Sarah's Triathlon Adventure

A New Week

2012-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Regarding Paleo:

Each day this Paleo thing seems to get a little easier! I noticed that I am starting to think about food the same way I did before; that is, you think up what to have for breakfast in the context of what is available, not "Well, I guess I can't have toast. I guess I can't have yogurt and fruit." Instead it's more like "hmm, poached eggs sound good. Oooh and I can put some lox and avocado with that too. Perfect!"

And there you have it - my new favorite breakfast:

New fav breakfast! Poached egss, lox and capers, and some avocado. Nom nom nom!

Proper Fueling for Workouts

The one thing I noticed last week that was NOT so good was that I need to figure out pre- and post-workout fueling. I went out for the Tuesday Fun Run at Heart and Sole Sports last week. This was an easy 5 mile run - moderate pace, a couple of easy hills - definitely a run that could be deemed "Fun Run" as I was able to maintain a conversation throughout most of the run. Then I taught spin on Wed at 5:30pm. On Wed and Thursday nights, I woke up with my legs in extreme pain - the kind of pain that I've only experienced after doing half-Ironmans. WTF?!? It wasn't like I'd done anything crazy and yet, my legs were in so much throbbing pain that it was difficult to get back to sleep.

Upon further thought, I realized this may have had to do with improper fueling before and after workouts. Even without grains, I still need to find some proper carbohydrates to get into my system.

This Week's Agenda

This week is all about setting up the year's schedule. I want to start planning for events now, so I can have some semblance of a training plan, and not just decide I am going to swim because I feel like it. I kind of got off the running schedule because it's been SO EFFING COLD here (it was 22 degrees Fahrenheit at 6am this morning. NOT cool.) that I haven't been doing my 6am runs. It may just be time to HTFU and do it. Or find a more reasonable hour (and temperature) to train at.

Update

2012-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

I’m going to start writing again. I don’t really have the amount of time that I used to, but in order to get back into writing, you have to just keep doing it. I miss writing and now that I actually have some goals again, I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about the new adventure I’m on.

When I have some more time, I’m looking to redesign the blog as well.

But here’s what’s up in 2012:

1. Not sure if I’ll do any tris this year. Maybe one or two sprint-distance (or Olympic if I’m feeling really snappy).

2. I want to do the Marin Century this year. It’s one of my all-time favorite and hardest centuries and it’s just gorgeous. And the County of Marin has recently repaved a TON of the roads on the course, as I’ve recently found out on drives out to Dillon Beach. In order to do this challenging ride, I need to be in *awesome* riding shape (because I want to beat my best time, which is something like just over 6 hrs).

3. I want to ride my bike. A lot. (see above)

4. I want to swim. A lot. This might be a little more difficult, if I’m doing #3 well, but I’d like to swim as much as I can. But what I know is that just as many folks get “runner’s high,” I get “swimmer’s high.” Swimming exhilarates me so much more than running.

5. But now that I’ve figured out what my running problems were thanks to Dave Townsend, MPT at Santa Rosa PT, I can actually run again without pain. It doesn’t mean it’s the most awesome thing ever all of a sudden, but it IS nice to run a couple times a week without feeling like I’d rather be doing anything else. So I might do the Santa Rosa Half Marathon in August. We’ll see how that goes.

6. I went Paleo. I know there’s a lot of controversy around this ‘diet,’ but I’m not really looking to defend myself to anybody. This is a personal choice and at Day 9, I am feeling *really* good. I don’t necessarily intend to be super strict and never, ever eat dairy or grains or sugar again. But as I intend it to be a lifestyle moving forward, I plan on sticking to it as closely as possible. My reasons for choosing this are as follows:

*I’ve put on about 10 lbs over the last 1.5 years and it is largely due to how I’ve been eating. Drinking too much, consuming too much sugar, not enough veggies, too much cheese (yum!), and just generally living the life that a typical Sonoma County resident might. Let’s just say that around here, it is entirely too easy to get too much of a good thing.

*I want to get back to the basics in my diet. Eat lots of fruits, veggies and meat, without the extra carbs that are so unnecessary. This diet just make s a lot of sense to me. I figured I would try it, and if for some reason it didn’t jive, then I would stop. But so far, it’s been great. So I’ll be using this to chronicle how I feel and the journey I’m on to take it one day at a time.

The first week of it was a little rough, feeling frustrated about everything I couldn’t have. But now that I’m just feeling really good, it’s actually starting to be fun finding alternatives and exploring new recipes with all of the veggies we have.

That’s it for now. Next goal: write again tomorrow.

Fundraising event tomorrow, 5/22!

2010-05-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

I know, it seems like the only time I post anymore is when I have something to sell or promote, right? Pretty much. (BTW I did sell the bike! Woo woo!)

But this time, it’s not about me. It’s about a young boy in our community. Read on for more details…

Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjacks!!!!

Come enjoy a sunny, family-fun, community day at the ballpark!

Let’s knock our Rookie (6, 7 & 8 year-old) A's socks off with the biggest and most EXCITED crowd we can muster! Kind of like this crowd here: http://improveverywhere.com/2008/04/07/best-game-ever/

That's the kind of energy we want to re-create Saturday for the boys. Make up some posters and placards. Bring some peanuts and popcorn. Get creative. Have fun! Be loud! Bring some friends!

We want this to be a big surprise for our boys, and watch their eyes light up when they see how many people come out to cheer them on!

After the game, watch the little guys get their season-end trophies, and enjoy a fundraiser BBQ* to help support the Codoni Family. There will also be a raffle drawing. We have an autographed Cal Ripken book, a signed Kirk Reuter (most wins by a SF Giant left-hander, ever) baseball, we have gift and wine baskets, a free week at the SRJC baseball camp and other things keep coming in! Joey plans to be at the game, too! You can read more about Joey Codoni and his journey at this blog: http://welovejoey.blogspot.com/.

Please feel free to tell ALL your friends and bring them out to the game! The bigger the crowd, the better! We want this to be a day the boys won't forget, and a very memorable experience for Joey.

We are going to make our very own magic happen on a tiny ball field in Rohnert Park. To cap off a great season for our Cal Ripken A's, to benefit the Codoni Family, to have some FUN – please join us! Be a part of what is sure to be an unforgettable day.

* Once the game is over, we are going to have a Codoni Family Benefit BBQ & raffle. We are asking a $10 donation. All proceeds will go directly to the Codoni Family to help defray the costs for Joey's heart surgeries, and other treatments he's undergone.

This is turning into a big event. We have expectations that more than 100 people will be at the game. The kids will be amazed and maybe even a little nervous!

In the end, this is all happening to give Joey the feeling his team and community haven't forgotten him. Let's make it as memorable as we can.

TT Bike for Sale

2010-03-20T18:39:00.001-07:00

Excellent condition 2006 Cervelo P2 Carbon 54 cm time trial bike.

Component Group - Shimano Ultegra Double
Brakeset - Shimano Ultegra
Aero Bars - Profile Design
Handlebars - 42 cm
Shifters - Shimano 105
Front derailleur - Shimano Ultegra Double
Rear Derailleur - Shimano Ultegra
Crankset - Shimano Ultegra 39/53
Cassette - Shimano 10-speed, 12/27
Wheels - Stock Easton 700c
Tires - Continental Grand Prix 4000 700x23
Pedals - Look Keo

Bike has about 1500 miles on it. Got it August 2006 and loved it, but stopped doing triathlons in 2008 and never ride it anymore. Just think somebody might be able to use it more than me. Found it to be a very comfortable bike as TT bikes go and it goes fast!! Full album of photos at: http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae270/STrejo127/.

If you know anybody who’s interested (or you are), feel free to email me at sarah.monica[at]gmail. Thanks!

Where I’m at…where I’m headed

2010-02-23T17:23:00.001-08:00

I finally cracked open "The Cyclist's Training Bible" (Joe Friel) and I'm remembering all over again why it is I want to train and not just exercise. I've decided not to make any race commitments or ride commitments, etc. until I get a little further on in the book and can begin to set some real goals (I don't really have any right now) and then make a plan. And I need to seriously get down to selling that TT bike and buying a new bike, ASAP!! Joe Friel does a really great job of basically saying "look, you're not pro, you don't make money doing this, so just chill and have fun with it. If you have family and work and other priorities, you canNOT make this your number one thing." Which I knew, but I keep feeling like everybody else is so hardcore with it all and I've been such a lazy butt and was getting all jealous that everybody else is in great shape and I'm not (yes, I’m in shape. But not great RACE shape). But then it's like everything else in life, which ebbs and flows and right now I just have other things that are more important (like home improvements). I was also reminded that burnout can take even years to come out of so now I don't feel too bad.

Basically I'm gonna go back to basics. I'm doing a 6-week thing with Tone Fitness since they're a sponsor and I got a good deal. They're going to help me work out my alignment issues, which we're now thinking is a big source of my quad and calf pain. I realized I DO like to run - when it doesn't hurt! They found that I'm very externally rotated with my right knee and foot, which explains a lot. It feels more like PT than Pilates! I get ‘homework’ to do and I come home all sore!

Lately I've tried to take the pressure off by just allowing myself to 'exercise' and not really 'train.' I even had this moment while I was leading last week’s “Entree” route (the medium-paced route) for the Soup Spoons & Carbon Forks ride where I thought "ya know...I could get into riding like this...easy and laid-back style. This is fun!”

But then there's still that part of me that likes to try and hang w/the strong guys, likes to battle it out for the sprint lines, likes to compete. It really is so frustrating being part type-A and part mellow! I CAN'T ‘just’ exercise; there has to be an underlying motivation there, a reason to push harder, a reason to ride even when I don't feel like it, etc. So I think by setting some real goals for the year and rehabbing my leg, I will finally feel refreshed and ready to get back at it.

I feel excited about the year ahead and what it will mean for me and that I finally feel like I don't care what everybody else 'wants' me to do/race. I'll do what I can do given my situation and that will make me happy. Some people have put a lot of pressure on me and it's made me really wonder if I should even be racing because I don't want to make it what I’m all about 24/7.

I know this isn’t the first time I’ve written about this. But before it was with triathlon, and now it’s bike racing. Same story, different game. And once again, I am learning that there are no ‘right’ answers.

It’s been awhile since I actually created some real, achievable goals and I think going back to the basics is a good place to start. And maybe on that goals list I can put down ‘new blog,’ too.

What I’ve Been Up To

2010-01-18T16:40:00.001-08:00

Not writing on my blog, that’s for sure!!

Actually, a new blog is in the works, as I’ve previously mentioned. I’m hoping to use it to combine my love of cycling and cooking. But life is busier than ever and it’s kind of been on the back burner as far as getting it built up.

Still, I think about this blog all the time, and I also think about all you folks in the triathlon and cycling community that I’ve come to know through it as well. I thought I would check in, say hello and post my latest video creation. I’ve been getting more into documenting my adventures with my camera, and I’m beginning to consider buying one of those chest mounts.

Most of the times I ride my bike I think about how to share the beauty I experience with others, whether they are cyclists or not. I really do realize how lucky I am to live and ride in Sonoma County!!

Last weekend we had the 2nd “Soup Spoons & Carbon Forks” ride, which is sponsored by West County Revolution (you can read more about them at Lee’s blog). This is a new monthly ride that takes place on the 3rd Saturday of every month. We start from a different restaurant every time, and after the ride, sit down to enjoy a meal and revel in the post-ride endorphins together.

This month’s ride began at Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar (my most favorite place ever, and according to SF Chronicle’s Michael Bauer last Thursday, worth driving an hour north of SF for). We headed northeast up Old Redwood Highway and made our way out to Chalk Hill Road. From there we continued on the 8 mile rolling stretch to Hwy 128, and turned right to head south toward Calistoga. Before we hit Calistoga, however, we turned onto Franz Valley Road to take in some even more beautiful country roads and get ourselves off the busy 2-lane main thoroughfare. Franz Valley led us over to Petrified Forest Road, where we could climb up, up up to Calistoga Road and head up over the mountain to come back into Santa Rosa. It was about 3000 ft of climbing ALL at the end of a 45 mile ride! Still, it was great to have friends to suffer with.

There is a huge storm thrashing the Bay Area right now, and we all were prepared to see it hit Saturday afternoon. Imagine our surprise when we began to ride under blue skies and sunshine! However, it only lasted until we got to Calistoga Road. With about 7 more miles to go, the skies began to darken and the air got much chillier – it was time to pick it up and get back to the restaurant – FAST!

Below is a movie I made from all the different videos I took during the ride. I think I had as much fun editing it as I did taking the footage!

So besides that, I’ve been racing at the Early Bird Criterium Training Series down in Fremont every Sunday. It’s been GREAT to race again and get the cobwebs out! I can’t wait for the first real race of the season – the Cherry Pie Crit in Napa on 2/7/10.

That’s about it for now. Happy New Year to everybody and have a great week!

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

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sarah’s Birthday Ride & Lunch: Sat, 12/5/09

2009-12-01T12:12:00.001-08:00

Come join us!

We’ll be meeting at the Bear Republic Brewery at 8:30 a.m. on Sat and heading over to the Flying Goat for coffee. At 9:00 a.m. we’ll gather and push-off for the ride.

There are three routes to choose from:

-The Appetizer Course – 40 hilly hard miles (includes the climb up and over Sweetwater Springs Road). This will be a ‘drop’ ride meaning if you flat or are slow they um, won’t wait for you. Jon Erickson will be leading this ride.

Route info is here: Appteizer Route - 40 Strong Hilly Miles

-The Main Course – 41 lumpy easier miles
This will be a no-drop ride – meaning if you flat we will be nice and wait for you. We’ll head out West Dry Creek up to Lake Sonoma and continue north up Dutcher Creek to Asti. Then back down through Geyserville along 128 and back to Healdsburg.

Route info is here: Main Course Route - 40 Nice Rolling Miles

-The Dessert Course – 30 Flattish Miles
This will also be a no-drop ride for those who prefer a more leisurely pace and like to stop and smell the vineyards.

Route info is here: Dessert Course Route – 30 Flattish Miles

Once we roll back by 12:00 p.m., we’ll put the bikes away and head into the Bear Republic Brewery for LUNCH AND BEEEEEEEEEEER (hello, RACER 5!).

If you want to join in the fun, please let me know. I’d LOVE to see you!

No, I didn't die.

2009-10-11T20:25:00.001-07:00

Early Bird Women 2009 Team.
Love these ladies!

I'm sure somebody out there began to wonder if, maybe, something awful had happened, right?

Nope. Nothing awful. Just the insanity of life over the past two months.

Between buying a house, moving the office, renovating extensively and having several other things to keep me busy in between, there really hasn't been much time for writing.

Yoga keeps me grounded.
I got to pose for Three Dog Yoga as they build their website up!
www.threedogyoga.com
Photo credit: Shelby Erickson, Erickson Design

Besides plain busyness though, there has been something else on my mind that I think has kept me from writing:

Contemplation of change.

The longer I went without writing, the more I began to think about blogging and whether to continue. One thing that has troubled me over the past year is that I don't have the time to be part of the blog community the way I used to. All those links you see on the left-hand side of this entry are people's blogs I have enjoyed reading at one time or another. Some of those people became Facebook friends. Others have become awesome real-life friends. I've made real friendships from this blog community! I miss it!

True, ultimately I write for myself. I started this blog 4.5 years ago that way. But as I got to know others around the web and the triathlon community, it gave me an added incentive to write. I found inspiration and great advice from others. Sharing my story was a way to be part of that community, to offer my own mistakes and experiences to the mix.

Additionally, my life is rapidly changing before my very own eyes. Hard to believe that indeed, I started this blog nearly half a decade ago, during a very different time in my life. It began as a way to record my adventure into this strange world of triathlon, as a way to log my experiences and remember them as I went forward.

As I ready myself to begin the last year of my 20s, I find myself embarking down a new path to start new journeys. Similar, but different, with different goals. I'm different:

I don't feel the need to prove myself as much as I did 5 years ago.
I've got more confidence than I ever have.
I'm aware of where my athletic talents lie (5 years ago I didn't even think I was capable of running a 10K. In fact, I was contemplating SWIMMING a 10K!).
I have a better sense of direction in my life.
I know what sport is my favorite (cycling).
I am SO much better at listening to my body. I know when it's telling me to rest and I know how to obey it.
I don't freak out about missing workouts.
I know what Gu is.

And so on. Reflection is a lot of fun when you realize you've come a long way.

In fact, perhaps I've neglected writing because I don't identify with this blog the way I used to.

"Sarah's Triathlon Adventure?" I think. "But I haven't done a triathlon in over a year!" The words 'Sarah' and 'triathlon' in the same sentence suddenly seems strange. Past races are foggy memories where only the best parts seem to shine through, the way the photos on your walls all remind you of a happy or joyful memory in your life.

So I guess you could say I'm movin' on. Not to say I wouldn't ever race triathlons anymore. Never say never. But racing my bike this year was absolutely, phenomenally fantastic and I can't wait for more next year. I can honestly say that I wait for winter training to start, either!

As for the blogging – I DO want to continue to write, even if I don’t have as much time to go out and read others’ adventures. Still, something has to change: it is time for a new blog. It's kind of like a photo album, where I'd label this one "Triathlon Years, 2004-2009". Nothing wrong with this one, simply time to start a new one. One that will include not only bike-related adventures but also many of my culinary adventures. My friend Jo Ann inspired me recently to get back into the kitchen and I've been having a great time with it. I want to have a blog where I can do a better job of recording my recipes and making them easier to archive and find.

Until that time, however, my goal is to write at least once every two weeks. Life is finally beginning to settle back down and my time is becoming a little freer. It's time to pick up the pencil (keyboard) and let the thoughts flow.

Feels good to be back. :)

9/7/09: Giro de San Francisco. I placed 12th out of 40. Was definitely hoping for Top 10 but I’ll have to save that for next year!

<---- Me in a 4-woman breakaway with 5 laps to go! (They caught us a lap later)

Photo credits: Veronika Lenzi, http://www.veronikalenzi.com/

August Races

2009-07-30T11:13:00.001-07:00

Kelly asked if I was going to be racing soon and I thought it might be good to put a final schedule up.

-Timpani Crit (8/2/09) - yes!
-Patterson Road Race (8/9/09) - likely
-~~Suisun Criterium (8/16/09) - yes~~ NO (found out it's only Cat 1/2/3, BOO!)
-Winters Road Race (8/29/09) - yes
-Vacaville Grand Prix (8/30/09) – maybe
-Giro de SF (9/7/09) - yes
-Folsom Omnium (9/12-13/09) - yes

I am SO ready to get out there next month and just race, race race! Ego has gone out the door. For the rest of this season it’s all about having fun and learning absolutely as much as I can for next year.

2009 began with me feeling like I just needed a ‘little’ break from things, but was so sure I would be able to get back into the swing of things in March. March rolled around and I thought was ready to jump back into triathlon training mode. Yet the motivation was still lacking.

Then Laurel came along and saved the day by recruiting me to the Early Bird Women’s Cycling Team.

While the prospect of racing was thrilling and exciting, I took a laid-back and cautious approach to all of this, which was not very typical for me. Often times my modus operandi is to simply jump right into things without much forethought. If it’s fun, why not do it?

However, as my posts over the past few months have indicated, I’ve been much more observant and introspective, and kept somewhat of a safe distance from becoming fully immersed with bike racing. I’ve thrown any and all expectations out the door and merely gone into every race willing to have an open mind, being ready to learn, ready to have fun and not wanting to crash. Four basic goals.

So in fact, 2009 has been more of a ‘break’ year. Letting go of what I thought I ‘should’ be doing (triathlon, training 2x/day, etc.) and slowly adjusting and contemplating what other directions I would like to go.

In taking this approach, I feel like I’ve come to fully embrace what it is I truly want without constantly questioning my decision. What I truly want is to go into this winter with goals in mind for next year. I want a winter training plan. When 2010 begins I want to know what races I intend to do (at least in the first 4 months of the year) and I want to have a plan to stick with. I FINALLY feel like I’m truly okay committing to a set plan and willing to put in the time.

The weight isn’t on my shoulders anymore and instead there is a lightness that comes with the confidence of knowing this is good for me and that I’ve taken the time I needed to consider it all. That I’ve taken the physical and mental rest I so badly needed after four long and hard years. It feels incredible.

(Oh, I also really want/need a new bike. Working on that one. If you know anybody with extra $ to share with me, let me know. ;) )

Blog neglect

2009-07-28T12:12:00.001-07:00

Lake Tahoe, 6:30 a.m., July 18, 2009

I fully admit my guilt. I’ve been neglecting my blog. Is this what falling off the exercise and/or diet bandwagon is like for the New Year’s Resolution folks? You begin to neglect your commitment and the further and further out you get from it, the scarier it is to get back to it. That’s happened to me with swimming before.

You think “oh god, I haven’t been in the pool in 3 days. What’s one more at this point?” Then it’s a week. “Now I can’t possibly go back to master’s – I’ll be too slow for my lane!” Two weeks ago by: “Am I even going to remember how to swim?”

After the first leg of my relay swim.
Yes! I DO remember how to swim in open water!

Of course I will. But it’s been a similar thing with writing and the excuses flow even faster than all the topics I want to write about. “I can’t possibly blog now because there’s too much to write about. Where do I start?” “Don’t have enough time. This post will take forever.” “I haven’t even uploaded my photos from the Trans Tahoe Relay, how can I write about it yet?” Then I begin to become scared of checking my site meter because I figure nobody is even reading my blog anymore due to inactivity. “It better be one damn good piece that you write so you can make up for weeks of NOT writing, Sarah.”

So the endless self-feeding cycle goes.

There is also the issue of blog-volution. As we grow, change and embark on new paths in life, for many of us who only have one blog, those blogs also begin to develop and change. I began this as a way to record my triathlon adventure. When I first began this path 4.5 years ago (yikes!), it was all brand-new to me. My life was completely different! As I look back to old posts, it’s exciting to see how much my life has changed and evolved and it reminds me that I AM making forward progress.

So I’ve been thinking a lot about where this blog is headed. My triathlon future is uncertain but not being counted out. My cycling future is cemented and it is without any hesitation I can say that I continue to love it more all the time. After Sunday’s ride I realized that my cycling fitness is quite possibly the best it’s ever been and that it’s really fun to climb monster hills and go 27 mph on flats when you’re in good shape.

I’ve briefly visited this topic before when I pondered renaming my blog. But should I rename it? Or start a new one? Or just amend it slightly? And how can I make it more meaningful to ME? Writing my cycling race reports is quite enjoyable, as I learn so much with each one I do. Still, I wonder if there’s more I should be saying than simply recounting my experiences.

This is where this post begins to take a personal turn. There are a lot of big changes happening in my life right now – many positive, big changes. As we get ready for them, I’ve begun to think more about my strengths as an individual, as a friend and as an athlete.

If I could somehow use my blog to extend those strengths to others through the web, then wouldn’t that be awesome? People who read this and know me in person know how dearly I love teaching spin and cycling out on the road. Lately I’ve been hearing people talk to me about my ‘energy’ and how positive I am. But how can I extend that through my writing?

Should I share more spin workouts/playlists? Mental training? Be better about sharing what I learn all the time so maybe I can help others? Post more riding routes in Sonoma County and file them for visiting folks to find? More cooking recipes?

Mmmm tomatoes are finally here!!

This is all just stream of conscious writing here. I don’t expect answers. Simply writing about wanting to find ways to inspire and influence those who care to read this. If I wanted to write about my experiences solely for personal gratification and the memories, I might as well keep it private. I know it’s a way for friends and family to read up on what I’m doing, but as Facebook has grown over the past year, I see that friends and family tend to stay up on what I do through that medium (which is totally fine).

Maybe this all just means that I should learn how to write shorter posts so I don’t feel like each time I write it’s a time suck. :)

In any case, I just wanted to check in. Life’s been a blast lately. Had Trans Tahoe Relay two weekends ago (and THAT was an adventure I will be posting SOON!), went to Vineman the next day to watch Beth, Ron, Rocketpants and a few other friends finish. Got to hang out with Beth and James, as well as Rocketpants a few days later. Last weekend was packed with more cycling. And of course, let’s not forget that this little race called the Tour de FRANCE was filling up my mornings over the past three weeks! That was an incredible race to follow.

Life is good. The blog will continue, in whatever direction it evolves. For those of you out there with blogs that I haven’t been too up on – don’t take it personally. I would love to be reading more race reports, adventures, recipes, gadget reviews, travel stories and just general life stories from all of you. I really do enjoy it but the next couple of months are about to get REALLY nuts. So if I go away for a bit, just know I’m sending great energy to all of you and keeping you in my thoughts.

Oh – and don’t forget to turn the corners of your mouth up several times a day. It really WILL improve your mood!

Nothing better than cycling with friends and
stopping at the best bakery in Sonoma County for an espresso and a scone!

Goals for the rest of 2009

2009-07-10T12:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-02T16:01:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-25T11:04:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-06-23T16:02:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

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!)

2009-06-10T00:29:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-05-19T19:56:00.001-07:00

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)

2009-05-11T20:02:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-29T10:14:00.001-07:00

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?

Climbing, wind and teamwork

2009-04-25T23:22:00.001-07:00

Name of Race: Windy Wente Road Race

Date: April 25, 2009

Category Raced: Cat 4 Women

Weather Conditions: Windy. Chilly. Windy. Warmer?

Field Size: 47

Today I finished my first bike race. Last year I attempted a bike race but that didn't work out so well due to having a flat tire 20 minutes into the race. Today was the REAL DEAL!

The day was a big 'IF' - being #15 on the waitlist, it was important for me not to get my hopes up too high, just in case I didn't make the cut. Still, I had to go through all the motions as if I was really going to ride because I would not find out if I had a spot until 15 minutes prior to the race. Oh, the stress!

My team director Laurel, Christine and I arrived with plenty of time to hang around. Getting out of the car, I noted that it was a LOT chillier than expected. Remembering arm and knee warmers was a good call! I knew it would be windy (the race was located at the Altamont Pass - also the location of many wind-powered turbines) but I was skeptical of how cold it would be, given that earlier this week we had temperatures in the 90s.

Going into this race, I had two main goals:

Have FUN!
Work hard and don't wuss out!

Having this mindset really allowed me to relax and not worry too much about the multitude of things Laurel had coached me on prior to the race. The race would unfold as I went through it, and it was important not to have too high of expectations for myself because this is a WHOLE other world from triathlon. Today was about going out and enjoying the experience, learning from it, and racing!

At 11 a.m. (Race time was 12:15 p.m.) Laurel, Christine and I headed out on a warm-up ride. My legs were so stiff at first so I was grateful for the time to spin them out and get my HR up. According to Laurel, the MORE fit you are, the LONGER it takes your body to get warmed up. I also really wanted to check out this 'hill' that was going to be the bane of my existence three times through.

Post warm-up it was almost noon. Women were beginning to gather toward the front of the staging area. Admittedly a small part of me hoped I wouldn't get a spot and I could put this off just a little longer! This was going to be a painful experience and I would be JUST fine if I didn't get to enjoy it today. But actually, most of me really DID want to race. Thankfully, good karma was with me for the second day in a row and Christine and I got the last two available spots. PHEW!

The race started and off we went. Unlike Winters last year, the pace lifted almost immediately. These women were chomping at the bit and it was TIME TO GO! I did the best I could to just stay mid-pack even though I had a very good feeling I would be dropped like a bad habit on that first climb.

Sure enough, as the pitch began, riders began to engulf and pass me and I was sliding back in the field. "DAMN!" I thought. Still, I couldn't do a thing about it. I was going hard as Laurel had told me to, but when your HR is already at 180 and you're only 1/3 up the hill, you have to just accept it and keep moving.

Instead, I opted to be positive with myself and say "just get to the top. Spin it out. Don't let up no matter how hard you're breathing. You'll catch some of them so just keep GOING!"

As I reached the top there were two other women who made it right when I did and we decided to work together. Christine and another woman eventually caught us and I was glad she was in so we could hopefully break away from this group at some point.

What Laurel DIDN'T mention was how the hills KEPT...going...UGGGGGHH. Actually Ron sent me a really great ride report of the whole course along with elevation data so I knew there would still be climbs to come. I guess I didn't realize they'd come so soon after the initial climb.

About halfway through the rolling hills I looked back and realized Christine was no longer with us. Damn! It was me and three other women. We committed to working together and reeling as many women in as we could. On the first lap, it was a good plan.

As we came down out of the hills and back to the SUPER WINDY flat we were taking turns pulling and I began to get agitated that we weren't moving faster. I wanted to GO! We only had two laps to do this and this first one only had about 6 miles left in it. As I took my turn up front, I lifted the pace a bit and made a decision to just keep moving forward.

One by one, we kept reeling women from our field in. It was AWESOME! In my head, I could hear Laurel's wise words echoing "do as little work as possible. Stay OFF THE FRONT." Oops. But I knew I had to do this because these women were not doing what I needed them to do and with only one lap to go it was time to get down to business.

Suddenly, I looked up ahead and saw some familiar red and white colors. Sure enough, it was Stephanie from my Early Bird team. YESSSSSSS! Like a horse getting close to the barn, I picked up the pace a little more, eagerly anticipating the teamwork we could pull off together.

"HEY EARLY BIRD!" I called out. Stephanie looked behind her and saw me and she said "OH MY GOD I am SOOOO glad you are here!" She had been riding alone for awhile and was beginning to consider canning the entire sport and selling her bike for golf clubs. Enter me to the rescue! (You're welcome, Steph)

Catching Stephanie right near the bottom of the climb, my resolve was to keep up with her through the climb and have us work hard on the second lap together. We dropped all but one of the six other women who had been with us on that climb. The hills were just as hard this second time through but I actually felt better staying out of my comfort zone and I just kept pushing, pushing, PUSHING! NO WUSSING OUT!

Before I knew it, we were headed toward the Hill for one last final effort up (the finish line was at the top). It was me, Stephanie, the third woman and a fourth we had picked up. Quick flashback to an XC race from last year - I was coming into the final 1/4 mile of the race and a woman and I were gunning for the finish and I thought "well what's the WORST that can happen if I push harder?" So I did and it hurt like hell and I got my HR up to 193 and I thought I was going to throw up but I BEAT HER!

Back to this moment before the hill. I did NOT want to let woman #3 (who had been with us for much of the 2nd lap but didn't like to do her share of pulling) beat ME. Uh-UH. Figuring, however, Stephanie probably would beat me, I thought if I could just try as hard as I could to stay with her and just go ALLLLL OUT then it might work. And, really, what's the worst that could happen?

Well: the difference between pushing yourself above and beyond anything you've ever done before in running vs. cycling up a HILL is that if your legs are spent, you can push all you want but it may not really translate into moving faster.

BUT I DID BEAT THAT WOMAN! HELL YES I DID! I tried to keep Stephanie close but she managed to maintain some strength through the last part of the climb. I was further back just trying to keep turning the pedals over, find any semblance of power and focus on being done. Hitting the 200 M mark, I tried to stand up and sprint but legs were saying "SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN, GIRL!"

In the end Stephanie and I came in 31st and 32nd, respectively, out of 47 riders. Not exactly in the top 15 as I had sort of maybe hoped I might have SOME chance at. But honestly, it fills me with so much hope. Hope for development, for improvement, for potential.

Honestly - today was one of the best days I have EVER had on my bike. The strategy involved, the teamwork, the way I kept thinking about my next move, the way I kept on pushing myself and made decisions on when to push harder than other times. It was all just totally amazing. I also had FUN and I was SO inspired by all of the amazing cyclists who passed me today.

It also reminded me of those training days on your bike when you ride with people way better than you and you're gasping for air most of the time and you hate it and you think "why did I do this?" and then an hour after the ride you think "wow that was the BEST RIDE EVER!" It was totally like that. Except that even when it was hard, I was still having fun.

Today gave me such a great sense of direction. I want to do more of this. I want to be a better climber. A smarter racer. I want to see how much stronger I can make my body. It's a good feeling and ABOUT TIME I got that appetite back!

So that's that. The next road race is May 10 - the Berkeley Hills Road Race. The route will take place over the infamous "Three Bears" route which I used to ride ad nauseam when I lived in Berkeley. I'll get to relive my first couple years on the bike!

Thanks to everybody for all the support lately. It was really with me today in the confidence I felt and the mindset I went into the race with. Special thanks to Laurel Green of Wenzel Coaching and my Early Bird Women's Developmental Team Director - your pre-race tips were invaluable to me and I am so grateful to have you as a mentor! Also thanks to all of the Early Bird Women who showed up today and rode strong and cheered for me afterward. Having a team is SO FUN!

The 2009 Early Bird Developmental Team

A week of firsts

2009-04-10T12:31:00.001-07:00

Let’s start with Tuesdsay evening: as I was finishing up Wednesday’s spin class, I was bending my toes on the carpet and suddenly felt a pull on one of my toenails. Ouch! Felt like it was kind of ripping so I immediately walked into the bathroom to grab some clippers. As I bent over my foot, there was my second toe with ITS TOENAIL HANGING OFF.

OMG.

I have heard about you runner folk and your black toenails that fall off, but it has NEVER happened to me before! In all the years of tri I always managed to have shoes that never caused black & blue toenails. But back in January Matt and I had gone on a hike and as we were running down the trail to beat darkness, my left second toe kept jamming into the front of my hiking shoes; I definitely had a hunch it would be bruised. Sure enough, it eventually turned black.

Little did I know it would FALL OFF. How WEIRD is that?! It’s like my toe managed to form a protective layer between the skin and the nail so that when the nail DID come off, it was kind of no big deal. But I’m still weirded out by the fact that my toenail just kinda…fell off!

Onto Friday: my first ART session. For those not in the know, that’s Active Release Therapy (ART). Matt has been going to Patrick Pisenti, DC for a few different ailments and I know plenty of other people (including Holly) who have sung his praises for whatever injuries they were dealing with.

I’ve been dealing with this scar tissue in my right quad for awhile now and it hasn’t ever gotten any better. It affects me most when I run but I still feel it when I swim and bike and even in yoga. My right quad generally feels weaker than the left. I was just tired of feeling it and feeling injured.

Last November I felt so angry after my last XC race because it really flared up to the point of causing so much pain I had tears in my eyes and it was all I could do just to finish the damn thing. This stupid injury essentially ruined what should have been an awesome race for me. That was really when I decided to hang up running for awhile.

So I decided it was time for me to visit Pat. ART is PAINFUL! But I’m hoping it works. I’m supposed to follow up my treatment with the good ol’ foam roller and see how it goes for a couple weeks before I make any follow up appointments.

Onto the weekend! Hope everybody has a wonderful Easter weekend and gets some great rides/runs/swims/egg hunts in!

2 Recipes for healthy people on the go

2009-04-08T16:09:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I’m waaaay overdue. Things have been nuts lately. My cooking has been much more of the “how can I make this as healthy as possible while still making it as quickly as possible because it is already 8:00 p.m. and I am STARVING?”

First up: Stir fry

No special stuff here but this is my ALL time favorite go-to ‘hurry-up-i-need-something-healthy’ meal.

-I start with a base of Trader Joe’s Chimichurri Rice. If you are a TJ’s shopper, YOU MUST BUY SOME OF THIS! It is a frozen rice mixture with some great spices. Re-heats REALLY well and serves as an excellent base. I do all kinds of stuff with this.

-In another pan, start braising tofu or saute some chicken or ground turkey or turkey sausage…etc

-Meanwhile, start cutting up all the veggies you’ve got:

Bell peppers
Asparagus
Carrots
Mushrooms
Chard
Whatever other great veggies you might want in a stir fry

-I often will actually use a third pan and get my onion and mushrooms going by themselves

-In the Chimichurri Rice pan, once it’s been on heat for about a minute, start throwing in your veggies based on how long they need to stir-fry for. Carrots first, Asparagus and bell peppers next, then once the mushrooms and onion are almost done, throw them into the mix. Time it so that about two minutes before everything is all done, you can throw your meat or tofu into your wok also. Then about one minute before it’s all finished, throw in the chard. Chard cooks quickly so be sure everything else is done. Keep turning the chard over so that it cooks evenly but usually you never want more than a minute before it will become over-cooked.

That’s about it. In about 15 minutes of prep and cook time, you’ve got a pretty solid meal of protein/carbs/veggies and it tastes REALLY good. Sometimes I’ll wrap it in a tortilla, sometimes I’ll eat it alone. Mmmm.

Next up: Quinoa and Black Beans Salad

I heart this SO much. This recipe makes enough salad for two people to stretch out for about 2-3 days so you may want to halve it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed, if canned
1 1/2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups cooked corn (cut from about 2 large ears) *
(I used TJ’s frozen corn and it was great; also use TJ’s ‘Soycutash’ mix and that works really well in this, too)
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups tofu, chopped into small blocks (something I added on my own, definitely optional!)

For dressing :

5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions

Rinse and cook quinoa. (If you’re not familiar with it – rinse a few times as you would rice. Can use a 1-2 ratio – 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water; bring water to boiling, put quinoa in, let simmer for 15 min or so until all the water has been absorbed)

While quinoa is cooking, in a small bowl toss beans with vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer quinoa to a large bowl and cool. Add beans, corn, bell pepper (and tofu) and toss well.

Make dressing: In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, salt, and cumin and add oil in a stream, whisking. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss well with salt and pepper to taste. (*Note: I used about 3/4 of the salad dressing)

Salad may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring salad to room temperature before serving.

Doing without

2009-04-08T10:04:00.001-07:00

Without what?

A lot of things. The last two weeks have been all about extreme control and conscious restraint. Yet, I still seem to be in a good mood!

Matt has been having some stomach issues and thought it might be a good idea to try giving up alcohol and coffee for a month. Figuring that I would probably also benefit from such restraint, I decided to go along for the ride.

It’s been a little over two weeks so far and here are the results:

Alcohol: I mean yeah, I get jealous when James updates his Facebook status with what type of beer he’s relaxing with or JP mentions having noodles and beer. I passed by the Russian River Brewing Co the other day and thought “oh…that sounds GOOOOD.” But overall, I think it’s good to give the ol’ liver a break.

We went to a mixer last week for an organization called GoLocal (all about promoting the support of local business) and the theme last night was “Drink Local” – supporting local beverage makers (and while Sonoma County IS wine and beer country, they also were talking about some local tea/coffee importers, etc.).

So we go to pour ourselves a glass of water and what is sitting next to the bottles of water?

A BIG jug of Russian River’s Pliny the Elder. I let out a little whimper as I spied it. Taking a deep breath, I said confidently to Matt “I’m fine. It’s fine. Just give me the water.”

Phew.

But after that, I really WAS fine. The evening went on without another thought of the matter. Which shows me that a) I’m not that addicted to beer and wine (that’s good!) and b) It’s not as hard as I thought it would be.

Coffee, on the other hand, has been a completely different story. MY GOD am I craving my fresh French-pressed brew!! We’ve been drinking black tea in the mornings instead but it just isn’t the same. And since I’m not the one with the stomach issues, I think lasting through two weeks of experimentation has been enough for me.

In all actuality, I haven’t really completely given it up. The other morning Matt felt bad for me and made me a pot. The day before that I had a breakdown and went to Peet’s on my way to FedEx (they’re next door to each other, how convenient) and got an Americano. At the GoLocal mixer you’d better believe I was ‘sampling’ (if that’s what you could call getting a refill three times) the decaf blend.

If that’s what ‘giving up’ coffee has done to me, then I think I was better off with my one-cup-each-morning habit!

Besides restraining from coffee and alcohol, I’ve been counting calories. Fitness Journal has a really cool food diary that can either be really detailed or really simple. The detailed version is cool in that a lot of foods are already in there from other members (i.e. Clif Z-Bars). I’m not so much wanting to ‘diet’ as more wanting to understand exactly where the calories come from and what my daily percentages of carbs, fat and protein are. Further, I want to make sure I’m doing enough to get the majority of my carbs from veggies and fruits rather than starches. I’ve actually really enjoyed doing this and it’s helping me to make more conscious choices during the day, especially if I can see that I’m lacking on the protein or the carb/fat/protein ratio is a little out of balance – I can adjust meals accordingly.

Overall, training’s been good. Still not much running to speak of. Fine by me! I got in a great swim last Saturday on my own and decided that I can’t be a wimp about it anymore. If I can’t make a Tues/Thurs eve master’s workout, I just have to suck it up and go early those mornings on my own. I CAN push myself and I CAN be disciplined. I don’t necessarily enjoy it as much, but I need to do it and I’m always glad when I did. I decided that I definitely want to get some open water swims in this summer and when Shan moves up here I want to round her and some other folks up and go BAY swimming! I haven’t swam in the Bay in quite awhile but it’s really an awesome experience (cold, but awesome).

Finally, I should announce that I have officially joined the Early Bird Women’s Racing Team and may be racing as early as April 26 at the Wente Crit Race! YEAH!

What is the meaning of life?

2009-04-01T16:48:00.001-07:00

Whatever you want it to be.

That was the question/answer on a card I wrote today. I love it. It couldn’t be more true.

This week has been nuts in the most awesome way. It started Saturday and has been pretty much, well, great, every day since. I don’t even know where to START! After such an incredible weekend, I began to reflect inward a little bit. Last month I mentioned a few things about how our attitude is everything. I am starting to see the difference my positive thinking is making on my life and my actions. Not only is it helping me to see the brighter side of things more easily, but I can see it in my confidence as well. I’ve been making decisions recently that are the direct result of more confidence in my feelings and direction I want to be going. It feels so good to make a decision and not question it or wonder if I should be doing it differently.

I looked at a blog post I remembered writing almost a year ago to this day. I was feeling pretty alone here in Sonoma County. Frustrated that my relationship with my students at the YMCA wasn’t forming immediately (patience is something I constantly work on). A little disappointed in my Oceanside 70.3 race (btw GOOD LUCK TO YOU FOLKS RACING!). Missing my friends in Berkeley and Oakland. Lamenting on my former life.

A year later, I can honestly say my life and outlook are 180 degrees from where they were one year ago. Take spin: several hours later, I am STILL on a high from spin class this morning. A year ago I was doing everything I could to look forward to spin on Mondays. And a year ago, when I was stoked that spin was 85% full? This morning’s class was full by 5:35 a.m. - for a 6 a.m. class. As I think about why I feel so fulfilled by teaching spin, I realize it’s something that I have worked so hard for. The comments from my post last week about Wednesdays were interesting to me. People seemed surprised that I’m always changing up the workout and playlist. But just like the quote at the top of my post today says: you get out of things whatever you put into them.

One of the things I know I am good at and love doing is building relationships and friendships. In spite of that, I am also impatient. The former takes time and yet, my personality likes things to happen YESTERDAY! Especially when I get EXCITED!

Just as it took a good 6 months for my relationships to really deepen with my spin students, it’s taken time for me to build my community here in Santa Rosa. To build friendships. To figure out what I wanted out of my new life up here. But I was so thrilled to be moving up here, to get out on my bike and learn every road in Sonoma County, to enjoy all this beautiful place has to offer, I think I expected it all to happen overnight.

I’m kind of interested to go back to another post from March of 2008 where I said:

After this year, who knows? As much as I love this sport and love the fitness that comes along with it, there are a lot of other things I'm interested in doing. I'm interested in cooking more. I'm interested in growing a garden to use my own veggies. I'm interested in becoming fluent in Spanish. I'm interested in reading more. I'm interested in getting into cycling racing. I'm interested in more yoga. I'm interested in learning more about web design and learning CSS. I may even be interested in running a marathon at some point.

I don't think I'll give up triathlon after this year, I just think I'll back off the intensity and just have fun with it. Pick a couple key races to do every year and do them for fun.

Kind of funny to look back on that! I was already gearing up for 2009 and yet, a few months ago, I was STRUGGLING SO MUCH with the idea of letting go! A WHOLE YEAR AGO I KNEW what I wanted. And yet up until about last week I was still hanging on to the last threads of somehow feeling like I NEED to do triathlon. Or that I NEED to run.

Yet the only thing getting in my way of pursuing other, just-as-exciting things was ME. Life is what you make it.

Now that I’ve set the stage (no this post isn’t over yet), let’s look back at what I said in March 2008 that I wanted to do:

Cooking more – have to say I’ve been really lazy lately. Haven’t been posting recipes at all lately and my cooking has lacked pizzazz. Time to step it up! I’m going to try and plan at least two great meals a week that involve a little more extended time in the kitchen. I’ve got PLENTY of inspiration from JP and Devon!
Garden – possibly working on doing a community garden with Carmen, yeah!
Spanish – nada. Still have to table that one for a little while.
Reading more – reading at least 15 min a day from a BOOK and it’s working out great! (in addition to Bicycling…New Yorker…Gourmet…Swimmer…)
More yoga – yes! I’ve totally picked this up this year! Going to keep rockin’ that one…
Web design and CSS – another one to be tabled. Maybe someday…
Marathon – nope, certainly not right now.
Cycling Racing – funny this should come up…

On the topic of road racing: last week on that FANTASTIC Riviera Ride from West County Revolution (an absolute MUST for anybody remotely nearby – I will let you know the details for the next one), I met a woman named Laurel Green. I told her about my desire to race this season and she said “Do you have a team?” I said “No.” Her: “Want one?” Me: “well…YEAH!”

Laurel is running a development team for women in their first year of road racing. How PERFECT! As the ride went on we spoke more about what’s required and what I could expect to get out of this experience. The result? All that’s left for me to do is send my team dues in. Count me IN!

Besides it being a great ride for finding myself being recruited to a racing team, it was truly one of the most gorgeous days in Sonoma County I’ve seen this year so far. A perfect day for riding, and boy did we RIDE! I found myself feeling feisty and got into a few pacelines and attacking up a few hills. It hurt SO good. I posted the pics below!

After and incredible lunch at Riviera, that evening I went to my FIRST professional hockey game! We watched the Sharks beat the Phoenix team. GO SHARKS! It was awesome. And I couldn’t believe they just LET them keep fighting!

Sunday I did more riding with Soda. She came up around 2 p.m. and we set off to do about a 40 mile, 2 hr mostly flat ride. Well…it ended up being 53 miles and 2 hrs 40 min. Oops. We got into Occidental and she had never turned right on Bohemian Hwy from there. We were both on TT bikes and I said “oh…Soda…that is THE BEST ROAD FOR A TT BIKE! YOU WILL FEEL LIKE YOU ARE FLYING!” I thought we’d go down from there to Monte Rio and take River Road in – a long flat ride back – perfect, right?

Kind of. We enjoyed Bohemian Hwy all the way down. We hit upwards of 3o mph! Once we were on River Road about 4 miles from Guerneville, we were moving along at a nice clip of about 21-22 mph. I was letting Soda do all the pulling since she’s the one racing next week. :) I decided to kick it into my big ring and slow down the cadence a tad. As I pulled the left gear toward me, it, well…kept pulling back! “What the hell?” I thought. I looked down and my chain had gone nowhere. Damn. Front derailleur cable had snapped! Still, worse things could have happened. With no bike store in Guerneville, we decided to just focus on getting back. I didn’t want to slow Soda down so I just decided I’d practice my spinning all the way home (I should also point out I couldn’t shift up to any of the last 3 gears on my rear cog because the chain would start rubbing against the front derailleur, so I was pretty much stuck with one gear on the flat).

Home – guess I kind of forgot it’s about 20 miles from Guerneville. Oh well, we still managed to do about 19 mph with my legs spinning the whole entire way!

Once we got there I had planned on doing an easy 20 minute run with her afterward. As we embarked down the block, my legs were SCREAMING. The thought of running another 18 minutes seemed like a feat I would not be able to conquer today. I apologized and told her I just had no strength left in my legs. All in all, it was a great ride and I definitely wasn’t concerned about missing out on the run.

This week started off really well, too. Monday spin was great. Went to yoga that evening and it felt so good but my legs were still hating me and for the first time in a LONG time I had to come out of my warrior poses to massage my quads! Oooohhh so sore.

Tuesday, in spite of still sore legs, I willed myself to go out at lunch at get a 20 minute run in. I won’t lie. The first 10 minutes sucked eggs. I spent every step plotting how I was going to describe the pain in my blog entry. The muscles right above my knees especially – just so tight. I’m wondering if that’s soreness from using the TT bike which I haven’t ridden in months? After the first 10 minutes it wasn’t so bad, but folks…it was dreadfully slow! I haven’t run that slow in AGES!

I sort of smiled about it all. Perhaps doing a 10K in two weeks might be out of the question. Of course I have the cardio strength for it but not sure my legs have it. And honestly…I don’t really care. I am really beginning to think that I may just take a total break from triathlon this season. I am TOTALLY FINE WITH THIS, FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL YEAR! On my ride on Saturday, about 20 minutes before I spoke with Laurel, I said to Lee “you know…I think I might just be okay if I really just focused on bike, swim and yoga this year.” Kind of funny how it all worked out.

Life is like that. It seems to work itself out. Things don’t always happen as quick as we want them to, but I am coming to the full realization that if you just set some goals and gain a clear understanding of what it is you really want, put it out there for the universe to hear, and work at it, everything will be okay. Obviously there are always hiccups and roadblocks along the way, but nobody ever said succeeding was easy. I know more times than not I wish life were easier, but when I look at the big picture I know that life really is good and I can make it into whatever I want. I like that.

Wednesday: The Toughest Day

2009-03-25T15:12:00.001-07:00

Indeed, Wednesday is my most difficult day of the week. I teach spin twice. It’s not even the double workout that makes it tough. I’ve done two workouts in a day plenty – as have most triathletes. That part is nothing new. And sheez, I get a whole 12 hours in between so it’s REALLY just fine!

No, I think the issue with Wednesdays is simply that I’m TEACHING two spin classes. And working all day in between. My main problem is that I’m not planning ahead well enough and it seems it is beginning to catch up with me. For example, instead of being the smarty pants I KNOW I can be by getting all of the week’s spin classes together on Saturday or Sunday, I inevitably whittle away my time so that Sunday evening I really only have time to plan Monday’s class. Then Tuesday rolls around; I go to swim practice from 5:45 – 7:00 p.m., come home, eat, and by the time I’m sitting down to plan Wednesday’s double duty it’s about 9 or 9:30 p.m. Theoretically I would be getting ready for bed by then. Oops.

The realization is finally hitting me that this ‘process’ really needs to stop or I will break down and it will begin to affect how I teach. I don’t want that. I’m trying to get through this nasty cold; lack of sleep isn’t aiding in recovery now, is it?

Just like everything else I do, I’ve finally realized that if I want to continue to be a good spin instructor I really need to plan out when I will be writing out classes and honor that plan. Time to GET WITH IT! Out of curiosity to anybody out there who coaches/teaches as a side job – do you have a routine that works for you to get this kind of stuff done?

In spite of my stress I am CREATING FOR MYSELF (that’s how I know I need to get my act together – it’s stress that I am unnecessarily bringing on MYSELF!), I still absolutely love teaching spin. Seeing my students improve in their ability to push themselves, in their form on the bike, in their willingness to commit to working hard – it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Oh and I love finding new music. If you haven’t checked out the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, you should! Some great workouts songs on there!

On another note…slight schedule update:

~~March 14 - Solvang Century Ride~~ - Done!
NEW: April 12 – Artichoke 10K (Pescadero, CA) – Maybe
April 19 - Santa Cruz 10K – a NO GO if I do the Artichoke 10K
April 26 - "Just Go" 10K (Santa Rosa)
June 7 - Tri For Real #1 Olympic Distance (Folsom)
July 4 - Kenwood 10K
July 12 - Tri For Real #2 Olympic Distance (Folsom)
~~July 19 - Donner Lake Triathlon - Olympic Distance (Truckee, CA)~~
July 19 – Trans Tahoe Relay (Lake Tahoe) – WOOO!!!
August 9 - Tri For Real #3 Olympic Distance (Folsom)
August 22 - Santa Barbara Triathlon (MAYBE)
September 13 - Escape From the Rock Triathlon (San Francisco)
October 25 - The Big Kahuna Triathlon (Half-IM) (Santa Cruz)
Insert Date Here - Some Half Marathon

Today’s spin song list:

Children – Robert Miles
Life on a Chain – Pete Yorn
Two Step – Dave Matthews
Aaj Ki Raat - (Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack)
Bottom of the Barrel – Amos Lee (recovery)
Mercy – Duffy
Maneater – Nelly Furtado
Shot in the Dark (remix) – Chris Mancini
Send Your Love – Sting
Get the Party Started – Pink
Bicycle Race – Queen
Tainted Love – Soft Cell
It’s the End of the World – REM
Faith – George Michael

When to rest?

2009-03-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

It’s a new week. New goals. New attempts to manage my time and do more with the same minutes I had. But it seems like my body is telling me to rest. Last week, during both Monday a.m. spin and a Wednesday ride I had a difficult time getting my heart rate up. By now I know this is a sign that my body is tired and I need to give it a rest. Considering I had ridden 103 miles at a decent pace only a few days before and I was also feeling a cold coming on, I thought “okay, definitely a good time to take a break.”

Spring has sprung in Sonoma County!!

Begrudgingly, I made Thursday a rest day. Friday morning I still had a little bit of a sore throat but when I taught spin my HR was back to normal and I thought all was well again.

But I still took Saturday off and after yesterday morning’s 2 hr pain session on the bike I decided against swimming. Yet…I still have a sore throat and my nose is all stuffed up again and my voice is not too strong. ARRRRRRRRRGH!

This is positively frustrating! I’ve been trying to build momentum back each week but it seems like I just can’t quite get there. So what does REST truly mean? Take a few days off from everything and sleep? Do lighter workouts? Skip a workout? I know rest varies for each situation – if you’re REALLY sick then you stop working out. But what if you’re just battling two back-to-back colds? I seem to have recovered from last weekend’s century, but I’m still obviously battling whatever sickness has decided to manifest inside my respiratory system.

On another note, I did my first 20 minute run last week (after a several-week-long hiatus from running) and that was actually fairly nice. I think I should be ready for a 10K in a few weeks. Suddenly what used to be such a short distance seems so much longer. When Carmen and I were driving down to Solvang we were discussing running and I said “I guess I just hate how much it HURTS!” She said “that’s because you RACE it! Try just running at a gentler pace and you might enjoy it.”

What a concept. Hmmm. I think doing something like that would be difficult for me but perhaps good practice in throwing the ego out the door. Just enjoying it for the run itself. Yet even on the century ride I found myself wanting to chase people down (silly girl) KNOWING this was NOT a race and NOBODY cared if I caught them. It’s that competitiveness though. It’s what drives me forward in triathlons…from the very first one I ever did. We’ll see. One day at a time.

And now I’m off to swim (I know…rest…but swimming always makes me feel better when I have a cold).

Sunset from my friend Damon & Erin’s window looking out across the avenues in SF’s Sunset District and out to the Pacific

Solvang Century Ride Report

2009-03-20T14:15:00.001-07:00

**A Joint Ride Report by ~~Sarah and~~ Carmen and Sarah** (mostly Carmen because Sarah is getting lazy about blogging)

Carmen says:

The first highlight of the trip is the night before the ride. We stopped in Pismo Beach for dinner, just in time to see a breathtaking sunset off the Pacific Ocean.

We then went to Splash Cafe and had what had to be the best Ahi tuna fish tacos in the world. We split our orders so we could each have one taco with this tangy Citris salsa and the other with this spicy horseradishy green sauce. YUM!!

Sarah says: This place is NOT to be missed if you’re going through Pismo! It’s on the main drag heading toward the pier. You can’t miss it b/c it will be packed with people!

Carmen says: After dinner we headed down to Solvang to get our ride packets. As usual, there was a product expo where we spent more money than we planned. Sarah nabbed this super cute “Cycling Diva” t-shirt, a TriDiva hat and a pair of sunglasses. I (finally) got the Bento box I’ve been needing and a new pair of sunglasses.

It was nearly 10 p.m. before we got to the hotel in Lompoc. Not much to say about Lompoc, but the hotel experience was classic! We hijacked a luggage dolly and loaded it up with our crap and then rolled it and our bikes up three stories and, of course, all the way to the other side of the hotel. We couldn’t stop laughing as we looked at this thing piled high with gear bags, overnight bags, and groceries. Seriously. We were there for one night but could have stayed a week with the amount of stuff we had!

The next morning we got a little bit of a late start but managed to hit the start line just in time for the cut-off (8:00 a.m.). (Sarah says: really, Carmen? There was a cut-off? I had no idea. :P If it’s not a race…I’m not in a hurry…no stress…and I knew we’d be fast anyway!) It was a bit on the chilly side as we started out but the place was packed with riders and we were excited to get moving. The first group of riders we ended up with had two younger ladies in pink/lavender clothes with a "HOT" sticker stuck to their rear-ends. At first, we were like, "that's cute." But after awhile, they were driving us bananas. Speed up, slow down. Speed up, slow down. By the time we got to the first rest stop, we made a decision to simply roll through and left our little group behind.

BEFORE we left, though, we met Batman and Robin who were riding on a tandem bike. Apparently last year they rode as the Tortoise and the Hare. These two guys were cracking us up - and they were fast! We kept seeing them throughout the ride and yelled, "HEY BATMAN!" (Sarah would like to note that at one point Batman said “You can call me Bruce, too…” and I didn’t get it until about a minute later…DUH…BRUCE WAYNE!)

Miles 40-60 were probably the best miles of the ride.

We caught a group of riders a couple of times and were SPEEDING along at some crazy paces. Sarah hung on longer and probably could have stayed all day - she was doing AWESOME! Sarah also had this amazing pull down this busy stretch of a road. Every time we looked back, more and more people were jumping onto the pace line. That's kind of what's neat about these rides. You don't know anyone but pretty soon little groups form and you all work together to get some good miles in.
Mile 60-ish was a low point for me. All that fast fun took a toll and eating was at a minimum because my stomach was revolting. Sarah finally said, "You NEED to eat." She was right. After stopping briefly to eat a half a PB&J, I felt like new and off we went.

Another low point was miles 80-86. Why? Because everyone kept telling us there was this "huge climb" at mile 80. So Sarah went ahead at her own pace while I took it easy to save some legs for the climb. But then mile 80 went by, 81, 82, 83, 84....still no climb. We were like what the heck? Where IS THIS CLIMB? Sarah joined back up and we were for some reason really pissed off by the fact that "big climb" wasn't where everyone said it would be. Can't really figure out why it bothered us so much but I suppose it was just that we were taking it easy to save our legs and it just was nowhere in sight! (Sarah says: I was pissed because at the mile 72 rest stop Carmen had taken off ahead of me since this ‘big’ climb was coming and she figured I’d catch her. So I passed her around mile 76 and thought “well I’ll just keep going and wait for her at the top of the climb.” But mile after mile…this climb wasn’t coming and I felt bad for leaving my friend to ride alone. LAME!) Finally, at around mile 85/86, the "big climb" came. It wasn't really a big climb. These people need to come to Sonoma County - we'll show them a big climb! Nonetheless, I stuck it in an easy gear and went up while Sarah breezed her way to the top.

The landscape for the first 80 miles was bleh. Nothing too exciting, especially when you compare it to our beautiful Sonoma County. But the last 20+ miles were very nice.

Sarah continued to ride strong and I was getting a second wind and feeling great. In fact, after the fun times at mile 40-60, the last 20 miles were the next best miles. Great views and strong legs.

We finished in 5 hours and 50 minutes. Sarah could have gone faster but she graciously waited for me. Even so, I felt like I had a pretty good showing for my first Century ride!

After the ride, we stopped at a Danish Bakery and had the BEST Danishes and coffee. Although it could be that everything tastes better after you've ridden 103 miles. One thing we noticed, though is that Solvang is kind of an eerie town. It's suppose to be really cute with all the Danish architecture but, hello, we're in the middle of California. EVERYTHING has a Danish spin to it. It kind of felt like the twilight zone. Beautiful, but strange.

All in all, it was a great day!

Sarah says: I think Carmen did an awesome job with this ride report, so I don’t feel like I really needed to add much. Or I’m just lazy. ;) But seriously…while not the most scenic century I’ve ever done, definitely one of the BEST!!

First, I had great company (yay, Carmen!).

Second, I felt like I kicked ASS all day long. And when we finished I thought “ya know…I could ride another 30 if I wanted to.” My nutrition was solid all day and I never felt too tired or like I wished I could just get off my bike and curl into a ball. THAT is an achievement for me! All I can say to people is EAT, EAT EAT!!!! Gotta keep eating on those long rides even if you’re not hungry.

Third, it felt so awesome to pull a train the way I did. I was scared to look back and see how many people were on the back but when Carmen told me there was a huge long line behind me I just smiled this big smile and kept on pedaling. Yeee haww!

Fourth, it felt awesome to join up with a train of guys at mile 70 and be going at 28 mph. We were FLYING! Love love love love that.

Fifth, I was so proud of our ride time and really proud of Carmen. I think she had a spectacular first century – and she’s only been riding for about a year now!

Thanks, Carmen!

Enjoy our photo album from the trip…

This weekend: Solvang Century!

2009-03-13T10:51:00.001-07:00

I know I’ve been super lame and haven’t been writing much lately. Just so much busyness and I wish I could say with training but sadly the last two weeks have been not so great training-wise (especially now that I have a couple of runs to prep for!). Que sera, sera. Life happens and you have to just roll with it. There’s no point in being upset over things I can’t control.

SO here it is Friday already! This is a short post because Carmen and I are taking off at 1 p.m. to drive down to Solvang for the Solvang Century. YES! Been looking forward to this for weeks. We finally got to ride outdoors last Sunday and did an incredible 75 miles in glorious sun. It felt amazing and I felt SO happy just to be there, on my bike. During those four hours, there was NOWHERE else in the world I wanted to be than riding my bike through Sonoma County vineyards with friends on a sunny day seeing all sorts of other friends along the way who were also out riding. It was heavenly and I was so grateful for the weather finally cooperating.

The other cool thing that happened this week was that I got a re-fit on my tri bike from Rand Libberton at Aria Velo. This was more of a ‘mini-fit’ because he had helped my friend Pat get fit to my bike when I was going to let Pat borrow it for IM AZ last year when his bike kind of broke at the last minute. So Rand was just making sure that things were back to how they should be.

BUT I learned about what a ‘real’ fit involves there – first of all, it’s a 4-HOUR SESSION. Wow! I was so impressed with the detail that’s involved, from discussing what type of riding you want to do with your bike to getting you set up with 3-D points so he can evaluate every aspect of your positioning. His set-up is super high-tech and I just couldn’t get over the level of details he gets to in determining a proper bike fit. What’s more, he keeps all of your ‘numbers’ so that when you’re out looking at new bikes he can pull them up and say ‘yeah, I don’t know about that model, you might be 3 cm too short for it,’ etc.

Why do I write about this? Because for all the time and money we spend on our bikes, this could be the best $350 you’ve ever spent. I’m SO excited now to book a full appointment with him, especially as I’m looking at new road bikes this year. I think it will help big time. If you’re local, go check out Aria Velo. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

That’s it for today. Hope everybody has a great weekend of training and good luck to any event-goers! I promise to post pictures of our ride next week!

Sweet Swim, Go SERC!

2009-03-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

My friend Heather posted this video on her Facebook page this evening. South End Rowing Club (SERC) is a club in San Francisco that, among many things, fosters the sport of open water swimming. They are nested right at this cove near Ghiradelli Square and many swimmers new to Bay swimming get their start with SERC. Folks can swim in the cove (typically sans wetsuit) and have the comfort of a nice sauna afterward to get their body temps back up.

All of my serious open-water swimming friends are/were with SERC. In the open-water swimming world, it's known as one of the best places to train for big swims because the Bay has so many changing conditions.

One of the most challenging club-sponsored swims is the Pt. Bonita -> SERC swim. Below is a video of it.

While I never felt a desire to swim more than 3 miles in the open water, I always sincerely appreciated my friends that did. I crewed for my girlfriends Jessica, Alice and Amber when they swam the Maui Channel and I tried to help out as often as I could when they were training for other big swims.

Open water swimming is just downright HARD! Besides the physical aspects of swimming hours upon hours in training, there is so much coordination involved. Getting your crew for training swims. Making sure you have a boat. Making sure your crew is fed. Etc etc etc. Then there's the acutal SWIM DAY. Again, making sure you have your boat and driver AND a back-up plan in case something goes wrong.

I think I really just appreciate the will it takes to want to do something like this - whether it's 5 miles, 10, 20 or beyond, I would get SO BORED! The Donner Lake swim is 2.7 miles and I do enjoy that swim a lot, but by the end I'm definitely ready to be done.

These people put so much time, effort and dedication into this - I really think it's just awesome. Enjoy the video. :)

Yesterday was Square Root Day!

2009-03-04T09:14:00.000-08:00

It was 3/3/09 - and three is the square root of 9 (3√9). So the next one won't be until 4/4/16. Isn't that cool how that works?

Yes...I AM a math geek! However, instead of celebrating Square Root Day the healthy way and cutting up root vegetables into squares, I went to Happy Hour at Equis where they were serving $2 beers and $2 appetizers. So I drank 3 Racer 5's (TWO DOLLARS EACH, OMG!) and enjoyed the early evening with 9 friends (4 of them people we met there, but hey...new friends!). I was pretty proud of how that worked out.

However, celebrating in that fashion also meant that I skipped masters swim. Whoops! Gotta have some fun when it presents itself, though.

Still, I felt a tad guilty this morning (only a tad) and decided to start filling in that race calendar.

There are two 10K races in April...one in Santa Cruz and one in Santa Rosa that is benefiting REACH (the medic helicopters). I may just do both! Why not?

Doing those would help get me back into running shape for the Tri For Real Series in Folsom in June, July and August. I may throw in a couple sprint tris in between as well. Then I will finish the season with a half marathon (not sure which one, any suggestions?) and the Big Kahuna in October.

I also really want to pick a few bike races to do this summer as well just for fun and to see how they go/how I like them. Velopromo doesn't seem to have anything up past April yet but we'll see.

Sure is looking like a full plate (I'll update my sidebar soon)..

March 14 - Solvang Century Ride
April 19 - Santa Cruz 10K
April 26 - "Just Go" 10K (Santa Rosa)
June 7 - Tri For Real #1 Olympic Distance (Folsom)
July 4 - Kenwood 10K
July 12 - Tri For Real #2 Olympic Distance (Folsom) -OR-
July 19 - Donner Lake Triathlon - Olympic Distance (Truckee, CA)
August 9 - Tri For Real #3 Olympic Distance (Folsom)
August 22 - Santa Barbara Triathlon (MAYBE)
September 13 - Escape From the Rock Triathlon (San Francisco)
October 25 - The Big Kahuna Triathlon (Half-IM) (Santa Cruz)
Insert Date Here - Some Half Marathon

I have to smile as I look at this. Knowing that I'll be adding in a few other goodies in between, it IS turning out to look like a busy season. And I'm GLAD about that! I've taken an extra long time this year to actually lay out a schedule. I've taken an extra long break from running. I've chosen leisure over working out (well, not always, but many times in the last few months) when the opportunity presented itself.

But I FINALLY, finally feel like I WANT to run again. Like I am ready to commit to a few more hours a week. My words can't even describe how good it feels to actually want all of this, maybe more than I've ever wanted it before. And really my goal this year is to simply do the best _I_ can personally do and have fun at it.

I am also making a promise to myself to:
-Refuse to stress over missing a workout here or there
-Take time to rest if I feel I'm getting sick
-Not be afraid to take something off the schedule if it begins to feel like too much
-Take rest weeks SERIOUSLY and ADHERE to them

I think one of the big reasons I was SO burnt out was that I never took proper rest over the last four years. Yes, I took time off between seasons, etc., but never enough. I was always too afraid of 'losing' my fitness. But now it's kind of fun to think of the challenges that lie ahead. Tomorrow's goal - a 20 minute run. Wooo!

March seems to be off to a good start.

Swimming always makes it better

2009-02-25T10:21:00.000-08:00

Every time I think "maybe I shouldn't go to swim practice" I tell myself "maybe you should stop saying things like that. Just HTFU and GO."

I was working a little late last night so I knew I wouldn't get there by 5:45...but I could still make it by 6 and thus get a full hour in. That would still be good, especially since Karen was coaching - she's always good for lots of yardage.

And sure enough...3000 yards for one hour which included 5 x 100-yard sprints and lots of rest in between...usually on sprint days the yardage is significantly reduced, so this was about right. On a 'normal' day it might end up being about 3700-4000 yards and my arms want to fall off.

As Karen told us "okay, you're going to do 4 easy 25s followed by a 100 sprint on the 1:20" my mind immediately began to think of all the reasons why I couldn't make that. Out loud I said "couldn't she have made it 1:25?" Then I thought back to my post from earlier. I had to shake that attitude. Hell yes I could do this!

And what do you know...1:16, 1:17, 1:17, 1:18 and 1:16 were my times. I had to do a double take after the first round because I could hardly believe I was swimming THAT fast. Wow!

Right before the last round my friend Todd said "okay Sarah, wanna race?" I smiled and said "you're on!" I always love a good healthy dose of competition.

Of course, all that sprinting made Wed morning spin a little harder than normal, but whatever. It just felt good to have that post-swim soreness when you've had a really awesome workout.

I think I'm going to start a poll every week about spin music. I'm wanting to 'branch out' into new horizons with teaching 4 classes a week and really start changing it up a bit. But in order to do that, I think I'm going to have to start asking folks for suggestions. SO...start looking for a poll here soon.

Also I was thinking of starting a separate food blog like Devon has and Beth & James. It would be a better way to keep track of dishes and probably inspire me to add recipes a little more often. We'll see!

Off the topic of training (again)

2009-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been writing much lately.

Life has been BUSY! Much of my spare time in the last two weeks has been spent:
-Working extra hours
-Planning more spin workouts
-Sleeping a little more because I got the crappy cold that's been going around
-Watching the Tour of California on the Tour Tracker (omg SO addicting)
-Twittering
-Reading
-Thinking about my alternatives 'just in case' we aren't able to get through this recession

What does that last one mean?

Well...business has been tough lately. I generally don't like to share much about my personal life on my blog because I think there's enough about me already that's public...I don't need to add to it. And I've dedicated this blog to my triathlon life. But I decided to include that on my list because it is a big reason I haven't been writing much lately. Thinking about 'what if' I didn't have a job in a few months...

And you know what? It doesn't really scare me that much. Yes, I have bills/debt to pay. Yes, it would cause some stress. But honestly, is there a better place on this planet to find yourself without a job? I kind of doubt it. Looking around, you wouldn't really notice at first glance this country is in a recession (well, assuming you're avoiding all of the media headlines). I'm not saying it wouldn't suck. But I am saying that there's still a ton of traffic heading down 101 to SF every day; people are still driving out of town up to Tahoe on the weekends; there are still long lines at the grocery store; there were still FOUR (yes, four) new bike shops that opened in Santa Rosa in the past 8 months; there are STILL jobs posted every day. We are not living in a 3rd world country. So...I've gotta stay positive.

I've also been reading more, dare I say it, 'self-help' books. Okay, I'm only on one right now. My goal is to read 15 min a day because if I didn't set that goal I'd keep reading my New Yorker magazine and Triathlon magazine and Bicycling and Gourmet and I'd never get around to the books. So 15 min of reading a BOOK every day. Slowly but surely, I'm reading a book called "The Magic of thinking Big" by David Schwartz. (Also reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch...another nice and inspiring little read)

I used to think books like that were kind of cheesy. But I'm coming to realize that our society is full of negative thinking and a negative attitude and just...well, a CAN'T-do attitude! We're bombarded with negativity every single day, ESPECIALLY this doom-and-gloom about our economy and society. I've had enough of it.

Just like with triathlon, you have to focus on the things you CAN control. You can't control getting a flat in a race. But you can control how fast you know how to fix it, not getting angry, etc. You can't control your body breaking down in the run or throwing up; but you CAN control learning from every race and doing everything you can to ensure proper nutrition/hydration.

So I can't control the economy and I can't control what happens every day in this business. I can only do the best job possible, and that includes focusing on the positive and making sure I'm giving 110% effort in the work that I do.

This would also mean that my focus has been slightly taken off of training. I'm getting about 8-10 hours a week in, so that's not bad. I'm not running right now, but I'd like to start picking it up again in March. Just doing enough to stay fit and sane and healthy, which is okay with me right now. It's all about balance!

Since it's been raining cats and dogs the last two Sundays, we've been doing 2-hour indoor rides at the Airport Club. It's actually been a LOT of fun and a GREAT workout! I lead the first hour and my friend Tim leads the second hour. We both have diff workout styles where I'm more focused on cardio and Tim's hour is more based on building power or speed. We've had fairly large groups join us both weeks so it makes the time FLY by. Last Sunday I managed a good 2500 yards in the pool afterward and just felt AWESOME!

Overall, life is STILL good and it's a great feeling to really recognize that in spite of some of the worries about what lies ahead, I can really still be so grateful for where I'm at and what I've got. AND HELLO, LEVI WON THE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA!!! SO awesome!

The other awesome thing that happened last week? Lance Armstrong had been twittering about diff music he was listening to. I responded "I'm going to have to check out some of this music you're talking about - I've never heard of any of it!"

LANCE RESPONDED DIRECTLY TO ME and (putting the smack down) said "C'mon Sarah, get with the program!"

Ha. Guess I'd better get hip with what Lance listens to. :)

Then the next best part was that JP saw his Twitter and emailed me and said "Did you just get a shout out from the man? Way to go!"

That's all for now. Will def try to get back and update sooner than two weeks from now!

OH and FYI Dave Zabriskie's house was broken into during the ToC and they stole everything. :( Here's the article and please pass this on. It's really sad.

Warm Fuzzy Wednesday

2009-02-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist sharing two things that I recently found that just made me smile. They reminded me that everybody, no matter who they are, deserves, needs and ENJOYS a little kindness and friendliness from time to time. Even the grumpiest people!

This pic is from November - a friend JUST sent it to me.

It was from the Girls on the Run 5K.
Me and Christina, one of my spin student's daughters.
I LOVE this pic - makes me smile. ;)

This post seems to be especially appropriate today for me because spin this morning was one of the best classes I felt I've taught in awhile. Then again, teaching it seems to just get better all the time. My students are AMAZING. They inspire me. Today I REALLY challenged them to push harder than ever; to keep pedaling even though their legs were burning; to bring their heart rates up and keep the cadence high in spite of it all.

They rose to the occasion. I could tell JUST how focused they were when one of my students, after I wished everybody a Happy Valentine's Day, said "awww, no theme for the music, huh?" I said "Actually...I DID have a theme - didn't you notice they were all 'love' songs?" She had this look of wonderment and slowly came to the realization that I was right. I laughed and smiled and said "I'm guess you were SO focused and SO in the zone you weren't paying attention, that is AWESOME!"

There is something about my morning class at the Y. We joke and laugh and at the same time, when it's time to buckle down and focus and push hard, they give it 110%. Most of them aren't athletes outside the gym but they are there to work and be healthy. They're there, every day when they Y opens at 5:30 a.m., committed to themselves. I think it's wonderful.

So, to add to the warm fuzzies, I've got two brilliant things to share:

1) Article from today's SF Chronicle: SF General Hospital Honors 48-year Volunteer
You can read the full article from the link above, but here's a snippet to make you go read more:

Every week for 48 years, the 82-year-old Russian Hill resident - the hospital's longest-serving volunteer - has filled a shopping chart with curlers, hair dryers, hair spray, savers, shaving cream, scissors, towels, a pink mirror and a big, black smock. And every week, she's wheeled the cart down the institutional hallways, stopping whenever a patient needs a new 'do.
Vidal Sassoon she is not. She never had any training before taking on the volunteer position and said she doesn't bother keeping up with the latest styles. Forget anything fancier than a couple of inches off the bottom.

But for the patients at San Francisco General, many of whom are uninsured and homeless, none of that matters. Tanner is often their only visitor who's not there because it's her job, instead offering them 20 minutes of grooming and chit-chat just because she wants to.

Wow...48 YEARS volunteering!! This woman ROCKS!! And I can only imagine how her 'clients' must feel.

2) The Latest Improv Everywhere Mission: High Five Escalator

Description: For our latest mission, Agent Lathan gave out 2,000 high fives by standing next to a subway escalator (in NYC) during the morning rush. Five additional agents spread out along the adjacent stairs, holding signs that prepared commuters for the upcoming high five fun. Enjoy the video first and then check out the mission report and photos below.I mean, how COOL IS THIS?????

You'll have to read the whole report but the 'agents' wrote about the people's reactions to this whole thing. They went from 'huh' to pretty soon being like 'wow, a high five!' And the 'post high-five glow' they had was apparently great - all these people who are normally very ho-hum and blank-faced on the morning commute (I SO remember that from taking BART to SF every morning...) had these big smiles on their faces and it was so clear that this had really brightened their morning.

I love stuff like this. It's the little things that can really make (or break, even) our days. You never know what a smile to a random person might bring them (or a high five! Everybody loves high fives!). Or sending a card to a friend.

I know I'm being all warm and fuzzy but it IS the week of Valentine's Day AND it's great to be reminded how much random (or not so random) acts of kindness can mean.

Have a GREAT week!

So much stuff!

2009-02-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

I realize I'm pretty far behind in blogging. Things have been, shall we say, BUSY lately!! So I have some quick updates and two announcements for anybody who cares:

**I'm now teaching spin 4x/week: Mon 6 a.m., Wed 6 a.m., Wed 6 p.m., and Fri 6 a.m. (This means even more time spent planning workouts and making sure I avoid song repetition)

**We got a new computer and switching all music/photos/docs from the last 4 years on my Crapintosh over to the new PC has been time consuming, to say the least.

**We went to L.A. from 1/26-2/1 so I was busy working and having fun.

**I'm getting back into the swing of training! Which means less chill time (aka blog-writing time) in the evenings. I'm actually starting to feel a desire to run again. And to race again. It is a FANTASTIC feeling. Just the other day I was glancing at some old tri photos from last year of me running out of transition and I smiled and thought "that was fun. I can't wait for sunnier, warmer, longer days to do THAT again!"

**I'm SWIMMING again. And I'm KIND OF FASTER! I was making 100s on the 1:25 consistently without drafting off somebody! I was doing 100 IMs on the 1:34 - getting closer to being back at my 1:30 IM pace, NICE! (If only I could swim free as fast as I can do IM...sigh...)

**I've been busy having Tour of California FEVER! Team Astana is in town and everybody I know is all giddy and starstruck because of random Team Astana/Levi Leipheimer/Lance Armstrong sightings. It is SO cool. Last week I was driving down a main street in Santa Rosa and was turning left at an intersection; as I was turning, I realized that there, to my right, was TEAM ASTANA WAITING AT THE LIGHT. OMG OMG OMG OMG! I was so excited I didn't know what to do. After I made the turn I pulled over and as they rode past I cheered them on and hooted and hollered. It was cool.

Okay so I promise to write a real blog post in the near future. Life is good and busy and I'm happy so I don't really feel too bad. :)

Me and Pliny the Elder (double IPA, MMMM!!)

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) Team Aquaphor is now recruiting for 2009! If you are interested in learning more and/or applying, click here. Applications are due by March 6.

2) Norcal Bike Shop is having a Tour of California After-Party at Stout Brothers on 4th Street in Santa Rosa. They're raffling off a Specialized fixed-gear bike and up to $1500 in bike gear.

Sun, Feb.15, 5-9pm. You have to pre-buy tickets at the shop. Click here to learn more and BE THERE if you can!!!

Confident actions produce confident thinking

2009-01-28T11:27:00.001-08:00

One of the nice things about pigeon pose in yoga is that if you reach just the right threshold and hold it just long enough, your hips will slowly start to release. You can move a little more forward and hold (while breathing!); hips will release a little more.

Similarly, my mind is slowly releasing its death grip on this idea of what I 'should' be doing. I am coming to terms and becoming comfortable with the fact that I just don't have any desire to run right now. I am confident that it is completely OKAY for me not to. (And you know what? I realized I can stay in great shape still doing all the other things I'm doing!) Why do it if I just don't want or need to right now? There are no triathlons for me until May.

On that note, one of the things I have been thinking about is to try a new approach with the triathlons this year. It is to simply not care. This does NOT mean 'not try.' Just simply not care about what my times will be, how they compare to what I've done in the past, or what I think I 'should' have been able to do. Instead, the goal will be to do as best I can given what I've put into it and ENJOY the race for all that it is, being confident in my abilities. The bottom line is, I am fully aware now that when I put the time and effort into it, I CAN be fast. I could be faster than I ever was, if I put the practice into it.

Simply put, it is no longer where I want to be. 15-hour training weeks don't appeal to me right now, especially with the changes that are taking place in my life and other commitments I am making. Actually, I'm still figuring out exactly where I want to be, and I am having SO much fun doing it!

Last night I went to swim practice. I met one of the coaches for the first time and we were discussing which lane I ought to jump in. "Well," I said, "I've been a little slow lately because I'm trying to get back into a swim routine but only swimming about 3x/week." I told her I'd been swimming in a lane that's been doing about a 1:35 pace. It was comfortable to me.

She said "yeah, but I have a feeling they're going to be going a little too slow for you. Why don't you jump in with AnneMarie?" Panic briefly struck me. They swim FAST! Usually 100s on the 1:25. Could I hang with that? It's been awhile since I swam that speed. The coach confidently said to me "you'll be fine, just leave after 3 seconds if you need to and hang onto the draft!"

Our main set consisted of 2400 yards. One set within was 6x100 on 1:30. It meant I would have to try for 1:25 intervals if I wanted 5 seconds of rest. Somehow, by the time we reached the 6x100 part, I was feeling incredibly confident. I knew it would be tough, but instead of worrying about whether I would make the pace, I just put my head down and did it.

What do you know? I did it all! And I was actually feeling strong making all of the intervals! I smiled at the end and said "well, I guess I'm officially back in this lane now." Swimming was so fun. Last night made me realize that I've really missed it and I'm ready to get back in the pool on a more regular basis. The challenge, the pushing yourself (I tried to make 75 fly in under a minute...that failed miserably but it HURT SO GOOD!), the fun of having others around to push you...it was all great. It was so encouraging to feel so strong and confident in myself, especially after having started the workout feeling like I've been so slow lately.

My subject line for this post also works the other way around - if we think confidently, our actions will be confident as well. But I think too often we don't act confidently because we wait for our brain to feel confident first. Why not try it the other way? Put yourself in a position to act more confident than you feel and see what happens.

You might just walk away with different thoughts altogether!

Winter Wonder Yin

2009-01-26T11:54:00.000-08:00

I just found this article called "Winter Wonder Yin" on Yoga Journal.com. While it may be slightly more appropriate for December, it explains a lot of why I've been feeling less energetic lately and much more introspective and quiet. I think most of us would agree it makes some sense.

Also, the part at the end about avoiding Yin foods like raw veggies and cold drinks and salads was something I really liked. Interestingly enough, the other day I was thinking "gee...I haven't been craving my salads like I usually do...what's up with that?" Clearly, nature has it all under control.

Running has been nil over the past two weeks. That may change this week: what with a road trip to LA and all, I may be forced to log some miles on the Asics. I'm fine with that, just need to remember to start back slow and easy and not go all out.

However, spinning and cycling has been incredible, and I've been managing some swim time in also. Yoga is awesome and is kicking my ass. I LOVE it. I love how, when I was doing it 2 days/week I wouldn't really get sore because I was doing it JUST enough. But now that I'm doing it 4 days/week, I'm getting SORE because of all the improvements I'm making and additional ways I'm pushing my body. I finally, FINALLY got Astavakrasana (see photo).
It's the little things...

...Like massage! I got a massage yesterday and I think she really helped to work out this scar tissue I've built up in my right quad. Essentially it starts to lock up (not cramp...but just tighten and cause much pain) when I run any sort of hills with intensity. Case in point: my last XC race was an epic fail because I was in so much pain by the end I had tears in my eyes and it was all I could do just to keep running, let alone run FAST. I can feel it somewhat in the pool and on the bike, but it's not nearly so severe. Yet another reason I've disliked running. BUT this woman is AMAZING and not only did she seem to work some of it out, but it was nearly pain-free as she did it!

On the topic of actually having a 'season': I've finally committed to one thing so far: The Solvang Century with Carmen on March 14.

BUT, BUT BUT...my GOALS this week are as follows:

Get spin classes for the rest of the week written/playlists made
Find a class to take to get certified to teach mat exercises (read: abs; we do this after spin at the Airport Club and I suck at teaching ab exercises)
Get bike races lined up (or at least a few over the next 2 months)
Decide on triathlons for the year
Find spin continuing ed classes to take

That's a lot...esp given my semi-short week. But I usually do better when I set a lot out for myself because it means I have to be more productive with my time. SO that's my Monday post! Wishing everybody a happy and productive week in whatever way that may be.

I'll end this post with a couple photos from the "Ride the Route" on January 17...

Carmen and Kelly chilling...

The group in Calistoga getting ready to head back over the mountain

A Blog that Will Make Your Day

2009-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

So this person Katie probably thinks I'm a stalker now, but judging from other people's comments on her blog, I'm thinking that I am not the only one who has become totally enamored by her colorful world.

Feeling a little blue? Go visit Color Me Katie.

I promise she will brighten your day. :)

(and thank you Dan for posting about her on Facebook!)

Oh and while you're checking out new things, how cool is THIS organization? It's called Improv Everywhere and their mission is as follows: "Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City."

Check it out. It, too, might just make your day (or at least make you crack a smile).

Update on Liz Hatch

2009-01-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Bob wrote a report on how Liz is doing. Miraculously, she has no broken bones or any concussion. Just some cuts and bruises. I am so glad to hear it and am amazed at how lucky she really is. When we came upon her, it looked so much worse. Happy healing, Liz! Hope to see you out on the bike again SOON.

Here's the article from Bob: A Crash in California - Hatch Hurt, But Very Fortunate

**Update**

Liz wrote about it all herself here: http://www.lizhatch.missingsaddle.com/

Ride the Route: the Recap

2009-01-18T13:28:00.000-08:00

It was an okay ride for me.

First I just have to say if it weren't for Carmen not letting me quit and Kelly coming back to ride with me I would've ridden back to the FJ mobile and called it a day.

It started out alright as we left the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa. Then we hit Calistoga road and my HR immediately stayed in the upper 170s - low 180s. I thought I was going to die but I knew I wouldn't so I just decided to keep it slow and steady. (FYI 1 hour earlier I had just wrapped up an hour spin class where I realized I must be fighting a cold or something - my heart rate AVERAGED 170 when it normally averages about 156 in spin)

Then we hit the top and I thought 'okay, it will be okay.'

Nearing the bottom of the hill, I looked ahead and saw Carmen miss the right turn onto St. Helena Road so I had to chase her down. At the same time, she was thinking she had to hurry up because she wanted to catch the rest of the group. So she was moving fast. Yelling at the top of my lungs, I gave it about 10 tries but she didn't hear me. I had to sprint twice to get closer; with everything I could muster, I yelled in the loudest voice I could ever imagine, "CAAAAAAARRRRRRRRMEEEEEENNNNNN!"

She heard me. We turned around.

We rode quickly along the road to make up as much time as possible. Kelly came back to ride with us, which was nice. St. Helena Road was hard but I was cheered up by the fact that I love it even if the climb is hard at the end.

As we neared the top, I looked behind and noticed some other folks coming up on us. It's Liz Hatch and two friends (whose names I later learned were Bob and Eric). I say "where did you guys come from?" and Bob says "SOMEBODY was late!" He was smiling - Liz had been running late. Liz rode up next to me and I said hi and reminded her we'd met last year at the Risibisi ride and she said 'oh yeah!' Then they dropped us.

We got to the top and enjoyed the view. Kelly and Carmen had never been up that way so it was cool. Then I cautioned them and said "now be careful on this descent. There's some really tight turns so just take it easy around the corners."

Away I went. I was cautious but having fun, reveling in this descent I'd worked my butt off for. About halfway down, this guy is waving a wheel saying "SLOOOWWW DOWN! PLEASE SLOW DOWN! SOMEBODY CRASHED."

Sh**.

I brake hard as I come around the turn. It's Liz. She's on her side, crying, her friends are there with her. Two motorists have stopped to help, one is on the phone with 911. Kelly and Carmen soon arrive. We all stop to, I don't know, be supportive? It didn't seem right to just ride away. I called Steve and Chris. We decided to at least wait until the ambulance arrived. Liz didn't know why she was there or what day it was. The way her fork was broken was crazy. I'd never seen anything like that. (We guessed she'd swung wide into the curve, slid on some pine needles into the guardrail and broke her fork that way; her helmet was severely cracked as well. It seemed like, thankfully, it wasn't anything more than a couple broken ribs - I am hoping that's all it was and that the concussion wasn't too severe)

Anyway, once she was in good hands, Carmen, Kelly, Steve (from West County Revolution - awesome bike shop), Eric and I all took off. A few turns later we see a cyclist with a wheel. His rim tape had scrunched up to the side so the spoke was poking through. Steve and Carmen stopped to help. The rest of us stopped briefly but realized we couldn't help in any way so we kept going.

We hit the bottom and waited a bit for Carmen but didn't see her and I knew she would be okay with Dennis and Steve so we took off. Thank goodness for Eric. He pulled us almost the whole way to Calistoga (only 7 miles but my legs were still stiff from all the standing). Again my HR was in the upper 160s - low 170s. My legs hurt. Everything hurt. I was so bummed about Liz. Seeing another crash in the space of 6 months sucks (Click here for my Santa Barbara Tri experience).

Finally hit Calistoga. Glad to see everybody. Relieved. Dreading going back. Legs hurt. Tired. Bummed out. Chris from Fitness Journal was so awesome. He took my bike and said 'what do you need?' and made me a PB&J sandwich. Mmmm. Having the FJ mobile and Chris on a ride is the best thing ever. His presence (and the entire FJ crew, really) made a big difference in my mood.

I tried to shake it off and enjoy the moment but it was hard.

We pushed off. Calistoga Road was hard. But I did it. And I was proud of myself. Carmen and I worked together for a little bit after the climb. I was just about to have her pull but then the next hill started. I think that's where I really lost it. Cardio-wise, I was okay. Yes, HR high, but I can sustain high HR. I just felt like I didn't have any strength left in my legs and the grade of some of those hills was forcing me to use strength, which I just didn't have. I could feel my calves beginning to cramp. Ugh.

As we neared the top of that second climb, I told Carmen, "I think I'm going to call it a day." She would have none of it and told me it wasn't an option.

We crested the hill and I took off. It was a pretty sweet descent where I didn't have to brake too much - gentle turns and enough of a grade that I could pick up some speed. It felt soooo good.

As the road flattened out I looked up and saw Kelly riding back (again) to ride with me which I thought was really nice and awesome and helpful and if it weren't for Kelly and Carmen I would've been miserable.

Kelly and I finished the ride together. Then I waited around for a long time for the BMC reception to begin. I was really waiting for the FJ mobile to arrive get my stuff. Not really sure what I'll do with an autographed picture of Team BMC but it was still nice of them to do that.

So that was that. And now I have a cold and my legs are like WTF?

It was an okay day. A bit chaotic. But I did have some fun in the midst of it all. Please be careful on descents.

For $500 you, too, can be a VIP in the ToC

2009-01-16T13:37:00.001-08:00

I wonder if I had this much disposable income if I'd actually spend it on something like this. (I know, some (though really, how MUCH?) of the money is going to charity, but still.)

They're touting it like it's some amazing thing to ride over the GG bridge and while yes, it would be cool to do it on the main part of the bridge, you already CAN ride over it..for FREE. The more I think about it, the more I think I would NOT spend that much money just to ride over the bridge with the peloton. Suckers.

Stuff

2009-01-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do with cycling, triathlon, training or cooking. Though I do have some EXCELLENT recipes for a few things I've cooked recently that are KICK-@$$. That will be the next post.

I just decided I'd list a few movies I've seen recently that completely rocked and I can't stop recommending them to people.

And then I will also post Tuesday's "Get Fuzzy" comic because for anybody who likes baseball, it's hilarious.

Recent movies I've seen that were totally awesome:

1. Bigger Stronger Faster - a very well-done documentary on steroid use in America. It presents both sides of the argument without taking a stance for either one. You decide.

2. The Visitor - made by the same guy that brought us "The Station Agent" (also AWESOME movie); very un-American style film about friendship and the issues immigrants face here in the US. Another must-see.

3. True Romance - a Quentin Tarantino film, need I say much more? Came out in 1993 and has tons of movie stars. I HEART THIS MOVIE SO MUCH!!! Just saw it for the first time last night and omg...I think I like it more than Kill Bill.

And this week's Get Fuzzy has been all about Bucky Cat making fun of Rob being a Red Sox fan. It's awesome.

Enjoy the ride

2009-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

FYI: Speaking of rides, I will be doing the 'B' ride of the "Ride the Route" that I posted yesterday. If you're up for riding with us from SR->Calistoga and then riding w/the women pros and jr members of Team Swift back from Calistoga to SR, please let me know (by comment or email). We want to make this as big of an event as possible!

Second FYI: You MUST check out the APOD today! It's INCREDIBLE!!!

And back to the normally scheduled programming...
Last weekend's ride originally it began as "Carmen's Jelly Legs Ride" - meaning, your legs would be JELLY by the time you were finished! She and I had spoken a week before about riding over Coleman Valley Road because neither of us had done it before. For anybody not from around here, the Santa Rosa Cycling Club has a nice profile of the climb here (along with all the other major climbs in Sonoma County).

Coleman Valley Rd, starting at Occidental and ending at Hwy 1

10.1 miles

Total climb in forward direction: 1089 feet
Total climb in reverse direction: 1633 feet (this was the way we went - the reverse way...in other words, that straight DOWN you see was straight UP for us - awesome!)

We both wanted to do this climb and thought of starting/ending a ride at the Wildflour Bakery I've written about in Freestone. But they're closed for a few weeks in January for their winter break. Boo. :(

Carmen's original route involved some 5,000 feet of climbing over 50 miles. We decided to file it away and do it when Wildflour reopens. Instead, we made a variation of her route that was still 50 miles but didn't have QUITE as much climbing (though, MapMyRide told me about 4,000 feet of climbing and Pat's Garmin had 6,000 feet of climbing...so I don't know, maybe it was just as much) and started/ended at West County Revolution in Sebastopol.

We called it Matt's Birthday Ride since Matt's birthday was Sunday. Ride profile on MapMyRide is here. The weather decided to cooperate and we were going to be in for a spectacular day. In fact, spectacular almost doesn't do justice for the views we were treated to. Our first hint that it was going to be an amazing day was climbing up Burnside Road (a very apt name for a road that makes your legs BURN!) and getting to experience 270-degree views at the top. The hills below us were green and out west we could see the coast, looking east we could see all the way to the Geysers. It was amazing.

Arriving at Hwy 1 seemed to come in no time. We'd been on the bikes for a little over an hour but it seemed like mere minutes. We were all in great moods. For the first ride in a long time, I could actually feel my toes! I didn't need my super warm gloves! This was awesome!

Instead of staying along Hwy 1 until Coleman Valley, we opted for a common cyclist route along a road called Bay Hill Road. It's a small country road that diverts off Hwy 1 at Bodega Bay and takes you up and over the hill and meets up with Hwy 1 again just north of Bodega Bay. Much safer and you don't have to deal with all of the tourist traffic (and hence, unsuspecting drivers not used to cyclists on a road with no shoulder). But, of course, there is some decent climbing involved here as well.

However, just as the top of Burnside Road rewarded us with magnificent views, cresting the last hill on Bay Hill treated us to an incredibly clear view of the coast ahead. There wasn't a speck of fog and the water was as calm as you could ever imagine. Wow.

We made our way down to Hwy 1 and took in the delights to our left. This was a day that made me so grateful to be in this place, at this time. Over and over in my head, I just kept thinking "wow, we are SO lucky." Apparently the surfers thought so, too - they were out in FULL force. There were perfect surf conditions - gentle-breaking waves and the air was cool but cold by any means (though I'm sure the water was freezing...that's what wetsuits are for!).

Reaching a parking lot, we stopped for a group photo and to savor the California coast for a moment before we began our tough climb back inland. Everybody agreed that there couldn't have been a better day to do this ride, as typically the coast gets socked in with fog and wind during the summer.

Our moment of tranquility ended before I was ready to let it end. It was time to CLIMB! Climb, climb, climb we did. Looking back, it doesn't seem so bad. But that's the mind just playing tricks. I won't lie, it was damn hard. The first part of Coleman Valley is a wall. Something like 19% grade at some parts, I think. When somebody built that road they just decided to cut to the chase and get to the top.

I was really wishing for a 27 on my rear cog. But I just kept turning my legs over, cautious not to let my heart rate get too high because I knew there was more climbing after the initial ascent and I didn't want to burn out too soon. It's also a tough climb because you see these turns and you think "well maybe it's over around that corner." Nope. It kept going (or seemed to). Usually the first time on any tough climb is the hardest, generally because you don't know the turns and where it ends.

Eventually, though, it did end. We all made it, and we did it well. I was very proud of all of us.

Me at the top!

The view from the top!!

The road goes through a beautiful valley and then you have to do more climbing to get OUT of the valley (legs were tired by now), but then there's a great descent to Occidental that was a lot of fun and not too many sharp corners to have to slow way down for.

We made our way back to Sebastopol and had post-ride beer and lunch at HopMonk. I don't think I could've picked a better way for such an incredible ride to end. Saturday's ride was one of those rides I will remember for a long, long time. We stayed together as a group, we worked hard, we had fun and of course, I can't wait to do it again.

Here's a photo album of all the ride pics:

Ride the Route

2009-01-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

EVENT DATE: Saturday, January 17, 2009
Benefit for Women’s ATOC Criterium & All Sport-Team Swift
_____________________________________________________

EVENT: Stage 1 Ride the Route - Calistoga to Santa Rosa
(Petrified Forest Road KOM)

On Saturday, January 17, 2009 , join a group of Amgen Tour of California (ATOC) Women’s Criterium competitors and the All Sport-Team Swift junior riders for a ride up the final King of the Mountain climb of ATOC Stage 1.

After the ride, meet the BMC Professional Cycling Team at their Santa Rosa training camp for photo and autograph opportunities.

This will be a fully supported ride including:

Pre-ride Bike Check – Provided by West County Revolution
Sports Drinks and Energy Bars – Provided by All Sport-Team Swift
Full Mechanical and SAG Support – Provided by West County Revolution and FitnessJournal.com

ROUTE: Group A (Main Event) ~2 hour casual ride from Calistoga to Santa Rosa with Pro Women and All Sport-Team Swift. Includes:

Pre-ride bike check
Shuttle to Calistoga with your bike
Full ride support (mechanical/SAG)
Route map & energy bars/drink

RSVP REQUIRED: Contact Laura at teamswift@aol.com by Thursday, January 15th to confirm a seat on the bus and bike transportation.

Group B (Advanced/Unsupported): ~4 hour moderate ride to Calistoga and back. Note: Group B from Santa Rosa to Calistoga will be unsupported. You will be provided a pre-ride bike check and a route map. Cut off time to join Group A in Calistoga for the supported ride is 1:00PM .

SCHEDULE:

9:00-10:15AM Group B -- Registration
10:30AM Group B -- Departure
10:00-11:15AM Group A -- Registration & Load Bus (RSVP Required)
11:30AM Group A -- Bus Departure
Noon Group A -- Arrive in Calistoga and unload
12:30PM Group B -- Arrive in Calistoga
1:00PM Groups A & B Depart Calistoga
3:00PM Groups A & B Arrive in Santa Rosa
3:00-4:00PM BMC Pro Racing Team Reception
4:30PM Riviera Dinner Special ($20 fixed-price menu)

LOGISTICS:

Registration: Longs Drug - 2771 4th St Santa Rosa , CA 95405
Look for the All Sport-Team Swift Tent and Van.

Please bring a copy of the release form at http://www.usacycling.org/forms/NonCompetitiveRelease.pdf

Parking: Free parking is available along the perimeter of the Longs Drug and Safeway Parking lot or on the street. Registration will help provide direction on available parking. PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN SPACES DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF LONGS AND SAFEWAY. THESE ARE RESERVED FOR CUSTOMERS.

Cost: Suggested donation - $20**
Proceeds benefit All Sport-Team Swift and primes for the ATOC only official Pro Women’s Criterium to be held on, February 15, 2009 in Downtown Santa Rosa.

Your donation will include one-day licensing and insurance fees, transportation to Calistoga, ride support, and the BMC Pro Racing Team Reception at the Flamingo Resort. Bring your USAC License if applicable*

Dinner reservations must be made separately by calling Riviera Restaurant at 707-579-2682. Mention that you are with the “Ride the Route” group.

*$7 minimum required for license/insurance (included in $20 donation)
**Cash or Check only. No Credit Cards.

BMC TEAM RECEPTION:
After the ride, join the BMC Team at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa for a meet and greet from 3-4PM . Refreshments will be served.

(Please feel free to join the reception even if you do not ride)

Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa
www.flamingoresort.com
2777 4th St, Santa Rosa , CA 95405
(707) 545-8530

Lost: Motivation

2009-01-09T19:37:00.001-08:00

(Written Friday...posted today on Sunday)

My motivation seems to be lost and I don't even know where to begin finding it.

One of the worst things we can do as athletes is to compare where we were during our peak of fitness to where we are during the height of winter off season. Yet we do it anyway. Bree seems to be fighting it, too. She felt so crappy about her performance during training camp because she knew she could do better. But at least she's AT TRAINING CAMP! She is getting it done!

Now I seem to be in an even worse phase, comparing what my former motivation used to be. After arriving home this afternoon I was all set to head up to the Airport Club to get a swim in and it never seemed to happen. Instead my afternoon was spent on the phone with my good friend Alice (which was a very good thing because one of my New Year's resolutions is to stay in better touch with good friends), searching out a good recipe for dinner, running an errand, and, well...that was it. Now I'm writing, enjoying a beer and waiting for dinner to be done.

Not that I did nothing today. In fact, I did wake up at 5:00 a.m. to teach spin and do some ab work afterward.

Moments ago, however, I lamented what my 'old self' would have done. "Last year you would've gone for a run after that spin. You would've gotten your butt up to the club to get that swim in. SARAH, HTFU!!!" (for anybody who doesn't know..."Harden The F*** Up" is what that stands for)

Now that life is back to the grind, my desire to get myself on track seems to be lacking. Finding the energy to pack my bag, think about dinner for later, know that by the time I'm in the pool it's 6 p.m., then out of the pool at 7 at the earliest, and showered and back home around 7:30, hopefully I can throw something healthy together by 8:30, sit down to eat, and still be in bed by 10 for tomorrow's bike ride - UGH!

There is no doubt in my mind that just about every triathlete out there is all too familiar with this routine: Wake up early, get the workout in, go to work, get the second workout in, try to eat a healthy dinner but sometimes don't sit down to eat until 8:30 or 9. Try to digest and get to bed by 10 or 10:30. Do it again the next day.

Yet even though I've taken more than enough time off from it all, I still feel burnt out. Tired of doing that. Essentially, I've been doing THAT for four straight years. With, of course, some break during winter, etc.

Does this mean I'm not hard core? Does it mean I suck? Does it mean I'm sick of triathlon?

During my time off over the holidays I spent a lot of time thinking about all of this. I did a lot of spinning, cycling and yoga. I did a little bit of running. I did some swimming.

Swimming is a whole post in itself. Last month I took three weeks completely OFF from swimming, something I haven't done in the entire 10 years I've been doing it. Now the issue is whether to stay with Santa Rosa Masters or join Wine Country Masters, which is affiliated with the Airport Club where I teach - hence, it's free. Why pay to swim with SR Masters, right? But WCM doesn't really have times that work for me, unless I want to give up my Tuesday evening track workout with the Empire Runners. So then I face the issue of either doing track workouts on my own (yuck) or swimming on my own (also yuck).

Maybe that's what's really got me down. Schedule-wise, Santa Rosa Masters swimming worked, so long as I could get my butt out of bed in the mornings. And when I needed to, I could do it. But Wine Country Masters only has practices at 11 a.m. every day (it IS the Airport Club, after all...back in Berkeley we used to call the 11 a.m. practice the 'Country Club workout'...ha...) and Tu/Thu at 6 p.m. I like evening swim. But I also love Tuesday Track.

So trying to nail down a good schedule has been tough, to say the least. Not having a masters team to call home has been tough. Missing workouts left and right because I simply throw my hands up in frustration has been tough.

Yes, it's time to stop whining and figure it out. But it brings me to asking what I want to achieve this season and I just can't seem to nail that down with so many emotions and thoughts running through my mind.

I feel sad that I don't desire to swim the way I used to (ultimately I think it goes back to the social aspect of masters and the friendly competition that I enjoy so much).

I feel bummed that I can't quite love running the way other people do. I really, REALLY want to love running!! I wish I could take an ounce of my love for cycling and put it into my desire to run.

That leaves cycling, which, between weekend rides and now teaching spin 3x (moving up to 4x/week in Feb)/week, I still love it more than ever. And yoga. I've been doing more yoga than I ever have in my life and I can feel it changing me. My body and my soul. I'm back to stretching before bed. I begin to crave yoga. So maybe it's just a sign that I'm ready for change. Maybe it's time to slide swimming and running to the back burner for a little while?

Before I started triathlon, I wasn't sure if I could even really run 10K. A half-ironman seemed like such a faraway goal. Now I know if I wanted, I could do an Ironman for sure. But lately I think about things in terms of cycling - double centuries, races, possibly crits...and I think of yoga - handstands, arm balances, the challenge of staying focused and centered...

...and with that (now that it's Sunday morning), I'm off to get a run, swim and some yoga in. Eventually, some clarity will arrive. And I'm sure that when it does, the motivation will be right there with it.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

I've got a bit of writer's block, though that's not why I haven't written much lately. We closed the office for two weeks so I really kind of took a break from EVERYTHING! The last time I forgot what day of the week it was, it was last year in Hawaii.

SO because I'm technically still on vacation I will keep this short. I just wanted to wish everybody in the blog world and beyond a very awesome 2009.

It was so fun to be part of this community in 2008 to see the goals people set and how they went about achieving them. I was inspired by the way people managed to succeed in spite of so many obstacles. I was encouraged by so many great stories and comments.

And now, with 2009 lying ahead, I hope you all not only reach your goals, but learn more about yourselves and your abilities and strengths in the process. I look forward to being part of another journey!

As for me...I've been thinking a lot about what 2009 will hold. I have a strong feeling this blog may be more of "Sarah's Cycling Adventures" in the first part of the year. I am a wimp about the weather, but I really want to try out some bike racing this year. I'm thinking the Tri for Real Series in Sacramento because I can still train for bike races and do Olympic distance races. Then maybe lay off the bike and turn toward the run and finish the year with a half marathon and one or two half-ironman distance tris.

One resolution is to do MORE YOGA! So far the count this week is that I've done yoga on Sunday...Tuesday...Wednesday (fyi I went to this place in Berkeley called Yoga to the People...SO AWESOME)...and FRIDAY! FOUR DAYS OUT OF SIX! That's more than I've ever done and I've got so much energy. We went on a 15 mile hike on Monday which was gorgeous but I forgot the camera...swam on Tuesday...ran on Wed...cycled on Thursday and ran today. Woo!

Hope to do more cooking this year. One of my Christmas presents from Matt was a cooking class from Ramekins and I am SOOOO EXCITED! The hardest part will be trying to pick which class to take...

I wish I had more interesting things to say. Just wanted to thank everybody for the support all year. It's been a fun ride.

View of the Napa Valley from Spring Mountain

Holidays are a time for perspective

2008-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud to say that Matt got published again (a couple months ago he wrote this piece)!! He submitted a piece to our local paper, the Press Democrat, a couple weeks ago on the suggestion of a friend after she read it. I agreed. I thought it was a great message and was coming at the perfect time of year.

We kept waiting to see if it would be accepted for the Editorial section, but kind of gave up on it. Then some friends texted this morning and said "Great piece in the newspaper, so true!"

I thought it was really awesome that the PD waited until today to run it. So, naturally, I had to share it just like I did before. This time, it's not so much about our financial situation as it is about taking a moment to look around and realize how rich we really are.

Enjoy!

This article can also be found here.

EVERSON: Holidays are a time for perspective

By MATTHEW J. EVERSON

Published: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 4:20 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 6:02 a.m.

''We're rich," I said innocently.

It was an honest appraisal from my point of view. And I recall the laughter that remark inspired. The reaction of my parents and their friends took me by surprise. At 5 years old, I didn't understand why they all thought I was being so silly. But they clearly disagreed with my assessment of our wealth.

Now that my son Patrick is 5 years old, I asked him if he thought we were rich.

"Yes, I think so, daddy," he told me.

"What makes you feel rich?" I followed.

"Well, we just are."

Only a 5-year-old can give such a succinct answer with such conviction. And you know what? He's right. Just as I was when I was 5 years old.

At nearly 37 years old, I now understand why my parents and their friends laughed at my proclamation. I realize the pressure of being an adult now that I could not then.

Each week, I struggle with bills. I find creative ways to stay on top of a mortgage and pay my taxes. The monetary demands never seem to decline.

I own a financial planning firm caught in the teeth of a serious financial crisis. As hard as I try to remain positive, sometimes it all makes me feel like I'm not rich at all. But aren't I really rich?

Wouldn't a boy in Pakistan crawling in the dirt, suffering from polio change spots with me instantly? I wonder what the word "rich" means to him?

Wouldn't a girl sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia take my place in a second? I'm sure she'd trade my stress and anxiety for her own daily horrors.

Wouldn't a Russian business owner constantly pressured by Mafia and government demands wish for the free enterprise system I enjoy?

Aren't I really wealthy, by comparison, to nearly 99.9 percent of the world?

I believe so.

And that is simply monetary. What about health? As Americans, our life expectancies are some of the longest in the world. Isn't health as important a commodity as money? Or nutrition? In Sonoma County, we live among the best farms in the world. A real cornucopia of organic, fresh, tasty and nutritious food abounds.

I wish my waistline could decline in size like my portfolio has during this financial crisis. But judging from my snug-fitting pants, the so-called crisis hasn't affected my ability to eat well. Can you imagine anyone living in Zimbabwe who wouldn't enjoy trading pantries with me?

What about our wealth of freedom? I can write what I please without worry at all of government or social censure. Starting a business was a piece of cake. Where else in the world is that a true statement? I'm free to travel, work, exercise, spend, save and do what I please in most every instance. Not so for nearly 75 percent of our world neighbors.

Wealth is just one area where many Americans have lost perspective. Consider our selfish interpretations of right and wrong. Or our heated and uncivil discussions about religion and politics. Americans have lost the attitude of gratitude that made us such a force in the past.

Take a moment and look around like a 5-year-old might. Everything around us is so amazing yet so few around us seem very happy about it. Wonder why?

If only folks could step back for a moment. Take an inventory of what we do have rather than what we do not have. And then compare our ledger to our friends around the globe. Isn't each and every one of us very wealthy? I believe so.

Matthew J. Everson is owner of MJ Everson Financial in Santa Rosa and lives in Santa Rosa.

Two things worth seeing

2008-12-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

Thing Worth Seeing #1:

So we all know by now I'm an astronomy geek and I love the APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day). I think my love of this stuff really came from when I taught Outdoor Education and my favorite night class to teach was the astronomy. How could you NOT get into it being up in the mountains and having ALL of the night sky to see with NO light pollution? It was brilliant.

So today's APOD is photo taken from Kahta, Turkey at Mount Nemrut. You can see Orion in the sky (a winter constellation, in case you were wondering why you never see it in the summer sky, unless of course you live in the Southern Hemisphere, where it's different; oh and if you ever want a sky map go visit www.skymaps.com). I just think this photo is really cool. (you can click on the APOD link to see a bigger picture)

Explanation: What's that in front of Orion? Forty kilometers north of Kahta, Turkey, lies Mount Nemrut, a mountain adorned with the fragments of vast statues built over 2000 years ago. The stone sculptures once stood nearly 10 meters high and depicted lions, eagles, various ancient gods, and King Antiochus I Theos, who ruled Commagene from 86 BC to 38 BC. Ruins of the bodies of several sitting figures are visible on the hill above, illuminated by moonlight. Zeus' head can be found near the above image's center, while the king's head is seen next closest to the horizon. Visible far in the distance in this image, taken three months ago, is the familiar constellation of Orion. The red patch just below Orion's belt is the Orion Nebula, while the bright star to the left of Orion is Sirius. On the far left, a red and brightening horizon announces that the Sun is beginning to rise.

Thing Worth Seeing #2:

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. I will be honest here: this is seriously one of the best 20 minutes I have ever spent on the internet.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Here's a quick trailer for you to check out. But instead of watching this one minute trailer, GO NOW AND WATCH THE FULL MOVIE AND SPREAD THE WORD!

I really believe we have the power to do something about this process and we can be the agents of change not only for our society, but for the world. But we have to care about it. And we have to be willing to change our ways.

I'll get off my soapbox now, thanks for listening. :)

Pedro's Winter Training Camp: Day One (and only)

2008-12-15T14:34:00.001-08:00

**Note** All photos shown are from Veronica Lenzi and the full set can be found here. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SAG SUPPORT AND GREAT PHOTOS, RONNIE!!!

Okay, so it was officially Day 2 of Pedro's Winter Training Camp. But I only participated in one of the three days.

I love the cycling world of connections.

I guess I should thank this guy John in our group, because he kind of was the one to start it all for my expansion into the Sonoma County cycling world. John told us about the Riviera Ride with West County Revolution. I went to the Riviera Ride. I met Jeff. Jeff rides with 2 Wheel Racing so he knows lots of other folks. Jeff said to Lee and I last week, "hey. This cool dude Pedro is having a Winter Training Camp and you should come."

Then I realized "hey, Pedro comments on Courtenay's blog!" Because Courtenay came from the cycling world. The circle was complete. And therein lies the coolness of the connections of the cycling world.

SO. I checked out the ride announcement. I hmmm'd and hawww'd.

I had a good feeling there would be some fast dudes (and chicks) on this ride. But...as I always say, I know the roads so in the worst case, I knew how to get home if I got seriously dropped. Besides, when I woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window, all I could think was "how can you NOT GO OUT? IT'S GORGEOUS!!"

Cold, but gorgeous. And the rain that was supposed to arrive that morning looked nowhere near in sight, so I had to take advantage because there will be plenty of days ahead to become reunited with my trainer.

I arrived around 9:40 a.m. at Peet's to get some coffee. There was only one guy there so far. I began to wonder how many people would show up. Within about 10 minutes, cyclists from all directions began to appear. Many in team kits, some like me in no-name gear. I began to get excited. This was going to be a *big* ride!

At 9:55 a.m., Pedro stood up on a chair to announce how it was going to go:

"Out to Occidental, up Coleman Valley, out to the coast, up to Jenner, back inland and back up to Occidental from Monte Rio. There will be a group heading back into Santa Rosa from Occidental from there. There will also be a group continuing south toward Petaluma then east and back up via Petaluma Hill Road and catching Crane Canyon on the way back. We'll have SAG support the whole time. Oh, and you guys - yesterday people went a little fast. You need to SLOW IT DOWN TODAY."

Gulp. Right...slow it down today, guys, right!!!!

Jeff, Me, Jim and Lee listen to Pedro...

And off we went. About SIXTY PEOPLE were there! By far the biggest group I've ever ridden in. It was awesome. And inspiring. And fun. And I loved it. We headed out the bike path and all the people who stopped to let us go by just smiled, some even counted because they couldn't believe what a huge group it was.

We hit the road at Fulton and out to Hall Road - that's where this picture was taken. The pace here was mellow still, just warming up the legs and chatting.

Things picked up just a tad as we headed further out, but I was still just having a ball and enjoying the gradual warm up my legs were getting. I was rather thankful, actually, given that I was STILL sore from boot camp on Thursday! We passed an empty barn that seemed to be deemed "pee spot" so I took it as an opportunity to work my way up through the group and find my friends.

Up at the front, I had an opportunity to chat with Pedro himself, who is super cool. We talked about why Courtenay wasn't there (ahem, Court...actually she was doing a 10K so I can't give her too much crap), all the beautiful rides in Sonoma County, and how much fun cycling is.

Then we all regrouped as we turned right onto Green Valley. Uh oh. Turning right on Green Valley means only one thing: Harrison Grade! I knew that's where I'd really be put in my place...but oh well.

Good thing I was up at the front, because it gave every...single...person...a chance to pass me on the way up. Yes, Pedro said to take it slow...half these guys weren't even BREATHING HARD as they danced on their pedals past me. There were a few other women there, too, and they also passed me. Nothing like getting dropped on a huge climb to remind you where your real ability is.

Me, on the other hand...HR skyrocketing, going faster up Harrison Grade than I've ever gone (had to keep them in sight, AT LEAST!), breathing harder with every pedal stroke and just thanking my lucky stars that I've done this climb before and knew 'how much longer.'

Then Ronnie, our awesome sag woman, drove up next to me. I didn't want her to think I was hating life or anything (because even though it was hard I was still loving it in that weird sadistic sort of way), so I smiled a huge smile. And then I kept smiling. Because it felt good, and it sort of made it better. Not easier, but better.

This picture is from Harrison Grade...don't know if I was smiling at the top or that was before the pain really started, but it was a genuine smile. :)

Wheezing, I reached the top. "YESSSSSSSSSS!" I shouted. "PHEEEEWWWWW!" I yelled. All I could think was "now THERE'S a climb I need to do more often."

Jim and Lee weren't too far up ahead. We regrouped and began to make our way down to Occidental. As we made our way down, all I could think was "wow. Those guys kicked butt. I need to do that. I need to get better at that. I can do that. YES I CAN!"

Flying down the hill I got this huge smile on my face. Because my goals for 2009 became much clearer. I want to ride. And I want to ride a lot.

Once we reached Occidental, Lee, Jim, Jeff and this guy Michael all were going to head back b/c they had to get back home. I initially had the same reason for cutting out early, and admittedly was afraid the rain would catch up with us. But after Harrison Grade I thought "yeah...my butt is going to get dropped SO BAD on Coleman Valley..." so I joined them to head home.

We had some coffee when we returned. Not bad - about 40 miles, some good climbing and great company. THANKS AGAIN, PEDRO! (and THANK YOU to Lee, Jeff, Jim and Michael for the good company on the way home!)

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

I was so inspired by the group I was with. And I realized that no matter if I'm by myself, with a small group or a ginormous group, I love cycling. Whether it's a slow ride, a medium ride or a ride that makes you wish you'd stayed in bed because you're going so hard (but only for a few minutes and then you forget the pain and keep pushing), I am always glad to be on my bike. And I want to be better at it because I know I can be.

I will still do some tris in 2009 but I have been doing this sport for four years now. I'm ready for a slightly new adventure. For new experiences. For new lessons. For new accomplishments.

It's time to ride!!!!! (yes, this means I will be posting my 2009 schedule soon...)

Boot camp

2008-12-12T09:58:00.001-08:00

Writer's Block: we've all had it. I feel like there is some great post just waiting to be put out there, but I have so many thoughts that sort of tie in but could be their own posts and I go back and forth about what to write.

Then there's the little issue of TIME. This week has been insane. Yesterday felt like it should've been Friday because every day was so exhausting but now I think "where did the week go?" I worked late almost every day this week. Missed the Tuesday evening run. Missed the Wednesday morning swim practice. Had a dinner on Wednesday evening to go to so I thought I'd run either at lunch or leave work a tad early and squeeze in a run in before dinner. But I worked through lunch and right up until I had to go home and change for dinner!

It made my resolve to get to Thursday morning boot camp that much stronger.

For about the past few months I've had my YMCA spin students chiding me about coming to the Thursday morning boot camp that's put in by Lorenzo, a US Coast Guard guy that volunteers at the Y. Lately the chiding has gotten more intense. About a month ago, I finally agreed to go. As I left the Y one Monday morning, I saw Lorenzo and I said "I'll be there on Thursday!" "Okay," he said, "See you at o-five-thirty on Thursday."

Gulp.

5:30 A.M.??????

Needless to say, my tired butt has NOT made it there the past few Thursdays. So now they've upped the ante: the rumor has been that I'm too SCARED to go to Lorenzo's boot camp.

I decided that enough was enough, and no matter HOW much great wine we drank on Wednesday evening, I was going to GO TO BOOT CAMP, DAMMIT.

Yesterday morning, the alarm went off at 5:00. Ugh. The little voice crept into my head:

"you could just sleep. Sleep off that dinner and wine. Boot camp will only make you feel crappier. You know you want to keep sleeping. It's so cold out there. Stay here, where it's nice and warm. Could sleep for another hour or so, get up, have some coffee, read the paper, do some light stretching and get set for the day."

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!

As I rolled out of bed, I felt a faint dizziness come over me. Was I slightly hung over? Okay, now I know I'm getting older...I drank nothing but WINE the evening before...no MIXIES...so WTF?. But I had to keep moving forward.

Moving very slowly, I began to get ready for boot camp. At 5:25, I closed the front door and began to jog down the street to the Y. The evil voice was still there, though. "You could turn around and still get back into bed. That dizziness would go away if you laid back down."

No way. I didn't care how bad it hurt. I had slacked enough this week. I was going to go.

As I made my way into the gym, a triumphant smile made its way across my face. Somebody said "hey...she MADE IT." A few others turned around and a loud bunch of cheers and applause erupted from my friends. "WOW! NOW LORENZO HAS TO GO TO SPIN CLASS! SHE ACTUALLY CAME," one remarked. Ha.

As for the boot camp itself, it was 30 minutes of HARD WORK!

Lunges across the gym (ouch). More push-ups than I've ever done in one session. Sprints across the gym. Ab work with Lorenzo yelling repeatedly, quickly "NEVER GIVE UP! YOU CAN'T GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE UP, YOU CAN'T GIVE UP!"

It wasn't even so bad DURING, but now that the DOMS has begun to set in...ooooh. Upper back, legs, butt...ouch. It gave me a whole new sense of respect for the people that do this every week. Actually, I really admire their commitment overall - many of them are NOT triathletes or runners or cyclists with a strict plan - they simply go to the gym at 5:30 a.m. every day, day in and day out, committed to their fitness and routine.

I had a great time. Then I went home, showered and climbed back into bed for another hour of sleep. Now that's a way to start the morning!

Best Birthday EVER

2008-12-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

(okay, it could've been warmer. That would have been nice.)

Big big HUGE THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everybody who came out for the ride today. You really made my day and it just meant so much to me that I have friends who would brave 35 degree weather to join me in my crazy idea to ride this morning.

Not only was it about 35 when we met up, but the fog was THICK!! All in all, 40 miles, 1835 feet of climbing, one bakery stop and good times were had by all. The weather was pretty consistent the entire time so thank goodness for the hills I threw in there!

Even in the cold, though, we managed to get some great cycling and some good laughs in. Enjoy the pics - I enjoyed every moment of this ride! The best part was knowing we had treats in store, between stopping at the Wild Flour bakery and enjoying a great lunch at Rosso afterward.

**Also: a HUGE thank you to Lee for providing extra clothing for my friends to wear!! That was a huge day saver, Lee. :)

Just click on the album below - it will take you to my Picasa album - much easier than posting all the photos here!

Sarah's Birthday Ride

Birthday Ride - 12/7/08

2008-12-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

So here's the birthday ride route. Just about 40 miles, 1585 feet of climbing and includes a stop at the Wildflower Bakery in Freestone, of course. :) Some of Sonoma County's best scenery, including my most favorite road - Bohemian Highway!

If you want to come out and ride, join in the fun! We're meeting at Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar at 8:30 a.m., shoving off by 8:45 a.m. As JP would say, "ressies" for Rosso at 12:00 p.m.!!

I can't wait, wooo!!

Oh and...Happy Holidays

2008-12-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

Most people have probably already seen this but I couldn't resist posting it for any of you who haven't. It's pretty cool - all the sounds are from bike parts!

From Specialized...

Blogging

2008-12-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

I decided to play tourist a couple weeks ago after my XC race in Golden Gate Park; I drove through the Presidio and snapped some photos on this gorgeous day...

UPDATE: Thanks for everybody's comments on the Alcatraz Tri post. And Greg, thanks for seeing the light. I just wanted to share that if you're really intent on the idea of swimming from Alcatraz, there are plenty of other events around here that allow you to do that. AND there's also another Alcatraz Tri - it's not the 'official' "Escape From Alcatraz" Triathlon; it's called "Escape from the Rock" and is put on by Envirosports - costs $175 to do it and you don't have to enter a lottery. How about that? There's also a duathlon that is just the swim/run (thanks, Arthur!) called the Alcatraz Challenge. There are a few other swim-only events as well - I will do some info gathering and post the different events for people in case they're interested.

I've got a zillion thoughts flying through my mind right now, so much to write and say, never enough time to get it all down.

One decision I've made is to take a little more time with some of my posts (inspired by a wonderful conversation I recently had about writing). Some posts will continue to be the same 'this-and-that' nature with random things thrown in, others will be longer and more prose-like (like my Thanksgiving post). I miss writing in that style and I recently realized that I got away it. I thought I was keeping my writing practice going with this blog, but as I looked through posts of late, I realized that I wasn't really writing in the style I favor most.

And I had to ask: what IS the purpose of my blog?

I know, I know, such a SERIOUS question to ask on my blog, isn't it? Before you know it I might be pondering the purpose of life.

Not really. I ask the question of purpose not to invoke deep philosophical thoughts of 'why do we blog?' but more to invoke the thought of 'where do I want to take this?' During the race season, we pepper our blogs with our stories of pre-race jitters, race foibles and successes, and post-race assessment of what we learned and how next time will be better.

And I enjoy that. It is so great to go back to old race stories and see how much I've grown, or re-live the memory of my first Wildflower, or my first triathlon.

But what about the in-between? I mean, in-between the training sessions, too. I enjoy using my blog as an outlet to express my frustrations (read: Escape From Alcatraz Tri) and random thoughts. However, I also think it is the perfect opportunity to take up the practice of challenging myself to write in a more structured manner. It is something I really enjoy but really don't do much of anymore.

SO, if you occasionally happen on a post that is more serious or less conversational, that is what it is!

ON a more conversational note, I had a great run last night. I don't say that very often it seems, but it really was. Tuesday Track workouts are now Tuesday Street-run workouts, where we run through the neighborhoods and go hard for two blocks, easy for one, then hard for two, etc. We did twelve of those. I had a ball! Slightly less hardcore than track workouts, but still a good push and in spite of the upper-forty-degree temps we were running in, I was still drenched in sweat (which actually made me colder when we slowed down...brrr).

I was also very proud that Holly showed up. That's TWO people I've recruited to join in the workouts on Tuesdays!

Tonie, Holly and I at the Girls on the Run 5K

Not only was I happy because I like it when more people join the fun (and/or pain), but I am convinced that anybody who goes to these workouts regularly will really see benefits. I know I see improvements in my running since I started. Group workouts are so wonderful in the way that you push yourself harder than you might if it were just you, yourself and...you.

Somebody was recently telling me about how, as a Team in Training coach, it is so rewarding for him to see how far his runners come - to being able to run a marathon from their first days where running two miles was a big deal.

It was very similar last night. Holly exclaimed excitedly after we finished, "WOW! I looked at my Garmin and I was running at a pace I've NEVER run at before!" I smiled outside but I was really beaming on the inside because I just know she's going to continue to see improvements. It was so incredible to feel like I played a small part in initiating growth and improvement for someone.

I was also really impressed with her motivation to partake. The people who do the Tuesday run workouts are FAST. I think anybody who's somewhat new to running would be intimidated to join in. But I convinced Holly that it's a very welcoming group. As I ran up to meet the group, there she was! Now, let's hope she comes back...

I took this last weekend on my ride out to Napa. This was riding through Kenwood (Kunde Vineyards), still in Sonoma County...

Because I have so much money lying around

2008-12-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

I am SO steamed right now.

One of my friends forwarded an email to our tri list: "FYI the Escape from Alcatraz Lottery opened today."

I thought "hm, that sounds cool. Let me check it out."

I did the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon back in 2006. Good race. Kind of cramped on the bike course and I almost crashed about 5 times. The swim is kind of cold and while I really enjoyed it at first by the end I kept thinking "omg I am so cold I just want to finish I need to swim faster." The run was actually the best part, now that I think about it.

But I would do it again. Local race, good spectatorship - why not?

BECAUSE IT'S FOUR HUNDRED FREAKING DOLLARS, THAT IS WHY NOT.

For an Olympic-distance race (okay, the run is 8 miles and the swim is about 1.5 miles...but the bike is only 18 miles).

$400, just like that.

Gee, for $400...I could enter a half-ironman, an olympic AND a sprint race. Or I could buy a Garmin and still enter a half-ironman. Or I could put that away toward a Power Tap. Or...

This is where my real issue with this sport comes in. Why so cost-prohibitive? "Yeah, you want to have the privilege of "Escaping" from Alcatraz? That'll be $400, please. Cough it up and deal."

Oh, I'm sorry, if you're poor-er (because you really can't be poor to do triathlon...or if you are, you'd better have credit) you'll just have to do the more local no-name races. Yep, sorry.

I am so tired of races fees going up and up and up. When I did this race only TWO YEARS AGO it cost me $230. That's a price increase of almost 100% in TWO YEARS.

So I say no thank you to the Escape from Alcatraz. They can kiss my Envirosports-supporting bum.

It's Monday: Time to Weigh In

2008-12-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

I seem to get further and further behind in writing about the things I want to write about. I still have yet to post about the Girls on the Run 5K, still have yet to write about our last XC race, and really would like to write about my fabulous ride from Santa Rosa to Napa, along with a report of the ride the day after.

But maybe later I'll do the Reader's Digest Condensed Version and that will have to be that.

Or I should stop having fun weekends so that I won't have anything to write about. Ha, yeah right!

In any case, I just wanted to remind you that if you're playing the Winter Weight Challenge, it's WEEK 3: head over to Maggs's blog and weigh in!

Oh...and I caved. I went back to Facebook. I almost made it a month but then...I just had to go back. IT'S LIKE CRACK!

Honestly, I just missed the interaction I was having with my friends. The coolest thing was that when I went back, my friend Alison had just posted pictures of her and her NEWBORN BABY! I would've totally missed out on that, had I stayed away. And there are more babies to come from some other friends, too. Along with engagement announcements from two friends. Granted, they're not friends I talk with regularly outside of Facebook, but they are old friends that I'm happy to be in touch with. So there.

More thankfulness

2008-11-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit behind on blogging lately. Reading others' blogs and writing my own. I'm in the process of writing another post but had to get this short one in!

Bree posted a fav song (one that I also LOVE!), then Kathleen followed suit and I realized I wanted to post a couple recent favs, too.

But I also just want to take a moment to say thank you to everybody in the blog world for all of the great support throughout the past year. It was so incredible to stumble into this community late last year and I feel like I've made a whole new circle of friends who really get this crazy sport and why we do it.

I appreciate all of you for who you are; for sharing your ups and downs, your challenges and successes, your mistakes and secrets, some of your personal struggles, and some of your daily sources of happiness.

It has become a great source of joy for me to look out into those sea of tri-blogs and read about the different adventures you all partake in. So many different personalities and interests with one common one that has brought us all here. I hope that 2009 affords me more opportunities to meet more of you in person. Until then, keep blogging with the best of them!

Now...onto the goodies:

**Mark your calendar for Dec 7 if you're in the area. It's my birthday and I'm planning on doing a ride followed by a bday lunch at my favorite place in the whole world, Rosso (pizza and wine bar...can life get better?). Route and timeframe to come.

-I watched a movie two nights ago that I think EVERYBODY NEEDS TO SEE. It's called Young at Heart. Seriously...go out and rent this move, THIS WEEKEND. Right now. Watch this trailer, then open a new tab in your browser and put this movie to the top of your Netflix queue. I promise you will be so inspired! I'm still thinking about this movie, two days later. I hope that I will grow old and be this cool. That's all I'm going to say about it.

Some recent tunes I've been hearing and loving:

Tracy Chapman - Sing for You
(Off her latest album. I am LOVING this song...I HEART HER!!!)

Tracy Chapman - The Promise
(Hadn't heard this in years...but fell in love with it all over again)

Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
(This is my inspirational song of the moment...)

Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Felix da Housecat Heavenly Mix)
(GREAT video...unfortunately they won't let me embed, BOO!)

You and I Both - Jason Mraz (yes Bree, I love him too!)

Being thankful for tradition and change

2008-11-27T10:16:00.001-08:00

I'm grateful we have a day where the whole point is to simply look around, acknowledge what we have, be thankful, and eat great food (the last part being conditional; I supposed it depends on where you end up on Thanksgiving).

Last year at this time I believe we were just kind of hanging around...in one day my family (and extended family...29 of us to be exact) would descend on San Pedro to catch a 3-day cruise that took us down to Ensenada and back. That trip was so much fun, it's difficult to believe that was already one year ago. The family time was incredible and while I never thought I would see myself actually enjoy a cruise, I came back thinking "now THAT'S how to have a family reunion."

Nobody had to fight about what time to meet up, what restaurant we should go to, who was going to pay, or how we would all get there. And I could be doing one thing with my sister and my cousin, and all of a sudden we'd run into our other cousins and I'd drift away to go hang out with them for awhile. We managed to get about 20 of us together to fill up a bingo row so we could be the loudest and most obnoxious group in there. I laugh a little just thinking about it.

I wish every holiday could be that much fun.

This year is back to normal; feeling bad as I tell my dad that I'm headed to Napa to my mom's for dinner. "Well, I'll be around all weekend, so if you're in the area..." he trails off. "Dad," I say sternly, "I am NEVER just 'in Vacaville.'" Instantly I regret my condescending tone. Like one of his many casts of his fishing line, he's just trying to put it out there, hoping I might bite.

In that way, I'm thankful for traditions. It's so much easier when you don't even have to think or make decisions. Kind of like the triathlon season - you've got your training plan set so all you have to do is follow it. No decisions need to be made, you just go and enjoy the moment (or at least...suffer through it, knowing you had no choice).

But life goes on with its twists and turns and road splits, and traditions crumble and form into new ones. And some don't. Some traditions simply stay behind, lingering only in our memories as we reminisce about 'the good old days.'

I'm also grateful for change, though. I can remember so many traditional Thanksgivings where things weren't so great, whether it was because my parents were upset with each other, or my mom was upset with her sister, or I had grown tired of the same old carrot-jello salad and over-cooked Gołąbki (pronounced "Go-lump-ki": my mom's side is Polish and very ingrained with food traditions).

My parents first decided they would be the black sheep in 1997 and *gasp* do something OTHER than go to my grandparents' house. We rented a cabin with some close friends up near Tahoe and went skiing and made our own Thanksgiving dinner. I can recall thinking "wow...I like this idea of doing something different."

Ever since then Thanksgiving has been something different. In 1999 they got together with friends, took the trailer out to Dillon Beach and ate BBQ oysters and drank wine. I was in college then and brought along a friend who was from Argentina; she had a pretty nice impression of what Thanksgiving was.

I'm grateful both my parents have empowered me with the idea of breaking tradition and embracing change. But with that empowerment comes the responsibility of making a decision. That's where the tough part comes in.

As the holiday drew nearer this year, I still had my head in the sand, thinking if I kept it there I might be able to put off my decision-making for just a little bit longer. Before I knew it, though, Thanksgiving week was here!

I had friends asking "so, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" As I replied "not sure," they blinked back incredulously, as if I was some sort of rogue human for NOT having my Thanksgiving plans set in stone weeks ahead of time.

Just as we must step back from our training plans every now and then to evaluate and make sure they're working, it's good to step back from the usual things we do and see if there's any changes we can make. Any enhancements we can add.

I am a creature of habit in the way I like to have coffee (little cream, no sugar) every morning, I can't go to sleep without putting chapstick on, and I must have classical music on at work in the background. But besides my little daily practices, I generally embrace change. I tire of routines. By the time Vineman rolled around in July I was so tired of the same old schedule. In that vein, I had briefly entertained the idea of getting away somewhere for Thanksgiving and being thankful elsewhere. But I realized that I don't visit my family as much as I used to last year; I'd like to be with them today.

I'm thankful for where I'm at. I often 'escaped' Berkeley each Sunday to go be with my family in Napa. As much as I enjoyed living there, it never quite felt like home. Having been in Sonoma County for almost a year, I feel like this is a place I can call home. I don't need to escape anywhere. It's a nice feeling.

So, as I get ready to embark on my traditional Thanksgiving Day activity (I would say bike ride, but I've changed that tradition this year; I'm going to be doing a day-after-Thanksgiving ride; probably a run today), I would like to say that I'm grateful for friends - new and old, internet and real-world; I'm grateful for traditions - ones that have fallen out of practice and deep into my memory and others that have yet to begin; I'm grateful for the unconditional love of my family; I'm grateful for my health; I'm grateful for the promise of a new year; and certainly not least, I'm grateful for the opportunity to eat a great meal and not go hungry today...or any day.

Use your lights...please...

2008-11-26T09:09:00.000-08:00

I can't say it enough: if you're riding in the dark, PLEASE use lights!! We as cyclists are difficult enough for drivers to see in the daylight; we need to do everything we can to ensure that motorists see us.

This is a very tragic story about a local man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver (disgusting) the other evening. He raced for the Wells Fargo team and was riding home. I know the roads out there - they are definitely pretty rural and dark. Clearly the person that hit him was a coward in every way and we won't know the real cause of the crash, but I have to wonder if lights may have helped him.

I just wanted to spread the word. Please be careful out there.

Martinez Cycling Team Member Killed in Hit-and-Run

Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

11-25) 13:27 PST PORT COSTA -- A bicyclist who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on a rural road in northern Contra Costa County was a longtime electrician for The Chronicle who had taken up riding to spend more time with his sons, relatives and colleagues said Tuesday.

Mark Pendleton, 49, of Martinez was struck around 5 p.m. Monday while riding south on McEwen Road near Highway 4 south of Port Costa. A northbound vehicle apparently crossed over the center line and hit him, said Officer Scott Yox of the California Highway Patrol.

Pendleton, an avid cyclist and a member of the Wells Fargo racing team, was returning home on the two-lane road from a training ride. Darkness had already fallen and Pendleton was not using lights or reflectors at the time of the accident. He died at the scene and his bicycle was destroyed.

From debris found at the scene, officers said the car that hit Pendleton may have been dark in color, and the crash apparently broke a headlight or turn signal. Anyone with information should call the CHP at (925) 646-4980.

From 1994 until 2007, Pendleton worked as an electrical foreman at the main Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission streets in San Francisco, as well as at outlying printing plants.

His friends remembered him as a dedicated craftsman who was an expert in the electronic devices throughout the newspaper building, particularly the microwave transmission system that connects the editorial offices to its printing plants.

"He could do anything, and he did it with gusto," recalled a friend and colleague, John Elliott. "He was good at everything around here."

Pendleton, his friend recalled, was a trim, athletic man who took his cycling seriously. He was always in training, and he ordered his morning bagel without butter or spreads and his club sandwiches without mayonnaise.

He was in the habit of drilling small holes into the chain rings of his carbon fiber bicycle to reduce their weight and lighten, even infinitesimally, his load.

Pendleton was a native of San Pablo and a graduate of Pinole Valley High School and of UC Berkeley. He was a longtime volunteer with Community Bible Church of Vallejo, leading camping trips and Bible study groups for young people.

He took up cycling to spend time with his younger son, John Mark, whose doctor recommended bicycling after a knee injury. With his older son, Paul, they competed in local amateur races.

Earlier this year, he began riding with his wife, Denise. She took a liking to the sport after picking out a heavy yellow beach cruiser - the opposite of her husband's sleek road bikes. But, she recalled, he didn't care what kind of bike she rode, or how fast she rode it.

"He'd pick out flat routes and stay right with me, the whole time," she said. "He'd never leave my side."

Pendleton is survived by his wife and his sons. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Weekend post is postponed

2008-11-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to get home from teaching spinning, stop by Lee's to pick up some persimmons from his tree, settle down to eat some dinner, and write all about my fantastic weekend, complete with cute pics from the Girls on the Run 5K.

But that isn't happening tonight.

I either ate something horribly wrong at lunchtime (I hope) or I'm getting the flu (I hope not).

The worst part is that as I began to feel progressively more nauseous as the afternoon went on, I began to think "hmm...this needs to get better...I'm the SUB for spin this evening...how would I find a sub for the SUB??" I decided I would HTFU and deal.

A few trips to the bathroom and some pepto bismol later, I was feeling acceptable. I warned the spin class that while I am normally quite a high energy person, I wasn't feeling all there this evening so I apologized for my more subdued nature.

First 30 minutes of class were okay. I would try to push it a little and then inevitably had to back off because I could tell my body wasn't having it. Felt a little faint 5 minutes later but was doing alright.

Time for sprints! Normally I like to sprint with my students but I know that wouldn't be smart this eve. So I hopped off the bike and got them ready for the first round.

Then it started.

That feeling in the pit of my stomach. No. Please, no.

One sprint down, next up! I took a deep breath. Really tried hard to push down whatever it was that was starting to come up.

Got through the third sprint and I knew I couldn't hold it off anymore.

Embarassingly, I said to the class "excuse me, I think I'm going to be ill now."

They shouted back "GO, GO, GO!!!"

As I began to run out of the room they yelled "don't take the mic with you!"

[Thanks, guys...I remembered to turn it off...]

After my little puke fest I felt much better, and I returned to lead them in one more sprint, with color back in my face and a genuine smile. Phew.

But that was SO embarrassing. And now, I'm going to take my contacts out, put on my fleece reindeer pants and tuck myself in for a long night of sleep and hope this is just something I ate.

The BP update is good: so far it's been in the 130/80 range for the past few days so I'm quite pleased. Woo!

Tomorrow's post: Weekend recap!

What to say?

2008-11-21T10:44:00.001-08:00

I feel like my blog is SOOO BORING RIGHT NOW! Especially because all these other people are doing so many exciting things like going to the Wine Jar in SF or visiting Seattle or doing a FOODIE TOUR in SF or maybe visiting gorgeous Santa Barbara...

...and I'm...well, I am heading into a fun-packed weekend myself, now that I think about it.

- Girls on the Run 5K tomorrow morning and carpooling with Holly, yay!

- Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow afternoon/evening with friends in Oakland, yay!

- LAST XC RACE OF THE SEASON on Sunday morning, boo!!

- Birthday party out at Stinson Beach (inside a house...not on the beach, thank goodness, TOO COLD) Sunday afternoon, woo!
Stinson Beach on a nice day...

But I'm also just a little bummed right now. I really try to keep this blog about my activities in tri-land/bike-land/etc but I can't help but write about this because I am SO FRUSTRATED!

I went to the doc yesterday. Just wanted to get established with my new doc, and figured it's been about 2 years since I got labs done and since my family has this lovely history of great things like high BP, heart stuff, high cholesterol...well, these are things I need to stay on top of because in spite of my great exercise and healthy eating habits, genetics are what they are. And while I'm grateful that cancer doesn't run in my family, this other stuff does.

So the medical assistant takes my BP...I look away because I'm praying it will magically be the right numbers.

Pause.

"Do you have high blood pressure?"

Gulp. "Um, well...a couple years ago when I was on cold meds we realized I had insanely high BP and monitored afterward but then it came back down to normal and it's been pretty stable since, so um...not really. I stay away from cold meds now."

So she said the doc would check again. Okay.

Go through my family history, what my concerns are (basically I just want to stay healthy and stay on top of my cholesterol and BP but I live a pretty darn healthy lifestyle and never had any health issues, so...that's ALL, DOC!), etc.

Then we get to the blood pressure thing. He checks it again. Ugh, STILL high. Basically was around 140/90 which is right at the Hypertension/High Blood Pressure line. Here's a chart in case you were interested.

In the past few months that I'd checked occasionally, I was in the 130/80 range, so still not the BEST, but not high either.

We discussed all the possible reasons, genetics being the probable main cause, but he's going to have my labs done so we can look at everything else that's going on with me. Then we talked about the dangers of having a borderline high blood pressure, which I basically knew. It's awful because it's living at that borderline for years and years that can really do the major damage and cause heart disease.

So the one cool thing about this guy was that he was very thoughtful in considering how we'll go forward. I've got a pump at home, so I'm going to monitor it a couple times a day for the next few weeks. And get my labs done. We'll meet up again in a couple weeks to see if we can determine the cause. Whether we can or not, the most important thing is to determine how to move forward. He said as an athlete, if I did end up going on meds, I wouldn't be a candidate for the most common ones due to the side effects they have - aka slowing you down.

I really appreciated that.

And I know I'm making this sound like such a big deal. But for someone who has never had any health problems in her life, IT IS!!! I hate that I work so hard to live such in such a healthful way and yet I'm looking at possibly going on meds for high blood pressure. Yes, it's common in the US but to me that doesn't mean it's okay. And I hate the thought of being on meds to control something, even if it's through no fault of my own. I still somehow feel guilty.

So all of a sudden this morning I started examining things...looking at salt content, wondering if I eat salty foods without realizing it? But so far, nothing crazy yet. Took my BP this morning, still 140/90. Ugh.

Anyway, on with the day, on with the adventure! Hope everybody has a great weekend.

AND, to all those doing IM Arizona, BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!!!!

The spoiled under 25 crowd

2008-11-19T13:04:00.000-08:00

The original title of this was "The Spoiled Under 30 Crowd." But I'm under 30 and I can actually relate to very much of this (esp the part about making mixed tapes!). So I'm changing it to 'under 25.' Enjoy!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up, what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning. Uphill... barefoot...BOTH ways...Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today...

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia.

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it.

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take a week to get there.

There were no MP3' s or Napsters. You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like call waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know. You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics. We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination. And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever. And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on. You were screwed when it came to channel surfing. You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove...Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980.

Regards,
The over 30 25 Crowd

UPDATE:

Paul from Kirkland posted this video link in his comment and I thought it was simply so fitting and hilarious I had to post it here. THANKS, PAUL!!!

Thank goodness for the Winter Weight Challenge

2008-11-19T11:20:00.001-08:00

I've been having a problem. At work we have a little candy dish (for clients). And lately it's been getting filled up with Halloween candy.

Now, I'm not much of a sweets person so I generally don't have a problem avoiding candy when it's out.

But this is GOOD candy. Like, a mini Heath Bar. Or a mini butterfinger. Tootsie-roll pop. Milk Duds. ALMOND JOY. (my fav)

And they're all MINI so you think "oh, that's not as bad." Making things worse, it's all different - variety. So there's something new all the time.

My temptation has basically crumbled so that I might allow myself one of these delicious sweets after lunch.

Normally not a problem, but if you start doing it every day, that could amount to a problem.

BUT THANKS to the WINTER WEIGHT CHALLENGE, I've got enough of a reason to restore my willpower to its maximum level and simply walk past the candy dish with not so much of a glance.

Phew.

(that and I think I've already eaten all the good stuff. All that's left are Crunch bars and Mini M&Ms. Sorry M&M lovers, but those M&M's just don't do it for me, THANK GOODNESS)

This and that

2008-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

I feel so behind but it's only Tuesday! I guess that's a result of being a little ill. I hate being sick. You feel like you don't want to do ANYTHING and all I could focus on all day was wanting to just curl up in bed and sleep.

ANYWAY, starting to feel better, thanks for the well-wishes. I made it to the (dark) track workout tonight. We did 12x300 (with 100 recovery) after our warm up. I don't know if it's because I took a little running break (about 1.5 weeks) or that kick-butt bike ride from Sat, but my legs felt surprisingly spry. I managed to make every four sets faster, so started around 1:12 and steadily made it down to 1:08 and the last one pulled off 1:07. Nice!

It was challenging because the usual crowd wasn't in attendance - only 6 of us tonight. And it was cold. And dark. But I figured if I could get through things like this it will make Sunday's cross country race a piece of cake, right?

On a cool note: When I arrived there was this woman there I didn't recognize (and hello, it was dark). So Tori introduced us and she suddenly seemed familiar and she said "yes, we met at the Fleet Feet Run two weeks ago."

A big smile spread across my face. "Tori," I began, "do you realize that Lydia and I met two weeks ago and I told her about how great Empire Runners was and how she should join us on Tuesdays - and HERE SHE IS!" Turns out I made a good enough impression that she came out last week and even CAME BACK FOR MORE this week. Cool!

We've got our last XC race this weekend on Sunday. Boo! I'm kind of sad about that. But I think it'll be a blast and I'm curious to see how I do given that now I've done the course once (it's in Golden Gate Park).

Saturday I am ALSO running - I'm volunteering with this FABULOUS organization called Girls on the Run. Have you heard of it? "Girls on the Run© is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Our curricula address all aspects of girls' development - their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being." (from the GOTR website)

So their fall training culminates in a 5K for the girls and since I can't volunteer during the year (usually the program starts right when they get out of school, so around 3 p.m.), I am volunteering during the GOTR Sonoma County 5K to be a 'running buddy.' Bonus: I get to be a running buddy for one of my spin student's daughters!!

I also have to write a ride report from Saturdays' Riviera Ride. It was just as awesome as the first but I'd venture to say even more so. It's quickly becoming one of my new favorite monthly events. I will save that for another post, I think. Trying to have shorter posts these days and I still have other things on my list to get to.

Speaking of bikes, I think I want to have a big bike ride on my birthday. So if you're in the area on December 7, come join. I think I may try to have the ride end at Rosso in Santa Rosa for lunch and have a bakery stop somewhere during the ride.

I'm saving the best for last. Lately folks (JP and Rainmaker) have been posting some insanely amazing-looking eats (Cassoulet and pumpkin recipes, respectively). They've left me SALIVATING!

And I promised to post something about food. The bad thing about this is I haven't yet made it (this year) - that is for this weekend but I really wanted to put this recipe out there so people can see it and make it/savor it/enjoy it themselves.

Without further ado, here is the recipe for:

Salad of Fall Greens with Persimmons and ~~Hazlenuts~~ Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (recipe here)
From Epicurious.com via Bon Appetit, November 2001

**Note: I hate hazlenuts. So instead of hazlenut oil, I used walnut oil. And instead of toasted hazlenuts, I toasted pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds). And they work lovely.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh tangerine juice
1 tablespoon grated tangerine peel
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil or walnut oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 head escarole (about 11 ounces), torn into 2-inch pieces (about 12 cups)
1 large bunch watercress, stemmed (about 6 cups)
1 5-ounce bag mixed baby greens
2 Fuyu persimmon, peeled, halved, thinly sliced
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skin rubbed off

Preparation:

Boil tangerine juice and tangerine peel in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Whisk in next 5 ingredients. Season dressing with pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Rewhisk before using.)

Place all greens and half of persimmon slices in large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Divide salad among plates. Top each with remaining persimmon slices and hazelnuts and serve.

And, I think that's a wrap for tonight. Thanks to everybody who's going to play Maggs' and my Winter Weight Challenge. I'm looking forward to having even MORE of a reason not to put anymore weight on this winter!

Week 1 of the Winter Weight Challenge Begins!

2008-11-17T14:57:00.001-08:00

It's been a crazy day and I also haven't been feeling well since Saturday afternoon so I won't be posting much here today, but I do have to say that Saturday's Riviera Ride ROCKED SO MUCH! I will hope to steal some pics from Steve and Dave and post them along with a ride report because it was a seriously glorious ride (and the ensuing lunch was also just as glorious).

Instead, I am posting to REMIND ANY PARTICIPANTS OF THE WINTER WEIGHT CHALLENGE to go to Maggs' blog today and post your weight!

Maggs did a great job reviewing the GOAL (not to see who can lose the most weight...AHEM...it's to see who can remain STEADY) of the challenge and gave a few examples.

So go see Maggs and tell her what you weighed today and let's get the CHALLENGE STARTED, WOO!

(All you have to do to join this competition is go to Maggs' blog and say "I want in!" and state your weight! The more, the merrier, COME ON, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!)

2 IMPORTANT announcements

2008-11-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

1) The Riviera Ride #2 is this Saturday (11/15). If you are local (or even sort of local, like EAST BAY OR SF, or Napa, or in that vicinity), you should come out for this.

It is a monthly group ride that occurs on the 3rd Saturday of the month. I wrote about it last month. Here's the deal:

It starts at 9 a.m. at West County Revolution in Sebastopol with coffee and pastries (get there before 9 for the goodies - ride starts at 9). It will be about a 50-60 mile ride depending on the group you choose to ride with. We all start out at a very easy pace, just chatting and riding and warming the legs up. We will split up about 10-15 miles in and there will be a super fast group (last month had cycling pro Scott Nydam show up and the other guys that rode with him were super fast too - they did about 60 miles and around 22-24 mph) and a moderate group that will do slightly less miles - 45-50 miles and around 18-20 mph.

We will all end up at a restaurant called Riviera in Santa Rosa. $30 buys you lunch (a 3 course lunch!) and covers tax and tip as well.

After lunch, folks will head back to Sebastopol (8 miles away) via the bike path at an easy pace.

Alternatlively, some of us will who live in Santa Rosa will meet at Riviera at 8 a.m. and head out to Sebastopol so that we can just go home after lunch.

If you're interesed, please RSVP to Steve at West County Revolution by emailing him here.

And let me know if you're coming along! We would love to have folks join in the fun!

2) ATTENTION ALL TRI-BLOGGERS (and any other blogger who wants to join in!)!!!

Join Maggs and Sarah for the Winter Weight Challenge! The more who play means the sweeter the prize!

The skinny:

A 10-week challenge beginning on 11/17/08 through 1/26/09 to see who can gain the least amount of weight.

The prize:

Each person who joins in will purchase a $5 gift card to any place of their choice (Starbucks, Jamba Juice, iTunes, Target, etc) and send it to Maggs (who promises to be honest and not spend them, duh). The winner gets the gift cards (or if there are multiple winners cards will be split).

The rules:

Maggs will post each Monday to have all participants report their weight that day via comment. Maggs and Sarah will keep a log of each participant week-by-week. If you LOSE weight and you have two consecutive weeks of being at a lower weight, that will be your new weight to maintain. At the end of 10 weeks, we will see who has gained the least pounds over the 10 week period. If there are ties, we'll split up the awards.

Why do this stupid competition?

Because some of us need a challenge to not gain any more weight in the off season. Some of us are THAT type-A that we need to make it into a competition. Some of us just want incentive. Some of us think it'll be fun.

If you plan on joining in, feel free to comment and let me know. I'll add you to the roster. 10-week blogger challenge, here we come!

TIM LINCECUM WINS CY YOUNG AWARD!

2008-11-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Another awesome Tuesday with yet another 'landslide' win at the polls: Tim Lincecum received 23 out of 32 first place votes to be named the 2008 Cy Young Award Winner.

If you're not a baseball fan, you should read this anyway.

Because it's about more than baseball.

It's about living and pursuing your dream. It's about believing. It's about hard work.

Now, I'm not a sportscaster like JT or a sportswriter so I don't really know how to sum all of this up, esp for people who don't really follow baseball.

Maybe JT can write this post instead of me? :)

So let's start with what the Cy Young Award is. According to Wikipedia, "The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American and National leagues. The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955."

Now, who is Tim Lincecum?

Tim Lincecum was, 29 months ago, pitching for the University of Washington. But for the past two years, he's been pitching with the Giants (he was called up May of 2007). And this past year, he was THE pitcher for the Giants.

He's 24 now but he still looks like he's 18. The crazy thing is to think that as a freshman in high school, he was still 4'11" and 85 lbs!!! And now he's nearly 6' tall and 170 lbs. He learned his mechanics from his dad in his backyard and now he's one of the best pitchers in baseball.

The story gets better. According to "The Freak" (one of his many nicknames), in an article in the SF Chronicle,

"People have been doubting me my whole life. Nothing new," Lincecum said. "I'm not going to hold it against them. If they doubt me, let them watch and see what the end result is. I don't let them bring me down like they used to."

Okay, so what's the big deal?

There's a few things here:

1) The Giants majorly SUCKED this season. But you know what? When you knew Lincecum was going to pitch, you knew it would be a great game to watch. He consistently threw close to 100 mph fastballs, 80 mph curveballs and so many strikeouts that he ended up winning the National League Strikeout Title (265 strikeouts by the end of the season!),

2) Tim brought a team mentality to the game. The other players respected him and he respected the other players. They played like a true TEAM. Not that they didn't when he wasn't pitching, but in 2007, with Barry Bonds' all-star presence, they never played like a team. It was all about Barry and his home runs. Even though Lincecum began to gain a lot of press and praise as the season went on, he never made it about HIM.

In fact, catcher Bengie Molina had this to say (from another SF Chronicle article):

"That's great, man. Wow," catcher Bengie Molina said when told of Lincecum's win. "He pitched so great. I'm so happy for him. I'm hoping he enjoys it. I know it's an individual award, but looking back and seeing the year we had as team, for him to come out with Cy Young is amazing. It's unbelievable."

3) Lincecum is a truly remarkable pitcher. His style is different. He's got an usual twisting windup which features a longer stride (The normal stride length for a pitcher is 77% to 87% of his height. Lincecum's stride is 129%, some 7 1/2 feet) and heavy torque. Here's some other stats that set him apart (again from the SF Chronicle):

Aside from his 18-5 record and 2.52 ERA, two statistics set Lincecum apart from other candidates: He became the first Giants pitcher, dating to the New York days, to lead the majors in strikeouts (265) and the fourth pitcher in history to finish at least 13 games above .500 for a team that finished at least 13 below (72-90).

I guess what's so inspiring is that Lincecum goes into every game believing, ready to win, ready to WORK FOR IT. JT had a post the other day about athletes who just 'give up'. These guys are paid millions of dollars a year and they just 'give up?' What a disgrace.

Here's an interesting stat:
Tim Lincecum's 2008 salary was $405,000. The other 5 pitchers' (whom he was up against for the award) average salary for 2008 was $9,433,510. Yes, you read that right.

I'm inspired because Lincecum brings a level of humility to the game and at the same time was always going out there to win, no matter what happened. His first response to finding out he won was "REALLY?"

I think he's a great role model as an athlete for all of us as athletes. He fully demonstrates how to never stop trying even in the face of so much success. How to always be expecting the best out of yourself but to never let it get to your head. How to keep working at it even when you get knocked down (kind of like what you were saying, E!)

CONGRATULATIONS, TIMMY!!!

Here's another great article from Sports Illustrated on "Tiny Tim": How Tiny Tim Became A Pitching Giant

Goodbye Facebook (for now)

2008-11-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

I came, I went, I saw, I status-updated with the best of them, and now I'm calling it quits.

For now, anyway.

On the one hand, I love Facebook.

On the other, I really don't.

It's nice to see old friends, for sure. It's nice to comment on friends' and family photos, absolutely. I've spoken more with my cousins on Facebook than I ever would have before.

But WTF is up with people from high school that I barely even remember 'friending' me and then not even sending any kind of 'hello' message? Somebody that I sort of remember who was more a friend of friends in JUNIOR HIGH friend requested me the other day.

HELLO!!! We haven't spoken in 15 years and NOW you want to be my 'friend?'

Except she didn't even say 'hi' or put a message with her request.

And when I press 'ignore' for friend requests from people that I barely remember, a month later they're requesting me AGAIN because i probably showed up on the "People You May Know" tool and they thought "oh, huh...there's Sarah, I should totally friend request her!" because they've already forgotten that they friend requested me a month ago.

It's like people are out there collecting pogs, or something. (remember pogs?)

It was a really hard decision because I also really enjoy seeing photos people post of this and that, and there are a few people from high school that I've really enjoyed re-interacting with, not to mention simply the enjoyment of seeing what folks are up to.

But then again, how much are we REALLY interacting? I comment on photos. They comment on mine. We smile and think that's so nice. But have we really reconnected our friendship? Have we actually gone out and taken photos together that we'll later share on Facebook?

Erm, no, we haven't.

Don't get me wrong, I think Facebook is tons of fun. But I just don't think I have the time right now to really spend much time getting everything out of it I would want to.

I feel like I have more work to do on the friendships I have outside of the online world, and between email and blogging, I do enough on the internet. I need to focus more on the relationships in my life and put more effort into maintaining them - both new and old.

I may go back to Facebook, but until then, I'll be holding down the blog front and of course, I'm always available on email. And in the real world I'll be attempting to get people together for rides, hikes, runs, drinks, laughs, and good stuff.

(oh and p.s. I am totally going to miss Wordscraper (the Scrabble game)!!!)

One fantastic ride

2008-11-10T15:12:00.001-08:00

I wasn't around this weekend to ride in the mornings. So when I returned around noon on Sunday, I was itching to get out on the bike. I had considered running, but just really felt like riding. I checked the weather - no impending rain. Winds about 10-15 mph. Hm.

Still didn't matter. For weeks I've been dying to get out to the Wildflour Bakery in Freestone. For weeks I've been saying "I want to ride out and go to this sacred bakery." I just had it in my mind that I was going to DO THIS.

I headed out Guerneville Road and pedaled into the wind. It was cool, but there was enough sunshine warming my arms and back that I didn't need the arm warmers yet. Not too much traffic out, surprisingly. Left on Frei Road and up the first little grunt. Before I knew it I was zipping through Graton along Graton Road, mentally preparing for my first big climb. It was so quiet. The air was crisp and fresh and the only sounds that could be heard where my feet spinning away at the pedals.

After tackling Graton Road, I made it into Occidental. The other big treat of the day was getting to ride my most favorite road in the world - Bohemian Hwy. I took my sunglasses off as I zoomed through the towering redwood trees which shaded and cooled the air, providing a fresh scent of damp redwood. Again, the road was silent and I really felt, in that moment, that I was in church: the majestic trees around me were my stained glass, and my bike was the pew in which I was praying. It was truly heavenly. All was silent and I simply smiled and thought "I am SO lucky."

Another 10 minutes and I pulled into the Wildflour Bakery. I could smell it before I even saw it! I sat down with some coffee and a walnut-apple-cinnamon scone and took my first bite.

Now, I've been telling everybody since I moved up here that one of the things I miss most about Berkeley is the Cheese Board. Their scones are a delectable treat and I've never had a scone even come CLOSE to comparing to the ones the Cheeseboard produced. But as of yesterday, the Cheeseboard has finally met its match. The scone I had at Wildflour bakery was so incredible, so fresh, so full of everything that is good and right with food, that I couldn't help but smile and know that I had done the right thing today.

After I left I turned right on Bodega Hwy and left on Petaluma-Valley Ford Road. The roads were still somewhat empty and peaceful. I didn't see one other cyclist out there. Made my way back via Bloomfield->Todd->Llano and back along the path.

The wind really died down once I was in Occidental, so I was glad I had made the decision to go. It really was a fantastic solitary ride and I just couldn't get over how peaceful it was. The hills are starting to turn green, the cows were out, and the air was so clear and so crisp, every breath invigorated my lungs.

49 miles, 1500 feet of climbing, and three glorious hours of just enjoying the ride.

Friday fun...or freaky...

2008-11-07T10:03:00.001-08:00

I've been working on a more 'serious' post (not THAT serious, but some goal-setting type stuff) BUT since I have a ton to do right now that will have to wait and I'll post something more...er..fun, instead.

Why it's good to be scared of spiders:

Wow. Yes, this is seriously a spider preying on a a bird. Apparently it's a Golden Orb Weaver spider and this was taken in Cairns, Australia. (BE CAREFUL, VANESSA!!!!) I guess these spiders normally prey on large insects but this poor bird flew into the web and got caught. Ew.
Read it all here.

Next up: Why it's good to be scared of snakes

This is a python eating a cockatoo. Great. Apparently "the python took about two hours to complete his meal." Mmm. Read it here.

Finally, if you think THAT'S crazy, check THIS OUT:

Apparently, this article describes how the snake realized it was 'biting off more than it can chew' (no really...) and had to regurgitate the upper half of the body. Ew.

Anyway, in case you were thinking that spiders and snakes are actually fun pets, they probably aren't. And I know that all the small spiders I go out of my way to save (I just don't have it in my heart to kill them...I scoop them up and dump them outside where they belong) would probably try to eat me if they were big enough. But they're not, so I decided I don't need to 'defend' myself.

Actually I like looking at bugs. I think they are so cool and interesting and FASCINATING. And the bug world is VICIOUS! I guess it's kind of like a car accident...you don't want to look (b/c bugs are kind of creepy) but then you can't help it. So just in case anybody cares, there's a really neat website called What's That Bug? where you can look at all the different bugs around the world in action.

Just saying...

I voted!

2008-11-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

YOU BETCHA I DID!

And I am sooooooooooooooooooo glad that this day is finally here. Regardless of what happens, I'm just happy that the campaigning can stop, that I will be able to focus again instead of looking at every news site in the country to see what other people see, that I will know if I have to leave the country or not.

Anyway, that was my 80s aerobics costume from Halloween, just FYI.

I don't really have a lot to say. Life is hectic right now.

The XC race was good but I was clearly still recovering from last week and my quads reminded me of it several times during the race. It really hurt. And I kept repeating over, and over, AND OVER, "you can do it. Yes you can. You CAN. YOU CAN YOU CAN YOU CAN. YOU WILL AND YOU CAN AND YOU SOOOOO CAN YES YOU CAN!"

But then I really had to stop for about 2 seconds because I really just couldn't. It hurt so bad. And my HR was skyrocketing higher over the entire course of the race than I ever have, which I'm sure has to do with the fact that I did nothing but hobble around for 5 days.

Still, I loved running in the...mist. What the women's race had was definitely mist compared to what the Men's Open Race had two hours later, which was torrential DOWNPOUR. We had a few little puddles here and there and a bit of mud, but those guys had...well, they had true cross country conditions!

There's one more XC race on 11/23. I'm kind of sad because I've really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed having a reason to run other than just to keep up with it. And NO, I am not going to go find some 1/2 marathon or marathon to pursue now instead. That's next year!

I think maybe now I need to find a few swim meets in Dec and Jan to get me motivated to get back in the pool.

I'm just having such a difficult time fitting it all in without overdoing it because it IS the off-season. I decided to relax a little and it seems that swimming is taking the brunt of it.

In any case, I'm not too worried. I will get back in the pool. Tomorrow, in fact. I AM GETTING MY @$$ OUT OF BED AND MARCHING DOWN TO THE POOL WHETHER IT'S RAINING AND 40 DEGRES OR NOT!

Yes!

I also really want to applaud Kathleen for coming out to the XC race last Saturday. It was her very first running race and I must say, Kathleen, if you can do an XC run, then you can do any other running race. Those people are HARD CORE! There are no walkers in XC, no joggers - no - it's all RUNNING. HARD. FAST. STRONG.

So you did it. And you were smiling at the end. WAY TO GO, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!

That's all for now, and the next time I write on my blog...we will have a newly elected president.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, Halloween is almost over. But I'm sitting here, YEARNING for more trick-or-treaters and I guess I have ADD because I WAS washing dishes and before that I was reading this week's New Yorker (actually reading this week's during...THIS WEEK), and suddenly here I am writing on my blog.

Well anyway, I feel like the stepchild of Halloween right now. We live on this street that is adjacent to this major 'Halloween' street. Like, the kind of 'Halloween' street where the cars get blocked off and it's one big block party. But I'm around the corner. So you know, people are walking PAST my house to GET to where it's really happening. If I'm lucky, anyway. If they park on other side streets then they probably won't walk past my house.

But I thought I'd help the situation by playing scary music out my front window and getting the house all creepy looking, so at least they know to stop by.

Anyway, I just think it's the cutest thing to see these little people in costumes with their parents watching proudly from the sidewalk.

So, as I wait for more trick-or-treaters, I am proud to say that my soreness has FINALLY subsided. As of...today. Yes, really, it took until TODAY for me to finally feel like I have normal quads just like everybody else.

I can easily say I learned my lesson. I need to work up to that kind of downhill running. I was seriously sore up through the end of Wednesday, when finally Thursday I started to think I would still be able to run the XC race this Sat.

This Saturday's XC race isn't just ANY cross country race. It's the TAMALPA CHALLENGE! There's this little rivalry that goes on between the Empire Runners (Sonoma County) and the Tamalpa Runners (Marin County). So besides the championship XC race and the season opener which is held here in Santa Rosa, this is pretty much the other biggest XC event for our team. We've got 42 people committed to racing tomorrow, so we should have a strong showing. I can't wait!

Which is essentially why I was horrified as of Wednesday to think I _might_ not be able to run.

Phew!

Besides that, I've got the little sister turning the big 1-8...should be a fun weekend.

Time to go now, have a great weekend!

Something neat to know

2008-10-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

I rarely post twice in one day, but I thought this was so cool and touching that I had to share it, because you never know who would like to know about this.

So I was checking the weekly-updated PostSecret, and I found this secret:

And sometimes people send in a response to the secret and Frank (the PostSecret guy) will post the responses. These were the two responses he posted:

-----Email Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 5:46 PM
Subject: grandma's voicemail

I have three voicemails my 34 year old cousin left me on my cell phone before she died of ovarian cancer over three years ago. In 3 years I will be older than she was when she died and my goal is to keep those voicemails until then. Maybe I'll keep them forever.

-----Email Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 10:16 PM
Subject: grandma's voicemail

I work for a major cell phone carrier. About once a year we hear of a story where someone is desperately hanging on to a voicemail from a lost loved one. We will put a hard copy of a voicemail from a lost loved one in your hands if you ask. It could be the greeting on their phone or a message they left on yours. We want you to have those memories. Please ask.

Wow. That is really cool. I've been known to save a voicemail here or there that was really touching, but thankfully never had to hang on to one of somebody I lost.

I just wanted people to know about this.

Have a great week!

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (or DOMS)

2008-10-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Having trouble getting out of bed?" - YES

"Having to walk backwards down the stairs because your legs feel as though they are on fire?" - OH GOD YES

"You are probably suffering from DOMS." - Oh.

"Exercises that involve many eccentric contractions, such as downhill running, will result in the most severe DOMS. This has been shown to be the result of more muscle cell damage than is seen with typical concentric contractions, in which a muscle successfully shortens during contraction against a load.^[2]"

Oh, I see...downhill running...the most severe DOMS, huh?

In fact, there's even a journal article WRITTEN ON IT (actually, I found several academic articles written on the subject of the severity of DOMS from downhill running*):

"Eccentric activation and muscle damage: biomechanical and physiological considerations during downhill running." (Division of Health & Human Performance. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 1995 June; 29(2): 89–94.)

Here was their abstract:

An eccentric muscle activation is the controlled lengthening of the muscle under tension. Functionally, most leg muscles work eccentrically for some part of a normal gait cycle, to support the weight of the body against gravity and to absorb shock. During downhill running the role of eccentric work of the 'anti-gravity' muscles--knee extensors, muscles of the anterior and posterior tibial compartments and hip extensors--is accentuated. The purpose of this paper is to review the relationship between eccentric muscle activation and muscle damage, particularly as it relates to running, and specifically, downhill running.

And what did they find? Well, the majority of articles I found basically say that because downhill running is a much more functional activity that combines concentric and eccentric exercise, the physiological consequences of it are much greater.

Anyway, if you haven't guessed by now, I am so sore that I have to use my arm strength to pull myself out of a chair, I can't walk down stairs, my quads are randomly giving out when I'm standing (causing me to stumble), I didn't sleep well last night because every time my quads so much as touched it woke me up from the pain, and I'm feeling all sort of weird twitching going on. I wasn't even this sore after Vineman!

It's really fun.

And how does one reduce the damage and severity of DOMS in the future?
Do more of it. That's basically the answer. (Duh! I knew that...)

Except I think next time I won't pick one of the highest points in the county to run down from. That might be smart.

*Additional articles (for anybody who's interested):
-Delayed onset muscle soreness following repeated bouts of downhill running (http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/3/710)
-Delayed onset muscle soreness (http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/delayed-onset-muscle-soreness.html)
-Eccentric activation and muscle damage: biomechanical and physiological considerations during downhill running (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1332286)
-Delayed onset muscle soreness: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0700.htm

The View from the Top

2008-10-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend is turning out to be pretty kick-ass. I'm excited for Sunday. But let's back up a little.

On a cooking note, it all started well with last night (Friday). I worked kind of late, and after people's comments from my last post, I decided taking it easy would be a good idea , so I bagged the swim workout.

I got home and decided to find a nice bottle of wine that deserved to be opened. I went through the racks and found this: a 2003 Ehlers Estate Cabernet Franc. Hmmm. "That should be definitely ready to drink now," I thought.

Well...I opened it up...let it sit for about 10 minutes...and tried it.

Wow.

I sort of shook my head in disbelief. This was amazing. I sort of regretted opening it because I didn't think it would be *this* good. I had bought it a couple years ago wine tasting and my memory doesn't really go back that far, so I just kind of guess sometimes when it comes to wines like this.

I originally had planned to make some sort of veggie dinner, but after I tasted this I realized there was NO WAY I could eat anything but a STEAK with this wine.

I marched myself down to the store, bought a marinated steak that was locally raised, grass-fed and all that good stuff. I looked up a good recipe from 101 Cookbooks.com for a variation on mashed potatoes. I found this: Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes. Yum!

I had a TON of veggies from the farm box this week, so I thought I'd add some carrots and eggplant to the mix as well. I could get my veggies AND my meat in!

So I made the recipe and made a few adjustments (didn't have kale but I did have some other greens that worked nicely) and before I knew it, it was time to sit down and enjoy my meal!

Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes:

3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
sea salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch kale, large stems stripped and discarded, leaves chopped
1/2+ cup warm milk or cream
freshly ground black pepper
5 scallions, white and tender green parts, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish (opt)
fried shallots, for garnish (optional)

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil and continue boiling for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, chopped kale, a big pinch of salt, and saute just until tender - about a minute. Set aside.

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or fork. Slowly stir in the milk a few big splashes at a time. You are after a thick, creamy texture, so if your potatoes are on the dry side keep adding milk until the texture is right. Season with salt and pepper.

Dump the kale on top of the potatoes and give a quick stir. Transfer to a serving bowl, make a well in the center of the potatoes and pour the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with the scallions, Parmesan cheese, and shallots.

Serves 6.

Things I added:
*Carrots: I cut up 4 carrots into slices, parboiled for about 3 minutes and then added to the stir-fry
*Eggplant: I cut up about 1/2 an eggplant into cubes. First I microwaved it for about 3 minutes, stirred, then microwaved for 1:30 more. After this I added it to the stir-fry
*Tomatoes: I had 3 roma tomatoes from the farm box so I cut those into slices and added them at the very end of the stir-fry

Also, instead of cutting everything up super fine and really mixing it in well with the mashed potatoes, I more or less laid it all on top of the potatoes and blended it in as I ate. It worked.

I sat down and had my meal with my wine...and the combination was just awesome. I savored every. single. bite (and sip). Oh yum I would SOOOOO make this again!! I can think of a number of other wines in the fridge that will go with this. :)

So it worked out that I had a nice protein-packed meal last night. My friend Brian from my bike group had put a post to the group that he was going to do a 7 mile hike - 3.5 miles out (with major climbing) and then run the 3.5 miles back. Kind of like what I did the other night, except MUCH MUCH MORE climbing. Then he would hop on the bike for a nice 90 minute spin. It sounded like something different and FUN! I was in!

We met at 8 a.m. at Sugarloaf State Park which was where the Goodspeed to Gunsight Rock trailhead was (but Courtenay it wasn't from the TOP of the big hill - it was just before the road starts to really climb).

WOW! What a CLIMB it was! Brian said it normally takes him about 1:20 to get to the top, but since Jim is a mountain goat we were moving quickly and made it in 1:09. Sweet! When we got to the top at Gunsight Rock we were rewarded with a KILLER view of the Sonoma Valley. It was INCREDIBLE!!!

Me at the top!!

Looking south over toward Sonoma

Looking to the south end of the valley

Mid valley

Directly below us - that small group of houses is the town of Kenwood

Beginning to look north - the big hilly area ahead is Anadel State Park, where I do a lot of running and a lot of people mtn bike...

Looking north to Santa Rosa

We made it back DOWN to the trailhead in about 32 minutes. Incredible! My heart rate was skyrocketing going down but it was SO MUCH FUN. I LOVED it!

Then we got our bikes out of the cars, put on the bike shoes and helmets and went out around Kenwood/Glen Ellen for a nice 90 min SLOW spin! My legs were pretty toast by the end, but it was SO awesome to do something different for a change. We talked about what a great winter alternative this is as the weather changes and how hiking really can be such a great strength-builder. Needless to say, this will DEFINITELY happen again.

Thanks, guys!

Tomorrow: our cycling group has our annual "Time Trial" - it's a TT we do for fun and try to kick each other's butts. We'll see what these legs have...right now it's not looking so good!

UPDATE: I picked the run

2008-10-24T09:43:00.001-07:00

I can only say this to those who commented last night and were like "go for the beer!":

AND YOU CALL YOURSELVES TRIATHLETES?!?

Sheeeeeeesh. I thought you people were HARD CORE. This is the off season: in other words, time to get ahead while everybody else is slacking and drinking beer, right?????

Um, yeah.

Anyway, I liked the beer idea myself but I had to go to the club meeting AND I didn't think it was very smart to go drink beer and then get in my car and have to drive 60 miles north. Especially because I get sleepy driving in the dark.

And Rachel, if I knew I'd be bumping into Andy P. at the pool...well then, I just very well MAY have gone swimming (oh what the heck, I'm not biased...if I had the slightest inkling I'd bump into ANY studly pro triathlete/pro cyclist/pro HOTTIE at the pool...well let's just say there'd be no contest as to where I'd have gone).

BUT in the end, I picked the trail run. It was such a nice warm evening and I knew I'd be running back to the parking lot at sunset. It promised to be a great workout.

And even though I didn't get my butt kicked in the pool, I certainly got it kicked on the trail! PHEEEEWWWW!!! Those Empire Runners are FAST! And maybe if I keep running with them, I'll get fast(er), too!

The plan was to run out on the trail 3.5 miles 'moderate' and then run back hard. Given that as I tried to keep up with everybody on the way out my HR was at like, 170, I decided to dial it back a little so I could go hard on the way back. When we regrouped at the turnaround, I was saying (in between breaths) "wow, if that's your 'easy' pace...I (gasp) hate (gasp) to see what your (gasp) FAST pace is (gasp)!"

So off we went. I ended up running back by myself since all the other rabbits in the group were tearing it up. I made a slight wrong turn which added a tiny bit of distance but since I still made it back in less time than on the way out, I was satisfied that I'd gone back faster. After Tuesday's track workout which nearly killed me, my legs were SCREAMING.

I thought of Devon and all her miles she runs and her fantastic marathon race report from last week. I thought of JP and Beth in their marathon training. I thought of JT and his ultra training and the peace he finds in his runs. I wondered how these people lay down such fast times and never seem to complain the way I do.

And I thought about how inspiring ALL of you runner people are. And as I did that...the pain began to dull. I dug a little deeper. I went a little harder.

It wasn't so bad. My heartrate was skyrocketing. I only had like 5 minutes to go. I found two guys on the trail up ahead to catch and pass. I passed them and thought they were long gone, then I could hear a set of footsteps getting louder. I looked only to the side to gaze out at Lake Ralphine to my right, the red sky above it, illuminating the calm and glassy water through the trees, and I was able to see that one of the guys was trying to catch me.

Oh, NO you don't!

I picked it up. It HURT. I didn't care, this was about finishing strong, nevermind the pain.

I pushed a little harder and before I knew it, I hit the main path and was seconds from the parking lot. There was the group, waiting, a few people gave me some "well done!" encouragement. And I beat that guy. :)

I went home, showered and rode my bike over to the club meeting (felt good to spin out my legs a bit) and got there just in time to order some pizza and beer.

It was a nice evening!