Spider Woman

One of the regular guys at my gym is always trying to talk me into going to his climbing gym. I've always thought it would be something I'd love to try and would be halfway decent at. Unfortunately, his gym is in Everett and while that's not far as the crow flies, is a total pita for me to get to.

But while on Family Cruise on RCL's Liberty of the Seas, I got to give it a whirl. There are 11 routes up the wall - I chose the easiest given it was my first time. After signing my life away and getting fitted for a harness, helmet and shoes, I headed for the wall. It's located on the aft deck about 13 stories above the water. Throw in another 4 stories of climbing and it feels pretty high up there. At one point about half way up, I stopped to look around (including down - really bad idea) and felt my stomach do flip-flops. I've never had any problem with heights before but clinging like Spider Woman to that wall but a whole new spin on things. My hands got pretty sweaty - not sure if it was from being nervous about being beat up to the top by my sister, the heat or fear of falling. Once I did slip and swung out, I realized I wasn't going to die and it became a whole lot easier.

So I'm thinking next winter I may spend more time indoors at the climbing gym. Fun stuff and a great workout.

DFL But Not DNF

Wasn't sure what to expect for the outcome of this race. My training, while not non-existent, has been a bit sporadic due to work and family travel. On top of that, throw in a self-diagnosis of giardiasis that made it hard to keep any food in for the previous 4 days, I was thinking I'd be lucky if I finished. But who am I kidding - secretly I wanted to be sharing the podium with Cathy and any other NEBC woman who showed up (wouldn't that be cool?!?!).

Pre-rode the course with Cathy, Mike and Wayne. Knew right then I was in trouble - instead of being fun and easy, I was holding on for dear life and marveling how fast those guys rode so effortlessly. During the pre-ride, we came up to THE LOG (same from last year) that I didn't ride because the girl in front of me endo'd. I dismounted and was about to step over when Cathy chided, "Ride it, Teri!" So, I backed up the trail and rode it! There's even photographic proof (thanks, Mike! Pic on left stolen from Cathy's camera.) The course was fun, twisty single track. No rock gardens, no stream crossings, pretty much just plain fun. Loved it. Better than last year's beginner course which had a lot of fireroad.

I spun out in the sand at the start of the race but passed two women who got stuck in the stand at the uphill right turn. I held my place for the first bit (including dusting a few riders as I rode THE LOG -thanks, Cath!). By the time we hit the first uphill section, I knew I was toast. I had absolutely nothing. HR was pegged at 95% and I was going miserably slow and being passed. Wah.

During the second lap, besides feeling horrible I had to deal with the masses of men sport riders passing me. Not fun and really messed with me getting in a rhythm. I did manage to pass two of the older male sport riders. Gotta count the little victories. As I finished the second lap, all the men were heading for the finish line. Very hard to go out for another lap.

Third lap was all about survival and just finishing. Which I did. (Click the map to the left to see all the gory details). First sport XC race completed. Compared to my performance last year, my skills have really improved. No falls, rode everything. Never dabbed once. For me, that's an accomplishment. Just have to get the fitness back to last year's level (or better). Best part: seeing Cathy and Wayne on the podium (I missed seeing Mike up there as I had to leave early.) I think I have some new converts to MTB racing!

Desperate Measures

Our kitchen has been demolished for three weeks now. Many of you who know me know I really don't enjoy camping so this kitchen thing is pushing me to my limits. S is traveling this week and when she's gone, I like to slum it with a garden burger and tater tots for dinner. So today while driving home in a foul mood (they've canned my project at work and while they've offered us positions somewhere in the company, it's all very vague - need to find new job. Anyone need a software engineering manager who specializes in video? I found a outdoor instructor position at REI I thought was enticing. No, I'm not kidding.), I tried to cheer myself up with the thought of snarfing 20 mini tater tots. Uh oh. No oven. Time to improvise. A tin foil boat on the BBQ works very nicely. :) I may not have a job (more time to train!) but at least I have my tater tots.

Day at Sea

We spent it boogie boarding and rock climbing (really like that- I
think I've found a new sport. Fun!)

And So The Fun Begins...

Can't believe they make us do the lifeboat drill.

First Race of 2008

Yesterday was the King of Burlingame MTB Time Trial in Charlestown, RI. I signed up a few weeks ago when I realized that I'd be missing a bunch of races in April due to "Family Cruise". The race came a little early for me. My training hasn't been exactly to plan due to work/kitchen renovation/lousy weather/work travel and other events conspiring against me. I figured by signing up for this race, I'd put a stake in the ground and feel at least somewhat compelled to not embarrass myself.

Drove down to RI very early in the morning. Geez - last year, Beginner races were always at 9am. This race had Sport (my new division) at 9am and Beginners at 11:30am. What's up with that? Low clouds, slight drizzle, and temps hovering around 40. RI for me is synonymous with college. As I passed signs for University of Rhode Island, I had the little diddy we used to chant in the dugout when we played them pounding through my head : "U-R-I! U-R-I! U-R-I-N-E!" (And, of course, the response from their dugout was "What's the color of Brown? S-H-I-T". Potty humor at the college level.)

Arrived at the race a little too late to do a pre-ride of the entire course. Rode about two miles in and then backtracked back. The first mile had probably the most technical sections in it: a couple of rock gardens, a couple of stream crossings (about 1/2 wheel deep), a few logs but nothing terribly hard. There was one uphill rock garden that I tried a few times and rode successfully about 80% of my attempts after I figured out a good line.

Since it was a TT format, I didn't have to worry so much about being forced off my line, getting the hole shot, etc. My goal for the race was 1) finish 2) try to actually stay on my bike 3) catch the woman in front of me 4) don't let the woman behind me catch me 5) finish in 45 min. (I had looked up times from last year and settled on that being a decent time for me to shoot for.)

My division was small - only 5 of us. They started the men first - everyone going off at 30 sec intervals. Took about 30 min before they worked their way through all the guys and started the women. First woman goes off, 30 sec later it was my turn. I caught the first woman in probably less than 5 minutes in. About a mile in I hit the uphill rock garden. No one around, had the line I wanted and there was a small gap near the top behind two rocks. Wham! I whacked one of my pedals into the rock ("Your feet, Teri! Be aware of the position of your feet!" - I tend to talk to myself A LOT out there.) I didn't totally fall but kind of stumbled down the rock pile, lost momentum and then had to run up the rest of the hill. That's when the woman who started behind me caught me. Wah! Ok, get back on and use her as a rabbit. Go hard for her. Somewhere in the next mile, I got passed by the woman rider who started 4th. Grrrrrr..... But I could still see both of them ahead of me.

Around 3 miles in, there was a series of about 4 drop offs. None were truly nasty but they were about 2-3 foot drops. A single one is fine but given there wasn't much distance between them (10 feet or so?) they freaked me out a bit. Plus, I hit them with some speed since I hadn't ridden this part of the course so they came up a tad unexpectedly. I almost endo'd on the first one and quickly thought, "Better get my butt back for the next one." I over compensated a bit and went over the remaining ones like Missy Giove demonstrates in this picture here.

Now, one thing to be pointed out. Her back tire isn't buzzing her butt like this rookie's was. I have never been on that position on my mtb - not so sure I like having the saddle under my chest - and all I could think about was if I didn't get up, each of these landings were going to hurt. I also thought the tire had a great chance of wearing a hole right through the chamois and that definitely wouldn't be pleasant. :)

As I (successfully) landed the last drop-off, I said aloud, "Well...OK, then!" and my one happy moment was shattered by a "On your left!" as the woman who started last passed me. Plus, I thought she must have been laughing herself silly watching me negotiate that stretch. Oh, well. Onward.

The rest of the course was pretty much just fire road and a series of wooden bridges through a bog. I didn't have much left at that point. I just put it in the big ring and rode as fast as I could which felt fast to me but obviously wasn't good enough since none of the women who passed me could be seen ahead.

Finished in about 47 minutes. Haven't seen official results yet but I believe I finished 4th out of 5 starters. ~sigh. Welcome to the sport division. I did have fun, though. And it felt SO great to be out on the trails again even if the weather was nasty.

Details of the ride can be found here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5328072

Future Ski Bums of America

Ok, even though I have a race coming up in a few days, my training has pretty much been sporadic. Actually, that makes it sound bad. It really hasn't. I'm just having some trouble being a bit consistent. Lots of distractions. Last weekend the training schedule called for two long rides. Instead, I spent Saturday helping to pack up our kitchen for the remodel that was starting on Tuesday. Then my sister called and said, "Hey, we're going boarding tomorrow. Wanna meet us?" I should have been riding, doing some spring cleanup outside (like it's about time to take down the outdoor Christmas lights, don cha think?), etc. Instead, I headed to western MA for a day on the slopes. Sunny, warm, came back looking like a reverse raccoon due to goggle tan. :) Had a great time and the kids are good enough for the blues. A total blast to spend the day with them on the snow.

The 5 Year Milestone

Last week I had my annual appointment for my mammogram and check up with my surgeon at Beth Israel. Oddly enough, it was almost exactly 5 years from the day I had my first mammogram at 40 that I was certain I'd pass with flying colors but crashed and burned instead. I don't really stress about these annual checkups now, but this one was a biggie. 5 years means I no longer need to get all the additional mammogram views (top, bottom, sideways, magnified, stand on your head, etc. ;-) ) and my risk for recurrence while higher than the average woman, falls a bit.

S and I headed downtown early Thursday morning and headed for the radiology department at Beth Israel. Get undressed, put on one of those stellar johnnies, and hang out in the waiting room until they call you. I still think they should offer manicures and pedicures in there while you wait - make some use of the time! While I'm there for a routine mammogram, there are other women there waiting for more advanced procedures like getting a wire marker inserted before heading off to lumpectomy surgery. Having been in their hospital slippers before, part of me wants to say to them, "Don't worry - it'll be ok." But I never do because I remember how much I hated hearing that said to me at the time. I always wanted to calmly reply, "No, we don't KNOW it'll be ok. But we can hope." So sometimes I just catch their glance, kind of nod and give them a look of encouragement.

Finally they call my name. My technician let me look at the digital pics with her and while I certainly can't say I'm an expert in reading mammograms, I do know what my first ones looked like. Happily in the magnified version, I didn't see the the telltale clusters of microcalcifications which resemble a beautiful view of some distant galaxy and yet instill a feeling of dread. Headed back to the waiting room to nervously look at (but not really read) one of the magazines on the table while the radiologist reads the mammogram. Finally the tech returns, calls my name and instead of telling me to go get dressed says they need to take a few more shots. ~sigh . Brain goes into overdrive.

What did they see? Is it back? Which side is it on? What will treatment be like this time? Can I still ride my bike? Will I be ok by 'cross season?

How is it possible to think all that in a split second? The tech tells me they spent so much time getting multiple shots of the left side, they forgot to do a side view on the right. :) So we have some more fun with the mammogram machine, back to the waiting room again, and finally I can get dressed to go meet with the radiologist. She briefly comes out to meet me and tell me everything looks good! Yay!

Next, we head upstairs to see Dr. Troyan. She performed my lumpectomy and skillfully removed the area on the first try with clean margins. The mammo technicians always comment, "That Dr. Troyan does GOOD work." when they try to find my scar to mark with the wire for the mammogram. And she's just plain nice - I'll always love her for crafting a safe way to attach my lucky Abominable Snowman finger puppet to me as I was wheeled into surgery. Had a great checkup, took a few pics and was totally playfully ridiculed when asked if I had any complaints and replied that I had gained 3 lbs since last years checkup.

After the visit, we headed out for a day of celebration. Every year it's something different. Last year, spent way too much money at French Dressing but lingerie shopping after a mammogram/checkup just somehow seems very appropriate. This year, since it was even relatively warm out, we strolled upper Newbury Street. Bought a very appropriate tshirt at Life Is Good and some sweet recycled seaglass plates at Fiddlehead. Then lunch. Last year - fancy lunch at a wine bar on Charles St. This year I felt like slumming it and headed over to All-Star Sandwich in Inman Square. Falafel burger and huge plate of fries. Not the healthiest choice but yummy and washed down with a really good coffee porter from B.B.C.

A good day. No, a REALLY, REALY good day.