so I'm sitting here surfing the net when I should be getting something more important done - like studying for my real estate exam ... and I'm browsing through some cyclo cross photos and I come across Russell's. First of all, he won the race and second, the photo taken of him is with both feet unclipped from the pedals like a scene from Mr. Toad's Wild Adventure. Big cheesy devilish grin on his face - making it look easy as can be. Then it dawns on me in a way that it hasn't before - this guy has completely mastered the bike. His movements, regardless if they are joking or not, are so fine tuned that he can pull some crazy stunts in the middle of competition. So I begin to wonder, does this mastery just come with time and talent in the saddle? Do I have the skills to be able to master the bike like he does? And if so - am I taking the steps in the right direction to achieve this goal?
It only comes with practice - and working on skills. Maybe the root of me wanting a new bike is that I think I've mastered that bike. I wish that were the case! Suddenly my beautiful chipped Kona has become shiney and new again. There are so many things I have yet to learn on the bike - and i look forward to building on each step. Patience in racing is a virtue - these skills and practice will come with time. I just need to remember that when my learning curve isn't as dramatic as it was my first year - to stick with it because bigger picture wins await.
Then again, I could be talking out my ass. Thank God no one reads these.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
last few days off
only a few more days of doing whatever exercise I want to and then it's back to it. It's been nice relaxing and not worrying about heart rates, etc. Latz,
Jen
Jen
Monday, September 26, 2005
LAF
This weekend I did the inagural LAF Ride held in Portland, OR. My dad had a generous donation of them using their airstreams during the festivities and so he got some extra tickets to do the ride as a result. I took my friend Kristin and we drove down Saturday afternoon. That night we were invited to the pasta feed at Nike with Lance, Bob Roll, Eddy Meryx and George Hincapie. There were about 350 people in the room - so the chance of getting near Lance for an autograph was nearly impossible. My grandfather was persistent though to get an autograph for Max, his great grandson - and managed to get one. Kristin and I had our photos taken with Bob Roll - the character. It was a good time! Several people shared their cancer stories of survival and fights - one husband raised over $20,000 in honor of his wife who watched the Tour this summer while battling severe chemo treatments. It was moving.
The following morning we woke up bright and early to chilly 43 degree weather - with 80 degree sun promised for later in the day. Dressed in layers, we departed the Nike head quarters for a 100 mile ride with nearly 4500 feet of climbing. Luckily the climb was in the morning - with 17% grade in some sections - and descent speeds in the upper 40s. It was thrilling cruising down that climb - a little scary but talk about endorphines!
The rest of the ride was somewhat grueling - when you get up to that many miles and you're just "riding" - it's harder for me to hang out then if I'm racing that distance. I'd much rather get it over as quickly as possible - cut out the rest breaks and food - give me the miles and let me pound them into my legs! It was good though - the sun was shining and it was fun passing all of the 40 year old weekend warriors who got pissed when a woman passed them. Some would say - you go girl! Others would surge and pass me again - and in a few minutes I would over take them again because suddenly that head wind was harder than they thought it was! It was all in good fun. And the average rider on this century ride was a lot different than STP - definitely a lot more serious. It was great. I can't tell you how many Colnagos I saw and passed. :) At least one guy had the heart to say - sure I have a nice bike - now all I have to do is learn how to ride it! I'd be more than happy to do that for you I said!
This morning I woke up - a little stiff but feeling good. Not sore like last weekend after the epic climbing Ryan and I did. My body is definitely conditioned for cycling than before. I'm looking forward to the off season training to begin. Later!
The following morning we woke up bright and early to chilly 43 degree weather - with 80 degree sun promised for later in the day. Dressed in layers, we departed the Nike head quarters for a 100 mile ride with nearly 4500 feet of climbing. Luckily the climb was in the morning - with 17% grade in some sections - and descent speeds in the upper 40s. It was thrilling cruising down that climb - a little scary but talk about endorphines!
The rest of the ride was somewhat grueling - when you get up to that many miles and you're just "riding" - it's harder for me to hang out then if I'm racing that distance. I'd much rather get it over as quickly as possible - cut out the rest breaks and food - give me the miles and let me pound them into my legs! It was good though - the sun was shining and it was fun passing all of the 40 year old weekend warriors who got pissed when a woman passed them. Some would say - you go girl! Others would surge and pass me again - and in a few minutes I would over take them again because suddenly that head wind was harder than they thought it was! It was all in good fun. And the average rider on this century ride was a lot different than STP - definitely a lot more serious. It was great. I can't tell you how many Colnagos I saw and passed. :) At least one guy had the heart to say - sure I have a nice bike - now all I have to do is learn how to ride it! I'd be more than happy to do that for you I said!
This morning I woke up - a little stiff but feeling good. Not sore like last weekend after the epic climbing Ryan and I did. My body is definitely conditioned for cycling than before. I'm looking forward to the off season training to begin. Later!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Worlds
I've been reading about what's going down in Madrid - and that seems like such a killer experience. I picture the journey to get there - and it fuels my fire to make it count each time I get on the bike.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
nice weather
Jill and I went for a nice ride yesterday around the south end and Mercer. It got pretty chilly in the evening once the sun went down - I got home and immediately jumped in a hot shower. Gone are the warm summer nights! The leaves are changing to brilliant colors - making riding in the fall one of my favorite times to ride. It's getting chilly out - time to break out the tights soon. I'm thinking of getting some ibex pants - those suckers are super warm!
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
sore legs - still!
Apparently it was a good and bad thing that I exercised my legs to the point where they can barely manage walking. I can't believe how stiff they are! But it was good to get some kick ass cross training in and pushing myself to a different limit. I am looking forward to getting back into a training routine.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Weekend Warrior EXTREME
Ryan has been on a kick lately of '08 Beijing. This translates into me getting my arse kicked on an otherwise impossible rock climb. We packed the car and headed up to Squamish on Friday night. We arrived in just enough time to get a jug of beer at Howe Sound Brew Pub and check out exactly what climbs to do the following day.
We started early - 7 am to beat the crowds. We decided on Diedre - the most climbed multipitch route in all of Canada. It's one of Squamish's classics - a superb 5.8 with smearing, lay backs and using a dihedral to climb about 1000 feet. Every pitch was stellar - putting a smile on the face. Once we summitted, we headed through the forest to continue climbing up the Chief. We did a 5.5 scramble - over a razor thin granite slab that if you put enough force on, felt like it was going to peel off and into the trees you would go. Once we climbed that section, we removed our rock shoes and hiked 15 minutes up the forest, gaining quite a bit of elevation and finding the start of the Squamish Buttress - another Squamish classic rated 10c. The first couple of pitches are interesting - but are nothing in comparison to the crux pitch - a 10c hand and finger crack that goes straight up from the base of the anchors. All of the belay stations are on huge slabs - making it very popular to accomodate the busy ant trail that follows this climb. Luckily we had an early enough start- we beat all the crowds. I nearly climbed the 10c clean - until just from the summit, my overly sweaty hands that I couldn't relax to slip carefully into my chalk bag, flailed me off. I was sooooo close to summitting and onsighting the entire route! You should have heard the orgasmic grunts coming from my mouth. Ryan laughed. Once I pulled the final move, adrenaline surged through my entire body and I relished the feeling.
To get off of the Chief you down climb a hikers trail on the back side of the rock. The trail is so well maintained - you marvel at the hard labor it takes to upkeep, let alone create this myrid of stairs, strategically placed rock stairs and hand rails. We got lots of interesting looks from hikers - who you could hear breathing before you saw them - they were very happy to take a break from the 45 minute tredge up the steep trail. I think rock climbing is easier than hiking up that trail. Once we got down, we headed straight to the brew pub for food and more beer. We ended up running into some climbing friends - Shane and Matt - who were willing to share a table and stories to entertain us from 5 till bed time. It was great.
The real challenge of the weekend came the following morning, when we woke up early again to extremely sore and fatigued legs - not from the climb itself but from the hike down. We headed to Starbucks, downed some coffee and were back at the climbers parking lot by 8:10. We grabbed our pack, rope and friends and hiked to the base of the trail. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn - ended up hiking for 25 minutes up a gully - sweating our arses off - then down hiking, putting some serious doubt into my head as to whether or not I could attempt another multipitch climb - this time 13 pitches with several 10+ pitches.
When I voiced this concern out loud, Ryan and I had a moment. Basically - champions don't decide that when it hurts, to call it quits and do something easier. They push through the pain - they take it to the next level. Because every action counts - so make it count. Suck up your sore legs, your mental fatigue and let's do this friggin' climb. '08 baby. I want to go to China.
This put swiftness into my legs - we hiked until the sweat poured off our forheads. And just when I thought I couldn't take any more and had to relax and lay down, we found the base of the climb called Angel's Crest, another Squamish Classic. When you climb a multipitch - and something as long as Angel's Crest - you have to constant keep moving. 5 minutes here - 5 minutes there - suddenly what should have taken a few minutes becomes additional hours and can mean summitting during daylight or dusk. We learned our lesson about this fundamental on our honeymoon in Yosemite - and since then it has been engrained in both of us - hail ass.
The climb starts by climbing up a dying douglas fur - 5.7 in difficulty. It's somewhat sketched because the lower limbs are brittle and may break under too much weight. Once you climb up you then traverse a chossy ledge to the first belay. I lead this pitch and it started sprinkling. Ryan decided to continue up - a 10b/c lay back crack with the crux at the top. I actually styled it without fail. We ran into another party - they caught us from below. On and on we climbed - through 5.7s, 5.10s, through forests and ledges. It is quite an adventurous route - with no pitch similar to the last in any way. There were a couple of super exposed sections - on the crest of the Acrophobes - if you look left you saw how far you would fall to the gully and if you looked right you saw how far you would fall to the valley floor. It was a heady section - I've been paralyzed in that position before - so it was liberating to easily climb through those sections.
The final two pitches are the cruxes - the first being an airy crack with stemming moves and followed by a 5.8 chimney. The chimney was the most taxing on the body. The moves weren't hard - they were just impossible to get into and requirred a lot of core, pushing and slowly inching up the 15" slot. Summitting was oh so sweet. Ryan did it - he got me up the Chief twice - no easy feat for someone who's an off the couch climber. We quickly hiked down the trail and reached the car extremely thirtsy and hungry. My legs started freezing up immediately - and by the time we reached Bellingham I was walking around like an 80 year old person with severe joint issues. It was a great weekend - and I really enjoyed pushing my body beyond its limits. 2008 baby!
Oh well - the following day we had more ambitions to climb Angles Crest, another 10b/c.
We started early - 7 am to beat the crowds. We decided on Diedre - the most climbed multipitch route in all of Canada. It's one of Squamish's classics - a superb 5.8 with smearing, lay backs and using a dihedral to climb about 1000 feet. Every pitch was stellar - putting a smile on the face. Once we summitted, we headed through the forest to continue climbing up the Chief. We did a 5.5 scramble - over a razor thin granite slab that if you put enough force on, felt like it was going to peel off and into the trees you would go. Once we climbed that section, we removed our rock shoes and hiked 15 minutes up the forest, gaining quite a bit of elevation and finding the start of the Squamish Buttress - another Squamish classic rated 10c. The first couple of pitches are interesting - but are nothing in comparison to the crux pitch - a 10c hand and finger crack that goes straight up from the base of the anchors. All of the belay stations are on huge slabs - making it very popular to accomodate the busy ant trail that follows this climb. Luckily we had an early enough start- we beat all the crowds. I nearly climbed the 10c clean - until just from the summit, my overly sweaty hands that I couldn't relax to slip carefully into my chalk bag, flailed me off. I was sooooo close to summitting and onsighting the entire route! You should have heard the orgasmic grunts coming from my mouth. Ryan laughed. Once I pulled the final move, adrenaline surged through my entire body and I relished the feeling.
To get off of the Chief you down climb a hikers trail on the back side of the rock. The trail is so well maintained - you marvel at the hard labor it takes to upkeep, let alone create this myrid of stairs, strategically placed rock stairs and hand rails. We got lots of interesting looks from hikers - who you could hear breathing before you saw them - they were very happy to take a break from the 45 minute tredge up the steep trail. I think rock climbing is easier than hiking up that trail. Once we got down, we headed straight to the brew pub for food and more beer. We ended up running into some climbing friends - Shane and Matt - who were willing to share a table and stories to entertain us from 5 till bed time. It was great.
The real challenge of the weekend came the following morning, when we woke up early again to extremely sore and fatigued legs - not from the climb itself but from the hike down. We headed to Starbucks, downed some coffee and were back at the climbers parking lot by 8:10. We grabbed our pack, rope and friends and hiked to the base of the trail. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn - ended up hiking for 25 minutes up a gully - sweating our arses off - then down hiking, putting some serious doubt into my head as to whether or not I could attempt another multipitch climb - this time 13 pitches with several 10+ pitches.
When I voiced this concern out loud, Ryan and I had a moment. Basically - champions don't decide that when it hurts, to call it quits and do something easier. They push through the pain - they take it to the next level. Because every action counts - so make it count. Suck up your sore legs, your mental fatigue and let's do this friggin' climb. '08 baby. I want to go to China.
This put swiftness into my legs - we hiked until the sweat poured off our forheads. And just when I thought I couldn't take any more and had to relax and lay down, we found the base of the climb called Angel's Crest, another Squamish Classic. When you climb a multipitch - and something as long as Angel's Crest - you have to constant keep moving. 5 minutes here - 5 minutes there - suddenly what should have taken a few minutes becomes additional hours and can mean summitting during daylight or dusk. We learned our lesson about this fundamental on our honeymoon in Yosemite - and since then it has been engrained in both of us - hail ass.
The climb starts by climbing up a dying douglas fur - 5.7 in difficulty. It's somewhat sketched because the lower limbs are brittle and may break under too much weight. Once you climb up you then traverse a chossy ledge to the first belay. I lead this pitch and it started sprinkling. Ryan decided to continue up - a 10b/c lay back crack with the crux at the top. I actually styled it without fail. We ran into another party - they caught us from below. On and on we climbed - through 5.7s, 5.10s, through forests and ledges. It is quite an adventurous route - with no pitch similar to the last in any way. There were a couple of super exposed sections - on the crest of the Acrophobes - if you look left you saw how far you would fall to the gully and if you looked right you saw how far you would fall to the valley floor. It was a heady section - I've been paralyzed in that position before - so it was liberating to easily climb through those sections.
The final two pitches are the cruxes - the first being an airy crack with stemming moves and followed by a 5.8 chimney. The chimney was the most taxing on the body. The moves weren't hard - they were just impossible to get into and requirred a lot of core, pushing and slowly inching up the 15" slot. Summitting was oh so sweet. Ryan did it - he got me up the Chief twice - no easy feat for someone who's an off the couch climber. We quickly hiked down the trail and reached the car extremely thirtsy and hungry. My legs started freezing up immediately - and by the time we reached Bellingham I was walking around like an 80 year old person with severe joint issues. It was a great weekend - and I really enjoyed pushing my body beyond its limits. 2008 baby!
Oh well - the following day we had more ambitions to climb Angles Crest, another 10b/c.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Livestrong
My dad offered to do an Airstream sponsorship for the LAF in Niketown. With his donations, he gets to ride with Lance and other cyclists who raised enough money for the foundation. I am lucky enough to be able to partake in this endeavor - and will be riding for my grandmother - a lukimeia survivor. It should be a pretty special event.
pixie dissin'
So I feel horendous for putting Camile down yesterday. I have a hard time relating to and understanding her and instead of keeping my big mouth shut I spouted off.... sorry about that. She's a good person and married to an incredible friend - I just have had several experiences with her that have made me less than amicable toward her. My apologies.
It was fun going out last night - Tim Reynolds is probably one of the baddest guitarists alive right now. His passion for the guitar - regardless if it's acoustic, a fender, or other stinged instrument - shows in his performances on stage. He has in all senses mastered playing. His fingers move fluidly - it was amazing. Watching someone who is that passionette about what they are doing is a rare opportunity.
I had more dreams last night. This time I was racing - but in what seemed to be a rec ride. Except I couldn't move fast enough. It was as though my fitness had deteriorated so much that I couldn't sprint -let alone find the legs to stand up. I was following Keri something from t-mobile but she was in regular apparel. Weird. I woke before the finish - so who knows what panned out.
I am enjoying relaxing at home this week. My body seems to be recovering from the months spent driving it into the red..... although I am developing a sore throat. We're headed to Smith Rock this weekend to do some climbing - should be fun.
It was fun going out last night - Tim Reynolds is probably one of the baddest guitarists alive right now. His passion for the guitar - regardless if it's acoustic, a fender, or other stinged instrument - shows in his performances on stage. He has in all senses mastered playing. His fingers move fluidly - it was amazing. Watching someone who is that passionette about what they are doing is a rare opportunity.
I had more dreams last night. This time I was racing - but in what seemed to be a rec ride. Except I couldn't move fast enough. It was as though my fitness had deteriorated so much that I couldn't sprint -let alone find the legs to stand up. I was following Keri something from t-mobile but she was in regular apparel. Weird. I woke before the finish - so who knows what panned out.
I am enjoying relaxing at home this week. My body seems to be recovering from the months spent driving it into the red..... although I am developing a sore throat. We're headed to Smith Rock this weekend to do some climbing - should be fun.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Taking a breather
It's been nice with no pressure to ride the bike for the month of September. Acutally - this is the first week where I have actually put the bike in the shop with no intentions of getting it for a week. It feels good to have a mental and physical break from it. In the meantime I've been researching some of the top female cyclists interviews on the web in attempt to find out how their training is going and how hard the elite level really is. I'm getting a pretty good picture set up in my mind of how to tackle that level of competition and succeed. It's definitely helping my motivation. I would like to talk with some other top athletes in person to pick their brains about it.... that would be cool.
I also had a massage today at the Dreamclinic. I think I found my new favorite massues. (Spelling?) He worked my cronic right shoulder blade with such finese that I booked another appointment with him in a week.
I also had a massage today at the Dreamclinic. I think I found my new favorite massues. (Spelling?) He worked my cronic right shoulder blade with such finese that I booked another appointment with him in a week.
Monday, September 12, 2005
more dreams
This weekend I had some whacky dreams. I dreamt that I was trying to dry shave my hairy legs in an empty swimming pool. Then I thought to grab my coach, Ryan, and show him what I was doing. When we got back to the swimming pool there was some national champion from track nats hanging out near the swimming pool. Strange. I'm not sure what to make of it other than I finally shaved my extremely hairy legs today.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
crazy dream!
Last night I dreamt that I saw Joyce walking in a grass field full of people. She was carrying two coffees of course and when she saw that I was approaching she put a smile on her face. I told her I'm not coming to say hello, I'm coming to mess with you! I then wrestled with her to try and spill coffee on her but ended up having it spilled all over me! Then later in my dream I was trying to get her other coffee poured onto her and she ended up finding my running shoe (I have no idea why it was off) and pouring it directly in there and then hiding it from me. I guess the morale of the dream is - don't even think about revenge with Joyce she could do some nasty things.
Melinda told me she's going to Recycled. The funny thing? I don't know if recycled will put up with her - she did afterall sue them.
Melinda told me she's going to Recycled. The funny thing? I don't know if recycled will put up with her - she did afterall sue them.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Fall is here
The colors in the park are changing - going from a dark green to golden hues. It is a beautiful site.
Training wise - I'm getting anxious to have a training plan again. Not that I need to do much but without a structured plan, even if I deter from it, I feel like I'm needlessly exercising. I expressed this to Ryan - we'll see what he comes up with. :)
Training wise - I'm getting anxious to have a training plan again. Not that I need to do much but without a structured plan, even if I deter from it, I feel like I'm needlessly exercising. I expressed this to Ryan - we'll see what he comes up with. :)
Monday, September 05, 2005
Observations
So I observed this past Friday that some of my teammates - (younger ones) are having a tiff. I don't really want to get involved - it seems pretty immatuer. Hopefully they will work it out.
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