Tour de France 2012

Guess what started Today?!

I got into it about 3 years ago and hooked my husband. I think I started watching it at the gym. As I watched those cyclists I pushed myself harder on whatever I was doing because they were so inspiring.  I told myself, "look at what they are doing. If they can do THAT, I can at least go a little harder and sweat a little more and hurt a little more too."

I have some favorite teams, Team Radioshack, with riders, Frank Schleck (no brother Andy this year), Fabian Cancellara, Andreas Kloden and Yaroslav Popovych are some of the famous names that I recognize. 

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Team Garmin, another favorite, which used to be Garmin-Cervelo, which is now Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda. Their "better" known riders are, Ryder Hesjadal, Tyler Farrar(I believe he's a good sprinter), Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, David Miller, Tom Danielson. 

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I like a lot of them. I like Team Lampre's "outfits," but that's just a girl perspective. I like Team BMC, with it's leaders like Cadel Evans(winner of the 2011 Tour and winner of the Yellow Jersey), George Hincapie, Tejay Van Garderen and Phillippe Gilbert- everyone on the the team is important and each play a vital role in the success of the team.  

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Here are some other big names you might recognize Tomas Voeckler, the vivacious little Frenchman(Team Europcar), Samuel Sanchez(Team Euskaltel-Euskadi), Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish, Edvlad Boasson Hagen(Team Sky Procycling), Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Andre Greipel(Team Lotto-Belisol), Mark Renshaw(Team Rabobank), Levi Leipheimer, Jerome Pineau(Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step). There are of course a lot of other riders out there, I am just not as familiar with them. I don't follow cycling as religiously as some do.  I am also not familiar with some of the teams either, or rather am unfamiliar with any of their riders. 

There are 20 stages in the Tour with two days of rest the first after stage 9 and the second after stage 15, two time trials, 9 flat stages, 4 medium mountain stages(um...to me a mountain is a mountain), 5 mountain stages and 1 prologue. 

Check out the elevation map!

 Someone added those "le_____", not me.

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The longest ride is 140 miles stage 12 from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Annonay Davézieux on Friday July 13th.  

The shortest are the time trials and the prologue. 

I always get super nervous when they are going downhill because they go SO fast. Me, going down hill it's squeaky breaks all the way. I have no desire to eat road.  I'm pretty sure I would die both going up and down the hills. Wait, correction, I wouldn't make it up the hill.

The peloton is the main big group of riders usually behind those that have decided to sprint ahead.  

Jerseys are as follows:

Yellow: Leader of general individual time classification.

Green Jersey: It is worn by the leader of the points classification. The points can be won on intermediate sprints and at stage finishes. Polka-dot Jersey: Best Climber

White Jersey: Best young rider under 25 in general individual time classification.

These athletes are incredible, their stamina and energy. Some even get back on their bikes after falls. It's incredible. Last year a television car clipped two riders, as it was swerved to avoid a tree, Juan Antonio Flecha was hit and knocked into Johnny Hoogerland who went flying off into a barbed wire fence. They both got up and ended up finish that stage. INSPIRING!

Will you be watching the Tour?

Got Cramps?

Do you ever get that dreaded cramp or side stitch while working out? Specifically running?

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I do, more often than I would like.  Sometimes I get them after eating and then walking- ha! Does that mean I'm waay out of shape? Or does it just mean that my food is having trouble kinking its way through my intestines?

Runners World mentioned four ways to stop that dreaded side stitch.  This might be helpful if you experience them frequently.  In the past I used to stop running and walk while I waited until it went away.  Now, I just power through. I figure it has to go away eventually right? Just like my feet that fall asleep.  I typically try and take deep slow breaths, if possible.  Deep in and slow out and hopefully lessen the pain.  

RW says:

• Eat mindfully pre-run. There are many theories as to why stitches occur, and one of them factors in what and when you eat pre-run. Foods that are higher in fat and fiber take longer to digest. That doesn't mean they are bad foods, but if you eat them within one to two hours before a run, they can cause havoc—creating stomach upset, stitches, and other problems. Experiment with a variety of foods pre-run, eat lightly, and give yourself plenty of time to digest. One person's perfect pre-run fuel is another's disaster. 
• Invest in a solid warmup. Going from sitting to running speed may save you time on the watch, but it can create irregular, rapid-fire breathing patterns, which can translate to you bending over in pain on the side of the road (with a side stitch). Invest in two to three minutes of brisk walking, gradually work into an easy running effort, and then into your planned running workout pace. Doing so will increase the quality of your workout and decrease the risk of stitches that arise from pushing the throttle too soon.
  
•  Regulate your breathing. Run like a swimmer—with efficient breathing patterns that are in sync with your body. Swimmers can only breathe when their faces are out of the water (obviously), so they focus much of their time learning their breathing tempo and matching it to the rhythm of their stroke. Runners can benefit from the same technique by matching their breathing to their strides—inhaling for two to four strides and exhaling for the same. The faster the pace, the shorter the sequence (fast pace = one or two strides per breath, slower = three or four strides per breath). This can not only prevent stitches, but also improve the efficiency of your oxygen transport. Plus, it's a great way to keep in touch with your running effort levels without a watch.
• Slow down and exhale to release the stitch. If you still get another side stitch, implement this strategy and it will go away in seconds (I promise). Slow your pace and exhale as the foot on the opposite side of the stitch strikes the ground. This doesn't mean every time that foot hits the ground, but as you exhale, do so in sync with that opposite side. When you exhale, you use the muscles of your diaphragm. When this happens in unison with your foot striking the ground, the impact forces travel up the body and through your core (your side too) and exacerbate (piss off) the muscles in spasm creating that stitch. When you change the side of the landing forces to the opposite side, the tension causing the stitch releases. For example, your stitch is in your right side. You slow your pace, and exhale as your left foot is hitting the ground. Voila! Side stitch is history and you're running without swearing once again [source]

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!!

I DID IT!

I completed my first 13.1 and now I an proudly adorn my car with the cute pink 13.1 sticker I purchase at the Expo.  

I went to bed last night, had laid out my outfit and gotten all the things ready for the race, bag packed refuel belt and GUs/ jelly belly beans....I set my alarm for 5:30 and went to bed around 10, after I had called my mom. There's nothing like hearing her voice or words of encouragement and knowing how she's behind me 110%.  I love that lady- mi mama! I had told her if I was struggling real bad for the last 2-3 miles I might call her and she would just have to talk to me. Talk to me about dad or read me stories lol. It would be a very one sided conversation full of her speech and my heaving breathing.

Woke up, got dressed and had breakfast, glass of water, hard boiled egg and a banana.  I ate a pack of raspberry power bar gummies before the race.  I peed like 3 times before we left.  We walked over, there were so many street closures... plus it was a nice little warm up.  There were people running all over the place to warm up. I dunno, I don't really feel like running more before running A LOT....call me crazy. 

Jenna and I- our pre-race pic. I look tired!

There were TONs of people all over, thankfully they had many port-o potties. I didn't use, but we did find our friends in line.  I was supposed to start in Coral 23 and Gary in 19. My goal was sub 2:30.....or rather my hope. We ended up moving up corals since it was taking along time for the corals to move through.  The first coral went at 8:00 and we didn't start until like 8:30. Marathoners were in the front of course, unless they thought it would take them a longer time to finish. Gary and I started together briefly and then a quick kiss goodbye and I released him to do his thing....I watched him weave in and out of people and then he was gone. 
 No- we did not start in coral 3

H St- the home stretch mile 11

There were tons of supporters along the route it was really nice. Even though they weren't specifically for me, they weren't not for me either if that makes any sense.  The first four miles were on pace for me: a little over a ten minute mile. Then as usual around mile 4 my feet fell asleep. Then came the loooong hill. Slow and Steady, one foot in front of another. I just keep looking at the pavement in front of me, or the person in front of me. I passed many a walker but I just told myself I would not walk it.  About the 10k came the gross super steep part of the hill. DISLIKE, but I made it. I just kept plodding along.  I felt pretty good, my left ankle did start to get sore around mile 7. Miles 11 an 12 were in North East and I felt at home running down H St. 13th St. was another slow incline hill. My legs were getting super tired. I thought maybe I should walk for a second, but my legs didn't like that either.  Nothing was making them happy at that point. The last .1 of the half was another incline- GROSS..... but I long leg sprinted to the finish and came in sub 2:30 at 2:19:58. I had really wanted to come in below 2:20 by the end.

My legs don't feel too bad, but ask me again in the morning and we'll see.  My right foot around the arch was super sore after the race, but it's getting better. I grabbed all the free stuff that I could. Free is free after all. 

After meal: Italian, veal parm and Gary got baked ziti with Italian Sausage. There was too much sauce for me

 And....Dessert, YUM! Fro- yo, PB for G on the left and Choc/Van for me with lots of sprinkles- the container was real low so I didn't get my usual mass amount

Love you Daddy!

Straight to the core

This is how I feel when I do push- ups.

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In an effort to become at least somewhat bikini ready in um....19 days.....(I think my head just exploded, if not I'm at least screaming internally) Anyway Jamaica is in 19 days. So I've been trying to up my workouts. Doing a little more ab workouts, some more arm toning (triceps and biceps) and trying to focus on my core. 

It goes without saying that I am one of the least flexible people, or so I feel. I've been doing my burpees to increase my metabolism. Yesterday was day 29, which makes today day 30- groan. I have to say while 10 are ok and they look pretty easy, no such thing. I was huffing and puffing after 29 which means I will most likely be today as well.  Burpees kind of remind me of football pre-season up downs.....run run run, whistle, drop, up run, run run, except burpees are jump up, hands down jump feet back(now you are in push up position), push up, jump feet towards hands, jump up, hands up. Repeat many times.....I'm 80 away from my 110 goal. Ha!

I found that Shape has a workout trainer. You click on what you want to work on, abs, arms, etc...then choose 8 of the videos to do. I also found some fun core exercises to do here.  Thankfully Jillian Michaels 30 day shred has plenty of plank moves.

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