Tuesday, June 23, 2009
6/22 - Run somewhere fun for 35 minutes
Run and fun in the same sentence? Okay, I'll give it a try. I took Jemma for a run in Vasona Park. I've never run there but running near the water sounded nice. And, it was for the most part. The geese were pretty entertaining. Three times there were hundreds of them blocking the trail. One time we divided the group when we came down the trail and there was one goose that couldn't decide which group to go with. It finally sprinted across the trail, very cute. Later, I got to witness a geese stampede. I guess Jemma freaked them out (and they freaked out Jemma) and they created a dust cloud when the ran for the water. I finished my run and headed home with a tired dog.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Riding Twofer
Two, two, two posts in one!
Friday, 6/19 -
I had a "brick" on my calendar. 1:20 ride, followed by a :20 run. I don't know if it was that I was tired from the day before, or cranky, or just plain stubborn, but I really didn't feel like doing it. :::sigh::: I finally got my act together and headed out on the bike. 8 minutes into the ride I knew it was going to be a long ride. "8 minutes? That's it?" It was time for "Let's Make a Deal Cycling Edition." "2 more minutes and you will be a 1/4 of the way through the first half of the ride." I didn't choose the most exciting route, straight down Williams, its a pretty long straight street. "13 minutes? Just keep pedaling." It was kinda windy which isn't that unusual for the evenings in San Jose. "20 minutes! 1/2 way through the first half, 1/4 done." My bike shorts and skirt were drying so I was riding in my running skirt. Maybe not the best choice, I felt a little exposed when the wind blew back my skirt. "30 minutes. Getting closer. You can turn around at DeAnza whether it's 40 minutes or not." And, I forgot my gloves. "36 minutes . . . 4 more minutes . . . 3 more minutes." Oh, look DeAnza. Fine keep riding. "2 more minutes . . . 1 more minute . . ." Then the street ended at exactly 40 minutes. Ahh . . . heading back. Much faster then going out. Turns out that I was going slightly uphill the way out. I ended up getting home 5 minutes faster. My sore achilles tendon was irritated so I decided to skip the run. Stretched, iced and fueled for my big ride on Saturday.
Saturday, 6/20 -
3 hour ride. 3 hour ride?! Where? How? Why? I enlisted the help of my friend, C. She planned a route that she was pretty sure would take about 3 hours. 39 miles in 3 hours? Yeah, right. We headed out for Morgan Hill at 8am. With a headwind. blech. "wind is a good training partner." yeah, yeah whatever. We were on a "country" road with rolling hills. Some were easier than others. At the top of a hill by Calero Reservoir I tried to change into a harder gear and the chain wasn't catching. My left foot (the one with the irritated achilles) was flung forward and I had a pain go up the side of my ankle. Eek? We stopped at the parking lot so I could stretch my calf. I was worried but it was fine for the rest of the ride. At 1 hour we had made it all the way to Chesboro Reservoir in Morgan Hill. How did that happen? Then we took a smaller country road through some nice trees and horse ranches. There was a surprise hill, but after a little break I was okay to continue. I had a lot of fun on Hale Avenue, which I remember from my childhood. It was fun to be on a straight flat road without intersections. I was going pretty fast, ~18 mph. Too bad the road surface wasn't smoother. Then it was time for Bailey Hill. Dun, dun, duhhhh. I've heard about this challenging hill. C chose this route because it is similar to the route for the AquaBike on 8/1. I got myself in a good head space and tried to remain calm. I did pretty well. I think it was about a mile long. I stopped three times to catch my breath, but rode up that darn hill. Then we were back on McKean Road and had some fun on the down hills. We ended up back at the cars 30 minutes early. "What the heck?" So, we continued on Camden for 15 minutes out and back. Which included Camden Hill. Oof. Usually, I stop once on Camden Hill, but this time I stopped twice and used Coach H's counting technique to get to the top of the hill, "30 . . . 31 . . . 32 . . . 33 . . . 35 . . . 36. Done!" We headed back to the cars and were back in that headwind. Grrr.
I have tired legs but I'm very pleased. 36.25 miles in 3 hours. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do 56 miles on August first, but I still need to work on the chafing.
Friday, 6/19 -
I had a "brick" on my calendar. 1:20 ride, followed by a :20 run. I don't know if it was that I was tired from the day before, or cranky, or just plain stubborn, but I really didn't feel like doing it. :::sigh::: I finally got my act together and headed out on the bike. 8 minutes into the ride I knew it was going to be a long ride. "8 minutes? That's it?" It was time for "Let's Make a Deal Cycling Edition." "2 more minutes and you will be a 1/4 of the way through the first half of the ride." I didn't choose the most exciting route, straight down Williams, its a pretty long straight street. "13 minutes? Just keep pedaling." It was kinda windy which isn't that unusual for the evenings in San Jose. "20 minutes! 1/2 way through the first half, 1/4 done." My bike shorts and skirt were drying so I was riding in my running skirt. Maybe not the best choice, I felt a little exposed when the wind blew back my skirt. "30 minutes. Getting closer. You can turn around at DeAnza whether it's 40 minutes or not." And, I forgot my gloves. "36 minutes . . . 4 more minutes . . . 3 more minutes." Oh, look DeAnza. Fine keep riding. "2 more minutes . . . 1 more minute . . ." Then the street ended at exactly 40 minutes. Ahh . . . heading back. Much faster then going out. Turns out that I was going slightly uphill the way out. I ended up getting home 5 minutes faster. My sore achilles tendon was irritated so I decided to skip the run. Stretched, iced and fueled for my big ride on Saturday.
Saturday, 6/20 -
3 hour ride. 3 hour ride?! Where? How? Why? I enlisted the help of my friend, C. She planned a route that she was pretty sure would take about 3 hours. 39 miles in 3 hours? Yeah, right. We headed out for Morgan Hill at 8am. With a headwind. blech. "wind is a good training partner." yeah, yeah whatever. We were on a "country" road with rolling hills. Some were easier than others. At the top of a hill by Calero Reservoir I tried to change into a harder gear and the chain wasn't catching. My left foot (the one with the irritated achilles) was flung forward and I had a pain go up the side of my ankle. Eek? We stopped at the parking lot so I could stretch my calf. I was worried but it was fine for the rest of the ride. At 1 hour we had made it all the way to Chesboro Reservoir in Morgan Hill. How did that happen? Then we took a smaller country road through some nice trees and horse ranches. There was a surprise hill, but after a little break I was okay to continue. I had a lot of fun on Hale Avenue, which I remember from my childhood. It was fun to be on a straight flat road without intersections. I was going pretty fast, ~18 mph. Too bad the road surface wasn't smoother. Then it was time for Bailey Hill. Dun, dun, duhhhh. I've heard about this challenging hill. C chose this route because it is similar to the route for the AquaBike on 8/1. I got myself in a good head space and tried to remain calm. I did pretty well. I think it was about a mile long. I stopped three times to catch my breath, but rode up that darn hill. Then we were back on McKean Road and had some fun on the down hills. We ended up back at the cars 30 minutes early. "What the heck?" So, we continued on Camden for 15 minutes out and back. Which included Camden Hill. Oof. Usually, I stop once on Camden Hill, but this time I stopped twice and used Coach H's counting technique to get to the top of the hill, "30 . . . 31 . . . 32 . . . 33 . . . 35 . . . 36. Done!" We headed back to the cars and were back in that headwind. Grrr.
I have tired legs but I'm very pleased. 36.25 miles in 3 hours. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do 56 miles on August first, but I still need to work on the chafing.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
By Popular Demand: The Tour de Cure
When I was living in LA (well, Pasadena) in 2000, I remember my dad calling and saying, "I'm thinking of getting a bike." Umm . . . okay, dad sure. he started looking but was shocked at the price of bikes. Keep in mind that he hadn't bought a bike since the early 1970s. Last year after I started this whole triathlon thing he was interested in bikes again. Then, when I bought my new bike this spring he was caught up in the bike buying frenzy and got one for himself. Also, this spring he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and knew he need to do something for his health.
He recruited Sara, Cabe, and I to ride with him as a team in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. The tour is a ride (not a race) to raise money and awareness about diabetes. At first, Dad was interested in doing the 25K (~12 mile) ride. Sara and I got together and nagged until we signed up for the 50K (~30 mile) ride. We did a few training rides together, including part of the Tour de Cure course two weeks before the ride. I was a nice ride, but there were more hills than expected. Apparently, I need to learn how to read elevations.
Sunday, June 14th was the day of the big ride! Ready or not, the Red Hot Johnsons were ready to roll. We got to the start area with Mom as our SAG wagon. Perfect timing! We had time to pick up our packets, Dad got his "Red Rider" jersey which identified him as a rider with diabetes, make a pit stop, and line up at the start.
I was a little nervous at the start, I could just see a big crash with the start. But we made it through and headed out on our big adventure. The first few miles are a gradual climb and the team did a great job! We even passed some people. :-) Unfortunately, no one brought a camera, so we don't have any shots of our beautiful ride through Palo Alto, Woodside, and some other towns on the Peninsula. We enjoyed the snacks at the rest stop. But I was very sad when I dropped some of my trail mix. Then we were off for the trek to the turn around. I absolutely loved riding on Portola. The road was smooth and I felt comfortable flying up and down the rolling hills. We all just kept pedaling and pedaling. I couldn't believe how good I was feeling even up the hills. There was a group heading the opposite direction, they saw dad's jersey and yelled out, "Go Red Rider!!" (I think we have a new alter ego for dad.)
The last push to the turn-around was long and I was really happy to turn in to the aid station. I got off my bike and took of my left shoe because the top of my foot was hurting. But that's okay, there were cookies! I got a few cookies, a banana, and some trail mix. And, what happened? I dropped my trail mix. :-( Anyway, we had our snacks and then it was time to head back. It was all downhill, from here, right?
Well, almost. We had a good ride back, mostly down hill but a few up hills. As we were hitting stoplights with other riders things got a little backed up, but we all found our own pace. At one of the last lights before the end another rider was getting tired and turned to dad and said, "I'm doing this for you, you know." :-) I told dad, our team captain, to lead us in to the finish. It was so great to have people cheering at the finish and mom was right there to take our picture!
50 K in 3:34 hours. We had a great time and thank everyone who made a donation to American Diabetes Association.
He recruited Sara, Cabe, and I to ride with him as a team in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. The tour is a ride (not a race) to raise money and awareness about diabetes. At first, Dad was interested in doing the 25K (~12 mile) ride. Sara and I got together and nagged until we signed up for the 50K (~30 mile) ride. We did a few training rides together, including part of the Tour de Cure course two weeks before the ride. I was a nice ride, but there were more hills than expected. Apparently, I need to learn how to read elevations.
Sunday, June 14th was the day of the big ride! Ready or not, the Red Hot Johnsons were ready to roll. We got to the start area with Mom as our SAG wagon. Perfect timing! We had time to pick up our packets, Dad got his "Red Rider" jersey which identified him as a rider with diabetes, make a pit stop, and line up at the start.
I was a little nervous at the start, I could just see a big crash with the start. But we made it through and headed out on our big adventure. The first few miles are a gradual climb and the team did a great job! We even passed some people. :-) Unfortunately, no one brought a camera, so we don't have any shots of our beautiful ride through Palo Alto, Woodside, and some other towns on the Peninsula. We enjoyed the snacks at the rest stop. But I was very sad when I dropped some of my trail mix. Then we were off for the trek to the turn around. I absolutely loved riding on Portola. The road was smooth and I felt comfortable flying up and down the rolling hills. We all just kept pedaling and pedaling. I couldn't believe how good I was feeling even up the hills. There was a group heading the opposite direction, they saw dad's jersey and yelled out, "Go Red Rider!!" (I think we have a new alter ego for dad.)
The last push to the turn-around was long and I was really happy to turn in to the aid station. I got off my bike and took of my left shoe because the top of my foot was hurting. But that's okay, there were cookies! I got a few cookies, a banana, and some trail mix. And, what happened? I dropped my trail mix. :-( Anyway, we had our snacks and then it was time to head back. It was all downhill, from here, right?
Well, almost. We had a good ride back, mostly down hill but a few up hills. As we were hitting stoplights with other riders things got a little backed up, but we all found our own pace. At one of the last lights before the end another rider was getting tired and turned to dad and said, "I'm doing this for you, you know." :-) I told dad, our team captain, to lead us in to the finish. It was so great to have people cheering at the finish and mom was right there to take our picture!
50 K in 3:34 hours. We had a great time and thank everyone who made a donation to American Diabetes Association.
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