Crazy Is As Crazy Does

There may not be a force on earth strong enough to fix my cycling skills in time to race Mt. Tam next weekend, but I signed up anyway.  Haha...  Wish me luck!

I'm a Fixer Upper

Red Kite Racing hosts cycling races all year, but most of them take place on Sundays and, unfortunately, BART doesn't run early enough for us to make it to Pleasanton in time for the 8am starts.  The championship, however, is a *two-day* event where the Women's Cat 3/4 final falls on a Saturday *and* since BART has morning service starting at 5am on Saturdays...

Flash forward to September 5th at 5am.  We were wishing we had never even heard of cycling.  It was more like a race to the snooze button.  LOL

Billy and I were still rubbing the sleep out of our eyes when we got to the Fruitvale BART station and almost had side-by-side matching his-and-hers heart attacks because the BART station signs were displaying the wrong destination for the southbound train.  We breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief when doors opened to a Dublin/Pleasanton train.  Phew!

I'll admit that the start line for this race might've been the most intimidated I've felt on my bike to date.  All the biggest dogs in the pack were there donning team threads and looking pretty mean.  Then there was me in my short shorts and streamers (which I removed as a precaution - wah!).  Turns out that day I didn't even come close to breaking my top two times around this flat smooth one mile loop around the Clorox campus.

I was feeling pretty comfortable hanging on to the back of the pack for the first eight laps.  After a little break away, trying to get into the group another cyclist piped up to reprimand me.  She was like, "You cornered waaaaaay better that time."  Since what she said was actually super constructive and nice *and* she delivered it in a British accent it was actually kinda wonderful hearing from her!   I'll take what I can get!  Hehe.  However, for my next race I think I will install a comment box on my bike in the shape of a middle finger.  What do you think?

Thirty minutes into the race.  We've gone around in circles ten times....  No crashes.  No flats.  I wasn't dizzy, tired, or winded!  My legs were going, "Would you go already!?!!"  Oyoyoy.  A friend made her move to the front of the group, but I wasn't on her wheel.  In that moment I was 100% sure that if I wanted to have a chance at the top five I needed to be up there with her, but I just didn't go for it.  I was afraid if I moved from the back of the pack, I might not make it back in with enough time to corner safely.  Ugh!

I got 10th.  Here are the official results:
http://ontheday.net/2015/redkite_finale/women_cat34/results/

With 54 points overall I am actually 24th out of over 100 cyclists in the series even though I only raced twice.  So, that ain't bad, but better luck next year, right?!?!  Ahaha.  So, I guess I'm a bit of a fixer upper:

Buckling Down

The Oakland Triathlon Festival is less than a week away!  Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It's way past crunch time.

When we returned from our vacation in July, I sat down with a calendar and a pen and planned workouts for the next six weeks (with bolded margin notes for an elimination diet and exclamation points indicating a *very* generous taper to look forward to).  Hehe...  Last week, when I wasn't training my tail off, I thoroughly snooped all the best times in my age group from last year.  With the added confidence I gained from that, I've finally started telling people my goals (manifesting my desire to win): make it on the podium for my age group and/or set the course record on the bike (breaking 37:13).  I feel ready!

This Sunday marked my last open water swim before the showdown.  I met up to swim (sans wetsuit) in the Oakland estuary with a group of other grown women who will cry - LIKE ME! - if they don't win!  Ahahahah... The water was totally great!  Even warmer than the water at Crab Cove or Aquatic Park (possibly due to radioactivity??   Not sure).  Ha!  

The rest of this week I have easy runs and rides with mini intervals at race pace to remind my body to get ready to go fast on Saturday morning!  Off time will be spent practicing transitions, eating clean and dreaming of the top of the podium.  Oh!  I also have to clean my machine...

Blah blah blah here is the schedule of events in case you would like to join the festivities:

Saturday, August, 29, 2015 – Race Day

5:00am Transition Open
6:46am Sprint Race Start
7:00am International Race Start
9am-1pm Expo, Food, Beer, and Live Music
10:30am Sprint Awards Ceremony & Raffle
11:30am Olympic Awards Ceremony & Raffle
1pm Post Race Party Complete

Maybe I'll see you at the race?  :)

See Amy Run

I ran my first half marathon!!  With a time of 2:02:25 at a 9:20 minute mile average pace, I placed 38th in my age group and 143rd overall.  Here are my results!

I went to the registration/packet pick up Saturday in Jack London Square after my bike race in Pleasanton.  The See Jane Run staff made an exception to their non-transferable rule to give me Catherine's bib (an OTC friend who had to leave town unexpectedly).  #1819  Woohoo.  This is going to hurt tomorrow...

Snake

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!

CFO Endurance Running Clinic

On Saturday I went to a running clinic to get more information about the pose method from a coach who has been running the track workouts for OTC since March (Aaron Castillo).  He had some good things to say and some drills that helped the group get faster and possibly prevent some injury.  There was ten of us and we all had a really great time and learned a lot!

Here's what I got out of it (hopefully I'm not butchering the ideology too bad - haha!):
1.  Relax upper body completely (this is a huge challenge for me IN LIFE not just in running)
2.  90 degrees arms (pocket to chin) with loose fists
3.  Pull knee up vertically on recovery
4.  Foot strike directly under center of gravity

Here's a picture of me running using the pose method:

Apparently, it's supposed to be "good form" that my entire body is in the air... and I'm pretty sure it's bad form to run with your eyes closed no matter what.  Eyeye - haha!  :)

Lakeside Bump

The day after my 32nd birthday, I went on a ride with Billy to get the QOM (queen of the mountain) on the segment Lakeshore to Lakeside Bump in Oakland and it's finally displaying on strava.  Yay!

Because I've been nursing this turf toe I've been riding and swimming a lot more.  I'm getting faster!

Strav-obsession

My strava profile is my current obsession.  If you have an account, you can follow me running and cycling around the beautiful Bay Area.

Win a Sprint Triathlon in 2015: Goals and Challenges

Summer Training 2013: Agility, Conditioning, and Core

Photo courtesy of Angelique Gutierrez

Ladders x 4

-jog one foot in each square (f, b, r, l)  l and r variation are just grapevine/karaoke

-run two feet in each square (f, b, r, l)

-crawl (f, b) - this is one foot in one foot out one at a time

-advanced crawl (f, b) - this is one foot in two feet out one at a time

-monkey climb (f, b) - this is one foot in one foot out together

-scissor steps (r, l)

-dorsey flex (f, b, r, l)
-alternate jumping in and out (f, b)

-jump both feet (f, b, r, l)

-jump right foot (f, b, r, l)

-jump left foot (f, b, r, l)

Stairs x 4

running*

-one step at a time

-two steps at a time

-right side one step at a time (x2)

-left side one step at a time (x2)
jumping*

-one step at a time

-two steps at a time

*Relax and shake out your arms on the way down

Core x 3

30 toe touches

30 rowers

30 lay down to sit up switch arms to touch opposite toes

30 mountain climbers

Cool down legs, abs, and arms with foam roller.  

Meditate 5 minutes.

Mermaid Triathlon 2013

Photo courtesy of Dan Fisher

With a time of 01:06:05 I placed second in my age group and sixth overall.  This is such a fun event!  I highly recommend this triathlon for any ladies who want a great local fitness challenge.  Here's the link:  http://www.mermaidseries.com/alameda#!__alameda

Spring Training 2013: Agility, Conditioning, and Core

Ladders x 3

-jog one foot in each square (f, b, r, l)  l and r variation are just grapevine/karaoke

-run two feet in each square (f, b, r, l)

-crawl (f, b) - this is one foot in one foot out one at a time

-climb (f, b) - this is one foot in one foot out together
-jump both feet (f, b, r, l)

-jump right foot (f, b, r, l)

-jump left foot (f, b, r, l)

-alternate jumping in and out (f, b)

Stairs x 4

running*

-one step at a time

-two steps at a time

-right side one step at a time

-left side one step at a time
jumping*

-one step at a time

-two steps at a time

-right side one step at a time (x2) 

-left side one step at a time (x2)

*Relax and shake out your arms on the way down

Core x 2

20 russian twists with 8# medicine ball

20 sit ups with twist and punch at the top

20 rowers

20 flutter kicks*

20 scissor kicks*

20 lay down to sit up switch arms to touch opposite toes

30 mountain climbers (or reverse mountain climbers)

*Squish the grape!

Cool down legs, abs, and arms with foam roller.  

Meditate for 5 minutes.

Mermaid Triathlon 2012

First Triathlon

I didn't drown!  With a time of  01:09:32 I finished fourth in my age group and eighth overall.

Here are the results: http://results.active.com/events/mermaid-triathlon-series-alameda/triathlon-age-group/expanded