Brookings to Boston

Thirty-four mile bike ride with Cindy and Elizabeth today.  It was wonderful to ride with them, and get back outside after the crazy winds lately.  I took my first fall on the bike today.  OUCH! It left some marks, on me, and the bike, but we both survived, and made it the rest of the way back.  It was a slower ride, 16mph, but very enjoyable as we talked about our upcoming Colorado adventure.  I am looking forward to some longer rides with them as we continue to prepare for those long mountain passes.  

Wow! I am more sore today than I think I have ever been!! That fall on the bike yesterday took a bigger toll on my body than I had thought.  Ice and rest today! 

Still hurting from Friday's fall, but I am so anxious to be up and active again.  I went over to the clubhouse today, and did about 1hr. 15mins on the elliptical.  It was not a strenuous workout by any means, but it was nice to be up and active right away today.  

An easy 14 miles on the bike this afternoon.  After a quick trip to South Dakota Sunday night into Monday morning, it felt good to stretch out the legs.  

Not much of a workout for me (so far) personally today, but I am so proud and so happy for all of the groups that I worked with!!

The morning began with a group of pre-teens participating in their first ever step aerobics class, and a "fitness speedway" activity.  They did such a great job, and I was very impressed with the full attention and participation of everyone!

In the early afternoon I worked with a group of grade-school kids in the first week of their summer healthy living curriculum.  Today was mostly an overview of the summer, but we got them up and moving around today too.  This summer is going to be a lot of fun, working with them.

In the late afternoon, my Y-Lose It group really impressed me.  We did  bootcamp style workout pyramids in between sprints.  They were sprinting! And doing burpees! I was so happy to see how much they have progressed in the last five weeks! We are still in the lead for total body weight percentage lost at our branch.  Let's keep it up!

Soon I'll be off to cross training for kickboxing and plyometrics tonight.  What a fun day it has been.  Not sure if I will get my own workout sqeezed in after all of it; but if not, I am sure motivated by everyone I had the opportunity to work with today, and you can bet I'll bring it tomorrow!

2 mile run with my husband before he went to class this morning.  

The afternoon was busy car shopping.  So many life changes for us recently!

50 minute core class ended the evening.  Bosu planks-and lots of them!

AM: TRX with a focus on core training

PM: Y-Lose It Group workout-bootcamp circuit & beginning cycling class

Broke the 40 mile mental barrier on the bike today!!  It was a warm, windy morning; but an incredibly enjoyable (and rather challenging) ride with Elizabeth and Cindy.  These longer rides have really increased my confidence on the bike, and I am all the more excited about our upcoming trip to Colorado! 

Somehow I need to make sure that my busy days at work do not interfere with my workout schedule.  The last couple days have been busy and slightly stressful.  I know that a workout would do me some good in both a physical sense, and my mental state.  Yet, somehow I keep telling myself that "I don't have time."  

I know better than this! I need to make time! If nothing else, these past couple days have been able to remind me how the issue of time can be such a struggle for many people when trying to exercise.  

I'll be teaching a few classes tomorrow, so I know I will at least get in a few good hours of a workout.  Hope to get a couple more good, long bike rides in yet this week before we leave for Colorado next Tuesday!  

AM: Power Pump (Strength Training for 1 Hour)

AM: Lead youth step class (40 minutes)

PM: Lead youth exercise class (20 minutes)

PM: Treadmill workout with Y-Lose It Group

PM: Cross Training.  Tonight was more of a boot-camp style of workout-full body workout with cardio

AM: TRX (last class..so sad!!)

PM: Beginning Spinning Class

Between classes today, I had planned to get a longer ride in.  However, the weather did not cooperate.  A big storm rolled through, cancelling all plans of a workout outside.  Bummer.

I had this morning off, and it was wonderful!! Since I was not working, I was able to attend Cindy's spin class again.  I am always challenged by this class, and today was no different.  Watt training and high RPMs.  Loved every second of it!!

 I was also able to attend core class this morning.  It was nice to attend, instead of teach, this morning. 

After getting in my workout this morning, I did the last of my gearing up for the trip next week.  Added my rear-view mirror, second water bottle cage, and computer to my bike! Bring on those mountain passes!! I can't wait!

It is official; I am doing my first triathlon!

My husband signed me up for a sprint triathlon at the end of July.  I have been debating for some time now as to if I was going to be able to pull it off yet this summer, especially with our move coming up.  But, I am signed up!

Today three girlfriends and I traveled to Winter Park Colorado.  It has been years since I have been to Colorado, and I had never even imagined myself taking on the tasks that I will be doing over the next few days. 

Road construction made for a longer trip than we would have liked, but finally we could see the mountains.  The numerous fires in CO have caused so much smoke that we had to be almost in denver before you could really make out the horizon outlines. 

Once near Winter Park, we stopped and got out for a hike.  We planned to hike before anything else so that we could adjust to the altitude.  I loved the hike-climbing up to the peaks and touching the snow!

The hike went well, but as soon as we got back in the car, altitude sickness hit hard.  I was very dizzy and felt sick (no fun!).  Almost blacking out at the house, I got very sick, and was almost no help unpacking the car.  I almost blacked out again while we were at the grocery store picking up our food for the week.  I had never experienced altitude sickness before, and it is awful.  I was determined not to let it ruin my time, and hoped it would be better by the morning. 

With our later arrival, we didn't get a bike ride in (maybe that was good news for me!) but enjoyed a nice dinner out on the deck, and planned our first pass for tomorrow: Vail Pass. 

Our first full day in Colorado, and I could not be more excited to experience biking my first mountain pass.  I was still not feeling too well from the altitude, but adrenaline and excitement played enough of a counter-part.

Our morning became a very educational start to our trip.  We woke up to two flat tires in the garage-Elizabeth and myself. 

Elizabeth noticed her flat first, and she and I worked together to quickly change her tube so that we could pack up and get on the road.  But when we finished up her tube change, I went to check the pressure in my tires, and discovered a front flat myself! At this point, Elizabeth had some additional time to have Cindy teach her how to patch her old tube.

So, I began changing my front tube as well, and once it was changed, began looking for the hole in my old tube.  As I was pumping up the old tube, a huge "POP" made us all jump.  My front tube was flat again!

Last Saturday I ran over something on the highway that slashed both my tire and tube.  I had splinted it from the inside with a dollar bill and some duct tape (they were new tires! only a month old! I was not yet ready to buy another one!) Yet, the splint was not holding well enough, and the tube began to poke through and punctured the tube.

How frustrating!

After patching a few tires, and reinforcing my tire splint with some flexible cardboard, we were finally on our way to Copper, CO.  We rode from Copper to Vail (up, up, and then an awesome desent down!), and enjoyed a nice lunch at a German resturant in Vail. 

The ride back up from teh Vail side of the mountain was certainly more of a challenge, but I loved every second of it.  The slow steady grind up the large grade was wonderful, and really my strength, and I certainly did not mind the ease and the speed of the descent down the mountain!

After that, it was back to the house for another nice dinner on the deck and planning for Trail Ridge Road tomorrow (the ride I was most looking forward to!)

A couple bike repairs again this morning before we drove to Trail Ridge Road.  My tire splint looked questionable, and I really did not want to worry about it while descending down the mountain.  High speeds and a flat front tube just sounded like a crash waiting to happen! Elizabeth also had a stiff chain link, that would be nice to get fixed.

So, we stopped off in Fraiser at one of the bike shops to look for a new tire for me.  Not an exact match of tire depth, but it was certainly better than one with a slash! The salesman was rather friendly until I told him not to use his screwdriver to take off the old tire.  He was going to either scratch up my new tire rims or puncture that tube that already had two patches!! I offered to take the tire off myself with my tire irons, but he eventually find some himself and did it correctly (I am rather protective of that bike!). 

With a new tire and Elizabeth's chain in better working order, we were off to Trail Ridge Road.  After an hour drive of anticipation, we were ready to enter Rocky Mountain National Park and begin our climb.

The ride began with about 10 miles of beautiful highway.  It was a very mild grade and new pavement.  Wow--you could fly! We enjoyed speeding by the car speed checks!

And then, we hit the switchbacks, and I was back in my element-enjoying the steady grind up the grade! How beautiful it was! I surprised myself that riding so close to the edge of the mountain was not as scary as I thought it could have been. I felt so strong, and in control.  I was loving every minute of this (and it did take us quite a while for that climb!)

We stopped for a while at the top to take some pictures and enjoy the view before descending back down.  Wow did we fly down that mountain! Using the whole lane (because we were going as fast, if not faster than the cars on the way down), we could whip around those corners.  We were screaming and smiling the whole way down until we hit that strong headwind for the last 10 fairy flat miles.  My legs did not want to go again! We made it back to the car, cleaned up, and went to a little Mexican restuarant nearby to celebrate our ride!

About an hour later we took a short hike to Adams Falls-beautiful! We thought about going to the field up a little further to see if we could see some more wildlife, but opted to return home for dinner instead.

I was in charge of dinner for tonight.  Salmon cakes, broccoli, and corn on the cob was the menu.  Tasty, and just light enough after a heavier Mexican meal. 

Tomorrow we are going to do some mountain biking-a new experience for me!

Mountain Biking today!

Today was a nice change of pace.  We did not have to drive anywhere to begin our ride; we left right out of the garage this morning.  

Today we were headed to the old town of Corona, up Rollins pass.  It was totally different than road biking, but I loved it.  Bouncing through the pot holes, and over the rocks was very different than avoiding obstacles on the road bike!

It was a steady grind up to the top again, but I totally see the benefit of the shoes that clip onto the pedals.  On the mountain bike, I just had my tennis shoes on bare pedals, and saw a complete difference.  I felt that there were muscles in my legs that I was not using! I was missing that "pull." 

Descending down on the mountain bike was terrifying! It was fast, so bumpy, and totally out of my comfort zone.  Yet, at the same time, it was so good for me! I later described it as "terrifyingly exhilirating!"

Worked out with my weight-loss group tonight.  I had them do three strength circuits with biking in between. 

Cross-training soon! A tough workout coming, and I am very excited about it!

Went to Sian's step class one more time before we move.  With 100+ degree temps still in the evening, an indoor workout was probably smarter.  I really wanted to get outside and run this morning, when it was at least a little cooler (80 or so..yikes!).  I need to get up earlier and get that done before work!!

After step class I taught my last core class.  I am sure going to miss my classes-especially those regular members.  Hopefully I can become as connected to another gym when we move!

27 Miles biking today.  This weekend begins major training for my first triathlon!