Overload?

Well look at me, actually with the group. That was the most energy I had all race, it was a backwards slide for me after that. I've been doing two races a weekend for a few weekends now. Usually I feel pretty good during B flight and pretty good for about the first 2 laps of A flight. Then I bonk hard and suffer through the rest of the race. This week though I felt sluggish and miserable for all of B flight. My HR was flat and so were my legs. I'm sure it is my body's way of telling me to recover.



If it looks like I'm going in slow motion it is because I was! I swear my legs and bike were full of lead.



Oh well, it was still beautiful. As you can see from this picture, Wheeler is always amazing and even in slow motion I couldn't help but be glad to be out there in such a pretty venue.

Last week was a bit insane. Tuesday I went up to Logan to watch the Aggies basketball game with an old high school friend. It was fun but it was also the beginning of my slide into sleep deprivation and overload. Wednesday night I taught my usual two classes at the gym but my paranoia about gaining back the 12 lbs I've lost over Thanksgiving made me work extra hard. Thursday morning I was back at the gym for another two hours maintaining just below lactate.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious! Mom is awesome and did a wonderful job as usual. Thankfully though she did forget to let the rolls rise soon enough and they ended up being hockey pucks that the kids enjoyed throwing over the fence. I say thankfully because they are my weakness and without them I was able to not go too overboard on the calories.

Thursday evening my sisters and I browsed through the Black Friday ads to plan our attack. My anal little sister, who is also pregnant, made me call Walmart twice to ensure that we could get in the store before 5 am even though they are open 24 hours. I'm sure the lady on the phone thought I was a complete idiot. "Yes, because we are open all night you can come in the store any time!" was her trying to be nice while dealing with idiots reply.

I was in bed by 9 so I could meet my sister at 4 am at Walmart so she could get a big screen TV. At 10 I was awakened by the sound of elephants coming up the stairs. It was really only my son's friend and his size 14 feet clomping up to use the bathrom. About 12:30 I made it back to sleep. I awoke again at 3:30 to an overpowering smell of spray paint and a huge headache. I stumbled downstairs to the basement to find the walls spraypainted dayglo, 4 fans going, and a space heater going. I called Austin and scolded him for trying to blow up the house and for trying to kill his sister and I in our sleep with the fumes. I had to leave to get to Walmart so I told him he needed to get home and make sure his sister wasn't dead and to get her to a safe place if the house still smelled. (I tend to be overdramatic when sleep deprived.)

My sisters and I survived the mob at Walmart and then Kohls. I managed to almost finish my Christmas shopping. Shelley missed getting her TV but Casey managed to score the Kitchenaid after hours of pushing our sale items around the line at Kohl's. After shopping I headed home and put up the tree with Ashley. We decided to go with completely non traditional colors on our tree. The ornaments are mostly fuschia and purple and the lights are LED blue and white. From outside at night the tree looks like an alien craft has landed in our house. It is awesome! I think if we get one more strand of the LED lights you'll be able to see our tree from space.

I was in bed by 7 pm and slept straight through until 6 am, then it was time to get up and get ready to race. As previously mentioned the race didn't go so well but it was a fun day anyway. I think I'll be glad to get back to work tomorrow and get a little sitting on my rear end time.

Cyclocross State Championships

Yesterday was the State cyclocross championships at the Weber county fairgrounds. It was another dry day but very cold. My first lap flat problems continued. 16 ladies started out in B flight. I was towards the back first lap but once we hit the long gravel road and pavement stretch I started passing people. My legs felt great! I thought that if I could hold my position through the barriers and on the grass I may be able to continue to move up on the asphalt.

As we crossed the horse racing track and headed for the barriers I realized my back tire was totally flat. I dropped several F bombs and pulled out of the race. Canyon Bicycles was nice enough to loan me a wheel. I was still feeling good and wanted to race so I waited for the lead pack to come around and since I had left the race behind teammate Kara, I jumped back into the race right behind her. Her and I went back and forth for the remainder of the race. Again I would gain ground on the asphalt only to hear the women coming around me as I worked the barriers.

On the last lap I slowed letting the other ladies pass me since I really was not in contention. Stephanie and Megan fought it out for first with Megan pulling it out in the end. These ladies are awesome! Congrats to all of us for having such an awesome field of competitors this year.

After the B race I went and told the officials what had happened and got my self put into last place. Kara and I found some food, changed my flat and got warmed up for round two. I told her what great training and how fun it is to race A flight. Her and I always manage to talk each other into crazy things. . . the voice of reason as Lacey would say.

The heavy hitters showed up for Women's A flight and soon it was Kara and I off the back and duking it out for last place. Kara made it through 2 laps before blowing herself up and pulling off. I made it through the 3rd lap when I hit my wall. Fortunately, I can ride my bike completely blown, I guess I've done it enough that turning the pedals is now just instinct. However, the barriers are a different story. They were getting sloppier every lap. Getting on and off my bike seemed to be some kind of algabraic equation and I just wasn't getting the formula right. On my final lap I managed to drop my chain and struggled to get back on my bike. I couldn't figure out who raised my seat during the race. The final two barriers were maybe 20 yards apart. My brain decided that instead of the effort of getting back on my bike I should just run (okay a very slow jog) between the two. Thankfully by this time I was lapped and done!

Overall it was a great day. Lousy placement on the results but I'm hoping more for the long term result of improved fitness and higher LT going into next road season.

007 Heaven

Now that is a beautiful thing! I'm so glad Bond is back in a hot and sexy way. I was so disappointed when "Remington Steele" became Bond. He is way too pretty to be a hardened assassin. I saw Quantum of Solace on Sunday and loved it! Although Casino Royale had a better story line, I'm glad Bond is done with that mushy love stuff and is pissed and ready to rock.

Double the fun!

Yeah! Thanks to Rios I have pictures. Speaking of Rios, that girl rocks. She did her first ever cross race on Saturday. This is a big leap for a dedicated roadie that confesses to only riding on dirt 2 times previously. But she did great and I think she'll be back!



It dawned on me the other day that the road season is right around the corner. I'd really like to go back and do a lot better than the 22nd place finish at VOS that I did last year. I have also realized that I never go as hard as I do during a race. So I've decided to use cyclocross racing to get my anaerobic training in. I've also decided that 40 minutes isn't quite enough so for the rest of the season you'll see me in both A and B flight.



The B race started off with another front flat out of the gate. Nancy flatted too and after getting her flat pumped up, I pulled out the goathead and Matt and Bart pumped mine up too. Nancy flatted again but I managed to stay in the race and even catch two people.

I drank my recovery drink, went to the bank, cheered for Kris as she raced and then it was time to get warmed up again. I tooled around on the Moab and warmed up with Nancy. She decided that carrying her bike around the course for B flight wasn't as fun as racing so she was headed back out for more.

As usual the speed demon women in the A's were off the line and down the road leaving me chasing. The course was very different from the morning's race since the dirt had thawed to soft sand and mud in places. I felt pretty good for the first two laps but then I was cooked. Nancy must have been feeling the same because she got off course and was coming towards me. I made myself finish though, pushing as hard as I could. I knew I was tired though because I was making stupid bike handling mistakes but I managed to stay up and finish.

It was a beautiful day! I had lots of fun and got in two really great workouts. I also got to spend quality time with really cool, fun bike people. I can't wait to do it again next week.

Wandering aimlessly?

I've been feeling a bit lost this week. Monday was my last class at University of Phoenix. Once my grade posts I can apply for my diploma. Yeah?! I know I am supposed to be excited but really I'm feeling kind of lost. I sat down the other night and looked at a magazine then I had a nice dinner with my kids. The entire time I kept feeling this nagging, like I should be reading, or taking a test or attending class online. I'm sure I'll soon adjust to my free time but for the moment you may see me a lot on Facebook. I seem unable to pry my computer from my lap.


I'm also feeling excitement and the fear of the unknown as I now look for a new job. While my current job has got me through school with lots of flexibility, it wont be enough to pay back my student loans.


I'm also quite apprehensive about letting my daughter grow up. I know I don't really have a choice in the matter but it is still proving to be quite difficult. I envied my sister the other day when her biggest child stress was her two year old cutting her own hair. Aaaaagh, the easy days. My fears have been compounded because my gorgeous C cup daughter seems to have fallen in love. The signs of this newfound love are everywhere. She's spending more time doing her hair, spending hours with her cell phone pressed to her ear with no real conversation going on and there is the dirty jacket of his she's constantly wearing.

I'm quite proud of myself. I've resisted the temptation to call in sick to work and follow my daughter everywhere and have just resorted to compulsive calling and texting her. I just know how easy it is to see only a nice pair of legs on a bike and overlook a million red flags. (Okay the nice legs on a bike part would be my downfall, but I'm sure she has her own blinders.)

So I guess I'll do the only thing I can do. Pour myself a glass of wine, lube my chain and go attempt to race my bike tomorrow. . .

Living in the now

So I was sitting here looking at my bruised legs, some bruises a day old and some a week, and wondering why I am already looking forward to next week's cyclocross race. I'm not particularly good at it, I usually manage to hurt myself or my bike and I end up exhausted and lots of dirty clothes and bike maintenance to attend to, but still I love it.

So, aside from the fact that lots of really fun, cool people show up to race cross, I've decided that during a cross race you are forced to live in the present. You hear it all the time. . don't dwell on the past, don't obsess about the future, live for the moment. During a cross race (or any other kind of a race for that matter)everything else goes away. For 40 minutes yesterday I didn't think about my bills, my work stress, my family stress. I thought about trying to catch the person in front of me, I thought about not getting caught by the person behind me. I thought about the best way to negotiate the mud. I thought about breathing deeply and pushing harder. I truly was living in the now. I'm guessing my fellow racers were doing the same because there were lots of smiles!

Yesterday started out a bit hectic. Pre race was spent in a foggy Heber swapping out Kara's tires and adjusting her brakes. We collided hard on a warm up lap and went down on the asphalt. Kara felt so bad I think she was actually trying to catch me as I flew through the air. We were banged up but no serious damage us so we spent the next 10 minutes readjusting brakes and wheels once again. Then it was time to start.

I had a terrible start. My shorts, which are becoming a bit baggy, snagged on my saddle and I didn't get clipped in. I caught up to the bottle neck at the barriers only to get dropped on the grass. I worked hard and tried to settle into a rythm. I managed to pass a few people but then lost some of them as I bogged down in the mud. I thought the way to go was to gear down and spin through the mud. Apparently this is the way to go if you want to get the absolute most mud on your bike and tires. I finished toward the bottom of my field, mud covered but happy.

I hung out and watched the rest of the races. It got warmer and drier and the races became faster and less muddy as the day wore on. I had fun cheering for Kara's son in his first ever cross race. He did really well but is still feeling bad about the little kid that finished last. While he was racing I took Kara's other son up to the top of Mt. Heber (the giant mud/poop hill that serves as the run up). I turned around just in time to see his little head disappear over the edge. I ran over and looked down and was relieved to see him laughing happily as he rolled and slid down the muddy embankment. He was covered in mud and wanted to do it again. Sorry Kara. I forget you have to watch those little ones all the time.

I finished out the day eating yummy lasagna at Teresa's and enjoying good company and wine. Be sure to check out Two Wheel Lovin ladies for all of the racin ladies action.

Next week will be better. . . right?

I'm in the process of finishing up school. . . finally. At 38 years old I'm finally getting my BS in Health care administration. Yeah! I think. Now I'm finally qualified to do the job I've been doing for the past 6 years and I have lots of debt to pay back.

I'm in the final week of my last elective class, the psychology of personality. It is pretty interesting but to be honest I just don't care. I just want to be done already. I really wanted to email my teacher and ask him what the bare minimum of work I could do and still pass. Instead I decided to do my work and finish strong, or so I thought. I got an email from my teacher last night asking why I had not participated at all in my learning team. I thought this was weird since I had done my part of the work assigned to me in Learning Team A. Turns out I am not in Learning Team A I'm in learning team D. Great! Now I get to help on a second project. Aaaaargh! So much for skating through this class. Instead I'm doing twice the work.

So I've had all of this school drama on top of all of the work drama. I guess since I've finished employee reviews everyone has decided to worry about what everyone else is doing instead of worrying about themselves. It really reminds me of my kids. You know how it is, "she got one more piece of pizza than me waaaaaaaaaaa" and "I cleaned the bathroom last time, waaaaa". The only difference between my employees and my kids is that my employees are adults getting paid to do a job- and I can get new ones!!!

Whew! I got home tonight and was eager to slip into my sweats and cozy slippers and enjoy a little bike maintenance. As I was taking off my shoes I realized that I had been wearing two different black boots all day. It is so nice to see some weeks come to an end.