Up North for Easter

Snow in Grafton

The Target parking lot was a dumping ground, but there is still snow all over the ground at my sister's house.

My nephew, chillin'

Friday entertainment...handguns and revolvers

My sis is a much better shot than I am

The best cheese curds...
especially when they' squeak

I got in a good 3-mile walk/run and a few pushups this morning and then have been enjoying the stuff in the previous pictures the rest of the day.

Publix Easter Week

Publix Trips (3-23, 3-28)

Item (Quantity)	Regular Price  (multiplied)	Sale Price	Coupons	Final Price
Luna Protein Bars (4)	0.99 (3.96)	--	2 x $1.50/2 Whole Foods Qs	$0.96
Scott paper towels	6.99	4.99	$0.75/1 MQ $1/1 PQ	$3.24
Scott wipes	2.29	--	$0.50/1 MQ (doubled) $0.55/1 PQ	$0.74
Dove chocolate eggs (2)	4.29 (8.58)	1.50 (3.00)	$1/2 MQ	$2.00
Blue Bell pint	2.39	--	--	$2.39
Purity pint	2.29	1.67	--	$1.67
Smithfield turkey	3.89	2.50	--	$2.50
Eat Smart veggies (5)	2.50 (12.50)	1.00 (5.00)	--	$5.00
Totals: 8 items	$42.89	$25.80	$2.75 in MQs, $1.55 in PQs $3.00 WFQs	+$1.49 tax $19.99 total (saved $22.90, or 53%)

I shopped this ad once earlier, too, on March 21 (spend $10.91, saved $28.79/73%). See that trip here.

Super sale on infant formula for my nephew!

Kroger Trips (3-25, 3-27)

Item (Quantity)	Regular Price  (multiplied)	Sale Price	Coupons	Final Price
Gerber formula (2)	24.76 (50.52)	6.19 (12.38)	$3.25/2 Kroger eQ	$9.13
Cookies (2)	1.99 (3.98)	0.99 (1.98)	--	$1.98
Prestone coolant	6.99	4.19	--	$4.19
Planters PB (10)	3.59 (35.90)	1.99 (19.90)	4 x $1/2 MQs 2 x $5/5 KQs (mega deal)	$5.90
Romaine lettuce	3.29	1.09	$0.40/1 KQ	$0.69
Diet Coke	1.79	1.59	free product MQ	$0.00
Totals: 5 items	$102.47	$41.13	$5.59 in MQs $13.65 in KQs	+$2.41 tax $24.30 total (saved $78.17, or 76%)

Monday's workouts were good ones. Tuesday's ride at Endeavor kicked my butt. Todd broke me, and I cried. Twice. Ouch.

Wednesday's PB deal

Wednesday I got in a good long walk outside, spent some time on the elliptical, and had a good workout. I finally hit the pool on Thursday, the first time since February 14, and got in 1,000 yards. They all felt pretty good, so I'm glad I braved all the spring break kids having fun int he pool. Thursday's class at T's was just as hard as Tuesday's, but I'm getting stronger and faster, so it's all good.

Skills: Staying Upright

I read this blog from pro triathlete Jordan Rapp (aka Rappstar) this week. He has a great story (almost died on a training ride and has come back a champion), and he is a good athlete and competitor. He is also a true professional (similar to Hillary Biscay, whose "no walk" and "no DNF" rules I admire), and I appreciate that. What I like the most from the blog is this:

Rough water swimming is a skill. And at the professional level, I don't think we should mitigate the impact of a lack of skill.

In my sport, there are many things I forget are skills; some I take for granted, so I don't work on, some I just don't think about. One of those is staying upright and staying on the bike, regardless of what happens around you (such as crashes). That's a skill I needed for at least two important-to-me races last season (State Crit, Cookeville; Village VW Crit, Chattanooga), but I didn't appreciate or really even think about it until I was reminded. It definitely made me consider focusing on such a skill when training!

Obviously there are macro skills like being able to ride and sprinting and climbing and cornering, but there are also micro skills like clipping in at the start line and reading the competition and communicating with your teammates. I will be working on all of these and more this season.

Hell of the South Race Report

I'm growing strawberries and tomatoes on my piano

The first outdoor TBRA race of the season was today, and it was a cold one! It never reached 50*, but we tried to turn up the heat with our racing :-)

The women were the first group to start, at 7:30 am. It was dry, and we had the roads to ourselves, so that part was nice. There were 25 of us, which is a fair number for this race (2012 we had 26; 2011 we had 17). There are more female riders in TN now, but if anyone would skip one race, this would be the one to skip.

Catherine, Amanda, Anna, Shelly, Kiki, Shannon, and I started together, and we were happy with the numbers we had in the group. The first 9 miles were fairly uneventful after a mistake by our lead car caused us to half make a wrong turn...we knew he was turning wrong, but we followed him anyway. Although we quickly turned around, those of us at the front were shuffled around and we had to do a little more work to get a good position again. Plus it caused Shelly to crash, and that was no good. Thankfully she immediately got back up and on the bike, and she finished with only a few scrapes, so it wasn't terrible.

Around mile 9 is a 1-mile gravel section that caused at least 3 flats and forced Shannon and Kiki out of the race. Although they didn't get to finish, they got to watch most of the rest of it from Todd's sag vehicle. Anna, Cath, AJ, and I made it into the lead group that also contained Emma and Jess (I AM Racing), Jes (SVMIC), Shannon and Catherine (HUB), Martha (not sure of her team). We tried to organize a few times (not too successfully) and attacked more (these never caused a break, but they did wear out the other teams), but we all came to the finish line together. Plus one, Katie, who'd caught on to our group after time-trialing back to us after her flat on the gravel section. I really wanted her to not be able to catch us, but we just couldn't keep the pace fast enough and organize.

We weren't exactly organized, either, and I was not in the best position coming into the finish. Basically I let myself get moved to the back and on the inside. As I saw it at that point, my only option was to get out to the front and hopefully take Catherine or AJ with me. Cath came along, and then she and AJ both were able to get free and sprint for the line.

Finishing sprint...go Team Belladium!

In hindsight, I should have 1) been in a better position earlier; 2) been behind Amanda. We have a little to work on with our finish-line communication (my fault today!), but it was so great to have a 1-2 finish with Catherine-Amanda!

Katie, Catherine, and Amanda

Katie made a valiant effort the whole day and finished 3rd. She's strong! I finished at the back of my group and loved watching my girls sprint it out for the win.

HoS Results

2013 race: 1:19:46, 26.57 miles, 20.0 mph (35.0 max), 162 bpm (192 max), 10/25 overall, 5/5 Cat 1/2
2012 race: 2:28:06, 48.78 miles, 19.8 mph (36.3 max), 138 bpm (189 max); 7/26 overall, 4/10 Cat 3
2011 race: 2:45:15, 50.03 miles, 18.2 mph (34.8 max), 173 bpm (196 max); 9/17 overall, 5/9 Cat 1/2/3

Post-race treats

I am super happy with how the race went for me. I would have liked to have finished better, but I worked hard and watched my teammates tear of the finishing sprint.

Quick Publix Run--paid for the paper towels,
got the Luna bars, chocolates, and wipes for free!

Weekly Recap

After a few long rides this weekend, Monday was a rest day so I ran all my errands: PO, emissions, grocery store, etc., and I made some treats for my coworkers.

Tuesday's magnet

Tuesday morning I spent a little time on the elliptical at the Y and swept the stairwell in my office building at lunch. I'd have rather been outside, but it was on my list of things to do and it needed to be done (no, I do not normally clean the building; however, that stairwell has not been swept in at least a year, probably longer, and it was grossly dusty and really bothering me). After work was a ride at T's. Same workout as the last couple weeks, and same hard effort. I can tell how hard it is by how low I'm sprinting at the end. This day was 616. After other workouts I can usually hit or exceed 700.

Wednesday I met Anna for a nice brisk, chilly walk before dinner. I did a short extreme slow workout in the morning and tried to work hard since I knew it would be the only one of the day. I took a quick trip to Kroger at lunch and got the following:

Kroger Trip (3-20-13)

Item (Quantity)	Regular Price  (multiplied)	Sale Price	Coupons	Final Price
Meat/Cheese platter (1)	14.99	7.19	--	$7.19
Coke 20oz (2)	1.69 (3.38)	1.25 (2.50)	$0.50/2 MQ (doubled)	$1.50
Clif Shot Blocks (2)	2.19 (4.38)	1.00 (2.00)	--	$2.00
3 Musketeers (2)	0.79 (1.58)	0.50 (1.00)	$0.50/2 MQ (doubled)	$0.00
Twix (2)	0.79 (1.58)	0.50 (1.00)	$0.50/1 MQ (doubled)	$0.00
Larabar Uber Bar (2)	1.79 (3.58)	1.00 (2.00)	$0.75/2 MQ	$1.25
Cookie	1.99	--	--	$1.99
Simple face wash	7.49	3.00	$1/1 Kroger eQ	$2.00
Simple Truth bar	1.00	0.89	free Kroger Q	$0.00
Totals: 14 items	$38.39	$21.57	$3.75 in MQs, $2.00 Kroger Q	+$1.63 tax $18.06 total (saved $20.33, or 53%)

I saved quite a bit in this trip, and I have lunch for a week! For some reason, my math never adds up. My receipt says I paid $18.06 and saved $11.25, but it doesn't take into account manager's specials (platter, face wash), so I always have to do it by hand. I don't know where I went wrong, but I know what I paid!

Thursday morning I ran a friend to the airport, and then I played a game with my coworkers at lunch, so riding on the trainer in the afternoon was my only workout. It was a good one though. As Shannon and I talked about weeks ago, specificity is key, and on the trainer I can really focus and be specific. Then, of course, I had to see what was on sale at Publix.

Publix Trip (3-21-13)

Item (Quantity)	Regular Price  (multiplied)	Sale Price	Coupons	Final Price
Maybelline Eye Shadow (2)	2.99 (5.98)	--	2 x $1.50/1 MQ 2 x $2/1 PQ	-$1.02
Duncan Hines Frosting Creation	0.99	--	Free MQ	$0.00
Del Monte Green Beans (4)	1.39 (5.56)	BOGO (2.78)	$0.50/4 MQ (doubled)	$1.78
Pam Spray	3.27	BOGO (1.64)	--	$1.64
Dole Pineapple (2)	1.41 (2.82)	BOGO (1.41)	$0.50/2 MQ (doubled)	$0.41
Dove Dark Chocolates (2)	4.29 (8.58)	1.50 (3.00)	$1/2 MQ $0.50/2 bagged candy Kroger Q	$1.50
Eat Smart Veggies (5)	2.50 (12.50)	1.00 (5.00)	--	$5.00
Totals: 17 items	$39.70	$20.80	$6.99 in MQs $4.00 in PQs $0.50 in KQs	+$1.60 tax $10.91 total (saved $28.79, or 73%)

This was a good trip. Basically I paid for most of the vegetables and got everything else free. Woot!

Free chocolate (taking to work), fruit, makeup, etc.

Me: A to Z

I found the blog of one of my sister's good friends and stole this list from her. Totally random and for no reason, I decided to fill it out (and alter it slightly). Enjoy!

• Age :: 29
• Bike brand and name :: Blue RC4, named BB
  

  

  Tour of America's Dairyland,
  Race #7, Sheboygan

• Chore you hate :: Paying bills and taking care of my car; I do them, I just wish someone would take care of them for me.
• Diet soda :: Diet Mt. Dew Code Red is my fave. Diet Coke is a close second.
• Essential start to your day :: Oatmeal pancakes and push ups
• Favorite color :: Blue. See the B entry :-)
• Gold or silver :: Silver
• Height :: 5'6"
• Instruments you play :: I play some piano and flute but by Nashville standards am mediocre at best. 
• Job title :: Language Editor; Cyclist
  

  

  Kiki, me, Shelly, Cath, Huntsville #2

• Kids :: 2 nephews, a 3rd niece/nephew on the way!
  

  

  Caleb

  

  Isaiah

• Live :: Nashville, TN
• Marathons run :: At least 7, might be forgetting 1 or 2, adding at least 1 more this year
• Nicknames :: KR, Kakes, Achie, Iron Horse (new yesterday), Kay-Free-Layaway (haven't heard that one in years)
• Overnight hospital stays :: At age 6, I broke my jaw and assume I spent a day in the hospital. I remember some about the ordeal but not that part.
• Perfect day :: A good workout, sunshine, a hike at PW, a ride with my girls, and a race, fueled by waffles and pizza
  
  

  

  Cath, me, Val, Kiki, Parri, Anna before the River Gorge RR

• Quote :: "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feel like the feeet of deer and sets me on my high places." 2 Samuel 22:33–34, Psalm 18:32–33
• Righty or lefty :: Ambidextrous; I write and throw right-handed, hit (softball) left-handed, and am pretty adept with both.
• Siblings :: 2 sisters and 2 brothers-in-law; see K.
• Time you wake up :: 4:44am
• University attended :: Cedarville University
• Vegetable you dislike :: None; I pretty much eat any veggie or fruit that's in season and on sale.
• What motivates you to run :: Simply knowing that I can and have been given the ability; the feeling of accomplishment at the end
• X-rays you've had :: Broken jaw (age 6, see O), broken pinkie fingers and thumbs
• Yummy food :: Pizza, ice cream, and dark chocolate
• Zoo animal favorite :: Hippopotamus, almost all the birds

Random pics of my team because they're awesome and some of my best friends!

Shelly and her girls, Huntsville #1

Kiki, Val, me, Shelly, Cath, Alison, Beth, Huntsville #2

Anna, Val, me, Cath, Shelly, Grant Park Crit

Parri, me, Cath, Kiki, Anna after River Gorge —-- TBAR Champions!

Lagooned

Easter box for my soldier

I also sent a box to my younger sister and my mom this week. I am grateful for the USPS this week! Monday was a rest day. After the time change this weekend, I needed it!

Quick Kroger trip

The MetRx bars ($1.99 originally, on closeout for $0.99) and Perfectly Simple bar (rang up as Zone Bar, $1 each) were free with Qs (Kroger home mailer - $2/2 MetRx MQ; catalina - $1/1 Simple bar), and the protein was on closeout plus I had a Q ($23.99 regularly, $11.99 sale price, $1/1 Pure Protein MQ = $10.99). That plus $1.38 tax = $12.35 total (savings of $16.62).

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday I did a morning workout and then rode at T's. This series is my favorite and least favorite all rolled into one. It is a strength series, so I can't really do all my other workouts, but it is the one that has the most benefit, by far, for my training. I can't simulate it outside, so I like the challenge. It hurts, though, as evidenced by my sprints (628 and 632, which should be much closer to 700). Wednesday I did a tempo ride on the trainer. Thursday it was back to T's for the same workout, but it felt better than it had on Tuesday. See, it's already making me stronger!

GMS Spring Play

Friday was amazing, and I met Kat at PW for a red-trail/candy-cane-trail 7-mile hike after a fun solo ride. Then it was off to Lauren's school for her spring play, Lagooned. Lauren did a great job, and it was fun to watch her perform.

Friday's ride

Saturday Val and I hit the road and enjoyed the sunshine. I had church later, and we had the biggest class, with 9 kids; that was our smallest class yet and quite fun and manageable.

Saturday's route with random mile and kilometer markers

Sunday we all (minus 2, it was amazing to have most of the team together!) rode another 50 miles, and it was a great team ride. Lots of hard work, lots of learning to communicate, and no one was super frustrated with others or super tired by the end. That is a good day's work and a good ride.

Sunday ride

I love my girls and was so happy to be able to spend a lot of time with them this weekend. I also got some stuff done around the house and finished a book. The only thing I should have done but didn't do was get my emissions tested. That is going high on my list for Monday!

I got some sun on Friday. Thank you, Garmin and Road ID, for helping with the tan lines. Of course, I still won't leave home without them!

Quick Weekend Review

Fellowship Bible Church has partnered with a few places in the city to give us a chance to donate food and clothes. I picked up the bags at church on Sunday and filled them to take back next Saturday or Sunday. I love giving!

Food to give

Clothes to give

Coupons to use toward giving
(My fave from this week's inserts)

I always buy two newspapers when I know there are Qs. Today I ran into Kroger because The Tennessean is only $1.50 there. I bought 2, left, and went home. When I opened it up later to read it, I realized that I'd bought last week's paper. Boo. But that wasn't the worst part: Someone had taken all the inserts out! So not only did I get the wrong paper, I got no inserts or coupons out of it. So I ran to Publix to get the right paper. Which actually had Qs in it. It was my fault for not checking the date, but I was still disappointed!

Mom's late birthday present...
it will be in the mail to her shortly

Sunday team ride: Hell of the South recon

Saturday team ride: practice, practice, practice!

Friday I worked out before work, got my work done, finished the extra project I was working on for a friend, went to Edwin Warner Park and hiked over to and around Percy Warner Park, and then walked at EWP with Anna for a total of 11 miles. Such a beautiful day! Anna and I headed back to her house for a little while to work on a little thing we got done. Love that girl!

Saturday morning I got up and joined my girls and T for our team ride. We rode a different course and worked on a few things. I wish I had HR data from it because it was an exhausting but super rewarding ride. I had to do some laundry and take a nap before church, where we taught our 5-year-olds about how Jesus healed the paralyzed man and how He wants to be our friend forever! Then I had (a super late for me) dinner with a new friend at a restaurant I'd never been to at The Factory. Also, that area of Franklin is being developed quite a bit--I could tell it had been a while since I'd been running through there because there were tons of new buildings.

Sunday morning we drove a few miles south to recon the Hell of the South road race course. This will be our first race of 2013, and I am looking forward to it. I came home, cleaned my bike (cassette and everything) and changed my front tire (I had a bulge in it through which I could see the tube; thank God it didn't burst while we were riding!) before I even considered showering. Priorities.

Test Week Again

Tuesday's test did not go as I had hoped. On the plus side, I have tested pretty consistently for the last 3 years. However, I hoped for better success on Thursday and had a different plan.

Before Thursday's test, Todd said, "You need to learn to pace yourself." I know! He said that for the first half mile on Tuesday, I was at 300W. You can see by the results below that dropped quite a bit over the next 4.5 miles. Well, Thursday I did what he said. And, shocker, it worked. I took 3 minutes rather than my usual 3 seconds to ramp up and then basically used 3-minute intervals to pace. We looked at my stats after and you can see each 3-minute segment distinctly, so I was right on with that. However, we then looked at another person's stats and I noticed how much work I really have yet to do.

Pink = Kailin
Red and Green = Geoff' 

I'm not exactly sure what the lines are representing (I think two are cadence and watts, but I'm not sure what the third is), but it's obvious that one person is slightly more consistent than the other! I did, though, achieve my best results to date, improving my time by 11 seconds and my watts by 8. My average heart rate for this test was 190 bpm. And yes, that is correct. Yikes!

Date	Test Number	Completion Time	Average Watts
March 5, 2013	TT #11a TT #11b	13:44 13:19	227 watts 246 watts
February 23, 2013	TT #10a TT #10b	13:30 (6 mi: 16:45)	238 watts 239 watts
January 10, 2013	TT #9b	13:50	223 watts
January 8, 2013	TT #9a	14:04	213 watts
March 29, 2012	TT #8b (tempo)	13:50 (tempo)	220 watts (tempo)
March 27, 2012	TT #8a (tempo)	14:01 (tempo)	212 watts (tempo)
January 26, 2012	TT #7	13:46	226 watts
January 24, 2012	TT #6	13:43	228 watts
May 4, 2011	TT #5	13:37	237 watts
March 3, 2011	TT #4b (tempo)	14:26 (tempo)	202 watts (tempo)
March 1, 2011	TT #4a	13:38	229 watts
January 6, 2011	TT #3b (tempo)	14:58 (tempo)	185 watts (tempo)
January 4, 2011	TT #3a	14:06	217 watts
March 25, 2010	TT #2	13:56	223 watts
January 28, 2010	TT #1	14:22	208 watts

Kiki and I headed to Inversion after. My other workouts this week have been 3- or 5-minute isos with one 20-minute TRUE elliptical and one 30-minute regular elliptical efforts thrown in for good measure.

Weekend Pics

Had to sample...

I finally made time this weekend to decorate the cookies my mom sent me for Valentine's Day. This is one of them. And then I read the nutrition facts and laughed at the serving size. Though it is about what I ate of that cookie.

What a strange  serving size...

I did run to Kroger and Publix a few times: Publix for the Qs ($0.50/2 Cadbury Eggs MQs, which double) and Kroger for the sale (2/$1). So all these cost me only $0.50 in tax, and of course I have a plan for them that does not involve me eating them all.

Why yes, I did buy a couple dozen
Cadbury Eggs and rewrap them

Friday I ran a few miles on the treadmill, Saturday I rested, and Sunday I rode for 2 hours on the trainer. It snowed all day Saturday and although nothing stuck at all, it was cold and I couldn't make myself ride outside.

Did you know they make chocolate Cadbury Eggs?

I did not so I tried one, but I did not like it nearly as much as the original.