8

is the number of times I went up the Veloway Hill during my 25-mile bike ride. Can u believe I had no trouble getting up the hill?!

What Arun told me last week about getting up the hill stuck with me and has been tremendously helpful (thanks, dude) - small gear in front, biggest gear at the back. And while others may have told me that before, I only understood how to work the gears on a my bike last week. Arv watched me get up the hill unsuccessfully, and pointed out I had been on the wrong gears even after I thought I had shifted them. As it turns out, I was doing them backwards! Now that I know which gears are controlled by which side of the bike handles, it is MUCH easier.

It's a great feeling to know I can ride 25 miles. (who would have thought it??) I think I've had enough of the Veloway. It's time to venture out.

The 6-mile run on Sunday through Town Lake was fun. I was there at 7am to begin my workout. I can't believe I woke up that early to do a workout! Arv didn't come with me that day, and I ran with Steph and her friend Elizabeth. We ran a decent pace, and after the run, I didn't even feel pooped. Freakin awesome.

Confessions of a bad girl

No, this is not a raunchy blog entry. (Santhosh, you can stop reading now, this is not what you were hoping for..)

My nutrition has gone out the window, particularly yesterday and today. I used to snack on bad stuff to get thru mid-morning and mid-afternoon cravings. Ever had those cravings? Right about 2pm, my energy tanks inexplicably.. and even if I were cycling in the afternoon sun, I'm sure I'd doze off the bike. I've tried coffee - which helps but the cafetaria coffee tastes like drain water, and I seldom get time to walk the nearest decent coffee place - cookies, popcorn to deal with it but then it becomes a habit. I end up needing to wean myself off those too. I've struggled to come up with alternatives.

So anyway, my tri workout regime really inspired me to get rid of the junk food and eat more healthful stuff. I adhered to my resolution these last few weeks, and then a sugar craving hit me yesterday that I have had dificulty shaking off (it was contagious apparently, because Arv had the same feeling). Today I had M&Ms. a 100-calorie snack-pack, popcorn... and an hour or so before the workout I had a cliff bar (brownie fudge no less), an eggroll (GASP) and 2 veggie potstickers (faint)! Of course, karma ensured that I tasted the eggroll through 3 miles of running the Marshes. I'll never do that again. Arv expressed genine shock at my feat.

Clearly my nutrition needs to be revisited.. I'm definitely not eating the times that I should be and it's resulting in sharp appetite increases at the "wrong" times. Advice anyone?

P.s. No accelerade sno-cones in Austin, Vinoo, so don't even go there..

Optimus has a fall

My weekend training was fairly eventful. I decided to flip the routine around, and do the run on Saturday, and the brick on Sunday. The 5-mile run was very enjoyable, and I wasn't at all tired. During the run, I focused on form a lot, keeping my arms at right-angles and relaxing into the run.

The brick was tough. We didn't get off to a good start, really. We had a late night on Saturday, so we didn't get up until 10am or so. Then the bike rack had issues with carrying both Optimus and our friend's Huffy. Finally, we put Optimus in the back seat, and carried the Huffy on the rack. The sun was blazing by the time we got to the Veloway. One of our friends (who's done a 360-mile bike ride) joined us. Both he and Arv (on the Huffy) were way ahead of me, and sailed through the Hill. After pushing through 5 loops on the Veloway (only making the Hill 1/3 of the time), I skidded on a sharp turn and crashed. I had rode too close to the edge of the lane and skidded on a pool of mud.

Fortunately, I had bike gloves on, so I didn't scrape off the skin from my hands. My left knee took a bit of a beating. Poor Optimus had one of his handlebars bent by the impact. The gears & brakes were fine, so I continued on my loop. The guys were way ahead and hadn't realized I had fallen. I was determined to finish 20 miles, so I pushed ahead on the 6th loop (with a concerned Arvind watching my back this time), and even made it up the hill! I completed the 20miles and a 10min run with a bleeding knee. Quite melodramatic.

Gau & Santhosh told me to wear my wound proudly as a badge of honour. Whatever. In a way though, I'm glad I fell, because it was a nagging fear. Now that it's done, I can ride more fearlessly, knowing I can survive a crash. :) I guess Optimus has now been broken in.

Run-dee-dun

Funny, I don't think I was ever this happy about running when I trained for the half-marathon. Today's session was good. Of course, I'm no gazelle (nor any desire to be), but I ran consistently and did the workout to the T - I ran consciously, thinking about form & pace (whereas previously, I would let my mind wander while running). It was a good workout. Ok, Gau, not "good" or "bad", but my practice seems to be paying off.

Reflecting on my week, I've gone through some ups and downs, and mostly, because of my mind. I'd like to focus on being more equipoised, and being more relaxed during my workouts. This will probably help me focus better. This weekend we have a long bike ride (18 miles) and a brick. Should be fun!

All geared up and going nowhere

Yesterday I had a lousy bike session. It was like being 8 again when all my friends jumped on their bikes and sped off, leaving me in the dust. Everyone else did hill repeats, while I practiced some pretty basic stuff in a parking lot with my coach, Lorrie. It was my first time out on the road, and I freaked out. Kind of like swimming in open water. You can swim comfortably a million times in a pool but still freak out when you first swim in the sea/lake. I guess it's a fear of the unknown. The traffic wasn't bad, but I really had to steady my nerves in the presence of cars zipping past me. :( I'll get over it.

Gau told me something yesterday, which on reflection, is pretty profound, "there's no good or bad workout, only the need for more or less practice". And thus spake the Ultramarathoner.

Optimus Rocks the Hill!

Ladies & Gentlemen, presenting...

Optimus Azure Blew

Folks, thanks for all your creative suggestions! ("Bucephalus" I did not get.. it sounded too much like a disease..) Arv really wanted Azure somewhere in there, and after trying different combinations, we agreed to this. Optimus means "most favourable, optimum". When I watched the Tranformers, the thought popped into my head to call him "Optimus Blue" (or Bloo, but Arv argued people might mispronounce it as "blow"). Today, as I sailed through the Veloway on Optimus, I felt like I was flying - blown away - hence, "blew". Azure speaks for itself.

I love Optimus! We took him for a spin on Sunday, and it was my first test-ride. But Optimus felt so right! Immediately, I noticed how comfortable I was (because I was sized well for this bike), and it was fast but not uncontrollably so. I practised the gears, and that still needs some getting used to. The biggest thing I need to look out for is my posture. If I choose to, I can sit upright, and when I feel more competitive, I can slide my hands down the bike horns and lean forward. :)

Optimus took me up the hill today! YES! So, Mr. Veloway Hill is not the hotshot he used to be. As I went up the hill today (mostly in shock at how fast I was advancing), a biker chided me for being on the left side of the hill. Oh well. If I WERE such a good biker, I guess I wouldn't be on the wrong side of the hill in the first place, right? I think it's so easy for good cyclists to forget how they themselves first struggled. Anyway, whatever. The thrill of going up the hill made up for everything.

My new baby

I got my first bike! I'm a little nervous about riding a road bike, having barely gotten used to the hybrid. The guy at the store warned me it would be a new learning curve. When I was being sized yesterday, I was pretty tense. Zane told me to relax. I said, can you tell I'm a novice? He said, I see you're a novice, but I'm not sure why you're nervous..

Need to work on my posture on this new baby. I'm slouching and that's going to be a problem. Had no time to take it for a spin because I had to go for run training (hill repeats.. urgh). Arv took it for a spin instead and said it rocked. Can't wait to try it out tommorrow on the Veloway!

Oh, and I'm taking suggestions for names for my bike, so pls throw your idea into the hat. ;)