RAIN Ride Post

Sorry that it's taken me so long to blog on here . . . I put this blog up on Facebook about a week ago but then remembered that I do have a few folks who read this blog and aren't on Facebook I'll attach a few pics at the bottom, too.

So I am finally getting around to typing up a little bit more about my RAIN ride experience this year. B's been on vacation and we've been resting, relaxing, and playing the past few days. I just put an album of pics up on here, so feel free to breeze through those.

So we spent Friday evening gearing up, traveling to Terre Haute, eating and preparing for the ride. I think I crawled into bed around 11:30 PM or so. The alarm went off @ 4:45 AM with Jerry Reed singing "East Bound and Down" (think Smokey and the Bandit) which B and I thought was appropriate for the day ahead. We took off for Terre Haute at about 5:30. It was COLD outside. I had to borrow a sweatshirt from my mama. It was also pretty dark and foggy but most of it had burned off by the time we got to TH.After a quick bathroom break @ Starbucks, we zipped onto 70 and crossed into IL. We got off @ the first exit and you could see the trail of cars with bike racks and many bikes already on the road. With ~1200 riders, you tend to notice a sight like that.

At about 6:55 AM we headed toward the startline but not too close. I perfer to stay @ the back just b/c I don't want to get run over at the start. 7 AM, we flipped our cyclometers on and waited for the line to move (which took a couple of mins). I nodded goodbye to Dad and B and took off. The ride through TH was quick and easy. This year's police escort was excellent. We rarely had to stop for a light or stop sign all the way through Terre Haute. Brian and Dad were standing @ the corner of OH and Fruitridge @ Deming Park, waving me on which was a nice surprise.

I love the ride between TH and Brazil up 40 because it's easy and smooth and you begin to get your legs under you. From Brazil to the first rest stop in Putnam County is a bit more challenging as the hills are huge. I capped out at 31.0 mph on the one near the prison (I think I wanted to get by quickly as there were plenty of prisoners in the yard). This year it wasn't as hard to get through the hills thanks to training simple awareness that they were coming up. The first restop (around 41 miles) was a quick one this year. I used the portapot (ewwwwwww), ate a meal bar, sucked down some gatorade and hopped back on. Somewhere in the hills, I hit a bump that knocked my cyclometer loose and a small bolt fell out so B and dad took a good look at it and set off to find a replacement to get it repaired at the next stop. I hopped back on the bike.

The next leg was probably my quickest of the day. It was still pretty cool (probably in the low 70s) and there was a great tail wind. I was riding between 19-22 mph most of the 26 miles of this leg. Felt great. Made it to Plainfield (~66 miles into the ride) in good time where the rest stop was at the high school. I sat down for a few, put a couple of bandaids on my toes where it looked like blisters were beginning, refeuled, used the nice INDOOR restrooms, enjoyed the breeze and the shade.

Kristi, Dave, and Blake Bennett dropped by and said hello and I visited with them for awhile. I think I ended up spending 45 mins there, longer than I had intended, but I was rested. The wind picked up quite a bit on the next leg as I rode through the Camby/Mooresville area and across the southside of Indy. I saw Angie and Kaitlyn Petrow, Anita, Ally, and Ryan Beach as I turned from Bluff onto Banta. I guess Holly Rodgers had just stepped inside for a minute when I rode by. :( She had been out all AM waiting on me. Amanda Ennis was there, too but had to leave 30 mins before I got there. These are all great girlfriends from church and their kiddos. It was so encouraging to see them and it meant a ton that they came out, sat in the sun, and cheered on so many other riders, encouraging them. I had to kinda blink back tears but pulled it together and finished out the ride across the rest of the city, making it to the lunch stop (Mile 91) around 2, I think. B and Dad fixed me up and I ate and reapplied sunblock and stuff and then got back on for the next leg of the ride (the same leg where I begged for God to take me home last year). I decided to iPod up and have some music to distract myself with for the next few miles. I rode pretty much in isolation for awhile through the country. It was relaxing and I made it to 112 (an unofficial rest stop on the other side of Greenfield before you get back on 40) around 4 PM.

I again refeuled and rested for a few seconds and then jumped back on the bike and went the right direction (last year I made a wrong turn that made me give up the ghost at this point) on 40. 3 miles up the road, I stopped again quickly @ Jason Bean's parents house. Kim, Jason, Ethan, and Abby (and Jason's mom) all greeted me in the yard and had an ice cold bottle of water. It was great to see all of them and they graciously let me use the restroom (I had not wanted to use the dirty ones @ the park at 112). I visited for a few and then got back on the bike for the next 15 miles. The rest stop @ 130 was very nice and there were a lot of riders there (it felt like I hadn't seen anyone in an eternity). I sat down a bit longer but got back on the road somewhere in between 6 and 6:30 to finish the final 30 miles. I told B I wasn't sure I could do all 30 miles without a short break so he and Dad met me about 15 miles down the road to make sure I was doing ok. I didn't get off the bike, just stripped off my iPod which had finally died, sucked down some gatorade, and started the final 15 miles. There were a few killer hills but with every mile that passed I kept pushing myself to finish the race. I pulled across the line at about 8:05 PM, feeling like I'd ridden 160 miles (my cyclometer actually said 165, but whatever) but not in too bad shape. I was a bit seat sore and my legs were engaged but not sore if that makes any sense.

The recovery has been great and I was back at spinning Monday night with no problems at all. I'm not sure if I'll ride it again next year or not but I'm so glad I conquered the beast. Thanks for all of your prayers and support (sorry for the long post, believe it or not, this is abbreviated).

Bullfrog Jog Update

Guess my official time was 26:10. If you go here and click on Bullfrog Jog results you can see my name. I finished 12th overall. :)

In other news, thanks to a good friend and a trip to the Gray Goat, the greatest fitness store ever, the pedals are on and so are the lean forward bars. I spent quite a bit of time clicking in and out last night and even got one successful turn around the drive. I didn't fall over (came close several times) but I did knick the skin on my hand on the first try YOUCH. More practice tonight!

Bullfrog Jog

I've been running more miles than riding lately . . . but soon it will be back to the seat in preparation for the RAIN as there's just a little over a month before it will be here. I am registered up and ready to go so at least I'm committed. I need to regularly put in some road miles in addition to the spinning classes I've been taking. I'm really looking forward to some solitary time on the bike.

This past weekend, I ran in my first 5K. It was a lot of fun (yes I said fun). It was a family affair, a benefit run for leukemia research in honor of a family friend who passed away a couple of years ago and the whole family got in on the action. My dad, Brian, and Anna did the 1 mile kids' fun run/walk. Brian and Dad were 2 of 3 adults in this "race," had anticipated Anna walking the whole thing but when all of the other kids took off, so did she (she was probably the smallest one out there except for the little one being pushed in a stroller by the other adult) and they were forced to jog along with her. The look that they shot each other when she began running was priceless! She got a little tired but didn't quit and made it the whole route. It was super fun cheering for her as she came across the finish line. I'm hoping this is the first of many fun runs for Anna. I think it would be a great hobby for her and she really, really enjoyed it, from the number she got to pin on to the freebies from McDonalds and Wendy's that she got when she crossed the finish line (nothing says healthful living like a one mile run and some fresh french fries). She was also a terrific support while I was running.

My mom, my niece, and I all did the 5K. They walked/ran and I ran the whole thing. I really had no expectations. I simply wanted to finish and run the majority of the time. I had placed no stipulations on myself. I was able to easily run the entire thing (with my iPod of course) and did it in 26:02 which wasn't too bad. According to my husband, I was the 5th female to finish. Granted, there weren't that many people running it and the gal in front of me was in middle school but hey, for my first one, I'll take it. I usually run 3.5 miles in the neighborhood across the street and it takes me around 35 minutes so I'm guessing I ran a little bit faster than I normally do . . . I think it might be the competitive spirit in me. I really enjoyed passing people, especially toward the end of the run when I was passing the walkers, essentially "lapping" them. The course was flat (with a few gradual inclines here and there) and well shaded. The weather was perfect. Since the park was so small, we actually lapped the entire park 1.5 times. So that meant I got to pass by my dad, Brian, and Anna more than a few times which was incredibly encouraging. It's hard not to smile at your pig-tailed four year old who is giving you a "round" of applause by clapping her hands in a circle. Another spectator commented to Brian that I was the only person running who was smiling. :) I seriously did have fun.

After the run (I got a medal, woot, woot . . . I gave it to Anna), I recovered and waited for my mom and niece to cross the finish line. Then, there were some raffle drawings. I of course promptly won a DQ ice cream cake from the Sullivan Dairy Queen which kind of defeats the purpose of running 3 miles but whatever. Anna was excited.

One of the coolest things about the course was that they had posted pics of people who were either battling leukemia or who had passed away from it. They were all local folks people, I knew either personally or knew their families, including my own great uncle. It's rather humbling when you're getting worn out to realize your battle to finish a run is nothing like a battle for one's life.

We were all finished and on our way by 10 AM with all of our Saturday to enjoy. It made Brian and I both want to sign up for an event almost every weekend. I definitely will run more 5Ks and maybe even further distances in the future.

Good enough, Julie? :)

Long time, no blog . . .

So I have the shoes, I have the cleats, I have the pedals . . . all courtesy of my cousin Taylor and her pops, my uncle Bob. Now all I need to do is to install them and learn how to use them which I am sure will prove to be no small feat. I am fairly coordinated but it usually takes awhile for me to learn how to pull it together. So look for me to have some scraped up knees and mainly be riding in my driveway at least for this week.

I went for a run this AM which was fantastic, about 3.5 miles. It's beyond words beautiful today. I'm not much of a runner but boy I feel good now. I see how folks get addicted to running. I signed up for my first 5K in June and so I figure I ought to throw some cross training in so that I can make it the full distance . . . how many miles are in a 5K again? My anti-metric brain can't make the automatic conversion. What is that formula again . . . isn't something multiplied by 5/8ths or is that converting C to F. My poor math and science teachers would be disgusted.

Alright, I need to be outside during weather like this so I should sign off for now. Who knows, in Indiana, it could be snowing next week so we should enjoy this while we can. Of course, I'm going to be in ATL,GA this time next week for a conference so what do I care?

Still Spinning My Wheels

So no more new road miles since I last posted. I went to Spinning a couple of times last week - Wednesday and Saturday and did cross training on my other days (except for Thursday which is usually my day off and Sunday which was Easter). Brian came with me both times and again last night and because of the nasty rainy weather, I'll be riding indoors yet again today.

We got to the gym early last night, so that I could be sure that we'd get good bikes and more importanty the good seats (some of them leave me sore after class) and so I spent some time lifting weights before class. I lifted legs and then felt like I was going to stomp right through the pedals when class started . . . whoops.

My uncle has the pedals for the bike. HOORAY! So that means I need to get cleats and a pair of shoes. I'm very excited about graduating into big girl pedals and shoes.

In other news, we're on a great streak of keeping our house clean. I am no Holly Homemaker and so this is no small feat. Now if only I could get myself to focus on my thesis. And yet in further news, we're surviving on one car right now which meant I got to go to court with B today (first time, if you can believe that, in his practicing for 4 yrs. that I have). The Breeze is still in the shop from B's wreck last week.

And Snap Cold it Did

After an 80+ degree day on Monday, there was snow yesterday and freezing temps again today. I cannot believe it. I'm dying for the weather to be consistent enough that I can get in more outdoor workouts. So yesterday, it was back to spinning . . . which was ok since Kim is my favorite instructor for spinning @ Bally. AND, Brian has been going to spinning with me upon occasion which he did yesterday. I think I'll make him a cyclist yet. Tuesday we had planned to do the same but B got in a bit of a fender bender. He's totally fine (a little sore in the back) but the Breeze has no bumper and went into the shop today. It could have been much worse, so we're thankful that it wasn't that big of a deal.

Rolling along

Nice easy 19 mile ride this evening. Beautiful weather, a little buggy (I think at one pt. there was one in my teeth, my eye, my nose, and quite possibly my ear), new helmet that fits well, forgot my sunglasses and sunblock though (ARGH!). I was a little slower than last year but this is the first of my longish rides so I suppose I shouldn't be too critical. I thought I'd better take advantage of the beautiful weather since it's going to snap cold again tomorrow . . . ah, springtime in Indiana.

Julie's Wedding, Nov 06.

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For the first time in 40 years . . .

Go Thunderbirds! Win Regionals.

And the journey begins again . . .

Mark your calendars ladies and gentleman, the 2007 RAIN ride is only 131 days away. It's time for Cherie to start training again and I don't mean just spinning classes. With a break in the weather coming toward the end of the week, I'm looking forward to hitting the pavement (hopefully not literally since it's been awhile). I have longingly looked out the window @ spinning enough. I have driven my regular riding path one too many times. I am so ready to strap on my helmet, gear up and log in the miles. So I'm thinking by Thursday or Friday, I can have the tires aired up and everything tweaked and ready to go. Time to get rolling.

The News From . . .

So you might remember from ancient posts that I greatly enjoy the comic musings of Garrison Keillor and especially the "News from Lake Wobegon." Anyway, because of a post on Relevant Magazine's website, I found out that you can subscribe to the News from Lake Wobegon for free on iTunes. I immediately went and signed up for the Podcast (Relevant has a great weekly Podcast, too). I'm looking forward to a weekly chuckle since I rarely am near the radio when A Prairie Home Companion is on and I don't have time to go to the website weekly.

How Sweet it is . . .