I finished the 2009 Hotter N Hell Century Ride!

The morning of Hotter N Hell started off very early, 5:30 am to be exact! We had stayed at a hotel that was about two miles away from the starting line; we could have ridden or bikes or driven the car. Ginny and Andy, the two other people I went to the ride with had talked to our hotel neighbors and established riding was easier than driving so we gathered our stuff, got our bikes and headed out.

It was a cold morning, chilly really and the ride to the starting line was mostly downhill so the breeze was making the chill worse. It was still dark and very few street lights were lit along the access road. At one point a dog started barking at us, we rode by and I noticed out of the corner of my eye a glisten…it was his eye! He was chasing us! I shouted out to Ginny, “go faster he’s chasing us!” It was too early to have such a scare; we hadn’t even made it to the starting line!

As we got close to the starting line, we did what I did last year, found a side road and wait ahead of the start line and just eased in with what they call the “Scorchers” who are the fastest group. The starting line has approximately 12-13K cyclists all lined up. Not starting there is good for several reasons; I have less chance of someone knocking me over, I didn’t have to get to the starting line super early to get a good spot and more importantly, OTHERS were protected from ME knocking them over. (I’m not that great at unclipping from the pedals.) As we waiting we got to watch the Pro riders start which was pretty cool.

We noticed some non race riders were going after all the race riders had started but before the official ride had started. After a brief discussion about taking off with them, we decided that would be a good idea, start early - get done early. So off we went in the dark and chilly weather.

I started well; we were all together and going about 18 mph. But I am not the best consistent cyclist, I tend to slow down and speed up a lot. Looking down at my speedometer tends to make me go slower so I tend to just pedal and hope for the best, changing gears as necessary. After a few miles Andy and Ginny were ahead of me and I made no effort to try and catch them. I decided they knew I was capable of riding my own ride and I would see them at the end.

My strategy this year was pretty much the same as last year, ride to the 4th rest stop and stop if necessary, ride to the stop at mile 60ish, which is near Hells Gate or ride all the way to the rest stop near mile 80, then ride it in with no other stops. Well laid out plans are just that, well laid out plans, but reality rarely mirrors what is planned. The ride was absolutely packed almost until maybe mile 70 or 75. The first two rest stops were so crammed with riders on the side of the road and on the road itself we were at a near standstill going past each one. I had to unclip at each for fear of falling over and not being able to get my shoe unclipped in time. I got stopped by a train at mile 26. That was comical. Most of the riders around me were “Scorchers” so they were very NOT pleased to be stopped by a train. As the train ended, there was an ambulance coming which also delayed us a bit. Earlier there had been a man on the side of the road with a bloody head, I assume the ambulance was for him.

There were actually a lot of accidents and ambulances this year, many more than last year. Ginny said one lady was out cold at a hill they were passing and one of our hotel neighbors had a nasty scabbed up elbow after the ride, he said he got caught in a slow point and tumbled. I must have seen at least six ambulances throughout the race. Very scary.

I did well in not stopping at the rest stops though and did make it to the rest stop near mile 40. I stopped, got Power Aid and checked my phone. Ginny had sent a text asking where I was; texted I was at 40 but moving on. I assumed they were ahead of me since they had been ahead of me when we started. I stopped at mile 60ish, at Hells Gate, took some pictures and checked my phone again. Ginny said she was near the porta potties at Hells Gate. YEA! I caught up to them. So I rode around to look for the porta potties and didn’t see any. Texted Ginny back, “no porta potties at Hells Gate, going to 80.”

I stopped again at mile 80 to get more Power Aid and check to see where Ginny was. As it turns out, she and Andy were behind me, they got caught by an accident and had made a few more stops than I had. I put away the phone and noticed I was sweating profusely. I was oh so grateful for the cold wet napkin a volunteer offered me. After cooling off and eating a few pickles and bananas I got back on the road. My mantra all the way was “you can do it, just keep pedaling, you can do this.”

The last twenty miles was the hardest for me last year; this year didn’t seem as hard but it was still a struggle. The wind was terrible, the road conditions were awful with all the chipseal and my legs were very mad at me. Needless to say I managed to keep pedaling. I decided pedaling at 11 or 13 mph was better than not pedaling, my level of expectation at this point had greatly declined. I was fortunate though and managed to increase my speed to 15-16 mph for part of the last 20 miles so my overall speed was still about 15 mph.

Perhaps the best part of the ride had to be the last leg of road, I think it was around mile 90, the road became completely smooth, it was absolute heaven! And wow, could I go fast! I was cruising at about 18-20 mph! I passed the time during the last 20 miles by calculating in my head what the mileage equated to compared to White Rock Lake were I trained. “18 miles, that is just 2 rounds around the lake, you can do it….15 miles, that is less than 2 times around the lake, you can do it….10 miles, so close! Just one time around the lake, you can do it!” At about 95 there is the last official rest stop and a lady shouted out “just 5 miles left!” I had to giggle a little because I knew it was more than 5 miles, it is really 7 miles. The last 5 or in reality 7 miles seem like it took eternity to complete. But I did it! I rode in to the finish line and felt so good. I finished about 30 minutes over my time last year. Based on the level of training I did this year and the extra stops, I’m pleased with that time. I will never be the fastest or the one that can be out there the longest but I am determined to always do my best.

2009 Bike Run Yoga Challenge: Get a FREE T-shirt!

Bike Run Yoga is my idea of the ideal Tri. The real concept though of Bike Run Yoga is more about doing events you love, not what MY ideal triathlon would be. (Although the thought of what my ideal Tri would be is how the company got started.) Also, it doesn't mean those three activities have to happen in a typical triathlon event process. It is about participating in events that show off what you love to do, to challenge yourself, to promote a healthy life style and to most importantly, have fun!

My friend Ginny and I just completed our century ride and I got to thinking about all the events I had completed or was planning on completing this year and how great it would be to have a Bike Run Yoga t-shirt that has on the back a list of all the events, like a concert tour shirt, to really celebrate all my accomplishments. It is tough to complete one event be it a marathon, triathlon, duathlon, century ride, yoga competition or other event. It is even tougher to dedicate the time and energy to complete multiple events in one year. How great would that be to be get a free t-shirt that commemorates all your efforts and shows off all the events you completed in one year?

Bike Run Yoga wants to help you celebrate your 2009 achievements! Come join us in the the 2009 Bike Run Yoga Challenge! Complete the challenge and get a FREE personalized event t-shirt that lists YOUR events for 2009.  Anyone that meets the requirements below can win. You still have time in 2009 to get a free shirt!

What does that mean? It means, complete all the requirements and get a t-shirt that lists all your events for 2009 on the back; the front will be the Bike Run Yoga logo; The events will be listed on the back with the name of the event and the event date.

Requirements:

1. Make a commitment to the challenge (this means post a comment here and tell me you are doing the challenge)
   
2. Follow/subscribe to Bike Run Yoga blog (that's THIS blog)
3. For 2009, complete 12 events (Tri, duathlon, run, ride, swim or yoga event)
4. FYI for 2010 - must complete 24 events
5. Must be a finisher at the event (we use the honor system for verification)
6. Submit your events,email address, full name and shipping address to Bike Run Yoga no later than January 5, 2010

Once your events are submitted, a Bike Run Yoga celebration t-shirt will be custom made for you and shipped to you in 4-6 weeks.

As an example, here is a list of the events I have either completed or will complete by the end of 2009. Join me in this exciting challenge and show off your

Tour Dallas April 4
Big D ½ Marathon April 5
San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon May 31
Too Hot to Handle 15K July 18
Hotter N Hell 100 August 29
Tour Des Fleur's 10K September 19
Susan G Komen 5K October 17
Light the Night Walk October 18
Texas Yoga Asana Championships November 8
Thundercloud Turkey Trot November 26
San Antonio ½ Marathon November 15
White Rock ½ Marathon December 13

Questions? click here to email me.

Ran with Team in Training Today

I got up early today, 6 am, and ran with my Team in Training buddy Rhonda and her new Team in Training running group. Rhonda and I trained together for our first marathons in the Spring Team in Training season earlier this year and she has become a mentor this season to help others. I was planning on riding 80 miles today to prepare for Hotter N Hell next weekend but I have a kick off meeting for Light the Night in a bit and I wouldn't have been able to ride the full amount. So instead I opted to run six today and ride 80 tomorrow.

Today was a little harder than I expected. I contribute that to a few things, a little dehydrated from just not drinking enough water, not enough nutrition because in general I don't eat well and I had done zero cardio all week. The latter is probably the main reason and of course, the reason can NOT be that I am just plan out of shape. :)

I was impressed with the group, they all did a great job. Rhonda's group is much larger than ours from last season. Last season it was just Rhonda, Susan our mentor and me. This year Rhonda has 10-12 that run in her group. I think that is better, gives you more people to talk to and bond with and when you lag behind a bit it is less noticeable because of all the people!

As usually I sweated like a horse. Is that even a real saying? Do horses sweat? I think the real saying is "sweat like a race horse" or is that "I have to pee like a race horse"? Whatever, I sweated, A LOT! (This will become a running theme in my blogs, no pun intended! LOL)

Since I hadn't done any cardio workout during the week I was huffing a bit and I'm pretty sure the look on my face was not pretty. I tend to grimace when I run like I am in constant pain, even when I'm not. Which is so funny because when I do yoga I have no expression on my face, even when the posture is really hard. Different sports, different facial expressions I guess.

The lake where Team in Training runs was packed. It was such a nice morning I guess everyone took the opportunity to come out and get their exercise on. As we were coming back towards the cars I was stuck by a man that had the WHITEST teeth! His mouth was slightly open and against his tan skin his teeth really stuck out. It reminded me of the Friends episode where Ross whitens his teeth right before a big date and the glow from being so bleached. This guy had teeth like that! Made me laugh which I needed at mile 5 of 6.

Thanks Rhonda for letting me tag along today, great run. You have an awesome group of runners! Off to the Light the Night Kick Off Meeting!

When riding slow is a benefit.

I love that Dallas allows people to have horses in the city. It is wonderful to see horses along the trails at White Rock Lake. What I don’t like is all the horse poop along the trails. If dog owners have to pick up after their dogs, why to horse owners not have to pick up after their horse? Horses make bigger poop and a lot more of it!

This was my thought today was I rode the trail around the lake. First, it smells. Second it is huge and takes up a good portion of the trail. At least dog poop is small and is usually just one pile. Horses seem to go and go and go. It was a long trail of poop today!

Besides the horse poop, today was a relatively calm day at the lake. Just one other thing caught my attention and that was the guy in front of me along mile 8 that blew his nose as he rode ahead of me. Now I know men do this, never heard of women doing it but maybe they do, but really, do you have to do it when others are around? For those of you that don’t know, this is where you hold one nostril closed and blow really hard through the other, blasting out the snot. This guy did this to both sides of his nose and basically blew snot onto the side of the road, then to add to it he spit, wiped his face and wiped his hand on his shorts. I’m just glad was I down wind enough to not get any overspray.

Today was a 60 Mile Bike Ride and Bikram Yoga

I’m suppose to be training for Hotter N Hell (HNH), a century ride in Wichita Falls, Texas in two weeks. It is suppose to be the hottest, most grueling century ride with gusting winds and relentless sun. I rode the full 100 miles last year and didn’t think the conditions were that bad, then I read it was a mild year. So I am trying again this year and started training, if that is what you can call it, after I finished my marathon earlier this year.

My friend Ginny and I are planning to ride together. Neither of us seem to be very dedicated to any century ride training schedule we found online even though we both searched and found several we thought we could live with. Life tends to get in the way.

Today in an effort to get myself ready for HNH, I decided I needed to ride 60 miles. I planned to get up early, ride to the lake and find my friend Rhonda from Team in Training, she was my running partner in training and she became a mentor. I knew they would be down at the lake running so I thought I would ride down and find her and ride my 60.

Here is a tip for you, when you set your alarm, make sure it is AM not PM! Ugh! Amazingly I got up on my own at 7 am so I hurried and got myself ready and was on the road by 7:30 am. I made it almost around the lake before I saw Rhonda. They were running 6 miles and almost done, I was riding 60 and had just started! So off I went.

The lake was really busy, Lukes, Team in Training, other running groups, families, casual walkers, hey all seemed to be out today. I managed to ride in and amongst the people without falling which I consider to be a big feat. (I tend to fall a lot.) I rode about 45 miles before I decided I wanted to stop but I had already told everyone I would ride 60 so I kept going. Every few miles I calculated how I would finish, ride around the lake twice, ride down Lawther trail, or take Lawther twice and go around the lake once. This managed to occupy my mind for some time.

On the home stretch, only 7 miles left and I’m headed back from Lawther. That last little bit seemed like eternity and my legs were burning but I made it. Sixty miles, three electrolyte supplements, four bottles of water and one granola bar.

You may be wondering if I just rode 60 miles why I would decide to go to Bikram Yoga. It makes me feel good and I’m a little crazy. Bikram Yoga is one of those things I can do even when I don’t want to and come out feeling great and glad I went. I love feeling clean sweat running down my body, it tells me I am taking care of myself. I love watching myself in the mirror going farther in poses, going deeper and watching my body do things I never thought it could. It is hard, painful, sweaty and darn hot but it is also one of the best forms of exercise I do. It is 90 minutes of me doing something just for me.

After 60 miles on a bike and 90 minutes of Bikram Yoga, a well deserved Mexican dinner was in order. I just got back from Los Amigos in Grapevine where I celebrated the birthday of my good friend Deanne. So yummy. If you have not been there, you should try it before urban development takes over.

Team in Training Beginning - Marathon Training

1/21/09 - Thank you to all of you who have donated or given me encouragement and words of wisdom! We haven't officially started our training but almost everyone I know that has done a half marathon or full marathon insisted I start running NOW! So, I've started running!

I mostly run on the treadmill because for one, it is darn cold here in Dallas and two, I am scare to run outside for fear I will run to a spot and be too tired to run back!

It was a beautiful day this past Sunday though and I had missed yoga class already so I decided to put on my running shoes and hit the road. I went down to the lake and ran what I thought was a long distance. It turned out not to be, only about a mile and a half but it was good practice. The wind around the lake makes it more difficult too, or at least that is what I am going to tell myself!

My next goal is to run at least 2 miles around the lake. Some day I will run the full 9 mile lap and maybe start from the house, that would make it about 15 miles.