Day Off

I just got back from the W's game. Which means today was a rest day. I'll kick it into gear tomorrow.

BIG shout out to today's contributor:

• Karla B., super awesome SF TNT Alum that is CIM bound this weekend! Good Luck!

More Sit-Ups

Not much today. Did some cardio and sit-ups. My CycleOps trainer came in today, but i'm still waiting for the training mat and stationary block to come for use.

BIG thanks to today's sponsor:

• Vaughn L., my dentist for as long as I can remember

Feeling Strong

Tonight I ran 4-miles at an uptempo pace (huffing and puffing) and afterwards was pleasantly surprise how strong i felt. Running has helped with cycling and cycling has helped with running. At first I was skeptical that I might burn out. It has actually had a complete opposite effect. I guess it makes sense since triathletes train like this and even more all the time. I just have to be smart about scheduling all this activity.

BIG thank you to my latest contributors:

• Rudy V., TNT Captain, Mentor Extraordinaire
• Mickey & Carolyn L., Very caring and supportive relos
  

Inspiration

Many people have heard of the Hoyts and their incredible story and tremendous courage, but the inspiration they give is not diminished by repetition.



BIG shout out to my latest sponsor:

• Keith C., world-traveling cuz!

thanxs!

Running after Cycling

I'm definitely not use to blogging so much, but I guess that means i'm actually doing something active every day. So today I tried to follow my plan of running on Sundays. I headed out to the Iron Horse trail and went from Bollinger Canyon to Alcosta and back. That's about 5.25 miles roundtrip. and I finished at around 58 minutes. I felt pretty tired the last 2 miles, so I am re-evaluating if doing my long runs on Sundays is wise. My Saturday cycles rides are only going to increase in miles so it almost makes sense to do my longer runs mid-week so my body has more time to recover.

Paradise Loop

This morning we had a buddy ride led by DHK. We rode the Paradise Loop Ride beginning in Sausalito and then around Tiburon. The entire ride was 22 miles and had this killer hill aptly named "Camino Alto." I'm sure cycle enthusiasts probably thought it was an easy hill, but I had never rode anything so grand. I was actually surprised I was able to do it. It just kept going up and up. DHK asked me to scale it and I said 7/10. It was tough, but I still had lots in the tank to keep going up if need be. Perhaps only because Camino Alto was only at the first 2-4 miles of the ride so I still had plenty of energy. Coming down the hill was the crazy part. I pretty much rode a lot of the breaks going down because I felt like I was going out of control. Meanwhile all these club cyclists were zooming past me. The worst part was this white van would not pass me up and I could hear his breaks screech as it tailed me.

Listening to DHK

Around the 6-7 mile mark, we took a break at the local market Paradise Foods, where I yes....fell. We were slowing to a stop and I ended up at a complete stop position because I had no more room in front of me. As a result, once I stopped...I was falling over. As I was falling over, the words "Oh Shit!" were in my mind and as I approached the ground, I yelled out a "FUCK!" and whack! I was down on my right side. I scrapped up me knee a bit, but was okay after Mentor Tom and Steve helped me back up.

I fell right in front of this store

The remaining ride up to mile 15 was a series of rolling hills where you could see the beautiful ocean. As we got closer to Tiburon the Golden Gate Bridge could be seen from afar. We stopped at Tiburon for a break before DHK rewarded us to take the hilly way back to our cars. The hills weren't bad, but I was feeling pretty fatigued at that point.

The view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Tiburon


in Tiburon

BIG shout out to latest fundraising contributor:

• Bernice C., half marathoner in training?..hehe

What did I do?

I just signed up for the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon which is on Super Bowl Sunday. After still being able to run 4 miles at relative ease, I decided why not do it? I'm already 1/3 of the way into the training, plus I've always wanted to run the race. The only issue is trying to squeeze in the long runs into my cycling schedule. Sundays appear to be my best option.

Also they will be handing a commemorative 25th anniversary finishers medal. Here is the kicker though...they are only giving it to the first 6,000 of 10,000 finishers. Very bizarre and not really cool. Either you give it to everyone or you don't. Oh well, i'm a medal whore. Will see if I get one. I'm not the fastest runner in the world, so i'm a little worried. However, I have done some research. My past half marathon times would guarantee me a medal when based upon the previous 2 years race results. Err...did I mention the race only had 4,000 - 5,000 participants in '06 & '07? I'm pretty sure more people will register this year. So, i'm begging you to please not register for this race (especially if you are speedy demon!). J/K.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for good health.
Thanks for family and friends.
Thanks for all your generosity.
Thanks for Giving!

Last night I spent an evening with friends in Santana Row, so unfortunately no time to get in a workout. However, I will make it up today made it up this morning by cycling 53 minutes and will be kicking in a cardio workout before I carefully eat tonight. As for Black Friday, i'm avoiding it. I have already extended my budget by purchasing a CycleOps Fluid 2 indoor trainer; however, I can't wait to see the difference it will make in my training. Now I can cycle and watch TV at the same time!

more photos from last Saturday's ride coming in:

Cheryl and I trying to figure how to pop out the rear tire.

2008 SF Bay Area TNT Cycle Team

BIG thank you to my latest contributor:

• Jennifer C., my first TNT (Team Excellent) teammate!

Still Runnin'

There is this weird fear that in the midst of all this cycling that if I don't run, i'll lose it (running). In fact, I thought I had lost it ever since completing Nike. So tonight I figured i'd cross train and see what I got. I crashed the marathon team's buddy run and surprisingly pumped out 4 miles all up-tempo with a finishing time of 39 minutes (9:45/mile). Even though I huffed and puffed all the way through, I felt good and felt like I could do more. Glad to know it's not all gone yet. Good workout. I also did sit-ups. My side goal this season is to drop 20 pounds.

BIG ups to today's sponsor:

• Sid & Candace, awesome relos and OG cyclist of the Lee Family.

Also here are some more photos (courtesy of Rocky) from this past Saturday's ride:

me trying to figure out my pedals before the ride

Merla teaching me clip out techniques

Keep on Movin'

Sunday night did strength training. Tonight I stretched, did sit-ups, and did a cardio program I found on my ON Demand.

BIG shout out to my latest contributor towards my fundraising goal:

• Joanne S., another mega awesome Team Brenda running partner!

thanks!

Recovery

As recommended by my mentor and coach DHK, I did a recovery ride this morning. I hopped onto the Iron Horse Trail and cranked out just a little over 8.5 miles. I then hit the ground for sit-ups.

BIG shout out to today's sponsors:

• Rosanne S., my other super awesome Team Brenda running partner
• Susan W., TNT fundraising extraordinaire and outstanding runner

First Group Ride!

I just got back from my first group ride in Livermore. Faces are becoming more familiar which is way cool. A more recognizable face was Monica. She's back from running with Lance and Katie and ready to rock Solvang again! In addition, my "bring a friend for the day" Rocky was out there. Myself included, it looks like a lot of people on the team want him to join the group for Solvang. Hehe...no pressure buddy. Another cool note I found out was that one of our coaches, Lorraine is the mother of my former marathon teammate, Michelle Carter-TNT triple crowner! (translation = completed marathon, century ride, triathlon)

Me, Monica, Rocky

So I got to Livermore 40 minutes before our scheduled meeting time of 8:30 am to play a little more with my new pedals. No falls to report. Coach Cyd placed us in riding groups according to our times from last week's time trails. I was placed in Coach Beth's group! Woot! Woot! In our groups, we went through a few safety reminders. The schedule called for a 20 mile ride. I stayed in the back of the group since I was working with my new pedals. The first stop sign was a bit of a challenge. I unclipped one pedal early enough; however, at the stop my body began leaning towards the side of my clipped shoe. As I began to tilt, I let out an "Oh Shit!"...and I could feel myself falling. However, by some miracle, I was able to unclip it at the last possible moment and planted my foot to prevent me from falling over. Yeah!

The weather was something else. Super sunny in the 70's. You'd think it was Summer. The ride at Collier Canyon had lots of fun inclines and descents. The course allowed me to get familiar with all of my bike's gears. I love riding in the group because it helps me with pacing. As a result, the first 10 miles didn't seem as bad as the ride last week. I'm still getting use to shouting "car back" or "car up" to alert everyone else when cars around. It's kind of the same as when running in a group and there are bikes around and I yell "BIKE." Now i'm the person on the bike and have to worry about big ass cars. Some of them drive really close up too. We're also suppose to point out debris on the ground with hand gestures. Unfortunately, I have yet to master the skill of riding with one hand comfortably. So I just yell everything out.

At the turnaround we had our break. We parked the bikes and grabbed "real" food. There were trays of red potatoes and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had potatoes. After packing in the food into the belly and doing some stretching, we were off. The ride back was definitely easier since we were mostly descending. About a mile before the finish, we stopped and practiced changing a flat. All in all the 20 miles went well. My back is a little sore, but that's all. Shout outs to Coach Beth, Mentor Nanditha, Mentor Stephanie, Mentor Edna, and SAG Captain Cheryl for keeping an eye on me and/or helping me out.

20 miles done! I'm 1/5 of the way to a century!

my bike shorts tastefully displayed

BIG shout out to my latest sponsor:

• Allegra H., super awesome Team Brenda running partner!

thank you!

I'm Locked In!

I just got back from Sports Basement in Walnut Creek. I brought my bike in for them to put in the new pedals. Mack, the bike dept. manager insisted I practice clipping in and clipping out. So they brought out a stationary bike trainer that I could practice on. They told me to take as long as I wanted to. After about 30 minutes, I felt I got the hang of it and thanked the dept. for their help. I just have to say the service at Sports Basement is definitely second to none. I highly recommend them for all your cycling, running, tri, snow, camp, or hike needs.

When I got back home, I quickly put my new skills to work in "real world" conditions. Yes! the complex's parking lot!...hehe. Immediately after I locked in one foot, I panicked and fell hard over to my right with my bike. We fell as one. It was a funny sight. I scraped my knee, but got back up and laughed if off because I knew I had the skills to get out, but just had a momentary freak out hiccup. After I got that over with, I got back up and locked in one shoe at a time and rode for a bit. I then slowed down and calmly clipped out the right foot and then the left foot. I practiced about 10 more times. It felt like second nature. Hopefully it'll feel the same tomorrow for the ride in Livermore!

BIG shout out to my latest sponsors:

• Anisa K., contagious smiles Team Brenda Alum!
• Kristi M., determined Fat Kid Relay Alum!

thank you. thank you. thank you!!!

FUNdraisin' Friday

Happy Friday!

A BIG shout out to my first four sponsors!

• Bryan "B-dawg" Saulsbury, Team Excellent Fun-Alum
• Sarah C., Team Brenda superstar mentor
• VanHealys, mighty endurance athletes (run, cycle, tri)
• Sarah T., Super speedy Team Positive mentor
  

YOU ROCK! thank u very much!

wait! you want to donate too? YEAH! click here.
Thank you for supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Team in Training: 20 years of Saving Lives
> Visit the TNT 20th Anniversary Scrapbook
(Coach Al is in there!)

Here's a recap of what I did this week:

Monday: Sit-ups and Strength Training
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Sit-ups and Strength Training
Thursday: 2 mile up-tempo track run (18:01)

This afternoon my pedals are suppose to come in and then....i'll be practicing clipping and unclipping. If I don't break my arm from the falls, i'll update you on how it went.

Inclines Universally Suck

Welcome to my first official cycle blog! Today was my first cycle workout. Still on east coast time, I woke up at 5:45 am all awake. I headed out to Pinole and got there around 8:00 am. My cycle mentor, Nanditha was already there, so I introduced myself. Since I wasn't at kick-off, I got all my materials from her. First thing I checked was the training schedule. The big difference I noticed compared to a marathon training calendar is that the amount of activity during the week is seemingly less. So I think I'll probably squeeze in some buddy runs this season to keep me running active.

This season's cycle team has around 50 participants. I got to meet team manager Merla, head coach Cyd, the 5 assistant coaches, 4 captains, most of the mentors, and most everyone in my group. It was also great to see Melissa, who I mentored last season. The first 2.5 hours was spent fitting everyone's bike, learning about how to change a flat, and knowing what gear is needed for our rides.

My bike was selected for the flat tire demo

We then got a big inspiring speech from Honoree family, the Pixtons. I remembered their story from one of the kick-offs. After we were filled with the knowledge, we were finally able to ride!!

Pixton Family

By this time it was sprinkling and the streets were wet. We rode about 1.25 miles to get to the start. Our ride was a 4.25 mile out and 4.25 mile time trail in order to place us in riding groups. The first 1.5 miles went okay. I think I was going at about 14 mph. Then the next 3 miles felt like hell. I could not figure out why I was tiring out so early. It looked seemingly flat, but I was only going around 8-11 mph. I then thought to myself, what the hell did I get myself into? By the time I got to the turnaround, my lower back was tiring. After a rest, I cycled back and instantly felt so much better. In fact my speed was at about 21-25 mph all the way back. Then I soon realized my first 4 miles was an incline climb. Isn't that sad? I had no idea I was on a steady incline. It looked pretty flat and I couldn't figure out why I was slowing down. I should have known. Well the remaining 3 miles felt great and I managed to escape my first ride without any major problems. I just need to inject more common sense into my brain. Looks like this is going to be one long cycle season. *gulp*

Running in the Rain

While on my East Coast trip, I managed to squeeze one run in. On Tuesday I decided to do a 3 mile run around Boston. I got lost and ended up doing 5 miles all in the rain. Meanwhile, i'm very excited about my new cycle team. Tomorrow we will have our first ride in Pinole. Prior to riding, someone from a bike shop will be doing a bike fit check. Should be interesting. BTW...where is Pinole?