Mark Your Calendars! Vol X/2011

4/30

Palmetto Trail Race on USD Upstate's Campus

* 4 mile mountain bike race @ 9am

* 4 mile foot race @ 10am

 

4/30
Tour de Cashiers
Venue: Cashiers Village Green at the Cashiers Crossroads
Routes: Full and Metric Century

4/30

7th Annual Mountain Medly, Camp Green Cove at Lake Summit

10-mile race (Asheville Grand Prix), 5K race and 1-mile fun run/walk

For more information and registration, click here.

5/6
Spartanburg Regional Classic Criterium in Downtown Spartanburg
Races beginning at 3:30pm
New this year: Tailgating along the race course!

5/6

3rd Annual Swamp Rabbit 5K

6.30pm (rain or shine), Gateway Park in Travelers Rest SC

For more information and to register, click here.

5/7
Accept The Challenge
Venue: St. John's Lutheran Church Walhalla SC
Routes: 100, 61 and 32 miles

5/7

Bi-Lo Charity Ride starts at Bi-Lo (Howell and East North Street in Greenville)

The feature ride is 65 miles and 4900ft of climbing (great training for Mitchell). There will also be a 22, 35 and 50 mile ride.

For more information and registration, please click here.

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!

5/14
Myrtle Beach Mud Run
7am at the Marina Inn @ Grande Dunes
1st ever Mud Run (3.5 miles) and Kids Mini Mud Run
Indivuals, 2 Person Teams and 4 Person Teams

5/21
Cal U Hilton Head Triathlon
Race Format: 500m Ocean Swim / 20k  Bike / 5k Run

Start Time: 7am 

Race Location: Coligny Beach, Hilton Head Island

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

5/21
Krazy Cow 5K & Kowabunga Fun Run
Hertiage Park, Simpsonville SC
For more information and registration click here.
Enter promo code RETURNING_RUNNER when registering for $5 off.

 5/28
Wheel Ride For Food
All rides start (8:30am) and finish at Carrier Park in Asheville NC during the Mountain Sports Festival.
Metric Century/ Metric Half-Century and Full Century Road Ride to benefit Meals on Wheels of Asheville-Buncombe County.

5/28 and 5/30
USA Cycling National Championships, Professional Road and TT
All events are free to the public.
5/28 Individual Time Trial Championships CU-ICAR, 11:30am
5/30 Road Race Championships Downtown Greenville, 11:00am

5/29
Stars and Stripes Challenge
Gateway Park, Travelers Rest SC, Mass Start 7:30am
Fully supported ride options: 10, 30, 62 and 100 miles

6/4
Safe Harbor Cycle Tour, 8.30am in Iva SC
25 and 65 mile ride options. $40 if registered by May 15.

 6/5
Fletcher Flyer
Venue: Fletcher Community Park near Asheville NC
Routes: 100, 62, 50 and 30 miles

7/9 and 8/6
Hilton Head Island Beach Bum Triathlon
Start Time: 8am

Race Location: Coligny Beach, Hilton Head Island.

Race Format: 500m Ocean Swim / 6mi Beach Bike / 3mi Beach Run.

7/15-7/17
A Ride to Remember


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.

10/15
Bluffton SC Half Marathon and 5K

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

Greenville Track Club Paris Mountain Trail Run Series

5/28 - 11K
8/13 - 7K
11/5 - 15K


The Y Tri Series:


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:

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

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

GROUP RUNS organized by the Greenville Track Club

* Tempo Runs at Mauldin Middle School every Monday night at 6:30pm
* Track Workouts at Greenville High Track every Wednesday night at 6:00pm

GO RUN  Weekly Runs by STOIC RUNNERS sponsered by ON ON TRI
(tentative schedule)

When: Monday and Wednesdays at 5:30pm

Location: On On Tri

Pace: 9min - 15min mile

Distance: 3 - 4 miles

When: Wednesday 5:30am
location:  Starbucks on Main

Pace: moderate to fast intervals

When: Monday 6:00am
Location:  Starbucks on Augusta
Pace:  8:15 - 9:00 min miles
Distance:  5 - 6 miles

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.

Normally gets canceled, if rain is in the forecast.

Mitchell Dress Rehearsal

This post could have also been named:

* No blood, but a lot of sweat and some tears
* A big piece of humble pie

The day started pretty early, we met up at Coach Katie's house to load 14 people with 14 bikes into a van. Our SAG support for this ride was Paul from Black Bear Adventures and Keith from Keith's Triathlon Shop. They kept us safe and fed and hydrated on this adventure and were just AWESOME general!!!

12 bikes on top, 2 in the back... 14 people (incl our guides) with gear made for a tight squeeze.

Food and drink in the front.

The van drove us to our starting point at Green Creek, which is around 25 miles into the AOMM course. We bundled up some, because it was a little chilly at the start at 8am.

The first couple of miles flew by. I had some technical problems because I walked into red mud while taking a pit stop in the woods and filled up my cleats with mud. Well, that lesson I learned the hard way. Also, there were issues with my gearing, but Paul and Keith tinkered on the derailleur some and it was much better afterward.

We had rest stops every 20 miles more or less and having the support van following us along was great, because we were able to shed layers or add layers or change clothing, access to food that we brought along

This is one of our rest stops along the way. In general, the course is just pretty pretty pretty. Plenty to look at. While the big climbs are at the end, there are some good rollers to keep you honest along the way as well.

Around mile 55 for us (mile 80 on the official course), the real climbing begins. Actually all you do starting from then on is climbing until you are at the top of Mitchell. Spare me the details of the 1 mile downhill and 2 mile downhill stretches on the Parkway.... Those are just little teasers where you loose all the elevation that you climbed before and then you have to climb it all over again.

The stretch on Hwy 80 is around 10 miles and while the first couple of miles tick by fairly fast, once the real climbing start, things started to drag out quite some. There are markers on the road "3.5 miles to the Pkway", 3 miles to the Pkway" etc and it just took a real long time to get from one marker to the next.

Before turning on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I made another fuel and water stop at the support van.

While the climbing is just going on and on and on, the views are better than on Highway 80 for sure. On this stretch I really started to struggle mentally. I am not saying that my legs felt all to great anymore either, but mentally it was even worse. In theory of course I know that it's all climbing, but once you are on the Parkway and you climb and then turn a corner and the you climb some more and then make another turn and there is more mountain to climb and then turn another corner and it still goes up and up and up. In the meantime, the number on the Garmin is only moving very slowly.

Up and up we go.

Faking a half smile for the camera, this was also not very far in on the Parkway, so the spirits were not completely destroyed (yet).

It went downhill (mentally and physically) pretty fast on the Parkway for me. Once again, the number on the Garmin just didn't move and I got frustrated and tired and cranky and my feet started killing me, because I was mashing the pedals for the last 1 hour (or possible more)... I was moaning and groaning with each pedal stroke for a little while and just hoping that nobody was around to witness the sadness of it all.

Eventually, I turned another corner and while I was happy to see our support van, I also saw Mount Mitchell still towering over us. I knew there were around 5 miles left to the top and still over 1,000 feet of climbing left... I rolled into the overlook and started to have a good little cry.

At the Ridge Junction Overlook, I called it a day yesterday... I was just so over it at this point.

I think, I would have been physically able to complete the ride yesterday, but I wasn't mentally in it to pedal for another 40 to 60 minutes (not kidding, that was the pace I was doing at this point) to the top.

Some of our group went to the top, some didn't go up and one girl made a wrong turn on the Parkway and ended up with 100 miles for the day. We picked her up again on the Highway 80 turn off and when we got her, she was all smiles still... I admire such a spirit, I would have been a bawling heap on the side of the road for sure.

Overall, this was a great ride. It was a big piece of humble pie, but it was still a great ride and I am glad that I had a chance to ride most of the course and most of the climbing before d-day. Now I know what to expect... I am not saying it's going to be pretty, but come race day, I am going up that mountain all the way.

The icing on the cake of the day, was the amazing group of people I got to spent the day with.... Just a nice road trip with some cycling thrown in... Like 73 miles of cycling in 6h 20m (stops not timed) for me, others did it faster.... Good day... Hard day, but good day.

Pic Credit: Black Bear Adventures and Malone Coaching. Some of them are my own ones.

Cycling Tan Galore

This week is pretty busy, so posting is going to be short and simple.

And no, I wasn't driving and taking pictures at the same time... The picture was taken while sitting in the parking lot. And dangling to the right of my face is my little stuffed moose that I moved from car to car since at least ten years.... Yes, I am one of those people.

What may look like funny lightning is indeed a massive cycling tan that I brought upon myself a couple of weeks ago during the Marquis de Sade ride. As always at the beginning of the season, I have this mindset that suntan lotion is completely overrated with the result that I have one good sunburn per season. The redness has faded in the meantime, but now I sport a nice farmer's cyclist's tan. This is especially cute, when I wear tops with sleeves that are shorter than the sleeves of the jersey, that I wore during the ride.... And it was a jersey was fairly long sleeves.... Perfect.

Anywhoo.... This is what I am planning to do to remedy this situation:

;-)

Mark Your Calendars! Vol XI/2011

4/16
Ride On Group Rides @ 8am
Multiple groups from Greenville store, C pace no one left behind ride at the Anderson store.

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

4/16

10th Annual Safe Harbot Run, 9am at Fluor Field downtown Greenville

5K on new and improved race course and 2 mile Fun Run/Walk

4/17

Saluda Bakery Ride, Leave Tigerville Elementary School at 10am

Very scenic ride with a relaxed pace. Slow pace & no one left behind.

Beginners with enough fitness to handle 35 very hilly miles (2500 feet of climbing).

4/30

Palmetto Trail Race on USD Upstate's Campus

* 4 mile mountain bike race @ 9am

* 4 mile foot race @ 10am

Click here for registration.

4/30
Tour de Cashiers
Venue: Cashiers Village Green at the Cashiers Crossroads
Routes: Full and Metric Century

4/30

7th Annual Mountain Medly, Camp Green Cove at Lake Summit

10-mile race (Asheville Grand Prix), 5K race and 1-mile fun run/walk

For more information and registration, click here.

5/6
Spartanburg Regional Classic Criterium in Downtown Spartanburg
Races beginning at 3:30pm
New this year: Tailgating along the race course!

5/6

3rd Annual Swamp Rabbit 5K

6.30pm (rain or shine), Gateway Park in Travelers Rest SC

For more information and to register, click here.

5/7
Accept The Challenge
Venue: St. John's Lutheran Church Walhalla SC
Routes: 100, 61 and 32 miles

5/7

Bi-Lo Charity Ride starts at Bi-Lo (Howell and East North Street in Greenville)

The feature ride is 65 miles and 4900ft of climbing (great training for Mitchell). There will also be a 22, 35 and 50 mile ride.

For more information and registration, please click here.

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!

5/14
Myrtle Beach Mud Run
7am at the Marina Inn @ Grande Dunes
1st ever Mud Run (3.5 miles) and Kids Mini Mud Run
Indivuals, 2 Person Teams and 4 Person Teams

5/21
Cal U Hilton Head Triathlon
Race Format: 500m Ocean Swim / 20k  Bike / 5k Run

Start Time: 7am 

Race Location: Coligny Beach, Hilton Head Island

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

5/21
Krazy Cow 5K & Kowabunga Fun Run
Hertiage Park, Simpsonville SC
For more information and registration click here.
Enter promo code RETURNING_RUNNER when registering for $5 off.

 5/28
Wheel Ride For Food
All rides start (8:30am) and finish at Carrier Park in Asheville NC during the Mountain Sports Festival.
Metric Century/ Metric Half-Century and Full Century Road Ride to benefit Meals on Wheels of Asheville-Buncombe County.

6/4
Safe Harbor Cycle Tour, 8.30am in Iva SC
25 and 65 mile ride options. $40 if registered by May 15.

 6/5
Fletcher Flyer
Venue: Fletcher Community Park near Asheville NC
Routes: 100, 62, 50 and 30 miles

7/9 and 8/6
Hilton Head Island Beach Bum Triathlon
Start Time: 8am

Race Location: Coligny Beach, Hilton Head Island.

Race Format: 500m Ocean Swim / 6mi Beach Bike / 3mi Beach Run.

7/15-7/17
A Ride to Remember


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.

10/15
Bluffton SC Half Marathon and 5K

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

Greenville Track Club Paris Mountain Trail Run Series

5/28 - 11K
8/13 - 7K
11/5 - 15K


The Y Tri Series:


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

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

GROUP RUNS organized by the Greenville Track Club

* Tempo Runs at Mauldin Middle School every Monday night at 6:30pm
* Track Workouts at Greenville High Track every Wednesday night at 6:00pm

GO RUN  Weekly Runs by STOIC RUNNERS sponsered by ON ON TRI
(tentative schedule)

When: Monday and Wednesdays at 5:30pm

Location: On On Tri

Pace: 9min - 15min mile

Distance: 3 - 4 miles

When: Wednesday 5:30am
location:  Starbucks on Main

Pace: moderate to fast intervals

When: Monday 6:00am
Location:  Starbucks on Augusta
Pace:  8:15 - 9:00 min miles
Distance:  5 - 6 miles

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.

Normally gets canceled, if rain is in the forecast.

A Good Ol' Quad Pounding!

What do you do a day after a 65 mile bike ride with a couple of thousand feet of climbing? Get some more climbing in, but this time on foot... You know, to mix things up a little!

Because, I am really dreading running these days and the training plan allowed for trails, I picked out my favorite trails that just happen to be 10 minutes from the house to make the activity "running" more appealing to me.

And I took the doggy, because she has way too much energy and needed a good run to calm her down some... Besides, I feel more comfortable having a canine companion with me on these trails.

We got on the trails via the parking lot close to the Mountain Lake, then hit Sulphur, Fire Tower, Kanuga, North Lake, Pipsissewa and then Brissy Ridge to get to the top parking lot. I thought for a moment to go down on Sulphur again, but I was fading and the dog was fading, so we took the short cut and ran down the road instead of trails. The total was a little over six miles. Then we ran to the Mountain Lake one more time before getting in the car, so Karma could cool off some more.

At times, I was really worried that she is overheating, but then again, she dragged me along behind her a lot of the times as well.

I let her take a dip in every stream and lake that we came across, to make sure that I don't have a dog with heat stroke on my hands in the end.

Once again, I was wearing the leash belt, which makes such a difference running with her. She just pulls like crazy sometimes, especially in the beginning, and having her pull on my arms, just made running with her miserable for me. Now that she is pulling me on my waist, it is so much more comfortable... and easier... for me. ;-)

The downside with the leash belt: you better clip the leash out of the belt fast before Ms Karma launches into the water, just to make sure that you are not going to follow her into it.

And while her dragging me comes in pretty handy on the uphills, they turn into quite a quad pounding experience on the downhill... And I certainly feel that more today than the 65 miles from Saturday.

Our last water stop back at Mountain Lake. Good run... Still don't like runnning right now though.

Ride Report: 2011 Assault On The Carolinas

We turned a corner in Brevard NC and we saw a start line and tons and tons of cyclists. It was also my first ride ever that they had us to wear numbers. I thought this was a social ride, but it looked like a race... Hmmmm... Well, I guess, if you want it to be a race, it's going to be a race and if you are there for the social ride, it's going to be a social ride. With that being said, this was the best organized ride that I have done so far. From the start/finish line activities, to the course markers, the volunteers on the course and the volunteers on the water stops.... INCREDIBLE!!! And the course.... BEAUTIFUL!!!

The cyclists were led out of town by police and there were actually spectators... Spectators!!! Not only at the start/finish area, but also on the course. Actually, there was one little old lady in her front yard maybe two miles before the finish and she was encouraging us, that we just climb the very last hill.... And we were certainly back of the pack. It just seemed like the whole community is standing behind this event and we just felt very very welcomed.

The first couple of miles, the course was a little congested, because there were just sooooo many riders and all three courses (40, 60 and 100k) were still together. At around mile 10, we hit the first major climb. It was a juicy one. Sorry for the picture quality, I had the camera in my pocket and the lens fogged up.

We followed the French Broad River for a little while... Very pretty... Seriously, the whole course was just so pretty and vegetation seemed to change every couple of miles, so there was always something to look at.

A little forced smile here, but feeling good.

More scenery.

Booyah.... Crossing the Eastern Continental Divide on a bike... That was a first me!

From that sign on, I didn't take many pictures anymore.... But we had an awesome downhill stretch that was just so much fun. Not to steep and not too curvy, so we got a good speed going. At the third water station, we made our first stop. That was around mile 30 and we stayed maybe 10 minutes to get some food into us... Peanut butter and jelly all the way. I tried to get a good amount of calories into me, because I knew I had a round 10 miles for the food to settle before we had to start climbing Caesars Head.

Caesars Head: The challenge of the day. Last time I climbed CH, I felt like death, so I was kind of dreading it. On the other hand, I also knew what to expect this time around and knew that I had to pace myself better. And... I had a great climb. I felt good all the way and even chit chatted with people on the way. SWEET!

After Caesars Head, we just had 18 miles left and those were just the icing on the cake. Rolling downhills and some flats.... Just booking it to the finish.

 In the finish area, we parked our bike and had some post ride food and listen to the band for a little while before heading out again.

Another great training ride for Mitchell... Trucking along!