Mark Your Calendars! Vol V/2011

3/19
Ride for Haiti starts at 9am in Greer
25, 38 and metric century routes are available. After the ride, lunch is being served from 12-2pm.
For registration and details, click here.

3/19
Saturday Recurring Ride @ Ride On (Woodruff Road) 8am
This week they will have a special presentation from the Spinners race team called Racing 101. Meet for a forum on getting started in racing at 8am and after that a group ride focusing not on speed but pack skills and comfort. This is beginner oriented in that it's designed for someone who has never raced.

3/25
Moonlight & Magnolias 5K Run/Walk
in Greer, 1020 Anderson Ridge Road (CESA's MESA Complex)
Click here to register and for more information.

3/28
Amby Burfoot will present in the Furman University Center's Burgiss Theatre at 7:30 p.m.

4/2
Riding with Ronald
Where: Tigerville Elementary School, ready to roll at 9am
Ride options include 100k, 50k and a 10k family ride
For more information and registration, please click here.

4/3
The Great Escape presents: The TREK Factory Demo Tour
Location: Paris Mountain State Park, Time: 10am - 3pm

4/7
FREE Bike Maintenance Clinic hosted by GHS EveryWoman Cycling Team & Carolina Triathlon
Where: Carolina Triathlon in downtown Greenville from 6.30pm to 8pm

4/9
12th Annual Assault on the Carolinas - Brevard, NC
Ready to roll at 9 a.m. and features three ride options (100k, 60k and 40k).
Register here. (Prices go up on April 1st)

4/9
GO DRIVE RUN 5K and Kid's Run
Every runner and walker will receive entry to the net-downhill twilight 5K, a great shirt, a ticket to the Drive game, FREE food, and beverages at the after-race party sponsered by ULTRA.
For more information, click here.

4/10
Kids Triathlon Clinic @ the Middle Tyger YMCA in Duncan SC from 3:00pm to 4:30pm.

Triathlon Coach Katie Malone will conduct a clinic for children who are interested in participating in a youth triathlon. Swim, Bike and Run the course for the 2011 Healthy Kids Day Triathlon at the Middle Tyger YMCA (see below).

Cost = $3 members, $5 non-members, Register at the front desk at the Middle Tyger YMCA

4/16
HEALTHY KIDS DAY Triathlon @ the Middle Tyger YMCA in Duncan SC 9:00-10:00am

There will be a limit of 25 participants per category so please register early!  Race day check-in will be held from 8:00-9:00 for all participants.  Helmets and bicycles will be inspected.

3-5 years of age  (Swim = 25 yds, Bike and Run = Fun Course) @ 9:30 am  

6-8 years of age  (Swim = 50 yds, Bike = 1 mi, Run = .5 mi)  @ 9:15 am  

9-12 years of age  (Swim = 100 yds, Bike = 2 mi, Run = 1.0 mi)  @ 9:00 am

Registration Fees: $12 (members) and $24 (non-members), late fee after 4/15

5/14
5K Run 4 Dyslexia @ Furman
Camperdown Academy is hosting its 3rd Annual 5K4D - A "Run for Dyslexia”. Enjoy a scenic run on a certified course or slow down the pace and walk Furman University's beautiful campus in our 1 Mile Family Friendly Walk. This is an event the whole family will enjoy!

5/21
Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride
in Charlotte NC @ 9am
15, 25 and 50 mile routes available
Click here to register.

6/4 (tentative date)
4th Annual 100 Miles of Nowhere organized by the FatCyclist

9/10
Setting the Pace at Whitten Center 10K and 5K Run/Walk at 8:30 a.m.
Clinton, SC
Entry $25 before August 26th. Late entry is $30.

********************

The Green Screen Film Series
A collaborative documentary series with a focus on environmental issues and healthy lifestyles.
Wednesdays @ 7PM
Feb 2nd to Mar 23rd - Admission is Free
Location: The Showroom (Gallery & Performance Hall) in Downtown Spartanburg
For more information about the films shown each week, please click here.


The Y Tri Series:

04/10 – Rock Hill, SC
05/07 – Rock Hill, SC
06/18 – Ft Mill, SC
07/16 – Columbia, SC
07/31 –Blacksburg, SC
08/27 – Toccoa, GA
09/10 – Surf City Beach, NC
09/17 – Hartsville, SC
For more information (pricing, distances, if duathlon event is available etc) check the website.

Other YMCA Tri/Du Events:

4/16 Greenwood YMCA
6/4 Middle Tyger YMCA
8/ 6 Union County YMCA
8/ 13 Laurens Family YMCA
9/ 24 Tri the Ridge Pickens County YMCA


2011 XTERRA South Carolina Trail Run Series

7/10 Harbison Half Marathon (Columbia)
8/? Table Rock 15K

********************

ON THURSDAYS

"Girl's Morning Out" at Carolina Triathlon in downtown Greenville. Gather at 8:45am to pedal promptly at 9am. This is a 30-mile "C" ride hosted every Thursday by GHS EveryWoman Cycling Team and Carolina Triathlon. Road bikes and helmets are required. Everyone is welcome and nobody is left behind.

You know it's getting warm....

.... when the dog is too tired to yank off your arm, when going for a walk. And on top of it, she even let me stop every now and then to snap a picture or two:

I didn't get out for my run until 5pm, but that turned out to be pretty good timing, because some clouds came rolling in and it certainly felt much better, without the sun burning down.

The run was so so... I certainly felt the distance from yesterday in my legs. But it's all about getting it done.

Paris III/2011 and Caesar's Head

Sooooooo.... Yesterday, I did my longest ride yet.... A little over 70 miles.... And a couple of thousand feet of climbing.

I started things off with a ride up Paris Mountain. All the way up to the antennas. Up there I snapped a couple of pictures and then zoomed down the mountain again, to meet up my training partner for Mitchell at Furman. This was the 3rd climb up Paris this year, but now that it's finally daylight savings time, I am hoping to get that climb in during the week sometimes as well.

The second portion of the ride was with my training partner and we had our eyes set on an out and back from Furman up Caesar's Head. Most of the ride was on roads that I have never cycled on before and that's always fun and makes time pass so fast, because there is always something to discover... Like this, for example:

That's an old church (I assume) flooded in a lake.

The climb up Caesar's Head is six miles. The first 3 miles were decent, mile 4 was a little of a flat and gave you a little breather and the last two miles, I felt like I have to hurl any second. It made me question doing Mitchell... Quite a lot. When I got to the Caesar's Head State Parking Lot, I sat down in the shade for a little while before refilling my bottles. And then I got me a coke and a bag of Cheetos... After having SportsBeans and GU Chomps for the ride so far, I just needed something salty. My stomach was seriously peed off at me when I got up there, but the coke and chips really worked like a charm. The climb took me around 55 minutes and it took us 17 minutes to get back down... I am such a chicken on downhills, but it seems like I am also getting better at that.

The way back to Furman was uneventful, the miles just ticked away like nothing and when it was all said and done and I was back home, I felt like I could have a gone a while longer. I definitely think, that my nutrition helped a lot with how I felt this time around. I had more calories for breakfast and ate constantly during the first half. If anything, I might ate a little too much before the Caesar's Head climb... Therefore the upset stomach stuff. But, I think I am on the right way with this eating while on the bike, so I have enough juice in the end.

*********************

This morning, we spend several hours cleaning the house, so when we were finally done, Terry headed out for a ride and I got myself a little frozen yogurt treat. When I was done, I gave the itsy bitsy leftovers to the dog.... That kept her entertained for over 10 minutes! ;-)

Now some time for yoga!

I Need An Intervention

Yes... For my chocolate habit as well.... It was either this or heading out for frozen yogurt. That candy box was in the pantry and I am lazy, so here we go.

No, I need an intervention for my active wear habit:

And this is not even all of it. Oh my.

With getting an air conditioning this week (yes, we lived in SC w/o an air conditioning, but now we also officially arrived in the modern world ;-), there was a lot of chaos going on. Several of the closets had to be emptied in the process and I took this as an opportunity, to organize the stuff before putting it back in.

Well, now that it's more organized in the closet as well, I probably have a chance of actually finding stuff in the future. We'll see how long the organized state remains and when chaos is going to take over again.

Time to hit the hay... Tomorrow, I'll have a big ride on tap.

Mark Your Calendars! Vol IV/2011

3/12 and 3/13:
RUN FOR CHRISTCHURCH, Virtual Worldwide 5K
To participate:
• Make a donation of as little as $5 at the fundraising page.
• Follow them on twitter.
• On the 12th or 13th of March, pop your red and black on, and run!

3/12
BIKE DEMO DAY @ On On Tri from 11am to 4pm

Your chance to ride that bike you've had your eyes on- and get the best deal of the year. They'll have road bikes, triathlon bikes, and city bikes available by Cervelo, Felt, and Scott - ready for you to ride. They'll supply the helmet - you bring your shorts and shoes and be ready to ride.

3/12
Group Run @ On On Tri at 7am
45 to 60 minutes of steady pacing around the park and the city.

3/12
Zebras Do Exist Charity 5K Run/Walk
Where: Dorman High School
For more information and registration click here.

3/12
Peacock Strides for Babies 5K Run/Walk and 1 mile Family Fun Walk
in Mauldin SC
Race benefits CJ Foundation for SIDS in memory of Emily Ware
Click here to register and for more information.

3/14
Rachel Toor will present at Furman University Physical Activities Center at 7 p.m.

3/25
Moonlight & Magnolias 5K Run/Walk
in Greer, 1020 Anderson Ridge Road (CESA's MESA Complex)
Click here to register and for more information.

3/28
Amby Burfoot will present in the Furman University Center's Burgiss Theatre at 7:30 p.m.

4/2
Riding with Ronald
Where: Tigerville Elementary School, ready to roll at 9am
Ride options include 100k, 50k and a 10k family ride
For more information and registration, please click here.

4/7
FREE Bike Maintenance Clinic hosted by GHS EveryWoman Cycling Team & Carolina Triathlon
Where: Carolina Triathlon in downtown Greenville from 6.30pm to 8pm

4/9
12th Annual Assault on the Carolinas - Brevard, NC
Ready to roll at 9 a.m. and features three ride options (100k, 60k and 40k).
Register here. (Prices go up on April 1st)

4/9
GO DRIVE RUN 5K and Kid's Run
Every runner and walker will receive entry to the net-downhill twilight 5K, a great shirt, a ticket to the Drive game, FREE food, and beverages at the after-race party sponsered by ULTRA.
For more information, click here.

4/10
Kids Triathlon Clinic @ the Middle Tyger YMCA in Duncan SC from 3:00pm to 4:30pm.

Triathlon Coach Katie Malone will conduct a clinic for children who are interested in participating in a youth triathlon. Swim, Bike and Run the course for the 2011 Healthy Kids Day Triathlon at the Middle Tyger YMCA (see below).

Cost = $3 members, $5 non-members, Register at the front desk at the Middle Tyger YMCA

4/16
HEALTHY KIDS DAY Triathlon @ the Middle Tyger YMCA in Duncan SC 9:00-10:00am

There will be a limit of 25 participants per category so please register early!  Race day check-in will be held from 8:00-9:00 for all participants.  Helmets and bicycles will be inspected.

3-5 years of age  (Swim = 25 yds, Bike and Run = Fun Course) @ 9:30 am  

6-8 years of age  (Swim = 50 yds, Bike = 1 mi, Run = .5 mi)  @ 9:15 am  

9-12 years of age  (Swim = 100 yds, Bike = 2 mi, Run = 1.0 mi)  @ 9:00 am

Registration Fees: $12 (members) and $24 (non-members), late fee after 4/15

5/21
Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride
in Charlotte NC @ 9am
15, 25 and 50 mile routes available
Click here to register.

6/4 (tentative date)
4th Annual 100 Miles of Nowhere organized by the FatCyclist

9/10
Setting the Pace at Whitten Center 10K and 5K Run/Walk at 8:30 a.m.
Clinton, SC
Entry $25 before August 26th. Late entry is $30.

********************

The Green Screen Film Series
A collaborative documentary series with a focus on environmental issues and healthy lifestyles.
Wednesdays @ 7PM
Feb 2nd to Mar 23rd - Admission is Free
Location: The Showroom (Gallery & Performance Hall) in Downtown Spartanburg
For more information about the films shown each week, please click here.


The Y Tri Series:

04/10 – Rock Hill, SC
05/07 – Rock Hill, SC
06/18 – Ft Mill, SC
07/16 – Columbia, SC
07/31 –Blacksburg, SC
08/27 – Toccoa, GA
09/10 – Surf City Beach, NC
09/17 – Hartsville, SC
For more information (pricing, distances, if duathlon event is available etc) check the website.

Other YMCA Tri/Du Events:

4/16 Greenwood YMCA
6/4 Middle Tyger YMCA
8/ 6 Union County YMCA
8/ 13 Laurens Family YMCA
9/ 24 Tri the Ridge Pickens County YMCA


2011 XTERRA South Carolina Trail Run Series

3/12 Doug Harris Memorial 10K/5K (Clemson Issaqueena Forest)
7/10 Harbison Half Marathon (Columbia)
8/? Table Rock 15K

********************

ON THURSDAYS

"Girl's Morning Out" at Carolina Triathlon in downtown Greenville. Gather at 8:45am to pedal promptly at 9am. This is a 30-mile "C" ride hosted every Thursday by GHS EveryWoman Cycling Team and Carolina Triathlon. Road bikes and helmets are required. Everyone is welcome and nobody is left behind.

How In The World....

1. ... is the cheapest flight to Germany in July or September over 1,400 USD?? And that is with TWO stopovers!
2. ... did I not notice it when I hurt my wrist over a week ago? And why is that stupid thing not getting better faster?

3. ... do I expect to magically get down to my "I am a lean mean cycling machine" weight, if I keep doing this ^^^^?
4. ... is the house still looking like a construction site? Even though they were supposed to be done with the air conditioning installation last Friday.... Monday the latest! PAH!!!

5. ... do people train for Ironmans, when I look like this ^^^ on my current training plan for Mitchell?
6. ... did Charlie Sheen get so crazy? Oh I know that.... I read a joke this morning on Twitter: "How much coke does Sheen do? Enough to kill 2.5 men!" This seriously made my morning... I was on my way to the track at 5am... It's the little things that keep you going! ;-)

While I am still wondering, I hope you are having a FANTASTIC hump day.

Over and out.

That's a Wash!

It's Monday and sunny outside... You need me to say this again... It's MONDAY and it's SUNNY outside... While over the weekend (the time when a lot of people don't have to go to work) it poured down buckets... BUCKETS!!!!!

Let's rewind....

***********************

So there was Saturday... The rain dance sure worked... Just the stopping of the rain dance was a complete desaster and very unsuccessful.

I was determined to ride these 70 miles, that were on plan for that day. D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.E.D! I bullied Terry into joining me for this ride, because... Well, just because. We packed up the car while it drizzled off and on. When we finally left the house at around 9am it started pouring down. We drove for 10 minutes in the pouring rain and then decided that this whole trip was pretty pointless. So we stopped at BiLo for some grocery shopping and then turned around and headed back home.

After being lazy for a couple of hours, I finally got on the trainer... 4.5 hours on the trainer are just not appealing, but I had way too many snacks... I was eventually carb-ed up (read: guilted) enough to muster up the courage to get on the trainer.

The 1st  hour was a warm-up and with the "Fashion Police" on, the time actually passed pretty fast. The next hour was intervals and the StyleNetwork which also passed really fast, but not because of the TV show, but because of those nasty little interval buggers. Then 30 minutes easy spinning, followed by 20 minutes of more intervals, 20 minutes of spinning and then the last 20 minutes of intervals.... By the end of all that, my quads were yelling at me... Begging for mercy! But if you kept tally, then you will notice, that I was still missing one hour.... With yelling quads, a hurting butt and a sore spot on my right foot, I was so ready to call it a day.... And there were still 60 minutes left to kill. If it wasn't for a documentary about the XTERRA Off-Road Tri World Championships, I don't think I would have made it. I was going back and forth in my head to quit or not to quit.... And et voila:

Sorry for the upside down thing... I tried to fix it... Really!

For the evening, I had grand plans of cooking, but between yelling quads, hurting butt and a throbbing foot (really, I do this by choice... nobody makes me do this!)... the only thing I was able to say: "Can we go to the Mexican place? It's going to take me 5 minutes to grab a shower!"

So we went to eat Mexican... At 5pm on a Saturday... I so wanted to have the early bird senior special! After that, the grand evening plans continued with passing out on the couch - early!

***********************

Before passing out, I checked the weather forecast for Sunday every five minutes. According to that, I should have been golden for a 1pm ride with a friend. By the time I got up the next morning, the dry conditions were not supposed to come in before 3pm. I spent the next couple of hours being grumpy and irritable and kept on muttering: "I don't want to go on the trainer again.... I really don't want to go on the trainer again!"

After we got back from church, Terry said to get on the trainer soon, since the sooner I get on there, the sooner I'll be done with it. But I wasn't done with being grumpy yet and had lunch snacks. And then I realized the grand cooking plans (at least the prep work for it) from the night before. While I was standing in the kitchen being grumpy and getting grumpier by the minute, something magical happened: It stopped raining and the sun came out!

I think we broke a new record with getting ready and out of the house.

At 3pm we were ready to roll at the intersection Hwy 25 and Hwy 414. The plan was to ride out for 20 miles towards Table Rock and ride back. 10 miles of the way out would be a time trial for me. It was beautiful and sunny out there, but the wind was pretty wicked at times. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.

The time trial was going fairly well. I was hoping for a flatter route at that point, but once we were past Pumpkintown, things became rolling... Still, in the end, this was a good effort for me.

On the way back we took it easy for the most part. The last 5 miles or so, sucked all the life out of me though. The wind was getting worse and worse and while I struggled to ride up a hill and was just able to produce a 9 point something speed, I started yelling at the wind to just shut up!!! Not one of my proudest moments. Eventually, we made it back to the car and once my feet defrosted I was one happy camper, that we were able to be outside at all that weekend. ;-)

Let's keep our fingers crossed, that next weekend, the planned 70 miles will happen on the road outside!