Cinderella Classic 100K

Yesterday, I rode the Cinderella Classic 100K bike ride. This is the second year I've participated in this all women's ride put on by Valley Spokesmen Bicycle Club. This ride is very organized with 3 fully stocked rest stops and an incredible amount of volunteers. The ride goes through the towns of Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville and maybe others. We get to ride through beautiful country roads, nice neighborhoods and the parts through town had big bike lanes :)

Last year, we were a little warm by the end of the ride. This year, not so much. The forecast was for heavy rains and gusty winds. I kept checking the hour by hour forecast leading up to Saturday and there was a 90% chance of rain from start time. Saturday morning it changed to 30% until 11:00 and then 90% so I figured we'd at least get most of the ride in before getting soaked. Wrong! I went to this ride with 2 of my friends and as soon as we got out of the truck the winds were gusty and cold. We checked in and got ready to head out. There was talk of quite a few riders deciding not to ride at all due to the weather. 

About 45 min. into the ride, the rain started and the wind picked up. It was a downpour! We got to the first stop and we were already wet and cold. I had invested in a bike rain jacket and it was earning its keep. My upper body stayed dry. I had wrapped my helmet in a shower cap so my head retained heat and stayed dry too. The lower half of my body was soaked. Between the first and second stop, the rain and wind did not stop. There were parts of the ride that really were pretty dangerous and I was surprised I didn't see any wrecks. I'm usually a conservative downhill rider but it was hard to slow down on some of the downhills that had water streaming across the roads. I would just try to keep breathing and would say a prayer!

At the second stop, about 30 miles in, my friends decided to put their names on the list to be SAG'ed (driven) back to the start line. They both were shaking and freezing cold and they didn't feel like they could safely continue. The list was long and I knew it would take a while to get to their names so I decided I could ride the additional 35 miles and get back without having them wait too long for me. There were a lot less riders on the course by that time. I hear they SAG'ed over 300 riders back to the start line. Kudos to all the volunteers. They were amazing! As I was riding I decided to keep a rider in sight so I wouldn't have to think about the route too much. About 20 miles in I caught up to a group that knew exactly where they were going and led through all the turns to the end. 

Overall it was a huge challenge for me to ride in that weather. I don't think I would plan a training ride like that! Now I know if a race comes up and this kind of weather is predicted, I can do it. 

It was one of those weeks!

Since my duathlon was a sprint, it was nice that recovery time was minimal. Monday morning it was back to training. Then the rain started. We had predictions of a huge storm front coming through the bay area and it turned out to be a 'hit and miss' type of front. Some areas were blasted with rain and some areas just had drizzle. Around my house, it was mostly drizzle which was enough to close the parks to horses so they had a little vacation time.

I made a list of rainy day projects I had been saving for our long awaited winter and worked on checking them off. I painted some plant sticks for my new herb garden. The garden is growing great. Now I just have to remember to use the herbs!

I made a little flower arrangement just for fun. The flowers look exactly the same a week later.

The week was spent on projects during the day and my normally quiet evenings were spent going to meetings or appointments every night!

Then Saturday, Dave and I went on a training ride with my niece Molly, her husband Jeff and my nephew, Robert. It was pretty cold and there was a 30% chance of rain but the weather forecasters had been off all week so we felt pretty safe going out. About 20 minutes into the ride, I flatted so we told the others to go ahead since I had Dave with me. I think I fixed my tire in record time so it was nice to start getting the hang of it.

Off we went and about 10 minutes later, the rain started. Then the wind picked up. Then the rain started getting heavier. About an hour into the ride, we decided this wasn't fun anymore and we turned around. By the time we got home, we were soaking wet and freezing. I think it took us both a couple of hours to thaw out. I'm not sure why we were wearing glasses, we couldn't see out of them!

We spent a quiet Saturday evening at home and then we got a call from my Mom that my brother in law was headed to the hospital with chest pains. Off to the hospital we went and hung out there for a while until he was settled for the night. Monday morning he was transferred to another hospital for an angiogram and he had to have a stent put in. Overall a really good outcome and he'll make a full recovery. 

Sunday night was our church's, St Timothy's, 50th anniversary dinner. It was a great evening and fun to learn more about the church's history.

Tuesday, I finally was able to go out for a horse ride. My friend Pat was celebrating her birthday and we had a round of root beer floats, her favorite.

We enjoyed a beautiful ride with sunny skies. I took my old man, Rio out and he had liked the new scenery. The ride was pretty flat and he was able to make ugly faces to the younger horses so his day was complete.

My friend Erin took this picture and made it artsy. iPhone apps are fun :)

This week it's back to a normal schedule. Good work outs lined up and my routine is back to the way it should be. That might all change. I have a job interview and if I get the job it's going to be a shock to my system! I don't know if I'll be happy or be wearing my cranky pants. We'll see.

South Bay Sprint Duathlon Race Report

When Dave and I signed up for this race, I looked at it as a fun, short, local race we could do so I could work on some specific things. With my first Ironman at the end of the year, I feel like this is the time to really get serious about this race business. Ok, not really totally serious because I'm all about having fun :) I guess for me I feel it's more time to work on some of the things that always nag at me after a race.

I made 3 goals for myself:

1) I'm a very conservative racer. I always want to make sure I have enough in reserve to finish a race so I feel like I hold back. Then the race is over and I'm a little disappointed in myself for feeling so good.
Goal-I want to feel trashed!

2) I had aero bars put on my bike last Fall and I love them but I haven't had many chances to use them in a race.
Goal- Stay in aero as much as possible.

3) My run pace is not always consistent in a race. I like to take walk breaks when I really don't need to and I like to talk myself into slowing down when I really don't need to.
Goal-maintain race pace.

This Du was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. The run course was flat and the bike course was 2 loops, relatively flat and had one short but decent hill.

1st Run-started out at my pace and just paid attention to ME. I was able to stay consistent and it paid off because I passed people that had gone out too fast and were slowing down. I felt great going into T-1. Time-19:57. A 9:17 min/mile average.

Bike-I stayed in aero most of the time. I just came up for some of the turns but I felt really comfortable. My speed was ok, faster than normal and I think I could of pushed just a little more but overall I was happy. Time-37:39. A 15.8 mph average.

2nd Run-I made sure I didn't go out too fast with my warmed up legs and then settled into a good pace. I knew I was going faster than the first run and I felt like I could maintain it. I actually was passing people which is not normal for me :) I have to say, it felt pretty good. Time:19:07. A 8:51 min/mile average for this leg. Negative split! This was the first time I've ever been in the 8's for a race. Actually, it might of been the first time I've been in the 9's too!

I finished in 1:19:32, 7/14 in my AG. MOP is wonderful since I'm usually more of a BOP racer. No walking, consistent pace, stayed in aero and felt fairly trashed at the finish. Overall, one of my best races for settings goals and meeting them. So fun!

The best part was racing with family and friends. I can't figure out why more people don't do this stuff, it's so much fun!

Cindy (racing her first Du!), Mike (AG winner!), Dave and me.

Molly (AG winner!), Mary and me.

Now it's back to training and taking one day at a time.

Have a great week!

Johanne

Scenes from a mild Nor Cal winter.

I'm trying to hurry up and get this post out before our mild Nor Cal winter is over for a few days. We are expecting some decent rain tomorrow and then I would have to change all my pictures!

This had been the mildest winter we've had in many years and I've been taking full advantage of it. 

One of my favorite trail runs in Quicksilver Park.

I was out for my long bike ride and I huffed and puffed to the top of a hill climb to find a couple of deer munching away.

Along my bike route I get so see some beautiful green fields.

Sadly, our lack of water makes Uvas Reservoir look low and really nasty. They are going to have to fill it again for some upcoming races.

Happy red cow along my bike route with a little black baby.

More happy California cows :)

We had one ominous morning when I was on my way to the barn but then the sun warmed us up later.

The mustard is growing just fine. I love how bright yellow it gets.

The best scenery-Dave!

My Wednesday ride girls. Great workout partners.

Of course, with all this dry weather, there have been quite a few horse rides.

Another day, another ride.

Far off to the left, we were able to see San Francisco. It was a beautiful clear day.

Buddy doesn't miss an opportunity to catch some rays.

The temps have dropped and some much needed rain is coming tomorrow. I might have to plan some alternatives for my bike workouts this week!

Ten weeks to lift off!

This is week one of my last ten weeks before official Ironman training begins. With my marathon behind me, it gives me a chance to regroup and kind of plan what I want to do for a while. I thought a lot about what I wanted to accomplish during this 'break' from structured training. By structured, I mean following a particular plan. This has given me the opportunity to structure my own ten week plan with what I want/feel like doing.

So here is what I came up with:

1. I'm going to plan a 4 week training cycle with the 5th week as a rest week and then repeat. Voila! Ten weeks down!
2. Swim-each week I'm going to go to masters 3 times and take a lesson with Tim in addition to those pool times.
3. Bike-each week I'm going to do one trainer ride using some Spinnerval DVD's, I'll do one ride with my Wednesday Women group and I'll do one long ride with Dave on the weekend.
4. Run-each week I'm going to do a speed workout, a hill run, an easy run and a long run.
5. Strength-each week I'm going to do 3 sessions of strength work using my TRX and various other toys I have here at home. 

I'm going to bump up each week a bit to get some build and bump it down for my rest week. Since this is still basically my base building time, I'm not going to worry too much if I miss a workout. I'll just be careful of which one I chose to skip.

So far week one is going great!

Last year I set a time goal for my 5K. I'm not the fastest runner on the block but I'm getting better. This week I was able to meet that time goal twice, yes twice. I was pretty happy about that.

Wednesday, my girls riding group rode from Los Gatos to Los Altos Hills and (it seemed like) everywhere in between. Now, if you had a mansion with your own private lake and boat dock, would you want a chain link fence around it? I know you want your privacy but this look just didn't do it for me.

I went for a trail run today in Quicksilver County Park. It was just gorgeous and reminded me how lucky I am to live with this in my backyard.

My house is just on the other side of the green hill in the middle of the picture.

....and really? It's February! Sorry rest of the country. It was a tank top day!

A serious rest week.

Coming off the marathon, I had planned for a well deserved rest week. I was serious. Really serious. I didn't do a single workout for 5 days!

Monday

I went to a job fair for a local coffee shop. I'd like to get a part time job and I thought this would be a fun place to work. It was.....interesting. There was quite the variety of people and I'm not sure what they are looking for. So far I haven't heard back so I think I'll have to keep looking!

Tuesday

I've had a scratchy little cough for the last couple of months. Yes, months! I've been trying to ignore it as I usually do with this annoying stuff. Tuesday, BAM, no ignoring it now. A cold hit me like a brick and I just hung out for the day.

Wednesday

Last year I turned 50 and that means it's time for a colonoscopy. Here is your public service announcement for the day. Don't put it off. It's really not a big deal. Today was prep day. The worst part was that after breakfast I had to fast until after the procedure Thursday. I didn't have to drink the prep solution until 6:00pm so Buddy and I went to the barn to kill some time and mostly to get away from the kitchen because I was starving! He had some playtime with his boxer friends, Brodie and Poppy.

Thursday

My procedure was in the morning so I didn't have to think about my empty, starving stomach for long. For future reference, you can get light sedation or not so light sedation for a colonoscopy. I chose not so light because really, who wants to be aware of what's going on? As it turns out, it really was a simple procedure. I got a clean bill of health and probably won't have to have another one for 10 years. The worst part was the massive headache that hit me when I got home which was probably due to my not drinking my big mug of coffee that morning. No caffiene = a crankypants headache. The best part was my pulse was 40. The nurse asked me if I was an active person. All that cardio is paying off!

Friday

My last day of rest included eating to recoup for what I missed by not eating for 30 hours and a ride on my horse M with a couple of friends.

Saturday

First workout of the week was a 5K around the neighborhood. I wanted to see how my legs would feel after the marathon. They felt good! I wanted to negative split the miles (did it) and finished in less then 30 min. Yea me! Later Dave and I went to see a movie on our quest to see all of this years Oscar nominated movies. We saw Extremely Loud and Incredible Close. Great movie! Then a nice dinner out and the day was done.

Sunday

Dave and I went on a 40 mile bike ride. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny! It felt good to get a good ride in and fun to ride with Dave. 

After lunch Dave, Kathleen and I went to Savannah Chanelle Winery to pick up our wine shipment and stayed for some wine tasting! Good way to end the weekend.

I had a good 5 day rest with a fun weekend of workouts. In 10 weeks I'll start my official Ironman training. Between now and then, I have a plan. More about that later :)

Surf City Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Surf City Marathon. This was my second marathon and my main goal was just to have another marathon experience in preparation for IMAZ. 

Dave and I flew down to the Orange County Airport Saturday morning. The peninsula sticking out on the coast is Palos Verdes where Dave grew up and his parents still live.

 We landed, got our rental car and headed to Huntington Beach to pick up our race packets. It was a beautiful sunny day and about 70!

Surf City puts on a great race. All of the check in areas and the expo venders were under a huge tent and   there was a lot of room in the aisles to be able to check everything out without getting cramped like some races.

They gave us a reusable grocery store type bag and a cool long sleeve shirt. The bag gave us lots of room to pick up samples from all the venders :)

You can't beat this view for a run!

After the expo we headed up to Dave's parents for a visit. It was nice to see them and their dog Charlie. Then we met our friends Flo and Carl for dinner. Flo and I went to high school and college together and were roommates all through college. We don't get to see each other very often so it was really nice to get together.

We made it an early night and were in bed by 9:00 since we had a 4:30 alarm set. Sunday morning we had our usual pre-race breakfast, an english muffin, peanut butter and a cup of coffee then headed out to the start at 5:15. The race organizers encouraged car pooling and they knew what they were talking about. Traffic was backed up quite a bit but Dave got us into the 'short' lines pretty easily while I had my eyes closed. 

We had a pretty long walk to the start line but it helped warm us up. Dave was running the 1/2 marathon so his start time was 8:00 and mine was 6:30. 

I was feeling good about this race. I felt like I trained better and had less overuse type soreness then when I ran my first marathon. My plan was to go out at about 10:30min/mile pace at the beginning and run a 9 min run/1 min walk until I felt like I needed a longer walk break. I wasn't sure how long I could maintain the 10:30 pace but I was hoping I could stick to my plan for the first 12 miles and then see what I needed to do. 

I was close. I ran the first 3 miles with a 10:37 pace, at 6 miles I had a 10:36 pace and at 12.2 miles I had a 11:11 pace. I had to make one porta potty stop at about 12 miles and that slowed me down. After that I just slowed down overall. My legs were feeling ok but my ankles were getting really sore. I had some soreness during training but I'm not sure what that's all about. At mile 20.9 I had a 12:23 pace and I finished the race with a 12:34 pace in 5:29:15. I had about a 13 min PR! My super secret goal was to break 5 hours but I think I'm the type of person who takes a long time to build up strength, especially in the second half of a race. I'm happy with my time. For me, the marathon is just an incredibly hard race and I probably need years to master it!

Dave ran the 1/2 in a great time. He hasn't been able to train as much as he wanted due to work, etc. and he was happy with his race

My favorite time, when it's over!

After the race we 'raced' back to the hotel to shower before our late check out time was over. We got there 5 min after the check out time but a maid let us in and we bolted ourselves in so we could clean up :) Southwest had texted us that our flight home was 2 hours delayed so we headed back to the airport for lunch and to relax since we had plenty of time.

Post race recovery drink with some Super Bowl watching.

Lots of this post race too.

The sun was setting as we flew home and another fun race weekend was over.

This is the cool medal we got.

As of right now, this is the last stand alone marathon I'm going to race. Marathons take so much time to train for and focusing on running is hard on my body. I say as of right now because I already have some races on my list for future events. 

It's an addiction, don't judge.