I know, I know! i've been crappy about updating my blog. So I've been in Boulder(Bel-air) for a week now and I love this place! There are bike paths everywhere and lots of beautiful surroudings. It almost reminds me of a European town in that a lot of people walk, take the bus, or ride their bike, there is a lot of outdoor cafes, and most people here aren't really fat. I think Boulder is rated one of the top 10 more fittest towns. Sweet. :) School is ok... I will start work and getting homework next week. I'll let you know how it is then! There are so many great places to ride around here! I'm sure I'm overtraining myself. haha I have met some interesting little enginerds. This one kid has been emailing me all summer because he remembered my name from a result 2 years ago and saw I was coming to CU. I finally met up with stalker boy and he was your typical enginerd. Short black jean shorts, a tshirt too small that says engineering on it, and a nasal voice. nice. I want to hit that! ;) haha I'm sure he's very nice, just not my style. He even invited me over for homemade brownies. awwwww. Poor guy. I have met a couple of cool people too... I'm going to a party tomorrow night put on by some guys that work at the bike shop, so maybe I can make some cyclist GIRL friends there. I swear, the engineering dept here has no girls. I have one other girl in my 30 person medical devices class. She's all goth too, I'm even afraid of her!
So now I'm just lonely on a Friday night. :( I miss my family, friends, and Adam. You guys are the best!!!! Well, that's all for now. Sorry it's so boring!
Friday, August 26, 2005
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Moving trucks can race too
I went to pick up the moving truck last night with Adam. I decided to be brave and drive that beast of a vehicle back home. At a stop light, this eclipse pulled up next to me. He was acting all cool, so I decided to race him when the light turned green. I floored that big boy and it went baby. I took down that eclipse! Adam was driving behind me and said he saw black puffs of smoke coming out of the exhaust every time he shifted. Take that bitch... a moving truck beat your lame ass!
Today is my last day at Sandia. I'm outta here. Peace out Bushies. That's right...the majority here loves Bush. I'm going to the land of the anti-bush. Sweet.
Today is my last day at Sandia. I'm outta here. Peace out Bushies. That's right...the majority here loves Bush. I'm going to the land of the anti-bush. Sweet.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Moving this week!
Well...the countdown is almost over. Thursday is the big day! I'm trying to get all my crap packed and my very dirty apartment clean. Tomorrow is my last day at Sandia. YEEEAHHHOOOO after 3 years. today I did a ride to the crest in the very thick mist. It was pretty interesting b/c you got wet just being outside. Towards the top of the mountain, there was all this thick fog and you could barely see in front of you. Gotta get my last rides in da Querque!!! It's funny... all you have to do is move and EVERYONE wants to hang out with you! I should move more often. Next race isn't for awhile... next weekend. I'm missing Blast the Mass this weekend. It sucks, but I guess I should get settled in since I start school on Monday. NOOOO!!!! I'm pissed! I was going to do a race in los Alamos this weekend, but the weather was supposed to be bad. I didn't go and I would have won 200 bucks and the weather was nice. @#$)@#$(#$%@$#&%&@!!!
Friday, August 12, 2005
Utah Norba National
Oxygen... or lack thereof! This was the theme at Brianhead Norba National in southwest Utah. We left Thursday night and pimped it in Tina's red Jeep Liberty on the drive to Flagstaff where we camped for the night. We finished the remainder of the 10 hour drive on Friday after a little pre-race ride to open up the legs. We had lots of rain on the way to Utah... it was ominous and we kept praying that it wouldn't rain at the race. Adam and I pitched our tent in the camping area by the race venue. It was pretty wet when we arrived, but we went in the trees and had this amazing view of the mountains.... sleeping at 10,000 ft. Now THAT is good for recovery!! Not all of us can live the Kabush lifestyle of staying in nice condos and getting leg massages every night!! We ate some *gourmet* pasta for dinner and realized we didn't have a car to put our food in since Tina was staying in a hotel. We looked around the campsite and saw very large turds... it was either from a very unhappy human who gave birth to a very large baby brown boy or a bear. We decided to make friends with someone so we could keep our food in their car. The guy we made friends with had just gotten back from Iraq! He was on the front line and told us about it a little. Quite a culture shock to go to the quiet mountains in Utah.
The cross country was on Saturday at 3:30 PM. I was stoked not to have to wake up at 5 AM to race, but was a little concerned with the time since it was raining every afternoon. I was looking at my bike and my rear tire didn't offer any clearance for mud. I kept bugging Adam to go with me down to the race venue so I could get a tire for my bike. Titus was not at the race, so I went to the Kenda tent since we are sponsored by them. I told the guy about my situation and that Titus wasn't there. He said rudely, "I don't even know who YOU are!!" Damn!!!! One day you will, bitch...and you'll be sorry. I got a tire for pro deal and had to hunt down some Stanz, but it turned out aiight. Around 1, the skies grew dark, and it was raining on the mountains in the distance. Now some of you know this, but for those of you who don't...it gets freaking cold when you are racing at 10-11,000 ft and a storm moves in. It gets dark. the temperature falls dramatically. The trails become treacherous with slippery rocks and your bike stops working. It's not fun. And on top of that, me and all my New Mexico buddies were not prepared for the worst. It had been 100 degrees at home the week before, so we did not bring extra warm clothes for the bike. I kept saying, "I know it's going to rain. I just know it." To my surprise and delight, the weather seemed to clear up. There were actually a lot of expert women in the start chute and I was feeling a little intimidated. It's scary when everyone has been training and racing, looking fit, and YOU have only trained 2 weeks out of the summer and the last big race you did was in May. The start went up a steep pavement road for about 2 miles. I was feeling pretty good and was passing a bunch of people. It turned off onto a pretty steep dirt road for another 3 miles and then single track. The actual singletrack at the race was very nice, but before I knew it, I was turning off onto yet another dirt road to climb up to 11,082 ft!! I was in 3rd at the moment, but saw my competitor up the road and red lined it to catch her. To my dismay, the climbing was not over at the road. We turned off onto a steep singletrack hill. My eyes were starting to bug out of my head from lack of oxygen and my legs were totally blown. We were only half way through the course... mile 13. I had to keep going, but at that elevation, I was being slapped senseless in the hurt locker and on my way to the land of Crackatoa(Adam's new word!). Fortunately, there was a lot of downhilling after that. It was kind of sketchy because it was steep, muddy, and wet from the day before, but I managed with my Titus Racer-X! I tell you!! That is one sweet bike. With 5 miles to go, I glanced over my shoulder and saw a girl in my field 20-30 yards back...the same girl I had passed on the fireroad. I did not want to lose 2nd place at a national. I did not want a repeat of the last weekend losing by 5 seconds. No way. So the last 4 miles I pushed myself to the limit. I felt like puking several times because I was downing too much water at once. I thought I was so close to the end...but those last 4 miles had what seemed to be an endless amount of climbing. Just when I thought I was done with one hill, there would be another and I was just trying to mash it out in my granny gear. I just had to keep my legs moving. I finished the 26 mile race that went between 9500-11,100 ft, thrilled with my placing considering I hadn't been training or racing. I compared my times to the pros and at least I know I won't be getting last next year! That night we got to hang out with Olympian Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick! It was so cool being in the presence and talking with someone who is the best in the country and has raced all around the world. She was also a very nice person!
The next morning was the short track at 7:30 AM. My nightmare began around 12 AM... I had been lying awake for 2 hours and sleep was nowhere in site. There was a redneck convention going on down the road. We saw it... trucks, four wheelers, and mullets as far as the eye could see. "Go to sleep!!" I kept telling myself. 1 AM...almost went to sleep but redneck man keeps yelling, can't get comfortable. I have to wake up in 5 hours to get ready to race. 2 AM... pllleasse. I need to sleep! 2:30 AM... finally! I slept. I woke up at 5 AM and was worried I wouldn't wake up to my alarm in an hour. 6 AM...alarm is going off, I feel the exquisite pain of waking up at the crack of dawn with about 3 hours of sleep under my belt, a cross country race still fatiguing my legs, darkness, and cold. I managed to get ready, but not without whining. I managed to get in a good warm up and was pleased to see that the short track was actually a little technical. The race started on time and there were 15 women in my field. We were doing 17 minutes plus three laps. I never have a good start in these things, so was at the back on the first lap. On the first technical section, a girl in front of me STOPS suddenly and gets off her bike. I am forced to do the same. Because of this fact, I spent the rest of the race playing catch-up. The 3 girls at the front were working together, not nearly as hard as me. I worked my way up to 4th and was desperately trying to get up there. I couldn't quite get around them and ended up with 4th in the short track. If only that stupid girl had not STOPPED in front of me. Then I would have laid the SMACK down! ;) That's bad news in a 20 minute race. Oh well! It was still fun. Tina drank a Budweiser at 8 AM immediately following the short track. You go girl! She proudly put the empty can in her bottle cage and rode around. The 10 hour drive back wasn't much fun, but the memory of the trip was GREAT!
The cross country was on Saturday at 3:30 PM. I was stoked not to have to wake up at 5 AM to race, but was a little concerned with the time since it was raining every afternoon. I was looking at my bike and my rear tire didn't offer any clearance for mud. I kept bugging Adam to go with me down to the race venue so I could get a tire for my bike. Titus was not at the race, so I went to the Kenda tent since we are sponsored by them. I told the guy about my situation and that Titus wasn't there. He said rudely, "I don't even know who YOU are!!" Damn!!!! One day you will, bitch...and you'll be sorry. I got a tire for pro deal and had to hunt down some Stanz, but it turned out aiight. Around 1, the skies grew dark, and it was raining on the mountains in the distance. Now some of you know this, but for those of you who don't...it gets freaking cold when you are racing at 10-11,000 ft and a storm moves in. It gets dark. the temperature falls dramatically. The trails become treacherous with slippery rocks and your bike stops working. It's not fun. And on top of that, me and all my New Mexico buddies were not prepared for the worst. It had been 100 degrees at home the week before, so we did not bring extra warm clothes for the bike. I kept saying, "I know it's going to rain. I just know it." To my surprise and delight, the weather seemed to clear up. There were actually a lot of expert women in the start chute and I was feeling a little intimidated. It's scary when everyone has been training and racing, looking fit, and YOU have only trained 2 weeks out of the summer and the last big race you did was in May. The start went up a steep pavement road for about 2 miles. I was feeling pretty good and was passing a bunch of people. It turned off onto a pretty steep dirt road for another 3 miles and then single track. The actual singletrack at the race was very nice, but before I knew it, I was turning off onto yet another dirt road to climb up to 11,082 ft!! I was in 3rd at the moment, but saw my competitor up the road and red lined it to catch her. To my dismay, the climbing was not over at the road. We turned off onto a steep singletrack hill. My eyes were starting to bug out of my head from lack of oxygen and my legs were totally blown. We were only half way through the course... mile 13. I had to keep going, but at that elevation, I was being slapped senseless in the hurt locker and on my way to the land of Crackatoa(Adam's new word!). Fortunately, there was a lot of downhilling after that. It was kind of sketchy because it was steep, muddy, and wet from the day before, but I managed with my Titus Racer-X! I tell you!! That is one sweet bike. With 5 miles to go, I glanced over my shoulder and saw a girl in my field 20-30 yards back...the same girl I had passed on the fireroad. I did not want to lose 2nd place at a national. I did not want a repeat of the last weekend losing by 5 seconds. No way. So the last 4 miles I pushed myself to the limit. I felt like puking several times because I was downing too much water at once. I thought I was so close to the end...but those last 4 miles had what seemed to be an endless amount of climbing. Just when I thought I was done with one hill, there would be another and I was just trying to mash it out in my granny gear. I just had to keep my legs moving. I finished the 26 mile race that went between 9500-11,100 ft, thrilled with my placing considering I hadn't been training or racing. I compared my times to the pros and at least I know I won't be getting last next year! That night we got to hang out with Olympian Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick! It was so cool being in the presence and talking with someone who is the best in the country and has raced all around the world. She was also a very nice person!
The next morning was the short track at 7:30 AM. My nightmare began around 12 AM... I had been lying awake for 2 hours and sleep was nowhere in site. There was a redneck convention going on down the road. We saw it... trucks, four wheelers, and mullets as far as the eye could see. "Go to sleep!!" I kept telling myself. 1 AM...almost went to sleep but redneck man keeps yelling, can't get comfortable. I have to wake up in 5 hours to get ready to race. 2 AM... pllleasse. I need to sleep! 2:30 AM... finally! I slept. I woke up at 5 AM and was worried I wouldn't wake up to my alarm in an hour. 6 AM...alarm is going off, I feel the exquisite pain of waking up at the crack of dawn with about 3 hours of sleep under my belt, a cross country race still fatiguing my legs, darkness, and cold. I managed to get ready, but not without whining. I managed to get in a good warm up and was pleased to see that the short track was actually a little technical. The race started on time and there were 15 women in my field. We were doing 17 minutes plus three laps. I never have a good start in these things, so was at the back on the first lap. On the first technical section, a girl in front of me STOPS suddenly and gets off her bike. I am forced to do the same. Because of this fact, I spent the rest of the race playing catch-up. The 3 girls at the front were working together, not nearly as hard as me. I worked my way up to 4th and was desperately trying to get up there. I couldn't quite get around them and ended up with 4th in the short track. If only that stupid girl had not STOPPED in front of me. Then I would have laid the SMACK down! ;) That's bad news in a 20 minute race. Oh well! It was still fun. Tina drank a Budweiser at 8 AM immediately following the short track. You go girl! She proudly put the empty can in her bottle cage and rode around. The 10 hour drive back wasn't much fun, but the memory of the trip was GREAT!
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Duathlon
The boredom is palpable. Me, at work for a whole 2 hours and already bored out of my freaking mind. So now I will entertain you with a brief race report from Saturday.
6:45 AM: my alarm is waking me up from a comfortable, relaxing sleep. I wake up feeling tired and all I want to do is sleep...but I get up. After eating my common race day breakfast of oatmeal with fruit, honey, and almonds ( and a VIVRAN), I got my stuff together and loaded my car. Since Adam and I are the last minute couple, I decided I would be an hour early to this race and get a real warm-up unlike my usual drill of barely getting to the race in time for a half ass warm up. I handed my duathlon bag with my running shoes and water bottle to a race volunteer and double-checked my start time. My watch said the time was 8:21 AM. His response: "oh... about 8:40. They moved it from 9:15 you know." That gave me about 10 minutes to warm up. I was in street clothes, my bike still in pieces in my car. I tossed the bag at him and ran down to my car, chami-ed up lickety-split and hopped on my bike for a lightning speed warm up. I rode down the road at ski area and started to ride back up. My legs were in pain: aching and sore. "Oh great, now I won't even make it and the chodes will be in front of me" I thought. I went back to the area of the start feeling very apprehensive and looking unpoised. Originally, the mountain bike race was supposed to start at 8:30, but I saw Damian still riding around. I asked him about the start and he told me they moved it AGAIN and everyone was starting together at 9. I was relieved that I would have more time to warm up and that these pained pieces of lead called my legs would open up a little.
The start was a mass start...very unlike what I'm used to. Normally they have the starts with men and women separated, and then even more separation of race classes. So here we all were together, chode and pro alike, getting ready to attack the narrow singletrack of a start. I also caught a glimpse of my competition... 5 women in all. One of who was Jessica Kiesel. She is a pro who was invited to marathon worlds last year. "There goes winning," I thought. I decided to get on the front line and was happy to get a good position on the singletrack in the start. Of course, there were two guys in front of me holding me up, but the trail was so narrow that there was no place to pass. I finally came to a part where I could squeeze by the first guy, but the other guy tried to stop and let me by. The poor guy didn't move off the trail and almost caused me and some other man trying to pass to wreck. I pushed myself. To my surprise, I was ahead of all the women including Jessica. I checked my watch at the pond... my time was 3 min faster than normal. When I had to run extra technical sections, I felt a pain in my diaphram and wave of nausea would hit me. I kept going... I wanted so bad to be the first woman up the mountain. Compared to my heinous warm-up, I felt suprisingly good during the race. I checked my watch at the top. 1:11. I was delighted to set a new record for myself and hurried over to the transition area where I slipped on my running shoes and tried to tie them quickly. About a minute had passed and I saw Jessica hop off her bike. I started to run, but my legs were so tired, I could barely move them and had to walk. The run was very very bad. No one would ever guess I used to run marathons... my stride was uneven, I couldn't get a rythym. I think Jessica must have put some time on me for the run because my legs would NOT move! I changed shoes and got back on the bike, knowing she would be right behind me. Since I hurt my wrist, my descending skills have gotten relatively bad. I knew that my timidity would cost me. I managed to hold her off despite the fact that on the small climbs, my bike was shifting by itself to harder gears. I could hear her shifting up the trail aways. With 3 miles to go, I was riding a loose climb when my bike seized up and I fell over. Thank goodness I was wearing my wrist brace. I kept trying to get started again, but the trail was too loose and steep, and my bike was in the wrong gear. I started running with it, but Jessica passed me. I chased her down the remainder of the switchbacked, narrow trail, but couldn't quite get there and she beat me by FIVE seconds in a 2:20 race! I didn't mind...we are friends and she earned it! Good job Jessica! :)
On another note, a very horrible creature was on my balcony this weekend. A huge moth was attached to the wall of my balcony. I looked outside and saw the beast. Immediately my knees went weak and my stomach started to turn. I closed the blinds so I wouldn't have to look at it. When Adam came over, I sent him out to scare it away since he is too nice and wouldn't kill the bastard. I ran through the apartment and out the front door in case the moth came inside. Adam told me he pet the thing b/c it was so hairy. He said it was all squishy, and when it flew away, the moth was a little startling. Moths do not flutter. They are kamikaze machines aimed at my head to send me running... and about 6 years ago a moth sent me running toward my parent's house, hitting my foot into the door, slicing a big whole and getting stitches. I know they have teeth just for me! AHHH
This weekend is the National in Brianhead. I'm still debating going, but will probably end up there. I need some results. wish me luck!
6:45 AM: my alarm is waking me up from a comfortable, relaxing sleep. I wake up feeling tired and all I want to do is sleep...but I get up. After eating my common race day breakfast of oatmeal with fruit, honey, and almonds ( and a VIVRAN), I got my stuff together and loaded my car. Since Adam and I are the last minute couple, I decided I would be an hour early to this race and get a real warm-up unlike my usual drill of barely getting to the race in time for a half ass warm up. I handed my duathlon bag with my running shoes and water bottle to a race volunteer and double-checked my start time. My watch said the time was 8:21 AM. His response: "oh... about 8:40. They moved it from 9:15 you know." That gave me about 10 minutes to warm up. I was in street clothes, my bike still in pieces in my car. I tossed the bag at him and ran down to my car, chami-ed up lickety-split and hopped on my bike for a lightning speed warm up. I rode down the road at ski area and started to ride back up. My legs were in pain: aching and sore. "Oh great, now I won't even make it and the chodes will be in front of me" I thought. I went back to the area of the start feeling very apprehensive and looking unpoised. Originally, the mountain bike race was supposed to start at 8:30, but I saw Damian still riding around. I asked him about the start and he told me they moved it AGAIN and everyone was starting together at 9. I was relieved that I would have more time to warm up and that these pained pieces of lead called my legs would open up a little.
The start was a mass start...very unlike what I'm used to. Normally they have the starts with men and women separated, and then even more separation of race classes. So here we all were together, chode and pro alike, getting ready to attack the narrow singletrack of a start. I also caught a glimpse of my competition... 5 women in all. One of who was Jessica Kiesel. She is a pro who was invited to marathon worlds last year. "There goes winning," I thought. I decided to get on the front line and was happy to get a good position on the singletrack in the start. Of course, there were two guys in front of me holding me up, but the trail was so narrow that there was no place to pass. I finally came to a part where I could squeeze by the first guy, but the other guy tried to stop and let me by. The poor guy didn't move off the trail and almost caused me and some other man trying to pass to wreck. I pushed myself. To my surprise, I was ahead of all the women including Jessica. I checked my watch at the pond... my time was 3 min faster than normal. When I had to run extra technical sections, I felt a pain in my diaphram and wave of nausea would hit me. I kept going... I wanted so bad to be the first woman up the mountain. Compared to my heinous warm-up, I felt suprisingly good during the race. I checked my watch at the top. 1:11. I was delighted to set a new record for myself and hurried over to the transition area where I slipped on my running shoes and tried to tie them quickly. About a minute had passed and I saw Jessica hop off her bike. I started to run, but my legs were so tired, I could barely move them and had to walk. The run was very very bad. No one would ever guess I used to run marathons... my stride was uneven, I couldn't get a rythym. I think Jessica must have put some time on me for the run because my legs would NOT move! I changed shoes and got back on the bike, knowing she would be right behind me. Since I hurt my wrist, my descending skills have gotten relatively bad. I knew that my timidity would cost me. I managed to hold her off despite the fact that on the small climbs, my bike was shifting by itself to harder gears. I could hear her shifting up the trail aways. With 3 miles to go, I was riding a loose climb when my bike seized up and I fell over. Thank goodness I was wearing my wrist brace. I kept trying to get started again, but the trail was too loose and steep, and my bike was in the wrong gear. I started running with it, but Jessica passed me. I chased her down the remainder of the switchbacked, narrow trail, but couldn't quite get there and she beat me by FIVE seconds in a 2:20 race! I didn't mind...we are friends and she earned it! Good job Jessica! :)
On another note, a very horrible creature was on my balcony this weekend. A huge moth was attached to the wall of my balcony. I looked outside and saw the beast. Immediately my knees went weak and my stomach started to turn. I closed the blinds so I wouldn't have to look at it. When Adam came over, I sent him out to scare it away since he is too nice and wouldn't kill the bastard. I ran through the apartment and out the front door in case the moth came inside. Adam told me he pet the thing b/c it was so hairy. He said it was all squishy, and when it flew away, the moth was a little startling. Moths do not flutter. They are kamikaze machines aimed at my head to send me running... and about 6 years ago a moth sent me running toward my parent's house, hitting my foot into the door, slicing a big whole and getting stitches. I know they have teeth just for me! AHHH
This weekend is the National in Brianhead. I'm still debating going, but will probably end up there. I need some results. wish me luck!
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