Pie Ride

OK, I had this typed up and ready to publish, just had to get my pictures from the ride but it seems I keep forgetting my camera at home. So this post will be updated later with just a few pictures.

Over the weekend, I went on my first organised bike ride of the season. And the great thing about this one was I got a pie at the end!! Just too bad that I don't like pie.

I rode with Luke and a good friend Kevin. Kevin & I had road bikes while Luke had his mountain bike with huge tires on it but it didn't seem to slow him down. He stayed with us very easily. I was impressed. As you can see by the map below, we started in the town of Janesville and then went west and south. That was a tough part. And especially going north. It felt like my bike was going to blow over a few times as the wind caught my tires. But the best part was going west, we really picked up speed and was on a road had some good switchbacks hills on it so it was kinda fun. I wore a knee brace on my left knee like I always do. But my right knee started to hurt about Mile 28. I had to keep saying 3 more miles to go. It especially hurt on the uphills when I putting a lot of force on it and then it started to hurt just everytime I pedaled. But I stuck it out. I think the clips on my shoes are crooked so it was putting more pressure on my knee in a not so good way.

After the ride, Luke chose the apple pie and I chose the blueberry pie because his mother was making homemade cherry pie for Father's Day. We spent the rest of the day in Madison with Kevin & his wife. Drove back to Rockford so Luke could run a 10k that evening in the park while I chilled on the dock with my feet in the warm water enjoying the sunset and not enjoying the sounds from the Rockford Speedway.

I was surprised at how good my legs felt after the bike ride so on Sunday, we both went for another run in Rock Cut. About 10am. He was thinking of doing 2 laps. About less than 2 miles in, I started seeing a rotating fan like in my vision. I was worried that I was hyperventilating and getting dizzy so I tried to control my breathing and slow it down a bit. The rotating fan went away and I didn't walk in the first 3.1 miles. I promised myself that if I didn't walk, then I could walk whenever I wanted to in the second half. Right before Mile 5 beeped, I saw Luke running back towards me. I thought he was going to go backwards on the run but he turned around and started running with me. He said that he had a lot stars in his vision and practically couldn't see anything also about 2 miles in. So he decided he'll only do 1 and run a while with me for a cool down. He keeps a gallon of water in his trunk and I have a handheld bottle that I carried with me. I think it was just the warm weather and the breathing that got to us both. Our bodies hadn't yet gotten used to the weather & running and after 2 miles it did.

I did tell him that we are not going to run after 9am in the park again though. We have to go earlier. We'll see how that ends up. For any runs this week or next week (if any), I'll be in DeKalb. My lease runs out on the 30th so I'm staying and cleaning & packing like crazy. Plus, my father is staying with me so I want to spend time with him. We sign the new lease this week! Big step in a relationship.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 810 ft Location: Janesville, WI Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 06/19/10 Up/Downhill: [+1450/-1450] Time: 09:20 AM Difficulty: 4.4 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 33.65 miles Time: 2:22:37 Speed: 14.2 mph Pace: 4' 14 /mi Calories: 1811 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 6' 12 +1' 58 9.7 -4.5 -4 ft 2 4' 37 +0' 23 13.0 -1.2 -7 ft 3 4' 22 +0' 08 13.7 -0.5 -3 ft 4 4' 29 +0' 15 13.4 -0.8 +52 ft 5 5' 12 +0' 58 11.5 -2.7 +10 ft 6 4' 15 +0' 01 14.1 -0.1 -19 ft 7 5' 02 +0' 48 11.9 -2.3 +49 ft 8 4' 46 +0' 32 12.6 -1.6 +13 ft 9 3' 43 -0' 30 16.1 +1.9 -82 ft 10 4' 35 +0' 21 13.1 -1.1 -10 ft 11 4' 35 +0' 21 13.1 -1.1 +30 ft 12 4' 07 -0' 06 14.5 +0.3 -6 ft 13 4' 51 +0' 37 12.3 -1.8 +30 ft 14 3' 25 -0' 48 17.6 +3.4 -23 ft 15 4' 00 -0' 13 15.0 +0.8 -20 ft 16 4' 02 -0' 11 14.9 +0.7 0 ft 17 4' 27 +0' 13 13.5 -0.7 +10 ft 18 5' 26 +1' 12 11.0 -3.2 +13 ft 19 5' 42 +1' 28 10.5 -3.7 +40 ft 20 17' 51 +13' 37 3.4 -10.8 +102 ft 21 2' 35 -1' 38 23.1 +8.9 -72 ft 22 2' 33 -1' 40 23.5 +9.3 -33 ft 23 3' 49 -0' 24 15.7 +1.5 +99 ft 24 3' 17 -0' 56 18.2 +4.0 -20 ft 25 3' 11 -1' 02 18.8 +4.6 +10 ft 26 3' 27 -0' 46 17.3 +3.1 -92 ft 27 3' 32 -0' 41 16.9 +2.7 +42 ft 28 2' 55 -1' 18 20.5 +6.3 -33 ft 29 2' 58 -1' 15 20.2 +6.0 -7 ft 30 5' 25 +1' 11 11.1 -3.1 -82 ft 31 4' 16 +0' 02 14.0 -0.2 +3 ft 32 3' 54 -0' 19 15.3 +1.1 +3 ft 33 4' 16 +0' 02 14.0 -0.2 +7 ft end 6' 23 +2' 09 9.4 -4.8 0 ft Versus average of 14.2 mph

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 846 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: -4 ft Date: 06/20/10 Up/Downhill: [+639/-643] Time: 10:41 AM Difficulty: 3.1 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 6.17 miles Time: 1:06:55 Speed: 5.5 mph Pace: 10' 51 /mi Calories: 653 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 39 -1' 12 6.2 +0.7 +3 ft 2 10' 37 -0' 14 5.7 +0.1 +10 ft 3 10' 29 -0' 22 5.7 +0.2 -98 ft 4 11' 50 +0' 59 5.1 -0.5 +62 ft 5 11' 41 +0' 50 5.1 -0.4 +62 ft 6 10' 19 -0' 32 5.8 +0.3 -62 ft end 10' 33 -0' 18 5.7 +0.2 +19 ft Versus average of 10' 51 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: biking, Luke, Pie Ride, Rock Cut State Park

Playing catch-up

I know, I know. I haven't been a good blogger lately. But I have been a decent runner, y'all just don't know about it. :)

I have been running. In fact, I ran just 6 days after my marathon and that was a 10k in the middle of the afternoon on trails (read: rocks & hills). Just over an hour time too. Needless to say, this has been, by far, the best marathon & recovery period of my life. I might actually say screw pace groups from now on. I know my body best after all. Phil (my Garmin 405) and I all the way baby!

I have actually only been running 10k distances in the month since my marathon. However, I decided after dropping off my nephew with his parents and driving back to northern Illinois (7 hour car ride round trip), I'm going to get back to it. And I ran 10 miles at 7:30p Sunday evening. That was epic. I was sore that night but it was great to hit double digits again. Even my first 4 miles were really consistent at 9:35 pace!

But now I'm thinking forward. I really have no plans for any races this summer. I haven't signed up for anything yet. I have a few in mind. An 8k in Rockford. Found out about a 5k the day before the 8k. I figured that will be a challenging weekend and might be good to test. Other than that, I really don't know of any races to do. Nothing really stands out as something I want to do. I'm still debating whether or not I am going to a fall marathon. If I do, it's going to be the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November. (Which will be tough to train for with a 2 week trip to India happening at the end of August but we'll see.) So yea, if there's a race out there in the far western suburbs, let me know about it. I would still like to try for a half marathon PR sometime as well. Preferably while NOT training for a marathon. :-)

Then I've been thinking more and more about a triathlon.

Now, I haven't been swimming in months, thanks to canceling my YMCA membership. But I might join Luke's here rather soon (more on that later). But I would like to see a triathlon happen first before jumping in. I especially want to see how a transition is done between the swim & bike part. (What exactly do you wear under a wet suit?) There was one last weekend but I had my nephew and couldn't drag him out of bed at 7a to go stand around watching a bunch of people do crazy stuff. There's another triathlon at the end of July. However, it's the day after Luke's sister's wedding. And the one that I actually want to do, is August 1. So I don't think I'll be able to do a tri this year. But I would still like to see one happen.

I have my first official bike ride this weekend. I plan on getting together with my good friend, Kevin (with whom I've done many bike rides with -- RAGBRAI being one of them) and we're going to go around the southern Wisconsin countryside for 31 miles. Luke will be joining us on his mountain bike but I don't think he'll have any problems keeping up with us.

To get my saddle bones ready for the mileage, Luke & I went on a bike ride Monday night. We went almost 18 miles. And we both felt really good afterwards. Even though he had a high mileage weekend (30k total) and I had ran 10 miles the evening before. The only part of me that's sore is the top of my shoulder/neck muscles. That's just from having my shoulders so high up by my ears. I really want to get aero bars and I will one day!

I haven't lifted any weights in 2 weeks and Monday after work was my first time so I only did the circuit twice. I also opted to go down in weight by 10 pounds for each machine. Except for the butterfly. I still managed to do that at 30 pounds! My abs are a little sore but other than that I feel fine.

Tonight is going to be packing and packing. That counts as weight lifting right? :-) But really, I'm going to be getting out of DeKalb and moving to Geneva. I've already been living there since the beginning of May, which is why you haven't seen any of my normal running routes and why they've all been over there. It's an interesting transition for both of us. I remembered why I decided to go broke my 3rd year after they raised the rent on me quite considerably. I hate packing & moving. What sucks is that I've helped several people move but of course, I helped them all move OUT of town, so they can't come back to help ME move. Luckily, I now have the boyfriend's friends to help out if needed. :-)

Categories: 10 miles, biking, Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, moving, races, triathlon

Triple workout Wednesday

Yet another triple workout Wednesday!

On Monday, Luke mentioned going biking together on Wednesday. So knowing that I also had a run to do that day, I got up early to get a 10k in. Then at lunch, I also managed to get in 35 minutes of weights & the like. And once Luke arrived, I got in 12 miles on the bike.

My left knee is still bothering me. I'm icing it but it's not getting any better. In fact, I felt it during my entire run. It hurts more to walk on it. If I'm sitting, it's not hurting but when I get up the first step is the worst. It's on the inside part & now also at below the part where the doctor hits ya for reflexes.

It doesn't seem to be slowing me down too much. I know I'm not helping it by running on it still. Luckily, just 1.5 months until my marathon. Then I can rest.

I'm attempting 18 miles on Friday or Saturday in southern Illinois. I did 12 miles at Rend Lake and I started 3 miles from where I normally start. So the good news is that I'll be able to get the full thing in without going into new unchartered territory. Just have to think of it as a 3 hour run, not 18 miles. One hour at a time, right?

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 857 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +7 ft Date: 03/31/10 Up/Downhill: [+239/-232] Time: 06:58 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 48 F temp; 82% humidity 48 F heat index; winds S 14 Performance Distance: 6.20 miles Time: 0:59:59 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 40 /mi Calories: 662 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 29 -0' 11 6.3 +0.1 +36 ft 2 9' 45 +0' 05 6.2 -0.1 -26 ft 3 9' 48 +0' 08 6.1 -0.1 0 ft 4 9' 51 +0' 11 6.1 -0.1 +14 ft 5 9' 58 +0' 18 6.0 -0.2 +7 ft 6 9' 20 -0' 20 6.4 +0.2 -29 ft end 9' 19 -0' 21 6.4 +0.2 +7 ft Versus average of 9' 40 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 849 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: -30 ft Date: 03/31/10 Up/Downhill: [+232/-262] Time: 06:37 PM Difficulty: 2.9 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 11.42 miles Time: 0:59:16 Speed: 11.6 mph Pace: 5' 10 /mi Calories: 879 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 4' 42 -0' 28 12.7 +1.1 +17 ft 2 4' 21 -0' 49 13.8 +2.2 -43 ft 3 4' 54 -0' 16 12.2 +0.6 0 ft 4 7' 14 +2' 03 8.3 -3.3 0 ft 5 5' 06 -0' 04 11.7 +0.1 0 ft 6 7' 49 +2' 38 7.7 -3.9 +10 ft 7 5' 17 +0' 06 11.3 -0.2 -10 ft 8 5' 34 +0' 23 10.8 -0.8 0 ft 9 4' 58 -0' 12 12.1 +0.5 -10 ft 10 4' 42 -0' 28 12.7 +1.1 +42 ft 11 3' 31 -1' 39 17.0 +5.4 -30 ft end 5' 41 +0' 30 10.5 -1.1 -6 ft Versus average of 11.6 mph

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Categories: 6 miles, biking, hyperextended knee, triple workout

Labour Day weekend in Madison

What a funtastic weekend in Madison!

Friday had me going to a bar on the East side that had me watching the most wonderful view of a sunset on Lake Monona.

Saturday had me waking up and running 10 miles. I must say though, this was the hardest 5 miles of my running life. I had no idea when the next mile marker was going to take place or where it was or how to get there! At first I was on a bike path, then it went onto a sidewalk but I was still following the signs for the bike path and then I found another bike path through a high school football & soccer fields then back out of the path and onto sidewalks again. It was odd. I thought Madison had more bike paths then this! I'll look for maps later on since I have a feeling I'll be visiting Madison a lot! This was also the first time that I had a run that took me across major roads and I had to cross them. I also stopped for a long time in Mile 6 at a Citgo to fill up my water bottle since I had almost ran out.

Saturday afternoon had me going to Taste of Madison. Walked around the Capital Square and was checking out all the foods & bands. It's different than the Taste of Chicago where it's a ticket system, this is cash-based and no "tastes." Full portions here. I had a few different items, this one is a portebella sandwich on a bagel. I'm glad no one got a picture of me eating it! Messy messy messy!

Saturday evening was the highlight of the entire weekend. NIU vs. UW-Madison. I can't believe how great the seats were that we got very last minute! They were end-zone but only 5 rows from the front! We ended up losing 28-20 but scored 14 points in the 4th quater alone! We were staging a comeback! Kevin & I are NIU alum and his wife was born in Milwaukee and attended Illinois State so we were giving her a hard time for being a "traitor" and wearing UW garb! We were getting heckled a lot, especially in the 4th quarter when Badger fans started to get worried when their lead started to slip.

I was so sore though, walking back to the car after the game. From the run and then the walking around Taste and then the game, my body is definitely letting me know it's age!

On Sunday morning, Kevin & I tried to go on a bike ride. However, that ended up failing. At 4.5 miles into the ride, I heard this whoosh, whoosh, whoosh and then a whoooooooooooooosh. My front tire got a flat. Oh great. And this was happening on a pretty woody, downhill part of the ride and Kevin was far far ahead of me by this time. I yelled his name but he didn't hear me. Luckily, as I was walking my bike down the hill, a guy passed me and told Kevin (since he was stopped) that I was walking my bike. So he came back to find me. As we were at the bottom of the hill getting his CO2 pump ready, we were getting bitten by mosquitos big time. So we decided to leave the area and just have his wife come and pick us up. Up to a neighbourhood where the mosquitos followed us for a bit. We went to an intersection and sat down and decided that we both would try to change the tube in my tire. Apparently, we didn't do it right though since the tube went flat again as it was on my bike rack these past 2 days. I took it down to North Central Cyclery and got a new tube and they fixed it up for me. (On a side note, I got a NIU Cycling Jersey while down there too!)

We got it finished just as Jess was pulling up! HA! Kevin took off to ride back while Jess & I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for...

The beach! Nothing really to report here. We pretty much just laid around getting some sun. The water was a bit too chilly to really get in there. Later on that night was a fire pit and rum runners and neighbours in the cul-de-sac. Good times.

Monday was a relaxing day. I didn't do any exercise but it didn't mean I was just lounging around! Down a local pool, they closed it down for humans but invited canines and their owners down so the doggies can enjoy the pool for a day! It was great fun seeing all the dogs running and playing with each other. Later on was grilling out and then I headed on out back to Illinois.

It was the first time that I was actually truly sad leaving Madison and going back to DeKalb. It was just that great of a weekend!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1033 ft Location: Verona, WI Elev. Gain: -50 ft Date: 09/05/09 Up/Downhill: [+442/-492] Time: 07:56 AM Difficulty: 3.2 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 10.00 miles Time: 1:40:57 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 06 /mi Calories: 1069 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 05 -1' 01 6.6 +0.7 -89 ft 2 10' 00 -0' 06 6.0 +0.1 +16 ft 3 10' 14 +0' 08 5.9 -0.1 +7 ft 4 10' 34 +0' 28 5.7 -0.3 +4 ft 5 10' 32 +0' 26 5.7 -0.3 -39 ft 6 13' 28 +3' 22 4.5 -1.5 +82 ft 7 9' 53 -0' 13 6.1 +0.1 -46 ft 8 11' 11 +1' 05 5.4 -0.6 -3 ft 9 9' 53 -0' 13 6.1 +0.1 -27 ft end 10' 09 +0' 03 5.9 -0.0 +40 ft Versus average of 10' 06 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1004 ft Location: Verona, WI Elev. Gain: -98 ft Date: 09/06/09 Up/Downhill: [+318/-416] Time: 10:44 AM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0 Weather: Fair with Haze 72 F temp; 65% humidity 72 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 5.01 miles Time: 0:51:05 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 10 /mi Calories: 338 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 5' 12 -4' 58 11.5 +5.6 -20 ft 2 4' 11 -5' 59 14.3 +8.4 -26 ft 3 8' 08 -2' 02 7.4 +1.5 -91 ft 4 4' 29 -5' 41 13.4 +7.5 +63 ft end 30' 46 +20' 35 1.9 -4.0 -49 ft Versus average of 5.9 mph

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Categories: 10 miles, biking, Madison