31

Goodness, apparently I'm updating Facebook a lot more than this blog! Lots going on, but when I stepped out of work Tuesday, it felt like the first breath of summer air I've breathed this year. Magical! Wednesday I turned 31...10 years since 21. I'm happy to be older now. Wouldn't wish to rewind the clock a moment.

In an attempt to make my bday last as long as it possibly could, I woke up at 5:15 and went for a solo ride to think about the upcoming year. The camera came with me...the goal of the ride was to find something that would symbolize 31.
This painted brick wall jumped out and seemed the obvious choice. Then I thought about it, how appropriate! Wednesday evening I went out with a few co-workers and we had beers together (I switched from the standard Guinness or stout on tap to pale ale and it was quite good). It was fun to have a celebration of sorts for my bday and I didn't expect that from the work crowd (though they are usually in the mood for going out). After that a couple of us went to an indoor gym and climbed the walls.

The next celebration was tonight--Carol's bachelorette party. The girls met up in LoDo and we had such a fun time! I was sad that I had recently thrown away the extra candy necklaces from Arrick's bachelorette party...they would have come in handy. Alas, Carol received a candy bra and a few other candy items unmentionable on a pg blog such as this one. ;) We had a super fun time, it was great to see her and others from the women's peloton whom I've not seen in a very long time.

Carol and Tim are getting married this weekend! So that celebration will be coming soon, I can't wait. They are such a good couple, it's awesome to see people like them get together and tie the knot.

Sunday is the bday party with family. Another fun time! I'll take it, considering I've been all work and no play girl for too long this summer.

Fed Center Spectator

Today I didn't end up racing. It was cookin' out there in the sun. Not being fully rested, it just didn't seem like a good idea to try to race again, as much as I wanted to. It's pretty important that it is a good experience (okay, now, how many races have I done and not liked? I can count them on one hand & I've probably done around 100 races--for those of you who aren't familiar with bike racing, 100 is a low number compared to most people who have been racing awhile). But, racing after training is a much different animal than going in without having a real interval training session since, ummm, last year at this time.

ColoBikeLaw.com did a fabulous job of organizing the race. It seemed to go like clock-work to me (sitting at the registration table). And, it was sooooo cool seeing many friends, teammates (old and new) and getting all excited to be back in the pack.

The one thing that keeps bouncing through my head is what a good idea cross racing would be. Only issue is that it seems easy to tip over when mounting and dismounting. My bike is getting older and I don't have spare tubes, tires, etc. but this year might be different than years past when I'm just too tired from racing all season to consider cross racing. We'll see!

good morning

is there any better way to start the day than with a bike ride? No. And tomorrow and Friday are vacation days--hopefully a chance for quality miles. Saturday I'll try my legs at racing for the first time this year--welcome to the pain cave.

All in the Day

This morning started with a nice ride to Golden, complete with a purple sky as the sun rose and it ended with some awesome Rock Band playing at my place (my friends are the talented rockers, it's hard, but lots of fun!) I left a note for my neighbor warning her of the very loud music that would be happening here and I didn't get any complaints! You'd expect there to be some regular partying in a building like this, but there's never a sound coming from anyone here. That all changed tonight.

In my quest to have a perfect balance between work, life, fun, fitness, time alone and time with others, it's possible that it's starting to come together. One thing is for sure, though, I'm determined to spend August as the summer should be--possibly doing some traveling, spending more time out socially and still increasing mileage on the bike.

It's another very warm evening here; long summer nights are so incredibly wonderful. I want to stay up late and hang onto it--savor every breath of this air, listen to the sound of each cricket coupled with the quiet traffic below and remember the joy of chasing fireflies on nights like these many years ago.

The riding adventures begin again

I was joking at work today about how nice it would be to go on an all-night ride, since the weather has been perfect (well, after dark, that is, when it isn't scorching hot). Almost had that happen tonight! I rode up to Red Rocks to hear some of "The Police" as they were playing there tonight. Figured I could get much closer to the concert being on a bike. I was right about that, but I couldn't get quite close enough. I could hear the music, but it was a bit muffled. Besides, I had to turn around to get home as soon as I got there. It was worth it for the experience & some pics, to be posted later.

On the ride home, the sun began to set and it made sense to catch the bus home. Of course, as my luck would have it, I was waiting at a stop where the bus wasn't going to pick up ever. That wasted a bunch of time, but I made it to another stop (riding on dirt paths where sidewalks should have been, I was shocked to not get a flat) and then got a bus fairly quickly after that.

What an awesome evening. This summer is not going to get away from me if I can help it!

Why Dog Sitting is Cool

Tonight and tomorrow I'm dog sitting for a friend. This is Ruby, one tired dog after I got done running all over LoDo with her. Walking a dog is a normal, every-day thing for others. For me, it's a real treat. For one, I love the company and a reason for people to smile and say hi. The presence of a dog helps validate a person. It's also a fabulous excuse to people watch.

One of the stranger group activities I've seen:A Segway ride. Is this really better than taking a walk on a beautiful evening? No way!

This morning the day started with a great ride with Vera...we beat the heat of the day, for the most part (got on the bike at 7). I am still so excited to have my heart back into cycling.

It's Back

Friday something happened and I can't explain it. In a moment's time, I regained the passion I've had for cycling since I got my first road bike 5 years ago (almost to the day). That passion completely left me in February, and that sent me down the road of "normal" life. During that time, I pursued a new job and I did need extra energy to do that. The new job is great, but there's stress involved with doing anything new. Almost everything that had been constant in my life changed in the period of a few short months. (No, I didn't move.)

It was weird, though, these past few months of not being cycling-centric. Every time I've been on the bike, even for the short commute, I had nothing in my legs. Zero energy, zero desire to go fast. Zero desire to race. Not like me at all. Nothing was moving the bike forward...on most days. It's a place I never thought I'd be before and I hope to never experience again.

Friday's ride was a religious experience. There was a fair amount of spitting rain and I was able to skirt an on-coming storm. I rode around the storm and saw blue skies in the distance, though the storm was brewing over Denver. The splatter of the tiny raindrops felt amazing. I was smiling, riding hard, wanting to stay out for hours.

It's become clear to me that when I don't ride, I don't have the energy to focus as much as I need to on all of the other things. It's easier to be aimless in purpose. Life without cycling is not complete. It's probably true to extend this to mean that life without any emphasis on something physical is incomplete. After riding this morning, I got more work done than I have in weeks. And I feel great. My appetite, incidentally, is also under control (which it isn't when I'm not riding). Interesting, eh?

My passion is back and so am I. It'll take some time before I get my form back, but I don't care. I just want to be back in the place where I'm most comfortable--on the bike, in the peloton with my cycling friends, sharing the best life has to offer, which happens to be on the road.

Life 2.0

got an iPhone today...17th person on line, so worth getting today. Amazing that I've lived this long w/o it. Line stretched a loooong way back, I think I understand why people are dealing with the lines. Think my blog will be updated more now. I'm thinking this will change my life. Yes-I've drunk the Apple Kool-aid.

Marathons and Concerts, How much can be squeezed in a day?

Pic: Team Friends of Cindy Lowery (two others on the team had to leave prior to the end)

Sunday morning I awoke much too early to participate in the Colfax Marathon. Had I done the math, I might have been tempted to sleep in. Much of the fun, though, was watching the girls come in at the end of their legs and go off when that was possible. I started at hour 3 and ~45 minutes after the gun went off. My run began by bolting out of the porta-potty when I heard our team's number called, Jen had just come in. Fortunately, that only put me back a few seconds.

I was sure to start very slowly because I didn't know if I'd survive the 12k...I've probably only run that far once before in my life. The run was so scenic. It went past Sloan's Lake, waaaay downhill right through the heart of Downtown Denver, past the Watercourse (on 17th) and on to City Park. The miles passed quickly (okay, less quickly for me than others, but psychologically it seemed fast as in it wasn't a struggle to keep running). And I did it without the performance-enhancing iPod. The last mile and a half were a little more challenging because I could feel blisters forming on my toes and I was trying to push it more. It was also very hot out and I discovered that it's really hard to drink in the feed zones without walking (and I refused to walk due to the fear that I wouldn't start running again).

In the last 3/4 of a mile, I really started to push the pace and I wondered if I was doing some kind of damage to my poor body. Coming into the finish, a couple of guys were finishing, too, and I figured it would be appropriate to run as hard as possible...they took it as a challenge so it was a flat-out race to the line. That made it fun to have some competition like that...even though they were probably finishing a marathon versus my teeny 12k. It only lasted 1 hr 14 min so it wasn't too bad (half the time of a road race). After analyzing the results, it appears that I need to trim off 14 minutes to have a respectable time.

Next time, I would enjoy training for and completing a 1/2 marathon. Don't think I'm remotely tempted to run a marathon since I'm not light enough for it to be safe on my knees.

That's how the day started. It ended with lots of garlic- and olive oil-drenched pasta at the Gondolier (it moved! I almost had a heart attack when I thought it was shutdown at the old location.) The pasta was as good as ever. After that we (my co-workers and I) went to a Collective Soul concert that simply ROCKED. They were awesome & the Boulder Theater was a pretty intimate venue for such a show. In fact, I'm jamming to their music now as I write this. It fits my mood after spending the evening playing Rock Band.

Completely Random Things Part II

And it occurred to me that I have to run a 8 mile leg in a marathon this coming Sunday and I have neglected training. So since the day turned cold and rainy (again), I hit the treadmill and watched "Enchanted." What a cute movie! it was an excellent distraction from the running.

Lately I'm trying to keep things interesting. Looks like I might be indoor rock climbing tomorrow and going to a conference on public speaking this weekend, along with a concert (yeah, and if you know me, you know I don't go to concerts), but why not? The mountain bike might even be coming out of the closet (ha ha, okay, I'll stop trying to be funny now).