Sunday, February 17, 2007
Today I decide to go mountain biking from home (at Beaver Lake). I told Julie I'd meet her at Soaring Eagle Park (at 10am) which is at the far end of the trails. I left home at 9:15am. It took me 25 minutes to get to the trail head (2.75 miles) and 30 minutes (1.9 miles) to get to the park from there. I was 15 minutes late and thankfully Julie was also late. We did a short loop together and then Julie headed home (to tend a sick cat) and I continued to ride. I seldom ride the lower part of the trail system so I headed there. I spent 1.5 hours riding that side of the trail system. I had a nice descent and one really gnarly one. One thing about going down is that you have to come back up. By the time I got to the top again I was ready to head home. I spent a little over 3 hours riding in the trail system. I found a new trail leaving the area and took it. It was by far some of the nicest trail in the area. Then I rode through Beaver lake park and then home from there. Today I managed 3 crashes. Two were due to slick logs (and not enough momentum to get over them) and one was an endo that happened when I was not paying attention. I remembered a phrase that was coined last year by someone in BBTC "wakey wakey hands of brakey" My hands were off the brakes but I wasn't doing wakey part ;-)

Total time out (3.53). Actual ride time 3 hours (this is when I wasn't huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath or picking myself up off the ground;-). Ascent 1020. 14.5 miles. Average speed 5.2 mph

Friday, February 16, 2007
I had my doubts as to whether I'd be riding this weekend. I've been having a ton of pain and tightness at the base of my left calf. I've been icing it, and taking "injury level" of Aleve. "Injury level" is the level that my doctor put me on (5 pills to be exact) to get my ankle to quiet down when it flared up in November/December. And on Thursday, no pain! It is still swollen a bit, so I'm going to continue the Aleve and ice...oh yea, and I'm going ride ride ride!

I took a vacation day today so that I could get an extra ride in this week. My (weak) riding plan was 75 miles...but I made sure that I could stop at 50 miles if my body complained (which I did stop at 50 miles). I wanted to make sure that I didn't have to suffer through 75 miles with bike fit issues or my calf complaining. My bike fit is still off a bit, but not enough to beat up my body. I had a good ride. Averaged 12.2 mph which isn't bad especially since at mile 35 I slowed down a bit and decided to quit pushing because my left ankle was screaming and my left knee wasn't happy. The easier pace seemed to help and I unclipped my left shoe and coasted a bit while moving my left foot around. That seemed to do the trick (of course I was very careful with my pedaling after that).

Things that made a difference today. 1) My doctor prescribed an inhaler for "exercise induced Asthma." Wow what a difference it made in my riding today and after the ride it decreased Asthma symptoms significantly. 2) I'm having fun on the bike. I'll take off at a fast clip for a while and then I'll go back to my normal pace. So there were a couple of times today (on Lake Washington Blvd (coming out of Seward Park) that I was clipping along at about 20mph. 3) I'm starting to feel my power coming back which makes riding all the more fun.

I'm looking forward to a mountain bike ride tomorrow. I think I'll ride Beaver Lake since I can ride from home. I'm also going to schedule a fit for the Seven...I've done all I can...and with my recovering leg injury...I just can't take chances.

Miles 0-30 ave speed was 13 mph, Ave. Cadence was 79 rpm. Overall ave. speed was 12.2 mph and ave. cadence was 75rpm.

Thursday, February 15, 2007
Went for a walk with a friend. Felt good to just get outside. Walked for about an hour.

Monday, February 12, 2007
Today was spin class with Cheryl. We (Cheryl and I) decided I would stay seated (in spin class) since the last spin class (where I practiced standing) tweaked my ankle. It has been a couple of weeks and my ankle is still sore (and riding Saturday with my bike fit off...made it worse). Our plan is to have me only stand (on the bike) when I have to. The goal is to get me through PacTour without inflaming the ankle (so I don't lose riding time).


Sunday, February 11, 2007
Today was a recovery day. My body ached, not from the ride itself; but rather because the fit on my bike was off (after having a new saddle professionally installed). My goal was to get my bike into a Seven retailer to have the measurements checked. Gregg's didn't want to do the measurements, but rather wanted to do a full fit for $100...and I knew that wasn't happening. So I pulled out my sheet of measurements.

Each Seven custom bike comes with a set of measurements for setting up the bike. The measurements are suppose to be a starting point. All very technical and for me the measurements have been perfect.

Seven gives the new owner five measurements:

1. How long the saddle is (from front to back) that they recommend you ride.
2. The height of the saddle (measured from the center of the bottom bracket to top of the saddle).
3. The distance the noise of the saddle should be behind the bottom bracket (as measured using a plumb bob and measuring device).
4. The distance from the back of the saddle to the handlebars.
5. The rise of the handle bar above the saddle.

So I got out my cm tape measure and my carpenter's level and began to work. I found two issues. 1. the saddle was 1/2 cm too low and the saddle noise was tilted up too high (I like mine level). I fixed both and look forward to my next ride.

Saturday, February 10, 2007
Today was the first ride in two weeks. It was also my first ride on the new saddle. My goal was 75 miles. I parked at McD's on East Lake Sammamish (Issaquah). I started my ride at 9:30 a.m. Rode down 900 to Westlake Sammamish, left at the round about and Right on Newport way (following the bike route though Eastgate to Bellevue). Then around Lake Washington clockwise and back the way I came.

I liked the feel of the new saddle. I could definitely feel my seat bones on the saddle and I didn't feel sore on the ride (although I did get a little saddle sore by mile 40). I'm going to keep this saddle for a while and see if breaking it in helps. It is definitely an improvement over my old one.

I rode and chatted with a guy for about 5 miles on the Burke Gillman Trail. To keep pace with him I was at 90% MHR. Had a great conversation (mostly about my Seven bike...he was contemplating having one built). I mentioned that before my Seven I didn't feel like a strong cyclist. He said "Anyone that can ride 15mph up hill is a strong cyclist...you are a strong cyclist!" It was a great reminder that I'm a good cyclist...and comparing with others isn't helpful. I'm reminded of what my golf coach use to say. "you are as good as you should be; and you should be as good as you are." My riding buddy turned off and I continued on my merry way.

After I left my riding buddy, I struggled with the last 26 miles, although it was fun riding the North end of the lake which I had not done before. For the last 26 miles I felt the way that I do when I get off the bike (feeling like I need to cough and wheezing a bit). I realized that my legs were not tired. I talked with my doctor on Friday about my coughing and needing to clear mucus out of my lungs for about 2-3 hours after riding. She said it sounded like exercise induced asthma and she prescribed an inhaler to use before and after riding. I'm interested to see how it works (don't have it yet). I realized on the ride home that the 5 miles at 90% MHR seemed to bring on the symptoms. It is interesting that (on long rides) when I'm in the 90%MHR range (for a prolonged time) I usually have a bit of trouble for the next few minutes getting enough Oxygen...this has been going on as long as I've been riding. It has been most noticeable when I'm climbing hard...by the time I crest the hill I don't have what it takes to keep going...have to coast a bit and catch my breath. The symptoms have been much worse this year then they have been before...this is also the first year that I've done hard long rides in the winter. So the cold air may be making it worse.

Although I wanted to ride 75 miles, I'm very happy with the 67 miles. This is my longest ride so far this year, and it had some great climbs (Juanita hill for one).

I got off the bike feeling like I had been beat up (more than on my other rides). Both knees complained on the ride and my neck complained coming down Juanita (a long descent in my drops). My left ankle was complaining by mile 50. This could all be from the new saddle which is obviously supporting me much more than my old saddle. I think I'll drop my bike off at a Seven shop just to make sure the new saddle is in the correct position (that it isn't lower or higher or more forward or farther back than it is suppose to be).

My average speed was down a bit (11.4 mph). My Cadence was up (well between 80 and 90) on the flats. Cadence average was 71 rpm Ascent was 2680. Average HR was 78%. 23% of the ride was uphill, 30% was downhill and 47% was flat.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
I've had a bad case of saddle sores this winter, so today I went to Sammamish Cycles to buy a new saddle. I bought a Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow saddle and had them install it (so that it is in the same position as my old saddle). Picked up some tubes and tires while I was there. I think I can find the tubes and tires cheaper in the future. I'm finding 700c tires about $10 more than the 650c which I use to purchase (not sure if this is Sammamish Cycles or if the prices is indeed more in general). I'm trying to gradually pick up the supplies I'll need for PacTour before the trip and make any bike changes now so that my body is use to the bike setup well before the trip. I'm still looking for a larger saddle bag (one that will fit my coat in it). Otherwise I'm set. Assuming this saddle works well.

Sunday, February 2, 2007

Multiple choice quiz:
Diana:
a) is a total slacker and an unmotivated athlete (oh wait...is she an athlete?)
b) has bad luck
c) lacks good solid common sense
d) lacks skills in priority setting towards achieving her goals.

I'm frustrated.

My class is Monday night (Managerial Accounting) and it is taking most of my free time. I've spent at least a couple hours every evening Tuesday-Friday and half of Saturday and all of Sunday studying for a test on Monday night...and I still don't feel ready! I have 6 weeks left of this class...oh yea...I also have 6 weeks left of training for PacTour. Needless to say...I have to get my rides in and my homework done. So much for a social life! This is the first class that I haven't been able to get my homework done in 6-9 hours.

My new (18 month old) furnace has quit 3 times in one week and 4 times over 2 months. The first time (Late November) I waited for parts for several days only to find that the part that I was waiting for didn't make a difference. 4 weeks later it quit again. Fixed...oh wait...it quit after a few days. Fixed again...oh wait...it quit after a few hours. So I'm hoping (and praying) that my furnace guys will finally realize that I have a lemon and get me a knew one. So, I've hung out at home (working from home) for two beautiful days this week. Both of which I could have gone for a nice ride (if I knew when the furnace guy would show up). I finally purchased a space heater and borrowed another one from a neighbor. Those two heaters keep the upstairs toasty and the fireplace is keeping the downstairs toasty.

So I haven't been getting my workouts in...

I have had one blessing. My two year old grand niece spent 6 hours with me on Saturday. We had a blast. I kept thinking, I need to borrow a buggy that will attach to my mountain bike so that she and I can go riding. I also realize I can't take her on the weekend again (until after Pactour). I have to ride on Saturdays...

My goal for this week is to try to get my homework done early in the week (and maybe use my lunch times) so that I can get to the pool and get out and ride.

Ok...I'm done ranting! It is time to pack my spinning bag for tomorrow...because tomorrow is a new day.