Moments of Clarity...

Well, something like that....I'm trying not to used the word BORED...because I'm trying to 'Embrace' being alone...

So, I'm doing my usual browse of the few cyclists sites I frequent...and came upon this sweet photo of Chrissy..




And the quote was "Are these glasses too big for me??"
And the Quick witted Katherine (Kat) Carroll says..."Not at all, they just make your head look skinny"....I laughed...then stole the picture!!

Both these lovely ladies are in North Carolina at their team's (Victory Brewing) training camp...sounds tough...but more fun than laying in bed alone on a Sunday night after spending all weekend at a Continuing Education class and riding at the crack of dawn, then late into the night on Sat..just to get some hours in...only to come home to an empty house...boo hoo!

Ok, I'm going to sleep now!

I miss Mike

 


How pathetic am I? Well, it's 11:30pm, I should be sleeping...but I just downloaded Picasa...and found this cute picture of our wedding...and I miss Mike..he's in England (or maybe you remember that from me mentioning it DAILY) for 3 more weeks....2.5weeks down.

I went to our favorite restaurant ALONE this evening...yea, not nearly as fun as when with someone...and ppl look at you funny 

So when is hunting season again??

I hate this rain jacket, soley (no spell check 4 this one)due to it's color. It was one of those team camp...wanna be nice things...there were these NEON green jackets and nice blue ones (that everyone wanted) so Chrissy and I ended up with these...but hey, I also have a blue one from 2005...but tonight it's pissing rain, cold, and dark...so I'm going w/ Saftey first! Plus, no one will know it's me..unless, of course, they're reading this....oopps


So, do you ever have those wkts where you feel like you are just a bad-ass...that no one trains as much, or as hard as you??? I sure hope so, so you can relate to my story here...Tonight was one of those rides for me...it was WAY too cold, an WAY too rainy to be riding in the dark on Wed night, doing hill repeats after work....but that's what was on the schedule...but after 9 hills, didn't feel so bad-ass as much as wet-hungry-cold ass who skipped the last hill...and only rode 2 instead of the slotted 3hrs...

Ok, gotta take my computer up to bed now, and write out my 2006 season goals...first I have to think of them....

over and out...
elek (chrissy always signs here journal entries w/ her name in some crazy order...I have no shame in coping her!)

What a hunk, hubba hubba...

So...this is a terrible picture of a picture...but I don't have a scanner...so it will have to do.








This is actually a GREAT picture of Mike...he looks dashingly handsome! This was given to me by a friend (Dada) who took it at our work Christmas party!! For those die hard fans, you will remeber pictures of me w/ a sheepish looking coat...in HUGE heels?? Ringing any bells?? Same night.

That's all...

Wonderful Week With Ab!

My sister (Abby) has been visiting from Flagstaff, Az all week with me. She is my older sister, and only other sibling from my parents (I have 7 other 1/2, step, pseudo, adopted, grandfather'ed in...type siblings...all legal, don't worry). Abby and I haven't had this much time together in many, many, many years...and it was awesome!

As you may have guessed...I took a few pictures to document her trip....here goes

First, on Monday she opened her Christmas presents, since she was at her meditation retreat for a month and missed Christmas w/ us...
















This was a oven rack puller...it's this wooden hook thing to pull out the oven rack, instead of burning yourself...hmmm, good idea. I got this while visiting Boone, NC between Toona and Bank of Amer crit....











Monday night, we went shopping in Bellvue square...then had dinner at the Cheesecake factory for 4hrs...not eating, mostly talking, and talking...it was great....no cheesecake though
















Tuesday, we went to the Pike Place market...where in addition to buying new kitchen trinkets...I was introduced to truffles...the root kind, that kinda smell like mushrooms...and they add the flavor of them to olive oil and salt and it's divine (and crazy expensive)














Abby had to demo the use of this utensil....Apparently it's used to....and I'm not kidding 'beat your meat'...to make like cordon blue maybe??

















...and we had our eyebrows waxed by this beautiful gay man, who taught me.."No honey, you pluck a chicken, you TWEEZE an eyebrow"....so remember that!!

Tuesday night made dinner w/ our new truffle oil and salt. We made artichokes...something our Dad used to make as a very special treat as kids!!













Wed morning we got pedicures,














Abby's red, and I'm pink....












Wed night we watched my wedding video in the garage...so I could ride my trainer...and Ab bundled up....it's so cute...the video is awesome...2 discs...well worth the pretty penny it cost! (fatcat productions, Wichita Ks).

















Thursday, Ab came to my work (where we were eating lunch)...to meet my co-workers, and see what I really do all day...












Thursday evening, we went to a play in West Seattle...Hilarious, well done, smaller production at Arts West...called As Bees in Honey Drown....Ab has been in many, many plays...mostly musicals, she is an opera singer...as well as many other types of music, she also plays the guitar, piano, and clarinets (no idea how to spell that one)...music and singing has always been her talent...but I haven't been to a play in forever, it was great to go w/ her again!!




Friday, we went to dinner w/ our cousin Suzie Pruit (who lives in Lower Queen Anne, and I've seen once last month in the past 2 yrs she's lived here)...that was really fun. We at at Ceaders in the U-district...then Ab and I farted around downtown till we found a good club for dancing and danced for a couple hours till our feet hurt so bad we could hardly walk....it was fun!!





Saturday, we rode to my favorite coffee shop, and most common Sat ride...to Pert's...where I have met for Sat group rides for about 4+ years. It was drizzly, and cold..so she got to REALLY experience Seattle winter weather!!













Saturday evening we took some food for a surprise Pot Luck for a co-worker who has been suffering from unexplained dizziness/nausea w/ multiple falls...thus forced to stay home, and must be accompanied at all times while on her feet due to frequent falls...she has had CT scans/Spinal Tap/Vestibular function tests/neurologist MD evaluations/Physical Therapy/BP medication...and she still doesn't know the cause...so we thought she might enjoy some socializing...and so since she can't get out...we went to her...




then we went to my place for stitch and Bitch 2...the stiching was optional! Our numbers from the original group doubled, AND we had a MAN participate!








So....yea, I'm tired...but it has been a fabulous week. Lot's of precious much overdue catching up w/ my big sis...who still calls me Jess!

Traveling

Man how things have changed. I'm sitting in SFO (San Fran's airport) killing the 1 hr b/w flights...and there is a T mobile hot spot...and here I am...writing a blog! Hmm, interesting.

So, there's something very wrong w/ my neck...Last night as I was packing my bike...I felt a pain in my neck...and now it radiates all down the left side of my neck. I cant turn my head to the left, laying down really hurts...I look like an idiot trying to look to my left....oh well..just call me stiffy...but I made my flight...carrying my bike bag w/ the missing wheel w/ this pain in my neck was horrible...I got cash out now so I can rent a cart when I get to SEA..

Obviously, nothing interesting to tell you about....oh..that day I went to the beach...craziest thing happened. I had the rental car keys in my back pocket (why I don't know I didn't drive)....and after walking on the beach...we sat on this picnic table and chatted..then did some window shopping, then went to dinner...about 8:30 that night, I wanted to go to Starbucks...so I started looking for my keys EVERYWHERE....after frantically tearing apart all my bags...I began retracing my steps...which took me back to the picnic table....and there they were 7hrs later! Wow...Karma good!

Congrats to Sarah Uhl, Tina Pic, and Lauren Franges!

All these women....and maybe a couple more...made the talent pool in the 2k. Good job ladies. Everyone put on a strong effort...and learned just how hard these time standards are (especially yours truly).

If yesterdays menu had Humble Pie, today we had embarrassment Stew w/ humiliation tossed salad! I am trying very hard to stay positive, as use this awesome experience to help me develop blaa blaaa blaaa...I FREAKIN SUCKED IT UP, plain and simple ya'll. The track is not just a place for strong riders to come throw down...oh no, it's a whole other ball game boys and girls...and I would suggest PRACTISING!!

For example, I TOTALLY missed the starting tape on my first attempt of my 2k (it's 'flying'...so you start from the top edge of the track and cut down...but I stayed high too long and didn't hit the tape...because I was confused on what lap it was....you have 3 to wind it up...and I just had so much going through my head.."pick it up slow and steady, don't be afraid of the pain, stay low, nail that black line, was it 2 or 3 to go?, Chrissy said go eyeballs out the first 2 laps, what the hell am I doing here??, ignore that pain in your crotch....oh crap is he saying I'm starting now...Where's the line, oh God I sat down way to fast, oh shy-ser I'm never gonna make the time w/ this start....please make me start over...oh god this is embarrassing....."

Yea, so I got to try again....and that time I did a little better on the start....seems I'm always learin' the hard way! I bet I'll never do that again!

What I learned:
1: Track has a lot to do w/ technique and you must have help learning those components of this sport...I ignored that and hoped being strong would make up for it...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm NO, not by a long shot. Track is very hard, I now have gained a new huge respect for track racing.

Things I could improve on:
1:So, I didn't put air in my tires (or Chrissy would say "put air in my bike") because I have to hold the nozzle on..And pump w/ one arm and even w/ my entire body mass I can't get it past 110...and that was yesterday...so I didn't even bother today.
2:All weekend I raced on a 48/13 (thanks Jen, and Ryan)...Because that's the only gear I can fit on my chain.
3:My TT helmet is broken in 2 places...the flap that covers each ear is broken off...so I taped them w/ black tape. I have no idea which way that tri spoke front is supposed to run...w/ those track scewers there's no way of telling...for me!

Things I did well:
1: laughed at myself, enjoyed the experience
2: Gave 100% effort each race
3: Got lost in LA w/o freaking out
4: took time to enjoy Laguna beach
5: Called Mom for moral support that I needed

Well, I need to go to bed...my flight leaves at 6:50AM, from Burbank...a min of 1:20drive...so it's gonna be an early start! But my sister is coming for a week tomorrow....I'm so excited. She just spent 30days at a meditation retreat....sitting on a pillow and meditating ALL DAY for 30DAYS!!! Can you tell we are a little different....but very close!

Just another day at the beach!!

So, thursday (yesterday)....seeing as I couldn't get on the track...I didn't make the 3hr drive (1.5 ea way)...so had some time for sightseeing. My gracious hostess Jean Curran took me to the Aliso creek beach (I think that's what it was called)...isn't it pretty...




Me and Jean













Brrrr...















Beach Volleyball...in January....SURE DUDE!!















"Hello? Hello! This is Dr. Who, requesting transport!!!!"


















Man, I found my new commuter bike...pimped out!!















If Napolean Din-o-mite (Is that right Chrissy??) had a yacht..this is what he'd name it....

Bye Bye Baby!

Mike left for England (work related) for 5 weeks on Monday. Here are those last minute shots...






He made it safe and sound! He's called and emailed! He's staying in a cabin w/ sauna, fridge, rental car, all meals paid, working 7 days this week..12hrs day....puke-a-rama! But, somebody's gotta work...and glad that aint me!!

Love ya dove ya honey!!

Humble Pie Anyone??

MMMMmmmmm, "Yes please sir, I'll have an EXTRA LARGE piece please!!"

So...today was the 3k time trial on the track here in LA. As seen below.







There was a massive group of women...four!! And, of them guess how many made the Qualifying time....NONE!! Ohhweee. If Kristin Armstrong missed it (by about 1 sec)...this is really gonna be tough. At least I can say I was the biggest loser...not just in size either. So the unofficial results looked something this:
Screamin fast Kristin Armstrong: 3:50something
Cookin' close behind was Sarah Uhl: 3:53something
Flyin' in third was catherine Kuri: 4:00something
Some Velo-Bella bringin' up the rear (ME): 4:03something

Yea, so the qualifiying time is 3:49something...that leaves me w/ 14seconds to improve...holy maccaroni...hmmm, maybe I should practice. Today was the very first time I have EVER done a 3k effort, ever...never done one in practice...have never used that starting block thing..haven't had help w/ start since August...didn't have a clue what my split times were...so...I think if I could improve on one of the above mentioned areas...that's got to be worth...3seconds?? and hey only 11 to go...

I was floored of the small number of women there. Where is everyone??? Why don't ppl show up to try?? At least locals?? Yea, it's crazy hard...but you'll never know if you don't try....oh well, more humble pie for me...Chrissy, talks about how she loves PUMPKIN pie, no thanks....it's humble pie for me (I think it has negative calories)...

Another embarressing point...I was also the only girl NOT w/ the USA cycling folks...man, I didn't mean to be so RADICAL...nor did I think I would suck so bad...oh well, you learn something new everyday...I guess I radically suck!

Rick Crawford

I just read another raceclean article rippin on Rick Crawford. And I can tell you as one of his athletes for 3 seasons...I never heard, felt, insinuated, rumored...anything about drugs w/ him. He always represented a very clean diet, encouraged vitamins/supplements you buy at the health food store. I had a very low Ferritin level and I had to take iron...but that does not make him a proponent of drug use. I am here to say, Rick NEVER EVER EVER made any recommendations or anything like that w/ me and drug use. I know many ppl that are coached by him, and they all say the same thing. This is info from the source, not gross generalizations. I have deep admiration and respect for Rick, and I'm glad he is a part of our sport, I hope he continues!!

I think it's sad whomever runs that site must be a very unhappy person...he sure spends a huge amount of time on negativity. What a horrible existence! No thanks...I like giggling too much...so I don't read his site very often...you shouldn't either (except now, to see what I"m talking about...it's raceclean.com I think)

Back 2 Burnaby

What is it about Canadian men???….all are good looking, funny, helpful, relaxed, quietly talented, and tolerant of my unending questions. I LOVE CANADA, eh!

Focus Kele Focus..Ok, yea, I was gonna talk about the racing, RIGHT!..
(PLEASE NOTE, I'M TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO USE PAINT, SO CLICK ON THE PHOTO AND THEY BECOME MORE CLEAR)
ok so I met Jen at her house (Jennifer Tripplett...not sure which letter there is doubled..who rides for Gregg’s) about 2:30..and head up north in the rain, and traffic. My trusty bladder asked me to stop after a couple hours..and we pulled over at a Rest Area..and check out this tree...




No that’s Jen, the tree is behind her (just kidding Jen, you don’t really look like a tree). Just imagine that’s how big they were..man what have we done to our environment??


Anyway, we make it to the track about 6:30...and being such a Fred...it takes me a good hour to get my gears/wheels/bars/head adjusted and ready to ride..

Finally I’m riding and Jen leads me in a few flying 2oo m (from speed, you do one lap fast...you go from the top of the track down to the inside..cause that’s the fastest..but I’m not so good at it..YET) At this point it’s now about 8pm, and I’m starting to loose motivation. I had been instructed to do a structured warm up, w/ 2 2oo m jumps, 2 flying 500 m timed, a 2k effort, and starts...so I was a BIT behind..but there was NO way..so I decided just to do a 2k effort.

It went well, I guess, there were ppl on the track, and I was surprised how much less freaked out I was once I knew the clock was running..but I was still about 4 seconds slower that what I need to do in LA..and 4 seconds is a lifetime when you are talking about a 2:34min effort.

My lungs, about uprooted from my chest..and lucky me I now have the Grandma Smoker’s hack for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday of Racing
Today we started w/ the 200 m sprints...so they time your 200 m and then the top 12 move on to compete in match sprints. And what do ya know, I was 13th..DAMNIT! I missed all these races (ok, like 2). So most of the morning, I watched everyone ELSE race (not one of my favorite things to do..BTW!)

This guy below...poor thing...became my 'go to' guy for all my questions...about saddle ht, riding the black line, bumping, raising my bars...he was extremely helpful, and knowledgeable...then I find out he's the multi-multi time medalist sprinter...man, I'm sure I sounded like an IDIOT...oh well, my instincts sent me to the right guy!! Thanks for all your help, Keith!!












Then we had the Kerin...w/ a guy on a bike as the motor (in a Kerin, it’s a 8 lap race..the first 5 is behind a ‘motor’, so it paces you up to speed..then pulls off and the last 3 laps are a match sprint for whomever crosses the line first). In one of the final on Sunday, the guy closest to the bottom of the track started too early and crashed into the ‘motor’ guy..and took him out for the rest of the day (apparently totally his frame)...not sure how that happened.

Seems like there were an awful lot of crashes this weekend..pretty much every type of race we did someone crashed (of the 3 groups racing, A/B/Cs). If I didn’t know better, I’d think they have a large population of SKETCHASAURIS'S here in Burnaby!!! I almost went down once, in a snowball race..no Chrissy we weren’t racing snowballs..This guy went down on uptrack from me, so I had to drop down off track..and for someone who’s not real sure about racing track that was REALLY scary..but I held it up (not the snowball) and kept the rubber side down!!

But, let’s talk about these fans!! Man we had a packed house on Sat…I could barely hear myself think…












Sunday, was a little more reasonable!














Jen, had a good weekend of racing…

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She really gives it her all!!!













So, did I mention the announcer…he was a riot..good ol’ Canadian humor…and he knew just enough about each rider to mention some humorous/condescending/embarrassing information about them throughout the weekend (I escaped w/ only having the fact I was wearing the kit of my Defunct Ford-Basis team, and getting the award for the most contorted face during a long solo effort in the final scratch race). But poor Mike ‘Hamburger’…this guy apparently holds the Guinness Book World record for eating a hamburger the size of a barstool (including bun and order of fries)…and we got to hear all about that…and THEN apparently, Mike is going for another title with Cheesecake..right after the races on Sunday…and although we all were invited, I should really be getting home…but, man it would be awesome to watch a healthy person try to consume 11 POUNDS of cheese cake in under 9min…sorry I have to miss it! Good luck Mike!!













Jen and I are thinking of going out for the Sonics Cheerleading squad…unfortunately the picture of me tossing Jen, from a perfect basket toss into an inverted one-legged superman tuck…didn’t turn out.











On Sunday, Heather VanVerbensomethingDutch, Jen, and I did the team sprints…well, they did well as a team…I never quite caught on! You all three start together, as seen below…







Then each person does one lap as hard as they can…to try and get the fastest time as a whole. I mistakenly ‘waited’ for Jen..then she came bolting by me, and I never got on her wheel…it was fairly comical…but Jen and Heather did great…

That's a wrap on the weekend. I'm headed to LA Monday....I'll let you know about that adventure soon!!

Sticky Situation

So, last week I went to Ryan Millers’ house to do a wkt…apparently he wanted to make sure I was ‘doing them right’…First thing he has me do, after the warm up, OF COURSE…is ‘Go all out for 30 seconds’…and he’s got a stopwatch..and my PowerTap is telling him how hard I’m going…so when he says go…I GO FREAKIN’ BALISTIC…Ryan stifles a laugh when I’m done, and suggests maybe I back off a little on the next one. Funny thing though…my forearm was really hurting, like I pulled a muscle from yanking on my bars so hard…and it kept bothering me through the 5x3 (or 4) min efforts he had me do.

So, ever since my arm has REALLY been bothering me. I called Peter Schsomething…the acupuncturist/herbal medicine guru that works at Inewmed…and has spent several hours listening to my stories from bowel to emotional health…looking for help for my arm, because it was getting very difficult to hold my pursuit bars due to pain/numbness/weakness of my R hand/arm.

And, seeing as I was really amp’ed about my upcoming Talent Pool Qualifier in LA..he got aggressive for me. Wanna see???
(First, I must tell you..he took like 20shots, but must have deleted most of them due to lacking artistic qualities…but you get the idea)










The white machine thing is a infra-red heater upper…to REALLY get my Chi movin’.







Most people’s first question is…’Did it hurt?’…when the more appropriate question may be ‘Did it help?’…but whatever, the answer is HELL YEA, to both!

Being smack dab in the middle of the western, insurance driven, medicine I don’t know much about acupuncture, nor have I had much done..but this made a significant difference in pain/strength/ROM/decreased numbness in my arm…but after the treatment (lasting about 30min) I left feeling a little ‘off’ for the rest of that day.

Now, it’s been week since my first acupuncture appointment w/ Peter (I had one more)…and the symptoms have remained lessened…even after a weekend of racing the track, w/ many hard efforts involving pulling on the bars.

Inewmed is this sweet, new age-esque, natropathic/herbal medicine-ic/cutting edge alternative health-ic….place…in downtown Seattle (www.inewmed.com)…
















For some of you die hard fans, you’ll remember an entry about the SUPER FUN lactic acid test (not to be confused w/ a V02 max test) David Jordan did w/ me in like Aug/Sept…and Peter and Dr. Pettis took blood/urine samples to really see what I’m made of….then compiled all the data and had me start taking liquid Vit/Minerals, Chinese Herbs, and a few other supplements I can’t remember the names of (glutimine/glutathione…maybe), and 15min of head stands 3x day to build me back up…just kidding about the head stands part…

I must say, I feel better than I have in years…just cleaner, clearer, fresher…it’s hard to objectify (ie DESCRIBE)….I just feel good. Now, if I can just race fast too…that will be the kickeroooski-ronie!

Catching up

So, in the morning, this is how I put my makeup on!!





You should see the eyeliner.....














This is Mike's favorite Cereal....














Look!! Mike put up a shelf for our drippy, nasty jackets!














On new years day...Mike and I went to the Imax theater...and watched "Wired to Win" (if you're a cyclist, there's not enough about the Tour...more about neuroanatomy)...the Imax is at the Seattle center...and there are dinosaurs in the water.

















Earlier, on New Year's Day...I worked with these distinguished gentelmen...the man on his feet and the man on his right were both bomber pilots WWII...the one closest to the camera in the bars is a Pediatric Doctor (94 years old)...and the guy across from him was a printer who remember the day when they had to set all the text...and now it's all computers....But my job is to make sure they get stronger so they can get back to thier families...











I'm getting more comfortable on my rollers:

If you can't read it it says "This is so easy, I'm whistling Dixie"..mild understatement







This one says something about my bad position...my elbow should be under my shoulder joint...notice it's about 6inches IN FRONT OF IT..oops