Long runs, juicing and a BRAND NEW BIKE!!

Should we name this beautiful bike?

A lot has been going on 'round here lately! Most exciting is my new bike, the latest and GREATEST ARGON18 E-118. After saying good bye to my Orbea last year, I decided on an Argon18 E-114 and immediately fell in love. It has a longer wheel base, which makes descending a bit more stable and comfortable. Good thing for a gal who may not love going down technical descents at warp speed. After discovering how much I loved that bike, I got the opportunity to work with Argon18 this year and even though I was sad to say goodbye to the E-14, I couldn't WAIT for the 118 to get here and my resident bike fairy Mark to build it up for me. So here it is, in all it's glory (race wheels will be in next pics). I got my first ride on it this past week and am super stoked. This bike is going to be fast and it is making me excited for the first race of the year...when is that?!!

Mmmmmm, juice!

I have been continuing to juice up a storm, and am loving it. No special recipe, I don't have time to make it snazzy...just beet juice and carrot juice and mix them together. I juice only enough for two days as after that it seems to go a bit bad. And tonight before heading out for dinner I had juiced up a bunch of swiss chard for Mark and I to take as shots. Yummm, swiss chard shots (it seems like only yesterday that I was doing body shots of Tequila). Followed by a clementine and it isn't so bad. I figured after a big weekend of training, the best thing to do would be to get a quick hit of MAJOR nutrients. I have tried to juice other things like tomatoes and apples but they both come out very thick so I have stuck to beets, carrots and oranges as a special treat.

Jesster and I mid run...can you see her guns?

This weekend was a big one, Jess had invited me to go on Team Sheepers "ultimate run" a 17.5 20 mile trail run beginning in Woodside that finished with pancakes. It was gorgeous and brutal. Jess promised to keep it "conversational", which mostly meant that she was conversating and I was grunting simple yes, no, laugh responses. Seriously, if you haven'ty met Jess yet, she has an amazing ability to always be positive.  I may be thinking bad thoughts, but she alwasy manages to help me turn them around and get through another smash fest of a day with her. The first 6 miles were 2500 ft of climbing, followed by 5 miles across Skyline Ridge and then finally down the last 6.5 miles. It really wasn't too bad until the downhill section came. And by that time I was debating whether or not I might prefer the uphill. It was a gorgeous day for a run and for the second day in a row after I got home I put myself to bed for a nice long nap. Two days in a row of napping for 1.5-2 hours means I am one tired girl.

The End! Long run done & dusted

And when this is what your dishwasher looks like after only one weekend, you know that you are a super athlete family. I won't even bother with my laundry...all we do are workout clothes...it's like we don't own anything else!

 

60 Ways To love Your Mother-Becky turns 60

SO my mom turns 60 on the 22nd, so for a birthday present, since the woman has all that she can need, I decided to think of 60 things that she has done for me over the years that show just how awesome she is. I thought this idea up tonight as I was headed out on a run...who knew I could get creative! So here goes my list, some things will be spectacular and others will seem insignificant. But over 30 years my mom has continued to be an amazing lady who I love more than anything. It should be noted that my dad was there for most of these things so he is just as SPECTACULAR!

1. Becky Meets Bob at Ohio State 2. Becky married Bob 3. They had my sister Adie (best sister ever)4. They had me, duh this had to be on the list! 5. She raised us in a small town that let kids be kids with no locked doors at night 6. She put me in a pool at the age of 5 so I could be like my big sister and thus began my swimming career 7. She loves exercise more than most and taught us that it was really important and a great way to burn stress 8. She came to every swim meet/soccer game that I ever had...if she missed any I certainly can't remember it 9. She waited until after I gained 15lbs one summer from Wendy's to tell me she thought I might have been pregnant 10. She never kicked me out of the house, even though I was a bit of a challenge a the age of 16

11. When I was in 2nd grade and really LOVED the color black, she was OK with that and let me roll my own way 12. When I hated school as a kid, she tried not to get too upset with me but called me on my shit in her own way 13. She was at my very first triathlon in 2004...a Tri for Fun that I did in a swim suit, run shorts and an extra 20lbs 14. She enabled me to go to college and enter the real world with no debt 15. After college when I lived outside my means, she bailed me out of debt 16. When I wanted to major in Fashion merchandising she said OK after I told her all the jobs I could have 17. When I dated an alcoholic, she was supportive and never tried to push until I was ready 18. She smoked a cigarette with me (not really cool, but kind of is- haven't smoked in 6+ years) 19. Came to Kona for my Kona debut in 2010 20. Came to Kona 2011..all the way from Ohio people, yes it's a great place but that's a LONG way to watch a race!

21. Knows how much I love Lululemon and buys it for me way too regularly 22. Is always happy for me 23. Gives way more than she receives 24. loves me more than most moms...she is very sad that we grew up and moved out! 25. Loves my husbands family 26. Loves my husband even though he has told her to "calm the fuck down" before 27. Taught me how to ride a bike 28. Showed me that I was built for endurance by taking me on a double century at the age of 12 29. Reminds me still that I used to complain about the "hills" in Ohio...they are more like overpasses now 30. Worked a 2nd job when we were in high school so that we could have everything that we needed and more

31. Taught me to be a hard worker, not a complainer 32. Puts no pressure on me to have a baby, says whatever I want is cool 33. Doesn't think that I'm a lunatic for wanting to turn pro in triathlon 34. Visits us so often and doesn't really complain that I don't often go to Ohio 35. Helped me buy my first car, a Honda CRX and let me install speakers in the back...oh yeah baby! 36. Created famous words "it's just a 20 mile loop" when it never is! 37. Used words like douchebag when she had to drive, she hates to drive and bad drivers make her nuts, can't she be out on her bike instead? 38. Loves my sister and I tremendously and never took sides 39. Didn't protest when we wanted only Nuclear family at our wedding 40. she always asks me how training is going

41. she gets excited by long rides like the coast ride and wants to do it herself! 42. Let me wear swim suits EVERY where when I was small 43. She cooked real meals for us all of the time and got me on the road to the eating habits I have today 44. Swam on the Kona swim course with me even though the open water freaks her out a bit 45. Reassures me when I am not confident that I can do what I set my mind to 46. Celebrates all of my victories and assures me when I have a bad day that it is just that, a bad day47. Walked me to and from school all the time when I was small 48. Taught me that the bike is the best place to have a meaningful conversation 49. Took us on a cross country road trio when we were small and let us enjoy the US by car. 50. Gave us a roll of coins on said trio and took money away each time we asked "are we there yet?!"

51. When I go through a phase, she doesn't mock or make fun, she gets behind me and tries my beet juice! 52. Learned how to use Skype, Facebook and texts so that she could keep up with us all the time 53. Tracks me each time I have a race and calls me right after to see how it went 54. Loves my friends and reminds me how valuable they are55. Wore my sponsors gear and temporary tattoos to show her support for me at Kona this year 56. Takes me to get Smurf ice cream when ever I am home, even if it's every day I am there 57. Has always let me be me, shows me the other options but let's me do my own thing 58.She taught me to tell it like it is and not be sorry for that 59. She has no filter 60. Taught me to work hard for what I want

And there you have it, 60 Ways to love your mother. HAPPY BIRTHDAY mama!!! We will celebrate LIVE and in Person in two weeks time when Becky comes to CA for a visit!

The Final Haul: Morro Bay to Santa Barbara, Coast Ride 2012 Day 3

Where did I leave off?  Oh yes, with an ice cream sandwich right before plopping into bed at 8:15 on a Sunday night!  Monday would be our third and final day of riding down the coast of California and land us in Santa Barbara.  Once in Santa Barbara it would be a quick turn around for us to pick up the truck that we had rented to drive immediately back home so that we could get to work on Tuesday…if only there was no work!

Amazing view of Big Sur

I woke up ready for the day, excited that there would be less climbing than the day before, only 5k…gotta celebrate the small things right?  It was the coldest morning of the weekend and no breakfast was provided at the hotel, so after a quick snack we were out the door and headed to San Luis Obispo for the first stop so people could get a “quick” breakfast.  When we stopped I was told it was only for 5 minutes so that people could pee, no one really needed food.  20 minutes later we rolled out…I was in that mentality that it would truly only be 5 minutes (what was I thinking?!!  There were 50 other riders, someone was going to take their time) that I didn’t pee or grab a hot beverage.  Oh well, let the day begin!  The legs felt better than I had imagined they would, but we would see what the climbs would bring.

Rolling Along with Mark. Life is GOOD!

There was another water stop in Guadalupe and this is where I broke out the Red Vines.  I had gotten tired of my mini snickers and granola bars.  We then rode from Guadalupe to the beautiful town of Lompoc.  I had fallen off the back again chosen to take in the beauty of CA by myself for a while and rolled into lunch just behind the main group.  While the line was 10 deep at Subway, I saw a sign that said “Fast Thai Food” and was on it like a fly on rice.  Pun intended.  Rice with a bit of chicken yellow curry?  Carbs, protein, and a bit of fat.  Perfect!  Mark thought that I was nuts and stuck to a large fry from Wendy’s.  Two cans of coke later we were on the road for the last 55 miles of riding.  I rolled out with the main group and we rode together until one of the main climbs of the day came…and then I fell off the back.  May have been some of those 7 lbs that I had managed to gain over the weekend (I am still peeing that all out!), may have been some tired legs.  I caught up to Katya and on the downhill/flat section tried to bridge us up to the next group.  They were in sight but I was losing steam, until a knight in shining armor came along and bridged that gap for us.  Thanks Justin!!  Only for the next big climb to pop me out again!  Oh well, I found another Justin and we ended up riding along the 101 together.  And yes, I do mean the actual highway, bikes are allowed- not hat it was the best scenic route.  We would ride 35 miles into Santa Barbara along the 101.  I stopped at the rest station and found Mike and Mary.  Instead of riding alone, I joined them for the final push.  Much better to have company, especially along a busy road. 

Now here’s where the day gets fun.  Mike, Mary and I are rolling along at a good clip when we see people behind us.  Mark had stopped to help a friend change a flat.  I had gone on, knowing that later in the day they would catch back up and sweep me up for  final, lovely roll into SB together….like all of the other couples did.  NOT SO FAST!  We look behind, see that it’s my husband and think oh this is great, now there will be 5 of us for the last 35 miles, not 3.  Well my soon to be ex husband and Jim come screaming past us without so much as a slow down to say hi.  Mark debates that he said hello and I just didn’t hear him.  Yeah, sure.  So while I answer questions from my riding partners of “wasn’t that your husband?”, he rolls along trying to catch the front group for the last push.  Something about “having to get his training in…gotta leave it all out there”.   This is where I think to myself, Men are from another planet.  Good to know he’ll always understand when training has to get done.  No time for horsing around!

Katya and I ready to get 'er done

I saw a friend from the other group ride and decided to roll into town with her, maybe the last hour or so.  It was great to get to catch up with her!  I dropped her off at her hotel, which was in the town just before SB and rolled along the last 7 miles by myself.  I got to the hotel and waited for Mark to roll in with the car.  Another (you guessed it) Muscle Milk later and then it was time to get changed and get to the burrito shop!   Big burrito later and it was time to hit the road. 

The drive home was uneventful, catching up on social media, going through pics and thinking about how I was going to get us prepped for the week ahead.  A weekend away always means a lot to do at home, laundry, juicing, making a few lunches for the week, grocery shopping.  Sounds like fun right?!!  I know you have the same stuff to deal with.

The next morning I weighed myself to see how the weekend of riding had treated me.  I was up 7 lbs from when I left.  This was huge!  I do normally gain weight after a big weekend, and I attribute it to water retention and inflammation from working really hard.  But I think this time, Mark and I clearly made the mistake of having TOO much salt.  We had salt tabs each day (2AM/2PM), added nuun to our Cytomax (one bottle/day) and then salted our food.  It wasn’t that warm and I think we overestimated our salt loss.  Obviously.  Better to err on the side of caution, I would have hated to be dehydrated, but we have both been peeing non-stop since we got back and I could literally FEEL the water in my legs for the two days after the ride.  I don’t know that this had a negative effect on us other than the added weight going up hills.  Now for training, that could actually be good, but I would hate for Mark to have that same problem at one of his upcoming stage races.  So, we go to the drawing board on that one.  Less salt for sure for multi day/cooler weather events.  This will not change how I prep for ironman for what I take on during race day. 

The End...until next year!

Seaside To Morro bay, 8K of climbing!

After a convenient great dinner at the Chili’s next door to the Hotel in Seaside, it was 8:15 and I was READY for bed. The ride rolled out each morning a 7AM sharp, so that mean a 6AM wake up call to eat and get prepped for another day of action in the saddle.

Rolling Along

I knew that I was tired before going to bed and wondered what a second consecutive day of 125 miles would be like. Was I going to have some low points? How would my legs feel? It was a chilly morning and the initial miles on the bike path were an easy spin to get everyone warmed up. So far, so good. We were going to get to climb out of Big Sur and have some amazing descents on the day, and the total would end up being 8k of climbing…not your average day in the saddle! I was on point with nutrition, the rolling buffet thought ever present in my mind…drink, eat…these two things equal no low points for me. We also took salt tabs all weekend long, not nearly as many as I would during a race, but enough to ward off any major dehydration…which resulted in a 7lb weight GAIN after three days of riding 125 miles/day. But more on that later.

Beautiful Cali Coastline

After getting popped off the back of the front group on the climb up Big Sur, my sunglasses fell out of my helmet as I was descending. Since they were new swanky glasses, I had to go back and get them. This resulted in a massive effort by me to get onto a small group. I knew that if I didn’t make it on, it was going to be a VERY long day for me. I made it to the lunch stop after riding miles 60-80 on my own. Again, sometimes you just need some alone time. I was like Goldilocks…the front group was TOO fast, the group behind me was TOO slow and there didn’t seem to be a Hailey JUST RIGHT group. So I hit Ragged Point, the location not describing my physical state and the group was there having lunch. Another bag of chips and a Coke for me please! After a short stop, we were ready to roll and I rolled out with Beth and Katya a little early to get a jump on the boys. Well the boys came roaring past us and Beth, Katya and I had our own Jens Voigt in my husband as he pulled a MASIVE effort to get us back into the group. As soon as he could SEE the group, he made a surge…I ended up falling off of this surge, again proving I am not a roadie built for small frequent accelerations! I was able to catch the group up after at the last stop of the day and we all rolled into Morro Bay together. Again, straight to the liquor store across the street for a Muscle Milk and then directly to the Tqueria for tacos, and a horchata (rice milk with sugar sure sounds like the perfect recovery beverage to me!).

Soaking up sun after lunch...kind of like cats really!

After a quick shower, Mark decided it was nap time…I could feel Grumpy McGrumperson coming on so I let him sleep for an hour or so. Then I was bored and ready to get out of the hotel room! I called up Pia and was able to meet for a glass of vino before heading to dinner with friends…this time at a bit of a better establishment than Chilis! I had a MASSIVE plate of Chicken Parm followed up by an ice cream sandwich! I usually try to follow a gluten free diet, but after breakfast on Saturday morning of an egg/bagel I decided all bets were off. Thankfully it doesn’t really affect me if I eat gluten so I just went with it for the weekend. Again ready for bed by 8PM anxious to see what the last day will be like.

Feet up, time to recover!

I was definitely tired after two days of riding, but it really wasn’t like I imagined it was going to be. I was thinking I would start to feel like I had done an ironman and that I would just be pounded. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t say my legs were fresh, but they were able to handle the load without much trouble (other than not being able to be a part of the FASTest group).

My main squeeze enjoying the ride

Tomorrow I’ll put up Day 3 of the ride!


For any interested in my nutrition for these days here’s what it looked like.

Day 1: Breakfast- Noah’s egg/cheese/sausage bagel, orange juice, and a banana right before taking off

During ride nutrition: Maca Mania granola bar, 3 mini snickers, 1 large coke, 1 can coke, 1 300kcal bag of Lays potato chips, 2 tabs nuun, 4 scoops Cytomax, 2 Succeed salt tabs before and after ride.

Apres ride: Muscle Milk right after, Jamba Peanut butter Moo’d Dinner- 2 satsuma oranges, chips/salsa w/dinner, cheeseburger and fries from Chili’s.

Day 2: Breakfast- English muffin w/eggs & butter, 1 pancake, 1 banana, glass of orange juice

During Ride- 3 scoops Cytomax, 2 tabs nuun, Maca Mania granola bar, 2 mini snickers, 1 banana, 300kcal bag of Doritos, 2 large Cokes, 1 larabar, handful of Mark’s fries at lunch

Apres Ride: Muscle Milk, 2 carne asada tacos, chips salsa, horchata

Dinner: side salad, 2 glasses red wine, chicken parmasean with side of pasta, ice cream cookie sandwich, 2 succeed tabs before bed

Day 3: Breakfast- Nothing at hotel so 1 banana with packet of Justin’s nut butter, 2 Succeed tabs

During Ride: Maca Mania bar (12 miles in), 2 scoops Cytomax, 2 tabs nuun, 2 cans Coke, pack o fred vines, 1 small banana, rice and chicken curry Thai food for lunch- nothing after lunch until ride stopped other than liquid. Definitely didn’t have as much liquid on the 3rd day as I had had the previous two.

Apres Ride: Muscle Milk, half chicken burrito on way home, peanut butter crackers

 Dinner: Driving home, half chicken burrito, cheese/cracker box from Starbucks, hot chocolate (with whip!) large bottle of Cytomax, 1 diet coke . When home, 1 Chobani yogurt 2pieces buttered toast.

375 Miles of California Dreamin'- Coast Ride 2012

Girl Time!

The coast ride is a bike ride with a large group of friends that I have always wanted to do but it hasn't yet fit into my schedule...don't know why that is, I work at a bank and ALWAYS have MLK day off.  Thank you Dr King for letting us all have a dream. 

The DODOcase Sandwich!

So this past weekend Mark and I joined 75 of our closest friends on a 375 mile ride up massive hills down the coast of beautiful California.  Most people were local, but I think the award went to "Hollywood" who lives in Rio.  Hollywood is living the dream for sure and was kind enough to help me get down the coast out of the wind on Day 2.  In fact most of the guys I encountered were pretty spectacular about helping the small number of gals on the ride.  Not that we needed much help, but a draft behind a strapping lad makes 125 miles that much more enjoyable.

Tacos and Muscle Milk...proper fueling, next up shower

Day 1 took us from San Francisco to Seaside, just outside of Monterey.  This meant riding through the city and down 1 through Pacifica and along the coast.  The weather was looking to be awesome all weekend and it did not disappoint!  Sunshine and it warmed up each day we were out there.  Going into Seaseide we saw whales spouting along the coast.  It was one of the most awesome moments of the day.  That and riding from mile 60-75, AKA the lunch stop on my own.  Sometimes you just get chewed up and spit out the back need some miles to yourself to enjoy the day!  I made it to the lunch stop in time for  a bag of chips and a coke, my signature mid ride pick me up.  I think Mark was a bit concerned at the picnic I had on the ground there but I rallied. 

Cracked.com but ready to rally!

I had the fortune of rolling out with new buddy Katya and Kate from lunch all the way to Seaside- and somewhere along the line Mark and his crew rode an extra 8 miles (for fun) so we picked them up as well and let them lead the way into Seaside. As soon as we stopped we did not pass go and went directly for a Muscle Mile to "fuel for tomorrow". It was our other race for the day...the race to refuel and not get depleted. After a protein shake I hit up Jamba while Mark went to BK, no lie and then we showered up and headed out to dinner. This is how all three days went-eat, ride, eat, sleep, REPEAT!

I was a VERY lucky to be able to test out some serious goodies for 3GO Magazine this weekend and here is a pic of the goods I tried out.   My most fave piece of gear were the leg warmers from Castelli, they didn't budge an inch, literally and I was weraing my short shorts and not one time did I have any "gappage".  Move over Pearl Izumi!  I also fell in love with the Rudy Projectt sunglasses, super light and CRYSTAL clear lenses...although they did fall out of my helmet flying down Highway 1 making me have to chase for my life to catch back on after turning around to pick them back up!

And that is just Day 1! I will finish up Day 2 and 3 later in the week!

One Month In: Getting Back into the Groove

Training officially began three weeks ago.  Did I mention my new job started just four weeks ago?  I am truly blessed with a job that offers great work life balance.  Starting a new job is always tough on the schedule, getting to a new spot, meeting new people and fitting in training.  The new spot is only 5 miles from home (woot to a bike commute), but it has meant a change in masters and a 7AM start time every day...so that means if a morning workout is to occur, the wake up call comes at a MAX time of 5:00AM.  This is a pretty big adjustment for me and I am not quite yet used to going to bed at the necssary 9PM every night to make this all work out smoothly.  So I will continue to work on it, and try not to let the alarm go off so that my sleeping beauty of a husband gets his rest!  Enough with the job nonsense?  Here we go... First with a pic of Coach and I ringing in the New Year!

So three weeks of training in and this next week is a lower volume week to reap the benefits of the last three weeks of HARD work.  It takes rest to get faster right?!!  And we all know, Coach Mark is a BIG fan of recovery...I always have to beg for more sessions to be added, to which the normal reply is "if you are asking for more, it means you aren't going hard enough when I tell you to!"  The man tells it like it is, of that there is NO doubt.  I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Coach Mark at the Races...loving him some CX

I am trying to not panic like I do every year around this time about "I have to do MORE work, I MUST get faster NOW"!!!  Mark tells me to ease back into things and build it up right.  So that is what I have done, first week around 14 hours, 2nd week at 15 and this week I finally hit the 16 hour mark.  Most of the time I won't go above 18 hours of training in a week.  Why?  Well, we try to work on speed as we already know that I am a diesel endurance engine, and to get faster, I must train faster.  And that takes up a lotta energy.  What I was thinking about this weekend during my marathon bike ride, TRX, swim, and long run fest with super freak of nature friends MBK and Jess is that nearly half of my volume is done on the weekend...thank God I have amazing friends to train with, it's like a sufferfest party all weekend long!

I am SO excited that this next weekend is bringing us the annual Coast Ride.  It is Mark and I's first time along this 380 mile bicycling extravaganza, and I am pumped for 3 days of hard core cycling.  Talk to me on Tuesday and I may be singing a different tune, one about large saddle sores and some very tired legs.  but I can almost guarantee that this is going to boost my early season cycling fitness and get some miles in the bank.  Even MORE exciting is that this is an opportunity to hang out with friends from San Diego Beth and James and many other friends from SF that we haven't seen in a while.  I'll be sure to post the pics after the ride and show you all just how amazing California really is...as if you didn't already know!

The juicer and the pulp it creates, you can make veggie burgers from it...or put it in the compost heap.

Lastly as this has gone on way too long and I am sure if you are still reading, you've got your compression socks on and your feet up is we got a "slow" juicer.  It's not actually slow, but it refers to the type of juicing it does (masticating to be precise).  We got a Hurom juicer and it crushes the fruit/veggies and smashes the juice out at a low speed so it does not produce a lot of heat, which can destroy the juices nutrients.  I have been having fun all week long making us beet juice, carrot juice...let me tell you first thing in the morning or right after a workout, juice is awesome.  Perfect for recovery right, with all those carbs?  Add a protein shake later and you are good to go. 

I will have some VERY exciting sponsor news in the coming weeks, so hold your breath as it is good and I couldn't be happier to have some more super supporters on my team.