Give Yourself A Time Out

I won't be making the 65-mile ride in Yountville this Saturday. Instead, I'm taking a brief break from training to attend my church's women's retreat at Silver Spur this weekend. The theme ~ Renew, Refresh, Rejuvenate ... based on Psalm 23:2-3a ... "He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."

Oh, how we all need to retreat sometimes. Even seemingly "good" activities can add to the noise in our lives. Sometimes we get so used to the noise that the stillness and quiet can be quite uncomfortable. But God says, "Be still ... be still and know that I am God."

You don't necessarily have to go away for the weekend, but make it a point to give yourself a time out ... regularly. We schedule appointments and workouts, coffee dates with friends to find out how they're doing. Why not block out some time for you ... to check on how you're doing. Be still for just a bit and remind yourself that He is God, and I am not ... which is a good thing :o)

68.5 And I'm Still Alive!

Since I had been sick for 4 days, and since I hadn't ridden in 2 weeks, I knew there was a chance that I would not finish this Saturday's 70-mile training ride in Santa Rosa.  I already had a few titles in mind, if that were the case:

~ I Get By With A Little Help From My (SAG) Friends

~DNF : Did Not Finish

So much for positive thinking, huh.  No - I really wanted to be cautious of doing too much too soon.  I told myself I wouldn't push myself if I felt crappy; and if I did, I'd just hop on the SAG (support and gear) truck, as many riders do.  

We started on time, and I did struggle a bit to keep up.  But I know it takes awhile to warm up and get into a rhythm.  "Just get past the first 15 minutes," runs through my mind, and after awhile, I felt good.  The climbs came early (at least the ones they brought to our attention), and we did well.  You could really tell our climbing has improved since our first ride together.  

This is a picture from our long climb towards Skaggs Springs Road above beautiful Lake Sonoma, the midpoint of our ride.  You can see the road between the trees in the distance.   We're about 3/4 of the way up at this point.  The descent was a blast with a nice rest stop with real bathrooms at the bottom.  I'll have to get you a picture what a TRUE porta-potty looks like ;-) 

2008 Spring Season Update

 

 

   click on image to enlarge

Sick Dawg :-(

Missin' a 50-mile buddy ride today, because I've been sick as a dog since Wednesday. Gotta get better for 70 in Santa Rosa next week.  

Welcoming any home remedies for headache, stuffy nose, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, gagging, and overall fatigue.

I have not, however, lost my appetite for food or for cycling.

Dawg-on Happy!

This is Dave, Coach Dave.  He has officially named our ride group Dave's Mountain Dawgs, to which we all respond with a resounding WOOF!  Since he's the only guy in our group, his response to our response is usually, "That's the sorriest bark I've ever heard!"  But you have to understand Coach Dave.  More sarcasm = more love.  Inspirational and motivational speeches may be few, but his hilarity and entertainment factor cannot be denied.  And as grumpy and miserable he may look out on the rides  ... sorry Coach ;-) ... we are often recipients of the most tenderhearted post-ride emails from him.

We love our Coach Dave (and we're sure he loves us).  And we really do miss him when he's not there, as was the case on our 50-mile Yountville ride this past Saturday.  He was sick at home (mainlining chocolate milk he says), so we missed his singing, his picking on us, his mumbling under his breath, and his yelling "GAAAAAAP" so loud that you can hear it reverberate for miles.

Sustainable Pace

On Marshall Wall, I got pretty far up there before having to stop. My mistake, however, was when and where I chose to stop which was pretty much wherever I was when I couldn't pedal any longer. I had pedaled and pulled till I just couldn't move another inch and felt quite proud of that.

When I finally caught my breath and was able to stand upright, I realized I'd stopped at a pretty steep portion of the road. "Hmmm ... Of all the places on this 11 mile stretch of road, I probably shouldn't have stopped here," I thought to myself.  So since I knew I wasn't able to go farther, it would have been much more prudent of me to have stopped earlier. I would have been able to take on this portion of the rise much more aggressively had I decided to regroup, replenish, and recover earlier on, EVEN IF there were reserves (of diminishing proportions) in my tank.

My pastor often refers to doing life at a sustainable pace, and it made all the more sense to me while I was standing on the side of that hill.  We need to embrace and enjoy the lulls in life and not feel like we need to fill it up with activity all the time.  Even more so, we need to purposefully create margin in this ever-busy world of ours.  We need to regularly regroup with God so that He can replenish our spirit and guide us in the recovery of our soul.  That's the only way we'll be able to finish strong.

Mine is not a race, it is a ride ... and such is life.  We will all get to the finish line someday - and honestly, who really wants to get there first?  We just hope we finish well.

Was I finally able to make it all the way up that hill?  Ya.  Was it easy?  Heck no!  In fact - just when we thought we were near the summit, someone asked why they called it Marshall Wall. Well, what we faced after the bend in the road gave us our answer.  Some moaned.  Some cursed.  I laughed.  See, it's those stops along the way, the having to ride down the hill a bit to get back up it, and even having to walk a few paces to more level ground that make the ride so exhilarating.

I'm thankful for ...

My brother Rob, Instant Messaging, and YouTube.  (In the background playing Where's Waldo? is one of my sisters, Ana.)

Since my accident, my brother and I have been spending much more time together.  During my recovery, he'd stop by and bring me smoothies and watch the Tour de France with me.  He used to be an avid cyclist, so it's been cool to share this experience with him.  We IM each other almost every day - usually my asking him cycling questions, and he sending me informative links. In fact, he's since sold his old clunker of a bike and bought a full carbon one, and we've done several rides together.  He even helped SAG (support and gear) at our Novato ride this past Saturday!  Thanks Rob.  I love you!

Anyway, I was getting ready to do my Sunday afternoon recovery ride.  While topping off my tires, I broke the pin in the valve of the inner tube and knew I'd have to skip the ride and would have my first experience changing a tire.  

I immediately IM'd my brother, because although we had a quick clinic on fixing a flat at our very first TNT ride, it really isn't something you remember how to do until you've done it yourself.  Of course, Rob sends me a YouTube link on "How to fix a flat,"  and coaches me via IM along the process. So after much trial and error (and grease on my hands and laptop), we got the job done.  Thanks again Rob!