My messy mask.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Half a day of sleep and cucumber beauty treatments
Heading to Missoula, Montana this afternoon for a weekend of laid-back, low-key racing. The fields will be small and the courses will be pretty. Plus, Missoula has a fantastic ice cream shop that I'll have to hit at least once. I just feel guilty leaving the kitties here alone every weekend.
Did one of the local TTs last night and had my best time of the year. I was a little concerned that I was possibly coming down with something because I slept for 13 hours Wednesday night. Not sure why I slept so long. I woke up and it was 12:30 - shocked me!
I had some cucumber left over a couple nights ago after making a salad dressing, so I came up with the brilliant idea of making a face mask with it. I found a recipe on the internet and whipped it together, though it seemed a lot runnier than it seemed it should be. I laid down on a towel on the living room floor and Ted volunteered to "paint" it on my face with a pastry brush. Didn't work so well, getting all over everything and running down the sides of my head. The cats found it interesting, though. Either the recipe was messed up or I should have used a regular, rather than English, cucumber. I think I'll purchase a mask the next time I want to try something like this.
I just ran downstairs because I heard a crash and knew Pazza was into something. Sure enough, she was on top of the refrigerator again. Apparently she's been eating holes through the cat food bag while we're gone. She's a little piggy.
Did one of the local TTs last night and had my best time of the year. I was a little concerned that I was possibly coming down with something because I slept for 13 hours Wednesday night. Not sure why I slept so long. I woke up and it was 12:30 - shocked me!
I had some cucumber left over a couple nights ago after making a salad dressing, so I came up with the brilliant idea of making a face mask with it. I found a recipe on the internet and whipped it together, though it seemed a lot runnier than it seemed it should be. I laid down on a towel on the living room floor and Ted volunteered to "paint" it on my face with a pastry brush. Didn't work so well, getting all over everything and running down the sides of my head. The cats found it interesting, though. Either the recipe was messed up or I should have used a regular, rather than English, cucumber. I think I'll purchase a mask the next time I want to try something like this.
I just ran downstairs because I heard a crash and knew Pazza was into something. Sure enough, she was on top of the refrigerator again. Apparently she's been eating holes through the cat food bag while we're gone. She's a little piggy.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Elkhorn Classic
Ted and I traveled to eastern Oregon last weekend for one of my favorite races, the Elkhorn Classic: www.elkhornclassic.com
We shared a room with Ben Rhodes and Chad Conley, which made for crowded space, with 8 bikes, 4 trainers, 2 coolers, and 20+ wheels. Thankfully, our room was relatively large.
I have had both great and awful days on stage one in past years; I'd say this year fell somewhere in the middle. It was hot - 90 degrees or so, and I made sure to drink lots of concentrated sports drink. I drank 4 bottles during the race, which normally would have been sufficient, but I found myself getting the chills and goosebumps with 10 miles to go. I was determined to hang with the other two girls I was with until the finish (two others were ahead up the road), which I managed to do. I was not feeling well at all after the finish - chilled, light-headed, and queasy. I heard others later say that they had experienced the chills too, including Ted, so it was a rough day for many.
I was concerned about how I would handle the heat for the coming stages, as the forecast called for rising temps throughout the weekend. Surprisingly, I had a fantastic time trial - definitely my best of the season. I stayed focused throughout the course, which has been a problem for me this year, and finished knowing I had done a good one. Ted felt the same way, so we were both in pretty high spirits.
We were all pretty wiped out from the heat, so we took a nap in the air conditioning before the third stage crit Saturday evening. I don't know what came over me, but I had a great crit, riding near the front the whole time and sprinting for numerous primes. I finished and Ted told me I had won $100 prime, but I didn't think I had. Sure enough, I did win $100, and also another prime - a gift certificate for a local store. I never win primes, so I was pretty happy. Alice Pennington told Ted after the crit that I have a "wicked sprint." Hmmm... never thought of myself as a sprinter.
Our final 100 mile stage progressed as it always does, which means it pretty much stayed together until the final 10 mile climb. Three of us dropped the rest, and then I was dropped from them with 1 km to go. I finished 3rd on the day and moved into 2nd overall, which I was happy with. I finally feel like my fitness is coming around for the first time this season; it has been an extremely frustrating season until now. All in all, I walked away with $300+ bucks. Ted had some stomach problems, but still seemed to have fun.
We shared a room with Ben Rhodes and Chad Conley, which made for crowded space, with 8 bikes, 4 trainers, 2 coolers, and 20+ wheels. Thankfully, our room was relatively large.
I have had both great and awful days on stage one in past years; I'd say this year fell somewhere in the middle. It was hot - 90 degrees or so, and I made sure to drink lots of concentrated sports drink. I drank 4 bottles during the race, which normally would have been sufficient, but I found myself getting the chills and goosebumps with 10 miles to go. I was determined to hang with the other two girls I was with until the finish (two others were ahead up the road), which I managed to do. I was not feeling well at all after the finish - chilled, light-headed, and queasy. I heard others later say that they had experienced the chills too, including Ted, so it was a rough day for many.
I was concerned about how I would handle the heat for the coming stages, as the forecast called for rising temps throughout the weekend. Surprisingly, I had a fantastic time trial - definitely my best of the season. I stayed focused throughout the course, which has been a problem for me this year, and finished knowing I had done a good one. Ted felt the same way, so we were both in pretty high spirits.
We were all pretty wiped out from the heat, so we took a nap in the air conditioning before the third stage crit Saturday evening. I don't know what came over me, but I had a great crit, riding near the front the whole time and sprinting for numerous primes. I finished and Ted told me I had won $100 prime, but I didn't think I had. Sure enough, I did win $100, and also another prime - a gift certificate for a local store. I never win primes, so I was pretty happy. Alice Pennington told Ted after the crit that I have a "wicked sprint." Hmmm... never thought of myself as a sprinter.
Our final 100 mile stage progressed as it always does, which means it pretty much stayed together until the final 10 mile climb. Three of us dropped the rest, and then I was dropped from them with 1 km to go. I finished 3rd on the day and moved into 2nd overall, which I was happy with. I finally feel like my fitness is coming around for the first time this season; it has been an extremely frustrating season until now. All in all, I walked away with $300+ bucks. Ted had some stomach problems, but still seemed to have fun.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Belated Nature Valley update
I realized that I never finished my Nature Valley update, so here's a brief synopsis. I felt okay with my TT, though I certainly wasn't thrilled with it. The second stage was brutal because of severe crosswinds of about 25 mph, which entirely splintered our field. It was also filled with crashes, taking out several of the top contenders. Thankfully, no one from our team was hurt. I ended up finishing in the 2nd chase group, which included 3 of my teammates and had about 40 women total. I was pretty frustrated at the end of that stage, but then I discovered that pretty much everyone was frustrated with it, so I tried to just move on.
Rainy crits are not among my favorite things, so I was not thrilled when the streets of downtown Minneapolis were soaked. I admittedly set myself up for a bad crit when a huge thunderstorm hit, complete with lightning, severe wind, and marble-sized hail. The streets were flooding and hail was piled up in the gutters. Everyone seemed to think the race would not happen, which I was honestly pretty happy about. I pretty much got my hopes up that I wouldn't have to do the crit (it scares me), and then let my fear get the best of me when I actually had to race. It was not a good night for me.
The 4th stage was awful for me. I just couldn't get my legs to move. My heart rate was elevated and I was working hard, but I just couldn't turn over the pedals. Not sure why. I felt awful and was struggling to just hang on, as it was another super windy day. Eventually, I couldn't do it and got popped, which made me really unhappy. I packed it in at the feed zone. Demoralizing day, but I think something must be going on with me and making me feel bad on the bike. Hopefully I'm not getting sick.
So... that's it for me at NV. My teammate, Carmen, had a fantastic performance in her first NRC race, but she ended up crashing in the final stage, breaking her clavicle.
Rainy crits are not among my favorite things, so I was not thrilled when the streets of downtown Minneapolis were soaked. I admittedly set myself up for a bad crit when a huge thunderstorm hit, complete with lightning, severe wind, and marble-sized hail. The streets were flooding and hail was piled up in the gutters. Everyone seemed to think the race would not happen, which I was honestly pretty happy about. I pretty much got my hopes up that I wouldn't have to do the crit (it scares me), and then let my fear get the best of me when I actually had to race. It was not a good night for me.
The 4th stage was awful for me. I just couldn't get my legs to move. My heart rate was elevated and I was working hard, but I just couldn't turn over the pedals. Not sure why. I felt awful and was struggling to just hang on, as it was another super windy day. Eventually, I couldn't do it and got popped, which made me really unhappy. I packed it in at the feed zone. Demoralizing day, but I think something must be going on with me and making me feel bad on the bike. Hopefully I'm not getting sick.
So... that's it for me at NV. My teammate, Carmen, had a fantastic performance in her first NRC race, but she ended up crashing in the final stage, breaking her clavicle.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Overheard at work today...
"I spent a whole summer high on acid." Yeah, I work with some real winners.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Stage 1 of Nature Valley
Stage 1 of Nature Valley is done. No results posted yet, so I have no idea how it went. I think my time was similar to my time last year and I had a good result last year, so we'll see. The race is different this year because most of our stages begin in the evening, which is good for me because I can sleep in. My teammate, Sharon, apparently was worried that I was sick because I sleep so much. Ted informed her that I could easily sleep 10 hours on any night.
The field here is huge - about 142, I think, which could make the downtown Minneapolis crit very treacherous on Friday night. I'm hoping a large chunk of the field gets time cut tomorrow, but I think that is doubtful. I just want to stay upright while I'm here.
The field here is huge - about 142, I think, which could make the downtown Minneapolis crit very treacherous on Friday night. I'm hoping a large chunk of the field gets time cut tomorrow, but I think that is doubtful. I just want to stay upright while I'm here.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Philly
I'm in St. Paul now. Got here last night from Philly, which was a good experience, but a disappointing race. I got stuck behind two crashes on the first lap of four. The first crash was pretty nasty with girls strewn all over the road. I had to get off my bike and carry it around the carnage, and by that time, the pack was gone. I chased hard, but never regained contact, and was pulled out after lap 2, along with a bunch of other women.
The race here starts on Wednesday and lasts through Sunday. I think it'll be nice to get home after this trip, and to see my kitten.
The race here starts on Wednesday and lasts through Sunday. I think it'll be nice to get home after this trip, and to see my kitten.
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