Dead

I know my blog had been dead for about 6 months...I've been pondering if I should make it private, if I should continue blogging...is my life worth blogging about?  No, not really.  So I'm not sure what my plans are exactly.  That's why I've been off the grid. I think I am going to break up with facebook too...it has to be one or the other...if I stay on both that would make me a super ME - monster, I may as well Twitter.  So as for now I am back to blogging...I just may make it private.

Nittany Cross Race

Seth is awesome he dropped his chain like 4 times on this race and passed like 78 people still and got top 20 out of 150 something riders...what a stud!

Cross Racing is a different type of racing...Seth has been dabbling in Cross Racing (not cross dressing...well not that I know of) and I thought it was high time I tried this great style of racing...Seth got started by transforming an old road commuter to Sweat PHAT my cross bike.  This bike is hot, and super ghetto!  So ghetto in fact that when I lined up at the beginning of the race the woman next to me asked me if I welded the bike myself.  Cross is a 40 min race you do laps on grass, trail, dirt, roots, or whatever, and you run over barriers and obstacles, while keeping your heart rate dangerously high all on a road bike! I started the race feeling really good since I did most of my training in low zones, so why not race in zone 5 and zone 6 ( I know you shouldn't have a zone 6 but when you go past your max, you're now in zone 6) I was at the front'ish of the pack for the 1st lap, then slowly kept going further back in the pack....I will take credit for the lack of high intensity training, but most of the blame will go on Sweat PHAT that PHAT beast, she was too big for me and the saddle (seat) was wrong for me...I was in so much pain!!!  I would have given anything to punch Seth...he told me Cross was awesome, amazing, blah blah rainbows...and such but he forgot to mention that Cross is practically the love child of Eddy Merckx and Death himself! Those crazy Belgians!!! So needless to say that was my first and last Cross race so far...I think if I get a MUCH nicer bike than I will go back to it, but a real athlete would never blame their gear...but I'm a poser.

 Here's me faking enthusiasm after the race.

Fisher doesn't even bother faking anything, this is what he thinks of the race...

Fisher's 2nd Birthday

 My little guy turned 2...how all the cliches are coming true. I just can't believe time is going by so fast.  I remember just holding him when he was just born and he was so small...now look at him...go grown up...sheesh I'm going be a wreck when he turns 8.

 Fisher loves Baseball so we took him and his friends over to the baseball diamond across the street to play kickball.  The little kids played with a bouncy ball and the big kids played with a yoga ball.

 This just looked like a bad idea!  Seriously that ball is bigger than Fisher. Yikes!

 Fisher lets Grandma know what he thinks of potty training.

 

 I feel so lucky to have such a great Family.  I love my crew! 

Topsail

 After the Race my sister and I load up the car and head down to Baltimore to pick up Anna my Sister in law from the airport, we were on our way to Topsail, NC to a beach house for the entire week!!!  We were going down to meet with my mother in law and all the sister in laws with 2 extra bonus' Anna's Mom and sister....it was the ultimate girls week.  I had no idea that the water in NC is amazing, the beaches were perfect!!!!  We had a blast - so much fun.

 We would just play in the water for hours, Fisher...need I say it...like a fish.

He loved the beach so much he cried when we left.  I guess that means we will just have to live near a beach some day.

Hardcore 24

It has been way too long for this post - so I'm going to sum everything up.  The 24 hour race was in July in New York and it was amazing! 

 The Team:  My Sister Charlotte came out from San Diego to be my nutritionist. 

  Seth my Husband was the crew chief so he oversaw everything...and took care of all the things I forgot.

So this is how the race worked.  The race start at Noon on Saturday and goes to Noon on Sunday.  The course is a 8 mile loop, the person with the most loops by Sunday at Noon wins.  You get to decided your pace how long you want to rest, you can even sleep if you need it.  For me I had my A, B, & C goal.  My A goal was to get 100 miles.  I had a race plan and a nutrition plan and I really felt prepared for this race...I felt really good. My race plan was to be conservative...stay in a zone 2 which I am convinced I don't have.  I rode about 3 laps staying within my zone 2 and it was hard, because I was going so slow!!!  So finally I just had to ride how I felt, and that meant I rode harder and I was in Zone 3 and low zone 4...but I felt better and I was moving quicker now.  I can't remember which lap it was on maybe lap 4 the clouds opened up and the craziest rain storm hit us!  The trail was dark even though it was only 5pm, and the rain was so heavy that you could barely see the trail.  I had to use my headlamp at that time.  To tell you the truth it was probably the best time I had on my bike.  When else would you ride your bike in weather like that.  Well it gets better...after the rain and when the sun started to go down the trail was covered by the thick thick fog....honestly you could hardly see the trail underneath your front tire.  You had to keep your light on so you can see the reflectors to keep you on the path...the fog was so thick that would could pass right by someone and not know.  Again it was a little stressful, but a lot of fun.  Unfortunately my wrist was bugging most all of this race...but luckily I didn't have too many down hills to pound it. So really my whole goal this race was to be a smarter rider!  Usually I am not a smart rider, I just go out until I blow up and then keep trying to go and enjoy the pain...well I am getting a little older and wiser, so I really tried to dial in my nutrition and with the help of my sister I did just that.  I had the best nutrition plan I have ever had.  I ate real food!  I hardly touched energy food.  I ate burritos that were made with chicken, quinoa, grapes, humus and other good things, I had soup, PB&J's, I ate real food, and the best part was that my sister can read my mind and she would have exactly what I wanted waiting for me with out having to tell her...she's amazing. 

 

 Transitions: This is what a lap would look like.  I would start the trail ride my 8 miles, roll up to my teams pavilion Seth would take my bike and he would clean it and make sure it's shifting well etc. He would check my liquids to make sure I drank enough, and get me clean water and stuff.  I would sit down and Charlotte would bring me something to eat, and stuff my pocket with about 150 calories worth of food I need to eat on the trail.  I would eat and chit chat with the our friends who were there racing.  I would get up stretch and get back on my bike roll though the timing station and do another lap I would be at the 'camp' for 10-15 mins.  It was clockwork.  Everyone was working really hard.

Anyway this post is too long already, but the race continued through the night, and everything was going really well I was on mark to make my A goal, when I thought I was having an allergic reaction to a granola I ate.  I freaked out because it was in the middle of the night and I probably wasn't thinking clearly...and I didn't want to be on the trail and go into shock then I would be in real trouble...so I took half a benadryl, then took a shower and got back on the trail.  Too bad for me benadryl knocks me out, so I was practically sleeping while biking...it was brutal and painful.  I roll up to camp at 3 something, by no I was in First place, but I was so tired I slept for a few hours and when I woke up I did another lap, but I didn't feel right after that, so I called it...and ended the race I think about 8 or 9am on Sunday.  I ended in 2nd place and I only got my C goal and that was 80 miles...I guess I don't regret anything I just wished I didn't take a sedative during an endurance race....but as for everything else, it was great!!!  I had a great time and I think I finally found the race for me.

Huge shout out my Seth who supported me through all my hours of training...He was the one looking after my bike and body, he would stitch me up after work without complaining, he practically carried me out of a trail when I sprained my ankle, he would watch Fisher while I rode...he would check in with me to make sure I was on mark with my training.  He is by far my biggest support in life, and I am not joking when I say, I would not be where I am today without him.  He knows I need outside motivation, what it comes down to;  he knows me better than I know myself....so he knows how hard it was for me to say that.