Thanks to Tom for my first donation of the big Century ride challenge! It's a relief to have one in the envelope.
As I logged a track workout of lunges and 400s this evening, I thought about how I need these fancy clipless pedals for this upcoming long ride, but my thoughts quickly turned to Bottom Line. I have a lot of great resources in my life - as simple as a bike group to recommend clipless pedals. But I've always had great support starting with my parents and teachers that guided me through UMass. And now I still have great mentors, and friends in my life helping me through my career.
Bottom Line helps to provide guidance for students that are excelling in school, but need help making decisions about their future. We all know the importance of higher education - 9 out of 10 new jobs in the United States require a post-secondary education. Think about your own educational experiences, the lessons that you learned, the friendships, the knowledge, the opportunities, the doors that opened that you didn't realize existed. Since my graduation from UMass Amherst, I realize I've gained so much and I want to provide the same opportunities to other Massachusetts and New York students through Bottom Line.
The impact of Bottom Line on these students is unmatched. Students graduate within six years or less at a rate of 73% compared to their peers without aid, only graduating at a 12% rate.
Biking and training for a century might be tough, but I'm not doing it alone. Let's help to make sure studnets are going Far too - here is how YOU can help Bottom Line and the students, forward this link and donate to Bottom Line.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Turtle in the Road
Good morning! I've had a delay in my blogging for a couple days, but I've been biking up some hills in my off time!
The whole CENTURY ride concept scared me. Before I signed up for the event, I checked in with several people that have an understanding on my fitness level and have experience with a century ride. Mr. Robert Miceli - part time professional bike master told me to increase my mileage slowly, but assured me the challenge wasn't too big for the time frame. Despite having the backing of their professional opinions and solid advice, I still wanted to quickly get the miles under my belt.
Yesterday morning, I met up with the Landry's Westborough group ride for a 7am departure. The group consisted of 10 riders and we split off into two groups - short 20 mile distance and the long distance. I already accomplished a 24 mile ride earlier in the week so again, I self graduate myself to capabilities beyond my knowledge or ability.
Graduation Picture with the sunrise on my face
Lesson 1: When joining a new group ride, make certain to nail down the distance of the ride.
All I knew was I wanted to ride further than 20 so I rolled along for the ride without much apprehension or concern. It was briefly discussed that we were riding for 40 miles at around 15 - 17mph. It was 7am, the sun was rising and we were zooming around the most beautiful part of the state. Zooming is a technical road bike term for traveling in unknown towns and roads. I am fairly certain we traveled through Westborough, Northborough, Berlin, but we biked 47 miles so we might have also dipped into Marlborough, Bolton and Hudson. I love having a great excuse to be up so early in the morning again. The sun was rising over the roads as we reached greater heights throughout the trip. We saw a turtle in the road and a couple of turkeys, but the turkeys are a usual occurence in the MetroWest arena.
I had the pleasure of riding with Rich, Vickie and Dale. Rich is our Landry's guide. Vickie is an experienced rider that gave me tons of great advice about my upcoming century ride. Dale is a south centralite from Oxford and has been only biking for a couple years, but he gave me great advice about group rides and the importance of drafting. He was very amsued that I joined in for such a long ride, but had only rode 24 miles prior to this. He took pity on me and announced to the group that we had reach my peak at 26 miles. Despite slowing them down, they seemed happy to have me along. They took time to teach me and demonstrate a pace line. They travel very close to each other, but this pace line and drafting business definitely helps to save energy. The group also told me about strategies for the century ride. Groups like these are so very helpful. It's the easiest way to gain some quick knowledge and they are all very willing to share lessons learned and best practices.
My new homework assignment includes
1. Finding a friend for the century - I need a drafting and direction reader!?
2. Clipless pedals & bike shoes (best thing since sliced bread)
I had been very spectacle until this last ride. How can something that initial causes falls make me that much faster? I don't even want to be faster! I have Lance Armstrong Nike Free sneakers. What better shoe could you have? The answer is the Lance Armstrong biking shoes would be better! At the end of our 47 mile ride, we were on a long stretch from Northborough center traveling past ... another favorite golf course to Rt 9. It was very flat and the others three darted off without me. I was really cranking to keep up. Mr. Landry Rich told me that I've a very good rider and he's very impressed, but assured me I would be crushing him if I had the clipless pedals. Not sure how he knows this would be appealing to me ... Check out what REI has to say about it, "part of a natural progression to make your riding more efficient and less tiring." And those are very important words for a century ride, efficient and tiring. It's a must for this event, so next weekend or maybe this week, I will make the big purchase!
The rest of the day was not a loss either. I figured with 47 miles done for the day, I would be a total drag. Not the case, after 1 coconut water, 1 chocolate milk, 1 banana, 1 water, 7 fruit slice candies, trail mix, and a 2 hour nap on the way to New York - I was a party animal!
The whole CENTURY ride concept scared me. Before I signed up for the event, I checked in with several people that have an understanding on my fitness level and have experience with a century ride. Mr. Robert Miceli - part time professional bike master told me to increase my mileage slowly, but assured me the challenge wasn't too big for the time frame. Despite having the backing of their professional opinions and solid advice, I still wanted to quickly get the miles under my belt.
Yesterday morning, I met up with the Landry's Westborough group ride for a 7am departure. The group consisted of 10 riders and we split off into two groups - short 20 mile distance and the long distance. I already accomplished a 24 mile ride earlier in the week so again, I self graduate myself to capabilities beyond my knowledge or ability.
Graduation Picture with the sunrise on my faceLesson 1: When joining a new group ride, make certain to nail down the distance of the ride.
All I knew was I wanted to ride further than 20 so I rolled along for the ride without much apprehension or concern. It was briefly discussed that we were riding for 40 miles at around 15 - 17mph. It was 7am, the sun was rising and we were zooming around the most beautiful part of the state. Zooming is a technical road bike term for traveling in unknown towns and roads. I am fairly certain we traveled through Westborough, Northborough, Berlin, but we biked 47 miles so we might have also dipped into Marlborough, Bolton and Hudson. I love having a great excuse to be up so early in the morning again. The sun was rising over the roads as we reached greater heights throughout the trip. We saw a turtle in the road and a couple of turkeys, but the turkeys are a usual occurence in the MetroWest arena.
I had the pleasure of riding with Rich, Vickie and Dale. Rich is our Landry's guide. Vickie is an experienced rider that gave me tons of great advice about my upcoming century ride. Dale is a south centralite from Oxford and has been only biking for a couple years, but he gave me great advice about group rides and the importance of drafting. He was very amsued that I joined in for such a long ride, but had only rode 24 miles prior to this. He took pity on me and announced to the group that we had reach my peak at 26 miles. Despite slowing them down, they seemed happy to have me along. They took time to teach me and demonstrate a pace line. They travel very close to each other, but this pace line and drafting business definitely helps to save energy. The group also told me about strategies for the century ride. Groups like these are so very helpful. It's the easiest way to gain some quick knowledge and they are all very willing to share lessons learned and best practices.
My new homework assignment includes
1. Finding a friend for the century - I need a drafting and direction reader!?
2. Clipless pedals & bike shoes (best thing since sliced bread)
I had been very spectacle until this last ride. How can something that initial causes falls make me that much faster? I don't even want to be faster! I have Lance Armstrong Nike Free sneakers. What better shoe could you have? The answer is the Lance Armstrong biking shoes would be better! At the end of our 47 mile ride, we were on a long stretch from Northborough center traveling past ... another favorite golf course to Rt 9. It was very flat and the others three darted off without me. I was really cranking to keep up. Mr. Landry Rich told me that I've a very good rider and he's very impressed, but assured me I would be crushing him if I had the clipless pedals. Not sure how he knows this would be appealing to me ... Check out what REI has to say about it, "part of a natural progression to make your riding more efficient and less tiring." And those are very important words for a century ride, efficient and tiring. It's a must for this event, so next weekend or maybe this week, I will make the big purchase!
The rest of the day was not a loss either. I figured with 47 miles done for the day, I would be a total drag. Not the case, after 1 coconut water, 1 chocolate milk, 1 banana, 1 water, 7 fruit slice candies, trail mix, and a 2 hour nap on the way to New York - I was a party animal!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
24 miles
What a beautiful night! I can't think of a better way to spend a Wednesday night in the summer. Well, when my niece is busy that is... I'd rather be at Framingham summer track watching Elizabeth crush other 3 year olds in the 100 yard dash! Crush might be the wrong word, but she has big potential, the winning spirit, and focus like a hawk ... during the warm-up!
A couple weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Karen Henry tweeted "I want an app that can scan all of the piles of papers on my desk and beam the information into my head. Is that too much to ask?" Now my response is, I wish I had an app that can beam the pictures I take in my head of the glorious sunsets, picturesque golf courses, and tough hills onto my blog.
I promise to take pictures from one of the Wednesday night Landry rides, but for this trip I just tried to keep up and stay on my bike! The ride takes off from Cleveland Circle at 6pm sharp. I casually walked out of work a little after 5pm and jetted over to meet the group. I joined up with the medium group this summer. I rode with the Green Line Velo leisure group last summer for nearly 8 rides and only rode with the medium group once. This year, I am an "award winning" triathlete so I gave myself a promotion! Sensible move? Besides, I have much bigger goals for September - last year 12 miles for myself - this year 100 miles for Bottom Line!
We completed a 24 mile ride this evening and my legs feel like jelly. It's a good tired though. To my delight, I made a couple friends on my journey and all agreed that I would be able to easily accomplish a 100 mile ride in 2 months. I'm more than happy to have their vote of confidence, but their description of stringing together 5 20 mile rides doesn't exactly comfort my tired legs...
GVL Loop Medium Group
As you can see from the map, the group starts in Brookline and loops around Weston. We travel through two golf courses and lots of neighborhood. It's a general safe trip staying off main roads and traveling on nicely paved roads. The hardest part is keeping my eyes on the road while moving through the golf courses. I love golfing so much, but it looks like biking will my new favorite activity for this summer. Not only am I biking for Bottom Line, I'm giving up golf too - ha!
Ok! Time to figure out this weekend's ride schedule. Anyone have good training groups to join? I'm a member of two running clubs, but their calendars don't link up with biking ones... weird!
A couple weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Karen Henry tweeted "I want an app that can scan all of the piles of papers on my desk and beam the information into my head. Is that too much to ask?" Now my response is, I wish I had an app that can beam the pictures I take in my head of the glorious sunsets, picturesque golf courses, and tough hills onto my blog.
I promise to take pictures from one of the Wednesday night Landry rides, but for this trip I just tried to keep up and stay on my bike! The ride takes off from Cleveland Circle at 6pm sharp. I casually walked out of work a little after 5pm and jetted over to meet the group. I joined up with the medium group this summer. I rode with the Green Line Velo leisure group last summer for nearly 8 rides and only rode with the medium group once. This year, I am an "award winning" triathlete so I gave myself a promotion! Sensible move? Besides, I have much bigger goals for September - last year 12 miles for myself - this year 100 miles for Bottom Line!
We completed a 24 mile ride this evening and my legs feel like jelly. It's a good tired though. To my delight, I made a couple friends on my journey and all agreed that I would be able to easily accomplish a 100 mile ride in 2 months. I'm more than happy to have their vote of confidence, but their description of stringing together 5 20 mile rides doesn't exactly comfort my tired legs...
GVL Loop Medium GroupAs you can see from the map, the group starts in Brookline and loops around Weston. We travel through two golf courses and lots of neighborhood. It's a general safe trip staying off main roads and traveling on nicely paved roads. The hardest part is keeping my eyes on the road while moving through the golf courses. I love golfing so much, but it looks like biking will my new favorite activity for this summer. Not only am I biking for Bottom Line, I'm giving up golf too - ha!
Ok! Time to figure out this weekend's ride schedule. Anyone have good training groups to join? I'm a member of two running clubs, but their calendars don't link up with biking ones... weird!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
1 for 3.
Biking.
An interesting and relatively foreign past time for me.
I am three days into my 100 mile biking journey and I am 1 for 3 days with biking. On Sunday, I competed in the Danskin Webster Sprint Triathlon . I rode my bike on Sunday during the race. It was an absolutely spectacular race consisting of a half mile swim in LAKE CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG, a 12 mile bike route around the lake, and a 5K run. Admittedly, I had some apprehension about the race. Could I handle the distance and could I stay on my bike? I took a spill from my bike a couple weeks ago therefore these fears are realistic!
To my delight, the rest last month and casual training paid off for this race. Since my training was very relaxed, I was also very relaxed for the entire race. As the official gave instructions during the one minute countdown, I proceeded to dance and make funny faces at my parents and Paul. Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing over the loud speaker, what else is a girl to do? The real challenge will be when I enter a charity event for swimming. I am not a fast swimmer by a long shot! I improved by several minutes from last year - thanks to the additions of pull-ups to my workout schedule. I floated through the swim and enjoyed the very warm water and clear blue sky. The best parts of the swim were dancing at the start and running dramatically out of the water. From my brief analysis of triathlons (2 completed, 1 cheerleader), it appears that participants use the transitions as "rest" time. I use the swim and bike period as rest time and run for every other part. I take advantage of opportunities! It was fun to splash and run through the crowds at the transition areas.
Anyway, the bike route was a perfect triathlon route. It was a loop so no tricky choices on turns - it was very obivious to turn right. The hills were large and plentiful, which played well into the enjoyment of the course. What goes up must come down! I barely noticed the 12 miles - I was constantly changing gears to react to the changing up and down hill of the course. I am happy to report only one woman passed me on the bike route - she zoomed past me in the last 300 yards. She earned it. I was pushing hard, but she was pushing harder!
Then the run, I racked my bike, dropped my helmet and ripped off my super unnecessary Lance Armstrong - Johnny Mellow bike shop bike gloves, took a half second breath and ran off! As I loosened up my legs, I ran past my parents and Paul. I smiled and Paul yelled out, "There are only 5 900s in front of you." My wave was the 900s. I had basically forgot it was a race. Triathlons are tricky with the waves. We're all chasing down the race Elite starters, but it feels like trying to beat the Kenyans when starting in Wave 3 of the Boston Marathon. The Elites in both cases start nearly 30 minutes ahead of me. Shockingly, I must have passed a lot of people during my biking and I am confident in my running abilities so this was very motivating piece of information. To me, 3 miles of running is over by mile 1. As soon as my legs were completely loose, it was almost finishing time! Both goals were achieved on Sunday - 1. Stay on Bike. 2. Win! I placed 2nd in my age group, which honestly was much more than I planned.
Yesterday, I did strength training at the gym. Today, Meg Bannon and I visited the gym. For me, I completed another circuit strength training with jump roping. I arrived home just in time for Somerville's Tuesday night track. Track workouts are always helpful, right? I'm not sure! Will this help for a 100 mile bike ride? It seems unlikely! But it was so close and easy to attend so I completed the 1600 repeats and ...aggressively imagined myself biking to make up for the lack of biking!
An interesting and relatively foreign past time for me.
I am three days into my 100 mile biking journey and I am 1 for 3 days with biking. On Sunday, I competed in the Danskin Webster Sprint Triathlon . I rode my bike on Sunday during the race. It was an absolutely spectacular race consisting of a half mile swim in LAKE CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG, a 12 mile bike route around the lake, and a 5K run. Admittedly, I had some apprehension about the race. Could I handle the distance and could I stay on my bike? I took a spill from my bike a couple weeks ago therefore these fears are realistic!
To my delight, the rest last month and casual training paid off for this race. Since my training was very relaxed, I was also very relaxed for the entire race. As the official gave instructions during the one minute countdown, I proceeded to dance and make funny faces at my parents and Paul. Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing over the loud speaker, what else is a girl to do? The real challenge will be when I enter a charity event for swimming. I am not a fast swimmer by a long shot! I improved by several minutes from last year - thanks to the additions of pull-ups to my workout schedule. I floated through the swim and enjoyed the very warm water and clear blue sky. The best parts of the swim were dancing at the start and running dramatically out of the water. From my brief analysis of triathlons (2 completed, 1 cheerleader), it appears that participants use the transitions as "rest" time. I use the swim and bike period as rest time and run for every other part. I take advantage of opportunities! It was fun to splash and run through the crowds at the transition areas.
Anyway, the bike route was a perfect triathlon route. It was a loop so no tricky choices on turns - it was very obivious to turn right. The hills were large and plentiful, which played well into the enjoyment of the course. What goes up must come down! I barely noticed the 12 miles - I was constantly changing gears to react to the changing up and down hill of the course. I am happy to report only one woman passed me on the bike route - she zoomed past me in the last 300 yards. She earned it. I was pushing hard, but she was pushing harder!
Then the run, I racked my bike, dropped my helmet and ripped off my super unnecessary Lance Armstrong - Johnny Mellow bike shop bike gloves, took a half second breath and ran off! As I loosened up my legs, I ran past my parents and Paul. I smiled and Paul yelled out, "There are only 5 900s in front of you." My wave was the 900s. I had basically forgot it was a race. Triathlons are tricky with the waves. We're all chasing down the race Elite starters, but it feels like trying to beat the Kenyans when starting in Wave 3 of the Boston Marathon. The Elites in both cases start nearly 30 minutes ahead of me. Shockingly, I must have passed a lot of people during my biking and I am confident in my running abilities so this was very motivating piece of information. To me, 3 miles of running is over by mile 1. As soon as my legs were completely loose, it was almost finishing time! Both goals were achieved on Sunday - 1. Stay on Bike. 2. Win! I placed 2nd in my age group, which honestly was much more than I planned.
Yesterday, I did strength training at the gym. Today, Meg Bannon and I visited the gym. For me, I completed another circuit strength training with jump roping. I arrived home just in time for Somerville's Tuesday night track. Track workouts are always helpful, right? I'm not sure! Will this help for a 100 mile bike ride? It seems unlikely! But it was so close and easy to attend so I completed the 1600 repeats and ...aggressively imagined myself biking to make up for the lack of biking!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
A New and Exciting Challenge
Back by Popular demand! I am attempting another crazy endurance event to benefit the Bottom Line charity, and I invite you all along to enjoy some stories, videos, and a picture slideshow.
Annoucement Video: Personally for you!
As many of you know, I ran The Boston Marathon in 2009 for Bottom Line as part of their 'GO FAR' team and had an absolute blast!
On September 24, 2011, I will be attempting to ride in a 100 mile bike ride in support of Bottom Line. I've never rode over 24 miles on a bike before, but figure if I plan to ask for money, I better attempt a difficult task! I will be participating in the Rodman Ride for Kids. The ride is an annual event supporting Youth focused social services and at risk Massachusetts children. And this year, Bottom Line was invited to participate.
This event will be another exciting challenge and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to raise funds again. For the new readers,(new in 2010 for me...all my twitter followers!) Welcome! and let me take a few minutes to explain the many donation worthy points of Bottom Line.
The mission of Bottom Line is to help first generation or low income students from Boston, Worcester, and NYC get into college, graduate and Go Far!
Annoucement Video: Personally for you!
As many of you know, I ran The Boston Marathon in 2009 for Bottom Line as part of their 'GO FAR' team and had an absolute blast!
On September 24, 2011, I will be attempting to ride in a 100 mile bike ride in support of Bottom Line. I've never rode over 24 miles on a bike before, but figure if I plan to ask for money, I better attempt a difficult task! I will be participating in the Rodman Ride for Kids. The ride is an annual event supporting Youth focused social services and at risk Massachusetts children. And this year, Bottom Line was invited to participate.
This event will be another exciting challenge and I'm thrilled with the opportunity to raise funds again. For the new readers,(new in 2010 for me...all my twitter followers!) Welcome! and let me take a few minutes to explain the many donation worthy points of Bottom Line.
The mission of Bottom Line is to help first generation or low income students from Boston, Worcester, and NYC get into college, graduate and Go Far!
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