Just sitting here looking for a babysitter so Bruce and I can get out and ride our bikes for a bit. This has been a pretty rough winter. It snowed yet again Friday night making the gravel roads a mess. Sounds like we have more snow coming later today. Even if I do find someone to watch the kids, I'm not exactly sure where we would ride.

I feel a bit behind this year on my training. I began working on my masters degree earlier this year and spent a lot of time working on classwork. Did not have time to sit on the trainer like I do every other winter. The only thing saving me is the Plyo class I have been taking with Leah at Central Campus. It really kicks my butt. I love it.

My first class is over and I plan on waiting to take any more until later this year so I can catch up on my training. I have registered for a couple of events to give me the motivation I need to keep moving. I lucked out and was accepted to go to New York again to run in the More 1/2 marathon in April. I did the race last year as well....10,000 women running together in Central Park, it was amazing. I have also signed up for 100 mile mountain bike race in Wisconsin. I have A LOT of work to do before this race. It is similar to the 40 mile event they hold in the fall, but it will be held in the spring and limited to 100 riders. I did the Chequamegon 40 last fall for the first time. I think it is one of my favorites. It is beautiful country in northern Wisconsin. Trees for miles around. I am also contemplating signing up for my first Xterra race this summer. I was really excited to see that Iowa will be hosting one in August. It sounds like it will be a pretty tough race. It is an Olympic distance, but 25 miles of single track is a lot different than 25 miles of road riding. Can't wait for the challenge.

Well...looks like I have a babysitter now. Will be heading out in an hour or so to fight the cold wind and the icy roads. Ugh! It's a good pain I guess.

Kristin

BLUFF CREEK TRI

Thurs night I decided to sign up for the Bluff Creek Tri on Sunday. I had been sick with a nasty cold all week so I waited as long as I could to sign up. I was still sick but I wanted to do the race really bad. Thought it would be really good training for the Pigman Half Ironman I signed up for in August. I didn't think I would get nervous since I was just doing it for training, but my stomach was in knots all day Sat. This was to be my second tri. The last one I had done was the Hy Vee tri two years ago.

I made plans with Julie Sedore to ride up together Sunday morning. We left at 5:45 and got up there around 6:30. It was a fairly small race with just over 325 participants. Made it easy to find a spot for your bike. We had plenty of time to set everything up and get over to the beach....I remember Hy Vee being such a rush, with nearly 2000 competators the traffic was hectic. This was a nice change of pace.

I arrived on the beach around 8:30 and got into the water. It was FREEZING cold. Took several minutes to walk in and get used to it. I swam around a bit and warmed up quickly. I stayed in the water as long as I could since I was in the last wave to start the swim.

When the horn went off I took my time getting into the water. The girls spread out pretty quickly. I loved that I had so much room to move, didn't have to worry about running into anyone. I felt great. I think the swim went pretty well, seemed like it took notime at all to reach the boat ramp.

I was excited to get onto the bike. Again, I tried to take off slow and let my legs get used to pedaling. Seems like they are always a bit fatigued after swimming. Had a nice tailwind the first 4 miles then headed into a tough crosswind. Along the route, there were three pretty nice sized hills. They were tough, but I just took my time and got it done. After the first hill there was a nice long section of flat into the wind....also tough. I was grateful for the tailwind as I turned again. I took off. I was bummed that my spedometor was not working. Would have loved to know how fast I was going. It felt great.

The run was very tough for me. I was really hot and there were only four waterstations along the way. I don't know if I have ever had that tough of a run. I had goosebumps halfway through, not sure if I was dehydrated or if it was the heat that was getting me. It seemed to take forever to finish, I couldn't wait to be done. I'll have to work a little harder on my running! Especially in the heat.

Overall I thought the race was a blast. I stuck around for a bit after the race to listen to the results and see If I had won any prizes. I was totally shocked to find out that I got first in the Athena division. Exciting!!! I also won a 25 dollar gift certificate to a restaurant.....In Iowa Falls. Hmmmm not sure when I will use that one!

Kristin

Another Great Weekend

Another great weekend! I'm loving this warmer weather. Sat night we had a party for Bruce and his Brother Adam for both of their Birthdays. Adam turned 30 on Friday. We had about 20 people show up to drink some beer and play Wii. I played bowling and got my second highest score of 278. Missed two pins. Wonder if it is possible to get a 300. I tried not to drink too much since I wanted to do the Dirty Road Race on Sunday. Luckily for me, everyone was gone by 2 in the morning.....very unusual for one of our parties. Gave me enough time to sober up and get some sleep for Sunday.

Woke up Sunday feeling pretty good so I loaded up the bike and took off for Mitchellville. There were about 20-25 of us racing. Dee, Kim and I were the only women who braved it and Dee was on the Tadem with Dave. Kim and I decided to race together. We tried to stay with the group, but once we hit the gravel we were imediately dumped off the back. I wasn't prepared for the lose gravel. I felt very uneasy and took my time. Once we were back on pavement we worked together and caught up to a rider on a cross bike before we hit gravel again. We followed another rider for quite awhile before he finally dissapeared as well. It was pretty uneventful after that. The first lap went really well but the second lap was tough. The wind had really picked up. I was so grateful to get back on the gravel and out of the wind. Kim and I finished in a little over 3 and a half hours. Nothing to write home about, but it felt great. I was exhausted when I got home. It had been a long time since my legs have felt like noodles....I loved it.

Spring is Here!

Wow, what wonderful weather we have had the last couple weeks. Really puts one in a great mood. Last weekend Bruce and I were both able to get some good riding in. Friday March 13th was Bruce's birthday. It has become a tradition every year to ride Bruce's age in miles. This year was a 36 mile trip. We decided to head south for a celebratory Fat Tire beer at the Cumming Tap. Great ride but Bruce got a flat about a mile from home....perhaps his birthday landing on a Friday this year had something to do with that.

Sat started out cold but I decided to make plans to run with some friends anyway. Glad I did. I ended up running by myself most of the morning. It was so peaceful. There was frost everywhere, it sparkled in the sun. It was so cold you could see the steam rising from the other runners as they passed. I felt great for the first 8 or 9 miles so I kept going for a grand total of 11, the longest I have gone so far this year. In the afternoon Bruce took off with the boys for his first road ride of the year. He got 50 miles in! We were both pooped that night. Kids were too for that matter. They were outside all day playing with their friends and getting MUDDY!

Neighborhood kids in our tree Summer 08

Sunday I got out for a great gravel ride. I started from home and rode to Kim's house. Kim, Kristin and I rode on to Bike World West to begin the real ride. We had a pretty good group of girls that came out. Dee, Emily, Ana, Kim, Kristin and I met up with Duffy, Jim and Lang and headed south to ride some hilly gravel. The weather was absolutely perfect and the boys kept us on our toes. Early on in the ride Kristin started getting really sick so a few of us hung back for awhile to make sure she got home ok. Bruce, being the sweetheart he is, picked her up and drove her home. Emily, Ana and I rode around on the gravel for awhile on our own, looking for a little less hilly way to get home. Duffy spotted us touring around and we hooked back up with the group. The ride home was pretty uneventful until a dog got a hold of Dee and knocked her off her bike! She seemed ok so we kept on going. I ended up getting about 35 miles of gravel in with the group before heading home again for a grand total of about 60 miles on the mountain bike for the day. Can't wait for the single track to dry out so I can do some real mountain biking!

Aquabi Mountain Bike Race

This is a little late I suppose but wanted to post some pictures anyway. I had such a great time at this race. I decided to try racing sport this time, mostly so I could get in more distance, especially since the coarse wasn't very technical. Since Kim and I were the only women in the Sport category, we decided to let the guys go ahead and just ride together. This worked pretty well for most of the first lap until we got passed by a couple beginners. As I was heading up the hill with the steps a young man from the Rassie's team pulled ahead of me only to crash when he took a bad line at the bottom of the hill. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to ride up the hill at that point and it was the last time I saw Kim. The last two laps I rode mostly by myself. It was so peaceful.

I am really looking forward to the 24 hour mountain bike race in Boone. Kim and I plan on doing a two person team. We were up there earlier this week with Kyla and did some riding on the beginner loop. I absolutely loved it. Still haven't been able to ride the really technical part on the south side of the hill, but I am hoping I can wing it. Should be a fun weekend of riding and camping with the kids!

1st day of Kindergarten

Today was the kids first day at Holy Trinity Catholic School. Everything went very smoothly for the most part. Boys were slow to get out of bed, which is normal for them. Makayla had her usual tantrum about her hair, accompanied by lots of tears. The watery eyes quickly dried up though when we arrived at school and she saw one of her friends. After a few minutes of searching we finally found the Kindergarten line. We stood and waited while the teacher's put name tags on each of their new students. Before I new it they were all gone. I was very sad, they have grown up too fast!

Iowa Games Road Race

Last year I decided to expand my cycling horizons and do a road race. After five years of mountain bike racing, I thought a road race would be something new and exciting to try. I had heard the Iowa Games was a good race to try and so I went out and did the one lap race. I had a good time and did ok. This year I have done a couple of crits and did the Iowa City road race, where I finished sixth overall. I was excited to do the Iowa Games road race again this year. I had originally planned on doing the one lap race again, but decided to jump into the two lap advanced race this time around. Lou W. had sent out a team e-mail trying to get a good group of Rassy's guys out there to compete. I figured that if I want to get faster and a better road racer, this is a perfect opportunity to ride with the "big boys".
The race started out with a neutral roll out. I decided to hang back in the pack and see what happens. Unfortunately, the first thing that happened was my teammate getting a flat tire. Bummer. After that I settled in the draft. My legs felt good, but I knew I needed to save my energy for the hills. The group hit the first downhill and we spread out a bit. On the uphill, a few riders attacked and got away from the group. I cranked up the hill to try and stay with the group. . When I got to the top, the main pack had regrouped and was speeding down the road. I began to ride hard and joined three other riders to chase down the main peleton. With some good team work and a couple of hard pulls from me and my teammate David Carpenter, we were able to catch the group. The rest of the first lap was pretty uneventful. I managed to stay with the main group until we came upon the first large hill again. I made it to the bottom and was climbing back up with the group. Two riders in front of me touched wheels, causing the rider in front of me to put his foot down. I rammed my front wheel into the back of his foot, causing me to pull a large nose wheelie. I managed to not crash, but my momentum was gone and the pack was riding away from me again. I got to the top and again watched the main group leave me. I tried to ride with Kim West and another dropped rider, but my legs were too tired. I dropped off Kim's wheel and rode the rest of the race by myself.
I'm not sure where I finished, but I know there were a couple of riders that came in after me. All in all I had a great day. It felt good to be able to ride with the group for as long as I did. I think I could have stayed with them for most of the second lap had I not run into the other rider. Great job to my teammates Pig, Kris Kunze, Steve Fuller, and David Carpenter who all rode well and congrats to Lou W. for the first place finish. I also want to thank Steve Robinson and the other ALL 9 YARDS guys for the kind word of encouragement during and after the race. I can see why road racing is so addictive and I think I will have to try and do a few more next season.
Bruce