Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Cool Springs Short Route: Birthday Ride!

Today is my birthday, and I celebrated with a run at lunchtime. The last time I ran was during the Rev3 Knoxville race, so it had definitely been a while. I will probably feel it tomorrow, but it was definitely worth it. My pace was 8:03--not good, not bad, pretty mediocre--for the 3.1 miles. I'll take it, especially since I'm not running much at all.

After work, I went home, opened a couple presents from my mom (pics to come), and then jumped on my bike for a ride. I didn't really want to ride with a group the whole time, but I did want to start with them. It ended up being perfect. I started with the group, the fast group took off right away, I stayed with them for as long as I could, then I cut off to the shorter route and rode the rest of the route solo.


Stats: 4-19-114-12-115-31-11.

  • Total: 1:47:30, 31.7 miles, 17.7 avg (35.5 max), 160 HR (193 max)
    Total: 1:46:39, 31.9 miles, 17.9 avg (33.9 max), 151 HR (188 max)
    Total: 1:43:14, 30.82 mi, 17.9 avg (34.6 max), 158 HR (191 max)
  • Warm up: 23:38, 5.9 mi, 15.1 avg, 145 HR
    Warm up: 21:24, 5.9 mi, 16.5 avg, 120 HR
    Warm up + rollout: 28:27, 8.08 mi, 17 avg, 128 HR
  • Ride: 1:05:04, 20.7 mi, 19.1 avg, 169 HR
    Ride: 1:04:09, 20.9 mi, 19.7 avg, 160 HR
    Ride to route split: 17:32, 6.59 mi, 22.5 mph, 178 HR
  • Ride to route finish: 12.05 mi, 41:34, 17.4 avg, 168 HR
  • Cool down: 18:47, 5.1 mi, 16.2 avg, 151 HR
    Cool down: 21:03, 5.1 mi, 14.5 avg, 141 HR
    Cool down: 15:39, 4.1 mi, 15.7 avg, 148 HR

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Weekend's Racing: State TT, MOAB Crit

This weekend was a fabulous one for racing. Holiday weekends are always good—not sure why, but they make everything more exciting. This one has been no exception. It started out Saturday with the State Time Trial. This was promoted by Tim Hall of NashvilleCyclist.com and Team Belladium. Todd took care of most of our responsibilities, which left us to ride our bikes. And ride we did! Plus he hooked us up with sweet wheels; these made me feel fast!


Catherine took some pictures while she was out there cheering us on, so hopefully she’ll share them so we can see my teammates’ setups, too! This was 40K of “you’re on your own!” trying to catch the women in front of you and trying to keep the women behind you from catching you. I loved it. We’d ridden the course twice before and I was very familiar with it, so all I had to think about was catching or not being caught. Both happened: I was caught and passed, but I caught and passed a few people, too. I rode my best, with no time expectation nor any other goal except to do my best.

This race was a success. My overall time was 1:11:03, which was good enough for 20th out of 27. Stats: 1:11:03, 24.82 mi, 21 mph (35.2 max), 179 HR (189 max). I am so impressed with my teammates: Parri was 2nd, Kat was 6th, Anna was the 3rd Cat 4, and the rest of us finished in the following order: Lisa S, Lisa C, Cali, me, Valerie, Shelly, and Jonell. I am so amazed by everyone’s races!

Today was a crit over in Murfreesboro. It was another beautiful day, another great venue, another chance for Team Belladium to shine, and another day of action. The 4s raced first, and I watched their race and cheered.

Cat 3/4s lined up



This also gave me a chance to check out the course and get prepared for what I had anticipated would be a hard race. Surprisingly, only 9 women showed up, and 5 of us were Belladium girls.

Lisa, Cali, me, Kat, and Parri ready to go!

We knew we had the numbers, and we had a plan, so I was ready to, again, do my best. Kat played a card early and was off the front for most of the race; Cali and Parri played a few cards later and were together for about half of the race; I had no cards to play and just raced as smart as I could. I stuck with Sandra, an SVMIC lady who I know is strong, and determined to make her do any required work while I sat on her wheel and did absolutely nothing. It worked out perfectly. Kat caught up to us and Sandra got on her wheel; I stayed on Sandra’s wheel again and still did nothing.

Mid-race: Olga, Lisa, Jess, Cali, Parri, Stephanie, me

On the last lap, I played the one card I had: a sprint. Sandra tried to attack up the last hill to catch Parri and Cali, but I knew she was going and was ready to go with her and do everything I could to out-sprint her. I succeeded, and because we’d gotten lapped we finished at the same time as Kat. But this left me in 4th, Cali in 3rd, Parri in 2nd, and Kat in 1st. Lisa S was able to finish with me, so she took 7th. Overall, we pretty much dominated this race. It was so much fun, and it was relieving to not have to do too much work. Again, a super-impressive showing by my super-strong teammates!

Stats: 49:43, 17.62 mi, 21.3 avg (29.5 max), 178 HR (203 max)

Overall, the weekend has been amazing so far. Friday included a short ride to get a feel for the wheels and then an afternoon filled with helping Josh and Anna S move. And a little chat with my sister—I can’t wait to see my family in a couple weeks!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Late Ride

Val and I got a late start on our ride tonight, which also meant that we missed Kat on the road somehow. We got to an intersection and had to decide which way we thought Kat had ridden, and I made the wrong decision. Our ride was a little slow because we were looking for her the entire time and just kind of chilling, but it was very pleasant. Also, there were 3 sprint signs, so we did a little work! One was hidden and we didn't know it was coming up; two were at the top of the same hill (one in either direction). Val got the first because she happened to be leading, I got the first hill one, Valerie got the second (pretty much dominated up the hill the whole time). Thus she got the win for the ride (not that we were racing...).


This weekend is the State TT, and Todd hooked me up with some sweet wheels. My bike hardly looks like my own, and it is so light! That means I will be so fast tomorrow—can't wait!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

NC.Com Crit #2

Today's NashvilleCyclist.com race was so different than the first of the series 2 weeks ago. There were fewer women in general, fewer Team Belladium women specifically, I had a different attitude, the winds were stronger. But I was looking forward to it just as much. Lisa C, Valerie, Shelly, and I were representing Team Belladium, and 4 teammates in a group of 11 was good odds; SVMIC had 3, and Cumberland Transit had 4.

Valerie and I got in a good warmup, riding from the wave pool, through Shelby Park, and to the stadium. Unfortunately during that warmup I picked up a few things in my tire and limped into the parking lot with a flat rear tire. I had a spare tube, so after pulling out the metal thorns (and getting Jeremy to help with one) and finding a pump, I was set.

Tonight was very windy, and that made a couple of the turns a little slower than they normally would have been. It also allowed for some attacks, which definitely happened. At one point, somehow, a CT lady and and an SVMIC lady got up the road a little—we couldn't let that happen if we wanted a chance to win (and of course we did!), so I worked to pull the 3 or 4 people behind me up to the group. Since there were only 3 teams and 2 of the teams were represented ahead, Team B had to work to reel in the 2 ahead of us. Sadly, by that time, it was just me in the group, so I did all the work. I really tried to get some of the CT and SVMIC women to come around and pull, but they just kept saying, "We have teammates up there. If you want to catch them, you have to do it,"; and, "You're on your own if you want to catch them!" Not what I wanted to hear (at that point I thought Lisa C was still with me), but I went for it and finally caught them.

We ended up as a group of 6 in the lead: 3 SVMIC women, 2 CT women, and me. I could really then just sit and wait for them to do something (and of course cover any attack) or wait for my chance to sprint. With less than 8 laps to go (inside the "no free lap" zone), my bike started to feel a little off around the corners. My first thought was that the wind had picked up. But I wasn't doing much work, so I shouldn't have felt the wind any more pronounced than it had been. Then I looked down and realized that my rear wheel was looking flat. I had to move to the back and figured that no one would know (and I'd just stay away from them on the corners). That only lasted so long—until I really couldn't corner at any speed whatsoever and still feel comfortable.

With 3 laps to go, I fell off completely and sadly had to let the 5 I'd been with charge to the finish. Todd said just to finish, so I did. Every once in a while, I'd see Val and Lisa behind me making up ground on me. I resolved to not let them catch me, and they didn't. But I didn't have a chance to sprint it out at the finish, and I was bummed about that. Plus Team B's highest finish was 6th, so as a team that's a disappointing low place. On a good note, we did finish 6, 7, 8, and 9, so we look like we all came across together!

Jonell and Anna were there cheering, and Jonell took a few pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to post a few so that this blog isn't so text-heavy! Stats:

  • Warmup: 27:54, 7.17 mi, 15.4 mph, 135 HR
  • Race: 31:16, 10.62 mi, 20.4 mph, 179 HR
  • Cooldown: 26.21, 6.17 mi, 14 mph, 154 HR
  • Place: 6 of 11 (5-11-11 place: 6 of 13)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Dropped Chain

Today during the Harpeth Club's Cool Springs ride, I dropped my chain at the most inopportune time. Not that there's ever a good time to drop it, but today I was with the big group, about 10 riders back from the front, and just starting up the big hill. I tried to switch to the small chain ring, and there when the chain. I know and was thinking, "Shift and pedal; shift and pedal!" Usually that works to get the chain back on, but there were too many people behind me that if I got my chain caught and couldn't pedal, I'd cause a pile-up. So, I pedaled (to no avail but I didn't want anyone to know my chain was off) until I got to a driveway where I could stop, out of the way. I got my chain back on, but the group had left me in the dust. I ended up with 2 guys, we caught who we could and ended up as a group of 5, and finished pretty strong. I was hoping to have been with the group but didn't want to work too hard. It was fun regardless.


Here are stats from the ride. 5-17-11; 5-24-11:

  • Totals:
    1:45:00, 34.75 mi, 19.9 mph, 159 HR
    1:49:55, 34.47 mi, 18.8 avg (37.9 max), 159 HR (198 max)
  • Warm up:
    21:32, 6.12 mi, 17 mph, 140 HR
    22:51, 5.84 mi, 15.3 avg, 131 HR
  • Rollout:
    8:52, 2.35 mi, 15.9 avg, 134 HR
  • Ride:
    1:08:54, 24.64 mi, 21.5 mph, 167 HR
    1:03:30, 22.36 mi, 21.1 avg, 175 HR
  • Cool down:
    14:30, 3.9 mi, 17.5 mph, 160 HR
    14:42, 3.91 mi, 16 avg, 155 HR

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Home Run!

Yum—the perfect summer meal!

Today we took a little time to recon the State TT course, and I am so glad we did. I do best when I know what a race course looks like before I have to race on it, and today was the perfect opportunity to get a feel for the course. It is going to be fun to race on next weekend! We rode out to the turnaround, chatted a bit there, and turned around to return to the finish. We spent a little time riding at the turnaround and at the finish.

  • Totals: 1:35:31, 29.21 miles, 18.3 mph (35.7 max), 138 HR (177 max)
  • Out: 34:00, 12.52 miles, 22.1 mph, 155 HR
  • In: 39:50, 12.32 miles, 18.6 mph, 142 HR

Can you tell which way the wind was blowing? This gives me a good idea of what to expect next weekend. I am looking forward to being able to see far ahead of me so that I’ll know how far until I catch the next person in front of me!

After a couple hours of relaxing, I headed to Granny White Park for a Fellowship Team softball game. I’m sort of on the team and sort of not, since I really won’t be able to play that often because of racing. But today it worked out so that I could play, and I had a blast. There were a couple new players from last season but a lot of returning players, and we knew how to play together—that always helps make playing with others easier. I had to focus a lot on remembering that this was slow pitch and thus required a slower swim, and that focus paid off. My first at-bat was a single with 2 RBIs; my second at-bat was an in-the-park grand slam (that’s a first for me in this league); my third at-bat was a single that advanced but didn’t score the runner. I wasn’t quite as perfect in the field and need to work on that next time (if there is a next time before the fall season).

I’m not sure what all I was focused on, definitely on swinging right, knowing where to throw the ball, and knowing how many outs there were, and maybe that’s it. I didn’t pay attention to the final score (we might have won by runs, or we might have won by time limit, but we definitely won). I never know what inning it was. And I definitely didn’t notice until one of the last innings that we had 4 umpires. Oh, well, it didn’t really matter during the game, so I didn’t really let it bother me for the rest of the game. It did make me realize, though, why when I did umpire I had no idea what to do or where to stand.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

SVMIC Drop Ride

This is called a drop ride, which means that if you fall off, you stay off and are dropped by everyone else why they keep going. They are fun because they force you to work hard, but they are not fun if you get dropped and don't know the route. I got dropped and didn't know the route, but thankfully Anna M had gotten dropped too and David F was kind enough to stay with both of us, so I still got in a great ride. The SVMIC ride is about 62 miles, but I cut 13 miles off because I wanted some TT practice for next weekend's state TT. I would guess (not having looked at my Garmin) that about 20 miles were with people and 19 miles were by myself.

I managed to stay with the group for the first 26 minutes. Yikes! They were moving fast!

Here is the route; I had to map it backwards because I couldn't remember how we'd gotten to Leipers Creek the first time I looked at the map. So what you see us going down at mile 21 we actually climbed.


Anna and I must have looked up around the same time and saw that hill. She asked what it was, and I said, "A wall!" David informed us it was Theta, one of the well-known difficult climbs around here. It wasn't long, but it was definitely steep and challenging!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Cool Springs Long Route

After my 3x30 sec (heavy) workout at lunch (lunge with 65lb, GHR at 60* with no weight, and curl with 17.5lb dumbbells), I decided to ride with the Harpeth club. It was chilly and I had to turn around once after leaving to put on more clothes, but I'm glad I did the ride. There are always strong racers who come out to play, and though some of the fastest riders weren't out tonight, there was a good fast group still.


I always try to stay with the leaders for as long as possible, and lately that had been until the turnoff to the shorter route. But tonight I let myself stay in the middle of the group, on the inside, so I would have no chance of cutting the ride short. This also meant I was forced to stay with the group, even up Gosey Hill (around my mile 15). That was a challenge, but I survived. Hooray! Once I made it up that hill with everyone, I knew I'd have no trouble staying with them the rest of the ride. Here are stats from the ride:

  • Total: 1:45:00, 34.75 mi, 19.9 mph, 159 HR
  • Warm up: 21:32, 6.12 mi, 17 mph, 140 HR
  • Ride: 1:08:54, 24.64 mi, 21.5 mph, 167 HR
  • Cool down: 14:30, 3.9 mi, 17.5 mph, 160 HR

Next time I want to make another lap at the corner of South Carothers and Hwy 96. We leave from Healthways and have to make it through 3 stoplights before we are into the country with less traffic. Because of this, we all stay behind Jeff while he leads us through that last light. It's not super slow, but it's not the fast pace of the rest of the ride either. Without that first mile or two, we probably averaged at least another mph faster (I never once looked at my watch while riding). Also, I found a cut-through from GGP Road into my neighborhood, so my trip back was significantly (and conveniently) shorter than my trip out.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Rev3 Knoxville Oly Tri

What I was least looking forward to...

Today’s was my one and only tri of the season, so I wanted to make it the best one. I drove over to Knoxville yesterday and did all the pre-race stuff: Pick up my packet, attend the athlete briefing, rack my bike, check out what I can of the course without driving, mentally prepare, pray about the race, and chat with people who are around. I made it just in time for the second of 2 athlete briefings and after listening to them discuss the course and race realized that I’d forgotten my wetsuit. It was supposed to be in the 60s in the morning, and the water temperature was currently about 65°—Brrr! I was prepared for the cold weather but not the cold water. Oh, well, I’d deal with it in the morning. I headed over to the Giles’ house, where I was staying for the night, played some baseball and watched part of a movie with Leah and Michael, and was asleep before 10. That wasn’t as early as I would’ve liked, but I could also sleep in in the morning compared to my normal weekday routine.

I was out of the house by 6am after a breakfast of water and oatmeal with brown sugar and honey and all set up before Transition closed at 7am. I missed the start from the start point but was doing at the swim finish to watch the pros get out of the water and on to the bike. That was fun to see, but of course I didn’t have my camera and don’t have pictures. My start time was 8:02, with all the other Olympic-distance-racing women, the latest start time of the day. I got in the water around 8:01 after having debated with myself for the previous 30 minutes whether to even start the race. I knew I had enough to keep my warm once I was out of the water, but I didn’t want to freeze in the water and not finish the swim. So I made a deal with myself: If I saw at least 5 people without wetsuits (I watched nearly everyone else start), I would start the race. By 7:55, I’d seen only 2 guys, not the 5 I’d needed. But I walked to the dock anyway, and there I saw a women and her daughter, both without wetsuits. I went to chat with them, and they convinced me to start, stating that we were basically already committed anyway and pointing to a girl behind me who had on only a swimsuit—the 5th person I needed to see. So I jumped in. This swim was probably my slowest.swim.ever at (on my watch) 32 minutes. Unfortunately, that’s pretty close to my half-distance swim with a wetsuit. But given that I was without a wetsuit and hadn’t been swimming much, I didn’t let the time phase me.

Finished with the swim, finally!

I’d learned from last year’s Music City Tri that everyone else might have just as slow (or slower) a swim as I had, so I went into transition ready to ride hard and fast.

What I was most looking forward to...

My transition was pretty long (for me) because I took the time to change from the shirt I swam in to my Team Belladium fleece jersey, completely dry my feet and put on nice wool socks, and cover my shoes with my booties (they were already on, but I had to pull them up and zip them). I did not regret that decision at all. Though I warmed up on the bike, I was never hot, so I was comfortably dressed. The best part of this ride was that I passed so many people on the bike. I actually looked forward to every hill. I know from my past years of racing that triathletes are great on flats and not as strong on hills. Roadies are much better on hills, and since becoming a roadie I’ve become better on hills. That skill was definitely my advantage today and I passed more people than I could count. I passed a number of women in my age group as well, moving from 11/15 out of the swim up to 4/15 after the ride.

The excitement for the ride was watching some guy hit a car. He’d been riding on the car’s bumper because he wanted to pass but the car was not moving to one side or the other and the rider didn’t know which side to pass on. He shouldn’t have been right at the bumper regardless, but he was, and the driver hit the brakes. Car stopped, rider hit bumper, rider braked, rider fell. I looked at the car’s license plate and memorized it but figured there wouldn’t be much opportunity for me to actually share it with anyone. About a mile or so later (measuring mileage on the bike in a race is not my strong point), we passed an officer in his car protecting an intersection for us. I told him, “There was a rider down near the corner of Stout and Tipton Ridge!” and kept riding. Even while I was paying attention to all this, I was moving up in the field and continuing to race (a huge improvement over last year, when I finished the bike thinking I didn’t really race it at all). Another mile or so later, said rider passed me again (and I saw him again on the run), so thankfully he was OK.


I knew the photographer was here, so I'm trying to smile. But I didn't adjust my stride for him at all, and this is a much better looking step than I've had in similar pictures in the past. Hooray!


T2 was much quicker than T1 as I took off my fleece jersey, grabbed a visor, put on my tennies, and headed out. I remember the course from last year (did not remember any of the bike course) and also pretended like I was running around the big block at the MFY. It worked well, I ran the whole thing, and I didn’t allow myself to be passed by too many people. I passed only a few, but it was still a success (given my lack of run training). Around mile 3, a girl from my age group passed me. I had no more speed than what I was giving, so I had no chance of staying with her. I tried and couldn’t, so I let her go and just kept racing my race. Less than a mile from the finish, I passed a girl in my age group and encouraged her to keep it up, secretly hoping she was too tired to keep up with me. She was, and I beat her. So I maintained my 4th place position during the run and ended up 4/15 in my age group. Hooray! This is way better than last year’s 16th place finish!

  • Totals: 2:46:05 (slower than last year, thanks to a ridiculously slow swim). 4/15 in Age Group. 41/159 females. 230/506 overall.
  • Swim: 33:53
  • T1: 3:47
  • Bike: 1:15:06, 24.8 miles, 19.8 mph (35.1 max), 175 HR (189 max)
  • T2: 0:57 (much better than T1, but T1 also included the run up from the swim)
  • Run: 52:21. Mi 1: 8:04. Mi 2: 8:14. Mi 3: 8:20. Mi 4+bathroom: 8:28. Mi 5: 8:35. Mi 6: 8:29. Mi 6.23: 1:51. 8:25 pace.

The winner of our AG finished in 2:11:53. The first swimmer in AG (same girl) did 24:47, the first cyclist (same girl) did 1:04:56, and the first runner (same girl) did 39:19. Her transitions were 1:55 and 0:54. The first overall female finished in 2:03:00. She swam in 16:44, rode in 1:06:30, and ran in 37:45. My last year's times were the following: Total: 2:41:01. Swim: 23:47. T1: 2:10. Bike: 1:21:59. T2: 2:10. Run: 50:53.

I had a great time and am very happy with how I raced, how I felt, and how I finished. Success! Full results are here.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

NC.Com Crit #1

This is one of my favorite race series of all time. I raced it in 2008 and 2009, sat out in 2010, and am back to race again this year, this time with a full squad of teammates. That means excitement, drama, action, challenge, and good competition. Tonight did not disappoint. There was all of the above, but there was no win for Team Belladium. Sad day.


It was definitely not my best race, and I finished 6th of the 13 riders. I learned a lot about how to ride with a team during those 31:02 minutes. Next week I anticipate being much better.

Stats from today's race: 31:02, 11.43 miles, 22.1 mph (27.9 max), 177 HR (207 max)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hello, Pool!

It has been way too long since I've been in the pool. With my one tri of the season coming up on Sunday, I figured it was probably time to start cramming. So I got in the pool today and swam 900. In the afternoon I did 10×10sec isos: Lunge with RL, Standing ham, Squat with stick, Curl, Push up, Crunch. I did either 1 or 2 sets for each, and that was it for the day. But that was a good workout!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Gatorade Crit



Today was the first time we’d raced in a few weeks, and I was looking forward to it. The Criterium of Brentwood was a local race, against a lot of local women and out-of-towners, and it promised to be action-filled (any time Team Belladium is a part of a race, that race will be action-filled!). The women’s Cat 3/4 race was at 10:10, and I got to Maryland Farms in plenty of time to see the four 3s and give them some encouraging words before their race began. Much to my surprise, Todd asked Cali and me to join Jonell, Lisa C, Shelly, and Valerie in their race. So we quickly got our numbers on and hit the start line. I got the perfect amount of warm-up (my short ride to the venue) and was ready to race! This was probably the most nervous I’ve felt at the start of a race, mainly just because I didn’t really have any time to think about this particular race.

Lisa, Jonell, Olga, Marsha, me, Katie, and Amy P

There was a fair amount of action in the 30-minute race, including a crash that resulted in a break in the 26-women field. This is the first time I’ve ever been in a crash, and I felt bad because I ran my front wheel into the back of another racer. She was OK, though, and so was I and everyone else. It was actually kind of nice to know that I’d get a free lap and to use the little road we had to get to the pit to recover slightly. This was a long course, so we got a few minutes to catch our breath and regain our composure. In the end, Cali came out the winner and I was 5th. Hooray for Team Belladium!


Coming off the start line in the 1/2/3 race

The second race began at 12:50, and this 1/2/3 race was the one I’d been anticipating. I lined up with my teammates Cali, Kat, Lee, Lisa, and Parri; we had numbers in this race too!

Coming down toward the start/finish line

When we lined up, I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did me quite well.

One of my few attacks—I wished I'd had more in me to continue attacking

There was never a break, which is very surprising for as often as we attacked.

Starting the lead out—Lisa, me, Kat, Parri, Cali, and Lee

But I stayed with the field. Never mind that I finished 15th in the 16-women field—I stayed strong and felt great the entire race.

Cali moving into fifth place

Stats:

  • Warm Up: 30:00, 8.23 mi, 17 mph, 139 HR
  • Cat 3/4 Race: 28:31, 10.6 mi, 22.2 mph (31.6 max), 161 HR (192 max)
  • Cat Pro/1/2/3 Race: 49:40, 18.9 mi, 22.9 mph (31.2 max), 174 HR (199 max)
  • Cool Down: 25:15, 6.6 mil, 15.8 mph, 146 HR

Now I am tired. Time to relax!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Dalmuti

During lunch today, I played a game with my coworkers. I came in on the bottom of the totem pole (5th out of 5 people) as the greater peon and ended up closer to the top (2nd) as the lesser Dalmuti. Hooray for improvement! It did mean no lunchtime workout though, so I had to double up in the afternoon and didn't do the full workout of either thing I had planned. Tomorrow I'm riding with Kat, so today I decided to take it easy and do a little out-and-back. It was fast, and I felt good!


  • 1:14:00, 23.54 miles, 19.1 avg (32.3 max), no reliable HR data

I made a quick stop at Lisa's to say hello but basically flew back on Wilson Pike. Riding South into the wind is so much fun when I know I can turn around and ride North for a few miles with the wind! From there I went into MFY for 5 minutes of work:

  • Lunge L
  • Lunge R
  • Standing ham
  • Curl w/8lb

I should've done more but wanted to get into Publix sooner rather than later because I knew I would take forever. But it was so worth it. I spent $15.53 for $66 worth of groceries, saving 76% and picking up so much that other people can use. Of that, $6.70 was for me:

  • Publix chicken: $4.81 – $1.50MQ = $3.31
  • Philadelphia Cooking Cream: $2.99, on sale for $2 -$1.50MQ = $0.50
  • Birds Eye veggies: $4.99 and $2.39, on sale for $2.50 and $1.20 - freeQ (- 1.20) = $2.50
  • Edwards Pie singles: $2.79, on sale for $1.39 - $1MQ = $0.39.
  • Paid $6.70 for what would've cost about $17.97 at regular price.

The rest was for donation (I don't have a complete list or my receipt with me). I got the following: Sundown vitamins, Carefree and Always pads, Kelloggs Nut Crunch cereal, Yakisobi meals, Suave hair product, and more that I can't remember. I paid $8.83 (that includes tax) for what would've been $48.03 at regular price. And it's all good stuff that can be used by anyone. I then went home and added a bunch of things from my bathroom and kitchen (razors, deodorants, chapstick, shave gel, cans, peanut butter, soda, more vitamins, paper towels, etc.) to the bags and will take to to work tomorrow. Kelson sent out an email today saying that one of our partners is taking up a collection, and that was what I needed to hear to motivate me to get shopping and giving!

Thanks to Michelle at I Heart Publix for all her hard work doing match-ups and sharing deals and to Laurie at Passionate Penny Pincher for the motivation I needed to get out and give stuff away! God has blessed me in so many ways and given me the desire to have fun couponing, and this is one way I can give back. It's all His, anyway, and this is a good reminder to me of that!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

CompuTrainer Class: Torture Test V

My goal for each test is to improve from one to the next. Today was no different. Last time, I'd done 13:38 (somehow I recorded it as 13:48, though) and 229 watts. I wanted to improve that time and those watts today. My ultimate goal is to get under 13:30, or closer to 13 minutes than 14 minutes; I don't have an ultimate watts goal, just continual improvement. I made my first goals but not my ultimate goal. Still, I felt good and am happy.

It was apparent to everyone though (including me, but only 8 minutes in, much later than Lynn and Lisa C and everyone else noticed) that I go out way too hard. I first looked up at 8 minutes in, and my average watts were 241. Next time I looked up I was at 238. Yikes. I didn't want to be dropping! Lisa said she wanted to tell me to settle down right from the start, so I can't even imagine what I started at!

The first list below is the workout from today. The second list is all my test results.

  • 1:10:40, 148 HR (198 max)
  • 50:40 warmup, 138 HR
  • 13:37 test, 190 HR, 237 watts, 22.0 mph
  • 6:20 cooldown, 15x HR

May 4, 2011, Torture Test 5: 13:37, 237 watts
March 3, 2011, Torture Test 4 Part 2: 14:26, 202 watts (high-tempo ride)
March 1, 2011, Torture Test 4: 13:38, 229 watts (time edited 5-4-11)
January 6, 2011, Torture Test 3 Part 2: 14:58, 185 watts (tempo ride)
January 4, 2011, Torture Test 3: 14:06, 217 watts
March 25, 2010, Torture Test 2: 13:56, 223 watts
January 28, 2010, Torture Test 1: 14:22, 208 watts

This morning I was most impressed with the results that Anna and Cali posted: 13:02 and 13:06, respectively (Anna's average watts was 236 and I didn't catch Cali's, but it was around the 258 she did last time). Those are results I aspire to achieve...hopefully sooner down the road rather than later! I found out later that Parri tested after we left and bested her 13:01 women's record with a 12:5x and 26x for watts. Amazing!

In the afternoon, I met Anna and Val for some cornering work. We rode 18.8 miles in the neighborhood below.


Starting from Otter Creek Church, we rode a little to warm up and then alternated who led for a couple miles, just to get ourselves comfortable around all kinds of different corners—tight, open, lots of sight, lots of distractions, little visibility, right turns, left turns, etc.

Then I assumed for 15 minutes what's becoming one of my favorite positions. Time to rest and recover a little before bed!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

MFY Twice Today!

We are testing at Todd's tomorrow, so I didn't want to ride this afternoon nor work too hard. To still get a good workout in, I got up and went to MFY to spend 24 minutes on the step mill. I went to lunch with Amy and Brian and went back to MFY after work for 5 on, 5 off thru 40:

  • Lunge on crates
  • Glute ham
  • Squat with stick
  • Push up on knees
  • Curl with 24lb bar
  • Crate crunch
  • Scap pull up (thru 20)

Monday, May 2, 2011

Rest Day

Today was a rest day. Much needed. Mondays are great!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Weekend Recap

I can't seem to make the time to write daily during the weekend, so the days get lumped into one post. Saturday was the Music City Marathon (which I watched), a ride with Valerie, 6-6-6 EDI (lunge, glute ham, squat, bench [20-lb dumbbells], curl [rebound reps], and plate front delt [10-lb dumbbell]), and church. Sunday was a team recon ride of the state TT course and the start of my May challenge (memorizing as much of Romans as I can in the next 30 days).

 Start of the half and full marathon (picture from The Tennessean)

Half and full marathon runners downtown (picture from The Tennessean)

  • Saturday with Valerie: 2:12:22, 37.55 miles, 17.0 avg (33.4 max), 150 HR (188 max)

After watching the half marathon and the marathon's winner, I met Valerie at MFY for a good ride. Thankfully we rode into the wind first and got to relax just slightly on the way back in.

Route from Saturday's ride

  • Sunday with Team B: 1:14:00, 24.47 miles, 19.8 avg (35.1 max), 165 HR (189 max)

We rode what is going to be the state TT course, not at 100% but not at an easy pace, either. It will be fun to race this route, though. It's pretty open, so you can see how far ahead of you the next person is and try to catch them. Also, the road has a very wide shoulder and only a short section of rumble strips. Should be fun!

Route of anticipated state TT course