Sunday, December 14, 2014

GSC is still a go

It's day 7 of the green smoothie cleanse. I had intentions of blogging every day and was just too lazy or fatigued. This cleanse is hard as a rock. There were days when I really wanted to say F this thing and go eat some food. I thought about what my starting weight was and I kept drinking the smoothies. As of yesterday I am down 10.7 lbs. there must be something to do this. I know going forward I will probably only do the modified cleanse. I've had some "cheating"'and detours on this ride. Solid food is my BFF.

I have eaten more fruits and vegetables than I have ever eaten in my life. I really like eating apples. Hard boiled eggs with lemon pepper is the bee's knees. Food has always been my issue. I'm learning to develop a better relationship.

I've been on a mission for over 7 years to get under 300 lbs. yes that is a long time, this is my journey and it has been a roller coaster. I'm ok with that. I never completely gave up.

I have 3 more days left after today. Wouldn't you know it there's a potluck at work the very next day. Since I've had 2 detours i know I will be ok. I really would like to finish with double digit loss by day 10.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Starting over is better than never starting


I love Facebook. I have been introduced to so many wonderful and new things from it. I'm always on a mission to be healthier AKA losing weight. I decided before thanksgiving that once I came back from Alabama I would start the 10 day green smoothie cleanse that I've heard so much about.

10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days!




The key to eating well is preparation. Between Aldi and Wally world I have purchased the first 5 days worth of ingredients. Day 1 starts tomorrow. I'm so excited.

I even pulled out my blender bottles that I used back when I was doing the Body By Vi challenge many many moons ago.




Monday, May 19, 2014

Rambin' Rose Raleigh 2014 AKA my first official triathlon

Ramblin' Rose Raleigh

I've been training for the last 12 weeks with Tri It For Life in preparation for completing my first official triathlon. 



Race was scheduled for May 18, 2014 at 8am. The race consisted of 225 yard swim, 9 mile bike and 2 mile run. Race was held at AE Finley YMCA in Raleigh



My plan was to be at the race site at 6am to get a good parking spot and a good spot in the transition area. I realized I was super dooper early when the race was still being set up. Early bird gets a good parking spot and bonus an end spot on the bike rack.



This was my first official TRI so I was kinda wandering around like a lost kid in the mall. A lot of my TIFL mentors would come up to me and guide me on what to do. I love those chicks.



Helen Bac AKA Claudio Mello help me mount my bike properly and all the way to the end of the rack. Martha helped me attach my timing chip. Then I headed over to the orange shirts aka the volunteers to get marked. I was familiar with being marked as we went through the same process during the mock TRI. I made my necessary pre-race potty stop. Went back to the transition area to get ready for the fun. 

I met up with the 3 amigos. Let me explain the 3 amigos = myself, Julia Reed and Erin Keener. 



We head over to the front of the Y for the pre race announcements and the start of the race. After the announcements, our TIFL cheerleader Sharon lead us into our TIFL cheer. Who are we? Triathletes What do we do? Finish Strong. We were so loud they could probably hear us in Durham



We filed into the Y. We line up in the gym based on swim ability. 10 is the fastest level and goes down to 1. I signed up with group 6 along with Julie. Like most things I got talked into moving up to group 7. Peer pressure I tell you.

Group 7 is headed towards the pool. I'm thinking OMG we are about to swim. We head towards the pool. Erin and Julie are ahead of me. Then I'm up next. I climb into the pool and start swimming. I'm moving slow and steady. Next thing I know I'm apparently holding up traffic because there are like 3-4 women who pass me. No problem. I'm in no hurry. At the end of each lane I see a TIFL mentor who is calling my name and rooting me on. Then I'm on the last lane and TIFL mentor Amanda Law is pointing to the ladder and tells me "Jo you are done. You can get out" why do feet act like they can't move. I do make it out the pool. We head back to the transition area. There are spectators along the route rooting and cheering fellow participants are running past us to get to the transition area. Did I mention we noticed as we were getting out of the pool, we could see ladies already on the run course. That meant they had already done the 9 mile bike course. Holy Smokes batman. 

I make it to the transition area. I'm wishing I had brought a shirt to put in over my Tri suit but I totally didn't think about that when I was packing. Shoes and socks are on. CamelBak is on. Helmet and gloves are on. I drink some powerade and head out for the bike run. I meet up with other 2 amigos. We head out round 2. This is actually my 3rd time on this course so I know it very well. 

I'm rolling down Baileywick and cross into the neighborhood and I see folks headed back. Rebecca Sitton yells out "good job Jo" I see my fellow TIFL athlete Emily hauling tail back to the Y. This bike course is not for the faint. It is up and down. Up and down. We hit mount Vernon which is a busy road and when we get to the hill. We all walk it along with everyone else. We get to the top and get back on. Turn and turn through the neighborhood. Then we make that right on Countrywood. I know what's next the devil disguised as Carrington. I rock downhill. I will pass you going so fast it will make your head spin. I'm hauling down Carrington. Then here comes the uphill. Did i mention that Carrington is the devil in disguise. I don't even try, I get off the bike and walk it up. Because there is no shame in walking. There's a family bless their heart that lives on that devlish hill. They have a pit stop at the end of their driveway. They tell us there was food but it's gone. The story of my life. Erin asks "where's the beer?" The mom says she has champage and offers to run into the house to maker her a mimosa. I hear about this after the race. I was oblivious to the conversation as I was in a zone pushing my bike up Carrington.

After that it really is just a few more turns back to Baileywick. When I ride over the bridge and see 540 I am so excited because I know soon as I will be headed back to the Y. I'm head down the hill and I see the turn and the cops and course monitor are holding traffic and that turn is made with ease. I have less than 1/2 mile to go. I pedal and pedal. I see 1 of the amigos Julie I'm front of me. She is walking the last bit and I am still biking and I yell out "on your left" then there's the turn into the Y. I see a TIFL mentor and she yells out "you can dismount now" she tells me the hard part is over. You know what she is right. I check RunKeeper and will you beleive it i have another PR on the bike course.



I walked my bike back to the transition area. I see people leaving which means they are done. I hear someone yell my name and it's a friend of mine who has come out to see me at the race. That just made my day.



I load the phone in the armband, take the helmet and gloves off. Then I head out for the 2 mile run. The run at this point is a slow stroll. Slow and steady until the finish. It felt so good to cross that finish line and see all my TIFL ladies waiting for me as I crossed. I am a triathlete. 


None of this would have been possible without the love and support from my TIFL family. 




Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bike course PR

This is taper week before Ramblin' Rose on Sunday. Since it's Tuesday, the schedule had a run/walk training session listed. When I left the house this morning for work, I was all prepared to make the run/walk session. Some time during the morning at work, I was on facebook as always via my phone not the work computer. I would never do that. One of my fellow TIFL athletes posted about doing the bike course instead. The biking is what I need more than swimming and running.

After work I make a pit stop at the house. Change into my workout clothes and load up the bike. I loaded up the camelbak with ice cold water. AE Finley Y is a hopping place. This place is packed like a sold out concert. I head to the back of the lot and I see Lillie and Erin. I always forgot stuff until I see it when I come out. Lillie pulls out her ice cold frog tog. I slap my head remembering i have one sitting in the fridge. Note to self: I must put that in the bucket for Sunday. Trish and Meg show up. We head out.

Trish, Lillie and Meg have the course route with them. Erin and I are winging it and hoping the pink arrows I was going by last week are still there and lo and behold they are. SCORE!!

We are down Baileywick. We turn on Chandler into the neighborhoods and right before we hit the 540 bridge I see a road closure sign.


The plan when we left the Y was to get to Mount Vernon Church road and then turn around due to Mount Vernon being such a busy road. Wouldn't you know by the time I meet up with the group at the stop sign, they have decided to brave it and continue on. Hi Ho Hi Ho and it's off to Mount Vernon we go. It actually it isn't too bad. Going uphill is starting to kick in and so I decided there's no shame in walking. I look up and I see Erin sharing the same agenda. We walk up mount vernon without getting hit. Woo Hoo! Once we make it to flat ground, I hop on the bike and then make the turn back into the neighborhood.

The ride is going pretty good. I've only walked my bike up one hill so far. I push through others that I walked through during the mock. Progress baby. We come up on a street where I had a slight mental breakdown during the mock. I just push on through. We make a right onto Countrywide. Trish tells me "after this turn you know what's next. Carrington" Carrington = the HILL from HELL. We meet Erin at the turn for Carrington. We tell each other, "see you at the top".  Carrington starts downhill. if you ever see me on a bike, i "fly like the wind bullseye" going downhill. No brakes, just me and the wind. Uphill is my achilles hill. I pedal and pedal as much as I can. then a part of me said F.. and i remembered there's no shame in walking. I see Erin on the same page. We make it to the top. I tell Erin and Trish "i know how to get back from here" I really do. We continue through. Few more turns and guess what we see as we are heading back, the albino deer. Last time we ran into, folks in the neighborhood told us that it means you will have good luck. I sure meant to go buy me a mega million ticket.

I cross Baileywick and wait by the park entrance until the street is clear. I check RunKeeper and i have a 1/2 mile left to go. I pedal and pedal. I even pedal up the hill back to the Y. I'm trying to cross the street back into the Y. OMG this street is busy. I wait int the middle until it's clear. Why do my feet forget how to work. I almost can't pedal. They eventually work and I pedal into the parking lot. The Garmin beeps meaning i just hit 9 miles. I see the Max waiting for me. (side note:the Max = my car). 9.03 miles is done in 1:31. Did you see that? That means I just shaved off 29 minutes off my time. PR baby!! Ramblin is on Sunday and I am ready :-)


Saturday, May 10, 2014

Ice ice baby

With ramblin being on May 18 which was my original weekend rotation, I swapped with a coworker. That's how I ended up working Mother's Day weekend. I missed the bike course ride this morning with my fellow TIFL triathletes. When my shift ended at 4:30, I was headed out the door with my camel back and TIFL water bottle. It's all about hydration these days.

Checked the tire pressure, put the phone in the holster, helmet on, Garmin set and I flew down my driveway. It's really an exhilarating feeling to ride out my driveway. Makes you feel like you can do anything. "I'm the queen of my driveway" I crack myself up sometimes.

I had already set a goal of 5 miles for today's ride. I needed to be done in time to get home and hit Starbucks before happy hour ended at 6. Priorities I know. If I knew what was good for me I would have not been set on that venti frappuchino. OMG that thing was delish.

Back to the lecture at hand. That's my love of old school hip hop coming out. I ventured over to spring forest road park. I did about 6 loops around. That's a new PR for me. As I was coming up on walkers and runners I would yell out the courtesy "on your left". Few folks "acted" like they couldn't hear me. When I run your ass over and keep moving don't come looking for me. J/K 😍

I've been riding since march but when I get to an incline or a hill I feel like I just started riding. Me and hills are not destined to me friends. I don't care if I'm running/walking or biking. It's just not meant to be. 

After my 6 loops, I headed out the park. To get to and from the park, you have to cross spring forest road AKA 4 lanes of busy will run you over traffic. Once again I got across without any issues. I still had under a mile to hit my 5 mile goal. I rode through my neighborhood, I passed one house that was having a cookout and OMG the smells coming from their house made me want to crash. It was the house of a guy who cut my grass awhile back who was confused and started to stalk me. 😝😝

I head back to my street. I only have about a 1/10 of a mile to go. I ride up and down until I see 5.00 on RunKeeper. Woo hoo! I made my goal. I head back to the house. 5 miles is done.


As I was chilling on the couch tonight after foam roller and tennis ball stretching, it hits me like a brick. Why don't I try icing my butt. I pop off the couch and hit the freezer and commence to ice my bum. after 10 minutes, i am painless. Then i realize why stop there, let's give my #1 problem child my lower back some ice. Lower back gets some ice love as well. ICE ICE BABY it can't get too cold.

T minus less than 8 days until Ramblin Rose. I am as ready as I will be. Wish I was about 30-50 lbs lighter. That's another struggle i will work on after next weekend. 



Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mock Tri = official TRIATHLETE

         Today was the mock Tri. What is a mock Tri? It's a practice of the triathlon
race on the same course without timing and full TIFL mentor support. At this
time I would like to shoutout to group 2 and it's awesome mentors Amy and Melva.

     I never sleep well the night before a race. Last night was no difference, 
tossed and turned all night. Kept thinking about the race. My hands go to sleep
continuous through the night :-( I woke up once and it was 3:45am. I knew I
still had more time to sleep. Back to sleep. By the time my alarm went off at 6
I was still tired. I am so not a morning person but I make it work. The car and
bike are already loaded. All I needed was to fill my filtration bottles. I
decided to put ice in my camelbak, smart thinking my young patoine(shoutout to
my fellow Star Wars fans who got that). I'm in my Tri suit getting ready and I'm
already seating. WTF?? I decide at the last minute to grab a t-shirt to wear
over my Tri suit. Once I get to AE Finley I literally hits me like a ton of
bricks it's cold as ice outside. My body temp was up so I didn't really feel it.
Fellow TIFL athletes are there and setting up their bike and transition area. I
can hear "Let's get it stated in here" in my head. (I love the black eyed peas,
even paid some serious $$ to see them at PNC)

               I'm told I'm with group 2. We are at the back of the outdoor pool. I realize
this Y has it going it. What do you expect it? This is north Raleigh, home of
$$$$. I pass some of my Fit-Tastic peeps Claudia & Penny. I finally find the
number 2. I pull in next Melva. Little did I know she would be my rock that
would get me through the day.

               I start unloading my bike and someone tells me to go check in. I grab my $10 and
head to the registration table. I run into my buddy Julie. She has that "what
did u get me into Jo" look on here face. I get that look a lot because I am a
pretty good motivator to talk folks into doing stuff. As I am in line to register and check-in. I see one of my running and NCRC buddies Rebecca. She has come out to root us on. She is a triathlete herself. I'm listing my ICE. I always putdown my mom. I mention that they may not be able to find her since she's in Florida on vacation. TIFL mentor Amy tells me to list someone
who is local in the event I get hit by a car. OUCH! I understand the need.  I put down tall drink. Who is tall drink? Tall drink is a very good friend of mine. Tall drink is my nickname for him because he's a tall drink of water. My nickmane is BIG BABY.  He is the only one who can call me that. We've known each other for almost 14 years. He's like the big brother i've never had. Whodini song is in my head "Friends, how many of us have them" I head back to finish getting my transition area ready. I'm told that my towel is too big. On race day i will have less space. I fold my towel to a much smaller size. This is what happens when you miss the transition clinic. I was in rock n roll 3.5 hour recovery nap. Umm hmm that was some good sleep. A few of us head over to potty before we get ready for the race. I hear someone yell out "you know it's a race because there's a line to use the bathroom" The difference is we have real bathrooms and not porty potties. I'm so glad i went because my nerves have kicked and that's all i'm going to say about that before it really gets to be TMI.
               We head over for the swim. We start the swim in group order. Our group is 2nd.
250 yards of swimming any way you can. That's what I'm talking about. Up and down. Up and down until the ladder. Some of my fellow TIFL athletes pass the
ladder. Overachievers :-)

               We wait on the rest of our group. For some people the swim is the hardest. For
me the hard part is the next sport, the bike. After the swim, we head back to transition and 
get ready for the bike. Then we walk our bikes up to the bike start. Cross over the speed 
bump and we are off for the 9 mile bike ride.
               We head out of the Y and onto Baileywick, slight downhill. I'm thinking we will have to come back up this hill to reach the finish. We are down by Baileywick park and turn into 
the neighborhoods. This part I know. Turn and turn. Hill and hill. I remember pretty much
 walking my bike up most of the bigger hills. We get to a turn of a super busy intersection.
 I believe it was Mt Vernon. this is 2 lane road and cars are booking on this road. Cycling on a busy road with cars is a scary experience. There's a slight uphill and i ride too far on the right and hit the grass and i take that as sign that I’m supposed to walk my bike. Melva and I walk our bikes up. Melva tells me "2 fingers to walk the bike" this is actually a good tip. We make it up the hill. 1 down a billion to go. We ride some more and then we turn left back into the neighborhood. Ride and ride we go. We hit another hill and I’m so tired and spent 
i think of Cartman from South Park "screw you guys I’m going home" is running through my head. Emotions hit me hard as I'm struggling and i get off my bike and i break down. My rock AKA TIFL mentor Melva comes over and talks to me and ask me "if we need Jesus" I tell her yes. Then I think about the story of the kid who was kidnapped and was singing so much that the kidnappers brought him back. I tell Melva yep I so can see that happening with my 2 youngest nephews. Braylon Jamal Outlaw would be asking for some food and a smartphone to play with. We start singing the song that little boy was singing "Every praise is to our god" we only hum the chorus. it gets me back into the riding groove. I continue to push through. We make it to Carrington AKA the devil. TIFL mentor amy mentions that downhill is where i rock. I go out 2nd. Down Carrington "fly like the wind". Downhill i love. it's the uphill where i have issues. 
I attempt to bike up but i'm so tired that i just say FU and walk up Carrington. My group is waiting for me at the top. Amy tells we have a few more turns and then we will be headed back to the finish. I love that word. Few more turns and we are riding across the bridge over 540. I know it's literally 2 more turns. We get to the stop sign. I see TIFL mentor Alicia at the entrance to the park.
                We cross Baileywick. We regroup and then head back to the Y. I struggle up Baileywick. There's another hill. Hills how i hate you, let me count the ways. I walk the bike 
and then I hit an intersection and i can feel that i'm starting to break down again just like mile 8 at myrtle. I drink some water and get my breathing under control. Melva says "come on you have to ride in for the finish" I get back on the back, cross Baileywick and head towards the finish. The course monitors tell us to dismount before we hit the speed bump. Dismount and walk the bikes back to the transition area. I drop the bike. Stop RunKeeper and commence to take a selfie. Melva and Amy are yelling at me "you don't have time for selfies"I'm thinking to myself there's always time for selfies. They rattle on about being timed during transition. All I hear is the teacher on charlie brown talking to me ROFLMAO. I'm 2/3 done with the TRI. We head out for the last 1/3 the 2 mile run. At this point it is more like a leisurely stroll. As we head near the front side of the Y I see tall drink. I'm so glad to see a familiar face. He yells out
 "you got this" slow and steady through loop 1. at the water stop I see "the boy" AKA Trish's son. I talk to him about RNR. He tells me he finished in 3:00 then corrects himself and tells me it was 2:58 :-)
               We finish loop 1 and who is waiting at the entrance of the Y, tall drink. He rocks.
 We are headed back in for loop 2. a TIFL mentor walks up to me and tells me "you and i were lined up together at City of Oaks" I respond "yeah back in 2012" She tells me "you got this" Loop 2 here we go. I'm doing ok except that I’m tired and my lower back which is my problem child is aching like no tomorrow. We are making our last turn and we see TIFL mentor Brittany. She gets a call I’m assuming from the finish line and they are asking about us. She lets them know we are headed to the finish. We turn on Baileywick and then we are at the entrance to the Y and headed to the finish line. Everyone is there waiting for me to cross. I absolutely love they are cheering and yelling. It feels so good to cross the finish line. I cross the finish line. Trish walks over to me and tells me "You are a Triathlete" Yes I am now a triathlete. I see some of my Group 2. High fives are going all around. 
               I notice the merchandise table is being broken down. Man I was ready to go shopping. Guess I should have done that before the race but i was holding out. Then it's group picture time. I love a group picture. 
               Then I realize I still have to walk all the way back to my car and oh joy load it up. Who cares? I have finished my first mock tri and I am now a triathlete.
               A few things I need to work on: nutrition (barbecue lodge night before a TRI is not the way to go), strengthen lower back muscles, as much hill training i can get in in the next 3 weeks.
T minus 3 weeks until the real kahuna, Ramblin Rose May 18.
               I would be remised if I didn't give a special shout out to my BFF and her crew for coming out to the picnic to support me.

 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

First bike ride on the course route with a sore bum

Thursday is TIFL bike ride. We are now riding on the course route. I've been near the course only one time on my way to finding Zaxby's. I let Siri guide me but I disagreed with one turn and man oh man was that a mistake. Next thing you know I'm im some neighborhood and then I'm on baileywick and lo and behold there is the bark. Woo hoo I have found my destination.

Baileywick park is nestled I'm north Raleigh. I've been here since 98 and never heard of. Then again there are probably a dozen other parks in wake county that I don't know about.

TIFL turned out in huge numbers tonight. We looked so good riding out out the parking lot. I love it!!!

Everyone is giving me additional tips on my bum soreness. More time on the bike, adjust my seat, padded bike shorts(have them and no difference) and bike seat cover.

We have 3 options tonight, 6 miles, 7.5 miles and 8 miles. I'm an overachiever and competitor deep down so I opt for the 8 mile group.

We are off on our journey tonight. Bum is aching the whole time. There are an extreme amount of potholes on this side of time. Seriously city of Raleigh what's the deal?? We hit the famous hill on Carrington. I've been told about this hill for awhile and I was told it is called "the bitch" OMG I now know why. I was attempting to ride up it and somehow lost my balance and ended up walking it along with a few of my fellow TIFL athletes. Shoutout to TIFL mentor Connie and Sharon tonight. They were my rock, cheerleaders and motivational coaches. Someone told me "there is no shame in walking your bike up the hill". They were absolutely right. We ride and ride and ride. TIFL mentor Martha gave me great advice that we go downhill I should peddle to build up momentum to get up the hill faster. Boy oh boy did that work on a few of the hills. On our journey back we turn back onto Carrington. Downhill here we go and then I try to make it back up but I just doesn't have anything left in the tank. We walk the bike. No shame in my game. None at all. We are almost back at the park, cross the bridge and we yell out "Hey 540" them we met up with out TIFL folks about ready to cross baileywick back to the park. I'm so excited because I know my car is eagerly waiting on me. I have made the wrong wardrobe choice in undergarments and I'm chafing like no business, my feet are aching(still don't know why that happens) and my bum is ready to disown me. Through all that I realize I DID it, 7.45 miles. Less than 2 more miles and that's the course baby. Mock Tri bring it on!!

As I'm writing this blog post, I'm thinking that I may be canceling on some scheduled events on my schedule. I need some serious recovery time before Sunday

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

My 1st Wednesday night swim and taking the Tri suit for its first swim

I decided to get fully ready for the mock Tri I need to attend all 3 trainings this week. That included the Wednesday night swim. This was my first time attending the Wednesday night swim. Since I have my brand new tie suit from junonia I figured that tonight would be a good time to break it in. I'm putting it on and the zipper is I the back. I struggle zipping it up but finally it get it up. I head to TAC about 6:45. Swim starts at 7:30. OMG the parking lot was packed. TAC is rocking on Wednesday night.

I head to poolside to meet with the other TIFL athletes. Erin comes over and checks out my Tri suit and thanks to her discovery I am wearing my suit backward. Who knew?? You have to really be comfortable to realize you are wearing something backwards and not get upset when everyone is laughing at you. Erin tells me I should go turn it around because swimming will not work. I go make a quick wardrobe turnaround and OMG it makes so much more sense when I put it on the right way. Zipper in front. Who knew? I know now. It fits so much better. When I head back poolside, everyone starts cheering. I love my TIFL family.

We line up in our swimming paces/lanes. We do our warmup drills and swimming drills for 30 minutes. Then the real fun happens, we get out the pool and line up for 250 yard swimming just like the race. I make it through the 250 yards. I've discovered that the swim is your race and you do what you do to get through. I'm thinking I am going to rock the mock and ramblin rose.

Tomorrow is bike ride along the race course. I have been told "wonderful" things about it including the HILLS. Bring it on!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Getting back into the grove and ready for the mock Tri

I haven't been training with TIFL since RNR. This is my week to get back into the groove. Bonus I need to get ready for the mock Tri on Sunday, yeah 😍😍😍.

Tuesday is training run. I'm so not into running anymore. Blame it on the Bike Ike!! I love the bike. All I want to do is ride the bike or swim I the pool.

I pair up with the 1/1 pace group. Then we make a group decision to do 0:30/0:30 then we make a unanimous decision to just move. That works with me. The goal is to do the the run distance of the Tri which is 2 miles. We go out for 1 mile and turn Around. I don't know what it is my lower back always aches when I am either running or waking. I know it's because the lower back muscle is weak along with a weak core. It's something I have to work on. Did I mention I am work in progress.

According to RunKeeper (side note: I love that app & I need to send them a tweet or email) we did 2.1 miles. I'll take it. Tomorrow is swim training. This will be my first time making the Wednesday swim. Lazy Johanna has always thought 7:30pm was too late to be doing any form of exercises especially when it's prime recliner time. Since I'm off Thursday I'm there. Thursday is bike training, we are at baileywick, which is the race course. I've heard about the 2 hills that I have to look forward to. Woo hoo.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The longest bike ride so far

For for first time on Thursday I actually drove to the bike ride from home. Because I was coming from a different direction, I took lumley road off 540 and then it hit me I should have take aviaton *Smacks head*

I get to our meeting place about 6:05pm and I see 1 of my buds Lillie already there. Few more tifl athletes show up. Few mentors show up as well. 1 of my fav mentor is the lead tonight, Helen aka Claudia, yeah she's in a witness protection plan because she has multiple aliases she uses. She has brought me a shirt from CRW(Capital Run Walk). They are giving away shirts. How cool is that :-)

We gather round for our route for the night. We are small in #. What's the saying where 2 or more are gathered. That's the PK coming out. 7 athletes and 2 mentors. 6 mile bike ride. I'm rolling with my padded bike shorts tonight. The left leg rides up and I'm showing generous amount of thigh. :-(

All the ladies know that if I am behind you going down a hill I will be "on your left" very soon. I love downhill. It's just me and the wind. "I believe I can fly" oh yeah I really do. What goes down must come back up. I told TIFL mentor Brittany I refuse to walk up the hill on Globe. It's a personal thing. I must ride it no matter how long it takes me. You know what that hill went down again. BOOM!!!  Did I mention that Jane showed up after we took off. I love Jane. She's awesome sauce.

I'm feeling all kinds of discomfort on the bike ride. I don't know if it's the shorts or Aunt Flo but I'm in serious pain. I'm ready for the ride to be done so I can make some readjustments. We make it back to the parking lot. RunKeeper reads 5.8 miles. I yell out "I have to make 6 miles" and keep riding through the parking lot. I hit 6.04 miles and drop the bike and get the iPhone and walk around the parking lot with Julie and Lillie. Shoutout to Julie Reed who made her first Thursday bike ride with the group. Yeah!!!

In 3 days I have my next fun filled adventure, the inaugural Raleigh Rock'N Roll half marathon. I have not been feeling excited about this race. I'm really trying to not worry about the course time limit that they so nicely emailed me about the other day. All I could think was diva NMB and the sag van. Then there's the biggest loser Charlotte casting on Saturday that I won a front of the line spot for in a Facebook contest. I don't feel like driving back and forth the day before RNR. Can u say stressed? I can.

It just dawned on me that I only need 3 more miles and I will be at ramblin rose bike distance, woo hoo baby :-)