Today, I set out to break my time up Snake (a steep 1.5 mile climb up to Skyline Boulevard in Oakland). My first attempt was just last week and I really went for it from the start, but then lost steam at the top (shooting for under 10 minutes I barely made it in under 12:30 - Oyoyoy!).
Today I was determined to try a new strategy. I held back the reigns for the first half of the climb (up to Colton) and then really let loose on the last quarter mile (after Thornhill). This strategy paid off as I shaved 45 seconds off my original time (11:34). This made me particularly happy because I'm now barely hanging on to the tenth spot out of all the women who have climbed that segment on strava (woohoo!).
I'm already pumped about improving my time next week. Here are my ideas!
1. Climb with cleaner lines (cut corners smarter and make straight shots up the squiggles)
2. Use a nasal decongestant strip (an experienced cyclist recommended this to me for getting more oxygen into my bloodstream - still need to try it!)
3. Start attacking the hill from Shepard Canyon downhill (this is a little cheap as a tactic, but it will bring my average speed way up if I can get a running start into that first steep climb)
4. Sprint - slow to fast - sooner (Instead of gunning it and having to back off later, steadily build speed from Thornhill up to 15mph and then stand up to sprint all the way through Colton)
Ohhhh can't wait to do this again!
Showing posts with label august firesale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label august firesale. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Day 8 - Bad News!
So, today, we had individual meetings with Cory, the main agent running the August Firesale for BIP. It was very sad news... The first thing out of his mouth was the first thing that Tim said to me too, "You're thirty and you're married and I don't think we're going to be able to find you a team." Oh man, I felt so crushed inside, but I contained my emotion and gracefully accepted his advice to start the next chapter of my life. I love Cory!!!!!!! This was hard to hear, but I felt that they let me down pretty easily. I appreciate everything they've done for me here. This entire experience with these girls was so inspiring and amazing - I've met some incredible women who I hope will be lifelong friends. I start to plan my departure tomorrow night. Back to Italy, then Amsterdam, Minneapolis, and finally SFO. Tonight, the remaining group is hitting the bar and tomorrow we're off to Lake Bled for a recovery day... :)
Day 8 - Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Day 4 - Road to Discovery
PS - I forgot to mention in my Day 3 post that when I wasn't thinking about Gordon Ramsay's encouraging words, I was actually belting out bars from Sound of Music's "Climb Every Mountain"... (So funny how things come full circle because Heidi Bell taught me to play volleyball and if I recall correctly, she played Mother Superior in her high school play - ha!)
After yesterday's let down of not making the top 14, I woke up determined to play my best today... I was so jazzed that at 6am I was lacing up my shoes to go for a jog through the hilly paths just south of Hotel Dras. The forest here is dense, but the early morning light was cutting through the trees in fabulous shades of pink and gold. I actually stopped and stared - no, not to catch my breath! wink wink - to admire many of the little details about this place... The wildflowers are in full bloom. I spotted two deer and whole duck family (they "kvak" here - ahah!)...
In addition to the ski runs here (which double as mountain biking paths in the summer time), there is a ropes course, a golf course, a slide down the mountainside, two gondolas, a soccer field, an outdoor bounce house, a resort with yoga, swimming pools, a spa, and bike rentals... Oh my gosh - this town has so much to offer! Blah blah blah - Maribor is great!
After doing some yoga on the edge of a little reservoir outside our hotel, I went into the hotel restaurant for an early breakfast. (Have I mentioned how amazing the food is here??) I knew this would be my first morning that required coffee because I was up SO LATE and then woke up SO EARLY last night - I think my brain just needed to process the reality of hanging out at the bottom of this incredibly impressive lineup of skillful players/leaders, and thinking about how I've got to be ready for my close up today! :)
Right after breakfast, we said goodbye to two of our roomies - and five became three. Such mixed feelings!! I'm so excited for them and the adventures they are about to embark upon, I'm jealous of their success, I'm so so sad to see them go... Ahhh! It's so confusing... One second we're picking a girl up off the floor and telling her she has the next ball - the next second you're fantasizing about breaking her legs - haha!
ANYWAY - got ready really really carefully just to be sure my pre-game routine was done to a tee. It was. Unfortunately, we arrived in the gym to some bad news - that is - no more coaches are coming here to watch us... The bright side??
1. We are going to get some much needed down time tomorrow
2. We will receive more personalized attention from our agents/coaches at trainings
3. While we continue to improve, we buy time for the agents to drum up the best jobs that are still out there
4. We might be embarking on a little road trip of our own to visit them
Even with this disappointing news, I felt good as soon as I stepped on the court. No joke - I played the best volleyball of my whole entire life for the next two hours! I know the other girls noticed, and of course, ha! I could barely recognize myself, so I noticed, but it's really hard to say if anyone else noticed... My mission over the next week is to just keep doing things that get attention for the right reasons, and to continue to forge bonds with this incredible group of women... Oh man, I am impatient for the fulfillment of all of our dreams of making a team.
In the afternoon, we practiced again and after lunch, I rented a bike and ventured into Maribor on my own. It felt so so great to be on the bike... (More on this later - hehe!)
It's only the fourth day here and I already feel like I have truly experienced a lifetime range of emotions. I have laughed till my face is sore... I've shouted "let's go" more times than I can count... Sang "Climb Every Mountain", sat quietly, meditated, sobbed like a baby, and screamed YAY! like, well, like a school girl - which is how young I feel to be playing the highest level volleyball I've ever played right now. This experience is like a roller coaster off the tracks...
It's very late, so I must be going to bed now... More tomorrow! Good night!
After yesterday's let down of not making the top 14, I woke up determined to play my best today... I was so jazzed that at 6am I was lacing up my shoes to go for a jog through the hilly paths just south of Hotel Dras. The forest here is dense, but the early morning light was cutting through the trees in fabulous shades of pink and gold. I actually stopped and stared - no, not to catch my breath! wink wink - to admire many of the little details about this place... The wildflowers are in full bloom. I spotted two deer and whole duck family (they "kvak" here - ahah!)...
In addition to the ski runs here (which double as mountain biking paths in the summer time), there is a ropes course, a golf course, a slide down the mountainside, two gondolas, a soccer field, an outdoor bounce house, a resort with yoga, swimming pools, a spa, and bike rentals... Oh my gosh - this town has so much to offer! Blah blah blah - Maribor is great!
After doing some yoga on the edge of a little reservoir outside our hotel, I went into the hotel restaurant for an early breakfast. (Have I mentioned how amazing the food is here??) I knew this would be my first morning that required coffee because I was up SO LATE and then woke up SO EARLY last night - I think my brain just needed to process the reality of hanging out at the bottom of this incredibly impressive lineup of skillful players/leaders, and thinking about how I've got to be ready for my close up today! :)
Right after breakfast, we said goodbye to two of our roomies - and five became three. Such mixed feelings!! I'm so excited for them and the adventures they are about to embark upon, I'm jealous of their success, I'm so so sad to see them go... Ahhh! It's so confusing... One second we're picking a girl up off the floor and telling her she has the next ball - the next second you're fantasizing about breaking her legs - haha!
ANYWAY - got ready really really carefully just to be sure my pre-game routine was done to a tee. It was. Unfortunately, we arrived in the gym to some bad news - that is - no more coaches are coming here to watch us... The bright side??
1. We are going to get some much needed down time tomorrow
2. We will receive more personalized attention from our agents/coaches at trainings
3. While we continue to improve, we buy time for the agents to drum up the best jobs that are still out there
4. We might be embarking on a little road trip of our own to visit them
Even with this disappointing news, I felt good as soon as I stepped on the court. No joke - I played the best volleyball of my whole entire life for the next two hours! I know the other girls noticed, and of course, ha! I could barely recognize myself, so I noticed, but it's really hard to say if anyone else noticed... My mission over the next week is to just keep doing things that get attention for the right reasons, and to continue to forge bonds with this incredible group of women... Oh man, I am impatient for the fulfillment of all of our dreams of making a team.
In the afternoon, we practiced again and after lunch, I rented a bike and ventured into Maribor on my own. It felt so so great to be on the bike... (More on this later - hehe!)
It's only the fourth day here and I already feel like I have truly experienced a lifetime range of emotions. I have laughed till my face is sore... I've shouted "let's go" more times than I can count... Sang "Climb Every Mountain", sat quietly, meditated, sobbed like a baby, and screamed YAY! like, well, like a school girl - which is how young I feel to be playing the highest level volleyball I've ever played right now. This experience is like a roller coaster off the tracks...
It's very late, so I must be going to bed now... More tomorrow! Good night!
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Day 3 - A Day to Forget!
I started out great today! Had great butterfly passing and nice hitting lines. But later on, during the six on six scrimmaging, I really started to see my dreams fading for the first time during this trip!!!! I lost confidence on serve-receive and never really recovered...
After the live streamed inter-squad match I was feeling down for not making the top 14 remaining players. So, I took a long beautiful hike up the ski run behind the hotel to clear my mind and relax a little... It was so beautiful! Breathing in the fresh mountain air felt amazing and at the top of the hill was this incredible view of the whole valley. It really gave me some perspective on what I'm here to do. I hope it helps me do better tomorrow.
The whole time - I don't know why - I just kept thinking about this quote from a Gordon Ramsay interview where he said about Hell's Kitchen something like, "They're all great chefs, but it's about getting through the process, winning challenges, and gaining experience along the way..." Something like that... Anyway, I just hope I can get my confidence back and put forth my best effort tomorrow.
Sleepy time! More later...
After the live streamed inter-squad match I was feeling down for not making the top 14 remaining players. So, I took a long beautiful hike up the ski run behind the hotel to clear my mind and relax a little... It was so beautiful! Breathing in the fresh mountain air felt amazing and at the top of the hill was this incredible view of the whole valley. It really gave me some perspective on what I'm here to do. I hope it helps me do better tomorrow.
The whole time - I don't know why - I just kept thinking about this quote from a Gordon Ramsay interview where he said about Hell's Kitchen something like, "They're all great chefs, but it's about getting through the process, winning challenges, and gaining experience along the way..." Something like that... Anyway, I just hope I can get my confidence back and put forth my best effort tomorrow.
Sleepy time! More later...
Friday, August 9, 2013
Day 2 - Culture Clash
I feel at home here in Slovenia. It's not that the Slovenian people are exceedingly welcoming, but I still just feel good - like I belong! That said, there are definitely some differences here I've noticed that are fun and interesting...
1. Here they keep the peanut butter next to the nacho cheese sauce in the junk food aisle! Not next to the jam, honey, or nutella... Nop. It's next to the cheez whiz. Ahahaha!
2. Scrabble is green:
(Quit looking at my letters, cheaters!!)
3. Ice ("led" in Slovene) is served on the side in a separate glass with it's own ice-cube-sized serving spoon.
4. No Bikram :( .... yet! Although I have met some other Bikram yoginis on the tour, and they are awesome!
Well, that's it for today! The volleyball players here are really amazing... I wish it could just stay like this and we could be paid to play with this group of ladies because they are a spectacular accumulation of both talent and personality. I'm feeling the love and lovin' it here so far.
Tomorrow, here I come! 9AM practice and 6:30PM game, which will be live streamed here:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4789101/events/2307714
1. Here they keep the peanut butter next to the nacho cheese sauce in the junk food aisle! Not next to the jam, honey, or nutella... Nop. It's next to the cheez whiz. Ahahaha!
2. Scrabble is green:
3. Ice ("led" in Slovene) is served on the side in a separate glass with it's own ice-cube-sized serving spoon.
4. No Bikram :( .... yet! Although I have met some other Bikram yoginis on the tour, and they are awesome!
Well, that's it for today! The volleyball players here are really amazing... I wish it could just stay like this and we could be paid to play with this group of ladies because they are a spectacular accumulation of both talent and personality. I'm feeling the love and lovin' it here so far.
Tomorrow, here I come! 9AM practice and 6:30PM game, which will be live streamed here:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4789101/events/2307714
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