Goals for the rest of 2009

The Early Bird Women’s Cycling Team is having a “Team Camp” this Saturday. Woooo! Besides being excited to see all of these fabulous women again, I’m really looking forward to riding with them and all the things I will learn tomorrow.

Our team directors asked us to write down our goals for the rest of the year and share them with the team. Sharing them on my blog seemed like a good idea as well, so here they are. Maybe now that I’ve shared them with, well, everybody, I’ll be more apt to reach them!

My goals for the rest of 2009 and how I'll achieve them:

1. Continue to work on getting myself in better bike racing shape. This means working with my friend Tim on a cycling plan for the rest of my races and sticking to it. Additionally, I plan to achieve this through reading The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel. I read his Triathlete's Training Bible and it really made a big difference for me, mentally and physically. I like to learn about the things I'm doing and I know that if I read more about bike racing and understand more about how one trains for it (and races in it!), I will be much more inclined to want to stick to a training plan.

2. Lose 5 lbs. It's not that much but I think it's enough to help me out considerably up climbs as well as in crits. Doing this means really making a commitment to drinking less beer and wine (ugh!), eating less peanut butter (ugh!!) and sitting down every weekend to plan the week's dinners a little better. I know that if I do this the weight will come off, so I really need to find a way to hold myself accountable and stick to it. Any ideas on holding oneself accountable?

3. Race at least 2 more crits and 2 more road races through the rest of the season. It's not much in the bike racing world, but I've got a lot of other things going on outside of bike racing and I think it's a commitment I can stick with. I've planned out three of the races; just need to find one more crit. (Ohlone Crit, 7/25; Santa Cruz Road Race 8/23; Winters Road Race 8/29)

4. Ride two bike events that aren't races. This would be the Tour of Napa Valley 65 mile route (8/16) and either the Marin Century (8/1), the Auburn Century (9/12) or the Riverbank Wine & Cheese Century (10/11).

5. Continue to keep learning and taking it all in, being kind to myself when I make mistakes and remembering that this is all a new learning experience. Reminding myself that even little improvements are victories that should be celebrated.

6. Keep swimming and yoga in my training. It's hard to do but it's so important to me and I always feel better when I'm doing them.

7. Get more sleep. Achieving this means getting to bed earlier. Yikes!

Staying the Course

After entering the world of bike racing this year, I thought that my race reports would undoubtedly be much shorter. After all, there’s only ONE event to write about, right?

Indeed, there’s only one. But the miraculous thing is that I’m finding myself mulling over so many more things, that even days later, I continue to have little epiphanies and think “oh, I’ll have to include that on my blog, too.”

Here again, my ever-present challenge is brevity; saying more with less. I’ll keep trying.

Race: Cytomax Benicia Criterium
Date: Saturday, June 27, 2009
Field Raced: 3/4 (I’m currently a 4)
Teammates Present: Stephanie and Michal
Teams Present: Early Bird Women, Dolce Vita, Sugar CRM, NorCal, Colavita, MetroMint and a few others
Temp: At my race time (10:00 a.m.), low-mid 80s

Goals for this race:
1) Stay in the pack as long as possible in spite of how badly it hurt
2) Have fun this time
3) Practice cornering
4) Don’t crash

I would also like to say that the fabulous photos below were taken by Warren Lane and all of the Benicia Crit photos can be found at his website: Casadelane Photography. THANK YOU to Warren for sending me these great photos – much appreciated!

Stephanie and I take the line!
(Photo Credit: Warren Lane)

As we took the line I was relieved to hear them tell us that we’d get a neutral lap to scope the course out and go through the turns. Earlier that morning I’d witnessed a crash on what looked like one of the hairier corners and was a bit anxious about how this would all pan out, especially given that the corners in the 2 Wheel crit were MUCH rounder than these. These were real street blocks with Bots Dots through the center, dips in the road for water drainage and just generally sharper turns.

In spite of the first lap being neutral, my heart rate was through the roof. I knew it would just take time to come down but I was so nervous. As we came up toward the line for the first real lap to begin, all I could think was “here we go. This is it. DON’T back down, Sarah. Just go with it and don’t give up!”

After two laps, my heart rate was even higher in mid 180s. This was not a purely flat course. The street with the starting line (1st street) was a gradual incline and it was about three blocks long. After a left and another right, we went up AGAIN, but this time a little steeper for another block. Then it would go down, down, down into the hairy turn from E. I street onto E. 2nd (which I came to love), another couple of rights and we were back on 1st street going up to do it all again.

See map:

The red line is the start line; we went north on 1st street then left and right on W. 2nd street, which is was more up! Basically heading away from the water was up; heading toward the water was down.

As we finished the 2nd lap, the officials were ringing the bell – the 3rd lap would be a Prime Lap. Oh no. Buckle the seatbelts and HANG ON!

I told myself that if I could just hang onto the pack for the 3rd lap, it would all be okay. I just had to stay the course and keep on, no matter what. Halfway through, I glanced at my watch – HR read 185. Wow. “It doesn’t matter, Sarah. Just HANG ON.”

We made the turn onto W. 2nd street to go up the steeper hill and it was there I began to fall behind a bit. Another woman passed and said to me “go on, you’ve GOT to go catch them.” Summoning every ounce of energy and strength I had, I got up out of my saddle, gritted my teeth and pushed, pushed as hard as I could up that hill. Cresting the top and heading right around the turn, I quickly shifted up and dug a little harder as we hit the flat and prepared to round the next corner.

Relieved, I had caught the back of the pack. My shoulders relaxed a little. It was all downhill for a bit. I could hang here, knowing that the next lap should be a little less fierce since it wouldn’t be a Prime Lap.

Except that as we came up to the line to begin the 4th lap – there was that damned bell – they were ringing it again! “Double Prime Lap, ladies! Keep it up!” yelled the race official.

I wanted to punch him. WTF? DOUBLE?

Knowing that I just would not be able to sustain a heart rate that was soaring in the 180s for another 25 minutes, I backed off my charge up the hill. At that point it was only one other woman and myself. Halfway through that fourth lap, I wanted to quit. The desire to just pull over, get off my bike, sit on the curb and relax was so intense it began to fill up all the space in my brain reserved for focus.

“NO! I am NOT QUITTING,” I told myself. Still, I hated being one of only two women off the back. But it didn’t matter. I came to race no matter what, and I had to stick with it.

After one lap, we managed to catch two other NorCal women who also had fallen off the back. The four of us worked together the rest of the race, and throughout the next 25 minutes, I began to see the entire field was completely strung out. Sure, I was still in the last group, and we did indeed get lapped by the race winners, but so what?

(Photo Credits: Warren Lane)

Interestingly enough, that desire to quit never quite went away. The four of us still raced and my average heart rate for all 40 minutes was 174. Translation: that was HARD and the intensity never went away! But as each lap went on, my focus became better. I started getting more comfortable with each turn and practiced braking less and cornering better. Renee from NorCal and I worked on taking short pulls. I worked on keeping my mind occupied with other tasks and not worrying about how uncomfortable I was.

Yet with 2 laps to go, it still felt like the race would never end.

Finally, though, we rounded that last right turn. I began to contemplate when to sprint for the line. Sure, I was almost dead last, but why not have some fun with it? Renee had the same thing in mind. I began to pick it up about 25 yards from the line but I think it was too soon.

About 4 yards from the line, Renee flew past me and beat me out for 30th place. I took 31st. Out of 34. ;)

As I previously mentioned, I’ve been thinking a lot about bike racing since last weekend. The biggest thing I’m learning is that it just takes practice. Lots and lots and LOTS of practice. So I’ll keep training. And practicing. And LEARNING! One thing that was absolutely awesome was that I walked away from this race feeling happy with how much I learned.

Additionally, I came to the realization that I’m actually really good at cornering. Corners don’t scare me, and, like going downhill, the more speed I can get and still be comfortable, the better!

What my body is used to is going long. Endurance. What I need to teach it how to do is to SPRINT! So that’s where my training is going to have to be a little more focused.

Ultimately, I walked away from the race feeling positive about crits, feeling positive about my experience and having a glimmer of hope that this could actually start to get really fun.

A testament to the benefits of Spinning

Recently one of my spin students, Elliot, shared a little piece he wrote for the Airport Club newsletter. It was about his recent completion of the SF->LA AIDS LifeCycle Ride and how spin class had really helped prepare him for this huge endeavor. I enjoyed the piece a lot – not only because it was so fantastic to read of his success on the trip, but because it is so wonderful to hear the impact we as spin instructors can have.

I love to teach spin for a variety of reasons (I always was a bossy little kid so I'm sure there's something in there about enjoying being in charge!). One of the biggest is that I truly feel that over time, people DO benefit from it. Whether it's the benefit of being ready for a big ride like the one Elliot did, or they see an improvement in their climbing, or that they just feel BETTER because of the increased cardio health and strength, all are successes in my book. When people share them with me, it really helps me to see that I’m doing my job well and that it’s so worth getting up at the horrible hour of 5:00 times three times a week (and fighting my way through commute traffic after work once a week), not to mention the hours I spend carefully planning workouts and thinking about good songs to put with them.

Thank you to all of my students who manage to make it to those early morning classes or make it to the gym at the end of a long day and bring such positive and committed energy. No matter how I feel when I show up to the gym, I always leave feeling so much better and with a big smile on my face.

Below is the short piece Elliot Daum wrote. Enjoy!
______________________________________________________

Having recently completed the SF to LA AIDSLifeCycle ride, I want to extend my gratitude to the Club for all the support and encouragement I received along the way. I especially want to thank the spin meisters for all the training tips and the conditioning boost, especially during those dark and rainy winter months when long rides become impractical or merely dangerous.

If you are contemplating such a ride, check yourself in to the spin class ASAP. The translation from the stationary spin bikes to the road is remarkably true, particularly if you follow the excellent instruction of the class leaders. You will find that the transition to the road will start to gel in ways that will surprise you.

Once I began the long days between here and L.A., the lessons and the voices came back to haunt me in the most positive ways. Mary’s exhortations to “keep my knees over my feet” and “go, go , go!”, Anna’s constant challenges to turn th dial up, stay with her, and “n-i-i-c-e! encouragement, Sarah’s peremptory “Stand it up! Spin it out!” and, of course, Paul’s drill sergeant orders and demands for “100%” all stay with you on the ride. The form and the motivation keep coming long after the music has died and the Club is hundreds of miles away.

Also I found Anna’s “core” tutorials to be of enormous assistance as both body and mind come to learn how the conquest of long steep hills requires much more than quads and hamstrings.

The entire experience was a most positive one in all respects. It’s a great cause, a marvelous experience and a terrific way to get in shape. And the Club members and staff surely helped make the actual ride a joy. So “Stand it up and spin it out!”

Elliot Lee Daum

Round #2: The Cytomax Benicia Criterium - next Sat!

2 Wheel Criterium – Pre-race
I seem to be looking very tentative here…
…"wtf am I getting myself into??!”
Photo credit: Veronika Lenzi

What I haven’t said here is that I pulled out of my first crit (The 2 Wheel Criterium in Rohnert Park on 6/7/09) after 6 insane laps. Upon seeing the “6 to go” sign I thought “ugh. I can’t do it.” Then changed my mind. “YES YOU CAN. YOU CAN DO IT AND YOU WILL DO IT, SARAH. HTFU!”

But as the pack rounded the corner we began to string out and I found myself falling off the back. Again. This time, as I shifted up and prepared to step on it, I had a pit in my stomach as if I was about to puke any second, not to mention my right quad screaming in pain and in that instant, I just gave up.

It takes a lot for me to give up. But for 20 solid minutes, I was not having any kind of fun. At all. In fact, the idea of staying with it for another 20 horrifying minutes was in itself enough to make me puke.

I realize I’m giving crits a bad name here. It’s not that they suck that much. But I really had no idea what I was doing out there. Blindly, I just assumed people would be nice and keep a wheel open for me to grab! Naively, during the 2nd lap I attempted to make my way up through the pack along the right side and before I knew it, they had all jumped BEHIND me. NO! I didn’t want THAT! When I attempted to drop back, it was as if I could hear all the other women thinking “HA! ROOKIE GIRL! You tried to move up and now YOU’RE on the front, girlfriend! Mush! Mush!”

What a rookie I was.
Photo credit: Nick Gaetano

Mush, I did. Except it was a prime lap, which is a lap where they give prizes to the first three people across the line (they’re like mini prizes for people who may not win but like to attempt some sprints across the line midway through the race). As we rounded the second-to-last corner, my ears began to pick up a slight ‘whoooosh’ and sure enough, the Cat3/4 women began to surge past me and I was about to be chop liver if I didn’t hang on. Yet I had no ‘get up and go.’ So I did get up, but I didn’t really go.

Pretty soon I was off the back and going across the line a good 25 yards behind the entire pack. Mortifying and also disheartening. This was a local race and all my buddies were out there cheering for me and here I was, behind already – only in LAP 3! UGH!

I would guess that it’s usually rare to have a solo photo from a criterium.
Unless you’re off the front or off the back. Here, I’m off the back…
…and hurting as I try to catch up!
Photo credit: Veronika Lenzi

Still, I HTFU’d and used everything I had to catch the group again, about 2/3 through the third lap. I was pretty much redlining there, too. After two more laps of hanging on for dear life and still falling back, I’d had enough for one morning.

One thing that absolutely attracts me to this sport is the strategy that is involved. It is not simply telling your trained body to move it. It goes far beyond that. There’s teamwork, plotting, strategizing, and also practicing the art of being firm in your position or forcing your way in. I really like that.

What is not quite so comfortable is the element of high intensity that is involved with this. Not only must I refocus my training on teaching my body how to surge better and more often, but also how to be comfortable with higher intensity for longer periods. I am constantly preaching to my spin classes, “get OUT of your comfort zone! A little pain is OKAY!”

Now it’s time for me to start walking the talk.

I’m actually okay with that. As I said before, I wanted a new challenge. Not only a new racing challenge, but changing up how I train. This accomplishes both.

So, onto next weekend! I’ll be racing in the Cytomax Benicia Criterium. One thing that’s kind of cool is that I spent tons of time in Benicia all through high school, so it’ll be like racing on my old stomping grounds – nostalgia always adds a little bit of motivation, right?

As for what I learned from last time, I will attempt to be better at:

-Finding a wheel early and IN THE MIDDLE TOWARD THE FRONT
-Maintaining my position, EVEN IF IT HURTS
-Staying in a higher gear and not pedaling at such a high cadence
-NOT BEING AFRAID OF THE HURT
-Know that the pace is going to start out strong. Therefore, WARM UP FOR A GOOD, LONG TIME. This is crucial and I think a HUGE reason why I felt like such sh** at the first race. Definitely not enough warm up and I think I paid for it. It generally takes me about a good hour to start feeling great on the bike.
-KNOW IT WILL HURT AND JUST ACCEPT IT, DAMMIT.
-Celebrate the little victories
-Know that if I fall off the back, just keep racing. Unlikely they will pull me off the course so I might as well keep riding.
-ENDURE THE HURT.

Next time, Sarah – STAY THERE!!
Photo credit: Veronika Lenzi

Okay! Let’s DO THIS!!

Getting it together

Originally last weekend was supposed to be a catch-up of sorts. Catch up on housework. Catch up on emails. Catch up on blogs. Catch up on my own writing. Catch up on revising the year’s goals (yet again).

Somehow, however, all that catch-up went out the window. I DID manage to pare down the email inbox and get a lot of responses in. I was also able to meet with my friend and cycling coach Tim to discuss what the rest of the year might look like. It was *so* helpful. He said “so, Sarah. What ARE your goals for the rest of the year?”

Lately I’ve been avoiding that question. After my first few races a lot of confusion ensued. Racing is stressful. Difficult. Challenging. It also has a way of either making you feel like you’re on top of the world or like complete crap. How badly did I want to do this?

In complete honesty – racing bikes is harder than any triathlon I’ve ever done. Well, sort of. It is important to remember that triathlons – especially the longer ones – have definitely had their moments. If I go to the memory bank and look in the dark corner underneath all of the other, happier, prettier moments, I can start to remember some of the not-so-happy times. Ones where I felt like quitting. Where my body just couldn’t go. When I had tears coming down my face because of cramping. When five more miles of running seemed like a near-impossible feat and it was all I could do just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Yeah, it’s been pretty tough at times.

But with bike racing, there’s something else that can hurt besides the body that never seemed to phase me in triathlon. It’s called my ego.

(My race report from my first crit is still in editing phases. I’m working on not just unleashing the first draft of race reports onto my readers but rather, revising and making each one more of a writing project.)

Part of the reason I did not finish was not due to my screaming quad pain or my heart rate blowing up beyond my wildest dreams, but because my ego got the better of me. It’s completely embarrassing to admit, but it’s true. More on that in the race report.

Bike racing has made me push and suffer harder than I ever did in triathlon (at least on the bike, anyway). It’s made me pick up the (very fast) pace before I was ready to. It’s made me dig, dig, DIG down HARD and ignore the pain and pure shock my muscles felt and instead try to find a little more to give.

Yet, the road races were kind of fun. Fun in that “wow this is SO hard but maybe if I just work a little harder and train a little better and seriously work on selling my bike and buying a better one and if I just commit a little more and focus a little better…maybe I will get better” sort of way.

With the crit, however, it was all just hard. My body hurt and my ego was bruised. It wasn’t really that fun. In fact, after the race, I was downright miserable. And then the “Uncle Rico Effect” began to set in.

Remember Uncle Rico from “Napoleon Dynamite?”

Ahhh, visions of past grandeur. Or should we say, delusions of past grandeur?

As the going gets tough, my mind begins to wander this path over the last four years. “You know…I was pretty good. For training at the level I was training (in other words, working full-time and putting in 12-15 hrs/week), I was pretty strong and competitive. I took THIRD OVERALL AT THE UKIAH TRI (reality check: uh, small local race, hello!)! Damn straight! I came close to a sub 5 half-ironman. HELL YEAH!”

This kind of thinking makes me laugh at myself. Somehow my mind begins to delude itself into thinking that I did it all effortlessly and in fact, I was pretty competitive and maybe, in fact, I should just go back to tri because I’m better at it. Yeah. Oh and that even though I’m kind of sucking at bike racing, you people should all know what an amazing triathlete I was, and that, you know, if I actually decide to really train for bike racing I will be amazing at that, too.

Right.

WTF? Go away, Uncle Rico Effect!

Let’s get it straight. Triathlon helped me to see that:

I am a good athlete (especially when I train well).
That I can complete goals.
That I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to.
That no matter how much I run, I will never enjoy it the way I do swimming and cycling.
That I am not as Type A as I thought I was.

…and a few other things. But those are some of the big take-away things. What I’ve realized is that I need to be more confident in myself and my abilities and in the end, nobody gives a damn how ‘good’ you really are unless you’re going pro or whatnot.

What matters the most is that you’re having fun and you enjoy the challenge you’ve set out for yourself. I chose to race bikes this year because I wanted a NEW challenge for myself. Something different. Something centered around what I love most.

Now, just because I’ve realized this is quite possibly the hardest athletic endeavor I’ve ever undertaken, I want to backpedal? No. Not an option.

It’s time to stop being a baby and suck it up and throw the ego out the window. Triathlon came somewhat easily to me and now I’m faced with doing something I know nothing about and it’s time to put on the big girl pants and just get out there and race. Again and again. With experience comes knowledge and also more know-how when it comes to surging and digging REALLY deep!

So, that’s that. I’m getting it together. The race schedule is just about set. I’ll post soon – a mix of crits and road races for the rest of the year. Instead of running back to triathlon and being comfortable, I’m going to stick with the challenge and go for it.

Finally - a post (and a rock & roll spin list!)

So this is a spin list in the guise of a post. I'm working on a couple longer pieces but things have been hectic since we got back from Mexico. Catching up on email, regular mail, work - all the fun stuff that one gets to do after relaxing for a week. It was worth it. No swine flu, but likely giardia - how's that for bringing something back? It's not horrible but my stomach still isn't 100% again. Ugh. We'll find out in a couple days.

On tap for future posts over the next week (promise!):

-Why is fear so paralyzing?

-My first criterium race report: a big fat DNF!

-Product review: Skweet!

As for this post - one of my spin students is such a good sport about 'my' music. He really loves rock & roll but I can never seem to play enough of it for him. I throw him a bone here and there, but some days (especially recently) I'm really in a dance-remix mode and the chance of hearing anything resembling a guitar riff in that 60 minutes is pretty much nil. Those are the days I actually have to prep him: "So Sean, I'm sorry to say...today is not a Sean music day."

Still, he is such a good sport! On Monday I said "okay Sean, Wednesday I am dedicating my spin list to you. No dance remixes!" The smile on his face was priceless. As I got down to putting a class together, however, I realized that being a child of the 80s, I know little of rock and roll. Sorry folks! Not my fault! My ears are always open, though, to new ideas and I try to listen whenever people throw suggestions my way.

In spite of some good 'classics,' however, I realized my iTunes library was lacking. I Googled "rock and roll spin list" and found Cynthia's website - "Spinning Music." What a great find! I took a lot of the suggestions for my class tomorrow from her list. Thanks, Cynthia!

Spin class 6/10/09 - focus is on cadence, hills and sprints at the finish.

->Warmup - 6:00 - Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones)

->Cadence work - 10:00 -
2:45 - Where Are We Runnin - Lenny Kravitz
4:20 (ha) - Smokin' - Boston
3:30 - Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
[alternate 1:00 on/1:00 off, spinning with a max cadence at a resistance of 4 - a hard flat. You should be able to spin 95-110 without getting HR way up - in the 65-70% range]

-> Hill Climb - 6:00 - Fool in the Rain - Led Zeppelin
Every two minutes add a little resistance; pick ups out of the saddle for 0:30 at 1:45, 3:45, 5:45

-> Recovery - 2:00 - Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater

->Another Hill Climb - 9:00 -
4:15 - Sex Machine - James Brown
4:45 - More Than a Feeling - Boston
Here you are switching resistance every two minutes going between a 6.5 and 7.5 - medium hill to steep hill. HR stays constant at 80-82% but cadence will vary as you switch.

-> Recovery - 2:25 -Break on Through - The Doors

-> Flat cadence work - 3:40 - Rock & Roll - Led Zeppelin
Resistance will be at a 4.5-5 (hard flat to very small hill); working on alternating cadence between 85-95 and 95-105

->Short hill climb - 3:20 - War - Edwin Starr
Resistance will be at a 5.5-6.5 (small hill to medium hill); working on alternating cadence between 60-70 and 70-80 - in the saddle the whole time

-> Flat cadence work - 3:00 - YYZ - Rush
Resistance will be at a 4.5-5 (hard flat to very small hill); working on alternating cadence between 85-95 and 95-105

-> Recovery - 1:30 - YYZ - Rush

-> Sprints! - 4:30 - Welcome to the Jungle - Rush
4x 0:20 sprint / 0:45 recovery

Recovery -
2:37 - For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
4:45 - Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

 

Enjoy!

I am SO ready for vacation.

 

 

Top 10 Reasons I Know I Need a Break (in no particular order, they're all good reasons):

10. I have fallen WAY behind on reading people's blogs. This happens not because I don't care, but because I'm really tired of sitting in front of computer screens. When the router went down at work yesterday, was I eager to turn the computer on at home and take care of emails and Twitter and blogs and Facebook? Nope. Put my bag down, looked at the computer, shook my ahead and cursed silently, then went into the other room.

9. I'm beginning to skip even the things I love most. I wanted to go out to the Tuesday Night Twilights tonight, just to cheer people on. Nah. Got too much to do before vacation, not to mention I just want to have a 'normal' evening and come home, make dinner, relax and get to bed on time.

8. I'm saying 'screw that' to my 'no alcohol on weeknights' rule. I've been trying to be good lately and skip the post-workout beer or glass of wine. Tonight I said to hell with it. Vacation is 3 days away, that's good enough for me.

7. I'm having a hard time managing my anger. Oh, you didn't know I had anger management issues? Yeah, when it comes to stupid, intolerant, dumb-ass drivers who start to HONK AT YOU (and you're on your bike, enjoying one of the most gorgeous bike rides in Sonoma County, happy as can be) when they're 100 YARDS AWAY and keep blaring as they drive all fast around you...it pretty much makes me angrier than I've ever been. As I began flipping the jerk off and yelling at him as he drove past, he attempted to scare me by slamming on his breaks, as if he was going to back up and do something about it. I threw up my hands as if to say, "BRING IT, ASSHOLE." My scared friends reminded me that it only takes one crazy to actually do something about it, and you never know who that crazy is going to be. Oh, I was SO mad. But they're right. He's in a 2000 pound car and I'm on, well, my bike. In bike shoes. I need a break.

6. All I want to do is sleep. Seriously. Granted, I've raced two bike races in two weeks and that is not something to sneeze at. I need to plan this stuff better because racing at that intensity that often just isn't going to cut it. Yesterday I was asleep by 5 p.m. and only woke up at 9 p.m. to eat some dinner then crashed again by 10. By this evening all I wanted to do again was sleep. And I'm still sore from the weekend, wtf? All I did was Sat morning bootcamp at the YMCA and Sun an easy 45 mile ride. There is NO reason for me to be sore. Except that my body has had ENOUGH!

5. Lack of focus. I can't seem to do anything without losing focus and starting something else. I started this blog post 45 minutes ago and checked email and Facebook 3 times since.

4. Lack of desire to cook. It's starting to be this amazing time around here when the Farmer's Markets start to have more than winter greens and squash and yet I don't feel like making a damn thing.

3. Lack of desire to write. I haven't been writing much lately, I know. Just with so much going on, I haven't had the mental energy to sit down and blog. Sort of goes with #10, too, of not wanting to spend even more time at the computer.

2. Starting to feel fatigued with spin workouts. Just kind of feeling like I'm tired of my workouts and sick of my music and how can I be motivating and inspiring if I'm not truly feeling it? Definitely the sign of needing a break.

1. Have I mentioned sleep? #6 was race and exercise related but #1 here is really about just sleeping. A lot. Naps. No alarm clocks. For several days. It's been quite awhile since I got to have that kind of sleep. I just drooled on my shirt writing about it.

Can't promise a blog in between now and May 30. Leaving Thursday night for Cozumel for one full week of naps, massage, snorkeling, beaching, reading, drinking, and best of all: relaxing.

I can't wait!

(I'm also resolving to bring a journal with me and write every single day! One thing I'd like to do is write my Berkeley Hills Road Race Report from last weekend and post it upon return.)

Me at the Berkeley Hills Road Race

(Thanks for the photos, Ronnie!
Photo Credit: Veronika Lenzi)

Do the Test (part 2)

It's Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 14, 2009! Hooray!

However, I'm going to declare it Bike to Work Week and make my blog all about bike-related stuff this week. Oh, wait. I've already been doing that lately. Well...I guess it's intentional this week!

As an aside, I raced again last weekend - the Berkeley Hills Road Race. Actually I also raced last Tuesday in an informal Team Time Trial. Race reports to come in the next couple of days. Short story: I had SO much fun. Earlier today I got to thinking, and came to the realization that both Berkeley and Wente were races that I just sort of threw in there for fun. In other words, my training over the last several months has been incredibly non-specific and not periodized, nor did I taper for either race. So that said, I'm pretty damn proud of myself for how it's all worked out! There's a lot to learn and a lot of little things I need to do for my next races. Now that I know which direction I'm headed, it's time to buckle down, figure out my race schedule and throw down a plan!

Back to the subject here - Do the Test. Last March I posted an entry with this video:

If you haven't seen it yet, go on and check it out. It's cool!

But if you had already seen it, DID YOU KNOW THEY MADE MORE?!?

Yeah!! I still think the basketball one is my favorite, but these are kind of cool:

In the spirit of cycling, please remember to be aware. Whether you're cycling or driving - we all have to be incredibly aware of our surroundings.

Be safe out there. Wear a helmet. Use lights at night. Signal. Watch your car doors when you're opening them on a street. Look over your shoulder, not just into your car mirrors. Be aware!!

Race Day Thoughts

A lot of folks (Soda, Amy, Courtenay, Alexis, Jocelyn, Eileen…anybody else??) are racing Wildflower this weekend and my great friend Carmen is racing the Lake Berryessa Half (also similarly difficult and at a lake but in Napa County, not in the middle of the state). Originally I had a post all set to go in my mind titled “Mexico or Bust” but I’ll save that for Monday. Let’s just say I am still planning on going to Mexico in three weeks and the media and their over-hyped B.S. can KISS MY A**!! (FYI did you know that 36,000 people in the U.S. die EVERY YEAR from flu-related illness? And that so far there have been 8 CONFIRMED H1N1 flu-related deaths? That's all for now...)

I also had a post set to go about an article in the New Yorker this past week on the use of ‘neuroenhancers’ and I have to ask, how is it different from steroid use in athletes? But I will also save that for next week. Go read it and help me weigh in on this ridiculousness.

Yes, a lot of editorializing on my part but both are topics that really get me going.

Oh and there’s also a post in the works on a review of SKWEET! (preview: I give it two thumbs up!), too!

BUT in the spirit of all you fabulous people who are racing this weekend, I wanted to share some wise race-day thoughts that I’ve always loved and helped get me into the right frame of mind. With that said, here you go:

Mental Health: Confidence! You didn't train all these weeks just to be a wallflower competitor come race day. It is a RACE. Go out and be competitive and ready to push yourself out of the comfort zone. Make it different from an ordinary training day.

Recognize that 99% of the time, things will not go as planned. Expect to be ready to face whatever surprises come your way, whether it’s nutrition, mechanical or whatever else may crop up. You've trained through all kinds of conditions and situations so use that strength to your advantage and say “BRING IT ON!”

RACE DAY IMAGE: Strong, fluid, smooth, tons of endurance, lean, and willing to suffer!

POSITIVE self-talk. If you are thinking ‘I suck. All these people are passing me.” Or “Oh god these hills are going to suck because I can’t climb” then how do you expect other people to root for you if you can’t root for yourself? In fact, be so positive and confident in yourself that you occasionally cheer others on as they pass you or you pass them.

BE PRESENT IN THE MOMENT. If you had a bad swim, suck it up. It’s done. It won’t do you ANY GOOD to think about how you could’ve swam faster or ‘if only I would’ve…” NO “if-only”s!!! Focus on the HERE and NOW. On the bike, keep those pedals turning over, be SO SO proud of yourself because you are HERE. You SHOWED UP. Now focus on kicking ass – whether your goal is just to kick your own or somebody else’s. Once you hit that run, don’t look back for one moment. What’s done is DONE and you can’t change a damn thing. Not only that, you still don’t know how everybody else’s race is going. There’s no way to know so the only thing you need to do now is focus on YOURSELF and finishing strong! You CAN do this!

Some technical tips:

Swim--only concentrate on navigation and keeping a clean stroke. Decent swim times will come directly from fixating on these two things. Forget these and it won't matter how hard you're pulling.

Bike--think negative split on the second half of the bike, that is ride the 2nd half faster than the first. This means going easy the first half! Overall pace on the bike should not feel exhausting as the goal is to not have to walk any of the run due to exhaustion. A 5 minute faster bike split is killed if you have to walk 20 minutes during the run. Allow 5-10 minutes of riding before consuming fluids or fuel. After that, follow the hydration plan you've been doing for long rides, adjusting for temps and higher intensity of the race.

Run--constantly monitor calories and fluids and try to even split each half of the run as closely as possible.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got. Hope it helps and peps some people up. NOW GO RACE AND HAVE FUN!!!

Sleep and change

Racing is hard – mentally and physically. Now I remember why rest is so important, both before and after. And it SHOULD be hard! After all, if it’s not hard, then how is it different from another training day?

That bike race, while one of the most fun days I’ve had, was apparently one of the most taxing things my body has gone through in quite awhile and I am still recovering! It’s clear why it took so much out of me: my average heart rate for nearly two hours was 163 and I maxed out at 184. It was truly the first race effort in about 5 months and my body is just now getting over the shock of being back to racing.

I overslept for spin class on Monday. The first time ever. Ugh. It was an AWFUL feeling, especially to walk in this morning and have people say “oh so you got up this morning, huh?” D’oh.

Yesterday was even worse. I felt like a zombie. It was impossible to concentrate on work, I had visions of crawling under my desk and taking a nap, and by 4:00 it was time to hit the post office and head home. By 5:30 I was crawling under the covers with my crossword puzzle and after filling in one word it was lights out until 9:30 p.m.! Woke up, ate some dinner and went back to bed by 10:30 p.m. 

It’s cheesy to this, but the way I feel today compared to yesterday is the way a spring morning in Sonoma County can seem so SO grey with the fog and by noon the sun is shining and suddenly everything feels right again.

Today it feels like I’m alive again and it is amazing to think clearly and not want to just lay my head down on the desk.

With all of this clarity in my head, my summer of racing began to enter my mind. The path is clearly headed in the direction of cycling races and open-water swims and hiking treks and not so much in the direction of triathlon.

Never fear, dear readers! I am not forsaking triathlon forever! One of my awesome new teammates Beate said it best:

“See, it’s like this: triathlon is a virus. And you’ve got it, but it’s just going into its dormant phase for you!”

I LOVE that analogy! It’s not the end as far as I can tell. Like Rocketpants, I seem to have athletic ADD and like to mix things up, try new things and always have new and different adventures. Life is like that for me as well. In cooking, I’m always looking for new recipes to try and never like to cook the same thing. While many people dislike change, my appetite for it seems to be strong.

That said, last night I tweeted about whether my blog title ought to be changed. If there are no triathlons in 2009, shouldn’t I consider renaming it to reflect that?

It would be fun to have a poll on that - everybody loves polls! But first I need some good possibilities. So far I’ve got two that really made me smile: Maggs had a great one - “Sarah Tris Cycling.” Ron says “"Sarah's Cycling, Swimming, Cooking, Yoga, Running (sort-of but not really), Hiking, Spinning Adventures."

(Jen H.’s suggestion also cracked me up: “Sarah is the smart one!” Hee hee!)

How about some other suggestions?