exercise. It makes her a MUCH better puppy. Guess that's what Cesar says. . . . most "naughty" dogs simply don't get enough exercise.

Friday night we introduced Thunder to her first camping experience. We thought it would be a good idea to do a test run before we subject her to a weekend away on race weekend. As we thought, she settled in just fine, playing with her toys, enjoying being around people. She whimpered a little around 5am when Bill got up to head to the bathroom, but he pottied her and she was back asleep until about 6:40. Sweet.

Saturday Bill and I waffled back and forth trying to decide what to do for a ride when my phone rang. Some new peeps from our team were planning on heading down to Blue and wanted to know how the trail conditions were. That sealed it for me. Bill took off on the road bike, I headed down to Blue to ride with them. I'm too out of shape to ride any intensity for too long, so I managed a 85 minute ride with some efforts before I headed back home to relax.

Sunday we debated back and forth if we should head down to try and race Rock Cut, or hit the trails at Muir. Muir won. Tons of peeps there. . . . . .I rode alone, questioned my existence, wondered why the HELL I decided to move up, why I didn't train more or at LEAST do what I did last year. . . . .I face planted once, in the pines mind you. . . .on the FLAT STUFF. What an idiot. I didn't see the tree stump and hit it head on. My bike stopped abruptly, I kept going. I forgot how much I dislike flying over the handle bars.

While the weather was absolutely beautiful, my ride left something to be desired. Probably FITNESS. I've decided it's MUCH more fun to ride when you have fitness. Without it, it's a HELL of a lot of work. Today, I just wanted to be done. 2:30, a few scrapes, a couple bruises, and hopefully one step closer to not making a fool of myself this season. Oh well. It's too late to cry now. Instead, I'll just try to have some fun. I THINK I still remember how to do that.

A glimpse of Spring

The sun popped out, the birds were chirping, the wind was blowing at phenomenal speeds. . . . and the temps slowly rose into the 70's. What beautiful day.

Most of my afternoon was tied up so my ride waited until the evening yesterday. Thankfully Mother Nature decided to smile on us with warm temps well into the evening. . .. .so a 6:00 ride time was perfect.

A group of us met down at Blue to get a nice mtb ride in. Thunder came along and hung out in the back of the truck. . . . .I think she thinks it is like one HUGE crate. She just sat in there, played with her toys. Watched stuff going on. So far, so good.

We assembled at 6:00 and set off to ride soon after. Tweak had an early mishap and as the girls circled back through the lot we found him perched on the back of his truck with a nice cut on his leg. Too much power I guess. . . . . .pulled right out of his pedal, almost flipped over the bars and managed to mess up his front wheel in the process. Poor guy.

Shooter, Squirt and myself rode most of the time together. I rode so hard I puked in my mouth. . . .and not just a little bit. It was so much I had to spit it out. I guess that means we were riding hard. Really I think it means I'm out of shape. Whatever.

We hit the "new trail" a couple times, once both ways. We hit the hills hard. . . . .tried to work the turns fast. . . . . .chatted on the flats. I decided I'm way behind where I should be, but then I also decided I didn't really care all that much. This season will be a learning curve. My goal is to finish every race, hopefully not finish last in EVERY race and to have fun. If I can't meet those goals, I need to find something else to do with my time. Yes, mountain biking is hard work. . . . .but for me, it's supposed to be fun. The day that stops is the day I should reconsider my fitness goals, my goals in life, etc.

This morning proves to be another nice morning. The showers are supposed to be moving in a little later. I'll have to try and get Thunder out for another hike sometime this morning. It will be an off day from riding for me. . . . .but it's deceiving how difficult hiking with her can get. When I wear my heart rate monitor, I'm actually in my endurance zone hiking. Of course I'm using different muscles and such. . . . .BUT it's still exercise and at this time in my life, that's what I need. Exercise with my puppy. That way we BOTH win. Sweet.

Tuesday recap

Biggest Loser - Ali won. YIPPEE!!!!

Did some more trail maintenance today. Now we're ready to ride.

Thunder is a sleepy puppy. We happened to catch her during her nap. What a dork.

Weekend

Sorry peeps, not a lot of exciting riding for me over the weekend. I'm probably the ONLY one who didn't do crap, but such is life.

Saturday I sat my butt on the trainer which was just fine with me since the snow was flying nicely. Is it December? Oh wait, no, it's APRIL. Yes, that's it.

Sunday was an action packed day. We took Thunder to her first "puppy class" where she met about a dozen other German Shepherds. She was the youngest one there at just under 12 weeks. Most of the others were around 4 months, and 4 or 5 of them were litter mates. Thunder did nicely, a bit timid at first unsure about all the barking, but then she settled in just fine. She "socialized" with everybody, came when called, sat when told to sit, climbed through the little tunnels (confidence building drills), etc. She really didn't want to leave, she just wanted stay and play with her new friends. But we dragged her home and headed out to New Fane for a hike.

New Fane is already in excellent condition. Almost dry with just a few wet spots. Some debris down on the trail. . . . .but nothing TOO bad. A tree here and there. We looked over some of the sections we'd like to add again. . . . and they look good. Our 12 hour race should once again prove to be a good time.

The weather people say today is the last day of "winter", at least for this week. I sure hope they're right. We're planning a mtb ride Wednesday after work at Glacial Blue in West Bend if anyone is interested. They SAY it's going to hit 66 on Wednesday. I sure need that!

Where

Is the sunshine and warm temps???

Better late than never

As I sit here at my kitchen table at 5:30am on a Tuesday morning, I'm reminded of the beauty this world possesses. While we've had only a brief glimpse of spring, I can hear the birds chirping outside. . . . .I can see the tulips and daffodils slowly poking out of the ground. . . . . . the sun is resting for it's big debut of the day (maybe). . . . . .my puppy is doing hot laps up and down the hallway while my husband tries to get a few extra winks of sleep today (usually he gets up with her).

This past weekend Mother Nature was in a spectacular mood, bringing us warm temps and sunny skies. Saturday I had the most spectacular ride, even if it was on the gravel trail. I set out on my own, with my iPod cranked to a selection of tunes that kept me smiling. I headed north, and while I think the wind was more at my back. . . . . .it was still as windy as could be. There were people scattered here and there along the trail, some cleaning up the debris from the winter, some walking their dogs, others jogging or riding their bikes. But everyone had a smile. Good weather does that to people. . . . .it puts a little smile in our hearts.

I figured since Bill was off on his own ride and the puppy was tired from her "play date" the night before, I could take a good 2+ hour ride without any "guilt". I headed north about 1:15, almost making it to Eden. I peeked at my heart rate a few times as I knew I was riding a LOT harder than I needed to. . . . . . .but I didn't care. It felt spectacular and so I pushed on.

Getting back took almost the same amount of time. The sun warmed my skin, the wind blew my hair through my helmet, the wheels spun at a nice pace on my bike. My heart rate responded nicely. All in all, 2:33, AHR 163.

Sunday was a different story. Apparently I used up all my mojo on Saturday because the hellish winds were nearly impossible for me to battle on the road bike, even with 2 other peeps as shields. My legs filled up with acid the moment I tried to exert them and raising my heart rate above 166 seemed like an impossible feat. I decided to just take in the sunshine, chalk up my lack of energy to a hard ride the day before, and call it a day after 90 minutes out and about. Hard. . . . .painful. . . . .but STILL enjoyable.

Later in the day we took Thunder for her first walk in the woods. She loved it. I told her she had to get used to the trails because we'd be spending a LOT of time down there raking and hopefully building some new stuff. I think she's in.

We're waiting for her ears to BOTH stand up, and stay standing up. Right now she looks like a special ed. dog. . . . .but she's far from it. Intelligence oozes from this one. She's already catching on to many things. I think she's "gifted". Yeah, I know she doesn't "look" it though.

Belated b-day shout out

We celebrated. . . .but I didn't do a shout out.

Happy Belated Birthday Lt Dan.

The pryamid was NOT my idea. . . . .and notice the addition of another pyramid virgin. One by one we lure them in.

Also - a birthday shout out to Tiny! Happy B-day!! Hope it's a good one.