Posts Tagged ‘Cycling’
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
Ever since we did our marathon the weather here has been either cold and rainy or cold and snowy so I hadn’t ridden my bike or run until today (I have been swimming so I haven’t been completely lazy). Susan is at her 48 hour crop this weekend so Tamara and I got together this morning and did a brick workout. In total we did around 24 miles or riding and around 4 miles of running. It was a beautiful day here with temperatures getting up to almost 80 and not a cloud in the sky so it was great to be outside. It was also nice to get back out on the bike and running. I was planning on going home and being lazy for the rest of the day, but while I was driving home I got a message from Susan that she was coming home for a quick ride and asked if I would go with her. I figured it was a beautiful day and I hadn’t seen her this weekend so why not. So I got home, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we went out for about 15 miles.
Tomorrow’s weather is suppose to be like today and I am suppose to go for a 3 hour ride with Tamara in the morning (Susan will still be scrapbooking). I probably should wear some sunscreen because I got a lot of sun today but I am guessing that won’t happen. hopefully this weather is hear to stay because training like this is much nicer than the 25 degrees and 15 mph winds that we were training in for the marathon.
Tags: Cycling, Running, Training, Triathlon
Posted in Cycling, Running | 1 Comment »
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Well it’s a week after the marathon and we are recovering fairly well. Susan’s hip has been giving her problems for several months now and it got worse during the marathon. The PT thinks it is either her IT band or hip flexors but it is so high on her hip that it is hard for her to get any stretches to work on it. The hip is still giving her a good bit of pain but other than that she is doing good.
All the dead skin from the chafing has come off of my leg and I have a lot of nice new pink skin. It is itchy and tender but healing much faster than I thought it would. The blister under my left foot was never very bad and is completely better now. The one on my right foot is still very painful and keeps trying to get infected. It is extremely hard to keep a huge blister on the bottom of my foot clean and covered. Hopefully it will be better before long.
Muscle wise we are both fine (I think the bike ride the day after the marathon really helped with that) and ready to get back at it. We swam yesterday and are ready to get back on our bikes as soon as the weather improves a little (it has been cold and rainy the past several days).
Tags: Cycling, Marathon, Races, Running
Posted in Cycling, Marathon, Races, Running | 2 Comments »
Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Susan’s POV:
It was windy, we rode in a pack a lot, which scared the pee outta me so I did not drink or eat much. I bonked and got crabby. and slow. OK, slower. Paul said he realized how little I had been eating when we passed a bunch of eateries and I commented I wanted everything. I was really glad we did it, but dang I was glad when we were done. We rolled across the finish line ready for our 2nd medal in 2 days. We were handed a water bottle. I mean, its green and cute, but a water bottle, you know? Sheesh!
BTW–here is a link to my marathon photos: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?PID=&EVENTID=47967&PWD=&ID=61994614&FROM=photos&BIB=6002
Paul’s POV:
AHHH!!! Finally back on the bike. Now this is where I am comfortable! It felt great to be back on the bike after the run on Saturday. It was really windy but we spent most of the time sitting in a large pack so it wasn’t that bad. The times when we were on the front of the pack were a little difficult because of all the wind. It was also a little hard when we weren’t with a group because I was on front all by myself pulling Susan 
. Susan was nervous riding in the groups but for me it was relaxing and I was back in my element after the long run the day before.
Next Myrtle topic: The food!
Tags: Cycling, Races
Posted in Cycling, Races | 4 Comments »
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
My motto has always been, “NEVER FORFEIT AN ENTRY FEE!” Paul’s has been, “NEVER GO TO THE DR!” So when I went back out on the course to get him and the first thing he said was, “I need to go to the med tent at the finish” and the second was, “We might be forfeiting our first entry fee”–I knew he was in trouble.
20 hours later Paul mounted the bike and pulled me through 20 mph winds that gusted even higher throughout the 63 mile ride. He has 4 inch blisters broken open on the bottom of both feet plus a patch about 5×5 inches on his inner thigh that I think is 2nd degree burned from his shorts (friction burn from chafing?), plus the usual muscle fatigue.
We came home to Barton having pooped on our bed (again) so I started washing bedclothes. Then the washer started leaking water. Luckily we have tomorrow off. Interval napping was the original plan, but now we will be doing first aid on Paul and the washing machine! We plan to post more about the race, but we both finished both races and that was our first goal. Thank you to Paul’s mom, grandmother, Biz, Roy, Becca and Tripp for coming out to support us!
EDIT 02/19/2009 by Paul:
Thankfully it looks like the washer is fine. It has moved itself back to the wall and I think that was making the hose leak. We moved it back out some and it hasn’t leaked since.
Tags: Cycling, Marathon, Races, Running
Posted in Cycling, Marathon, Races, Running | 3 Comments »
Sunday, February 8th, 2009
My friend Susan J has a blog titled, “Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina” while she is attending IU’s MBA program. Let me tell you–NOTHING could be more true this weekend. It was 70 and sunny both days. Saturday afternoon Anna and I hung out at the park and went for a walk w my friends Lauren, Cathy and Ruthan. Tyler paced Paul on his bike for Paul’s 5 mile run {{I also ran yesterday, but I did it at 8am when it was 31 degrees out–we had to take shifts since we had the kids this weekend}}. Today Paul and I rode 42 miles w his friend Tamara. It was GORGEOUS!
We are both taking it easy as we both feel pretty beat leading into marathon week. We both have foot pain, although mine is longer standing and on the upswing IMHO. Paul has been feeling sick for about 5 days. I actually got him to take some medicine tonight. Probably only b/c I told him it was what I took during the Ironman when I had his same symptoms. We plan to take our multi-vitamins each day and each active culture yogurt. Lauren tells me 90% of your immune system is in your GI tract. Keep it healthy people!!
Tags: Cycling, Injury, Marathon, Races, Running
Posted in Cycling, Races, Running | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
Lately our marathon training hasn’t been too fun. Last weekend it was cold all weekend and I didn’t run. Susan went early Saturday morning before Tyler’s basketball game and when she got home her hair was frozen. I ran during lunch on Monday and it was actually pretty nice out. Good thing I went at lunch because by the time I got home it was turning cold and getting cloudy, it ended up snowing Monday night. Then on Tuesday we went for a run with it snowing like crazy. It had just started snowing when we left and it wasn’t really sticking so slipping wasn’t a problem, it was just hard to see and cold from the wind. Yesterday we were suppose to run when we got home but it was 30 degrees with the wind chill in the 20′s so we decided not to go. This morning it was 18 with a wind chill of 9 and suppose to stay cold all day so I don’t know if I will run again.
Thankfully the marathon is only 9 days away because we are both ready to stop running in this weather. The weather is suppose to get better starting this weekend and we are looking forward to that. It is suppose to be 65 on Sunday so we are planning on riding between 30 and 40 miles. We have hardly been on our bikes at all because of the weather so the 63 mile ride the day after the marathon should be fun. As of right now they are saying it will be a low of 44 and a high of 61 and no rain in Myrtle Beach on the day of the marathon (which is slightly warmer than they were saying when I looked earlier this morning) so we are crossing our fingers that that forecast holds up.
On another note, I went and saw a doctor about my foot problem and he said I have sesamoiditis (which hurts like crazy!!!). He said that it was common for people with arches as high as mine to have this problem. He also said that I am “not exactly a small marathon runner”, which I thought was funny, and that contributes to the problem. He made me some temporary orthodics to see if they help and if they do he is going to make me some perminant ones. I haven’t done a long run in them yet but so far they seem to be working which my feet are VERY happy about. He also thinks that my knee problems are coming from instability because of my feet so he thinks the orthodics will help with that also.
Tags: Cycling, Injury, Marathon, Races, Running
Posted in Marathon, Races, Running | 6 Comments »
Monday, January 26th, 2009
We had a good weekend but it went by way too fast. Susan went scrapbooking Friday night and had a good time. For me I sat at home and did NOTHING. It was nice to finally have a night where I didn’t have anything I had to do. OK, so I had plenty that I should have been doing around the house but nothing got done.
Saturday morning Tyler had a basketball game that he was very excited about. He told me before the game that he was going to get every rebound. It turned out that he was about right. There is another boy on his team that likes to get rebounds and the were about to kill each other. They were both in the game together in the 3rd period and the coach took Tyler out so the two of them weren’t playing at the same time because they were “too competitive with each other”. My mom was there and got a good laugh because I was the same way.
After the basketball game Susan and I ran 20 miles. We had a good run and the weather was really nice which made things easier. Our marathon is 19 days away and that was our last long run until the race. Our longest run that we have between now and the race is 7 miles so we are very excited! After our run we showered and went to Lauren and Elliot’s for dinner. I’m not even sure what time we left their house but I am pretty sure it wasn’t very late. We went home and went right to bed.
Sunday morning we got up and went for a ride with our friend Tamara. She called us that morning to see if we were still going because she knew we were running 20 miles the day before. I knew it was cold outside and wanted to say no (and she also wanted me to say no because of the cold) but I said we were still going. We are doing the 63 mile bike ride the day after the marathon so we have to get use to it. It was 30 degrees with a windchill of 24 when we left the house so we had a very uncomfortable ride, but Susan and I were both glad we went. I’m not sure if it was from the ride or the icing affect from being so cold but I was much looser after the ride.
After the ride Susan and I went to Biscuitville to get breakfast. When we got done ordering we had to tell the lady at the register that we really did only need two drinks and that all that food was just for the two of us. After we ate we picked up the kids, played with them, went to the grocery store, ate dinner and then it was time for bed. I need to figure out how to get 4 day weekends because that all went by way too fast.
Tags: Basketball, Cycling, Marathon, Races, Running, Scrapbooking, Training, Tyler
Posted in Cycling, Running, Training | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
Happy 2009!! I strongly believe that how you spend January 1 sets your intention for the year. It looks to be a FANTASTIC 2009!! I faded fast last night and Paul and the kids put me to bed at…8:30pm!!! I finished my book (more on this in another post), then slept until…7:15am!! Whooo hooooo!!!! Paul said he has not known the kids to EVER sleep this late. We dropped them off at their mom’s and are riding in a bit. It is expected to be 33 degrees (windchill 28) when we roll out to meet Tamara. Then later we are going to work on building a loft-like storage space in the garage (i.e. ORGANIZING–YEAH!!!!).
This is a great representation of what I would like out of my 2009. Physical, mental, environmental health and wellness. This is something I have been thinking about for the last month, anticipating the new year and my resolution(s). What kind of woman (athlete, employee, friend) do I want to be? Wife (training partner, partner)? Step-mother (role model, fun haver)? How do I do that all? Who do I think I am to think I am the first woman to struggle with these questions?
Most of you who know me know I am very black-and-white, VERY uncomfortable with grey area. But that lesson seems to keep offering itself to me to learn. All of what I want to be (see above) is linked to that grey area. Perhaps that is what my 2009 theme needs to be: Grey and loving it! …ok, how about grey and liking it!
Tags: Cycling, Goals, New Year, Organizing
Posted in Family, Goals | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 29th, 2008
Susan was talking to Elli about our New Year’s Eve plans while we were in Florida and Elli didn’t think she was telling the truth. Our plans were to bury a time capsule with the kids and be in bed by 9. When Elli asked me I thought 9 was a little late and that we would probably be in bed by 8:30.
I vary rarely make it until midnight but this year I am going to try my best. Why? Because Susan and I are sitting here watching the Georgetown/UConn game and we saw that Carolina is playing at 10 pm that night. If the game starts at 10 it won’t be over until around 12 so I will try to stay up for that. I could still care less about staying up for the new year though . We are riding with Tamara on the 1st at noon so Susan is going to have a hard time getting in her 11 hours of sleep that she needs (although I doubt she is going to stay up to watch the game with me).
Tags: Basketball, Cycling, Holiday, Kids, New Year, UNC
Posted in Basketball, Family, Holiday | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
I wanted to put a picture of the new bike Tamara, one of Paul’s co-workers, recently bought. We were supposed to ride with her Sunday on the maiden voyage, but she didn’t show!! That’s right, Tamara–I am calling you out on our blog!! Just because it was 35 degrees and threatening rain…
OK, so we only made it 30 minutes b/c I was whiny and cold. Can’t wait to see the new ride!
Tags: Cycling
Posted in Cycling | 1 Comment »