Training Log Archive: Yvonne

KM3 class. Rear naked choke and guillotine drills.

- hip strengthening/flexibility
- forearm strengthening

Trash/recycle hauling plus some extra running. Last couple weeks of "training" sadly lacking, that's for sure. Job/family duties seemed to all converge at once and I didn't pre-plan well. womp womp

Letterboxing badge - hike portion. Scrapped the pirate clues and just led the girls there. Lame! But no way they were going to get it in the time allotted - not kid-friendly at all. However, they loved the hike and oohed/ahhed over the cool box and stamp.

Hiking Cattle Ridge trail @ Broemmelsiek w/ daughter.

Speed-planning "Letterboxing" Brownie badge that I am conducting w/ 12-girl troop tomorrow afternoon. Admittedly misjudged the complexity of this one a bit. Letterboxing is sort of a low-tech twist on geocaching where you follow a set of clues to get to a weather-proof box in the woods that contains a hand-carved stamp - you stamp a notebook you bring along. The clues for this one were written in pirate-speak (e.g. "Look port, along the wooded edge for a large mast that has split from its shaft and folded over. Paddle ye dingy 15 strokes to the broken mast."). Somehow, we found the tiny box. The stamp was super duper cool! Obviously an artist made it.

Steady trainer spin.

Not the best trip for fitness - long days + long dinners. Good times w/ my colleagues though! Enroute to DIA, managed to swing by Rocky Mountain Arsenal Nat. Wildlife Refuge. Zipped through the cool Vis center then headed out for a power hike (running not allowed!). Bison, squeaky prairie dogs and magpies galore. Such an interesting history - from years of icky chemical weapons (napalm, nerve gas, etc.) to this.

Biz trip to Denver. DIA hiking w/ 25# pack. Logging it.

Another lame-ish trainer spin. Kiddos @ in-laws - hubby & I out of town first thing AM (separate trips unfortunately!). Missing almost all of kid's fall break. BOO

Trainer spin.

Running for a change! From work, Hamburg to Lost Valley, down drop-in hill, up next gravel hill, and back. Kept pace easy. Feeling great!

Trainer spin. Felt good!

Sparring class - just me and the guys. And just like that, my R elbow is a little jacked up again. Elbow joints take a beating doing this stuff. Serves me right for neglecting the forearm strengthening.

KM1 class w/ hubby. Kiddos hanging out alongside the mats so sort of a strange Israeli street-fighting family night for us.

Trash/recycle hauling. Wildlife galore - 2 does and triplet fawns bedded down right along our road and noisy, screeching raccoons fighting in the treetops of our woods.

Hip strengthening/flexibility. R knee tenderness almost gone - ice helped. Feeling pretty good.

A couple important points I want to remember re: SH:

1. Wasn't sure the best way to carry my bike w/ a frame bag installed. Got a wonderful tutorial from Kate the day before and it made the hike-a-bike sections efficient and completely bearable. Lifesaver!! Thx K.

2. Did NOT want to repeat tummy troubles I've experienced this summer (debilitating abdominal cramps) from pushing the envelope w/ "real" food, so I subsisted on gel, chews, and Perpetuem solids (like eating crumbly sidewalk chalk, but I actually like them) the entire day. Doled them out sparingly so was on the edge of hunger most of the time but had steady energy & never felt ill. Plain water, a few Salt Stick capsules, a caffeine tab, a couple ibuprofens, and 4 sourdough pretzel nibblers as a treat (during last 15 miles) rounded out the consumables. I think less is more for me.

Event: Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra
 

Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra - short course

I came to this race 1) super excited for the adventure and 2) with very few performance expectations except "finish". Also, since registering, I had come to learn a little more about RD Sarah Cooper and wanted to support the event of an amazingly talented and inspirational cyclist.

Kate (kgeisen) and Mickey invited me to join their road trip and I am really grateful for that - lots of invaluable race advice/intel, delightful plush accommodations with race volunteers Bill and Saraleigh, shared transportation and laughs galore.

The weather in the St. Charles, Iowa area was shaping up to be a potential issue - puh-lenty of rain fell the days before the event causing numerous re-routes and a few day-of detours. Unfortunately, this resulted in almost all of the planned 40 mi. of B roads (highlight of the race) being taken out due to impassible conditions. Bummer...but good move RD! I'd much rather have it that way. The forecast for the day wasn't exactly sunshine and gentle breezes either. Ha-HA! Bring it on.

The race started in light drizzles. I hung with Kate for a little while then ran into the Super Sonas around dawn and visited a little. It was cool, misty and just gorgeous. Not long after, the rain and wind picked up and the temps dropped. Personally, I love these conditions and frequently repeated to myself "it's not unbearably hot, I'm not getting baked in the sun, there's no dust, the landscape is wild and beautiful -- this is AWESOME!!" As the miles clicked by, this phrase became useful. Driving rain and crazy sustained 20-30 mph headwinds? Repeat above phrase. Soft, squishy power-sucking riding surfaces? Repeat above phrase. Sloppy hike-a-bikes? Relentless hills? Herculean efforts where you're sure you just crushed a mile or two but after checking the Garmin, find it was only a paltry quarter-mile? Repeat, repeat, repeat. And smile. And just keep pedaling and enjoying the views. Positive self-talk is where it's at!

Since this was a self-supported event with no drop bags, I brought a fair amount of supplies with with me including all my food. I stopped at 2 convenience stores (Afton @ mi. 68-ish and Orient @ mi. 100-ish) to re-supply water. Each stop was super quick. I kept running into the Sonas - love them! In Orient, they let me borrow some of their lube to quiet my loud, grinding chain. Ahhhh - thank you.

At the end of the last hike-a-bike (mi. 105-110 ish?), the photographer stationed there said she thought I was the first gal through. Huh - really?? She seemed uncertain and because I was moving SO slowly, I really didn't think it was likely. I thought for sure there were 1 or 2 ladies ahead of me. BTW she was so pleasant and nice to talk to (like all the volunteers) and that was a lovely boost after a very tough section. Thank you wonderful volunteers!

From here on out, the roads had firmed up and were much faster. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Fuel up and sip water. Turn on helmet light at dusk. Enjoy the gigantic orange harvest moon! Count glowing deer eyes. I was very tired, my right knee hurt, but overall was doing pretty decent, considering the circumstances. At the finish line, Sarah said I was the first female finisher and since I had totally passed over the earlier comment hours ago, I was genuinely surprised. Icing on the cake!

Finishing this race was a satisfying confirmation of my cycling training efforts the past few months. The weekday early morning computrainer sessions at Power Up, long weekend rides (even earlier in the morning), and a couple Fridays off work for longer yet rides ended up being pretty good prep. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and terrain. I'll admit I'm already thinking about next year -- I want to ride those B roads!

- 80 registered
- 59 @ check-in the day before
- 48 started
- 25 finished (8 in the 200; 18 in the 150)
- 8 ladies started the 150

C • Congratulations! 7

- Hip strengthening/flexibility
- 12 pushups x4

@ Brentwood ice arena - because daughter said she wanted to get back into hockey. Huh. 8 yr. olds can be fickle, so we'll just do a few public skates and see where that takes us. Good times on the ice!