Thursday, March 31

T-31.5hrs and counting

the minutes are passing and the butterflies getting more restless in my tummy. i think it's the threat of bad weather and racing in new territory that has me nervous. sure, it's my longest race to date, but only 10 hrs longer than the NGAR back in january. 10 measely hours. that should be fine, right??

patrick harper from team montrail spoke at rei last night. very cool to meet him and get some tips. he's racing SMAR this weekend, with local studs james & lisa. (check out the cool poster we did for his talk.

ok, over and out. full report once i can move again following my return!

Monday, March 28

the secret of Pam

tonight we got our team in training wetsuits at swim practice. i held it up wondering how the heck i could pour myself into this tiny thing. enter the bottle of Pam. (or generic Kroger Spray Canola Oil in my case. at least it was plain, as opposed to the garlic or lemon others had!). our coaches instructed us to spray it over the parts of your body that are larger than others... calfs, thighs, butts, etc. we all slathered our bodies in the stuff, held our breath, sucked it in, and
stepped in. there's nothing better than this neoprene body glove to make you instantly commit to a diet. wow. pulling on that thing royally sucked. i'll just leave it at that. on the other hand, it was very cool to jump in the water and feel so buoyant. you also seemed to glide through the water a bit more easily. once these darn allergies leave me, it will be very cool to actually breathe normally while swimming too!

final SMAR prep

well not exactly a prep, but a wind down and mental prep. saturday was another gorgeous day to be outside (luckily the rain held off till sunday). after tnt training in the morning (2 speedy 5-mile loops on the bike with running inbetween - to practice transitioning), i hung out at chicopee with my mtn biking friends. had a few nice loops with lisa, josh, & ape, and waved at clifford a few times. i took it easy, not wanting to push it too hard the week before a race and because i nearly passed out during the morning run - allergies still affecting me, causing my asthma to act up a bit. i think i got in about 15miles and definitely felt better than the last time i rode here (in the late fall??).

oh, i did have 1 nice crash on the final loop. i think my rear tire spun out on root and i went down somehow, knocking my left patella on a rock (ouch!) and simultaneously getting a cramp in my right calf (double ouch!) maybe though this is an omen: i crashed the week before NGAR and finished it... so maybe this will bring me luck for SMAR!

Monday, March 21

Spring has arrived...

and what a beautiful weekend for training! Saturday I went up to Dahlonega with a group (Josh, Mike, Bill, Liz, Ron, Linda & Al) for a 50ish mile tour of the forest service roads. (Also ran into Jon & Paul near the fish hatchery). We had a great 6 hour workout with what I'd guess to be at least 10k ft of elevation change. I felt pretty good, although still hate the long downhills. (I must be the only person in the world like that!) Kudos to the random german shepherd & beagle dogs that ran along side for a good 10+ miles. Sure hope they find their way home!

Sunday Josh and I tested our legs at Blankets Creek. We ran into some of the BOD girls (Jackie & Mindy) and joined them for the ride. (Also saw Dennis & Melissa back at the parking lot). Although I was sore from Saturday's workout, we did 2 dwelling loops and 1 south loop. My final lap (on dwelling) was by far the best somehow. Maybe I just relaxed and trusted the bike finally. Not sure.... my mental games with technical stuff continue...

Unfortunately, with all my outdoor time this weekend and spring's impending bloom, something in the air triggered my allergies and I am suffering today.

Monday, March 14

yard sale race (GAP #1)

This weekend was the first race in the GAP series: the Yard Sale race at Heritage Park near Athens, GA. I had planned on racing this, but tried to do the responsible thing since my cash flow is low and sat this one out, instead cheering on my friends out there and hopefully taking some good pics with the old 35mm camera (fingers crossed!) In general the day was great with gorgeous blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Josh had a great ride to start off the season, except for getting a flat on the second lap. He ended up finishing 11th out of 19 in his sport group, 7 minutes behind the leader. Lots of folks from my BOD group came out too. Tracey won her first race in the sport division (yeah!!) and her soon-to-be-hubby Brandon got 5th in his.

The day ended on a down note though. My AR friend Belinda ("Kiwi") came out to race with me in the beginner women division (oops, sorry!). She went ahead and rode because she rocks. Well, early on in the second lap she took a spill (I still don't know the details) and limped out a good bit later with her arm bandaged in a bloody bandana. (thanks to Zach ?! for showing great sportsmanship, dropping out of the race to help her!). Turns out when falling, Kiwi impaled her arm on a rather large stick.... all the way to the bone. After a trip to the hospital, 8 staples, 4 stitches, and lots of pain meds later, she seems to be doing well enough considering. Thankfully there were no broken bones. If she wasn't wearing a helmet, the paramedics said it would not have been good.

Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute.

Monday, March 7

learning the hard way, times 2.

after several years of running, i should definitely know that shoes need to be retired after x# of miles (300-500). knowing my favorite trail shoes (montrail hardrocks!) were nearing the end, i bought another pair last fall, using the old ones as a back up pair. well, this pair made it into my suitcase for my orlando trip this past weekend, as the main ones were still muddy from my last race. friday i woke up to a fabulous cool spring morning, the kind where you can easily get warmed up to run in just a singlet & shorts and not overheat. i felt surprisingly good, not having run on road for any extended time since the half marathon in thanksgiving day. 8 miles flew by, my legs not even near tired yet.

all is good.... right? wrong. that night i started to get the familiar shooting pain around my right ankle, one that dr. julien described as my peroneal tendon being pushed over my ankle bone and getting pinched... due most likely to improper shoe fit... like, from shoes that should be retired. (my previous bout with this was when i had 2 different pairs of trail shoes that i alternated between, with one providing much less support & stability than my gait required.)

i left these shoes down in florida and will be washing the mud from the newer pair this week.

PS. another lesson learned this weekend: the florida sun is killer and will bake your body quicker than you think. even after i applied sunscreen (albeit a bit late), i came back with an unnatural pink glow.