Training

I am currently reading The Non Cyclist's Guide to The Century and Other Road Races by Dawn Dais. In her book she includes journal entries from her training. Blogging about my training, races, and adventures help and encourage myself to keep going. In the book she wrote, putting an event on your calendar and paying the registration fee can be the extra nudge you need when you are debating between ordering pizza and going out for a ride. That is so true - maybe not the pizza it would be sushi or Cafe Rio but I keep signing up for races because I love the feeling when I am exercising (mostly after) and the goal and pressure of the race pushes me to follow my training schedule.

Monday, April 16 I geared up and had a goal to ride 60 miles. Ten miles into my ride my battery on my Garmin started warning me LOW BATTERY. Ugh! I forgot to charge it after my Fruita, CO trip. Surprisingly, it kept working up to the 44th mile. According to Map My Ride I rode 58 miles. If I had my Garmin I would've lapped my neighborhood a few times to get those extra two miles. Lesson learned: CHARGE my Garmin the night before a long ride.

I've been training on the terrain of the actual race (Goldilocks). I went from my house, up to Eagle Mountain, to Thanksgiving Point and back to my place. I am working on finding a cadence, breathing, and getting comfortable on my bike. My right hand has been bugging me for a month and of course my butt is always sore by the second hour. I haven't used any "butt butter" but that is on my purchase list.

My century is May 12 but three weeks after than I have the Utah Valley Half and a week after that the Wasatch Back relay. I have been running Tues, Thurs, Sat and bike riding Mon, Wed, and Fri. I like cross training for the variety and especially to give my knees (running) and butt (biking) a break;-) Next year I want to take a swimming class and really get more involved with triathlons. I want to do an Olympic distance tri in 2013. Spudman would be awesome - swimming down the Snake River.

Yesterday I ran close to eight miles. Of course when I say run I mean jog. I am currently running an average 10-11 minute mile. I am slow but steady. I could've kept going but when I finished the loop I was happy to stop. I ran up Sego Lilly - more like crawled - I was slow but once I reached 1300 E the rest was pretty much downhill. I received a f.b. message today from the Utah Valley Half and it stated we have 50 days until the race. I thought it was sooner than that. I will take the 50 days;-) 

Weekend Photos

Marys/Horse Thief Loop

 Fun with my niece and nephews

 Colorado Monument and Holy Cross

 Kaison's Colorado Rockies game - they won!

Nice hit Kaison!

Love love this boy!

 Quinn plays for the Bulldogs!

Shorts & flips - Gotta love this nice spring weather!

Spring Break in Fruita, CO

For Spring Break and my first week off track I went to visit my sister and her family in Fruita, CO. It is truly the place to be if you enjoy biking - which I DO!!! We went biking of some sort everyday Monday-Thursday. I love my sister and her friends. They are a whole lot of fun!

Monday - Biked Horse Thief (link)

Tuesday - Biked Prime Cut & Zippity Doo Daa (link)

Wednesday - Road biked the Colorado National Monument (link) (27 miles)

(Data from my GPS)

Thursday - Biked Lunch Loop/Holy Cross (link)

We had perfect weather! It started raining and getting really windy Thursday after our ride. I drove home on Friday and it was gloomy and rainy that day. What a fantastic biking trip.

When we weren't biking we were playing with the kiddos. We went to Kaison and Quinn's baseball games. Kaison is playing machine pitch with the Colorado Rockies and Quinn is playing T-ball with the Bulldogs. Makell was busy with Girls On The Run, Activity Days, and dance. Garrett was just fun to play with when he was his smiley and happy self. We played puzzles, biked, and played with their new dog KC. I love my niece and nephews. Love spending time with them! 

Goldilocks Training

I took the Goldilocks Cycle Clinic and our last training clinic was Saturday. It was a good clinic to review bike maintenance,  riding in a group, hand signals, and techniques for shifting up and downhills. I've been riding mnt. bikes for 10+ years but road biking is a newer sport for me. I've had my road bike for two years but I had only rode it 20 miles max in one day. I decided my "34" year...I am going all out! I signed up for a century ride = 100 miles. I am in my fourth week of training with five weeks to go. The Goldilocks Century is May 12th. Today I rode 5 miles with the clinic and then 40 miles on my own up to Eagle Mountain. The last few weeks I've been riding sections of the race so I'll be familiar with the terrain. Check out the elevation changes. It looks worse than it really is...don't get me wrong, it was tough...I was in my granny gear going up the hills but after the downhill side was a party! 

I don't know if my helmet fits my head. Looks like it just rests on top of it.

Next week I will be going to CO to visit my sister and the kiddos. We will be riding the Monument (26mi. rim to rim), mnt. biking the trails (pure adrenaline + miles), and back to UT and doing 60 miles. After riding 40+ on Saturday I was feeling good. Hope the added mileage will continue to feel good. My right hand has been bothering me and of course my seat (bum). KEEP CALM AND RIDE ON!
May 12...100 miles...here I roll;-)

Happy Birthday to Me

Road bike ride in the morning to Cedar Hills, dinner with the family @ Texas Road House, and climbing that night with friends. Great 34 birthday - I am getting older but definitely wiser;-)

March 17

Congrats Melissa & Joseph

Evening at the spa the night before Melissa's wedding: pedicures, manicures, and other spa delights;-)

Ladies Night at yogurt shop all for Melissa! 

Tandy's cousin, Emily, lives on Mission Bay, CA. We spent the morning at the beach with her cute kids. The weather could not have been any more perfect!

Melissa and Joseph Anderson were married in the San Diego, CA temple on March 10th. The sealing was beautiful, the spirit was high, and the reception was a party-dancing, good food, and great peeps. Love ya mj!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Top of Utah 26.2

I finally did it...registered at least:

TOP OF UTAH MARATHON 

LOGAN, UTAH

SEPTEMBER 15, 2012

This will be my motto during training and the race...

I was debating doing the St. George marathon because of the elevation difference (see chart below) but it would be a lottery for the marathon. I need to know for sure if I am running 26.2 miles...I need to start training mentally now. I've run three half marathons (Moab, Provo, and Thanksgiving Point) and enjoyed the challenge and that distance. I need to do a full marathon now before time for training becomes an issue. I have the time to train with no kids, etc. and my body is feeling great.

I want to do the St. George and Ogden half marathons in the future. I am doing the Utah Valley half in June the week before running the Wasatch Back. Not sure if I will do another marathon - I will have to see how I feel after the Top of Utah. There's something I love about training and race days...hard to explain to those who don't race. Just gotta try it...to feel it!