off to new mexico

I'm off to new mexico in the morning. I'm going with Marlene, Will, Sheryl and Jonathan. Graeme, unfortunately, can't come with us. That sort of puts a damper on the whole vacation thing, but it will still be fun. Pete is coming down from Los Alamos so that we can do a 24-30 hr training session at some altitude. There is no snow, so the original plan of snowboarding has been blown out of the water. We'll still have a good time though.

The question of the hour is whether or not I'll go to the gym in the morning. That would involve getting up at 5:30 (also known as oh-my-god-early) which would mean 5.5 hours of sleep. I know, I can sleep in the car. Or in my nice comfy bed next to Graeme. It's still a toss up if I'll set the alarm.

is this what a tapeworm is like?

I'm hungry all the time. ALL THE TIME. I run out of ideas of what to eat. I eat 5 or 6 times a day. I guess I need some new snack ideas. Meanwhile, Marlene's tummy isn't digesting well at all, so she's really not eating at all. Can I say I'm eating for two?

incredible shrinking

My boobs are shrinking. I put on my one decent bra this weekend, and I don't fill it. Now, the thing is, I'm actually gaining weight, in the form of lean muscle. But apparently, I'm losing fat. And we all know that boobs are fat. By the time PQ roles around, my boobs may disappear completely. That wouldn't be all bad, since I'd rather wear a base layer over a restrictive sports bra. But still. What would be ideal is to have boobs just when I want them. Someone should work on that.

the weekend recap

Our ropes certification was scheduled for Saturday morning. However, after our four months of drought, the wet week was supposed to continue into Saturday with rain all day. The plan (or so I thought) was that the cert would happen Saturday unless you heard otherwise. Even though it was raining, and it seemed like pretty shitty weather for climbing up and down ropes, I didn't hear anything. I definitely didn't want to miss it, so off I went in the rain (and late) to the greenbelt. Of course, I was the only one there. And it was raining. Hard. But I was already wet and awake, so I tromped around the greenbelt for two hours before going home for a hot bath.

(insert car fixing, wedding, sleeping here)

On Sunday the weather was much better and we (myself, Tom and the Dynamic Health team) converged on the Urban Assault wall for some climbing up and down and up and down the ropes. There was a lot of waiting involved, since some tasks were a bit time consuming (mental note - must practice rappelling past an anchor) and there were only two ropes and six people. But, no one got cranky, and the weather was good, and it was really enjoyable. I thank everyone who was there for making it a fun morning.

Apres rope certs, I had been planning to go for a mountain bike ride. But I hadn't seen Graeme much all weekend, so instead we went and played frisbee golf together. Unfortunately, frisbee golf isn't a PQ event. So what. It was fun.

My sister's has a blog

My sister has a blog now too. It's here.

i'm a slacker

At least when it come to updating my blog, I guess I'm a slacker. It's been a crazy busy week. Let me explain my laziness. Last weekend, we had to go to Canada because my dad was getting married. We were gone from Friday-Sunday, which means that we lost the weekend time usually used to get all the minutia of life done, like cleaning the house, buying groceries, etc. Since we got home very late on Sunday night, and I had to work on Monday, I felt like I was way behind on life. And I had something planned every night this week. And we had a house guest arriving on Thursday. So, between working all week, training and getting the house in order, updating the blog fell to the bottom of the list. No, it fell off the list.

But it's back on. Except now I'm leaving again on Wednesday, so it again won't be updated for a few days. Until then though, I'm sure I'll churn out all sort of excitement. mmhmm.

hit by a car

Yesterday I was hit by a car on my commute to work. It was one of those situations that you see happening, but can do nothing to prevent. The girl driving was late for school, and she turned into me right in front of the school. I was going pretty quickly, so I couldn't stop, or make the turn beside her. She hit me with the front panel of the SUV, pushed me for awhile, and then swerved away. That's when I hit the pavement. Fortunately, I'd slowed down quite a bit by then.

I'm fine, and my bike is fine. I have some road rash on my elbow and lots of bruises. I'm pretty achy, but in a few days I'll be totally over it.

And no, I didn't get her insurance information. And yes, I know I should have.

new toy

I rode my new bike this morning. soooooo much fun. It will take a little while to get used to it, since it handles and behaves differently than my old bike. It's pretty sweet though.

in memory of

On Sunday I was chatting online with Chris, a good friend who lives in Seattle. I was telling him about my gift registry, which he thought was a cool idea. I told him that the pack I wanted wasn't available through REI, and I sent him a link to the GoLite site. At the end of the conversation, he told me the pack was on it's way. (thanks, chris!!) I said I would write his name on it for the TV cameras to see. He suggested that I write his mom's name instead.

Gail Alef died a few months ago after being hit by a car while riding her bike on a Sunday morning. Most parents think Primal Quest sounds insane, and worry about the risks. Gail would have said it was really cool, and probably would have been a little jealous. So, Gail, I'll be wearing the pack for you.

want to help?

People have been asking me how they can help me with this crazy primal quest thing. The race is unsupported this year, so no one can come help me during the race. But you can help me get there. There are five pages of required gear, much of which I don't have. I have set up a gift registry at REI.

Any gear gifts are totally appreciated. Items can be sent to the Austin store to save on shipping. Thanks to everyone! I truely couldn't do this without friend's and family's support (and I'm not just talking about gear)

bike dreamin'

I had a dream last night that there was an alignment of the planets and the brown vans. All my bike parts arrived, and I built my bike in time to ride this weekend. Alas, UPS has already been by, and he only had my fork. I guess I could run around
in the woods with it, but that might be a bit anti-climactic.

a new bike for me!

I'm getting a new bike!!! So, I'm still riding the same mountain bike I got when I was doing my master's and living with Tasha in the orange apartment (1998). My bike is old and tired. It's actually making me slower than could be. But, of course, I can't afford the bike that I want, because although i ride a piece of shit, I'm still a bike snob. Howard (one of the shop owners) gave me an incentive plan a few weeks ago. We had too much inventory. he said when I got down to 7 frames in stock (we had 13 at the time) that the shop would buy a demo bike in my size for me to ride.

I sold 4 bikes on monday and one on tuesday. And I ordered my new bike on tuesday afternoon! Probably the parts won't all be here until monday. I wish I had paid to expedite the shipping so I could be riding it this weekend. I guess if I've been waiting this long, I can wait a few more days.

So, here's what I'm getting:

a lesson on being flexible

I've been meaning to post all week, but this working out for 2 hours a day really cuts into time for everything else. I've been learning that making a workout schedule can't be totally strict. You have to be willing to be flexible about it. Either because of soreness, other commitments, or whatever. If I'm not forgiving about it, I'll just stress myself too much.

Today for instance. I will be missing yoga class tonight. Marlene broke her wrist today when she had a fall on her motorcycle. Going to happy hour with her tonight is more important than going to yoga class. I'll try to resist the margaritas, at least.

Trust

I've been having this on-going stress related to figuring out how to train for Primal Quest. I have realized that no matter how much I train, I won't feel like I've done enough. So, I just have to train smart, and trust that I'll be ok. Pete has been fantastic for that. He told me that he knows I can do it, so I don't have to stress about it, I just have to trust him. Ok. I'm trying.

A picture for Mel

Melody said I should post some pictures. Here is one of me starting the Tour de Gruene time trial back in October. oooo, so fast looking.

training schedule

I've been trying to figure out how to schedule training. I want to do about 2 hrs a day during the week, and long session on the weekend. I've realized that means that my house and garden will be a mess for the next six months. Something has to give.

Right now, I'm thinking my training schedule will look something like this:
Monday: ride to work recovery/rest day
Tuesday: ride to work, run home
Wednesday: run to work, ride home, pm yoga
Thursday: morning trail run, evening paddle
Friday: gym and ride to work
Saturday: long trek/run with pack
Sunday: long ride, possible paddle

Sort of makes me tired just thinking about it.

what is this PQ you speak of?

Primal Quest (PQ) is an expedition length adventure race (6-10 days) that will be taking place from Jun 24-July 4 somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. In previous years, it's taken place in Washington State ('04), Lake Tahoe ('03) and Colorado ('02).

You can find out more from the horse's mouth here: http://www.ecoprimalquest.com