Countdown to Triathlon - 285 Days to Race Day (See Installment 8 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The fact is that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
Robert Cushing

I need to remember the above, especially when the pool is not as warm as I would like it to be.

I forgot my lap top when we left for Lake Tahoe and couldn't write the blog on my cell phone.  Saturday we went to Amador County then to Lake Tahoe until late last night.  Here's a picture I took from an Amador vineyard.

What a difference a week makes - No Snow to Snow

Last Week

This last Sunday

Last week along the river on the way to Lake Tahoe, the trees still hadn't turned colors.  Saturday night the weather turned very cold and snowed.  On the way home we saw that the trees had finally turned but were covered with snow.  What a beautiful sight.  But, "Mr. I don't stop when driving" wouldn't let me get any pictures.

The bike won't be ready until later today and I will have left for Bible Study in Hughson so I won't be able to start the bike riding until tomorrow.  Roxi was really happy to see us and to resume our walking. 

At the pool:  The lady who manages the pool coached swim teams for many years and said she'd help me to swim the laps and even teach me how to walk faster.  She watched me swim laps and showed me a technique that I had never known before.  I had told her that I swam one summer at Arden Hills Country Club under Sherm Chavoor who coached Olympic star, Mark Spitz.  She asked me if I remembered any of the techniques from then.  Goodness!   I was sixteen.  That was 50 years ago. Besides, he didn't spend time with the likes of me - I was definitely not Olympic material and it was such rough training that I quit at the end of the summer.  I wish my folks would have convinced me to "tough it out".  Anyway, she showed me that the strongest part of the stroke in freestyle is when your arm is in the back position.  At that point, you should "flip" your hand backward to get more propulsion.  I never knew that and so now I am practicing the technique.  It goes along with the idea of the clip less pedals on the bike - getting more distance for the same effort.

Have a great day, Everyone!

The Journey - Installment Eight

By the second week I began to have knee trouble.  We rode out to the cemetery and back bringing our mileage up to about seven miles, round trip.   I had lived in this area for 29 years and never noticed while riding in the car that there is a hill down to the cemetery.  In the car the road seems flat.  Coming back up that hill I thought my heart would explode.  I stated that day that my goal was to ride the hill without being winded. A great goal but I had no idea how long it would take to achieve it.   I was riding on Tuesday and Thursday by myself and Don had been urging me to carry identification and my cell phone when riding alone.  I began being bombarded with people urging me to wear a helmet.  I couldn’t understand what the big deal was about helmets.  Somehow I had ridden a bicycle all of my youthful days without one and had survived unscathed.

            After riding for a month, I really became concerned because my knee hurt under the knee cap most of the time I was riding.  I realized that I was still winded riding up slight hills and that I would need to train more than just with Don.  I made an appointment with my doctor and had my knee x-rayed.  I was told to take an anti-inflammatory medication but told that the x-ray really didn’t show anything particularly wrong other than normal wear and tear.  On Tuesday, August 7^Th, I met Don and Rob at the bridge crossing the irrigation canal at the entrance to the town of Hughson.  We began riding on the canal banks in order to avoid the traffic.  What a magnificent sight we had each morning as we watched the sun rise.  We even were able to see the workers who were picking the fruit in the peach orchards.  We had a most beautiful route through walnut, peach and almond orchards as we wound along the irrigation canal.  The road was rough but quite passable and we began to ride a little farther each day.  One day we would determine that the next time we rode we would ride to the next bridge; then to the next bend in the canal and so forth until our goal was to reach Hickman Road about 7 miles from my home.  We continued each time we rode to go a little farther.  On the days I didn’t ride with Don, I usually rode into Hughson and out the other side of the town keeping along well-traveled roads.  I felt that the irrigation canals were too dangerous for a lone woman to ride. 

            One morning I stopped at a friend Terri’s house and talked with her.  She presented me with an insulated water bottle for my riding.  Some times while riding alone, I would stop by a friend’s house and chat for a time.  I tried to make the experience enjoyable as possible and it also was a way of escape from the bike riding.  Of course, stopping to chat was not helping me to increase my speed and distance and was certainly not part of a rigorous training routine