Saturday, September 27, 2008

Results of Gridley Half-Century and Century Ride


We started the race at 9:20 this morning. The temperature was good. I had packed three Powerbars, two Buzz Bites and a 16 oz Powerade. Mom, Dad and Cathi decided to just stay together for moral support on the ride. I immediately went ahead and wanted to get a good pace going. Cathi enjoyed the visiting and the moderate pace right from the beginning.

When I got to the pay station at the causeway, I had a pleasant surprise. It's "free park day"! Perfect timing! The ride on the causeway was nice and the smell of salt was pretty intense in a couple of spots. When I got on the island heading towards the Ranch it was very hilly. Much more than I had anticipated from the elevation graph on the map.


When I got to around Mile 30 I saw Dad, Mom and Cathi. I continued on home. When I got home my GPS registered 49.7 so I went around the block once. I filled up my water bottle, got another Powerade and continued on for one more lap. I saw Mom, Cathi and Dad at their Mile 30. Mom was struggling up the last long hill. Poor woman.

I continued on to the Ranch. At my 80 I noticed I was only going 15 mph on flat. My front tire seemed wobbly. So I stopped and sure enough it was dead flat. I'm SO glad I bought a CO2 cartridge last week! I sat by the side of the road and repaired the front tire. It took me about 20 minutes to finish and get back riding again. In a way it really increased my confidence knowing that when I get a flat that I'm prepared and fully capable of fixing it and moving on. Hope I don't have to do that next week, but if I do, I'm ready.

I was running out of water and it was very hot so I stopped at the Visitors Center on the way home and refilled my water bottle. By the time I got to mile 90 I was out of energy so I ate my last Powerbar. I had to gag down the first two, but the third one hit the spot! It got me through to the finish. So now I have a new personal record for the longest ride - 100 miles. But this record will only last a week as I'm going for 157 next Saturday!

I did it in 5:25 (18.4 mph). The first half was slightly faster. Got slower near the end and I was riding on a flat for a while I think.

Cathi, Mom and Dad did the half-century ride in 4:45. Good job Cathi, Mom and Dad on a difficult ride! Next time we'll do a completely flat ride.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO CLIPS AND PICTURES OF THE RIDE.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Fantastic ride!


Yesterday I stopped at Big 5 and got some Pepper Skins. If I'm going to ride in to work for a few more weeks I need to be prepared for some cooler weather. I'm especially worried about the early morning on the Pocatello ride. Well that purchase I made was so worth it! The temperature was perfect the whole way! It protected me when it was cold, and when the sun came up, I didn't overheat. It was well worth the price for these.

I also picked up several boxes of Chocolate Powerbars yesterday. I also took one with me this morning to try it out. I started eating one about one hour into the ride. It was tasty and I could tell it was packed with energy. Usually those powerbars are nasty! But this was good.

The ride to work was great! I had a tailwind until I got to 500 South in Bountiful. I took the Legacy Bike trail. When I got to 500 South then I started getting a headwind which progressed until it was impacting my performance. I had a 19.9 mph average built up when I got to that point, then it went down to the point to where I got down to 18.4 when I got to work. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.6
Time: 1:43
Average Speed: 18.41 mph
Max Speed: 25.5 mph

Sure glad I took yesterday off. I feel so good! I also got some new cargo pants for storing here at work. They are 34's and guess what! They're still a little big. I could easily fit into 32 pants now. Unbelievable. I feel a little girly being so skinny now. But thanks to my years of lifting instead of actually being skinny and girly, I'm looking more "V-Shaped" according to Cathi.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Biceps and Abs

Been a long time since I've been in the weightroom.

Seated Preacher Curls: 4 x 15 @ 75
superset with
Crunches: 2 x 50
alt with
Air Bike: 2 x 50

Alternating Dumbell Curls: 4 x 20 @ 25
superset with
Captain's Chair: 4 x 15

Close grip, palms in pullups: 1 x (5,6,7,8)
superset with
Four beat flutter kick: 3 x 25

I was really surprised on the pullups. I haven't been able to do that many since Deseret Gym. Guess it pays to be lighter.

Good workout.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Getting Numb

Didn't bike as planned last Saturday. We were very much pressed for time, plus it was raining and the roads were slick. Had a fun time at the cabin and being with the family.

This morning I got up an hour before the alarm went off and decided to get a head start on this morning's ride. Had a bowl of cereal and the weather guy said it was cold outside. I went out for a second to see cause it was just fine inside. Man was it freezing so I went upstairs and got on a sweatshirt and jogging pants. By the time I got Mitchell's house in South Kaysville I was getting warm so I stripped off the outer layer and hid them in the bushes by their mailbox. I will pick them up on the way home.

The rest of the way was cool, but not unpleasantly so until I got to Warm Springs Road in NSL. My hands and feet were numb. There wasn't much of a wind, but enough to really chill my fingers and toes. When the sun came up it didn't seem to make things warmer in fact it seemed colder. I'm getting nervous about next weekend's ride from Pocatello. It's gonna be cold! Here are this morning's stats:

Distance: 31.6 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.06 mph
Max Speed: 24.5 mph

The ride home was very pleasant temperature wise. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.6 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.06 mph

63.2 miles total today. Not too shabby. Will bike to work again on Thursday. No more going two days in a row. Need to let my body recover a little. I can push it, but then my training suffers at the end of the week. Moderation dang it!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Cathi's Top Of Utah Marathon - 3:54:30


Cathi here - We just got back from the weekend at the cabin. I ran the Top of Utah Marathon on Saturday morning. Here are my results. We went up Friday evening and stayed up at the cabin with my running friend, Tiffany Gallup and her husband Gerry. We had hoped that we could get Tiffany qualified for Boston in this race. This was my first race 6 years ago and I cried at the end. The last 4-6 miles in this race are not fun!

Gordon stayed with the kids and Gerry also helped out as they cheered for me at several points throughout the race. Jacob joined me at mile 21 and ran with me clear to the finish. My mom also cheered for me at one point at mile 20 and then at the finish. I didn't beat my last time from the Pocatello which qualified me for Boston. I walked several times the last 6 miles. If it weren't for Jacob I wouldn't have even been under 4:00. I loved getting high fives from the kids that was a pick me upper. Here is some video of the points Gordon and the kids met me.



My friend Tiffany didn't quite make it under the qualifying time for Boston, but she is hoping to make it down to St. George for one last attempt.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Fatigued, but gotta push through.

This is the last day I'm riding in to work. Thursday and Friday I'm taking a break from biking since I'm doing a pretty decent ride on Saturday. Still fatigued from yesterday, but gotta push through and just do it. Weighed in yesterday at 187.4. New record. Motivating to keep going lower.

Found a new and improved route. MapMyRide.com doesn't have the Legacy Highway/Bike Trail on the satellite images. Looks like the satellite pictures need to be retaken since so much has changed since then. Here are the stats:

Distance: 31.4
Time: 1:47
Average Speed: 17.6
Max Speed: 23.9

Had a pretty good headwind for a while.

On the way home though I had an awesome tailwind the whole time except when I was going east or west and then it was to the side. Took a buzz bite cause I only had a bowl of oatmeal and two peaches all day.

Distance: 31.6
Time: 1:26
Average Speed: 22.0 mph

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Legacy Bike Trail - legal this time

I'm disappointed that I have to go nearly 15 miles before getting to the start of the Legacy bike trail up by the Davis Justice Center in Farmington. I wish it extended further into Kaysville and Layton.

This morning I took the trail as far south as I could go down to where 215 and Legacy meet. Problem is you come to a complete dead end with no sign or warning. I turned around and went back about 3/4 mile to the I-215 and Redwood junction and took Redwood Road down to 400 S and then went east in to work. Had a bit of a headwind for a while. Still faster than normal coming in to work:

Distance: 33.6 miles
Time: 1:51
Average Speed: 18.16
Max Speed: 27.6 mph

The bike home I took Beck street down to the Construction Company/Topless Dancer intersection. Turned left and went north on Warm Springs Road which turns and hooks into Redwood. Went north on Redwood just past the I-215 junction and then hooked into the Legacy Bike Trail from there. It was a good ride. Here are the stats:

Distance 31.4 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed: 18.12 mph
Max Speed: 30.0 mph

Monday, September 15, 2008

Rowing

At lunch today I rowed 5000 M. I did it three seconds slower than my personal record. I did it in 20:12. It sure gets my heart rate up! Sweating good.

Did some core work for 10 minutes afterwards, then three sets of 30lb alternating DB curls.

A little sore from Saturday, but not nearly as bad as I was after the Pocatello 5K. Go figure.

Back at it tomorrow. Plan on swimming with Cathi real early and then biking in to work and back home. Need to get more yardage in to be prepared for the ride on Oct 4th. I was most pleased with my bike results at Saturday's triathlon.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Cathi's Ogden Triathlon

Cathi here. I liked the Ogden Triathlon more then the Echo Triathlon. It was prettier. The swim was mostly done on my back this time. I did backstroke for 95% of it. I would do about 100 strokes and then turn on my stomach to see where I was going, scope forward, and do breaststroke for a couple of stokes. Then back to my back. It seemed that the entire swim was with women in white swim caps all around me. We were running into each other left and right for most of the race, although it was much thicker for the first half. We were swimming in a counter clockwise triangle. It was very choppy water. Man! After we had passed the first big orange buoy in the water and were headed for the second, I thought the buoy in the middle was the one I turned around for. It was not and I had to keep on going. I liked how in this race they split up the competition into different colored swim caps. I was in the white cap category. It was easy to know when to start and which group you were in. Gordon was in the red swim cap category and he says he was the first red cap out of the water-pretty impressive. The swim was pretty good but tiring. 1000 yards. Maybe about 19 minutes.

One mistake I made on the transition was that I left the goggles around my neck and as I was leaving with my bike I noticed that my goggles were still on. I had to take my helmet off and take the goggles off because I knew they would bug me on the bike. Ooops. A guy from some Ogden newspaper was standing there asking people questions and he said to me, "With your slow and easy pace, you're sure to win" (ha ha ha). I laughed and kept on going.

The bike is never my favorite part. I don't know if it's because there are about 100 bikers that pass me like I'm standing still or what. I don't have a road bike and Gordon thinks that makes a huge difference. So many racers in a triathlon seem to be heavy duty bikers (fanatics) with the whole tight outfit, etc. I am just a chubby girl in my biker shorts (that don't look very good on me). So the whole bike is a little intimidating in the first place.

An interesting thing happened on the bike this time. I was riding close to the white line. We were riding around the Pineview Dam which is very pretty. I was cruising along at what must have been around 15 mph (Wow, that's fast, right??) All of a sudden I feel a big hit on my left leg. Someone ran into me on their bike. I cried out because it mostly shocked me. The guy that hit me fell off his bike and laid on the ground. I stopped and watched him for a minute, quite a bit up ahead. As he was getting up I kept on going. A guy that biked past me then said, "Don't worry, that was all him." I was wondering if the guy that got on his bike from the accident was going to cuss me out when he got near me again, but he never did. I was wondering if he was thinking, "Why do total amateurs do races like this?" So I finished up the bike at less then an hour for 15 miles. I was glad to be onto my specialty.

The run was very hilly and the second half was on a trail. The trail was very narrow so anytime you wanted to pass someone, you had to say, "On your left". Unlike on the bike I do the majority of the passing on the run. I probably passed about 15 people on the run. I felt good about it. There was one guy in front of me on the run who was wearing long black/white striped socks who was a teenager. The guy behind me nicknamed him "socks" and would say, "Let's go socks. Let's finish hard" (because our pace depended on him because we didn't want to pass). I don't like when on a run it's out and back and you can see near the finish as you are running out and wish you could just jump the fence or whatever and hop to the finish, and pretend like you did the whole thing. Oh well. I did 4 miles in about 35 minutes.

I was near dead by the end. I was so glad to be finished. I don't know if I will ever love triathlons. I like marathons better for some reason. For some reason it's a better sense of accomplishment. Gordon wants to increase to Olympic distance next year but I don't know if I'm "on board" for that. Overall a good race for me. Here are my timed results.

When I got past the finish line I forgot to stop my watch, but when I looked at it after about 30 seconds it said 2:00:05. So I just did it under 2 hours. The official results showed quite a bit faster. Gordon said it's messed up.

I passed a girl in a shirt that read "All you have to give is all you've got". That pretty much sums up the race for me.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ogden Valley Triathlon Results

Well - the long awaited day has come. Eric came over to our house with Stacey and tried putting his bike on my bike rack, but it wouldn't fit with the other bike's handlebars taking up so much room so we drove up separate. He went up Ogden Canyon and I went up through Mountain Green. He beat us up there by probably 10 minutes. Oh well, nice experiment.

When we got there they had the buoys setup and I was like "There is no way that is 1000 M." Eric was like "It is, it just looks close together cause we're so far back." I was still doubtful. When it was about 45 minutes to start time, a boat went around and moved each of the three to probably double the distance apart. Eric was gone to the bathroom and when he came back, he said "Holy Crap!" I laughed. 1000 M is a long way.

This race was setup with alot of heats. It was supposed to be timed out so that the age group male and females compete against each other with the difference in heat start times. Sounds like a good idea. When my heat started I was on the front line and timed with my watch just as the gun went off for my heat. I was dealing with alot of splashing but quickly took the lead for my heat. By the time I broke away I was running into white capped ladies from the heat ahead of me. I came upon a woman who must have been treading water as I clothes lined her with my left arm. I stopped to look to make sure she was OK and say sorry. But then I went back on. I was passing people from the previous heat and coming into people from two heads ahead. I definitely was the first one out of the water in my heat. They had all the heats separated by cap color and I was the first red cap out of the water.

I didn't have any cramping issues with all the potassium pills I've been taking, the banana's and the salt pretzel's I've been loading up on! When I got out of the water I saw Cathi struggling to get off her wetsuit. I tapped her on the head and said, "Good job Cathi!" and ran to the transition area to take my wetsuit off.

When I got there the suit came off fast and I was able to start my bike part pretty quickly. I wasn't very fast getting my shoes on. I probably was about 15 seconds slower than I could have been had I been smarter.

Now the biking portion is where I'm just a little better than average, but that's it. When I got the point where I could mount my bike I stopped and a lady next to me tried mounting on her bike, but she went too fast and slipped and fell. She was OK, but made me glad I wasn't going too fast. During the ride I had gatorade splashing out of my aerodrink bottle all over me and my bike. Duane Ralphs told me about that mistake, but I guess I didn't listen well enough cause man that was a bad move! I passed probably 25 women on the bike portion, but I got passed by probably 15 guys so there was no way I was gonna place in my division. My average speed according to my GPS was about 21 miles per hour. I didn't have it on when I started so I didn't get an accurate start reading, but got the gyst. I'll have to rely on milliseconds to report my times.

When I started the run I popped a Buzz bite in my mouth. I already took one about 15 minutes before the swim and thought a second one would be good since I already spent alot of energy. But after 10 minutes I couldn't take the flavor anymore. Don't get me wrong, they're yummy, but when running and you're thirsty, they're just too rich. I spit the rest of it out. They had water stations every mile. When I got to mile 1 I took water and ran and drank at the same time. When I got mile two, I wanted two drinks so I walked so I could down the first cup, get another and then move on. But at mile two we started our way back and it was on a hiking trail that was only about 24 inches wide in some areas, which winded around and up and down hills. It was a nightmare. I was passed by around 30 people on the run, but I passed 3 unfortunate souls. I got killed on the run! But I ran the whole time except for the half way point where I walked for about 15 seconds.

I was very happy with my performance. My times aren't anywhere near where I wanted, but this is my first Sprint(PLUS) tri. The distance on this tri was:

Swim - 1000 Meters (1094 yards)
Bike - 15.3431 Miles
Run - 4 Miles (Which I think is low. If you look at the map, it doesn't follow the trail exactly. But its pretty close) They should have had someone run it with a GPS to make sure.

My goals/actual were:
Swim - Goal = 14:00. Actual = 15:39.08 (1:26/100 yard average)
Bike - Goal = 47:00. Actual = 43:38 (21.09 mph average!)
Run - Goal = 33:00. Actual = 37:41 Boo! Hiss!
Transition 1 - Goal = < 3:00. Actual = 2:30.5 Yes!
Transition 2 - Goal = < 1:45. Actual = 1:45.5 Whoah close!
Overall - Goal = 1:38:45. Actual = 1:41:14.49

I did the best I could given the route that I faced. The run was way hillier than I thought and the bike wasn't exactly flat. My goal on the swim with 14:00 obviously not very realistic for me. That would have been 1:19/100 yards average and that is booking for open water.

I'll have Cathi report her results separately here. Overall the event was very well organized, the booths were awesome, the shirt was average and the watering stations were the perfect distance apart and well staffed. Excellent job overall, except for a couple things on the timing which was done by milliseconds.com, but that's another post.

Here are my official results. But I'm not sure how accurate it is due to the timing problems I noted.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Fastest Ride home so far

It was pretty windy outside and cloudy. The perfect thing was the wind was going directly north and it was probably a 15-20 mph wind. I made it home in record time of 1:20. Here are the stats:

Distance: 30.5 miles
Time: 1:20

Fantastic ride. I loved going fast! I almost got in a wreck though. I was going down 400 west and some guy in the right lane merged over to the shoulder with me just to the right of him. Fortunately I sensed the motion and put on my breaks before getting pushed over into the curb. I was going 28 mph or so at the time so I would have had my skin all over the road had I not been able to slow down in time. The guy noticed his mistake after the fact and put he hand up as if to apologize. Lucky I didn't die.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Early morning ride

Last night I attached the bright LED light to the front of my bike for this morning's ride. I got up at 4:50 and left at 5:15am. I rode to SDRC where I swam 4500 yards and then rode the rest of the way to work. I was amazed how comfortable it was riding in the dark. I was familiar enough with the route and the potholes to avoid plus the tailwind I was having made me get an 18.7 mph average in the dark which is great I think.

Once I left SDRC for work though there was much more traffic and the tailwind switched to a pretty good headwind. My average dipped down to 18.0 mph by the time I got to work. Here are the stats:

Distance: 33.0 miles
Time: 1:50
Average:18.0
Max Speed: 27.4 mph

Will be biking home tonight and then back in again tomorrow morning. After that I'm tapering for this Saturday's race.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Pocatello to Syracuse Ride

Planning on riding from Pocatello to Syracuse on October 4th. Here is the plan:

0515 - arise (Shower, breakfast, prepare drinks/bike)
0545 - depart Pocatello
0803 - sun rises (@34 miles (Arimo)- assuming only 15 mph avg in dark, 17.5 mph average daylight)
0840 - Downey (45 miles)
1030 - Arrive in Preston ( 74 miles)
1200 - Arrive in Logan (100 miles) STOP FOR LUNCH at park @ 900 N 100 W.
1230 - Leave for home
1430 - Brigham City (125 miles) (Assuming Logan Pass avg is 12.5 mph, 17.5mph avg the rest of the way)
1530 - Slaterville (142 miles)
1630 - Home (157 miles)

Here is the planned route:


Here is the elevation with a few points along the way. Click on it for a larger view. I'm willing to do this ride alone, but would prefer to have one or two other people as company and for rotating the lead.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

New Record - Longest Bike ride so far - 80 miles

This morning was the Gridley 16 mile Race. We met out at Saltair out near Tooele and biked 8 miles east towards Salt Lake and then back.

There were 6 participants: Eric, Mom, Dad, Cathi and Isaac (riding tandem), and myself. Eric and I started out together and rotated taking the lead every 2 miles. When we turned around Eric said to rotate every mile. He started the first mile of the 2nd half, where after one mile back I took the lead again. When he was supposed to take over I looked behind me and he was about 20 yards back. I wasn't about to slow down so I just kept the same pace. I was able to maintain a 22-23 mph pace when I was in front.

When I got back I looked down and the stats were:

Distance: 16 Miles
Time: 43:20
Average Speed: 22.0 mph

I was pleased with that time. I was expected around 50 minutes. I went back a couple of times to support Dad in his finish, and then Cathi and Mom. When the race was over I had put in about 22 miles. I took this picture.

I was feeling like I need more so I biked home from there. I wanted to beat my PR of 70 miles in one day and get in 80 miles today so when I got home I still had 10 miles so I went out to Clearfield and back. When I got back it was 80 miles even. Here are the total stats including the race:

Distance: 80 miles
Time: 4:16
Average speed: 18.7

I was feeling tired at the end but not so much that I collapsed. I think 100 would be tough. Need to build up even more stamina for this Fall's Pocatello - Syracuse Ride!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Quasimodo missed the mark again!

This morning I skipped swimming since Cathi went running with Natalie. I slept in too much, was grumpy with Jacob. He made three quasadillas late last night and only ate 1/2. My biggest pet peeve is WASTE. I hate it. I can't even make ends meet and we're wasting food! Left at 8:00 for riding in to work which is way too late. I'm gonna have to stay late to make up for it and take the train home.

Wasn't able to convince the legs to really push it today either! I'm so mad. I'm gonna have to rest the legs until Saturday. I'm less sore, but still not 100% on power. I got about 18 miles or so into this morning's ride, I was heading west on Pages lane. I just crossed the railroad tracks when bam! A wasp hit me right in the face. Just above my glasses. It got stuck in my eyebrow for a split second and then that's all it took to get stung. My face burned and I had a hand on my forehead and coasted the rest of the way down pages lane. I stopped at the end of the road and realized I just had to keep going.

By the time I got to North Salt Lake I couldn't open my right eye very easily. I had to bug my eyes out to see and I could feel that my right eyebrow was touching my glasses. I knew I had swollen up pretty bad.

By the time I got to work I knew I was looking like Quasimodo. Didn't hurt much, but just swollen. Not a good ride. Stuck at lots of lights, legs were useless and my face looked like I ran into a brick wall. At least I didn't crash.

Here's the stats:
Distance: 30.7
Time: 1:47
Average speed: 17.2

Missed the mark again!
At least I look worse than Hitch did. I was wondering why in the movie he was drinking Nyquil. Cause it has antihistamine in it. Which is something I wish I had right now.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Dead tired

The bike ride home was fine until I got to West Farmington and then I completely ran out of gas. I had to stop for a minute to regather some energy cause I was barely puttin' on 16 mph.

When I turned the corner in South Layton at the bottom of 22nd West some guy passed me. I turned it on a little and drafted until we got to Gentile where he turned left and I continued on. Here are the stats:

Distance: 30.5 miles
Time: 1:45
Average Speed:17.43 mph

Not good. Minimum desired avg is 18.0.

Commuted

Today's ride didn't feel like a workout in the sense that I went a pace I was happy with. Packed in the laptop along with a 3 pound Cylinder of Oatmeal. Plus it was in a dufflebag which wasn't well secured. Not a fun ride:

Distance 25.1 miles
Time: 1:35
Average Speed: 15.85 mph SLOW!!!

Annoyed with how slow it went. Felt like an old fart. My legs are thrashed!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Long ride after the storm

This morning was rainy and stormy. It cleared around 3pm and by 5pm it was perfect outside. Great day for a ride. I rode to my parents house in Salt Lake and back:

Distance: 63.5
Time: 3:28
Max Speed 29.8 mph

My legs are probably the sorest they've ever been thanks to last Saturday's 5K. It doesn't affect my biking very much, but probably doesn't help much with the healing.