Fun in Franklin

Today was an unplanned day off that Lauren and I enjoyed immensely. I met AR and La at the Farmer's Market in Franklin and then La and I hung out the rest of the day—we went birthday-present shopping, did a little grocery shopping, wandered around the mall, baked, and played Monopoly.

Lauren making birthday cake—carrot cake, AR's favorite!

I took La home and then just sat and talked to my fam for a while. I miss having my parents around and having a family. The Roberts have welcomed me into theirs, but since I didn't grow up around them it's taking me a while to figure out their family dynamics. Although I didn't grow up in the Farkas house, I know a little more about their family dynamics. The human psyche is strange.

Bella Luce

This was the Farkas/Acheson entertainment for the night:

This beautiful house is in Franklin/Grassland/Legends Ridge; 4 bedrooms, lots of bathrooms, lots of doors to the outside, a huge pool, 30 acres, 5 garages, a huge kitchen, a look-out area, and more!

My favorite...the amazing kitchen! Two sinks, two dishwashers, side-by-side, each full-sized, refrigerator/freezer, three dishwashers, 6 burners and a warming plate—wow!

My second favorite...the pool and hot tub!

Some pretty sweet bathroom stuff...all Kohler, of course!

Photos are from the Tennessean and the builder. Earlier, I got a little ride in to the BFY where I played tennis and talked with Angela and ARenee. Then I rode home (50+ minutes total, all junk miles and all fun), said bye to Will (sniff), had some supper, and went over to Farkases' for the tour.

I found out a little about our family today. GRita was an only child whose father made it hard on her and her mother. ARenee asked GR if he was an alcoholic; she said no, but he drank too much beer. They both died of cancer. Her father died before they married and her mother died while Mom was still a baby. GR was born and raised in Madison and apart from a few years in Germany, has been there all her life. GBob was about 7 or 8 when his dad died. The man who killed Albert was tried, but Albert’s partner hadn’t been where he was supposed to be (they think he left/ran away) and wasn’t able to testify at the trial. The defense could then say that the shooter had acted in self defense because Albert could have been/was reaching for his gun. Character witnesses said that wasn’t his character at all, but the man was either freed or let off with a light (few years) sentence. He later killed another man and was even later shot and killed by police.

Learning to Breathe

God granted me patience today. I arrived home a little early and was able to take a short walk (in fact, I should be outside again now!) and spend some time with the Lord. This week has been hard for me, not knowing what my afternoons would look like, and I was wearing thin. But that time alone and God's answering my prayer made the workout a pleasant one.

• Wall squat: extreme slow 3:30
• Body squat: 50 quick style (short pause at top and bottom, but quick down and even quicker back up)
• Glute ham: extreme slow 3:30
• Wall squat: 50 quick style
• Standing curl: extreme slow 3:30, 15-lb dumbbells
• Towel curl: 50 quick style
• Push up: extreme slow 3:30 on knees
• Towel front delt raise: 50 quick style

Somewhere during this workout, Will tried to teach me how to breathe correctly. Evidently it will help with recovery? Here's what I remember (I'm not a scientist and can't even begin to explain it as well as Will did): If you inhale and the air doesn't get down much farther than your chest, the oxygen likely won't flow effectively throughout the rest of your body. But if you inhale and the air goes into your diaphragm, or lower into your lungs, the oxygen gets into your red blood cells and can easily flow throughout your body; this allows you to recover better. The more you practice (for me, this could be while sitting at my desk at work, like 2–5 breaths every half hour or so), the more your aerobic capacity will improve.

Apologies if I've skewed this explanation some, but it at least helps me understand a little more the purpose of using your stomach to help you breathe.

No run today. So not motivated. It feels like the middle of the season.

Today after my workout with Will, I played tennis with Lucas (who lives in my neighborhood) and his friends Bart (a bike mechanic) and Drew. I was out for a walk to clear my head, and the three guys were down there. I asked if they needed a fourth, and then invited me to join. Fun times, for about 45 minutes. Then I went over to the Roberts’. Will is leaving Saturday and I wanted to spend a little time at least in their house; I like to see how different families interact. Will was packing, but it was fun for me to watch Bones with Nancy and listen to Bill talk about taking vitamin supplements.

Midweek Exhaustion

Wow, was today's workout ever hard. Fortunately Will was with me for the first of the four exercises and gave me more stuff to work on. But is my body ever tired from yesterday's workout. (Will said I should have done more than the 30-lb bar for the rebound lunges, because I wasn't supposed to have been able to do all 100 without stopping. He told me I might have to stop and that was OK, and because of that I was determined to complete them all in one session; I think if he'd given me twice as much weight I still would have done it all.)

5 on, 5 off thru 45, then back down from 45 thru 5 (after a short rest)

• Lunge: all on right leg, rest, then all on left leg. He said that when I get tired, my front foot starts moving slightly. That's bad, so I have to work hard on turning my muscles on harder to keep that from happening. My hip flexors were tight from yesterday, and my hamstrings were sore. I didn't notice it so much on my right (first) leg, but I sure did on my left (second) leg. My first step down hurt initially, but then I realized that it was just soreness and not pain. I was going to battle through the discomfort, so we started over. It took at least one more restart because it got into my head that maybe it would hurt. Once I stopped focusing on that, and once my legs started loosening, I did better. Will said he could tell that I was definitely lagging during the first few but then that I improved as we continued.
• That was all we had time for together. But Will's encouragement (?) today was that, when people ask why they're doing ISOs again and can they move on to something else, he tells them that it take 40 perfect sessions where everything is perfect. That means muscles, focus, hands, face, eyes, everything. He says I'm about 90% there but need to work on what happens when I get tired. We'd talked about this yesterday, where when you get tired you have to turn your muscles on that much more, work that much harder, to make the last 15 look the same as the first 85 or the last 15 seconds look the same as the middle 45 seconds. It's so that you put out the same amount of effort at the beginning as you do at the end and you look the same at the finish technique-wise (albeit a little more sweaty and tired) as you looked at the start. Oh, how I wish he were closer, but God has definitely opened a door for him elsewhere now, and I want God's will more than I want my own; His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
• Glute ham: Not that this was easy (it was anything but!), but evidently it is even more difficult on an actual glute ham stand (where you're still parallel but you must keep your upper body parallel because you're not on the ground)
• Push up on knees: I had to take 10 seconds between the last 2 because I couldn't push myself up at all. I was really, really focused on driving my chest up and could definitely tell a difference when I did—my lats were (correctly) working much harder than my shoulders.
• Preacher curl (light bar): Again, here I was focused on driving my chest up and using my lats more than my arms. It helped that I was in front of a mirror and could tell whether my shoulders were up (bad). Now if only I can translate all that to swimming.
  

As tired as my muscles are, Will is only home for another couple days and I think it will be another 4–6 months before I'm able to work out with him again, so I think we'll get together again tomorrow or hopefully Friday and do day 3.

He has given me so many good things to work on, though, in terms of technique and new exercises. Today was something else new (or rather, refreshing, since I'm sure we've worked on this before): Breathing correctly (i.e. through my nose and into my diaphragm as opposed to my chest).

No swim today since I went to CSY instead of BFY. Tomorrow at BFY or MFY if I have time, or I'll wait until Saturday when I'll be required to swim again.

What Drives Women to Race?

A pro cyclist recently asked these questions on the Harpeth Bike Club site. She seems to be interested in creating a website directed toward women and focused on getting them to race. The questions are very interesting, and I enjoyed answering them, based on both my experience and my interaction with other racers.

1. What drives women to enter the sport of cycling?
   

   Often, knowing other women who race or ride and having them talk to you about riding is was drives women to enter the sport of cycling. Hearing that other women are involved opens the door to others and reminds us that the opportunity is there to try something different.

2. Is it the competitive nature, fitness and health, or friendship/peer pressure?
   

   Cycling is definitely competitive and helps with fitness and health. Both of these could draw women into the sport, but those aspects draw certain people in. For example, if someone is competitive by nature, they'll be drawn to the competitive side of racing (road races, criteriums, track racing, triathlons). However, if that woman is not competitive but wants to increase her physical ability or improve her health, she'll be drawn into the sport for different reasons.
   

3. Is there one thing that trumps all other forms of motivation to enter a race?
   

   1. An athlete's competitive spirit trumps all other forms of motivation to enter a race. After that, I would say the order of decision-making (as far as whether to enter a race or which ones to do) is something like this:
   2. Can I win? (Or, do I want to win?)
   3. Who else will be racing in this race?
   4. Does the course suit me? (Or, is it hilly if I'm a climber or flat if I'm a triathlete?)
   5. Has someone else done this race who can tell me all about it?
   6. How far will I have to travel, and how much will it cost?
   7. Are any of my local training partners racing, so we can travel together?

4. What does a comprehensive website need to encourage women to try riding and racing?
   

   Helpful information on a comprehensive website would be testimonials, opportunities, mechanical information, cost estimates. Testimonials from other female riders are a great place to start. Everyone wants to know if someone else has done this and what her experience was. Then she'll know whether she can do it and how much it will take to get involved. As far as opportunities to ride, including, for example, a list of regional or state's bike club's websites so that the woman can find out what's going on in her area would be helpful information; this would provide a way for her to get connected quickly. Basic mechanical information is always helpful; it will give readers a starting point on how to maintain their bikes if they can't take them into a bike shop regularly. Cost estimates, especially regarding bicycles and race entry fees, will help prepare the women for how much they can expect to spend and help them decide whether it's a feasible and wise decision.

5. What, if anything, eliminates the intimidation factor of attempting to ride or race?
   

   Cycling in general is a great sport because you can compete or you can ride; many races are available throughout the season, but many group rides, which are often leisurely in nature, are also available. Knowing that you can relax or hammer while you're out riding with a group, and that you can decide in the middle of a ride to take it easy and still have people to ride with, helps eliminate any intimidation factor of attempting to ride. The best way to eliminate the intimidation factor of attempting to race is to talk to other women who have raced, get input from them, train with them, and then just go out there and do one. It's like anything in life: You're not going to be perfect the first time you do something, but the more you practice and the more experience you get, the better you'll be if you continue to put the time into training.

Busy Tuesday

First I went on a bike ride:

• 41:48; 13.15 miles; 18.9 mph (35.9 max); 783 cal; 164 HR (186 max); beat my time on the course by 1:25 and 0.35 miles
• It was ridiculously windy; the only respite I had from the wind was up Mack Hatcher and up Moores Lane.

Then I worked out with Will:

• Rebound lunges: 100 each leg with 30-lb bar between legs; he kept saying that I could go down farther and to separate my pectorals.
• Glute ham: 10×3 overspeed; after we got past the first one when I came up and knocked him in the chin with my head, these went well—tho he did remind me that I should be trying to pull myself away from him.
• Bench press: 10×3 overspeed with 30-lb bar; again, he had to remind me to push up fast (especially since this was half the weight we'd done the other day).
• Russian twist: 10×2 each side; reminder here—don't clench your fists because you're not even really using your arms/hands, you're using your lats/obliques.
• We didn't do one other thing because we didn't have time; he said it was something where you jump off a platform into a squat? I didn't understand.

Finally I went to play some volleyball. It was about 30+ degrees colder this week than last and my feet are still freezing! We won our first match (21-14, 21-7 or something) and then lost our second match (13-21 and 17-21 I think). Considering that we had only 3 players, we did well, but two wins would have been nice!

Criteriums

Lisa and I had a chance to catch up before Bible study (learning about Esther and her teachable spirit and obedient attitude), and she shared with me some very encouraging information: Not doing the crits next year is a good decision. Earlier this month, I decided to not race in the criterium series that I've won the previous two years. I made this decision based mainly on four things:

1. It felt like the right decision (i.e. I prayed about it and thought God was directing me elsewhere; black and white issues are easy for me because they're directly addressed in the Bible, whereas gray areas are more difficult because they are not specifically addressed, but I did seek Him and His guidance).
2. I want to focus on triathlons.
3. The bike skills, aerobic/anaerobic work, time, and distance of crits don't translate well to triathlon training.
4. Brian, a former-pro-triathlete-and-coach friend, suggested I not race them.

Sometimes it's also nice to hear from other learned people, those who have competed professionally and coached excellent athletes and know the ropes, that your decision was indeed the right one. Lisa had talked to Todd over at Endeavor Performance (he's her coach) and told him what I was focusing on next year; she couldn't believe I wouldn't do the crit series and wanted to hear what he had to say. He said it was absolutely the right decision. She didn't tell me whether he'd said why, but I was definitely glad she shared at least a little.