In the Locks of Old Man Winter...

I'm taking Randall's advice and posting from the Morgan world! I certainly hope that this post finds the rest of our team in good health and riding/running strong!! I am so sorry that I have not been able to send in or post updates and certainly hope that this LONG post does not bore you:)
First of all, back on Dec. 23 (yes, 2 days before Christmas 2010) my 7 yr. old, Max, was sick and I had taken him to church to literally lie in a pew while I help many of the ladies decorate the sanctuary for the Christmas Eve services the next day. As he rested, we worked. Then, when it was time for us to go, I leaned down to help him up and picked him up the wrong way. I did not realize it immediately, but as the day went on, my lower back began to really bother me! After running a few errands (last minute gifts), the evening came and I was loosing mobility quickly. Somehow, by the grace of God and complete will power, I made it through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, hearing my daughter sing at church, going to family dinner, setting up presents, etc... THEN IT HIT!! The day after Christmas, I was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee and I collasped! Somehow, Scott carried me to the bedroom and all I remember was that the room was spinning and I was dry-heaving and sweat was rolling off of me! The kids were in a panic and I knew something was seriously wrong!! I have never had pain make me nausiated, and I've birthed 2 children and had several injuries... This was scary!! So, I called a family friend, who also happens to be a spine surgeon... After several tests, a herniated disk was the culprit! So, 12 days of steriods later, the inflammation was decreasing! side note: Prednosione (sp?) is awesome!! I didn't sleep, and if you think I have lots of energy without the Pred., I'm sure you would have been scared of me on this stuff! Let's just say that my house has not been cleaner! I called our housekeeper and told her to take the day off! I was scrubbing the oven, cleaning out the refrig, going through the kids' toys and old clothes... Good Will loved me!! Anyway, back to my injury... so, the treatment was 6 to 8 weeks of NO RUNNING and NO RIDING except on a stationary bike!! I could do (and now love) hot yoga, but I have NEVER NOT RUN in the past 25 years!! So, this was an adjustment, but let me tell you that I will do whatever I am supposed to do so that I do not go through that pain again!!! Needless to say, Hot Yoga and Christina's (Teenie's) inversion table have become my friends!! When a hard-core runner cannot run, life for family members can be difficult (haha!) but, SouthernOm is awesome and I've been going 3 and 4 times a week! I always blew yoga and pilates off as "softie crap!" but boy have I eaten those words!! Seriously, I lost 3 pounds without meaning to and have built core strength like you would not believe! Forgive me for ever thinking yoga is not a heart-rate-accelerator!!!!

My back?? Well, I am not 100%, but I feel 99.9% better and this Thursday will be my 6th week "anniversary" so I'm going to give a light jog a try! Last week, I had a horrible head cold and am looking so forward to warmer weather.

Saturday, Sam and I spent the day getting certified / re-certified for indoor spinning classes and then I taught for Gis. for 2 hours yesterday! My legs were fine and I'm thankful for many things: #1) To have had this injury during the Winter months, #2) To still be able to spin my legs and do hot yoga, and #3) to read and keep up with all of you and your strength pours into my spirit!! I hope to run in the Reedy River 10K and would love to be able to ride in at least one of the Spring Series races, but this week will be the test week and I will play it all by ear.

Sorry again for the long post, but as Randall said, the blog is a great way for us to keep up with each other! Hope this is OK! Have a great day and a healthy week! Old Man Winter can kiss my...

Mt Lemmon

Teenie and I set out to do a 3.5 hour ride Saturday morning. We would warm up and do a 30 minute interval that would take us up about 5 miles. We were then going to return to the base and finish up with a large loop including some hefty rollers.

When we finished the 5 miles, we just kept going........another 5 then 10 miles. Now, understand we were still 10 miles from the summit. Yes, we climbed 4500ft/15 miles and still had another 2000-2500ft/10 miles left. Out of food and water food, intending to return to the base after 30 minutes, we reluctantly turned back.

High winds buffeted our decent and kept speed moderate. However, the fun was not over! At the base, we faced a flat 5 mile run out to the car. We whipped by 2 girls who race for Team 2012. They jumped on the train. When we reached the stoplight, we were all a little giddy.

The scenery was the most impressive I have experienced in North America. The rock formations are spectacular and the vistas are endless. I hope each of you can experience this!

Saturday UWBL Jan 29th ... B's

Most of us (Randy, Mel, Brian, Tom, Ray, Linz, Elizabeth) opted to ride the B's as 100+miles was not in our training plans (or legs, or heart.....).  Since Randy has been leading the B ride we supported him and the shop riding a good tempo ride with a couple of good "rollouts" and efforts ....  Cinthia and Joe opted for the A's as the entire LeesMcCrae team were in town for the ride.

It was a beautiful day to ride, cool at the start but I cannot remember the last time we had some real warmth. on a bike ride....Randy led things out controlling the pace with a little help from me and the team, at least until the "rollout" after Possum "something"...... where the rollout turned into a slugfest ........tooooo far out and created the first "burn" of the day..... Ray, Brian, Linz, and I all started to play as Kelly (?) jumped...... Wait....isn't this waaaay toooo early to go?    I sit up, Linz sits up.... riders now coming up..... its a long way out........ I tell Linz its a long way and she can reel them in.........   several riders trying to real the three bad boys in......... Linz goes......everyone starts to fade before the finish ..... I think Brian go it.......

Rollers back across to Dunklin Bridge where we try to set up a pace line...... no go.... Impatient I launch off the front trusting that one of my team mates would make the move with me..... Nada.... solo off the front ... ..... I am maxed out.. no one coming..... hands in the drops, head down...... I am not going to make it..... to early in the season...not enought training for this old body to pull this off........... Tom pulls the pack back up to me and luckily I am able to jump back in before the turn on Slatton Shoals...... Legs are toast (maybe that big hill workout on Thursday just did me in...... or maybe....)... We are headed back north into the wind...no surprise there, making our way back to Hwy 20........

Ray "the motor", Brian "the spin", Tom "Diesel"  and Mighty Mouse drive the pack on the run back in.   Randy and I watched from the caboose as we watch the "kids" and the diesel motor us back in..... Some guy next to me says.... who is that woman up there?  She is killing it.......

Its a B ride...... don't tell my legs that..... Great ride.... Randy Mc did a great job leading this...  I am toast...

Elizabeth hung on and hung on throughout the ride (were you there for the final run in???) 

January....   30 more days of winter riding.....

Weekend finally looks good

Looks like a break in the weather! I know all you guys deserve it. It is the time of the year when activity is a little lower and our interaction is less.

Please take time to blog.....tell us what is going on with you, training wise and other wise. It might not be as sexy as riding in the Tucson Mountains but it is our way of staying connected.

Teenie, Linz, Bird and I are going to get a jump on things at Valley of the Sun in 2 weeks. This is the largest stage race (about 1000 riders) I have experienced and starts the season here. I am very confident of Teenie and Linz as far as fitness.....never been higher. I have not seen Bird ride lately but isn't Bird always fit?

We are 3 weeks from the opening weekend of the Greenville Training Series. The first weekend is SCTAC and BMW. Teenie and I will be in Tucson that weekend but we will be present at Weekend 2 and 3. I always enjoy racing against the 45+!

Joe told me sometime back that we are going to be much better than last year. When Joe talks, I listen.

Right now, I am just visualizing the B&W gang kickin' some butt.

Stay strong and let us hear from you!

Ups and Downs in the West

Biking is sport in which you can be on top one day and in the toilet the next.

On Saturday, Teenie and I lit up a group ride out of Tubac Az. The ride was comprised of some super triathletes, coached by Training Bible Coach Tom Manzi. Risking being a braggard, I would say we gave 'em a lesson in bike riding.

Sunday, at Sweetwater, with ex-pro mountain bikers Jill and Brian Grasky, we got the lesson. It was the Mountain 1 and the Maddox's zero! And, I have the scrapes and bruises to prove it.

The Sound of a Champion

I have always thought of seeing champions but this week, I heard one. Teenie, Linz and I set out to do 4x6 minute Z4 intervals(redline pace) with 2 minute rest intervals. We chose a loop off Rancho Vistoso.....a famous road out here. It was about 8 miles and we would just keep going until complete.

We warmed up on the way over and started at the same time and same point. The terrain was rolling and with my power and my TT bike vs Teenie and Linz on their road bikes, I was suppose to get way out in front. When complete, I would ride back toward them and likely pick up Linz and then Teenie.

I hammered through the intervals, actually exceeding threshold in the last 3 and then sat up. That is when I heard gears shifting down right behind me. At first I thought, "How could some one come off a side street and over take me?" Then I heard a familiar voice ask, "That is 4 isn't it?"

It was Linz and she had kept up with me on her road bike........ those gears changing was my very first time to hear what A CHAMPION SOUNDS LIKE!

REDEMPTION IS MINE! G-VEGAS TIME!!

41 DAYS, 16 HOURS and 31 MINUTES. This is the amount of time I have left before my feet grace the line for the Snickers Marathon in Albany, GA. I savor this countdown as I anxiously await completion of my first ever marathon. But first, I have a little redemption of my own, something more personal that has its roots deeply planted from last year.


Today, I raced in the Greenville News 5k with approximately 2,000 other crazily clad runners in 31 degree weather. We shivered and shuttered around a 3.1 mile, somewhat hilly course thru the streets of downtown. I did not win, yet I was a winner in my own right. I won because I got to the start line and completed the race. Last year, I sat on the bench with a calcaneous stress fracture taking note that next year would be different. And, it was. I ran a personal best 5k of 21:11 and placed 2nd in the 25-29yr age group out of 124 women. Yes, I wanted to win, but I did and didn't at the same time. I won because I raced as hard as I could. After downloading my garmin, my HR avg. was 173bpm. But, my max was 204. 204!! I have not seen this number or anything above 190 since rowing and those dreaded 2k erg tests that would make anyone want to puke. I had to double check the data because as we all know, technology can flaw and your heart rate can spike on occasion to 250/300 if it picks up a different signal. But, this was my actual heartrate. At the finish, I got an instant ear ache. Something that I also got when I rowed those darn 2ks.


The most amazing person at the race (other than my mom :) was a woman named Evelyn Tripp. She set a NATIONAL record today of 50 minutes (give or take) for the 5k course at 95yrs. young! I was fortunate enough to be able to take a picture with such a champion in her own right.

I still have a lot to learn about running and 5k's. I did not taper for this because it is a stepping stone towards my ultimate goal of the marathon. I would like some feedback about something I noticed in the race today. I found myself getting passed, not on the uphill, but on the downhills by swarms of runners. Is there a certain technique I am missing here? What is the missing link? Shorten your stride, lengthen? Let gravity pull you forward? How do you run downhill, haha, seems like such a simple question............................

THANKS!

Carla Swart

It pains my heart to hear that such an athlete has fallen......   My thoughts go out to Lees-McRae cycling, her family and Cinthia.   Carla was a truly outstanding athlete with an incredible future ahead of her. 

Live life to the fullest every day......

More from AZ

After Teenie scientifically found her limits, a neighbor showed up to test her

findings.

Tucson Winter Camp

We did a few workouts this week but headed on an adventure today. We went thru the city, the mountains and the dessert. As for terrain, famous Gates Pass(where Teenie is taking a break), was the highlight.

It was my favorite thing with my favorite ride partner. We covered 67 miles in 4:05 with 2600 ft of climbing.

We are both working hard on our health and we are coming back in that area as well as our fitness. The high today was about 60F but with the sun out and it was glorious. The coming week looks warmer. Spirits here are high.

We got all the news from the UWBL. We are proud of the TEAM headstrong effort!