Rest week #1

I'm looking forward to this, too, which honestly surprises me. I rode and rode and followed the program as best as my work/life schedule would allow. That would be mostly work.

I took Friday off, was supposed to ride 3-4 hours, I rode 2.5. But, in my defense I spent more time than planned getting my fenders put on the cx bike. No complaints as the LBS has great service, I highly recommend these guys. Saturday was to be 3-4 hours and I got in 3. I rode WolfPen to Chamberlain to LaGrange Rd. and back and then throught the parks. By Sunday I was wiped, but was supposed to do another 3 hours. All I could muster was 45 minutes. My legs and arse were aching and screaming. I was cranky and bitchy as hell. The spin helped.

Today was core + recovery. Tomorrow is an hour on the bike + strength

got my car back! I should be in bed, so heading there now...................

ups and downs

not sure why I let shit bother me. I took off for a training ride this afternoon. The weather was great, just a little cool which is perfect for riding a bike. I was focussed on cadence and keeping my HR down. I was 15-20 minutes in and the car repair shop called. I pulled off and got the lowdown, $2,400. I told them to do it. Continued on the ride and was just deflated. The tax man and the transmission are taking more than the net bonus I got. Yes, I know it's a good thing I got the bonus. So stupid. I riding and crying. I start up dog hill and try to focus on cadence. All was good on the first 2 parts, but by the third I couldn't maintain. Cadence dropped and I bogged down. Happens everytime. And then I start crying again. STUPID what's the point? I was to ride 2.5 hours and had things to focus on and all I could do was blubber like a baby. So I came home and went to bed. Woke up and realized I have no veggies in the apt. It takes me a while but I finally make up my mind to walk down the street, find me some supper. Everyone must've been at the Irish Rover, Frankfort ave was packed. I walked to Kroger. Nice walk. bought some veggies and fruit, stopped for beer and enjoyed the time away. I'd say I was out for about 40 minutes give or take. Lots of people staggering down the sidewalks. It is St Patrick's Day. Made me stop feeling sorry for myself that I didn't have anyone to drink green beer with. I need a bike lock if I want to ride after work. I need to get over this money shit and back to training. yeah, that's it

It's only money, right?

Seems Murphy is always at play, one way or another. Maybe I'm tempting fate. Maybe I procrastinate on important things. It doesn't matter, the transmission has gone out on my car. It's a 2002 and has ~ 130,000 (if memory serves). It's been paid for since 2006 and I swear; has been the best car I've ever owned. The guys says minimum of $1,800. We'll find out tomorrow.

Mr. Taxman will be knocking at my door in 30 days. Seems I didn't do the W4 change correctly while I was convalescing from my broken collar bone. Therefore, taxes continued to be withheld at the married rate instead of the single rate. Yippee!

There goes the new bike I want to buy. There goes the furniture I was checking out. There goes moving, unless I find something MUCH cheaper than what I have now.

I shouldn't complain. I have it so much better than lots of people. I ride my bike most anytime I want. I am able to help out the kiddos when they get in a crunch.

So, I have to get creative with my finances if I want to buy that new bike and furniture and move to a new place. Or I just need to be patient and wait a while. Life is good, it's full of great friends, family and colleagues.

First race of Spring Series

saw many cyclists out racing today. They came from all over the region, Lexington, Bardstown, Cincinatti and Evansville. (Those are the places I know anyway, could be more). The weather was a chilly 48-50F, but I swear it felt like 42. Must've been the wind that blew all day long.

I thought my plan was working well. The week's workout were good, all in all. Friday morning I went and had my shoulder worked out. He massaged and manipulated and gave me acupunture. By the time my hour was over I had about 95% range of motion and most of the pain was gone. Late in the afternoon after I wrapped up work I put in 40 minutes of openers/spin. Just enough to get the heart rate up, a good sweat on, and spin out the legs. Joined a friend for dinner and talked race strategy. Came home and turned in well before 11.

Slept til 7. Ate a good breakfast. Gathered my gear, went through the check list, wrote out my warm-up, packed extra clothes in case it got colder. I had plenty of time. Left the house a little after 11 hoping to have a full hour before I needed to start warming up. Got to the Watterson and realized I did not have my inhaler. Not smart to race without it. Turned around, hit most traffic lights, got the inhaler. Upon leaving I decided Shelbyville Rd was too busy so I took Brownsboro. My transmission began slipping/not engaging more and more. By the time I got back to Shelbyville Rd south of the Watterson it felt like the car was not shifting out of 2nd and the RPM was too high. If I had to touch the brakes the gears would disengage and I would either coast or have to wait for the car to reengage the gears. I couldn't go over 35, when I got to 35. I just turned up the stereo and sang and tried to laugh. I was either going to make it to the venue or I wasn't. I would either race or not. Didn't seem to be up to me.

I made it, pulled in and parked about 12:40. Registered, hit the portalet, setup the trainer, put on my warmup gear and sat on the bike to start warming up @ 1:00. I had a good warmup, too. Was feeling great. Several people stopped to say Hi, but didn't hang too long knowing a cyclist needs a good warmup. I finished, changed the rear wheel out to my racing wheel, changed into dry base and jersey, put on my wind vest with the number and my fleece jacket to stay warm. Rode up to the start/finish, one more potty break and ready to go. One problem, there was 8 minutes before start. Not enough time to ride a lap. I should've kept moving, but didn't and got too cool before the start. Not a great start for me, but stayed with the main group of 4s, got to the backside and started up the hill. About 2/3s up the hill I bogged down a bit and stood up to stay with them. BIG pain shoots out my shoulder down my arm. I sit down, start shifting to find a sweet spot. The more I work the farther away the rest of the packs gets. I stood again and started sprinting hard. It was too late and more pain in my shoulder. pooh - I guess I could've kept riding and finished, but I started asking myself why? It's middle of March. I'm not planning on peaking for months. I need my shoulder to be well. So I rode to the start/finish and left the course. wah wah

I did get to cheer on all the other ladies racing. The winner of the 1/2/3 was uncontested, she's one strong cyclist. The cat 4 race was fun to watch. One of my team mates finished 4th, but was in contention throughout the entire race. It was good to see many people I've not seen since cyclocross or road season. Many Rogue team mates came out and cheered for the Rogue lady racers. There was even some beer flowing!

Back to the program for me now. 3 hour endurance tomorrow. Need to buy a good light for my bike as I will be commuting for a while. Monday will be spent finding a shop to fix my transmission. (the drive home was SKETCHY!) Guess it's a good thing I didn't buy a new bike yet. Put it on hold for a little while. Need to get the engine in better running condition before that investment I reckon.

stop right here - women's zone

I should've known. Why else would my face break out? Why else would I want chocolate 3 days in a row? It's been 5 months since my friend (NOT) visited me. Once again I get to start counting from the beginning. I'm cranky, I'm tired and I want to go to bed. I have a tough 45 minute workout on the calendar and I don't want to do it. Taking a nap now though it's 6:15 pm. This seriously sux big wind. later

Ah, sun and some warmth for riding

Saturday I slept in. My shoulder kept waking me up, I knew it was going to be a chilly morning, so I slept in. It was almost 8 before I rose to make my oatmeal. I fixed my first coffee in a week. Odd, I didn't finish the 2nd cup. The first hit the spot, but oh well.

I had a few things to take care of and needed to get 1.5 hour ride too. Finally, about noon I jumped in the car and drove to a few addresses to see the outside of some apartments. Not sure what to do. Maybe I'll just sign another year lease. Need to read it again before I decide. By the time I got home, it was almost 2 and the temps were warming to almost 50. Jumped on the bike and rode the parks, endurance and nothing difficult. I focussed on trying to stay relaxed, especially through the upper body. The left shoulder makes it so easy to put more pressure on the right and then my neck gets tight - domino effect. It was a good ride. Plans to go to a movie with a friend fell through. So after a long hot soak, I fixed dinner, did laundry, packed my gear and had a couple of beers. EXCITING stuff LOL

This morning I joined three buddies for a ride across a couple of knobs in southern Indiana. It was 23 miles to our destination which was the Mad Dog Prologue Time Trial. We logged a little more than 54 miles total. It was 26F when we started and I had stressed over what to wear, knowing it was to warm up to 50s by the end of the ride. The first few miles my thumbs went numb. However, once we climbed the first knob everything was alive and well and warm. Circulation tends to do that. The first time I stood in the pedals I had to sit back down after a very few seconds. That pulled too much on my left shoulder. Riding the steepest/longest knob of the day, Blunk Knob took me off the bike twice. Both times were just pulling up in the handle bars and I was probably going 4mph, maybe! I wonder how slow you can go up a hill and not fall over. I really don't want to find out, at least not on pavement. We arrived @ the TT and had 15-20 minutes to wait before starting. I wasn't going to do it, but one of my buds said just ride it and not worry about race or time. My legs were cold and so I just took off for a leisurely ride, until Tim passed me. Then I started thinking about all the others that would pass me. Eh, I really don't like that. So I started picking it up and pushed after the first 1.5 miles. There were some rollers and a couple of good ones before the last downhill to the finish. I stood a few times and kept changing the gears to find a sweet spot. Darn headwind was no fun. But only one other rider passed me. By the time we headed home I was whooped. My shoulder was very fatigued and halfway back was starting to hurt. I felt bad, as I was holding everyone back. I should've written down the route so I could've sent them on their way. All the way back I kept telling myself; relax, elbows in, shoulders down, spin, spin, spin. And everytime I lost a wheel I just cursed myself. It's so damned difficult to bridge and grab back on. Telling myself to stop being a big baby, that I can do this, just find the right gear and spin. It's a good thing I have plenty of time to get ready, because I won't be competitve for the first race this weekend if I race. Shoulder has to improve a lot. May just wait til the 20th.

Got home and was very tired so took a 30 minute nap. Then went and washed the car. I should've had a good dinner, but caved and fixed a frozen pizza. I miss Socks, the jacuzzi tub with jets, real face-to-face conversations with people among a few other things, too. Oh well, this is life.

Thank goodness, the weather was great and I got to spend a few hours outdoors with friends on my bike this weekend!

Time to put it on a shelf

this thought of another romance in this life. Honestly, I should enjoy my bike and try to find time to be around girlfriends. The second is most difficult it seems.

Not sure what I expected really. Not sure I expected anything. But it's interesting that I've been on my own close to a year and single 7 months and the dates I have been on were initiated by me. So, I'm gonna leave it be. Don't think I'll stop daydreaming. Just no more wishful thinking.

The sun looks fantastic and I just want to ride my bike.

Snap, crackle, pop

Today started with a 7:30 call and was non-stop until 11:00. This is when I walked away from the pc, brushed my teeth and drove to see C. It's been almost a week since my nice fall from the mtn bike onto my shoulder. She asks, "did you put hear or ice on it?" I said, "only if hot baths count". I never really took anything either. The one evening it hurt really badly I put my mind to quieting the aches and pains.

C does wonders. She has such a soothing demeanor and voice. But she can get those fingers and elbows right to the point of the problem. It hurts so GOOD! She put time on the shoulder at first, then moved to the other appendages. Then I turn over on my front and she covers my back with heat. Next she works all 4 appendages again, plus toes and feet. Heaven As she takes the heating pad off my back she exclaims how out of alignment I am. She focusses on my left shoulder blade, across the spine, across the top and back to the ball joint. All the while she locates pressure points, there are two that put my elbow and palm either in pain or numbness. We went longer than normal today. She came back in after I dressed and looked at me. Turned me to the mirror and said look. I hadn't separated my shoulder, but definitely knocked it out of whack. It was sticking up where my shoulder have a natural slope just off perpendicular to the floor. She worked on it some more and I felt a little pop, but still had trouble with range of motion.

We went out to the herb room and waited for H. He was prepping to take off, but took a couple of minutes for me. Looked at my tongue and then worked on my shoulder. Pressure points! ah the pain and relief. He tells C, "her shoulder is freezing up". Suddenly there's this nice POP. Tonight I'm feeling much better. Not perfect or 100% but better.

I had more work waiting for me and finally was able to get to my strength exercise routine. I've been putting it off a couple of days now. I can't do everything due to my shoulder, but still a large percentage was checked off the list. Talk about noisy! Snap, Crackle, Pop both my shoulders were sounding off. Well, and other joints were too like hips and knees and my back doing those trunk rotations. Fun times!

No acupunture today. But C&H know their stuff. I will get my pulley out in the morning and start on the same range of motion things I was doing when I broke the other shoulder. Then I hope to get in a nice ride. Weather is fantabulous right now. Sun hasn't quite set, but almost and my living room window is open with the fan running. To quote Murph, "Life Is Good"

full day

started with an inbox full of email @ 6 am. They seemed to just keep coming. I've tried to make Wed a 6-noon day so I can ride. Didn't happen today. It was 3 before I left the office. Came home and put 2 hours on the trainer and another hour of work. Took a hot bath, fixed dinner, moved furniture and clutter as new windows are being installed tomorrow. Fun times

The fall on Saturday is haunting me. My left shoulder is not right. I couldn't stay on the handlebars more than 10-15 minutes at a time during my workout. I must get this right or won't be able to race on 13th. I hope C can work it out Friday. But I think it's going to take a while. Have a pinched nerve as my hand is all tingly and gets numb.

yay

but I am a lucky girl, I got to ride my bike today even if it was on a trainer inside.