Gravel and stuff

I am taking a different approach this year to riding. I have always ridden road bikes, I like my road bike however with all of the car vs bike issues going on road riding kind of scares me. So I have taken to the gravel. Living in Newton, working in Pella and being from Pella I know alot of gravel roads. I have been trying to map out different routes which has been alot of fun, Hopefully I can get some of the ladies to drive down from DSM to ride some of them with me.

Since I made my decision to not do any triathlons this year, I seem to be more relaxed. Which to me means that it was the right decision.

Latest Greatest:

About froze my butt of saturday at the Colfax gravel circuit race. I was a stop sign on a corner. I think that I might have found my calling.

Sunday I rode the Chill - i - ride, this is a ride put on by the CIC, central Iowa cyclist. We got to ride around the race track. I rode 1/2 of the way with the group(I had to get a cookie or two) then took off and scouted out some gravel roads. I am finding out there a ALOT of hills around here but I knew that.

JS and I are now officially signed up for sun, mon and tues of RAGBRAI. Watch out world the Julies' are on the loose.

I have been uncovering my plants, it was a long winter for them. I think they are happy to get the mulched leaves off of their little stems. I am also trying to decide what to grow this year.

I am still swimming twice a week and actually running more now then when i was training. Figure that one out.

That is about all for now...until next time PEACE!

FUN FUN FUN

Looks like that is what both of us have in tune for this year! I think it is well deserved for the both of us. We had a couple of years of working hard and I think everyone needs to take a break from the work.

I would like to do a couple sprint tris in 2011, we'll see how I'm doing with everything after this year! I may like the fun factor instead...we'll see!!

Look for the Julie's havin' fun at races and cheering everyone else on!!!

JG's 2010 Goals

*DRUM ROLL*

To Have  Fun! Plain and simple Just to have fun.

I want to do more off road riding,
Mountain Biking - hone my skills (ok they need ALOT of work)
RAGBRAI is on the calendar with JS
Get the girls together once a month for a gravel ride, different place and route each month.
CycloCross!!!

No Individual Triathlons, I am not having fun doing them, so I am taking a year off and will reevaluate it next year. I might go back and I might not, Only time will tell.

So there you have it JG's 2010 goals! A little late but better late than Never...LOL.

Peace

Life throws you challenges...

...run with them! That is what I need to do....now to actually implement it! This winter has been hard on me. With a full schedule of work and school, then throw in the 50+ inches of snow we've received, it's been REALLY hard to motivate myself to do anything. During the week has been pretty much studying and maintaining my house. Since the snow started to fly I can count on my hands the times I've been outside for exercise:

Dec. - weekend before Christmas while at my sister's my wonderful husband made me go out on a 3 mile walk/jog.
Jan. - Got out one Sat. and helped my Mom shovel/snowblow and then played with my daughter and the dog. Also got out for a walk/jog another Sat.
Feb. - BRR bike ride

I really think that is all, in my mind I can't think of anything else, but then again my mind is a little out of it lately......PATHETIC!!!!

My plan for this next term (Feb 24-Apr 21) is:
Mon/Wed night - class until 10pm
Tues night - Wii Yoga with my daughter or roller skating, whichever sounds more appealing for the night and the budget.
Thurs night - STUDY!!!
Fri night - family night.
Sat/Sun - find time to study and get some form of exercise each day, whether it be going to the Y for a swim or forcing myself outside for a walk/jog or bike ride. I HAVE to start doing something!! For mine and my families sanity!

Send me a message if you are heading out for a ride and don't mind an OUT OF SHAPE person dragging behind!

6 Months to Hy Vee

I started the 6 month training schedule yesterday the 28th. I am not sure at this point if I am going to do Hy Vee for sure however If I decide that I do want to compete I want to be on schedule so to speak.

The first 3 months I will be just doing base fitness. My fitness is still fairly good from the Fall cyclocross season but one can alway improve their fitness. I need to enjoy getting my body in shape, instead of thinking of it as a chore.

The second 3 months build up to the triathlon. It is more intense than the first 3 months. I have used this schedule for three years now. It has worked well for me and I am sure it will work well again.

That is all for now..

PEACE

Happy Holidays and some reflections on 2009

CycloCross season is over, it was a wonderful experience and I am having post cross depression. I will admit that It needed to be over for me. I could feel myself getting wore out. Cyclocross helped me get a good base fitness that will carry over into my triathlon training for next year. i have not decided on what I want to do next year but right now I plan on doing only 1 triathlon and that will be Hy-Vee. I need to finish it to prove to myself that I can. I would also like to do more Mountain biking and the Elkhart time trial series. None of this is set in stone they are just thoughts.

Here are a few thoughts on this past year:

Competing is at least 50% mental. If you are not mentally tough it will not matter how fit you are.

The Pinks are a great group of ladies. They are warm, caring and fun.

EVERYONE needs to do the Muddy Buddy. You cannot help but have a great time when you are covered in mud.

CycloCross is addictive and the riders are wonderfully crazy people. My theory is that it is hard to hide who you are when you are turning yourself inside out for 45+ minutes.

Cyclists have nice butts :)(That one is for you Paul)

We are ALL winners if we give it our best shot.

Life is not a dress rehearsal...DO IT NOW! Don't wait for tomorrow.

God works in very mysterious ways!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and may your 2010 be everything you wish.

PEACE

Fall Activities - CycloCross

Wow I have been neglecting this blog, sorry about that. So what have I been doing this fall i can sum that up in one word..CYCLOCROSS. I started to do cyclocross, I have been a spectator for two years and decided to give it a try this year. What a incredibly difficult sport but what a BLAST once you body quits hurting.

My summer really stunk triathlon wise i just didn't have the base fitness. I thought that maybe cyclocross would help. It helped ALOT. Riding at 170 HR for 45 minutes can do nothing but help your base fitness. I could tell I was getting stronger as the season went on. Every Tuesday night in Sept and Oct, I would fly home from work feed the cats, change clothes then head to DSM for practice. We had to stop in Nov because it started to get dark to quick.

I have met alot of great people that I hope that I am friends with for a long time. I missed JS, she didn't get to do the practice due to school, however right now school and her family are priority and I can certainly understand that.

I did learn that there are enemies of cyclocross riders...ACORNS. They are evil little nuts. I was out practicing, minding my own business and WHAM 2 acorns took me out. The little suckers body slammed me. Talk about stunned especially because I wasn't even under an acorn tree. I think they migrate to throw people off. I had the biggest darn bruise I have ever had, proof below. This happened the first of Sept and I can still feel it, but at least I dont look like I have big celulite pocket anymore.









I have done 3 races so far, the technical part still makes me nervous but I am getting there. Next week I am doing two races at Jingle Cross. I take it easy and slow but at least I am trying.

So that is a very quick update. I have not decided on next years plans. I am still thinking about what I want to do. I do know I am doing HyVee and I am finishing this time.

Until next time...PEACE