Germanfest Bike Rally

Yesterday I did the Germanfest Bike Rally in Muenster, TX with the Wild Stallions (the bike team I ride with). I had registered for the 100k course, but ended up doing the 65k. The ride started off rainy, windy, and very slow. About 5 miles into it the rain started to clear up and the sun came out. The wind remained. The course was also very hilly. Very challenging. I did this ride last year and I don't remember it being so hilly. I am disappointed I didn't get the 100k in, but I made a conscious decision to turn off at the 65/100k split because I wanted to just enjoy the ride, not kill myself. Also, no excuse, but I do have a sprint tri next weekend and I want to make sure I have a full recovery to be fresh for that.

On the way to Muenster and on the ride course there were remnants of tornado damage from a severe storm that went through the night before. Here are a couple pics of the damage.

Check out this uprooted tree...it must have been carried pretty far because I don't see the hole in the ground where it came from.




Canopies ripped off their frames at a car dealer.


This picture is not the best, but it is a barn and house with roofs partially torn off and debris spread over the property.

Today I feel good, although I can definitely tell I did a challenging 41 miles yesterday. Forty-one miles is not the farthest I've ridden this season either, but yesterday was by far the most challenging 41 miles I've ridden this season thanks to the hills and major wind. It was some great training.

Elizabeth (Epigirl) was supposed to do the rally yesterday too, but she got stuck in a major traffic jam on the way to Muenster from Fort Worth and was late so she just tooled around town with her friend on their bikes. I had forgotten my cell phone, so I went the whole rally wondering where in the heck she was. When I finished I found her at the local biergarden enjoying a fine brew!

All in all, it wasn't my favorite rally, but I'd do it again (in hopes the weather would be better). Maybe next year I'll be able to get the 100k in!

I'll try to post some group pics that were taken on a friend's camera once I receive them. That's all for now...

Brick with Epigirl

Well, tonight I completed an excellent brick with Epigirl (Elizabeth). We did a 25 mile bike ride and then ran for about 20 minutes. I felt pretty strong throughout.

I also did a brick last night...swam about 1100 then ran 2 miles. That was a stellar workout too.

Bike rally this weekend-- Muenster Germanfest -- I'm planning on doing the 100k route. I did this rally last year and wussed out, only doing the 40 mile route. This year I'm definitely stepping it up to the metric century!

Also, currently doing some prelim recording to prepare for a podcast with Elizabeth. We recorded our brick tonight and are trying to come up with a good name for our show. We also need to work on some show concepts and some things we'd like to cover in each epidsode.

More to come....

Rest day....

Well, it is Monday, and that tends to be my rest day because I have work and a night class (i.e. the day is pretty much filled up b/c I'm not much of a morning person). Today I actually fell pretty good. Saturday I went for a 30 mile bike ride. I didn't go with the Stallions though-- too tired/lazy to get up that early. Then yesterday I rode the old mtn. bike over to a friend's and went for a 45 min. jog then rode back home. It was a pretty easy ride/run. I think I'm feeling good today because I took it easy this past weekend.

This coming weekend I'm looking forward to a 5k run on Sunday-- I'm planning on "racing" it or at least pushing myself to get some speedwork in.

Nutrition-- doing okay here. Maintaining my weight. I would really like to trim up a little more though-- the lighter the faster (at least on the run). I'm working on cutting out some calories from my daily caloric intake. Thanks to fitday.com for giving me stellar visuals.

New sweet Web sites that I've tried out recently:
Google Calendar:
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=cl&passive=true&nui=1&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcalendar

and a cool site to track mileage:
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=cl&passive=true&nui=1&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcalendar

Check 'em out!

That's all for now. Have to get some reading in...

Ahhh....a half day

It's Good Friday and that means a half day here at my glorious place of work. Timing couldn't be better-- I'm pretty darn tired this morning.

Last night I ended up going for a run again--yep, skipped out on swimming. The run was much better than the ones on Wed. & R though. I felt stronger, although I could tell I have much room for improvement.

Bike ride tomorrow morning. Challenge-- making sure I go to bed early tonight so I have enough energy saved up for the morning.

Adios for now....

Guess I need some recovery ...

So, last night and tonights runs were terrible! Both of them I just dragged along-- or it felt that way at least-- and my heart rate was sky high for the pace I was running. I took that as a sign that I needed some recovery and made them both short (~ 3 miles/30min.) each. Ugh--hopefully the rest of the week's workouts will be a little bit better.

I really need to get some more swimming in...maybe I'll go for a swim tomorrow to take a break from my recent pitiful running. I'm looking forward to a nice long bike ride on Saturday morning.

That's all for now....

4.10.06

Went for a nice run last night, while listening to the new IronmanRadio podcast. I must say I was not too impressed thus far. I was listening to the first show and there was a kid screaming in the background that was pretty distracting. I'll probably give it another go, but so far I like the other tri podcasts better (i.e. Zen, Geek, Stu). I felt pretty good on the run last night, pretty strong.

Today I was pretty tired until about lunchtime and then once I got some food it helped me wake up a bit. Probably taking the day off from training today since I have to go to class tonight. I suppose I'm about due for a rest day, but I always feel a bit guilty when I don't work out.

That's all for now....

In the beginning...

So, I've finally broken down and decided to create my own blog. I will have to figure out how to customize it (i.e. make a cool custom title, add photo links, etc.) Until I figure all that out I will just talk a little about how my training is going. Yesterday was a great day. I went on a bike ride at White Rock Lake- I only did one lap, which is a pretty lame b/c it's only 9.5 miles around, but the wind was pretty bad so I decided I'd make up for it by going for a swim. I made it to the pool and swam for about a half hour, doing 1025 yds. Not outstanding by any means, but it was a major improvement for me to even get in the pool (swimming is my least fav of the 3). Then I decided to go for a run and listen to the latest podcast from Zen & the Art of Triathlon-- great, as always.

So, I ended up doing a mini tri yesterday. It was a great workout and I'm feeling excellent today. I'll probably go for a run later.

Btw, I've been using www.fitday.com to track my workouts and nutrition--thanks to a recommendation from a Zen Tri member-- and I must say it is awesome (as SimplyStu would say). The best part is that it's free! So, check it out.

-Cara