What a Week

What a week...

And it's not over yet.

 

My week started with my phone on rice.

 

I think it was all my fault.

I read the directions and thought I had followed them, but apparently not.

My phone was on rice for 3 days and actually it was a nice change of pace. I didn't have anyone calling me (oh, I LOVE your calls....keep calling), no one texted me (I love your texts...keep them coming) and I didn't have anyone nudging me to play words with friends.

 

I love all those things...but it was nice to have 3 days off where I didn't feel as if I HAD to respond.

I was unresponsive for 3 days.

Except unresponsive is not the right word.

I was responsive to everything going on around me...just not the phone.

 

I don't have any picture (because my phone was on rice), but I went to a fabulous Mountain Bike Clinic called the Courage Women of Dirt (CWOD) and I became a Trail Angel.

The clinic was fabulous, the lunch was catered by Panera and I won LOTS of stuff at the raffle.

 

The training was awesome also.

 

Sunday was Mother's Day and it was nice and not nice. The not nice part was my mom is really sick and she was in the hospital, so I couldn't spend it with her.

The nice part was I went and picked up my daughter and spent the morning with her. Then I gardened with my youngest son (he even picked up dog poop all in the name of Mother's Day). I went on the 4th Annual Mom/Dion bike ride.

Dion and me

I really wish I had pictures of our first ride together. I didn't have an iPhone then. How times change. Just like my first annual ride with Dion was on a mountain bike and going SLOOOOW, while Dion sped by me. It's taken me a few years, but this year, Hector (my tri-bike) and I blew by him and had to backpedal to let him catch up.

 

Monday was AMGEN TOUR OF CAlIFORNIA and I had the great opportunity to be a Course Marshal. They gave us BRIGHT ORANGE shirts to wear and an official hat.

It was 106 degrees in the shade. How those guys rode their bikes that fast past me, I have no idea.

 

 

The Amgen Tour of California Pelaton.

I only had to argue with one guy who insisted that the city had NEVER shut down the road for cyclists before...I tried to explain to him that this was the first time the Tour had come through Palm Springs. He ignored me, pulled into the road and was promptly pulled over by flashing lights and a pissed off cop and given a ticket.

I don't know what his fine is, but I hope it is big!!!

 

I recovered from my hot, hot, hot and exciting Monday by going to work in a kindergarten class and then taking the Tuesday night TC Riverside group to the Nissan dealership to get our forms signed so we can all get FREE bike jerseys.

 

 

Oh yeah! The Triathlon Connection Riverside cyclists!

One salesman wanted to know who was going to take the test drive....none of us did. We promised to come back wearing our new jerseys and take a picture with the manager.

 

Wednesday I swam in the pool and put in a couple of miles on the elliptical....my knee has been acting up from my old laundry injury, so I have been trying to baby it as I do have Vineman 70.3 in July and I am going to be healthy and injury free when that tri comes around.

 

Thursday - no matter how much stress I have accumulated during the week - you know, mother-in-law living at my house, 23 tattle-telling kindergarteners in my class, knowing I need to clean my house, but I don't have time because I had to fast grocery shop after work for my weekend away triathlon trip.....and then I picked blogging over packing...

 

All that stress disappears when I climb on my bike and pedal a few miles with friends.

 

 

 

Even when those friends have flats.

 

 

I love how Shirley wanted to change her tire by herself....I know it was hard for my guy to sit on the side of the road and watch her, since he really is a knight reincarnate.

And what is Will doing in the background? Yoga.

I guess I am going to have to start Yoga for Athletes at the end of our bike rides.

 How many yoga mats can fit on my front yard?

I guess as many riders we have at the ride.

OMMMM...

I mean, let's all continue to Train-n-Tri.

 



My Phone is in Rice

My phone is in a baggy of rice.
That is not the picture of it. I can't take pictures right now because my phone is (*)(*)(&^^ in rice. I have a camera somewhere. Not sure where. Since I have had my iPhone I have used it for a camera. I would have to search for a long time to find my camera that is only a camera.
If I did find my camera, it would be really strange to use it. I would take a picture and then.....then what? I couldn't post it to facebook or use any cool apps to change the coloring. The image would just sit there in the camera until I could download it into my computer.

I am sure you are wondering how my camera ended up in a bag of rice.

I'd show you pictures, but the pictures of how it happened are in the camera.

 

Also I am not sure if the fault is mine or if the fault belongs to the contraption my camera was in.

I am not going to point fingers until I know for sure.

Testing is taking place and emails have been sent to the company that sent me the contraption.

 

 

I am hoping my phone will come back to life.

I am praying my phone will come back to life.

And I am emailing Andy Potts asking him for a discount code for Lifeproof.

 

 

 

Until then....I'm off the grid.

Wildflower - Competitor turned Spectator

I went to Wildflower to compete.

I ended up being a spectator.

 

And I had a great time.

 

I hadn't been feeling great the couple of days before we took off for Wildflower.

We left Friday morning at 5 a.m. and pulled our trailer. It was a long haul. After we parked and got organized we headed for the expo and to pick up our packets.

 

 

Jeanne, me and Orietta....thanks Robert for taking our picture.

 

 

Robert and I by the BIG TRI Girl!!!

 

Riding the bus to the expo to pick up our chips, numbers and tshirts.

 

 

 

 

In fact, Friday afternoon when we got to our campsite in the Redondo Vista loop, I even said to a couple of friends, "I am so tired, I feel sick."

 

And I was....but I thought I would get better before my Sunday race.

 

Saturday morning I felt kind of crappy, but well enough to get up and coach my friend through her day of racing the mountain bike triathlon.

I took pictures and cheered her on through her 500 yard swim, her 9 mile bike and her 2 mile run.

Jeanne getting ready to head to the swim start.

J
 Jeanne in the background heading out on the mountain bike.

Orietta, Me and Robert P. being spectators. It's a hard job.

Jeanne at the finish line.

After the first day of Wildflower, I was exhausted from being a spectator.
I managed to attend my tri-club's potluck dinner in the campsite.

I didn't eat a lot for dinner.....but I did eat a cupcake.

Then I packed my tri-bag and set my alarm and went to bed.

When my alarm went off in the morning I knew I wasn't going to make it to the start line.
Just the thought of pulling on my wetsuit made me feel exhausted.
My throat hurt, my head hurt, my body ached and I was coughing.
The fact that the weather was cold, windy and raining only added to my misery.

Really it was not a choice...there was no way I could have competed and made it to the finish line. I would have fallen apart somewhere along the way....most likely in the transition area before the start of the race.

I wanted to pull the covers over my head and go back to bed.
 

But I couldn't!

My guy was racing and so was a lot of my friends.

So I dragged myself out of bed and spectated.

AGAIN!

 Orietta, me and Birgit waiting for Robert to come out of transition.

Orietta was racing, too.

 

 

Robert finally came out of transition right before his wave. It was strange not to step foot in transition one time during the entire weekend.

 

Robert ran up the hill from the lake to transition. Lots of people walked.

We watched Robert ride out of transition on the bike...but the pictures were not good, they showed just the top of his head on the other side of the fence.

Once he was gone we knew we had some time to kill until he rode his bike in from the 26 mile HILLY WINDY ride.

 

So what do sick spectators do while killing time?

Then

The Wildflower Expo is small compared to some big marathon expos....but it kept us entertained and it was nice to duck into some of the booths just to stay out of the cold wind.

Birgit, Jeanne and me.

I don't know which booth this was, but they were offering wine.

And I was hoping the wine mixed with my antibiotics would make me feel better.

It helped.....but this helped more.

And I bought a couple of shirts and some socks.

We looked up Jeanne's time from her Mountain Bike Tri race and Birgit's time from her Long Course race.

I stopped by the Tri-California booth and thanked them for picking me to be one of their ambassadors.

 

Finally Robert biked in.

 

That's Birgit's arm waving at him.

 

 

Then we watched Robert run out of transition for the 6.2 mile run.

That's Jeanne's arm waving at him.

 

I went back to the wine booth. That and holding my Newton bag made Robert's run time pass quicker...or at least it seemed as if it was passing quicker.

Also I was hanging with friends and we entertained each other by pointing out all the rule violations people were making that day. We questioned where the officials were...especially when we saw a guy riding a bike WITHOUT a helmet.

I'm sick, but feeling happy.

 

Orietta runs into the finish.

 

Robert runs into the finish chute.

 

Yeah, he is done.

I can go back to camp and crawl back into my bed.

I didn't even get up for dinner.

 

 

I did get up to look out the window at these cute mule deer.

 

I'll be signing up for next year as I have a Wildflower triathlon course with my name on it.

Orietta and I have decided to try the SQUARE next year...the long course on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday.

I must have been sick when I agreed to that.

 

 

 

 

Packing for Wildflower

Packing for Wildflower took all day!!!

I am exhausted and I need a recovery day.

Just shopping for firewood and food took hours.

Hooking up the trailer, pulling it out of its storage area and cleaning it up took hours.

Loading it up took a while.

 

Then I had to pack up my personal items.

 

And my new tri kit.

 

 

The rule is to NEVER try anything new on race day.

I am breaking that rule because I am taking my SunRype kit and wearing it.

I will be wearing it with a LOT of AQUAPHOR!!!!

 

As I was deciding which tri-kit to wear I came upon an article by Jim Vance...10 Mistakes To Avoid at Wildflower.

You can read the entire article here....

 

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/05/training/10-mistakes-to-avoid-at-wildflower_9022

 

 

There is a lot of good advice in the article, some of it is just common sense...such as stay out of the sun if you aren't racing because it will wear you out.

I guess it should also say, don't go to the beer garden and have a few and sit in the sun because it will wear you out before your race. It should also say don't stay up late sitting around the campfire with a bunch of friends drinking beer and talking tri-shop when you have to get up early in the morning to race.

 

You know, common sense stuff.

 

 

Mr. Vance did dole out one piece of advice that helped me make a decision about which bike I will be riding at Wildflower.

I had been on the fence.

Conflicted.

Which bike to ride?

Hector the tri-bike

Hector

or Sarah, my road bike, that was my tri-bike, but then was made back into a road bike.

 

Sarah

 

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=489460221981185313#editor/target=post;postID=9074080237835406507;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=33;src=postname

 

 

In his article Mr. Vance said, "don't’ have a rear cassette which is designed for flat terrain. This course is tough, from the first mile of the bike course, on to the finish. You will face tough climbs and want to have a rear cassette which will allow you to climb with ease. This means at least 25-tooth cogs for the strong bikers, 27 for weaker riders.

 

Poor Hector...he has a 22.

I am leaving him at home.

But I promised him that I would get him a new rear wheel with a different cassette during the summer and I will take him to Wildflower next year for the long course.

Just in case you are wondering, Sarah is a 32.

So she won hands down.

 

Mr. Vance also recommended in his article that,"If you’re camping, you’ll want to coordinate necessities with the other people you’re camping with. Trying to do it all yourself, and not delegating responsibilities like food, drinks, coolers, camping stoves, tents, sleeping bags, bike tools, etc, will only make the weekend responsibilities too much to bear. Coordinate in an organized manner with the group you’re camping with, and save the rest of your energy for racing."

 

Poormy guy Robert.

I think he has expended all his race energy on working to pay for our weekend of fun triathlon and then getting the trailer ready to go.

He says he is going to have fun!

 

Good thing because that's one of my mottos.

 

Triathlon is fun.

Finishing is fun.

 

 

Did I mention we are leaving at 4 a.m.

More fun!!!



National Bike Challenge

National Bike Challenge starts today!!!!

May 1 through September 30

 

 

 

 

My goal for the challenge in May is to ride my bike every single day in May....even if it is just for a couple of miles.

 My May motto is:

 Butt to the seat EVERY May Day!!!

 

 

What is the National Bike Challenge?

The Challenge is a health and wellness initiative that encourages people to bike for transportation and recreation. Last year 30,000 people joined the challenge to bike 12 million miles.

This year's goal is to sign up 50,000 people and log 20 million miles.

 

Last year I set my goal to ride 850 miles during the challenge.

 

I did meet my goal in 2012 and I wrote about it in this blog:

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2012/08/national-bike-challenge.html

 

 

Yikes, I felt a little sick to my stomach after I reread last year's blog.

 I must have felt pretty good about all that riding because I said this year's goal would be to DOUBLE the miles.

 

 

Well, I can do the math....that's 1,700 miles in 5 months. That's 340 miles a month.

Did I really challenge myself to all those miles?

Yes, I did.

 

Will you join the challenge?

Will you join me in riding craziness?

What's your goal?

Make your personal goal and sign up.

 

After you sign up, you log your miles.

You can even win prizes.

And we all know how much I LOVE to win prizes.

 

 

There are LOTS of technical rules about riding so many miles getting you to a certain level and miles are rolled over each month and blah, blah, blah.

 

The main idea is the MORE days you ride and the MORE miles you log the better chance you have of winning some of these fabulous prizes: Bottle openers from Resource Revival, lights from Planet Bike, water bottles from Trek, seat bags from Trek, cycling jerseys from Sierra Nevada, front/rear light pair from Trek, challenge jerseys from Mt. Borah, year membership to the Better World Club (roadside assistance for bicyclists), year supply of toilet tissue from Scott@Brand, year membership to the League of American Bicyclists, a Trek Bike, and a New Belgium Brewing Cruiser.

 

II think the cruiser will look something like this....sweet! A girl can NEVER have too many bicycles.

But I wonder how they decide what a YEAR'S worth of toilet paper is...because in my household that could be a lot of toilet paper, especially if they factor in the amount that we use a couple of times a year to TP friends, but that's another blog.

 

During May there are a couple of SPECIAL days to get out and ride your bike.

 

The first one is the -

Second Annual National Bike to School DayBike to School Day is a national event that gives communities across the country the
opportunity to join together in bicycling to school on the same day. On Wednesday, May 8^th,
grab your bikes and help promote a healthy lifestyle as well as the need for
safe routes to school. Le

Why does it run for five months?

The other one is May 17, which is Ride Your Bike to Work Day, which comes at the of Ride Your Bike to Work WEEK, May 13-17.

Confused?

Just get out and ride your bike for fun, for work, for peace of mind.

 

 

IOkay, so at first I was a worried that I would not be able to log those 1,700 miles during the challenge. Then I found out that his year's challenge is a month longer than last year.

That gave me a little hope.

I guess so many people had so much fun riding their bikes and COMPETING for prizes last year that they asked for the challenge to be extended by one month.

And since September is another warm month across the country, they didn't want to waste the great riding weather.

 

Sign up for the challenge at www.nationalbikechallenge.org

 

Then grab your bike and a friend and go for a ride.

 

 

 

I put my butt to the seat today and logged 10 miles riding my bike to the gym for my swim.

 



How far did you ride?

 

 

 

S