Fitness Training News

Sunday, March 29, 2009

2246YTDM. Spectacular 210K today.

It all began like this...........
Call up some friends, ask if they want to come ride a 210K Brevet with you and your RMCC group. They say yes, but not all of them are RUSA members. No worries, tell them to pay their $20.00 and they're in ......
Tell your friend, Eugene, hey, we know you've only done 57 miles this year, but come along, it'll be fun. Just turn back when you feel like heading home. And.. oh, yeah, we'll pay for your RUSA membership-no worries, just come and ride with us.......
And so the day begins.........

Views we haven't seen all winter. Heading out of Louisville towards Boulder. Then past Boulder and heading for Lyons. First Control.

Then we head out to Carter Lake on our way to Masonville. Hhhhmmmm, been there a lot in the last few weeks.
Nice photo of Leslie:

And Eugene is still with us. Why not come along to Masonville? We say. We won't drop you. You'll have us to ride with all day. Besides, Sandy's has great Burritos and hotdogs.....

We ride along. Roads I've never been on. Roads Eugene's never been on. I think only Catherine and John Lee knew the roads. And then the UFO sighting.....

Werid lawn ornaments:

Then we start to head for Plattville. Have to head for I25 first and meander more country roads.

Hhhhhmmmm... looks like a landing strip to me.....

Then we come to this road block. Road block for who? Cars? We can do it. Let's not take the dirt road detour...

Instead we take the levy detour... what's a little mud and snow in the road shoes?

We make it to Plattville with only ild winds. Still we have everyone together. And still we have Eugene. The weather actually warms up enough to start to take some of the layers off. I decide that the forcast must be correct and I go down to my jesey and shorts. Hhhhmmmmm.
Last 25 miles was cold, but I'm not stopping to put clothes back on. Winds might kick up and well, I'm not going to hold everyone up.
We make it back with all together and all is good. Eugene is still alove-sore and tired and totally blowing off that 10% progressions rule. Oh well, he'll have this ride to jump start the season. And... he's now a RUSA memeber!

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 10:54 PM 0 Comments

Friday, March 27, 2009

2118M and some hiking and snowshoeing.

Can you believe this is where I live? WOW!!!!!!!

Well, it did finally snow and more may be on the way.
Not much riding this week. I was really tired from last week.
Did a few workouts in the gym, some core stuff and hiked with my Girls.

Also, I did a great snowshoe with the Girls today. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. The usual terrain but the snow was so heavy and not what I had expected.

Tried to go out with them this morning, before work. Lucie, the Princess, wouldn't go up the hill. She tried to walk in my foot prints but she didn't want anything to do with it. So she was happy when I got the snowshoes out. That meant she could walk in the big fat tracks I made.

These photos are from my commute to work this morning. Just awesome! # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 8:59 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Still 2108M. And the snow keesp coming down.

Well, we wished and wished and here it is. just after cutting down some more trees behind the house, yesterday. Steve sis that while I cleaned the house from top to bottom. Long day but worth it to have everything in order. So many miles last week and then a three day recovery and work, made for a pretty messy house.

Shovel shovel shovel, and watch news reports about the snow strorm. Guess no riding outside for me today. Does shoveling count?

Tried to get the neighbor's snow blower to work but, alas, by hand and labor it was. Steve rocked and did most of the driveway. I just did walkways dog -pee-paths and up to the neighbor's door. They're trying to make their way back from LA but may not get here today. Thought it would be nice to help out.Sucks to come home and be tired from travels and then have to shovel.

Some how I sprained my R wrist and it is not getting better. Maybe too much pedaling? Who knows, I fell on it running about a week ago and maybe that's the left over from trying to catch the fall.
More later if the power stays on. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 2:20 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, March 22, 2009

2108m. Add another one to the books.

OK. We stayed out late last night-dinner at some friend's house. Drank some wine, called John Lee, said we were not getting up early that "just" doing the RMCC Populaire (101K0 would be enough, blah blah blah...
Met the group at the E Bld Rec Center and was amazed how many people showed up. I think they really wanted to ride with the ride leader, Catherine. I think there were at least 50 people. Crazy!

Out we all went, with our Control Cards in hand. And then the hammer fest began. What? I was hoping to ride easy today. As most know, being at the front of a bunch of riders, going hard, is the safest place to be. Looking back at it, now, I feel bad that I was actually sucked into riding that hard and crazy. NOT what this ride is about. It's about riding smoothly and consistently. Get the riders to know one another. You know-introdouce new riders to what the RMCC is all about. Well, once a racer-knock me on my head and tell me to stop.....

Out towards Lyons we all went. Crazy uphill riding. Fast and my legs were not so pleased with me. But off I went. Rode a lot with Wendy. She's crazy strong and there, too was Catherine. We all know how strong of a rider she is.
By the time we got to the first Control Point, Steve and I went to Catherine and told her we were not so comfortable riding so fast and that we would hang in the back. She agreed, Wendy agreed, John Lee agreed and Ric, too.

At the Control Point we met up with my client and friend, Leslie. She's doing RAW (Race Across The West) in June and using rides like this to get stronger. Go Leslie!

Fueled up in Lyons and then headed down 66 to go out towards Loveland. CP # 2.

Had fun talking and riding with new friends and old friends-not that they are "old"....

Ric and Wendy came down from Edwards to ride with us. They rock!
Lots of long pace lines. Yes, trying to stay far to the right. Gotta keep the traffic happy and the riders safe.
Lots' of great views. Man, it even got well into the 70s today. Lots of white legs out there.

Even passed many "Burning Mans" out there.

Rode to Loveland, got food, checked in and then headed back to Boulder and back to the EBRC.
Such a great group. Thaks to John and Catherine for pulling and leading the way with very safe wheels and a very smooth pace.
Got back to the EBRC at about 1:45. Handed in our CP cards and started to talk to everyone.
Decided we should get a snadwich over near Safeway. John,Catherine, Ric, Wendy, Steve, and I all had a great lunch.
I tried to talk everyone into going for another ride. You know-another centruy. No one was going for it.
Then I was actually able to talk Steve into it. You know why?
We were tired, we had stopped for about 2 hours to chat and eat (socail), and we didn't really "feel" like going back out. The perfect time to "make" yourself follow through. Go for it! Do it b/c it is not really what you feel like doing and when it's done it will REALLY be an accomplishment. So off we went. Back to the EBRC. Back on out bikes and headed out east.
Then back to Hygiene and back to HY66. Turned around and oh lordy, we hit a wall of wind. 20 miles in that wall. Crazy wind! Yucky in your face can't go very fast wind!
Steve took the lead for most of the way back. We really dug deep. Steve really dug deep.

We got back to the car with just 100.45 miles. Before the storms came in and finished at about 6:30. We had one stop in Gunnbarel to get drinks and a bathroom break. Man were we hosed! But, another centruy done.

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 7:54 PM 0 Comments

Saturday, March 21, 2009

2008M. Lama Loop Century. 5:33.

Up to 2000+ now. Great day for a ride. Started out from my house. Headed into Boulder. Dumped my extra, come off the mountain, clothes at Alicia's and we headed out.

We met a friend of hers on the road just out side of the city limits. Kevin. So we rode out to Carter Lake together. No wind yet. Mild temps and the perfect start to another day of riding.

Went around the back side and toward the RV park. Got more water and I mixed up an Endurox R4 and ate a Clif Nectar Bar.

Headed over , what Alicia calls, the Dam Road. Nice colors today. Next stop, Masonville. Once there I picked up a receipt and we headed around to the north and picked up a few extra miles.
After the extra loop, we headed back towards Carter Lake and up the hill, into the blowing wind. Not as bad as lately but still blowing.

Once leaving the Carter Lake area, we ran into Leo, of Greece. Told him to come along with us but I guess he thought we were going too far and he turned off before our intended turn.
We decided to head out east and pick up the sweet pavement of CR 21. Long rolling hills but so worth it with the smooth pavement.

Next was back to Longmont and HW66. Headed towards Hygiene and Alicia decided she'd had enough. She decided to head straight back and I decided to do the Small Box Loop. Back on 66 I felt a little light headed. Decided that stopping in Hygeine was the best thing to do. Good thing. I bought a Mountain Dew and had 50 cents left. The only ting I could find to eat for 50 cents was a Rice Crispie Treat. Yummy and just what I needed.

I pushed as hard as I could to get my mph avg up. Did a good job with that. Finished with a 5:33 century and only about 6 total hours.

Tomorrow, maybe another one. Meeting up with RMCC for a Populaire, lead by Catherine Shenk. It's 101K so we may add on extra. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 5:05 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, March 19, 2009

1906M YTD. "The Cowboy Century".

The Cowboy Century.

I must be doing pretty well as I have almost 2000 miles for the season so far. Feeling pretty good, lately-which is just plain awesome!

Last night I gave a talk on Motivation and Nutritional Advice While Cycling. Another coach gave a talk on Physiology. This was at the Denver REI. We had expected there to be about 50 people. Well, were we ever wrong! 150 people showed up. Crazy! We ran out of everything. Had to tell people we would list the handouts on the websites.

Thanks to support from Clif Bar (they sent me Clif Bars and Clif Bloks to hand out) we were able to keep people pretty happy as we had to start a bit later than expected to wait for everyone to get there.

The talks went off great! People were very happy and were able to learn a lot. So many people came up after the talk to ask more questions. It lasted for 3 hours. Just great!

One women said she really liked my talk and would I be interested in giving a talk to a foundation she was part of. I said sure, what foundation, when, what topic, blah blah blah... She asked if she could contact me today. I said, absolutely!

I got the call this morning. The women, as it turns out, is the Executive Director of the American Transplant Foundation. )Headquarters are in Denver). Their guest speaker backed out unexpectedly for a foundation talk and everything for the event was on hold- that is until she met me...

I'm going to be the guest speaker at the event in May for a group of transplant folks. She's trying to get them motivated to "go on" with their lives and be active and get into cycling. Wants to get a club going for them and the foundation. They are making up posters and everything for the event-with my name and website on it. Also postings on the web site and fliers. How cool is this?

Wow, funny how life takes us down many paths.

So, today I didn't have any work-well, had to be on the computer and phone this morning for a few hours but no gym work. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to do another century. (my 4th this season/year).

Have to say, though, it was a very weird day. Finally (after gazillion work calls this AM) got started at 11:15 or so. (Was planning for 9 AM). Started the ride at Performance (Got a receipt, proof of when I started my ride) . Then went out east and back into Boulder to pick up Steve.

Only got in 16 miles that first hour as I hit, absolutely every single red light along my route. It was crazy-never have I been stopped at so many red lights.

Steve and I headed out to Lyons, then he remembered he had to work earlier than planned. So, he rode back to Boulder and I continued on my merry way to get in my 100.

I was solo for the rest of the 70+ miles. Did the Fruit Loops, got a receipt in Lyons, went out towards Carter Lake, but on CR 21-my new favorite smooth road.

Then north to the road we usually take to Carter.

Still not enough miles to head back to Boulder. Went back towards Hygiene, back to Lyons (another receipt) back towards Hygiene, and back out like I was going to Carter Lake again.

This time I stayed on the road I had previously already been on earlier and I did what I call the Big Box Loop (needed the 13 miles).

Then, back into Hygiene to pick up another receipt, back towards Boulder on 75th, (got a flat, which took about 15 minutes to fix, b/c I had a hard time getting the huge thorn out from the inside of the tire, and back in zigzagging my way back to Performance for my finish (another receipt).

Finished with 101.08. Time was 5:35 and I think 45 min more for total stops, food buying jaunts, photo ops, and such. (ran out of Clif stuff-one can only carry so much).

I'm calling it my "Cowboy Century".

So many things were telling me not to do the ride-except, that is, my head. I was determined, to say the least. Even if it was hard to get out the door this morning. Had to stay determined.

Even made it home in time to hike with my Girls. (dogs)

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 8:44 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

1805M-and a great night at the Dnver REI. Oh it all went so well.

Thanks REI of Denver, thanks Clif Bar, thanks RMCC, thanks to Rick, thanks to John, Jim, and Dan and thanks to all of the people that came to watch us talk.

We thought there may be 50 people , or so. Not 150! You all rock!

For those that did not get my handouts you can find them at www.rmccride.com-the RMCC club site. Or I'll add them here.

Thanks for coming and listening to all of us.
MOTIVATION AND MENTAL HINTS

MICHELLE GRAINGER AT ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
michelle.grainger@gmail.com and www.athleticexcellence.net

PRACTICE -PRACTICE –PRACTICE

* WE LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE – RACERS VS RIDERS

* LEARN FROM EVERY EXPERIENCE
* PRE-RIDE COURSES
* PRE-PLAN TO AVOID MOST SURPRISES
* DRAW FROM OTHER EXPERIENCES

PRE-THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT FROM YOUR RIDE, RACE, EVENT

* GOALS

* WINNING? FINISHING? SOCIAL?
* HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE
* HAVE A LIST OF WHAT YOU’LL NEED

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

* FOCUS – FOCUS - FOCUS

*THINK ABOUT NOW! NOT THE FUTURE
*WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET THROUGH THE EVENT?
*KEY WORDS, BREATH PLAY
*LEARN LITTLE MESSAGES.

COMFORT ZONE

* GET OUT OF IT!

*YOU MUST LEARN TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE
*LEARN TO TOLERATION SOME DISCOMFORT

PERFORM AT YOUR BEST SO THAT YOU CAN NEVER LOOK BACK AND THINK, “IF I HAD JUST”…

REALIZE THAT EACH MOMENT IS ONLY A MOMENT IN TIME. LEARN TO BOUNCE THOUGHTS BACK AND FORTH. NOTHING IS A FAILURE IF YOU TRIED YOUR BEST!

****************************************

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
MICHELLE GRAINGER AT ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
michelle.grainger@gmail.com and www.athleticexcellence.net

80’S INFORMATION REVOLUTIONIZED THE SPORTS NUTRITION INDUSTRY- don’t stay there.

EAT BEFORE EXERCISE

*DAY BEFORE
*GLYCOGEN STORES
*WATER
*BLOOD GLUCOSE VS MUSCLE GLYCOGEN.
*PROTEIN, TOO

EAT AND DRINK WHILE RIDING OUR BIKE

*MAXIMIZE ENERGY
*MINIMIZE INJURIES
*RECOVERY
*ADAPTATION TO TRAINING

WHAT TO EAT?

*CARBOHYDRATES
*PROTEIN
*FAT-THE GOOD AND THE NOT SO GOOD

EAT AFTER WE EXERCISE

*“WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY” 10 %, 60%, 90%
*ACTUAL ADAPTATIONS OCCUR AFTER YOUR WORKOUT

THE REAL WORLD

*CLIF BAR, ENDUROX, OTHERS….
* CAN’T CARRY IT ALL?
*REGULAR FOOD. WHAT’S IN THE LOCAL MINI MART?
*LIQUID VS SOLID
*QUICK AND FAST. REMEMBER, TIME COUNTS
*THE “OLD” DAYS. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:11 PM 0 Comments

1800M-YTD. Photos from theRMCC Jamestown 200K. The start of the RMCC Jamestown 200K Brevet. Yeah, we don't get up early too often...

Looks like they don't mind getting up early. Go Larry, John, and Dan.

Eating is a very important thing. When ya run out of your Clif Bloks and bars, you eat the food from the control points. Donuts (John), Poptarts (Steve), Cheetos (Michelle).

And remember to always give the locals hugs. Many hugs means they'll like us more. This is a Jamestown local.

More food at Sandy's. Yummy!

Sometimes the trains give you extra rest or unexpected delays.

All happy that we got John Lee back to the car around 4:00 so he could go to the airport on time.

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 12:16 PM 0 Comments

1800M !!!!!!! Woooiee! Burning Man Tour. The ride of "Burning Man" structures. 200K. A.K.A.- Jamestown Brevet.

Sunday we did a 200K Brevet with John Lee Ellis, Larry and Dan. (and, of course, Steve).
We started in Louisville and headed east and then back west to go up to Jamestown. We then headed north into a headwind. HHHmmm, thought it was supposed to be calm until afternoon. Then a SW wind.

Once riding out towards Masonville, we saw many people we know, also riding their bikes. Alicia, Becky, and Cheryl and their friends. . I'm sure John will think twice before doing a long ride with me-too many little stops for me. Stops are OK for real necessities, like peeing, eating, adjusting equipment, but......

Once we got around the north side of Masonville (a control point),we headed back South. Yikes! Massive headwind. It was crazy. How can we have so much wind?

We headed past Carter Lake, past, the Small, Large and Huge Box Loops, we rode along 65th for a while and headed East to Erie-another control point. We checked in and headed back into the wind going West and then South, again. On 101 road we then headed South and back into Lousiville.

200K. That is about 225.2 miles. Looking good for the rest of the RMCC sereies of Brevets.

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:37 AM 0 Comments

Thursday, March 12, 2009

1513M. Another 25 mile commuter. Today was so messed up that have of the time I didn't know if I was coming or going.

Plan was to get up, eat and bike commute to work for the first half of the day. Then have a quick coffee with J and her far away friends. Then, ride home, quickie walk with The Girls and go back to town for a quick ride with another friend., Shannon. Go back inot work for a few hours and drive home.

Nope.

Talked to Shannon and it just was not going to work out to ride. I had my road bike, she had her mountain bike, my time was to working with her time off so, once again-I didn't see her. Bummer.

Next, had a last minute cancelation call, that took longer than I thought and low and behold-not enough time to ride to work. more bummer. And late.

Called the client that I was late for. A-OK. He'd wait and could run overtime. Good. Still bummed about not riding down but did have the bike and bike bag with me.

Finished AM work and had a 20 minute coffee that took 2 hours. Way cool friends-J has. Started to talk myself out of riding. Then a light bulb went off..... ride home and ride back for PM clients. Yeah, not a bummer.

So rode home the hillier way over Sunshine and had a great ride. Home in 55 minutes.

Talk to the UPS man, got the Bloks and bars from Clif Bar for the RMCC talk next Wednesday night. Yeah. Talked to Rudy Project USA for a while. Thanks to Chris and Paul for their help!
Then talked to CAlfee and they said my KHS road frame was not as bad as we thought. Yeah Calfee and the ability to fix carbon fiber.

Next thing I know its' 4:10 and my next clietn calles and asks where I am-I'm at home. he thought our session was at 4, not 5. Yikes. I change back inot cycling clothes and rush to work. UUHG Another time trial to work. When will I ever just take my time to get to work?

So the day finishes up with an awesome salad with seaweed, letuce greens and reds, peppers, squid, tomatoes, and ridiccio. Yummy.

Not sure if I riding into work tomorrow-depends on the weather and road conditions. Mileage is creeping slowly upwards. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 10:55 PM 0 Comments

1488M Still but the bike rode around to day on the car. OK. No ride today. Just plain never got to it. Did however drive around with the bikes on top of the car. And...
We went to see Lucie's bio mom. Had a blast with her owner, her kids, her other RR, Kaju. All had a great time running around, goofing off, and having a great lunch. It will be sad when they move to Vermont.

Also worked on my talks for the upcoming RMCC meeting at the Denver REI.

Check it out:

Downtown REI - Wednesday, March 18, 6:30 pm

The Rocky Mountain Cycling Club will be hosting a Long Distance Cycling seminar. BEGINNING cyclists should attend to learn how to build base miles properly. INTERMEDIATE cyclists will learn how to make the jump from the typical 30-40 mile club rides to the RMCC gonzo distance (80-125 mile) rides.

In this seminar you'll learn about training, riding nutrition, and ride-day strategies for cycling events in the 100-125 mile range. For those who have completed a Century we will show how to enjoy and not just survive the ride. Many of our members ride one or two century rides each weekend in the middle of the season.

USA Cycling Expert-Level Coach Rick Russon will talk about the physiology of endurance cycling, and how to maximize your performance based on that knowledge.

USA Cycling Elite-Level Coach and Certified Personal Trainer Michelle Grainger will talk about motivation and cycling nutrition and how it can benefit your riding.

A panel of veteran endurance cyclists from the Rocky Mountain Cycling Club will also be on hand to answer your questions. (Catherine Shenk, John Lee Ellis, and others).

Other news from the club:

The RMCC ride program is great way to prepare for public rides like the Santa Fe Century, Elephant Rock, Triple Bypass, Ride the Rockies, Bike Tour of Colorado, and others.

This year RMCC is introducing two new challenge series. The first is the Colorado 1-2-3 which is three rides of 100K, 200K, 300K. And, we are introducing the Colorado Triple Crown which is three of the hardest 300K (186 mile) rides in the nation consisting of Denver-Aspen, The Grand Loop, and The Colorado Death Ride. The Grand Loop itself is 186 miles with over 15,000 feet of climbing.

The RMCC (club) is for riders of all levels. All riders had to start somewhere. This means with 10-15 mile rides. Once you've mastered more than just weekend riding, you can strat setting your goals for longer and longer events.

This is a club that has three Race Across America winners and other distinguished cyclists. No matter what your cycling goals are there is someone in RMCC who can help you achieve them. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 12:04 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

No ride today. Hiked the Girls.

Decided not to ride to day. It was in the 20s early this morning and then windy like crazy. Not that wind usually stops me, but I've been riding in the wind so much, just needed a mental break.

Did hike The Girls. Had fun climbing over all of the trees that are down. Twisting and winding around, just to have fun. They liked the time together. They always do. That's one of the great things about a dog.

Got lots of work done and saw clients in the gym. Good day, all in all.

Nina is very quiet today. Sad to think she is so sick. Off to bed. Ph, and it's after midnight so a Happy B-day to JE! # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:58 PM 0 Comments

More on the Pelvic Floor exercises. Try this great abdominal and Pelvic floor exercise.

Get a foam roller (found at local massage and back therapy stores).

Sit on the very edn of the roller.

Then, lie down on the roller with your roller in the middle of your back. Make sure you feel your whole back on the roller. No lifting your back or arching off of the roller.

Have your knees bent and place your hands on your stomach. If you need to support yourself, you can place your hands on the floor out to your sides.

Slowly, while thinking about contracting your stomach muscles (also your pelvic floor muscles), lift one foot off of the floor. Hold for a count of 3 seconds and then alternate the lift to your other leg. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 12:19 AM 0 Comments

Monday, March 9, 2009

1488 M: What a wonderful ride yesterday. Another century.

So another century down and more to come.
We headed out in a group of 6. One wanted to climb and practice for her upcoming triathlon. Another two from Denver, never rode with us in the past, but looking forward to riding with us. Then our faithful Joanne, she was interested in a 50 mile. Steve and I, not sure but planned to get in at least 80 miles and then get home in time to get Nina her first Chemo pill.
SO off we all went. Low and behold, as with many rides and riders, we were all going at different paces. What's the best thing to do them. Make sure no one rides alone and everyone does the ride they wanted to do. We all split up. It all worked out to be the best.

Ocne heading into the Fruit Loops we ran into John Lee E. HE was doing a whopping 150 miles. Yikes. We talked him into changing his route and come along with us. HE did. So, Steve and I figured it was a perfect way to get in a 100. You know, help John out and all.... If you know John, he is extremely accomplished and did NOT need our help.

We headed out towards Ft. Collins, north around Masonville and then into the wind back south into Boulder.

We had great stops at Sandy's, and several other mini marckets around Boulder County. Yummy stops for extra food. Can only bring along so many CLif Bars and Bloks.

# posted by Michelle Grainger @ 1:22 PM 0 Comments

Friday, March 6, 2009

1387M: Nina and another awesome bike commute.

Well, it was about 10 degrees cooler today but so worth the ride to and from work. That makes it 1387 for the year. Now it really needs to rain or snow or both. Not that I don't like riding every day to work, but.... I'm more afraid of the hills burning down.

Today's commute was the usually. Windy, but not as bad as earlier in the week. It was, however, cold this AM riding down and I was not dressed for it. I kind of froze most of the way.

Good news is, I can now get to work in 30 minutes almost any time-mountain or road bike.

For today's ride home, Steve met me and we went back up Sunshine. It felt like my legs were crying. I time trial a lot to work and the ride home can be painful if my legs are not recovered. Today they felt the week of commuting. Every time I tried to stand to go faster, they cried. Couldn't change it so I just slowed down.

Steve would ride ahead and take a photo or two. (I'll add them tomorrow).

On the home front, the news is in on Nina. She is very close to leaving this world. She has cancer and it's progressed. We will keep her comfy, give her a chemo pill and some prednizone. That will give her (really us) a few more months and actually make it more comfortable for her.

She is an awesome kitty and would have not done very well if we had not taken her in about 10 years ago. She was only four pounds when we got her and has stayed around 8 pounds the years she has been with us.

Here's to Nina and all of her cuteness. May we keep dignity in her life for as long as she has left. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:20 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, March 5, 2009

1362 M and some great riding commutes Had a great commute home today. Decided to climb home up another canyon road, then take a dirt road to my canyon, and then back up to my house. Awesome weather! Awesome views.

Nice little climb up to the dirt road but there was less traffic than the road/canyon I usually take home. More mountain views, too.

Yesterday we rode with some friends from Edwards. Man was it ever windy. 50 mph winds. Yikes! And the day before that I had two of my best rides commuting. Record times for commuting on 26 inch wheels.

Will commute one more day this week. Yeah 4 commuter days and getting close to 1400 miles. Should have that by the end of the weekend.

Saturday we will hopefully get rain or some snow. It's getting so very dry and I'm getting nervous about fires.

Sunday will be seasonable temps and be about 55 degrees. That should be good for a moderate to long ride. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:20 PM 0 Comments

Fit Ball Hamstring Exercise Here's a great workout for your Hamstring muscles. You don't even have to go to the gym for this one-although, because I do work in a gym, I think they're a good place to go for a good workout.

Take the ball and place it under your feet with your back on the floor.

Next, keep your knees straight, hands out to your sides, and lift your hips high into the air. Make sure you are contracting your Pelvic Floor muscles and abdominal muscles. Then, draw the ball back towards you, as far as you can.

Then, keeping your hips high in the air, roll the ball away from you back to the starting position.

When starting this exercise, you may not have enough core and leg strength to keep your hips high the entire movement. If this is the case, you can rest in between each one or rep.

If you want to make this a more advanced exercise, close your eyes, lift your hands and arms off of the floor and also you can do a single leg at a time. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 11:05 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Today's ride and yesterday's commute Today our friends from Edwards came to the Frontrange to ride with us. They also brought along their little dogs, Merlin and Cannon (dale). After setting up the dogs in out house with our own two Girls, we headed to Boulder for a ride.

Steve had to work at 2:00 and we got a late start so we decided to do a quick 37 miles. As the wind was whipping at 50 mph it made for a pretty fun adventurous ride.

I've never been on a ride with Wendy and was quite pleased to see how well she handled her bike in this kind of wind. She quite a bit smaller than I and it was fun to see just how the 50 mph wind would affect her riding. She was a pro. No problem at all.

We chatted the whole way, when we could hear each other and it ended up a great day for the four of us. This all with a nice 75 degree temperature and with my hard commute form yesterday.

Yesterday I rode the Ventana hard tail-(aka retro commuter) with a huge pannier on it. Got to work under 30 minutes (avg hard pace) and got home, more surprisingly, in 47 minutes. And, no, I did not have a tail wind either directions. I was huffing and puffing pretty good both ways and figured it was a good LT workout day.

The sad news is my bike fell over and the top tube was majorly dented. Now I'm not sure what I'll ride on to get ready for the upcoming 200K. Wwaaahhh. Calfee? KHS? Have to find out who can fix it.

And... on the pet front... Nina does have Lymphoma. Not sure, yet, how advanced but will be talking to Dr. Bob soon as to what direction to go. Yes, life sometimes does have sad turns. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 8:51 PM 0 Comments

2 of my friends making their way in the iditibike. Go check out this web site:http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/alaska_ultra_home_page.html.

My two friends Catherine Shenk and Louis Kobin are racing. As far as I can tell Louis is about 4-6 hours ahead of Catherine. Amazing that they are doing so well.

Catherine is my training partner for some of my longer rides. She does far more than me and has some amazing accomplishments. There is also a great Velonews article on her.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about her race in one of the upcoming REI/RMCC talks. She's aboslutely amazing. And, so is Louis. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 8:46 PM 0 Comments

About 1300 miles to date. Yeah! OK. I have to start writing in here more often. No excuses, really.
So if you wan to check out a great lecture about training, nutrition, and cycling, come to REI on
March 18th at 6:30 PM. The Rocky Mountain Cycling Club is the club host.

Cycling, Break the Century Barrier!
March 18, Wed 6:30 PM
Here's the scoop:

In this seminar you'll learn the best training, nutritional, and ride-day strategies for cycling events in the 100-125 mile range. USA Cycling Expert-Level coach Rick Russon will explain the physiology of endurance cycling, and how to maximize your performance based on that knowledge.

Licensed USA Cycling Elite-Level Coach and Certified Personal Trainer Michelle Grainger will fill you in on the secrets of motivation and cycling nutrition. A panel of veteran endurance cyclists from the Rocky Mountain Cycling Club will also be on hand to answer your questions.

The RMCC offers a program of training rides building up to 100 miles, and a number of 200km (125-mile) and longer events to challenge you.

We'll get some drinks at a local bar afterwards to socialize. I'll tell you guys how I got hit by a pickup truck while biking to work back in August and survive to tell about it.:):):)

Location:REI Denver
Contact:(303) 756-3100
Cost: Free
Registration Required? No. # posted by Michelle Grainger @ 5:50 PM 0 Comments

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