Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend.  Mine was full of family (mostly for the good but some for the bad) and great food.  I am looking forward to more family time during this holiday season.

This weekend is the Holiday Hundred in Seminole County.  It is a great ride that's goal is raise enough money to give away over 300 brand new bikes to kids that need them.  It is a very worthy cause.  I was going to ride in it this year but because I haven't been on the bike in a really long time I decided against it.  I am hoping to help out with the SAG stop though along with other Seminole Cyclists.  Just waiting on the phone call. In my research for this years event I came across a blog that describes the ride from last year through the eyes of a cyclists.  Good blog, bad picture of Annie.  I had no idea this time last year I was so obese.  It is awful. It just makes me realize how far I have come.  I still have a ways to go but I will get there before I know it.

I am still working out at the gym and at home.  I think that tonight (if it isn't raining) the kids and I will take a walk.  OR even a bike ride.  They love it and it is good exercise for mommy.  ONE DAY I will make it to an indoor TNT training at D2 Cycling center and let Coach David kick my butt again.  It really looks like fun to me!  He is the major reason that I do not look like I did in the picture now.  I am more grateful than I could ever express in words.

Achey Body

I am feeling it today.  After the last two days of getting back into the gym routine hardcore my muscles are reminding me that it had been too long.  Sore!  But happy.  Today is a cardio day but I will have to do that when I get home tonight.  Gonna set up the trainer and ride for a bit.  I am hoping to take a ride at OIA on Heintzelman's tomorrow evening.  But that is still up in the air.  Paul is going to try and get out of work on time and meet me there.  Then it all comes down to have a sitter for the kidlets.  :)

I am so happy to be back at the gym.  I feel better am sleeping better.  My over all sense of self has improved again. 

Health and the Holidays

I am still working on losing weight.  I know in my mind that I will continue this struggle for the rest of my life.  But I have decided that it isn't about the weight loss for the next month and half it is about the weight gain.  I refuse to gain weight during this Holiday season. I am continuing at the gym and will have to be very vigilant about what foods I am eating.  There is nothing like the holiday foods.  I am already planning my pumpkin pie baking for this weekend and thinking of a Christmas cookie baking day for the kiddos. 

Haven't been on the bike lately and I am really sad about that.  We have been so busy since we got home from vacation that I haven't even seen my bike.  I am looking forward to changing that in the next few days.  :)  I miss riding even if it is cold.

Christmas Cards

I heard about this great deal for bloggers that Shutterfly is offering.  You get 50 FREE photo cards!  Sign me up!  I'm all about free stuff.  It's expensive enough to mail a card with the price of stamps so might as well get the card for free.  Go HERE for more info on how you can get 50 free photo cards, too!

I always send out Christmas cards and they're almost always photo cards.  We haven't taken our family picture yet this year but hopefully I can find a spare moment to do it soon. :)

www.irunlikeamother.com

So to the folks at Runner’s World, I challenge you to show someone REAL.  I’m available, just give me a call.  I’ll pose for your cover, stretch marks and all, and show potential readers what most real runners look like. Moms that run.  Dads that run.  We’re runners, too, don’t forget about us.

This is a great blog written by a friend of mine, Heather.  She is a runner as well as a new tri-athlete.  She has beef with the magazine Runner's World and I feel her pain.  I could make the same comments about the editors of Bicycling magazine.  Interesting read! :)

Back to the Gym

I have enjoyed my time off but it is back to the gym full time for me.  I feel better when I work out both emotionally and physically.  I am going to take a nice jog tonight to help with the after work stress and in this weather it should be GORGEOUS! 

I have decided that I am not ready for the big century ride this year.  I haven't been able to get the riding in that I should be doing.  Life is getting in the way but that is ok by me.  I have signed Paul and I up for the Boys and Girls Club ride in November and I will completing 66 miles that day.  I am contemplating doing the HH familiarization ride with Paul on the 20th of November.  50 something miles out and back through the country, no drop ride, B nice pace (not faster than 20mph).  I know that I can do that. ;)

The weather is gorgeous.  Now is the time to get outside and play! 

Assault on Sugarloaf 2010

I should have written this a very long time ago but here goes

On September 19 Paul and I arrived a little late to the waterfront park but since there was no mass start for the ride we were not very concerened.  It wasn't the first ride we had been late too. ;)  We met up with Tony and Tosha to get the ride started.  It was a gorgeous morning and I felt ready to go.

To start out of the waterfront park was pretty rough.  The legs were cold and not warmed up and to start out in a really hilly neighborhood was not my idea of fun.  I was starting to get that feeling that I really wasn't prepared.  I was so excited to have the best people around me for support.  We had a good little paceline going around the backside of the lake.  The winds were there and we knew that they were going to become a factor later in the morning.

The ride through Cherry Lake I finally started to feel my legs come to me.  It also helped that I knew where I was by this point of the ride.  Being familiar with your surronds really seem to help, they do me anyway.  Tosha and I had a really great time chatting through Cherry Lake while Paul and Tony did there things many feet ahead of us.  We made it sag #1 at SR 19.   This stop was a good boost for me.  It made me feel like I was really going to do this and I was going to do it was style!!  While I was there I met Carol, a mutual friend.  She told me that Coach, DW and Paul had FLOWN by her a lot earlier in the day.  LOL  She assured me that if they happened to stop the next time around she would tell that I had stopped by. ;)

The next 20ish miles were rolling up SR 19, over on CR 455 passed Buckhill and finally a turn north on 561.  We got to sag #2 and it was very much needed.  I just needed to get off the saddle to walk a bit.  My behind was getting sore.  I was very encouraged by my speed and climbing up until this point.  The thought did keep entering my mind that Sugarloaf was going to be at mile 50 something and unfortunately I just didn't know how I well I was going to do that far in.  But I was still ready for the challenge. 

The weather although gorgeous it was starting to get really windy, right in our face!  We were on the flat part of the ride.  It was 20ish miles of headwinds, side (blow you off your bike) winds and smelly cows.  Nice roads though.  Sag #3 was a potty break and nice chat with the only guy left at the stop.  He was a cool guy.  Off to Sugarloaf we go.  The butterflies finally really took over and I started to overthink that whole thing.  But I was still ready to do it!  Come on Sugarloaf.

I took the left turn and looked to the top.  This is what a trained for.  I was ready thanks to Coach!  I started up the hill and was feeling really strong and proud of myself.  Tony and Paul went up the hill like they wasn't even trying.  Tosha and I took our sweet ass time getting from the bottom to the top.  The funniest part of the initial climb with Paul's comment while at the bottom.  "You have more gears?!" he said.  "I KNOW" I said.  :)  I was proud to say that it took some time before I had to get down the the granny gear.  Hell yeah!  Everyone that has ever climbed Sugarloaf knows that once you get to the black mailbox it starts to even out and becomes not quite so steep, this is when the smile creeped across my face.  Paul had come back down at that point to climb back up with me.  I looked over at him smiled, and geared up.  I rocked it up Sugarloaf.  No one could ever take the smile off my face.  The crew running the sag at the top were the best. 

The only thing that sucked about Sugarloaf, was that we still 15 miles to get back to the waterfront.  Off we went back to the car.  I was feeling tired and a little jelly legged for about half of the trip back.  But again we got to the point where I knew that we were almost there.  That I was almost done.  I knew that my kiddos were there waiting on me and that I come over and conquered what I wanted to do.

So after almost 4 months of training, a 25 pound weight loss and some tears I Assaulted Sugarloaf.  59 miles in less that 4 hours.  I am looking forward to next year!