Labor-free Weekend September 6, 2005
Posted by Kylie in : General , add a commentIt was a great weekend! I drove up to Big Bear on Friday night, and
ended up going for a run with Karen and Paul (of Team Sole AR), Jorge
(another AR guy), and Brie. It was dark and soooo hilly and at higher
elevation than I ever train at, but it was a great kickoff to the
weekend.
Then next day I met Donny, who I am going to race Explore CA Baja 24 with in just under 2 weeks. We went for a mtn bike ride, and it was gorgeous and a blast. Then he, Jorge, Paul and I went for a run. I am not nearly as strong as they are, but I learned some good tips during the run and did my best. Paul's son, Jordan, had a lemonade stand to raise money for Red Cross, and also to raise money for a trip to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro next July. He raised just over $100 total!
That evening Paul and Karen and I went for another mtn bike ride as the sun was just getting ready to go down. We ended up doing some parts in the dark, but I got more and more great tips from them. The big tips: (1) keep your heals down when biking. This saves running muscles, and makes your lower leg into a stronger lever. (2) RELAX
Sunday morning Karen and I met up with Donny and Dave (who will also be racing with us) and Teddy and Heather (D, D, T & H are all part of Big Bear Adventure Racing) for a paddle. We ran into Carla, another great AR/paddler person, and she joined us. Again I learned tons, and felt much more comfortable paddling by the end of it.
I drove down the hill on Sunday to go to a BBQ, and then spend Monday on the road bike, then mtn bike, then BBQing. The mtn bike ride that afternoon was fun — went with Andy (good mtn biker friend) and Stephen (my roommate). Stephen only has a road bike, but we managed to ride mostly on paths that had a paved version nearby, and for the one part where we wanted to go through a park of trails there was a road around it and Stephen met us at the other side. Then we explored another park area, and found some great trails we'll have to return to.
The great weekend ended with another BBQ — the weekend was pretty much filled with fun things and fun people and yummy food…. 
speedy speedy and fun fun September 2, 2005
Posted by Kylie in : General , add a commentWooo! 3 day weekend! This should be a good one…
But first… this week has also been pretty good. Still feeling a bit under the weather, but much less so now. I keep surprising myself with my running… for a long time a 10 min mile has just been my average. Sure, a bit faster on shorter workouts, but nothing too crazy. Then in the last few weeks..
Last Monday's 10 miler was at a 9:35 pace, and comfortable! Tuesday was a brick (short bike, but at least something on the road bike so that it doesn't get jealous) and then 3.5 miles at 8:45 pace! It was hard, but I did it! Then I went for an easy run yesterday of a bit over 4.5 miles and averaged 8:56min miles! And the whole time was just relaxed, never felt like it was hard to keep pace (except from about 3.5 to 4 miles). I even did a bit over 2.5 miles at under 8 min pace the other day! It feels good to look at consistent results like these. I guess those speedwork days are paying off
I need to get on the road bike a bit more and work some speed drills there, too. It also needs its mileage base built up now that I have just gotten back on after a bit of a break.
I also need to get back in the pool… made it a few days, and then not while I was feeling sick.
But I also want to get in my kayaking… and more mountain biking… and getting ready for adventure racing fun! I have eCamp next weekend, and then it looks like a race the following weekend. And I'm excited that I might get to race with Train da Brain and some of his racing buddies, which would be sweet!
And tonight… off to Big Bear Lake for running and mountain biking with fun adventure race type people. Looks like it will be another good weekend.
