The standoff

Luckiest Girl Alive

That seemed to be the most appropriate title for this... My heart wouldn't let me go with the other contenders...

Even the Pros Crash

It Was an Accident

Skin In The Game (bad... I know)

Face Value (sorry - another bad one)

 

By now you the reader has figured out I crashed. Indeed. Saturday I did a century on Skyline. It was beautiful and I had a really good time. The worst part was a saddle sore. The best part was completing a century in pretty decent weather.

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Sunday... well, the result was quite different. I planned to do part of the Civil War Century route that would amount to close to 80 miles. I got a late start and it was hot as hell. At 30 or so miles and 3 hours in I started praying for God to provide a water source (I swear).

Literally a few minutes later I was flying down a hill at 32 miles per hour and hit a rough patch of road. I remember pulling the breaks slightly because of the conditions and the next thing I knew I hit something *hard*. The front wheel took a sharp turn to the left beneath me and I went sailing over the bar. My next conscious thought was, "Oh shit." I felt my helmet hit, then my face, then my chest.

Honestly, the next thing I remember is being on the opposite side of the road in a seated position, with my knees near my chest with the complete inability to breathe. All I could think was "Inhale - if you don't breath you are going to die - breathe!" Every muscle felt like it was constricted and my chest muscles didn't feel as if they would let me expand enough to inhale. As I concentrated on each in-breath, they started to get longer and longer until my entire body could relax.

After what felt like an hour I got up and surveyed the scene. My Camelbak, iPod, headphones and bike were littered about. Oddly - everything but the Shuffle was in the ditch with me. The Pod was in the middle of the street. By that point I realized there was blood everywhere (yes, it took that long). So I dug out my phone and froze. I didn't know what to do. I would now like to thank cost-cutting measures and the healthcare system as I didn't know if what was going on was a "real emergency." I distinctly remembered that if it was deemed to not be a "real emergency" I would have to pay some ridiculous amount of money. There were also my issues of not wanting to make a big deal of this mixed in there somewhere...

So - I phoned a friend. (For what it's worth,this was an actual emergency.)

To make a long story short (which I rarely do) I'm pretty ok. I am bumped and bruised from head to toe. I have road rash on my face, hands, arms, chest, right shoulder and a$$. To date, everything that had a decent amount of contact with the road but not soaked in Betadine is infected. I have several stitches in my right elbow and it takes some conscious thought to move that arm. My left distal fibula has something odd going on and the jury is still out as to the issue. Every doctor I see wants more imaging because they can't believe I didn't break something. I downloaded the Garmin data and from what I can tell I was going about 32 - give or take 2mph - when I hit the road. Given that, I don't blame them for being thorough.

So why do I think I am the luckiest girl alive? There was a plan that day - and I wasn't in charge... So many people have said, "if anyone doubts there is a God - they just need to listen to this story." There were too many variables. Too many things that were just crazy coincidences. I left late which allowed Emily time to get her errands run which made her available to come get me. Something made her fill up her tank so she didn't have to stop. There wasn't a car behind me, or coming the other direction. My helmet stayed on. I'll state the obvious: I'm alive. This guy named Ryan stopped and gave me some rags for my face. He also gave me cross roads so Emily and the kids could come find me. Others stopped and asked if I needed help. Most of them parent-types... some were teenagers. Later that night my friend took her phone upstairs which she never does... and she was able to go get my dog. The list of people that are doing for me what I can't do for myself right now is endless. I've always known people love me. I've always known I have a God that loves me. For me, this was just proof - proof I didn't need... but proof nonetheless.

 

I do want to provide a couple of accident pics... if you are sensitive, don't scroll through.

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On The Road Again

Mechanicals: 0
Bugs swallowed: 1 (as far as I know)
Days of riding this weekend: 2
States visited: 3
Miles ridden: Lots n lots...

The countdown to Ride The Rockies is on and I'm inside 30 days. This weekend was a big mileage weekend and I'm happy to say it passed without event. Both days were beautiful and absolutely perfect for riding. I didn't take any pics in Shenandoah as it seems I'm getting a little bored... A tree is just a tree... A rock is just a rock...
Sunday's ride was part of the Civil War Century course. The covered bridge in the other post is from that ride. The sign here is when I figured out I was no longer in Maryland. :)

Oh, and I saw another bear on Skyline.

Oh... Hello...

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Sunday's ride... I dare go no further lest the Fog Monster of Shenandoah eat me...

Helping O' Hills

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I took the day off to do a number of things - among them a fifty-miler. It's funny how my perspective has changed and this is now a short ride...
Anyway, I mapped a ride near Frederick, MD and if you know me it surprises you not one bit that it was merely "directional in nature."
Here are some pics from the great ride...

Da Bears

A lot happens on a five hour bike ride. A lot happens when any athlete is out doing endurance training for that matter. Last week I was on another long-ass ride and encountered an atypical situation. I was about five miles out and a woman stopped to warn me about a bear up the way. It was apparently on the right.

Immediately the inner dialog starts. If you are have ever gone for a long ride, walk, drive - something in total silence then you know what I mean. You start to think. Under normal circumstances it's something like, "I'm hungry... what am I going to have for dinner? Dinner, hell - when do I get to eat next on this stupid ride?" I wondered whether or not to continue, if I did, would the bear just look at me or want my Clif Blocs... should I throw them at the bear and take off... but it's unlawful to feed wildlife, so that's bad, right?"

I pressed on and as I rounded a bend on a uphill (because it's all friggin' uphill out there) I saw the cars and thought, "Oh look, I found the bear." One couple was standing back, watching at a distance. Another was walking down the ridge... taking a video and flash photography. This couple was from Indiana. The woman kept exclaiming, "Oh - it's so little and cute!!"

Two thoughts came to my head:

1) I no longer need worry about being eaten or chased as this lovely couple is first on the list for a snack

2) The larger and less cute version must be in close proximity

With that I decided to spontaneously add a climbing interval and be on my way. As I traced my way back I didn't see human remains or their car so I am guessing they made it out alive. For future reference, if you encounter a black bear, it probably won't bother you provided you aren't moving toward it using flash photography. :)

Ride on...

Spring's Bounty For Vixen

p31.mov Watch on Posterous

So just when you thought the adventures of Miss Vixen were over... Oh no. She decided she wanted to supplement her diet with some leafy greens and wonderful grape tomatoes... I'm not sure how my chicken sandwich made it out unscathed but it did.
Enjoy y'all!

Not Quite Ready to Ride the Rockies

I'm wrapping up my second training cycle as I prepare for the Ride The Rockies. Today I completed a five hour ride consisting of 62 miles. That's what I set out to do, so I'm pretty happy. I'm even happier I have a rest week coming up. While I could do another week, it would be brutal.

I've learned a ton in the short time I've been training. The first part of this was figuring out what the heck to wear. The weather there will be unpredictable and I'll get everything. The blogs and forums say there will be sun, snow, rain, wind, possibly hail, etc. I now have the bag with bit of clothing I would need in my gear bag ready to go.

I am up to two water bottles and still a single bottle of Perpetuem. I was swinging in everywhere I could today though to get a little more water because I was thinking it would be good to have more. I'm going to need to tinker with nutrition. I am doing chews which works, but I do get hungry for real food around two hours. I started with pretzels and that works. So far I'm not getting hungry again but that's a really long time to go without real food... I can't do more sweet. I already have lots of sweet so it has to be on the savory side. There is talk of potatoes and I think I could swing that so I have to give those a shot in the next couple of weeks.

The big change lately has been in training philosophy... I drop my bike off for the addition of more gears tomorrow. I am not doing the "ride in a higher gear" thing. That was causing a trickle-down of issues. If one's riding in a higher gear heart ranges are blown out of the water. It makes sense that I was doing well on the way out but falling apart on the way back. Even when I changed philosophy for the first week, I wasn't pacing myself - so I was still riding with a HR in the 90%+ for my max. Nothing like lactate training for 4 or so hours.

This weekend I realized what I was doing and stopped. It made a world of difference. I ended both rides knowing if I had to keep going I could have. No whimpering, no crying on the ride - it was achievable.

As long as I keep improving and keep learning... I think I'm gonna be ok.

A well-earned break...

Spring taking her sweet time

Well Hell

That's what I thought, "Well... Hell."

A week or so ago a friend told me to register for the Ride The Rockies lottery. They only select 2,000 people to ride the thing - so I figured I wasn't going to get in. It's a $400 registration fee and they don't charge your card unless you get in. Not huge - and worth it as the views are amazing.

Anyway, I hit submit and asked my friend if this was road or mtb. She thought that was funny, but like I told her, I would have registered regardless of discipline. It's road, come to find out and lots of it. It's close to 600 miles of riding, they say 24,000 some odd feet of vertical gains, a couple of National Parks over six days.

That's right - all that over six days. If you just said "holy shit" you're not alone as that seems to be everyone else's reaction.

I checked my email Friday evening and there it was - the congratulatory e-mail. And I thought, "Well... Hell." Don't get me wrong - I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be freaking awesome. Generally speaking, the greatest things in my life I just kinda fall into like this.

So in preparation, I started training today. After a three hour ride in what felt like a continual headwind I'm beat. It's 7:30 and Kansas plays at 9:00... I don't think I'm even going to make it through the UNC - Duke game.

That should say it all right there.

 

Letting Go of Expectation (Finally)

I recently went out West for vacation and had an absolute blast. I snowboarded, cross country skied and snowshoed. None of the aforementioned activities were performed with any skill whatsoever. I'd just finally let go. I finally came to reconcile that my all-time favorite vacations were in the snow. I came to a place of peace with he fact that zillions of my fondest memories were with buddies playing in the snow... and most of the time I completely sucked.

Oh, I know what you're thinking.. "Oh, it can't be that bad."

Yes it can. I am a *disaster* on skis. Still. I am an improvement - a vast improvement at that - compared to my drunken days. :) My friend said something along the lines of had she known I wasn't so skilled at cross country skiing we'd have done something different. I was shocked. In my mind I performed phenomenally well.

I believe there were two things at play. First, yes, I was better than in the past (though my friend clearly had no reference point). Second, I just didn't care. Well, that's partially true. I was trying to impress a girl cross country skiing. After the first fall it was abundantly clear that wasn't going to happen - so I went to acceptance and just enjoyed myself.

The two days I spent snowboarding were spectacular and thrilling and freeing. I truly didn't care if I sucked (and the girl wasn't there to boot). Freeing myself of the expectation that I had to perform at a certain level, that I had to learn x in y time, or be on black runs by the end of day two was probably the biggest gift I've given myself in a very long time. It made the difference between a day in the snow and an absolutely fantastic day snowboarding. At one point on the first day it was snowing and I just kind of chilled after I got into my bindings. As the snow fell on my sleeve, I could see each flake. They were totally different. They were huge and gorgeous. I didn't have my phone to take a picture and I was so bummed. But the memory of those beautiful flakes and the peace on the top of that mountain... I could not have asked for anything more.

In Love Again

You know the feeling. It's just... right. There's a flow. It feels so easy. There's no fight, there's no struggle. One step after another - it just happens. You've known this before and been searching for it again - then it just clicks. Man - and even after all these years it still knocks my socks off.

 

I've enjoyed fifteen minutes of bliss this week. My stride's been easy, I've felt relaxed and it's just felt so easy and free running. After more than a year struggling with this injury I am enjoying every step again. Every stride is joy.

I'm in love with running again.

Me and the Black Dog

The Black Dog and I went out to the Wincopin. Three days in a row I was greeted by something being torn apart for sport so it was clear she needed more space to run about than the trails around the house. In the woods I can let her off leash to blow off all that steam - and that's just what she did.

 

For the most part she was well behaved. She jumped in the water much to my chagrin though I can't say as I blame her. It was a beautiful day and she was probably pretty hot by that point.

This being a rest week I didn't run long, but otherwise I'm up to 13 minutes of pain-free running. It's time to start looking at 5K's and put a plan in place. :) I don't want to get too optimistic, but I think this is a good pace for me. So far.. so good.

 

(BTW - people keep asking if I'm irritated in the pic above... no. I'm tired and hungry and my dog stinks but not really feeling negative emotion. And she's not the kind of dog that likes to have her picture taken so we have to do this "I'm not looking at you" thing. I kinda like the look on her face. Her eyes say it all... I've come to believe BD has an old soul.)

 

 

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Big Green Tractor old-school

Food Glorious Food

As I've said before, culture's all about food. I can't think of the Holidays without thinking of food.
For Thanksgiving we make appetizers with a theme. Like last year we drew states in the union and made something from that state... Since popcorn is the official snack food of the great state of Illinois and Cracker Jack was introduced at the World's Fair in Chicago, I made caramel corn (still looking for the pic...).
Ha! Found it!!

Those who know anything about Hawaii know SPAM is a big deal there. I did some research an apparently a new favorite at luaus is corn chowder... so I added some SPAM. :) Who knew?
I took second and third place in the Thanksgiving cook-off. :) I can't remember which was which... Later in the day we did eat a full Thanksgiving dinner and I was so full I could barely move.
Christmas brought more food. :) I made a chocolate torte. Having never made one of these bad boys before, I didn't know what to expect and let me tell you, those recipes don't tell you everything. First off, that whole "gently fold" is a crock. How are you supposed to "gently" mix hot chocolate sauce with air-whipped egg whites... until "incorporated?" Gently. Yeah. I know.
So, you bake it and it looks awesome.

Then...

Like a souffle, it falls. And it's supposed to I found out after I googled the issue in a panic. However, the plan was to pour a sexy ganache over it. Now what?

That's right - I flipped that sucker upside down. :) I made a strawberry puree reduction and whipped cream. This cut the richness of the torte and chocolate ganache. It was awesome. I might have baked the cake a little long as it was a bit crumbly - but no one complained. :)
If I do it again, I will make a mousse and fill the middle (keeping the torte right side up). I would do the puree reduction again as that was a great addition. I love making the ganache... but I found another use.

As it turns out, people rather like to receive chocolate truffles for Christmas. I covered them in toasted walnuts and coconut, powdered sugar, cocoa and cinnamon.
This holiday season was hands-down one of the best I can remember. I was with those I love and who love me... and I cooked.