Well I'll be....

I just finished my first ride with my new shoes and pedals. I'm in love. Yes again. Did a little practicing in a grassy area (part of me was worried I would fall and break something before the Boulder Boulder Monday!) Did 12 miles real easy and felt wonderful, well except the whoha is just a little sore from Thursdays ride. No falls I consider it a success, not yet second nature but I think it will come!

And I need to give a huge shout out to the people(Julie and Adam) who helped me at the Westminster Bicycle Village yesterday. They were fantastic with this newbie! I was there for about 3 hours and Julie helped me find shoes install everything put me on a trainer for some tips. Adam helped with some install as well as showing a few basics on cleaning my bike and shifting advice. If your in the area and haven't shopped there you should, they were the best!

It makes me happy!

I love riding my bike! It makes me happy. I had a super great ride from my house in Arvada/Westminster area out to Cherry Creek. The trail system in Denver really is quite amazing. Bike trails all the way, a total of 56 miles there and back. My longest ride by a few miles to date. Along the ride there are many things to see. Some good some not so good. Some of the good.

As usual I did not bring enough hydration and food with me. I made it. Stopped at a machine in Cherry Creek for some powerade, but would have liked more. If I had a lock I would have stopped somewhere and gotten something a little more substantial but hate to leave my bike without locking it up. Starbucks at REI would have hit the spot just right. :) Next time I will take more food and use the camelbak. I pretty much just took the whole ride easy and the only hard part was the last 6 miles. My toes/foot got really numb on the bottom of my left foot, painfully so. Luckily that went away pretty quick. I needed more to drink and was rationing it, plus that is part of the not so good scenery. It's just a really icky part of the ride.

Looking forward to the Boulder Boulder on Monday. I won't be breaking any records, but the weather should be beautiful and and a good time should be had!

What a glorious day!

After a week of rain and snow, yes snow in the middle of May today turned out to be a glorious day! Today I did the Community Classic Bike Tour in Loveland, CO. Although it was just over 40 degrees (almost 20 degrees colder then I've ever ridden in) at 7:00 am this morning when we were getting ready to head out the sun was shinning and a great day was shaping up. I was riding with a friend, her husband and her mom. Our riding levels were all a little different, Jen rides but has been really busy and has not ridden much this year, her husband has not ridden much since he was a kid and has a brand new (very nice!) bike that only had about 10 miles on it. An her mom well she was on a hybrid and was out visiting from Nebraska. After we got off the bike path part I went ahead and then waited up at the first aid station

Me waiting (my lord I look ridiculous in a helmet!)

Jen and I

We then headed out towards the break off for the 30 mile, Eric decided to stick to 30 and skip the climb while the girls all headed off on the 37 mile route that included a climb up to the top of the dam. During the ride I spent some time thinking of all those that I knew out running 1/2 marathons today, an can I just say many many congrats to all of you! But for the most part it seems like I'm just in a zone. I don't know what I think about it's just kind of a wonderful relaxing time.

Headed towards the hill.

I must say the climb was a little tough but for the most part I knew that I would make it. I was however in my lowest gear. :) I'm a slow climber I need much practice but I made it. I did stop once, although I'm not sure why, I think I was contemplating removing a layer, but then decided that would be a little difficult since it would require stripping to my sports bra. and then putting my jersey back on. (which actually ended up happening in my car at a stop light on the way home!) The climb was made a little more interesting by the fact that there was also a some kind of bike rally going on we were passed by literally hundreds of very loud Harley's. But better then travel trailers and boats.

Looking at Carter lake once on top of the dam. About mile 20

It's all down hill from here. I had a rather long wait at this aid station which was a little hard when I got back on the bike. By this time we were also at the very back of the pack. The muscles were pretty cold by the time I got back on the bike but as I said at least there was just a small hill before the down hill. The last 17 miles went really fast. I did do a little back track when I just kind of followed the cars and turned but didn't really look at the signs to see if that was what I was suppose to do. But soon ran back into my friends. Before I knew it the ride was over and I was starved! But I wasn't in the mood for the pancakes the were offering so off we went for some greasy burgers and fries. I always think I'm going to like the greasy food and forget that mostly I just really don't like it any more. But it filled the void.

Ok lets see training report for Week 8

It was a recovery week, but I missed a few workouts to0

Bike: 37.9 Mi
Run: 5.5 Mi
Swim: 0.8 Mi

Also another 2 lb weight loss this week total 8.2. Today I have a bottomless pit...must eat all those calories I worked off right?

On to another great week! And again Congrats to all those who raced this weekend!

I feel good!!!!

But even as good as I feel, not sure I could do that. I'm starting to get really excited about the race season and feel a little more confident that I could possibly do an Oly this year. Wow, guess that didn't sound all that confident. :) My body just seems to be feeling really good this week. Even after a 5 mile somewhat hilly run yesterday and a pretty good bike ride today. Upon looking at workout my schedule I trained 6 days last week, and that made me happy. Also feeling better about the prospect of running the Boulder Boulder. Having done so little running I was pretty concerned about doing a 10k in 3 weeks. But after my 5 miler, I know I can do it. I'm not going to break any records but I will be able to do it. And lovin my new shoes!

Week 7

Bike: 42.3 Mi
Run: 10.2 Mi
Swim: 1.9 Mi


Weight Loss only .4 pounds this week...but down is down and that puts me at 6 pounds in 3 week.

Really looking forward to this coming weekend and the Community Classic Bike Tour. Going to do the 37 miler if all goes well. Must say I'm a bit concerned about the readiness of some of my friends that will be doing the ride with me. Although I think if worse comes to worse the only real hill of the ride can be cut out and the ride can be shortened to 30 miles. So maybe that will be an option for some. Fingers crossed for good weather! I plan to just take it easy and ride with them and have fun. No pressure.

Running Accessories?

Do you have a running accessory? My dog seems to be mine. And let me tell you he was not happy when I went on my run this weekend without him. And me I felt a little lost when I first started out. Almost naked. But I knew that he would not be up for it. Any time the temps gets over 50ish and the run is longer then 30 minutes I end up dragging him.

As you can tell from this photo, he can be a bit lazy, he also thinks he is a lap dog all 70+ pounds of him. So whats your running accessory?

Week 6
Bike: 25.3 Mi
Run: 7 Mi
Swim: 1.8 Mi

I ended up short one ride but got two runs, and swims in. I've lost 5 lbs over the last 2 weeks. Which is just 5lbs I don't have to drag up hills any more! Keep the trend going! Also picked up some new workout clothes and a pair of running shoes. Although I'm not sure about them. Need to try them out and make a decision if I want to keep them. Next purchase....pedals and shoes.

Well it's official....

I've added two races to my schedule. I'm now signed up for the Boulder Boulder 10k as well as the SheRox sprint Tri. I almost signed up for Rattlesnake Olympic, but I just can't decide between it and Creek Streak Olympic. In fact I still can't get up the guts to commit to an Olympic.