3B Yoga

Let me tell you my new addition to things I'm passionate about...Yoga! I've been going to 3B Yoga (in the Riverwoods) since June. Yoga has changed my life. Physically and mentally. After every class I always feel so fresh and clean like the toxins from the day have been squeezed out of me and any negative thoughts I might have had just disappear.
My dear friend Lindsey Wise has been telling me for the last 5 years that I need to practice yoga...'some day' I'd think to myself. Well now I know how right she was and how frustrating it must have been for her to tell me about how great it was and for me to never try. It's not that I didn't want to try, it's that I knew I'd be sucked in from day one. And that's exactly how it's been, I'm addicted. And that's ok :) Now I feel frustrated when I tell everyone I know (especially friends and family) to get themselves to yoga. So for the hundredth time my dear friends and family: Go to yoga! It will change your life for the better.
3B offered Bobby and I the chance to do a photo shoot of us in their clothing that they sell in the yoga/athletic boutique. Umm yes please! Let me just tell you, every time I go to class I have to wander over to the boutique and daydream about buying every single piece of girls clothes that they have because they are just so darn cute and the fabrics they use are soooo soft! I'm in love with the main brand that they carry, Lululemon. Girls, you will die when you see how cute everything is and how good it feels on you.
So back to the photo shoot. The photographer was awesome! She taught me a lot about how to make your expressions look as natural and real as possible. Some day I want to be a model! Try cute clothes on and hang out with fun people?! Another yes please! If you're needing professional amazing photos and want someone that is fun and super nice call:

Kiera Haddock

www.kieraeve.com

3B offered me the chance to get my friends hooked on the cute yoga clothes by offering this coupon!
Just print it out and I promise it's worth your time to go check out the boutique and sign up for some for some yoga classes while you're at it ;)
Oh and check out Bobby and my pictures below!

 

my husband

he is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!  love love lovelove him.!!!!!!! dont know what i would do with out him.









im pretty hot too!!!

Park City Point 2 Point

This was the one race I KNEW for sure I was racing this year. I signed up back in February. Registration started at 7 and filled up in 6 1/2 minutes! Super happy I got in.
Now for the training of it. Bobby and I had a great time going on 2 x 2 day bike adventures down to Manti, Utah.
The first time we rode it by going up over Mt. Nebo and through Thistle on I-89. Loved every second of it except for the bad traffic on I-89. Stayed in a hotel for 40 bux and got as many free movies as our hearts desired. This turned out to only be 2 movies since we really just wanted to go to bed.

We ate at my newfound favorite restaurant Miller's Drive Thru.

Jeanetter & Carey, Bobby & I up Nebo

The 2nd time we had to chose an alternate route since Mt Nebo Road was being chip sealed. So we rode to Nephi then up Nephi Canyon and instead of going thru Thistle we went thru Whales. A much better, less crowded route. In fact in 20 miles we only got passed by one car. Opposite of riding on I-89.

This was one of Bobby and my hardest day on a bike. We left at 12:30 in the afternoon and dealt with a headwind the entire 100 miles to Manti. It was 100+ degrees. We had to kept dumping water on our heads to stay somewhat comfortable. I also forgot to mention that we'd stayed up until 4am. So we were riding on about 4 hours of sleep. It was really hard.

Next day we were supposed to ride up to Skyline Dr and stay in Castledale for the night. Well on the ride down Bobby had developed saddle sores and it was much too painful to ride the next day. So we spent it watching movies! We ate at Millers 5 meals in a row. Shweet!
There really isn't anything to do in Manti and especially in the heat. We tried to go to the museum that they have signs for all over but we never found it. Bobby spent much of the day sitting on an ice block. Poor guy.

So still in training for P2P I did many epic rides with my friend Jeanette Pierce. She is the best! I love that girl and we are perfect little riding buddies.

As the days grew closer to race day I became less and less excited to race P2P. I learned that lots of bigwig big name racer ladies had signed up. I just wasn't looking forward to getting my aaaa handed to me.

Race morning it was 39 degrees at the start. I rode with a jacket on for the first 11 mile loop at Round Valley, Park City. When I came thru the loop area Bobby was there to take my jacket he informed me the I was in 8th place and only 2.5 minutes behind the leader. WOW! I was so excited to hear this.

On the climb up Deer Crest I passed a couple of fast chicks (gals that are much faster than me normally), including Sonya Looney who ended up getting 3rd. I felt great. So I came thru the feed zone, mile 27, and before getting my bag I had to do a loop that took about 5 minutes. Bobby told me I was in 6th and only 4.5 minutes back from the leaders and only 40 seconds back from 3 time world champion Rebecca Rusch. WOW! I got really emotional that I was doing so well. So at the end of the little 5 minute loop the guy right in front of me makes a hard right hand turn instead of going straight thru to feed zone. I obviously follow him. What am I supposed to do?? I'm watching his wheel not the scenery in front of me. I realized instantly what we had done but it was too late. So we rode an extra loop. I wanted to cry. I also wanted to kill the guy that lead me astray because earlier he was stopped on the side of a super narrow single track trail and I warned him I was coming but he stayed glued where he was with his bike upside down and peddling his bike backward and totally nicked my wrist, it freaking killed for about an hour. So I could have killed him.

I came thru the feed zone and told Bobby what had happened and he told me Evelyn Dong who was behind me hadn't taken a wrong turn and was in front of me now. I left the feed zone so defeated. I was so upset and I had a really hard time focusing on the race and not my mistake. My stomach would not digest the food that I was putting in it (I think because of stress)  so the food just sat there in the back of my throat. I forced more food down and tried not to gag. After an hour of riding Evelyn Dong is behind me and needs to pass. WTF I thought she was in front of me. Nope, she'd had a longer feed zone time than me. So I ride behind her for a while.

One funny side note. My Garmin was only reading 19 miles and we were at least past mile 30 so I ask some random rider behind me how many miles we'd been out. 33 he said. So then literally 2 hours later after the race had been shaken up a bit and I was riding with new guys all the time I asked again the person behind me how many miles. He scoffed and said "how many times are you going to ask me?!" Sorry a-hole to inconvenience you! :D I mean seriously what are the chances that the second time I ask after 2 hours I happen to ask the same guy!?

So then Sonya Looney passes me and she is flying. I mean seriously there was no chance of keeping up. Evelyn I could hang with, not Sonya.

We had to go down a really rooty trail and I take a corner wide, hit a nasty rutted out root and land on my face. I hop back on my bike and keep riding. Not 5 minutes later a bug is crawling on my cheek and as I brush it off I knock my glasses off my face. They land in the bush on a hillside. So as I sat there looking for them I debated if they were worth looking for. I decided they are and I didn't want to ride 35 miles without sunglasses on.

The rest of the race was fabulous. I rode from mile 40 to mile 70 completely alone. It was a trip. I was pushing myself, not sure if I would've been faster had I been with people, but I was racing! At the 3rd feedzone I emptied all my solid foods out of my pockets and traded the m for gu's. I didn't fill up on water and I ditched my camelbak. Stupid! This was mile 57. I was so thirsty until the final aid station at mile 66. The gu's totally did the trick. I would start cramping and would pop a gu in and it'd go away. Cramping was weird for me, I haven't cramped for 5 years! Cramping sucks.

When I got to the final feed/aid station I sat there and chatted it up with them. A girl told me I wasn't far behind Kelly Boniface. She's super fast so I pushed it to catch her.

When I came thru the finish I was in 8th. Bobby handed me and Arnold Palmer (tea and lemonade) and I drank it up! Bobby checked results and it showed KC Holly was in front of me and I was in 9th. I asked timing about it and they said she started in the wave behind me so she actually beat me by 30 seconds. Had I known she was right behind me I would have gone faster (maybe).  Places 6-9 were all within 7 minutes. And had I not taken an extra 5 minute loop, I would have maybe been in 7...which got couple hundred bux. Dang. I was super stoked on my time. 9:02. I think that's pretty quick, next year I want to do it in 8:30. That's my goal.

It was a very exciting race and was a huge confidence booster for me, especially since I've had a weird season of racing. I will try to add pictures of it later.

Update on our Life

Well lots has been going on in mine and Bobby's life lately. First big thing...We moved in with my parents! There's a Seinfeld quote that goes something like this; "You know your life isn't headed in the right direction if you're moving back in with your parents". :D Normally this is true. Not for Bobby and I. It's been the best thing for us. Mainly because of the commute that is now a half hour shorter each way. We love not having to leave for work in the morning until it's just ten minutes before. I've ridden my bike to work a handful of times, which makes me very happy. I hate driving. Only bummer thing is, we don't get the internet or t.v. at their house. It's a little bit of an adjustment so hence the scarce blog posts.
Second, Bobby is an official High School P.E. Coach! He teaches in the morning from 8-noon, and so far I think he's liking it. He then goes to the theater and works and then finishes off the day hanging out at SBR with me. It's great!
Third, we started racing the weekly mountain bike races that switch off from Soldier Hollow to Sundance. They are the BESSSST! We love them so much. It's an hour of pinned out effort, with a fun loving set of racers. FYI, I did an Intermountain Cup bike race maybe a month ago and it was the first time I've raced with the pro girls in about 4 years. It was soooo hard and so fun! I came in fifth. I've got a long way to go with my training. Just can't seem to dial it in. I'm having one of my co-workers at SBR Sports who has his Doctorate in Exercise Science help me out and write me a training program. His name is Andrew Creer and he's a professor at UVU. He's the nicest guy and so stinking smart. If you need help in the coaching area he's a good one to use because he's VERY affordable, he's in the area and he knows what he's doing.

Fourth, I've had the opportunity to try out some carbon 29" mountain bike wheels from ENVY Composites.They are so great. They seriously have helped me with my climbing, they've made it sooo much easier to get up short, steep, granny gear climbs as well as long grinding climbs. They corner so much better than anything I've ever used, it's kind of freaky because I'm not used to being able to take corners so fast and smooth, but I can now with how stiff the wheels are. I've had so many people at the races ask me about them and even had one guy tell me he would buy them from me right then and there. I told him he's going to have to get his own. 

Ok, I'm going to stop numbering the new things in our lives. I did a 10 mile trail run race the week after Timp Trail Half Marathon and won! I had a good time of 1:30, the course had lots of climbing so I'm happy. It was a lot of fun. Only bummer thing about it is, they advertised a cash payout to the winners. Well I was first overall female but didn't get the cash because apparently to them the winner is only the first place person... period. So I was in a race against boys but didn't know. So I didn't get paid :(

We planted a garden! We are tickled about this. I'm most excited about the butternut squash that will be ready to harvest this fall!

Complete! 

We've had them planted for 2 days now and have walked down to check on them a total of 6 times. We're the worried type of parents ;)

So other than all that fun stuff, we've had my cousins in town from California for my grandma's funeral. The funeral was a beautiful day just as she'd have wanted. I have such a great family, they are all so fun to be around and I just wish I could see more of them!

That's all for now folks.

Bye bye

Timp Trail 1/2 Marathon!

Yesterday was the Timp Trail 1/2 Marathon & Marathon. I had been looking forward to racing it pretty much since one year ago when I raced it. I loved the course, it has tons of climbing. In 9 miles you climb 4,300 feet. I also loved training for it...last year that is. This year has been a very strange year for me. I just haven't been able to figure out exactly where I want to focus my racing. Working at a triathlon shop you get asked 10 times a day what races you're planning on doing. It's not that I don't want to talk about my race plans, it's that I don't HAVE any plans. There's one race that I know I'm doing, the Park City Point to Point mt bike race in September. It's about 80 miles of single track, tons of climbing and it's supposed to be one of the hardest races around. So I for sure know one race that I'm doing. Great. So in order to sound like I've got some sort of plan I just tell everyone that I'm just going to be doing mt bike races. This is somewhat true. There's also some running races that I want to do and after point to point I may want to do a marathon and a half ironman. We'll see. So not having a clear cut plan is really hard on training. I've stopped swimming altogether. I ride twice a week and run once a week about six miles. Lame. I'm out of shape and up eight pounds from my race weight.
So as of a month ago, I didn't really know if I was going to do the Timp Trail race and I sure as heck wasn't putting in the mileage for it. 6 miles a week doesn't really cut it for a 1/2 marathon trail race. So Thursday I thought 'what the heck. I'll race it.' Only problem is I know me and I like to win. :) Especially since I won the race last year and conditions were horrible. This is hard to jump into a race with no training and the mentality that you're going to win. But that's me and I accept me.
The morning of the race I had no appetite. I had been feeling under the weather all week, I wasn't sick but just feeling head-achy and nassiated all week. So I had a couple pieces of toast that I had to force down. That almost made me gag. I didn't warm up, I just ran from the car to the start line. The race started and I went slow and tucked in behind a guy for about 2 miles. I was in 3rd overall, as in there were 2 guys in front of me and all the girls were behind me. We started up the first hill and I was feeling breakfast try and come up. I was just waiting for the girls to come catch me. They didn't. Up that section of hill which is about 3/4 mile I stayed in 3 overall. The road flattens out and I had a guy pass me. Not bad I thought to myself, for no training. That flat section is about 3 miles and I kept my position the whole time. I kept looking behind me blown away that I was the lead woman. When I'd have a good view of who was behind me I couldn't see any female any where close to me. So I just kept a steady pace. When I got to the first feed station a few friends were there cheering for me and told me how I was doing. Even tho I knew my position in the race it was still fun to hear them yell it to me enthusiastically, "You're the first woman!" This was mile seven.
The race starts to go uphill and climbs for a while, my stomach started cramping and I thought there's no way I'm going to eat that GU I brought, I will throw up!
So I get to the base of Dry Canyon and it starts out with SUPER steep steps, I walk because the two guys in front of me are walking. As soon as it became less steep I would try and run but couldn't. I was dying. I definitely was feeling the effect of not training. I hiked all the way up Dry Canyon. Side Note: Last year I didn't walk any of this section. I saw a race photographer and started running just so my picture wouldn't be of me with my head down and walking. I stopped at the aid station that was half way up Dry Canyon and saw a girl behind me. I said a bad word out loud :D This made me kick it in gear and start running. She decided to run past the aid station and caught up to me quite quickly. I ran in front to the very top of the canyon. So I had just ran 9 miles, climbed 4,000 feet and lead the whole way and here she is to pass me on the easy part of the race, the downhill. That's great. I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't eat, even though I needed energy because my stomach was cramped and I couldn't run fast because every joint ached...a result of not enough run training. So I followed her down the hill.
I came in second place female, 2 minutes behind first. My time was 7 minutes slower than last year and that's with last year being a muddy swamp for most of the run. I'm really bummed I didn't win. I am glad my record from last year wasn't close to being touched, it's still five minutes faster from the winner this year. Bobby keeps telling me there's always next year.
Bobby did amazing! He told me he was only going to be able to do 6 miles. When I came in to the finish line and he wasn't there I knew he had decided to do the whole thing. He came in fresh as a daisy. It is the furthest he's ever run. He's amazing!

 The start of a long day

First glimpse of the canyon is breath-taking

Chain malfunction!

Jilene is always entertaining! She enjoys making any statement into a song, that's her trademark.

I spent the entire day freezing! I think I only broke a sweat 3 times. Dang my vainness! I can't have a farmer's tan tho!

Bry dropped his precious Sweet Maui Onion chip bag on the ground and I was able to capture his desperate attempt to eat them as quickly as he could :)

5 minutes after this picure was taken, I was off my bike walking up the final climb crying. Ha! 100 miles on the mt bike brings out every emotion you can think of.

White Rim!

Tomorrow I will be heading down to Canyon Lands National Park to do the annual RAWROD. Ride Around The White Rim in One Day. It's a one hundred mile mountain bike loop. It's quite amazing! I've done it a few times in the years past, but for different reasons haven't been able to attend the last couple of years. So this year I was determined to attend! I am going to attempt riding it with the "fast" group on Friday and then the "social" group on Saturday! Crazy, 200 miles on a MTB in 2 days, but we'll see how it goes.
Since it is one of those crazy times at the theater for my husband when he has to change everything over from one show to the other, I am making the adventure without him. He builds the sets at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. He's amazing at what he does. Unfortunately, I am basically husbandless for about a week and a half while he's there putting in 20 hour days.
Good news is I get to go with one of my favorite persons ever! Bry.

Here he is on the White Rim

Here I am. I never know what to do with my arms, don't make fun!

Really bummed out Serena won't be there! She is another one of my top favorite persons on this planet!

I'll let ya know how it goes when I'm back!

UVU Road Race

I've been really curious ever since I started riding bikes to see what road racing is all about.

Working at a road specific bike shop has added to that curiosity because we have the Ozone Team coming in and talking about racing all the time.

Last Saturday was the UVU Road Race around West Mountain. If you've been reading my blog you'll know that I love that ride! :) I decided this would be a great introductory road race for me. I talked Bobby into racing as well. So the night before the race we stayed at the shop late with SBR owner Kyle who talked to us about road racing strategy. He helped each of us come up with a plan. Kyle is such a stud, we think he's the greatest.

Bobby and I warmed up together with a couple of the other UVU team guys and then got back quickly so that Bobby wouldn't miss his start. His group was ginormous! I think there were about 45 racers in his Cat 5 group and Cat 4 men had 50! Well I wasn't lucky enough because when I got to the start line it was just me and another girl. I was pissed. I sat there and talked this girl who was watching the start into racing. She was all ready to go kitted up and everything. Then another girl rolled up, she had a power tap hub on so I knew she was somewhat serious.

The race started and 2 guys who race Cat 4 decided it would be cool to ride with us. Well one of them was the girl whom I talked into racing's husband and the other was the best friend of a different girl  that was racing. Pissed again, call me old fashioned but guys should never ride in a group of women that are racing, especially if they're married to them or best friends with them. Anyway,  we rolled out at a mellow speed and I let the other girls pull and took a turn myself. I was actually a little worried about a couple of the girls so I was going to stick with the strategy that Kyle told me to use. The course went uphill a little and I stayed there comfortable behind someone and next hill I attacked! It was really fun to surprise them like that when I reached the top of the hill one of the girls (with the power tap) was within a good distance so I decided to keep stomping on the peddles and see where that would take me.

On the next flat, straight-a-way followed by a decent hill I went about 90% of my max. She was gone, I couldn't even see her or the other girls (and guys). I time trialed it for the next 18 miles until the finish in a strong head wind. I thought for sure they would catch me since there were 5 of them and 1 of me in the wind. I won by 3 minutes, which is a pretty good gap I think.

It was fun, but definitely left something to be desired. I want more competition and more people to race against!

Bobby had a killer race. I saw his huge group coming around the corner headed on a straight- a-way for a sprint finish. He had a good position toward the front, but not right in front. He sprinted and came in 5th! I was so freakin proud of him. I think road racing is his niche. 

Nice work hun!

True Grit

I am realizing that this blogging thing takes a lot more dedication than I am giving it to keep you all updated on my adventures. Sorry :(
I have been putting off writing a True Grit race report. I was super duper thrilled to be racing 50 miles in the warm desert and let's just say that warm desert failed me...and 178 other racers that day. The forecast was calling for it to be in the 50's and only a 30 percent chance of rain.
Start line. I lined up and took off everything. Ok not EVERYthing, I had the basics: short sleeve jersey, shorts, shoes and a helmet. Off went the long sleeve jersey, off went the headband for my sensitive little ears, and off went the knee warmers.
Start of the race. It was actually quite eventful. My friend Bry showed up at the last second to do the race, he makes every situation more fun, so Bobby and I were really excited about that. Then as we were all rolling down the 2 mile stretch of pavement  that leads to the trail head, riders started piling up and crashing. One of them would run into a big orange cone and go down and the person on his wheel would follow, to the ground that is. It was unbelievable! I'm starting to think racers are no smarter than a deer caught in a headlight. Come on people, we're mountain bikers, not roadies, we should have some skills. Then as the road (still pavement keep in mind) goes up a very steep graded hill a dude runs into the curb and flips over! What the H?
We didn't start racing until 3/4 the way up that hill and I decided to let the girls go and not chase them. I really can only come up with one explanation for this stupid behavior and that is, I knew we had some technical washes coming up and I didn't want to slow the men down. Lame right?! I can totally ride everything in those washes, with ease. I guess I haven't done a mountain bike race(2 Xterra's don't count as a mtn bike race) in about a year and maybe that's what made me timid, whatever it was I don't like it. So I never really started racing. I caught up to my friend Bry and he was doing the race on a single speed. Crazy. Passed him and grateful I did because later he gave me the best compliment ever! He told me I descend crazy fast...'like a boy', as he put it :) That makes me happy.
Then about 20 minutes into the race the rain started, I laughed it off and was optimistic that it would go away soon. Boy was I wrong. By the end of that section of the race, about 16 miles, I was freezing and the rain was only getting worse. I made a decision that I would forfeit my 4 place spot and stop and get some warm clothes on. Only problem was that my parents whom came down for a weekend of sunshine and to watch us race had locked the car. So I had to go find them and get the key. That took some time, and I'm embarrassed to say that I lost my patience with them. :( Sorry Mom and Dad.
Back in the race with some warmer layers: knee warmers, arm warmers and booties. Had no idea where I was sitting in the race now. I saw Bobby waaaay up ahead and wanted so badly to catch him. Not to be competitive, but just to enjoy his company because my race never even started and I might as well make it a great day spent with him and my bike. The next section happened to be the most technical portion of the race. Zen is the name and it makes for anything but a Zen experience. I decided that the only relation to the trail and the term Zen is that you have to either have your Chi totally aligned before and while riding it or you have to be high. Either one will make this a fun ride I'm sure. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to align my Chi and I didn't have any weed, so cursing and swearing and getting off my bike every 10 seconds is how it went. I thought Zen was difficult dry, well it's even trickier wet.
Survived Zen with no injuries. Went to the feed zone to get some food and found Bobby there :) We rode up the next climb together and stopped at the top of Bear Claw Poppy to wait for someone to come by with a tool. Bobby's cleat on his shoe had come loose and it was hanging on by a thread. Waited. Waited. Waited. Finally someone came. Fixed that little problem, then flew down the trail. I mean we were hauling Aaaaa. So fun. First fun part of the race for me. When we got to the turn off for Stucki Springs I started dropping Bobby. I was feeling good on all the climbs, but how can I leave my husband? So I didn't. In the end all of the silly little times I had to stop didn't matter because of what was yet to come. Rode to the top of Stucki and started on the descent and hello problems! The ground was saturated with water which turned it into clay. When I say clay I literally mean clay. You couldn't ride. Your bike weighed about 60 lbs and was so gummed up with clay that the wheels wouldn't turn. Hiking in the mud with a 60 lb bike in the pouring rain is enough to dampen anyone's spirit. At some points when the trail became so steep I wondered if I would have to ditch my bike and make the trek on foot alone...without Moe. Ok that thought never actually entered my mind :D But in all honesty, I could barely get to the top of the big hills. I need to work on my upper body strength so bad it's ridiculous. The next 3 miles were spent walking in these conditions.
Left turn= continuing on in the race     Right turn= head toward Santa Clara and get picked up in a truck.
I told Bobby I wanted  to turn right, he told me no way and that we're finishing this thing.  No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than he was tipping off his bike because of an extreme cramp in his hamstring. Ouch! Those freakin kill. So he agreed to turn around and head to the trucks. When we got there, there were a bunch of racers waiting to be picked up. Most of them were hypothermic. I went and got in an ambulance just so I could warm up enough to stop my whole body from chattering to death. A dude in there was told to strip down to nothing and not to worry that there was a girl (me) sitting right next to him "this is life or death" they told him. He was so cold that nothing seemed to be registering in his mind so they started helping him undress.
The ride back to St George. Bobby bless his amazing huge heart volunteered to ride in the back of the pick up truck so that several other people could get warm in the cab of the truck. I saw Bry riding back on the road and asked to driver to slow down so we could offer him a ride. Bry said he would rather ride so that he could stay warm.
The 1/4 mile ride back to the condo. Bobby and I got dropped off about a 1/4 mile from our condo. This is the most epic ride I've experienced and it was a quarter of a mile. I could barely ride I was so cold, my feet were shaking so badly I thought I was going to crash.  Bobby looked back and saw me in this condition and knew that I was in bad shape. He literally coached me the whole way back and helped stabilize me so I wouldn't tip over. We got back and Bobby started taking off my shoes and knee warmers and told me to get in the hot tub. I felt guilty about getting in a hot tub with a layer of mud on me but like the paramedics said, this was life or death. Never have I been that cold. And never do I want to be that cold in my life again.
So how many people finished?  12. Out of 178. That's bad. Do you know what's even worse? Not one girl finished. I heard they actually shut the race down after we went by the last check point and forced people to turn back. Epic.
So that's my awesome start to a season! :D I got the muddy race out of the way, I'm ready for the next set of craziness!
Sorry too lazy to put pictures on because it is waaay past my bedtime.

I signed my husband and I up for a 50 mile mountain bike race called True Grit. When is it you ask? This Saturday.

I was really excited to race it since it's in my favorite place in the world...St George.

After riding it last weekend let's just say I've changed my perspective a little.

It's now not a race but a really really long training day.

I'm not the most technical rider out there. My strengths include going uphill, suffering, and I'm getting pretty good at descending. This race is so technical that I'm having to get off the bike as much as I'm riding it. In my mind I have a hard time staying in bike race-mode when I'm not riding my bike but running/hiking/walking it around every corner. That's why I've changed my outlook on the race. Not to mention the fact that I work all the time now, which I'm sooooo grateful for and I love my job so much. I've just been putting training on the back burner, like waaaaaaaaay back burner (as in I don't bike, run or swim). It's really weird. It makes me feel fat.

At least we got to go to Vegas to have a weekend of riding. It rocked.

The first day we rode 22 miles

The second day we rode 27 miles

Third day was 12 miles

 

 The guy at the bike shop told us to take a trail that leads you out to a UFO.
 That is my alien impression =:)

 Rad bike shop where the guy does a theatrical performance describing each trail. I couldn't help but giggle.

We spent a long time on these next photos trying to get us looking as extreme as possible.

And the fourth day we rode 35 miles! All in all we rode 100 miles. Woot Woot!

Holy cow! I feel so rude! I forgot to introduce you to my new boyfriend: Moe Mancini
He's my new mtn bike. His best quality? He's a 29er!!!!!
I almost feel like I've wasted the lasted 3 years of my life riding on a 26" bike. I am soo happy to be back on a 29er. (refer back to previous pics to see the little stud)

I also wanted to set your weary mind at rest. Yes. I did wear the same jersey 4 days in a row. And, it only got one washing. So now you know what kind of person I am.

New Bike!

I sold my Fezzari CR3 and bought this gorgeous Look 566. I love her. Her name's Carolina.

Me and Bobby went for a ride and I'm happy to say that Carolina's first ride was a worthy one...West Mountain :D  I told ya, it's my favorite ride in the winter. I felt so great on my new bike. I have been riding bikes that are too big for me my whole riding/racing career. People have been fitting me the classic yet completely mistaken way of sizing a person to a bike and that is; according to how tall a person is.  Here's how it's pretty much gone for me when getting a new bike "Wow! You're a tall girl! You're almost 6 feet? Ok you need to be on a 58cm bike." Or if it was a mountain bike they put me on a large and a couple times an extra large. Now I know this is a very...how do I say this nicely? It's a very inaccurate way of sizing a person and their bike. That's nice enough for me.

After working at a bike shop for the last month I now know that the top tube length is the most important measurement on a bike when finding a bike for someone. Yes I'm freakin tall, but guess what size I'm riding on my Look? A 55cm!! Crazy huh?! I've been riding a 58cm for the last 7 years and I should have (most likely) been on a 55-56cm bike frame because of my tiny torso. By tiny I'm talking about in relation to my extremely long legs. So I am very comfortable on my new bike and I feel fast! :D