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| Look! I'm beating all those people behind me. I wonder what their excuse is? |
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| Fun, fun, fun! I love trail running! |
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| I'm flying...and about to heel strike. Maybe I should work on my form?! |
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Foxy Trails Half-Marathon
It was fun, I was tired from the hardest bike ride of my life the day before, I finished, it was slow, I want to do more. That's about it. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to move Sunday morning after the Saturday ride from hell, but I made it. Good time for mantras: Toughen up, cream puff! Suck it up, Buttercup!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The hardest bike ride of my life
So, this post is about a week late. Last weekend I hosted a bachelorette party for my best friend from high school, but you'll have to wait until next time for those details.
Just over a week ago I did the hardest and most hellacious bike ride of my life. Now, I've done a ton of 100+ mile bike rides and this one was only 85 miles but it was wicked! I met up with Team Badass people Lauren, Missi, Ian and Aren to attempt the Champagne-Lilac ride. We have been wanting to do this ride forever, mostly because of the name. I grew up in Spokane, which is the lilac city, so I thought it would be fun. Only supposed to be about 5000 feet of climbing. Not bad! We thought there were 2 major climbs and a bunch of rollers. No problem!
We started in Solana Beach and began the climb up the Del Dios Highway. I used to think this was hard, now it's cake. Lauren had a mechanical issue and had to be rescued by another Team Badasser, Tammy, who was not riding with us that day because she was volunteering at Ragnar SoCal.
Side note: Ragnar is pretty special to Team Badass. Ragnar Vegas is how I made all of my Team You Got Chicked friends, Missi and Ian met at Ragnar Napa (and are now getting married!) and was the foundation of Team Badass.
We continued up the Highway and out to the East. It was getting hotter and hotter as the day progressed. We rode out toward the casinos and hit our first climb just over 20 miles in on Lake Wohlford Road. This climb reminded me of the purple monster. Long and kinda steep but not too bad. At this point, we though we were 1/2 way done with the climbing. It was getting really hot. At mile 37 we turned down a road between orchards and saw the behemoth bitch before us. Cole Grade. We knew it was 3 miles long and steep and evil. We underestimated the bitch. Almost immediately, the climb became really steep. There was no shade and I was sweating so much that I could barely hold onto the handlebars. Thought about passing out, thought about dying, thought about barfing, held it together and made it to the top. It was terrible, but we thought we were done with climbing.
We were wrong. That Champagne road we were so excited about? Long, boring climb with no scenery and really tired legs. Why is it so hot?! Then one more climb out of San Marcos. Very steep. Thought about crying. Nobody was having fun by this point. It became a death ride. Finally we hit the coast and it was freezing cold. We were drenching with rapidly freezing sweat. But, we made it! Turns out it was nearly 7000 feet of climbing with multiple huge climbs.
It was so hot that we kept running out of water. I drank around 200 ounces of fluid that day. Happy to have survived. I managed to add to my bike shorts tan lines, which are pretty awesome. They were a big hit at the bachelorette party.
The next day, I ran my first trail half-marathon. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. It hurt. I'm also badass.
Just over a week ago I did the hardest and most hellacious bike ride of my life. Now, I've done a ton of 100+ mile bike rides and this one was only 85 miles but it was wicked! I met up with Team Badass people Lauren, Missi, Ian and Aren to attempt the Champagne-Lilac ride. We have been wanting to do this ride forever, mostly because of the name. I grew up in Spokane, which is the lilac city, so I thought it would be fun. Only supposed to be about 5000 feet of climbing. Not bad! We thought there were 2 major climbs and a bunch of rollers. No problem!
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| This is what champagne means to me! (Bach party preview) |
We started in Solana Beach and began the climb up the Del Dios Highway. I used to think this was hard, now it's cake. Lauren had a mechanical issue and had to be rescued by another Team Badasser, Tammy, who was not riding with us that day because she was volunteering at Ragnar SoCal.
Side note: Ragnar is pretty special to Team Badass. Ragnar Vegas is how I made all of my Team You Got Chicked friends, Missi and Ian met at Ragnar Napa (and are now getting married!) and was the foundation of Team Badass.
We continued up the Highway and out to the East. It was getting hotter and hotter as the day progressed. We rode out toward the casinos and hit our first climb just over 20 miles in on Lake Wohlford Road. This climb reminded me of the purple monster. Long and kinda steep but not too bad. At this point, we though we were 1/2 way done with the climbing. It was getting really hot. At mile 37 we turned down a road between orchards and saw the behemoth bitch before us. Cole Grade. We knew it was 3 miles long and steep and evil. We underestimated the bitch. Almost immediately, the climb became really steep. There was no shade and I was sweating so much that I could barely hold onto the handlebars. Thought about passing out, thought about dying, thought about barfing, held it together and made it to the top. It was terrible, but we thought we were done with climbing.
We were wrong. That Champagne road we were so excited about? Long, boring climb with no scenery and really tired legs. Why is it so hot?! Then one more climb out of San Marcos. Very steep. Thought about crying. Nobody was having fun by this point. It became a death ride. Finally we hit the coast and it was freezing cold. We were drenching with rapidly freezing sweat. But, we made it! Turns out it was nearly 7000 feet of climbing with multiple huge climbs.
It was so hot that we kept running out of water. I drank around 200 ounces of fluid that day. Happy to have survived. I managed to add to my bike shorts tan lines, which are pretty awesome. They were a big hit at the bachelorette party.
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| This pic just doesn't do them justice |
The next day, I ran my first trail half-marathon. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. It hurt. I'm also badass.
Monday, April 16, 2012
120 mile weekend
Last week was kind of crappy, with lots of rain. Here are the highlights:
Saturday: I decided some time ago to ride from San Diego to Huntington Beach (80 miles) to visit friends, stay the night and then ride back. Unfortunately, we had a giant storm Friday night and the wind was still howling Saturday morning. 20-30 mph winds with gusts over 45 mph. The tri club cancelled the bike and swim portions of the tri and there were wind warnings on the news. Well, I decided to go for it anyway. Yup, crazy! It was bad. About 2 miles from my house, I was descending down a steep hill and a cross wind caught me and blew all over the road. Not fun. At that point, I decided to get to Solana Beach and then I could take the train part of the way. Only 12 miles away. Terrifying. I was going 9 mph on the flats into the head wind and it was not fun at all. Made it to Solana Beach, where it rained on me. :( Rode the train to San Juan Capistrano and then rode from there to Huntington Beach. Lots and lots of hills. The scenery was great, but it was still crazy windy and I had to white knuckle it up the coast. Finally made it. Forty miles took me 3:13 and felt like 140. Recovered with margaritas, tacos and gelato.
Sunday: Time to ride back home. Much nicer day. Beautiful, not too windy, sunny. I rode from HB to San Juan Capistrano solo. Luke rode the train to SJC and I met him there so we could ride back home together. Unfortunately, Luke missed the train he was supposed to take so we had to wait 1.5 hours til the next one. I spent the wait here:
Finally he showed up and we started on our journey. By the time we hit Oceanside I was hungry in a pretty serious way. We stopped and I ate a twix, hot dog, french fries, bites of Luke's fried fish, a Starbucks large coffee drink, and a scoop of rocky road in a waffle cone in rapid succession. Bad idea! I thought I was going to barf for the rest of the ride, which was thankfully short. In Carlsbad, we ran into Tammy, Todd and Don (Team Badass people), who were also out riding. Fun little surprise. Finally we made it home and collapsed on the couch. 120 miles in 2 days and I was beat!
Still feeling pretty fatigued today but trying to rehydrate for my swim tonight.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
My big birthday boy
When I decided to give Rudy a brother, I decided to get a puppy. From now on, I'll do rescue exclusively, but RuDog had some issues that weren't immediately apparent and I was worried about adding a dog with an unknown background to the mix. Anyway, I went to look at a female JRT puppy. When the pups were released, Hank ran over to me right away and sat down in my lap. It was love at first sight, for both of us.
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| Such a cute little guy! |
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| Tiny baby Hank on his first night at home |
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| Look at that naughty little boy |
Hank's puppy years were filled with fun and destruction (good bye couch, chairs, pillows, books, remotes, a huge jug of olive oil), a heroin OD (not my fault. Stupid druggies throwing their drugs on the streets in SF!), a broken leg and lots of adventures.
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| Little Man loves his ice cream |
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| I know there's a snack in here somewhere! |
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| Sitting in his toy box |
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| Elvis. I make him wear this every Halloween. |
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| Naps with Mom |
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| Snuggling in his towel after a bath |
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| Dog Beach, Coronado |
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| Lake Berryessa |
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| Auburn |
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| Mission Trails |
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| Every time I get on the trainer, he tries to ride on my lap |
I'm totally a crazy dog person, and I'm completely okay with that! Best training partner in the world. He's always excited to run, doesn't care about the weather or waking up early or where we go. He just wants to run. We could all learn something from the joie de vivre!
Look out for Rudy's special post this October when he turns 8!
Pig ninja power!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
More summer time
Okay, here are some more highlights:
Black Mountain more than 15K:
Remember that super crazy hard almost 10 mile run I did about a month ago with Ian from Team Badass and thereisnotri.org? Well, Team Badass has decided to make that a weekly event. Hanky Panky and I met up with several of the speedsters and set out on the awesome/horrible/hard/fun run last Friday morning. Everyone was way faster than me so I was hoofing it just to keep them within sight. I definitely pushed myself and finished quite a bit faster than last time. And, I wasn't too sore afterward, unlike last time. Just some tired quads. Just a few more days until this week's Black Mountain fun time.
Remember that super crazy hard almost 10 mile run I did about a month ago with Ian from Team Badass and thereisnotri.org? Well, Team Badass has decided to make that a weekly event. Hanky Panky and I met up with several of the speedsters and set out on the awesome/horrible/hard/fun run last Friday morning. Everyone was way faster than me so I was hoofing it just to keep them within sight. I definitely pushed myself and finished quite a bit faster than last time. And, I wasn't too sore afterward, unlike last time. Just some tired quads. Just a few more days until this week's Black Mountain fun time.
April 7 long ride and Team Badass BBQ:
Last weekend we hosted a Bike and BBQ for some friends. Everyone met at the Pig Ninja house and we rode up the coast. Everyone rode between 50 and 70 miles. I only rode 50 so I could get home and help Luke set up for the BBQ. Fortunately, I had already prepped a ton of burgers and I made what may be some of the cutest cupcakes of all time. Did you already know that I'm a total domestic goddess?!
Last weekend we hosted a Bike and BBQ for some friends. Everyone met at the Pig Ninja house and we rode up the coast. Everyone rode between 50 and 70 miles. I only rode 50 so I could get home and help Luke set up for the BBQ. Fortunately, I had already prepped a ton of burgers and I made what may be some of the cutest cupcakes of all time. Did you already know that I'm a total domestic goddess?!
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| Chick cupcakes |
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| A special chick with bling cupcake I made for my friends Missi and Ian to celebrate their engagement |
We ate, drank, engaged in conversations about "chicken bombs" and maggots, watched some rather inappropriate videos once the kids left and had a blast. In fact, we had so much fun that we made karaoke plans for that evening. However, about 5 minutes after making the plans and the last guests left, we realized that we were too zombie like to go out and cancelled. Everyone was relieved :)
Easter Beach Time:
Yay Easter! We're not religious, so we spent the day at the beach. We rode cruisers all around Oceanside, ate yummy food and played a ton of frisbee. Who knew frisbee was so much fun?! I can't wait to play more! Sunday was one of those days, and I've been having them frequently, where I'm so excited that I live in San Diego and can't believe (in a good way) that it's my home. I can run by the ocean, bike by the ocean, swim in the ocean, play frisbee in the sand at the ocean and it's all within a few (okay, 6) miles of my house. LOVE IT! Never going to leave.
La Jolla Shores Evening Swim
Last night was my Tri Club's La Jolla Shores Evening swim season opener. As we all know, I need more swim practice, especially open water! I met up with the love birds Missi and Ian after work to join the tri club for the swim. The group split into 2 groups: a beginner group that would parallel the beach and swim not so far and an advanced group that would cover a lot more distance. Since I haven't been OWS since possibly CdA, I decided to join the beginners' group. Thank goodness! It was cold (but not THAT bad) and choppy (to me) and ugh, it was not so easy. My swimming sucked. I kept swimming and swimming and it seemed like I wasn't going anywhere. Of course, the fact that I stopped every 3 strokes or so to doggie paddle and look around probably didn't help. Hahaha. Looks like I need to go every week! I know it will get easier and if I master ocean swimming, fresh water will be that much easier.
The only thing that got me through this was knowing that I got Ethiopian food afterward. Soooo good. Fun dinner with Team Badass friends. Of course, the dinner conversation was not for polite society. I learned things I'd never known before (and maybe wish I still didn't know).
On tap for this week:
running, biking, swimming :)
Easter Beach Time:
Yay Easter! We're not religious, so we spent the day at the beach. We rode cruisers all around Oceanside, ate yummy food and played a ton of frisbee. Who knew frisbee was so much fun?! I can't wait to play more! Sunday was one of those days, and I've been having them frequently, where I'm so excited that I live in San Diego and can't believe (in a good way) that it's my home. I can run by the ocean, bike by the ocean, swim in the ocean, play frisbee in the sand at the ocean and it's all within a few (okay, 6) miles of my house. LOVE IT! Never going to leave.
Last night was my Tri Club's La Jolla Shores Evening swim season opener. As we all know, I need more swim practice, especially open water! I met up with the love birds Missi and Ian after work to join the tri club for the swim. The group split into 2 groups: a beginner group that would parallel the beach and swim not so far and an advanced group that would cover a lot more distance. Since I haven't been OWS since possibly CdA, I decided to join the beginners' group. Thank goodness! It was cold (but not THAT bad) and choppy (to me) and ugh, it was not so easy. My swimming sucked. I kept swimming and swimming and it seemed like I wasn't going anywhere. Of course, the fact that I stopped every 3 strokes or so to doggie paddle and look around probably didn't help. Hahaha. Looks like I need to go every week! I know it will get easier and if I master ocean swimming, fresh water will be that much easier.
The only thing that got me through this was knowing that I got Ethiopian food afterward. Soooo good. Fun dinner with Team Badass friends. Of course, the dinner conversation was not for polite society. I learned things I'd never known before (and maybe wish I still didn't know).
On tap for this week:
running, biking, swimming :)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Summer time in San Diego
We have been having the most amazing, sunny, gorgeous weather recently! Sure, we had some rain a few weeks ago, but other than that, it has been absolutely wonderful...so I've been taking full advantage! I'll just give you the highlights, divided into 2 posts to make it easier for your ADD problem (Okay, to make it easier for my ADHD to process):
Oceanside 70.3 spectating:
March 31 was the Oceanside 70.3 just north of San Diego. I wasn't racing, but my friends and teammates Lauren, Ian and Matt were. Tammy, Patrick, Aren, Hanky Panky and I rode up to Oceanside pretty early Saturday morning. Actually, we all slept in until after 6, so it was pretty late for a Saturday! Ironman training makes you crazy! We parked and then all went running while the athletes were biking. Tammy, Patrick and I ran just over 8 miles and Aren did something crazy, like 15 or 16. As we finished up, the pros were out on their first loop of the run. We walked the rest of the way and cheered. So, so much fun! I "accidentally" said a few creepster things, like "Heather Jackson, I love you! You are my girl crush!" I also told saw this guy whose blog I read, "Hey! I read your blog!" when I ran into him at a coffee stand. It was kind of weird, so I made it worse by saying, "Sorry, that was creepy." Hahahahahaha
Team Badass represented at the race. Ian threw down a 5:06 in his first Half-Iron (and maybe first tri?) even with an impressive, flesh removing crash on the bike. Lauren and Matt were right around 6 hours. My friends are so fast! Really awesome and a very fun day. Hank was really mad until I let picked him up so he could watch the finish shoot. Then he had fun.
Long ride 4/1 (aka the Universe's April Fools joke):
I went out for a long ride with Missi and Inh on April Fools Day. We planned a 60 or so miler (because I insisted I wanted more mileage). It rained pretty hard that night and the road was still wet the next morning. After thinking pretty seriously about staying in bed, I got up and met up with the other two. We started riding and it immediately started raining on us. At first it was pretty light, but then there was some legitimate rain dumpage. I kept thinking about how I could get away with turning around. We had planned a route with a big hill and some massive descents, but bailed on those for safety reasons. That's right! No crazy descending on wet roads!
Finally, the weather started to clear and we were on a neat little path out by Lake Hodges. The road is pretty rough, so I asked my buddy, Inh, if he'd ever had any issues out there. Literally one minute after declaring, "Nah! Never had any flats out here!" Pssssssssssst....his rear tire was flat. Ahahahahahaha! He changed it quickly and then almost immediately flatted again. WTF?
"Did you check the tire?"
"Uh, no. Look! There's a piece of metal in the tire," Inh says and then tries to remove it with his teeth, as in his mouth was on the outside of the tire, as in he was pretty much licking the road surface. "That tastes like shit!" Missi and I were dying of laughter by this point.
Inh changes the tube again. This tube won't hold any air. Turns out to be a defective tube. Totally blown out. By this point, Inh is out of tubes and starts in on mine.
By this point, we're all worrying about running out of CO2, so Inh tries to fill the tube using Missi's hand pump. Of course, we start egging him on and encouraging him to pump faster. He pumped so vigorously that he snapped the stem right off. Goodbye tube #4! We thought this was hilarious! Maybe we were delusional...or we're just evil.
The 5th tube held and we continued on the ride. Decided to cut the day short and not tempt fate any more. Still got almost 40 miles in. Pretty awesome that we consider 40 miles to be an easy preschool ride!
To be continued...
Oceanside 70.3 spectating:
March 31 was the Oceanside 70.3 just north of San Diego. I wasn't racing, but my friends and teammates Lauren, Ian and Matt were. Tammy, Patrick, Aren, Hanky Panky and I rode up to Oceanside pretty early Saturday morning. Actually, we all slept in until after 6, so it was pretty late for a Saturday! Ironman training makes you crazy! We parked and then all went running while the athletes were biking. Tammy, Patrick and I ran just over 8 miles and Aren did something crazy, like 15 or 16. As we finished up, the pros were out on their first loop of the run. We walked the rest of the way and cheered. So, so much fun! I "accidentally" said a few creepster things, like "Heather Jackson, I love you! You are my girl crush!" I also told saw this guy whose blog I read, "Hey! I read your blog!" when I ran into him at a coffee stand. It was kind of weird, so I made it worse by saying, "Sorry, that was creepy." Hahahahahaha
Team Badass represented at the race. Ian threw down a 5:06 in his first Half-Iron (and maybe first tri?) even with an impressive, flesh removing crash on the bike. Lauren and Matt were right around 6 hours. My friends are so fast! Really awesome and a very fun day. Hank was really mad until I let picked him up so he could watch the finish shoot. Then he had fun.
Long ride 4/1 (aka the Universe's April Fools joke):
I went out for a long ride with Missi and Inh on April Fools Day. We planned a 60 or so miler (because I insisted I wanted more mileage). It rained pretty hard that night and the road was still wet the next morning. After thinking pretty seriously about staying in bed, I got up and met up with the other two. We started riding and it immediately started raining on us. At first it was pretty light, but then there was some legitimate rain dumpage. I kept thinking about how I could get away with turning around. We had planned a route with a big hill and some massive descents, but bailed on those for safety reasons. That's right! No crazy descending on wet roads!
Finally, the weather started to clear and we were on a neat little path out by Lake Hodges. The road is pretty rough, so I asked my buddy, Inh, if he'd ever had any issues out there. Literally one minute after declaring, "Nah! Never had any flats out here!" Pssssssssssst....his rear tire was flat. Ahahahahahaha! He changed it quickly and then almost immediately flatted again. WTF?
"Did you check the tire?"
"Uh, no. Look! There's a piece of metal in the tire," Inh says and then tries to remove it with his teeth, as in his mouth was on the outside of the tire, as in he was pretty much licking the road surface. "That tastes like shit!" Missi and I were dying of laughter by this point.
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| Inh with his tube carnage |
The 5th tube held and we continued on the ride. Decided to cut the day short and not tempt fate any more. Still got almost 40 miles in. Pretty awesome that we consider 40 miles to be an easy preschool ride!
To be continued...
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tremendous Triple
Hellllooooo! I've been training and I've been crazy busy (hahaha...I accidentally wrote "busty" and then corrected it. Yes, that also works) so I haven't been blogging. Let's see, I went to Sun Valley for the wedding of my good friend Danielle. This was extra fun because all of the crazy people I went to elementary, middle and high school with were there. We had a super tight class and there are about 10 of us who are still close.
It was a complete blast. The highlights were the wedding (of course), spending time with some of my favorite people, and sitting in an outdoor pool heated to 102 degrees, drinking margaritas, while it snowed on top of us. There was no training that weekend.
Thanks for the awesome genes, Grandma!!!
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| The rehearsal dinner at Whiskey Jacques. Western theme encouraged. |
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| We dressed up pretty for the wedding. |
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| And, some things never change. |
Last weekend, my grandma came to visit. I managed to squeeze in an 8.5 mile run, but was otherwise just content to hang out with her. We spent lots of time sitting on the beach visiting. She is a marvelous woman. 74, but doesn't look a day over 60. In the past couple of years, she's started working out at the gym and watching what she eats and she's lost a minimum of 60 pounds. Take that everyone who says you can't lose weight when you're older! Anyway, she's a very influential person in my life and always has been.
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| with my foxy Grandma at La Jolla Cove |
Yesterday, I had the workout I've been waiting for: a triple. Started with a morning drainer ride (and, yes, I pinterest-ed while I rode), a noon masters' session and then a track workout after work with my friend Li and some tri club people. I think going to the noon swim is going to be key to getting all of my swims in. It's just too much to bike or run and swim and take care of the dogs and eat breakfast and pack my lunch and shower and become presentable all before work. Something usually slips and that something is usually swimming.
The track workout was a real ass kicker. I haven't been on the track since last year. We did lots of sprints; my quads are feeling it today. This is going to be a regular Wednesday thing and I hope I get faster. One bad moment from yesterday: I got out of track practice and went to my car. The f-ing garage was locked up. I couldn't even get to my car. Oh f-bomb! I wandered around the university looking for security. Remember, I don't have my phone, I'm cold and sweaty and it's dark out. Not fun. Finally, a nice kid at a cafeteria let me in and called security. They sent a cop, who was super cool and helped me out. He managed to get me into the garage through the building (which was locked, so I couldn't get in) and then a sensor let my car out. I'll make sure I don't park there again!
Good weekend on tap: Saturday is the Oceanside 70.3, which I will be spectating. Can't wait to cheer on my teammates who are racing. Will also do a 12 mile run with Hanky Panky and hopefully a few others. Sunday: 60 mile bike ride. Nice!
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