So the rain followed me - but not before I was able to get in 4 out of 5 pursuit efforts last night. I trained the first couple with Kele and then suddenly she lost all power, cracked and next thing I know I'm circling as hard as I can go and she's leaving with all of her stuff. You know it's funny - with pursuit work more than anything you have to be 100% because if you're not there mentally and putting in a solid effort then BAM! You crack and you crack hard. You're physically testing your body for 4 minutes straight - to see if you can sustain a super hard long endurance effort. It's only 4 minutes you say, but often the hardest 4 minutes of your life. I'm sure it doesn't equate to labor or getting a route canal without any drugs, but it sure tortures you while you do it. It makes me wonder what the amazing pursuitists - such as Hammer or Annette, think about to block out the pain when they do them. The moment you focus on the hurt, you start slowing down. You have to let your determination carry you through the entire 4 minutes - let the discipline it takes to be a good pursuitist shine through and prove you can ride your bike hard and fast all by your lonesome. Hmmm... something to think about. Sounds like I need to open up my sports physcology book again and do some mental training....

So I left....

I kept hearing the flash flood warnings and decided that I was lonely and ready to come home. I called United, rebooked my flight and I write this from my office. Am I disappointed? Only because I didn't get to race against some of the east coast's fastest female cyclists. But rain happens so oh well. Now there's a tropical storm hitting the east coast sending buckets upon buckets of water down onto the area.

Back to training....

Rain rain, go away!

Yesterday morning - rained out.

You know it's bad when every 5 minutes that National Weather Service interrupts a broadcast and flashes an emergency warning of flash flooding in the area. I am already looking into flights home. I'm thinking about adandoning ship and just heading home - cutting my losses so I can save some cash for a different trip. The forecast says it's supposed to be cloudy the rest of the week - and it's a tough call but I would hate to have flown all the way out here only to have about 1 hour of track time and no racing. As soon as it's a decent hour I'm going to call Ryan and let him know my plans. If I can get on a flight tomorrow for a reasonable price then I'm out.

Marc and I toured downtown Philly yesterday. He tried to take me to the infamous Philly Cheesesteak but the line was out and around the building so we opted for this gigantic piece of Italian pizza. They sure do know how to make pizza around here. We got to see the Liberty Bell - they make you go through a metal detector just to view it. Strange. And they have all these barracades around all of the buildings. Marc said it's been that way since 9/11. I can't believe it's been 5 years since then. Apparently some crazy dude recently streaked buck naked through the Liberty Bell exhibit and tried to ring it with a hammer. Hence the metal detectors and security.

It's humid here. We walked for hours yesterday around the city - from Marc's favorite bar to another. I definitely recommend bringing good walking shoes not flip flops if you come visit. Everything's flat so you can traverse things easily - but flip flops aren't so good. I am itching to get on my bike.

Speaking of wa wa's...

So I arrived late last night in Philly - after waiting for about 2 hours for my bags and bikes at the airport, shelped my stuff to the Hertz Rental counter, and was told there's not really anything to eat in the immediate area other than Wa Wa's. And speaking of Wa Wa's - this one just down the street through the turn pikes and other freeways and byways is a SUPER wa wa. They carry everything - from bandaids to whole wheat sandwhiches. Naturally, I was intrigued. But one swoop around the maze of roads surrounding the Philly airport resulted in me back tracking and going through arrivals. So I called it a night and headed Northeast to Trexlertown.

This morning we had Keirin heats - and it didn't go so well. For some reason I just have trouble with getting on the motor. Remember my last incident in Colorado? That little relegation for not taking the wheel fast enough? Well this time I pulled lucky no. 1 and had to take the motor. I was going to at all costs. Until this other woman beat me to it and soon I found myself on the aporn and DQ'd. I pleaded with them - but they weren't willing to reverse their decision. Oh well. I felt like an ass. But then comes the beauty of track racing - you get to try it again in 5 minutes! And try I did - we had a heat of 8, and of course I drew lucky no. 1 again. But this time I fully let someone else take the wheel. I sat in the back, jockeying for position, to take a huge flier around the side but to no avail. Oh well. The keirin, much to my competitive streak's unwillingness to give up side, is just not for me. Stick to what you're good at, right?

Well unfortunately that didn't pan out tonight. We were misted out. This weird rain ensued on the drome and all races were cancelled after several hours of waiting. We were post-poned till tomorrow morning but the forecast isn't looking so hot. Lame.

Good thing I have wonderful host housing and am going to visit Marc the shark tomorrow!

TTYL, Jen

Hello, hello. Bonjour, bonjour. Hola, hola. Konechewa, koneche-wa-wa

That song is stuck in my head.

I woke up at 3 this morning - thinking randomly about rollers. Why would I suddenly wake up, toss and turn for 1/2 hour - and think immediately about rollers? Strange.

I leave tomorrow morning for Philly. It should be fun. I'm a little nervous about filling my free time, but I'm sure I'll figure out something to do. Maybe I'll check out the art or local history.

One thing's for sure - I'll miss my bubba. We celebrate our 5 year anniversary the day I get home.

My itchy dog

Tufts of hair scamper across the living and dining room each time you walk through. As quickly as I vacuum them up - they return with the ting ting ting ting of Makiah itching her ear due to seasonal allergies. Poor d.o.g. Yet she continues to scratch - trying to shed her super long fur in one last attempt to cool down for the summer. I did douse her for fleas - but to no avail. She truly has allergies.

This week is a rest week. It's been nice but I find myself bored silly with finding things to do to fill my time. I actually got desparate enough yesterday to clean my kitchen floors! I know it's disgusting that I don't clean them as much as I should. I mean honestly, two times a year is not enough. But who has time to do such lame chores? At least I scrub the bathroom on a regular basis. That would get really gross if I didn't.

Ryan and I have been making winter plans to do some dry wall and finish off our basement. We actually shook hands on it. (Meaning, right now we have every intention of doing what we said, vs. the last two winters where we only talked about finishing it. ;)) We have all this space downstairs and all we have to do is hang a little more dry wall, mud, tape and paint. It's ridiculous how we procrastinate. I swear if I win the lottery or something I would hire someone to do the projects we just can't get to. Then I'd really be bored!

That picture is from Makiah at her "spot" she digs everytime she accompanies Ryan to Little Si. She digs herself a comfortable hole and then lays down in the dirt. We caught her with a muzzle full of dirt - look at her expression. Like, don't mess with me jerks.

speaking of Jerks - Miller called Dan and I jerks yesterday after we lodged him in a port-a-potty out at the track. He didn't like that - we thought we were being hilarious. Whoops. Sorry there coach! At least we didn't tip it over. :)

A new PR

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn for a Sunday morning 10 mile TT. My good pal Jill joined me on the trek down to Green Valley. They hold this TT several times throughout the season - and it's a nice indicator of your times and strengths from one part of season to the other. I managed to still knock of more time - a total of 1:07 actually. Not too shabby. And only 15 secs off of Gina! I'll get her, I swear! Maybe if I got an aero helmet....

It's funny - I averaged the same time for a 3k pursuit as I did for a 10 mile. That's not good. Obviously I can go faster for the pursuit. All right Juice, you now have some thing to seriously focus on. Bring it.

last mva night for juicy poo

Last night was my last Friday night. Our Cat 3 men's field was stronger and faster than usual - and on a snowball race we averaged 28.5mph. Pretty stinkin' fast. Then we had a progressive points race and I was able to hang - but ended up not getting any points. I tried my heart out in the final sprint, but had poor position to come around all of the guys to truly open up my sprint. Oh well.

And - I was the ONLY woman out there. What happened to the ladies? Where did they all go? I wish we still had a women's field. Just so I would have some estrogen in the mix. But I guess it's time to get used to that.

Mmmm coffee. We were up late last night at Rock Bottom with Ben and crew. It was fun.

fantastic friday

Last night Ryan and I went on a date. We went to see Double Take, an art exhibit showing at the EMP. There were pairings of paintings from Paul Allen's personal collection - from Monet to Lichtenstein. As the curator repeated over and over again, it was fantAAAstic! Definitely worthwhile and cool to check out. I think the show's running thorugh September.

Afterward we were headed to Bizzarro's for some yummy Italian food but they were closed for a private function. Too bad - they changed their menu recently and Ryan has been dying to get in there and check it out. Luckily the Latona pub has excellent food and tastey beers on tap... a good standby when you're starvin' marvin'.

Earlier in the day I met up with my friend Nina for a short hour spin. It was good to be on the bike with her - and she reminded me just how crazy things got before I desided to start racing. In one summer I did STP (210 miles), RSVP (185 miles) and RAPSODY (145 miles). Holy moly. That's a lot of mileage - especially condensed in one day! How did I manage that one? I'd die if I had to do that now. :)

Actually, I really enjoy the long rides for the sheer fact that it feels so good to be off the bike and rehydrating/fueling. It makes those 100 mile road races a piece of cake!

Some not so random thoughts....

Last night I had a 3/4 mental break down. I'm not sure how it snuck up on me - but suddenly I found myself slightly paniced and wondering if all the intensity I've been doing is really going to benefit me. I was tired and fatigued and found myself in a conversation that created doubt in my training and ability. After finishing a 5x5 points race with the Master's men field I started getting really harsh on myself. When you've been working so hard toward something and believe in what you do - well let's just say it was a slap in the face. A reality check of sorts. Tears welled up, emotions ran wild.... I almost broke down. Thank goodness Ryan was there to encourage me - he dusted me off, picked me up and reminded me again that it's the long term goals that I'm after. Pain and suffering is part of the process.

"Why do you ride your bike?"
"Because I love to."

And that's all that matters.

Fam-damily

My little sister took an amazing photo of the whole family while we were down in Oregon. My brother had to toss Coleman up in the air to try and get him to calm down and smile for the camera. After about 20 tries we finally got it!

And no, I am not wearing flip-flops. :)

Workout Windup

This is my heavy week for training - a good track push before I settle down, get some recovery time in and then attempt to kick some serious bootie at nats. For all of you trackies -here's a break down...

Monday - road threshold day. 6x6 min with 1:1 recovery.
Tuesday - Fast Track - 3x3k fly, 3x2k fly, 3x500m SS, all undergeared. OUCH!
Wednesday - AM Road Threshold work 3x10 min OG Z3/4, PM - Race
Thursday EZ
Friday - Race with the 1/2's
Sat - 3 hr road ride

Last week by the time Friday rolled around I was pretty worked from all of my pursuit training. Hopefully this week my body is adapting to the increased load and I will be able to work on sustaining an even harder work load. I've been eatting well - mmmmm heirloom tomatoes! and trying to load on the carbs before a big effort.

It's cloudy today - I wonder what's up with the weather.

mellow monday

Do you ever have the feeling that if your life wasn't full of events or things to look forward to during the week you might go stir crazy? I am driven by goals - small and large. I have to be constantly working toward something or I will find something to occupy my time. Fortunately I set my professional life up to a point that it requires minimal thought, energy or stress - and am just reaping the benefits. I mean really, who wouldn't enjoy 20 hour work weeks where your commute is 1 mile away, the environment is super supportive and everyone there enjoys what they're doing? It's a dream job. So waking up Monday morning feels just as good as waking up on a Friday. And what used to be a ridiculously long work week has now shrunk to nothing. I know, it's disgusting.

Ryan's in Durango right now working with some fellas to get a top secret program up and running. Sounds like he made some great progress with them as well as experienced their local mountain biking scene. He called and told me he was single tracking it with Walker Thompson, this local bad ass, and he took a corner too hot, lost control and bashed into a boulder injuring his hip. Poor guy! What's he trying to do riding a bike? Just teasing. :)


Sunday I hung out with my mother in law Trish and we went to the Asian Art Museum to see Night Sounds: Nocturnal Visions of Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. It was amazing. One of them lived near La Conner in the 40's in this handbuilt house on top of a bluff where the only access was to climb up the bluff into the house. He was isolated from people, industrial sounds - and surrounded by the ocean, animals such as owls, fish, etc and painted some amazing pieces of a northwest winter. This one painting really struck me - he captured the turbulant black water that is constantly moving, only highlighted when it peaks and catches the moon and disappears back into the black abyss. Art is so amazing when seen in person.

And yes, for the record - I did do some yard work yesterday. This morning I'm headed to the dump to heave our mammoth lame counter top Ryan disassembled. Fun times. :)

Quiet time...

My mother in law just left - and it feels really strange to have the whole house to myself. It's rather quiet and boring if you ask me. I'd much rather have company all day and avoid the nagging chores I've been ignoring all month. But I suppose I better snap to and get something done... having quiet days like this only come around once in a blue moon.

I got the call, again.

As if the first time wasn't bad enough. Last November I was about 10 minutes into my workout at the gym when Nina's phone started ringing. It was Ryan - frantic because he was stranded on the side of the freeway near Lynnwood. He had run out of gas. He even admitted thinking that he had to get gas, passed about 20 stations on his way to the freeway and just spaced it. So I rescued him - releaved he was ok but a little upset that he doesn't pay attention to such critical details.

And then last night after track, while preparing a fabulous feast of chicken indian food - I got the call.

"The van just died. I don't know what's wrong."

"What do you want me to do about it? If you're stranded call 911 to let them know you're there."

"No, I'm going to see if I can get Maggie (the van) going again - it was wierd, she just powered down all of a sudden. No warning - nothing."

He hangs up. I continue cooking - things are smelling really tastey in the kitchen. My mouth starts watering. Two minutes later the phone rings.

"I'm out of gas."

NOT AGAIN!!!!

Luckily this time he was on I-5 right at where the 520 exit merges off of the 5. I looked in the garage - and voila! A full gas can ready for rescue.

A quick cruise to the freeway - and there was poor little Maggie - deader than a doornail in the split between the two roadways. I was a little pissed at first - next time - well, there's not going to be a next time. What's up Mr. Triplett?

We got home and had our great dinner around 11pm and I got to tell him stories about my race night. He told me he had climbed 4 pitches of 13c. We went to bed and dreamt of sugarplums. ;)

Rain

It started misting this morning. That just means I have to wait another 1/2 hour for the roads to get washed down of all the slick debri built up before going out there and grinding my 10x10s standing starts. Fun times! Actually it hasn't rained in Seattle in over a month - so the yard will be happy for sure.

Last night was my first solid pursuit effort in prep for nats. I had 6x 3k overgeared flying efforts and they were hard. As the night wore on, my times were getting slower and slower but that's when it counts, so I kept on. I actually feel good this morning - but we'll see how the legs respond once I get on my road bike. :)

Later, jen

Shots by Deb...

Marcy got a new job - as a high school photographer. She had to set up shop to practice and make sure everything works. So I had her take a pic of Makiah and I. Check out the cheesy background.

Oh - and Amara took this saweet shot at the FSA challenge. It was taken during the 200m TT - getting my best time yet, 4/10ths of a second then my previous PR's at marymoor.

"Don't let Mindy or Jen catch us!"

I will definitely take that as a compliment. Someone said that's what Gina told the small break away from today's Gig Harbor Road Race. Is little ol' me really a big ol' threat? It made me chuckle. :)

So the race was only 35 miles - on rolling terrain with one 1/4 mile steep rise at a 7% or so pitch. Then once you summit you continue on a false falt that puts you right into a head wind. It was a great course - and it was nice to see how far my climbing skills have come. I just wish I would have some sort of power data from the race - cuz I know them watts where flowin'!

We basically got a break of 8 right from the first lap up the hill and then held on from there. It widdled down to 4 - Dana, Beth, Gina and Suz on the final climb and Mindy, Trisha, Shannon and I were trying to chase them down. Unfortunately my track legs were slightly taxed from last night and I couldn't pull an ounce harder than I had before. Oh well. The finish was good - a sprint between me and Trisha. All in all - a great day of racing. I really thinking my training has come a long way - not only physically but mentally.

Oh - and last night I raced with the Cat 3 men and got two 3rd places - one in a 25 lap scratch race and another in the 10 lap tempo. Saweet! And I used a much bigger gear last night - 51x15 and it felt good. I think it's safe to say I finally graduated to a bigger gear!

Ok... enough rambling... time to shower my stinky butt.

It's Friday, already?

Today is the first day where I had some extra time to kill after work. I'm amazed at how quickly the week flew by - and am glad the weekend is here! The fam damily is headed down to Seaside on Sunday for a week and I get to join them for a couple of days. Should be a ball.

I just bought tix today for T-town. So I'll be able to confirm or deny the rumors about it... I also heard Tamarack might be able to find some additional funding for the trip. Saweet. :) I know I've said it before, and I'm definitely going to say it again and again, but it's great having that kind of support.

mmmmmm pasta ... carb loading for tomorrow.

Later!

hump of the week

This is a pic of Tyson on Chronic.. Ryan didn't have any of himself on it. But it will give you the general idea.....

The weekend threw me off a bit - I kept thinking today was Thursday. Racing on Friday and Saturday instead of the typical weekend days confused me. :) (HAHAHAHA~!!! I just read my last blog entry - proof I was confused about what day it was!)

Last night was fast track. I did some 600m efforts with Annette in the pursuit position. Which brings up two things - my seat squeeks like crazy when ever I sit on it... and second - my starts are lame because my bars are too high. Time to get those fixed today. But on to better and much more important news.....

Headed out to North Bend tonight to watch Ryan do some climbing at his home crag little Si. The hike to the wall is about 20 minutes - through a really cool forest. Our dog Makiah knows it so well she herds us all the way up. It's definitely her crag too. We went up on Sunday and stashed some beers in the river - a well deserved and tastey beverage on the way back to the car.

Ryan nearly sent this hard 85 foot overhanging route. He one hung it from the top - almost completing a redpoint. Then he climbed 5 other pitches of equally hard routes and could barely wake up on Monday morning. Then last night I called him on the way home from the track and he redpointed Chronic - a 13b. Bad ass!!!

Tonight is his 4th day on and I'm going to bike out there to join him and watch. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics...

Where did the week go?

Suddenly it's Wednesday and I am trying to remember all that happened in the past few days. First - my sister took some awesome photos from the sprint session. My favorite of which:

http://www.marcysutton.com/stuff/jenn/072806_037.jpg

I'm excited about what lays ahead for nationals.

Ryan and I went for a ride out to Mercer yesterday and did some tempo work. My goal was 1:1 15 min threshold tempos - and easily tackled that goal. Ryan sat on my wheel while I grinded out the power. It felt really good - I haven't worked my aerobic base in a while.

Well back to work...