The World Was Moving and She Was Right There With it (And She Was)

Race report! Race report! Race report! It's my first race report of the year...And since I did two races this weekend, I'll have another one tomorrow.

As I said before, I was injured all Winter and finally just was able to run a full 10K about a week ago, so I knew I wasn't going to be in any kind of shape for this race on Saturday. I have had people ask me why I race when I have no chance of being in the mix. I didn't start racing until my late 40's, after my kids were grown, but I still ran almost every day for most of my adult life and I have commuted to work by bike since my first paper route in 1976 (I didn't even know how to drive or have a license until I was 31 years old), so motivation has never been an issue for me. I love to play outside. I think the many reasons I race when I know I won't be the least bit competitive, are too many to mention. I learn so much about myself both physically and mentally when I run. It takes me out of my comfort zone and keeps me from getting in quite such a rut. I have seen so many people age and never challenge themselves and just kind of give up on their lives, and I DEFINITELY don't want to do that. Also, I meet so many great people, who love to do the things I love to do and don't call me crazy because I like to run and ride my bike...They may call me crazy for several other reasons, though....

Anyway, every year I feel like I have to relearn how to race. John and I do so many kinds of races that I have to remember the logistics of each type of race. These early season races are great for that. I like to call them my "learning from mistakes races".

Boy howdy! Did I have a lot to relearn this weekend. We got out of the house late, because we were dealing with the grand puppy.and by the time we got to downtown Des Moines, there was a 500 mile long train in our way. Luckily, our friends were in the car behind us and knew Des Moines a lot better. They told us to turn around and go a couple more blocks and we'd miss the train. We finally got to the race in time to register, use the port-o-potties, but with no time to warm-up. As I've said many times, the older a person is, the more time that person needs to warm-up before a race. For whatever reason, this time around, I don't think missing the warm-up hurt me that much. Whew! I went into the Leprechaun Chase run thinking that my goal should be that I average 10 minute miles. I wasn't feeling strong at that distance and I didn't want to reinjure myself. After the first mile, I changed it to 9.5 minute miles (which was my goal last year too) and I ended up running it with an average of 9.26 minute miles. Much better than I had hoped, but still 2 and a half minutes slower than last year. I was 8th in my age group, and I was happy with my time and my result.

Right before the race started. So much green and so many cell phones...

The first mile didn't feel too bad and the second mile was okay. By the third mile I started doing this thing that I do a lot in races, I start thinking, "I should go faster...No. I should stop and walk for a minute." How dumb is that? Why don't I ever think during a race, "I'm going at a decent speed. I should just keep this up." Why is it faster or stop with me? Anyway, I ignored my inner demons and kept it up, even at the end when my quads were screaming and people in surrounding states could hear my loud, labored breathing. There was a woman ahead of me who looked like she could be in my age group. I thought, if I pass her, I'll be one point higher up in the standings, so I went a little faster, and passed her. Then I told myself I couldn't slow down or she'd pass me back. About 200 yards from the finish line, I saw John standing on the side and telling me I was almost there. I tried to pick it up even more, but I didn't have much left. The woman never passed me back, and I checked the result later and she was only in her 40's, but I'm sure it helped give me a little inspiration at the end, while I was dying.

I crossed the finish line and felt like I could just as easily pass-out and throw-up at the same time. I am almost always like that at the end of a race. I guess it means I went as hard as I could, but it also means I had to sit down as soon as possible. We found a spot on the grassy knoll, and I melted into the grass. We got a text right away telling us our times and places in the race. Technology can be pretty cool sometimes.

It was just starting to mist and we were cooling down enough that we needed to change into dryer and less stinky clothing and then headed to El Bait Shop for the after party. The Leprechaun chase is a race against the men and the women, where the women get a 5 minute lead, and the men have the advantage of more testosterone in their system and a completely different physiology. So, the women won this year. Yea! We all got a free beer, and I made sure to ask for a non-green beer.

It was raining during the after party, but I did get to see a friend of mine from bike racing and she said she did the race and she was having some knee issues, but at least she was out there doing it, and I told her she was amazing. Sometimes, it feels like "being out there, doing it" is half the battle.

We waited out in the rain long enough for John to do his podium for getting 3rd in his age group. He ran it about 30 seconds faster than he did last year, but dropped down from second to third. Like he says, it's all about who else shows up to the race.

We FINALLY got to go eat lunch. The Mexican place we normally go to was temporarily closed so we checked out the closest place we could find to get out of the rain. That place turned out to be Court Avenue Brewing Company, It had good pub grub and we each had another beer in addition to the free beer we split at the after race party.

We headed home to the grand puppy and to take long, hot baths and get ready for the next round of racing on Sunday.

And They Called it Puppy Love

So, I came home from work on Friday night and the grand puppy was here waiting for us. He is a very sweet boy...Until he sees his own reflection and then he has to establish dominance with himself.

I Know When to Go Out. And When to Stay In

I have soooo much going on this weekend. Today, Stinky is dropping off her new puppy so we can watch him while Stinky and her boyfriend go to Chicago to celebrate St Patrick's Day. From the sound of it, Stinky and her boyfriend have already spoiled the puppy so much, that all the spoiling we do to him, shouldn't have much of a negative effect...But we all know that I'm up for the challenge.

On Saturday we head to Des Moines and do the Leprechaun Chase 10K. I am in NOOOO place to actually race. I'm still just starting to be able to finish a 10K. So, I will putter along and have fun and if I come in last, I come in last. I will still love the spectacle of the thing and meeting other people who are having fun playing outside too.

On Saturday we have our first bike race of the year. It's a part road/part gravel race. Once again, I am ridiculously undertrained to do any kind of bike race. Also, I'm not going to really take road racing seriously this year. I will sign up for local races (because I love supporting bike races, even though I'm not particularly competitive in them) and stay a Cat 4. I am old, fat, and slow and it seems silly to try and race against the fastest girls in the state when I can't keep up with the slowest ones. There are a few women in their fifties still racing road in Iowa, but none of them are built like me. Most of the women I raced with who were my age when I started, have quit racing on the road. Basically, they catted up when they got strong enough and then a few years later, stopped racing because there was no master's women category and when they lost strength as they aged and they would have to cat down, they chose to opt out. Some of them still race mountain bikes or cyclocross and time trials, so that's good. Anyway, for me, I like to do local races, but trying to stay with a pack of the fastest women racers in the state is a losing battle.

So, on Sunday I will kit-up, hop on my bike and have as much fun as possible and hang out with great people. 

Take it All in on Your Stride

 I took my first full vacation day off since our trip to Madison. This vacation day was just for me. For staying home and relaxing, getting a few things done and then going on a nice, long run.

I started out the morning reading my book on the couch. A thunderstorm rolled in and I got very, very sleepy. I set my book down to rest my eyes and woke up and hour and a half later. Oops!

I was awakened by Archie growling and hissing out the front window. I got up to see what he was so upset about and then saw the Fed Ex guy. Archie hate, hate, hates the mail carrier, or anyone else who leaves stuff at our door, apparently. I like the Fed Ex guy, He brought me my new helmet. It should match my racing kit AND it will make me highly visible on the road.

I ate lunch and then finished reading my book on the porch, since it was so nice out.

Around 1:30, I went out for my run. I wanted to do my 8 mile route. I hadn't been able to run that far since my injury in January. Being an old runner who has been running for 40 years and has  messed-up feet and other permanent problems with my legs and feet, I give myself a LOT of leeway.

After the first mile, my calf started to feel really tight and my plantar fasciitis on my left foot was hurting. So, I stopped and walked for about a quarter of a mile, until the pain went away, and then I was fine...For a while, anyway.

I ran through the cemetery, which I love. and felt pretty strong through most of run...Until the last couple of miles. I also have this thing called metatarsalgia - which is a burning feeling on the pads of my feet just below my toes. I started feeling that pain in my late 30's and it's gotten worse the older I get. John gets me these pads that help alleviate it a little, but if I run over 6 miles, it really can feel like I am running on glass. I made it the full 8 miles, but then had to sit for a minute for the worst of the pain to go away. I have some inserts I can try and use again and I hope those help.

I took a long, hot bath when I got home, ran a bunch of errands, made breakfast for dinner and then headed to Red's for a board meeting for my bike racing team. It was a full, lovely day. 72 degrees at the beginning of March.

I came back to work on Wednesday all refreshed and much happier. 

So Welcome the Wind and the Wisdom She Offers

Now I Want to be Your Dog. Well C'mon.

Check it out! On Friday we got to meet Stinky's new miniature dachchund puppy. His name is Jax and he is just about as sweet as a puppy can be.

He is only a few pounds and when he first came over he was exhausted from just being brought over from his original  home. So, Archie could smell him and he sniffed and sniffed, and couldn't see him.

Then the puppy woke-up, started making noises, moving around and Archie spotted him.

Both he and Heidi thought it was total bullsh*t that we brought that adorable attention getting thing into the house and kept their distance, but watched closely to make sure it wasn't going to attack them or anything...

All the humans in the house thought he was just fine.

It was sad to see him trapped in his cage and ready for transport, but we comforted ourselves with the knowledge that we get to babysit him next weekend when Stinky and her boyfriend got to Chicago to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Oh, the other thing we did on Friday night was watch "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" and it was one of the best high school movies I've seen in a long time..

Inch by Inch, Row by Row, Gonna Make This Garden Grow

Check it out! It's getting close to thinking about gardening already. Yea! I used to plant seeds and make seedlings in my house, until they were ready to plant in the garden in May, but then I got a fat, orange, cat and I was afraid he would murder the seedlings before I could plant them. I'm hoping he's old enough now, and John is sweet enough to install another glass shelf on our South facing window in the spare bedroom, so we'll see how it goes...
 

I'm a little worried I'll have to watch Archie pretty closely. You can see what he did to Nemo after he found him... Bad cat.

It's Time to Start the Show. So Kids Let's Go!

This bike path is on one of my running routes and after work, it heads me straight in the line of the sunset, to my house.

Say, kids! What time is it? It's monthly stats time. It's monthly stats time... February was an interesting month. I was able to ride 4 of my 6 bikes last week. When does that ever happen in February? I was injured for running, but still trying to limp along. It was really cold, and then it was pretty warm, and then it was really cold, then it was unseasonably warm...And we went away for the weekend, just to finally get some cross-country skiing done. So, here's how it looked:

Indoor bike trainer work-outs - 4 times for a total of 3.4 hours.

Outdoor biking - 189 miles.

Running - the first couple of weeks, I was only able to run a few miles, but I'm trying to build up, so I was able to just hit 40 miles (I used to do that in a week for most of my adult life before I started racing bikes 4 or 5 years ago).

Lap Swimming - 4 miles

Cross-Country Skiing. TEN WHOLE MILES. FINALLY!

Fun Trips Taken - 1 and it was cold but ever so much fun.

Books Read - 7. "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" - George Saunders, "The Painted Drum" - Louise Erdrich, "Night" - Elie Wiesel, "God Help the Child" - Toni Morrison, "The Sound of Things Falling" - Juan Gabriel Vasquez, "The Blazing World" - Siri Hustvedt, "The Unknown World" - Edward P. Jones

Paintings or Drawings - None.

House Projects - None. We did get some good cleaning done. Then we thought we might try to install a metal ceiling in the kitchen, and checked it out and nixed the idea when we figured it out that it would cost $1200. Oops! I'm sure we'll feel like working on the house now that it's getting warmer and racing season is upon us...

How was your February? Did you go on any fun trips? Were you better about doing your house projects than we were? That sure wouldn't be hard...

She's Tripping Down the Streets of the City. Smiling at Everybody She Sees

Oh, Iowa. Sure, it's supposed to maybe snow tomorrow, but on Saturday, it was up into the 60's. So, we took so much advantage of the weather to play outside.

We met our friends at the Deadwood and headed to Riverside. The wind was pretty strong going South and West. We had a lovely ride there, ate lunch at Murphy's and then headed back.

We had a tailwind for most of the ride back and boy was that lovely.

Since John and I both ran in the morning, we were sufficiently tired and ready for bed at an embarrassingly early, old people time.

Sunday morning was very pleasant. John and I both settled into the couch, where I drank tea, he drank coffee, I read my book and John watched one of the European classic races, pointing out to me the critical strategies going on with certain riders.

It was a great way to spend the morning, but it was too nice outside to stay on the couch all that very long. John and I got up and went on our respective running routes. Then I came home and made a nice tofu veggie stir-fry over brown rice.

 We stayed in after lunch for a bit, so we could get some things done around the house. I cleaned up my table that somehow attracts every piece of paper in the world and a huge, unruly pile seems to amass beyond my control. So, I cleaned up that mess and got all my tax stuff together. FINALLY.

By the time we were considering riding, the temperature was dropping steadily and the wind was gusting out of the Northwest.
 

We didn't figure we could ride road bikes very easily, and all the trails in our area were too wet to ride our mountain bikes on, so John suggested we do a townie mountain bike ride.

He led and I followed and we rode on the park across the street from us and went to the high school after that and rode on this dirt path by the tennis courts and then on the grass that encircles the track.

We found this cool place that just has a big water tank (?) on it and it's next to Hickory Hill Park, so it was fun and rolly and we scared up some deer and then headed to Seven Sister's Road.

In the 80's when Scott Blvd was still a gravel road that washed out whenever it rained, I used to run Seven Sister's Road and at that time, it eventually connected to Dodge Street. Seven Sister's Road is crazy hilly and now they made a new road close to it, so there is a big gate that is usually closed to the part that used to meet Dodge Street.

For some reason, that gate was open yesterday,  We were able to ride down the C road and then I saw the back of the billboards. I went over to see what they looked like from the front and that is what I saw. I had no idea they would be so digitized. I asked John why they had a billboard of an extremely concerned Will Ferrell. but he said he thought this guy was part of a news team. I guess that's what I get for not watching regular TV ever...

We rode home from there and it was so windy, it felt like my helmet was going to blow off my head.

So, we might get some snow this week. The good thing is that it's March now and things should be warming up in the next couple of weeks.

Jus' Do Something Random

 Today's post will be all about the random. I plan on  just jumping from one thought to another, and you can all just try and follow along...Or not.

I got new running shoes yesterday. Out of the blue, John bought me that black pair of extra support Altra trail running shoes about a month ago. They are awesome, but they are a little heavy and they are zero drop, which seems to make my calves very tight. So, I bought the blue pair of Saucony's. They are lighter, and will be better for running races and have an 8% drop. I'm hoping having two pairs of running shoes that are both a little different, and alternating wearing them for different types of running will help my messed-up feet and beleaguered, old, body. It's the first time in my life I've had the luxury of switching-out two new pairs of shoes when I run. Lucky me!

Two years ago today, we rode up Mt Lemmon in Tucson. As we rode up it, we hit at least 3 different ecosystems and saw so many other riders. I would love to do it again. One of these days...
 

 Last night, my brother, sister-in-law and her mom came down from Madison to watch the Hawkeyes play basketball against the Badgers. We all met and had dinner at Augusta, a Cajun fusion restaurant that just moved from a smaller town, into Iowa City. The food was still amazing and we got to have fun family time with John and both my girls.

 We headed over to Brew Lab to kill some time before my brother and his family headed to the game and John took this photo of me and the girls...

As you can see, Coadster was REALLY comfortable with me hanging on her like that...Or not...And that's why it was hilarious to do.

I just finished reading "The Blazing World" and am currently reading "The Unknown World". Maybe I should read "The War of the Worlds" next and see who would win between the sexist art snobs of the first novel and the African American slave owners of the second book. Hmmmm.

On Saturday morning when I was running and it was so nice out, and I was slogging down the bike path and saw all these wonderful, happy, families riding bikes and I passed one skinny, white, 10 year old looking boy and I waved to  him as I passed and he gave me the black power fist in return and I laughed almost the whole rest of my way home.

Since we're not really going on a vacation outside of Iowa (except possibly a Christmas time trip to Washington DC), I have some extra vacation days to play with. Starting next month, I get to take a whole day, a half day and 3 hours of a day of vacation a month all the way through July. I can't wait for more time to ride and run this year.

Okay. That's just about all the random I can fit into one post...

Let's Cure it 'Cuz We're Running Out of Time

Oh, man. These warm weekends are the best. On Friday night it was warm enough to sit on the porch with the cats for the first time since November. The cats love it when we're out there. They can lie on us and, if it's Archie, make us lose all feeling in our legs while they look at birds and bunnies and squirrels.

On Saturday it was in the upper 50's...In February. Really. I ran a 3.5 mile route and it didn't hurt my hips too badly. Then we ate lunch and met our friends for a bike ride to Solon. It was incredible. The birds were singing and every motorist who passed us waved and smiled at us. So great!

We made it to the brew pub and ate good food and drank good beer and just as we were getting ready to ride back, Bell Biv Devoe's song, "Poison" came on and we had to dance around the fire like pagan fools.
 

Don't worry. Archie loves dance parties too. I think he may finally have received enough attention.

We decided to keep the dance party going and had everyone meet back at our house. It was a lot of fun and everyone gave us a hard time that we were up WAY past our bedtime. That's right. We stayed up until 11 pm on a Saturday night. Scandalous!

It also gave our friends a longer opportunity to harass John. He isn't all that into dancing in general, so the boys smother him with all of their wild dance moves.

Sunday was a nice, mellow day for me. I spent some time cleaning the hell out of my living room and reading the end of a book. Then, John and I went to the rec services building for a lap swim. I was a little slow on the draw that day, but the nice thing about swimming is that it is basically no impact, so I can just go slowly and work on my form...Which could take decades.

Anyway, it does seem like the weather is breaking and we're moving toward a better season for me and most Iowans I see, seem to be much happier than they were a week ago. Now, if only my back/hip issues would rectify themselves, I'd be all set....

I got to, Got to, Gotta Take it Slow.

We got our BOB trailer and John put it together. Archie seems to like it. If he weren't such an A-hole who puked and pooped every time he rode in the car, we might think about taking him for a ride in it...

So, I started this thing where I try to clean the hell out of one room of our house every day. We still tidy other rooms, but I'm talking about doing more deep cleaning. Since we have a small house - 7 rooms altogether and 1 of those rooms I don't touch on account of Coadster staying there and I respect her privacy and also she's an adult and can clean her own mess. Ahem. Anyway, that leaves me 6 rooms and we only have one bathroom, which sucks for 3 people who need to get ready at the same time, but sure is nice during cleaning time. How much time do people spend cleaning when they own a McMansion and have 3 or more bathrooms. Ugh! I pity the fools....

Since I implemented this plan on Thursday, I have come closer to cleaning the hell out of one room every other day. Okay, so it's not perfect, but it's better than I was doing. I still have 4 more rooms to clean this week. Wish me luck!

Reckless and Wild, They Pour Through the Turns

Okay. I know I said I was going to post about the race a couple of days ago, but apparently, I lamed-out and didn't get to it until today. I still haven't figured out how to load the video John took of the start, but I will try to make that happen this weekend.

So, we walked around State Street before the race. Usually when we go to Madison, we are either hanging out around my brother's house or going to races around the area and don't get to see much of the downtown area.The last time I spent much time on State Street was about 20 years ago. It has changed a lot since then. It used to be all hippie type clothing stores and head shops. Now, it's a mix of all kinds of things. I'm glad about that. We saw Slayer was playing and we thought it might be perfect to hear them right after a fat bike crit, but it turns out that they weren't playing until March. We had to miss the RAWK!

 So, remember how I said they encouraged costumes? Well, Burne had his idea all set. He decided to be a scarecrow, which was brilliant since it was so damn cold out and it gave him the perfect excuse to wear Carhartts and stuff his clothes with nice, warm straw.

 We got ready at the parking ramp at our hotel. I'm sure the other guests saw the straw all over the ground and wondered why someone felt the need to bed down their car for the night...

This was the first time I met the Easter Bunny. Later, at the bar, I got to talk to her a little and she was just as adorable as her costume.

Marvin the Martian was also an excellent costume. Although, he doesn't seem to be all that very aero.

John helped Burne with his costume before the race. I'm not sure what he's doing here, but he might be knocking the stuffing INTO him.

They decided to do a Le Mans start. Which means people stage their bikes and then walk to a designated area. When they blow the whistle, they all run to their bikes and then hop on them and ride. I didn't hear them from where I was standing, but Burne said all of the racers were yelling and whooping and making tons of noise when they started running.

Our friend Rob didn't wear a costume, but he did pretty well in the race. By the way we gauged it, we figure he was somewhere in the top 10. They said they placed the first three men and women, but after that, everyone else was 4th.

They called this the World Championship snowy, nighttime, fat bike crit...Which, of course, just means it's the ONLY snowy, night time, fat bike crit. We kept telling Burne that no matter how he did, he would be 4th place in the World Championships.

Burne did great. He got right out there and was having a blast around the first couple of laps, when his back tire went flat. Damn it!

John saw it and went to meet him at the start of the race. He asked everyone around if they had a pump and helped Burne pump up his tire. Burne got around another lap and a half before his tire went flat again and since he didn't want to mess-up the rim of his beautiful, new bike, he had to give up the ghost and DNF (did not finish).

After we all met back at the bar, we asked Burne if he had fun on what he was able to ride of the race. He said it was a blast. So, according to how I look at racing, where the person who has the most fun, wins, Burne was actually the snowy, night time, fat bike world champion. RAWK!