Ease back in

Thanks to Anonymous and Rose for the advice on how to cure my emptiness. =D I will act on it as best I can.

Yesterday I took my bike out to the Memorial Park Picnic Loop for a few rounds. It felt good to get on my bike and just pedal with nowhere to go and no one to care. Of course everyone else on the loop was way faster than me and kept passing me up, but I didn't mind. It just felt good to go fast. I was suprised at myself. I used to hate the picnic loop cause it's short and gets boring. But for some reason this time I didn't mind so much.

This time, my front derailleur was fine. Not sure what changed since the MS 150, but oh well it works.

Pursuit of Happiness

Empty. Is where I'm at. Is how I feel this week.

MS 150 is over. I haven't signed up for any races or made any goals. I kind of don't want to. I feel like I'm just kicking around a soccer ball. Kick...run...kick...run...kick...run...sit. I went for a run today, but I just didn't feel like running. I tried but ended up walking most of the loop.

I'm restless. Looking for the cream filling.

I think tomorrow I'll take my bike out and clear my head.

BP MS 150 2010

Sweet. I do have to say this year's MS 150 was sweet. The first day started out with clouds a little bit of rain, but most importantly a tail wind. I breezed through the first 20 milesto the first Accenture rest stop in a little over an hour. Awesome.

After that Andy and I caught an ExxonMobil paceline and we took off flying. We were probably going 25-27mph. holy hell. I couldn't stop my heart from beating like crazy, but I also couldn't stop smiling. That was amazing.

If you're not familiar with pacelines, here's how they work. I usually average 15 mph on my bike by myself. So you can imagine how fast you can go when all the wind resistance is eliminated.


Unfortunately I could only keep up for about half an hour or so. Andy took off with them, but my heart couldn't keep it up. So they flew away and I made it to lunch around 10 or so. Saw Alex, saw Raza, Dan, John, Fabrice and a Matt. The rest of the day went ok, jumping on and off people's wheels. There were more rolling hills than I expected. I lost of a lot of other people, so spent most of the ride by myself. Eventually I caught up to a group about 30 miles out of La Grange, so that was nice. I would have like to have the chance to really get to know my team better. Then we could have ridden together, but at the time it seemed like we were all at different speeds.

Got into La Grange around 3pm I think. Don't remember. I do remember that it took me about 6hrs on the bike to get through 95 miles. Pretty good. When I do a century, hopefully I can get a better time.

In La Grange, hung out, met people, showered, ate a lot, slept as best I could. Next year I will bring games or something fun to pass the time.

Next morning 830am start. Decided to take the express route this year. Last year was just too much pain and I still have those chain ring scars. Got through the first 30 miles pretty ok. Didn't get to meet up Alex like planned because of my late start. Was about 25 mins behind the guys and my front derailleur was giving me problems. I had the Bike Barn guy check it out, but he was like, it's fine...What?! then why can't I shift right!? I dunno it worked 30% of the time, so I tried not to shift out of my big chain ring.

Anyway after that I was tired and ready to be done riding. It wasn't fun anymore and I couldn't pin point my unhappiness. Got to the Accenture rest stop through a nice paceline cause the wind turned and was pushing us back. Picked up Ashley and we made it there fine. Saw Theresa and Candy. At the stop we met Danny and John. Decided to leave the stop and make the rest of the way together. ACCENTURE PACELINE! That was amazing! I was so happy. No wind, I could rest up my legs. Got some Guu gel in my system and we were flying.

I think we were going 16-17mph in a 5-10mph head wind. Sweet. Why didn't we do this before? That's when I figured out what was missing from before. Why I was bored and tired and not caring.

I was missing friends. They made all the difference. Working hard together for one goal. I haven't had that in a long time. That's what this weekend needed more of.

I think we got through the last 20 miles in an hour and half. or something fast like that. At least it didn't even seem like an hour cause we were having fun, picking up people along the way. First we saw Matt and then Jenna. We conquered the last of the hills together and all of a sudden we were rolling into the capital. We didn't look quite like Caisse d'Epargne above, but I think we were close to it. Danny had a helmet cam so hopefully he got some cool vid of us.

Rolled in at around 245pm. Covered about 67 miles in a little less than 6 hrs. Whoop. Next year will be the challenge route and definitely more team pacelines. Laura asked me to take over co-captaining next year with Debra, so that will be fun and hopefully we'll get a bigger team out next year. And we'll all get in one big paceline.

WHOOP!

Carbs and Clarity

So this is the week before the MS 150. Wah! I got my bike last Friday and have been making fit adjustments - shifted my cleats, moved the seat, got a shorter stem. It is feeling much much better, but I am still unsure about feeling perfect on the ride. I guess I will see. All this week I've also been stuff my face with pasta. I think after this is done I'll probably eat my weight in pasta to recharge and then go on hiatus.

Also since last Friday as my bike is fitting better and better, my anxiety is decreasing. I am calmer and can think more clearly. I remember things better and can think more outwardly. It's awesome. I think once this ride is over and I can tell I have no pain then I will be content. Like SUPER content. Especially with my job lining up the way I want it to, things are great. Finally!

13.1 + 27 = TIRED

This morning I got up at 430am to go run Angie's Half Crazy. grumble. WHY did I sign up for a race that starts at 7am that is an hrs drive away? Never again. Well, probably again sometime, but next time I will convince other people to go with me. It would have been more fun that way.

Anyway, I am proud to say that I was able to run the whole time! Save for a few Gatorade stops. Before today I'd never run more than 3 miles without walking. I think it was easy this time because there were so many people around me and I could pace with them which helped A LOT.

So my run was like this:

Mile 2 - agh I want to be done already! why did I sign up for this?
Mile 4 - ok time to pop in the music and clear my head.
Mile 6 - hey I think I actually like running, this is pretty cool
Mile 8 - knee painnnnn, running sucks!
Mile 9 - Hip pain, aaarggg
Mile 10 - OK! only 5k more to go!
Mile 12 - where is the finish!? I want to finish! go body go!
Mile 13.1 - yay! where's the food?

I haven't seen the results, but I think I finished around 2hrs and 17 mins. Slow but steady.

After that I came home, ate lots of pasta and called up Phillip to go riding. I didn't get any real time to be on my bike yesterday cause of the rain and other things I had to do. So I really wanted to get in some time to figure out what needed to be adjusted before the MS150. I went about 27 miles at a 13mph avg pace. Now I'm tired as hell. and my butt is sore.

Need to adjust my cleats, and the arch is slightly off and is getting to me. also need a shorter stem. being on the bars is good, but being in the hoods is a reach.

My Pinarello has Arrived

This is pretty surreal. I can't believe I have it finally. I haven't even gotten to ride it yet. But despite the fact that I put my new bike in the room next to mine. I can't stop staring at the photo above.

Wait til it hits me. Maybe when I fly up those hills.

My Epic Bike Saga

As the MS 150 gets closer and closer, I am getting more an more anxious about getting my new bike. I really need something that fits me so that I can ride comfortably and well during the 180 miles. Here's a quick time line of my Bike Saga:

Feb 2009 - Bought Jamis Ventura Sport
Apr 2009 - 2009 MS 150, cut in half due to rain out, becomes MS 75
May 2009 - Confirm that bike is too big and need a smaller frame
May 2009 - Bought a used Scott Speedster S20
Sept 2009 - Scott Speedster stolen from garage, devastated
Sept 2009 - Searched everywhere, went to police stations, never found my Scott
Nov 2009 - Accepted the loss, and the search for a new bike begins
Nov-Dec 2009 - Visited nearly every bike shop in Houston/Sugarland/Waller/etc
Jan 2010 - Decided on the 2010 Pinarello FP2, put down a deposit, was told to wait til Mar
Feb 2010 - Was told bike would be here mid Feb
Mid Feb 2010 - No bike, wait til Mar
Mar 2010 - No bike, wait til mid Mar
Mid Mar 2010 - No bike, keep waiting
End Mar 2010 - Still no bike, call distributor, distributor says Apr 12th
WTF - RAWR
Apr 7, 2010 - Still waiting...pretty spent...getting fed up...

And the waiting continues. I feel like it's sucking the passion out of me. Once I started biking, I was pretty obsessed with the whole scene. I was riding every weekend. I did at least one charity ride a month, and even got into watching the big 3 tours. When my bike was stolen, I lost my appetite for 3 days and carried around tons of anxiety, couldn't sleep, couldn't focus. It was like I got dumped or my dog died. Seriously. I still am carrying that anxiety, even though I still have my Jamis, it's not that fun to ride. It's heavy and too long for my short stature. My friend Mark said it and I think it's true, that I won't be OK until I replace my Scott. So I tried. I'm still trying to replace it. But the world has not yet swung in my favor. My past few rides have not been so fun, so now I'm wondering if it will ever be fun again.

It's like being in a relationship and wondering if you should break up.

I miss my Scott.

Workout Log

After work went to Memorial park and got in 6 miles at a slow pace. Hopefully the half won't be too painful. my new kicks are amazing! My feet were totally fine after the run and I had minimal join pain. YES. completely worth it. Thanks Nike.

Modern Dance at the MET

Today after work I went to the Houston MET to try out their Modern dance class. 1.5 hrs of professional instruction. The teacher was really good. I was transported back to the world of contractions, extensions, relevés, arabesques and tendus. It was pretty cool. Of course the MET kept is reputation of difficult classes that are fast paced. I did my best, to memorize and keep up. I'm glad I went. I think in the future I will try to be a regular.

Head is still kind of clouded. Focusing is not easy. I think I just need to conquer these hurdles one by one and be done with it. Erg.

ConocoPhillips Training Ride 11 - New Waverly

Today drove out to New Waverly with Leigh for CP ride 11. I dunno but this weekend has been a really sluggish one for me. I didn't really do anything yesterday except teach Phillip how to clip in and clip out. Then this morning I dunno but my head just didn't feel like it was into the ride. I tried to keep up my speed on ups and downs, but that really wore me out fast. After 25 miles I lost my groove. I was tired, and probably under-fueled. erg. Still managed 51 miles ~14.6 mph.

Now I feel really restless and anxious for some reason. I feel like I need a nice relaxing yoga session. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.

New Kicks

Thanks Luke's Locker. Got a lot of good feedback from Justin, the sales guy. He also worked at Bike Barn for a number of years. Apparently I have a good gait and don't keep my foot on the ground too long. I roll the outside of my foot just a little much. But otherwise I can get any neutral shoe. Cool.

Got 10 days to break in my new Nike's. Here we go.

/edit

In response to Danimal on the Vibram Five Fingers. I totally want those. But probably not a good idea to run long distance on pavement in those. Our forefathers didn't have to chase their food on asphalt.

In response to Gau on forefathers not having Vibrams. They are more hoss than me. Plus they killed their meat before they ate it. I get mine from HEB in plastic wrap with an expiry date.