A Word on Safety

Recently on a ride home from work, my tires got stuck (thank you cable car tracks) and I ate it hard. Yes, I had a minor concussion, but I basically walked away from it with a few cuts and bruises. I wasn't even going that fast maybe 10 mph, but it was still harsh & I actually freaked out people on the sidewalk. They kind of all came over to me, asking in very concerned voices, "Are you okay?"

My reply: Yea, I'm fine, it's a good thing I'm wearing a helmet.

Had that not been the case, I'd have needed stitches and would have had a nasty head injury. So PLEASE WEAR YOUR HELMET! Just because you're not going on a long ride, mountain biking, or going down some huge downhill, doesn't mean something unexpected might not happen. If you break your arm, it will mend, you get another chance. If you break your head, that same rule doesn't always apply.

Tam .... Again

Hit up Mt Tam again this wknd. I met up with my friend who is training for the NorthFace 50 Endurance Run. His plan was to run 25 miles - I met him at mile 12 in Mill Valley. We did mostly single track & a few fire roads and ended up running down into Muir Woods. Run went pretty well despite the pouring rain. FYI if you run with a hat on, be extra careful. Not fun to run face first into low branches. Especially when there's a group of tourists nearby taking pictures of Redwood trees.

I had planned on resting on Sunday - but - it ended up being warm & sunny. And I wanted to take advantage of it since it's been rainining for days. Went on a 22 mile ride in the city. Visibility was awesome & got some great pics of the city (coming soon).

Hope everyone had a good Halloween!!

Cookies & Beer

It's been almost a month since I did the events in Tahoe. And in that time, I have been eating donuts, cookies, cake, nachos, a lot of beer, and a lot of wine. My dinner last night was cookies & beer. And I think that was hitting rock bottom.

The time of gluttony is over. One alcoholic drink per day & one dessert a week. Those really are the guidelines you should follow (unless you're a guy, you can have two drinks a day). If you want to perform well at competitions, you can't rely only on your training. Proper nutrition & fuel are key factors in your performance. Wish me luck in sugar withdrawl.

Lesson #3

C.S. Lewis told us that Experience is the most brutual teacher of all but by God, you will learn. I've been training & participating in endurance sports since Fall 2007 and I have to say, I'm still constantly learning from my experiences on how to improve for the next time around. My first major lesson was learning to not over train and investing in sneakers that can actually support you. It taught me to cross train & realize when you want to do an endurance event - what you wear, really matters, it's not a 3 mile jog. Second major lesson - nutrition. Eating well, makes you perform well. Food is fuel & muscle recovery.

Third huge lesson - stretching & massage. I've been a lot better with stretching (I was horrible in this area until the last two months) but I never get massages. I've been told to by other athletes, my physical therapist, etc, to go once a month. It wasn't until I was practically wimpering & crying on the massage table this weekend I realized how crucial it is. I'm used to my IT bands hurting when I get a deep tissue.... but it felt like my neck had muscle growth spurts or something. Like, it was lumpy, and it was painful.

So - if you're training for something that's longer than 90 minutes, please learn from my experience & take care of your tissues! Trust me, you don't want lumpy sore neck.

Beating the Traffic

Having gotten overly excited for fleet week & the Blue Angels, I went all out last weekend in SF. And way over budget. I reasoned to myself on Sunday morning brunch, that to make up for this, I would bike home M-Th to make up some of the expense.

I found a short direct route from work to home (12 miles) that has a good climb halfway through the ride. It's about 45minutes door to door. I saved $35 & still had challenging work outs while not over doing it since I'm technically still in the resting month post Tahoe.
Great week for it too- crazy Indian summer in CA!!

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then Rest afterwards"

Went for a ride this Saturday - just a small 10-12 mile ride. At mile 2, I was wishing I had stayed on the couch. I had no idea how much that weekend took out of me until I got on that bike. There isn't any pain, it just feels like I can't move... it's like my legs are made of cement. I've felt fatigued the last few days, and I was in bed at 11 PM both Friday and Saturday nights. To me, this is the second to most worst part of endurance events (first being the nauseau you get hit with after finishing). Being so tired you can't move or even will yourself to do anything.

On Sunday I made the decision to not go forward with the marathon I had registered for. I can drop down to the 25k and still have a good time. It's not the actual event or time spent doing the marathon - it's the recovery. I absolutely hate being tired like this, and I don't want to repeat it in a few weeks. Or push too hard when I'm not fully recovered.

Since I was 23, I always did a spring & winter marathon. And I haven't completed one in almost a year - feels so weird!

Athlinks

www.athlinks.com

If you have ever competed in race or tri, etc, you should look up your results on Athlinks. It's like Facebook for competitors. You can track your race results, view dashboards, and grade yourself. Not all races make it on to Athlinks (small local races) but the majority should be on there. Great way to connect with folks you chatted with on the race course too.