This has been quite a year! Moving from Sunset Beach in North Carolina and leaving some of the best people that I've ever met. I miss the friends that I made in Fayetteville and Sunset Beach. They all treated me like I'd known them for years and years and I consider them some of the best friends I have.
I thought that moving to Hattiesburg was going to be tough but I was lucky enough to know one of the local triathletes here. And through him met Deanna and then Judy and Lesley. It's been years since I've had a group of girls that I could train with and better yet ones that I am happy and proud to call my friends.
Finished out the year this morning with my friends racing the Steamwhistle 12K on the Longleaf Trace. A great way to end 2011! We spent the rest of the morning planning out our 2012 race season!
I have had a great year and I have my North Carolina and Mississippi friends to thank for it!
See you next year!!!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Mother Hen Syndrome
I've been told that I'm like a Mother Hen by my training partners. Should I be offended by this reputation??
Usually I find that I've been riding and racing longer than all of the people that I train with combined and just like to feed them tidbits of information that I think will help them get better. Or at least be more efficient?? Is this a bad thing??
I think for the most part the info that I pass along falls on deaf ears. I notice the silent eye communication between them and the under the breath giggles. I can't tell if they're serious or joking. I have thin skin and sometimes it hurts my feelings.
Maybe I should just stop. I honestly feel that what I've learned over the years can help so many others but maybe I should just worry about myself. Maybe this will be my New Year's Resolution.
What do you think??
Usually I find that I've been riding and racing longer than all of the people that I train with combined and just like to feed them tidbits of information that I think will help them get better. Or at least be more efficient?? Is this a bad thing??
I think for the most part the info that I pass along falls on deaf ears. I notice the silent eye communication between them and the under the breath giggles. I can't tell if they're serious or joking. I have thin skin and sometimes it hurts my feelings.
Maybe I should just stop. I honestly feel that what I've learned over the years can help so many others but maybe I should just worry about myself. Maybe this will be my New Year's Resolution.
What do you think??
Monday, December 12, 2011
Cold Weather Cycling
Rode last Saturday and Sunday and the temperatures were in the 40's on both days. Overcast with a little wind too. It was cold and damp with the humidity up a little bit on both days. UN-perfect cycling weather!
Saturday we rode at 8:30am and the sun made an appearance a couple times. I wore thin cycling tights over my shorts, a long sleeve thermal jersey, my Pearl Izumi wind vest, heavy duty windproof cycling gloves, toe covers and a light fleece beannie. I was pretty comfortable even though it was chilly. My friend Judy had on her Pearl Gavia jacket (ironically the EXACT same one that I have), tights and booties. Her husband Sam even wore a balaclava. Interesting how differently we dress for the cold. Sam had run 10 miles that morning and didn't get a chance to warm back up after - so the balaclava was understandable.
Sunday we rode at 1:30 and the "real feel" temperature was 42 at the ride start and about 46 by the time I finished but this day I felt like a human popcicle by the time I got home. I wore my Pearl Thema Fleece tights over cycling shorts, a Craft wind proof undershirt and , my Pearl Izumi Gavia jacket. Full neoprene booties, the heavy gloves, an ear band and my helmet liner. So I was dressed considerably warmer and I still froze. I should have had another layer and some glove liners. (Oh... I did start out with some of those little "hot hands" in my gloves but when my friend Deanna showed up for the ride she didn't have any toe covers or booties or even full fingered gloves. I thought she was going to really be miserable so I gave her my hot hands to stuff into the toes of her shoes!)
I think I need to put together a little spread sheet on how I dressed with what weather conditions. Geeky?? Because for some reason at the beginning of cold weather season I don't seem to remember what I wore the year before to keep warm. I'll chalk that on up to old age.
There is a nice little tool on the Runner's World site called "What Should I Wear?" that I use all the time for running. You plug in the temperature, wind, conditions and 'How you like to feel' and it comes up with typically the perfect amount of clothing to keep you comfortable.
Okay... so now I feel like a total goof! I went searching for the little picture chart that I've seen before that shows what to wear for cycling and came across this in my search! Voila!
"What Should I Wear" on the Bicycling website!!
Here are a couple more charts that I came across in my search. I like the last column on the first chart. Pretty funny.
On another note one time in North Carolina I was riding with my friends Jen and Pat in sub 40 degree weather - we just couldn't resist getting out there when we all had the day off from work. It was damp and we were pretty miserable. We went on a route that takes us past several really bad dogs - one is especially aggressive and chases us almost every time. This time we saw him and he had on one of those dog jackets. He didn't chase us but ran really fast to his home on the other side of the street and off towards his house. I told my friends that I thought it was because he was caught outside in his house coat and was really embarrassed so he hauled his buns home!
Saturday we rode at 8:30am and the sun made an appearance a couple times. I wore thin cycling tights over my shorts, a long sleeve thermal jersey, my Pearl Izumi wind vest, heavy duty windproof cycling gloves, toe covers and a light fleece beannie. I was pretty comfortable even though it was chilly. My friend Judy had on her Pearl Gavia jacket (ironically the EXACT same one that I have), tights and booties. Her husband Sam even wore a balaclava. Interesting how differently we dress for the cold. Sam had run 10 miles that morning and didn't get a chance to warm back up after - so the balaclava was understandable.
Sunday we rode at 1:30 and the "real feel" temperature was 42 at the ride start and about 46 by the time I finished but this day I felt like a human popcicle by the time I got home. I wore my Pearl Thema Fleece tights over cycling shorts, a Craft wind proof undershirt and , my Pearl Izumi Gavia jacket. Full neoprene booties, the heavy gloves, an ear band and my helmet liner. So I was dressed considerably warmer and I still froze. I should have had another layer and some glove liners. (Oh... I did start out with some of those little "hot hands" in my gloves but when my friend Deanna showed up for the ride she didn't have any toe covers or booties or even full fingered gloves. I thought she was going to really be miserable so I gave her my hot hands to stuff into the toes of her shoes!)
I think I need to put together a little spread sheet on how I dressed with what weather conditions. Geeky?? Because for some reason at the beginning of cold weather season I don't seem to remember what I wore the year before to keep warm. I'll chalk that on up to old age.
There is a nice little tool on the Runner's World site called "What Should I Wear?" that I use all the time for running. You plug in the temperature, wind, conditions and 'How you like to feel' and it comes up with typically the perfect amount of clothing to keep you comfortable.
Okay... so now I feel like a total goof! I went searching for the little picture chart that I've seen before that shows what to wear for cycling and came across this in my search! Voila!
"What Should I Wear" on the Bicycling website!!
Here are a couple more charts that I came across in my search. I like the last column on the first chart. Pretty funny.
On another note one time in North Carolina I was riding with my friends Jen and Pat in sub 40 degree weather - we just couldn't resist getting out there when we all had the day off from work. It was damp and we were pretty miserable. We went on a route that takes us past several really bad dogs - one is especially aggressive and chases us almost every time. This time we saw him and he had on one of those dog jackets. He didn't chase us but ran really fast to his home on the other side of the street and off towards his house. I told my friends that I thought it was because he was caught outside in his house coat and was really embarrassed so he hauled his buns home!
 |
| "I hate this color on me." |
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Tuffburg 5K Trail Run
Yesterday I raced the Tuffburg 5K Trail Run! HUB City VELO, our local bike club put on this race. Raland and Matt and the others did a great job with the race. The course was on the mountain bike trails located just off the Longleaf Trace here in Hattiesburg. The proceeds from the race go to maintaining these awesome trails!!! HUB City VELO is the cycling group that I ride with and I wanted to go out and support the bike club's event.
A couple days before the race my left SI joint locked up and I had some serious sciatic pain all the way down my leg into my calf. This happened to me a couple weeks ago on the same leg and it took 7 days and some self trigger point work to get it to release. It made my knee feel like I'd torn it up again. So I was undecided.... but of course being the hard-headed girl that I am decided to go ahead and race. I figured one of three things would happen: it would get worse, stay the same or get better. Sometimes movement will help to unlock the joint and all the up and downs and turns on a trail run might just be the ticket! And... I was right. I never noticed the pain during the race (typical) and this morning it is gone! Hurray!!!
The race started about 3/4 of a mile from Jackson Station on the Trace by the pipeline. Lance, JD and I jogged to the start and then Lance and I ran a little of the trails to finish our warm up. He'd described the course to me - where to go hard, where it was tough and what to expect. Thank you, Lance!
The field found it's order quickly on the trails at the start and there wasn't much passing going on. The course reminded me of the Mayo Lake triathlon course in North Carolina and I thought of my friend Carol as we twisted and turned through the woods. When we did that race together she told someone to trip me - right after that she fell. I guess it was bad karma to think about such things because I caught me heel on a root and pretty much face planted. See that little low spot between 8:20 and 12:30? That's me on the ground. I saw my face headed fast toward a tree, felt my knee slam into the ground and had my hands out in front. Not the advisable way to fall. In the process of skinning up my leg a little I jammed my right ring finger. This morning it's nice and purple and swollen. (Notice my short index finger? I chopped it off in the hinge of a door when I was three. Bill calls it The Claw).
When I fell Marissa and Dan's youngest son Jake was right behind me and asked "All you alright?" I told him yes and to go, go, go! My hope for the future of the country is restored because after I got up and was running behind him he was calling out "Root" to me to help. I was really impressed by this young man and his kindness during a race, and of course had to tell his Mom and Dad about what he did. I know they've got to be proud of their son. What a cool kid! This was my high point of the day!
I ended up finishing first overall female and won a $15 Gift Card from RoadID®!! I've already ordered it! I got this one in small for my dinky little wrist!
A couple days before the race my left SI joint locked up and I had some serious sciatic pain all the way down my leg into my calf. This happened to me a couple weeks ago on the same leg and it took 7 days and some self trigger point work to get it to release. It made my knee feel like I'd torn it up again. So I was undecided.... but of course being the hard-headed girl that I am decided to go ahead and race. I figured one of three things would happen: it would get worse, stay the same or get better. Sometimes movement will help to unlock the joint and all the up and downs and turns on a trail run might just be the ticket! And... I was right. I never noticed the pain during the race (typical) and this morning it is gone! Hurray!!!
 |
| Giant headed running Reindeer! |
The race started about 3/4 of a mile from Jackson Station on the Trace by the pipeline. Lance, JD and I jogged to the start and then Lance and I ran a little of the trails to finish our warm up. He'd described the course to me - where to go hard, where it was tough and what to expect. Thank you, Lance!
The field found it's order quickly on the trails at the start and there wasn't much passing going on. The course reminded me of the Mayo Lake triathlon course in North Carolina and I thought of my friend Carol as we twisted and turned through the woods. When we did that race together she told someone to trip me - right after that she fell. I guess it was bad karma to think about such things because I caught me heel on a root and pretty much face planted. See that little low spot between 8:20 and 12:30? That's me on the ground. I saw my face headed fast toward a tree, felt my knee slam into the ground and had my hands out in front. Not the advisable way to fall. In the process of skinning up my leg a little I jammed my right ring finger. This morning it's nice and purple and swollen. (Notice my short index finger? I chopped it off in the hinge of a door when I was three. Bill calls it The Claw).
 |
| Pretty.
|
I ended up finishing first overall female and won a $15 Gift Card from RoadID®!! I've already ordered it! I got this one in small for my dinky little wrist!
My only dissapointment for the day was at registration when I signed up that morning. Only Large and X-Large tshirts left. The same thing happened to me at the LongLeaf Century ride. I need a small. I wish they would order more small shirts for us little people. I guess Bill gets another shirt.
Avg HR: 169 Max HR: 182 Time: 27:41 Avg Pace: 8:51 Best Pace: 5:10 | |
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