Numbers are In

So the numbers are in… last week is now history… did I meet the 14 hours of saddle time…. Nope. I came in with just over 11 hours.

The mistake that I keep making is not taking a true rest day. Weather and other events took a 4 day riding week and made it into a 6 day riding week. So when the last ride of the week came I (again) had trashed legs. I am going to spare you my whining and just move on.

Still, the weekend was full of riding and tons of fun! You know it is good when you leave the house on Sunday at 6:45am and return home at 6pm that night. Scott and I were so exhausted that we gave into the bed not long after 8pm. We had such a fantastic time together. Truly worth being wasted on a Monday.

So this week.. I am drilling in my head to only ride my scheduled 4 days. According to our plan this will be the mix:

Monday – REST… YES!!! I am taking it.

Tuesday – 2hrs.

Wednesday – weights / yoga

Thursday – 2 hours

Friday – Off / yoga

Saturday – 5.5 hours

Sunday - 4 hours

Total Saddle Time: 13.5 hours.

Robin

Hours of Saddle Time

So we are entering the part of our training for the Ride to Conquer Cancer where the training hours are getting longer. With close to 1400 miles between Greenville, SC and Austin, TX the training is about hours on the bike, rest, and then repeat.

Snap Shot of the weeks to come in weekly riding hours:

Week 8 - 14hrs. (this week)

Week 7 – 13.5hrs.

Week 6 – 13hrs.

Week 5 – 17hrs.

Week 4 – 18hrs.

Week 3 – 19hrs.

Week 2 – 10.5hrs. (taper)

Week 1 – 3.5hrs. (two days rest prior to rolling out to Austin,TX)

Our Saturday/Sunday rides will consist of 5 to 6hrs., rest, and then repeat the next day. That is a ton of saddle time people! Thank goodness for butt rub!!!!

As much as I hate to cut out of the blog world I am struggling with fitting it all in. I will do my best to give one weekly update and follow as many of you as I can.

Being a part of this event has changed me is such positive ways. I can only imagine that once we rollout on Oct.18^th it will get even better.

Robin

An Active Family

Sometimes returning to work is how you rest and recover from a fantastic, packed full, amazing weekend.

In a nutshell I kicked off the weekend with the team for our first of many night training rides. I had my reservations about this but as the sun went down all of our lights illuminated the road and the energy of the group pulled us along. No sun beating us down...little to no traffic….coolers of icy beverages to greet us on our return. Can it get any better?!!

Since we had no A.M. training ride on Saturday I tackled some needed chores for the day. We had a Team Cookout Saturday night where we received our Event Kits. It was like Christmas. two jerseys, one wind vest, arm warmers, and two running tech shirt.

Sunday I headed out with two other teammates and we tackled a 65 mile climbing ride. With a mid morning start it did heat up but I was pleased to climb the way that I did. Seeing some improvement on that end. Hills repeats might actually be working. A quick return home to shower and we all dashed downtown for a 5k fundraiser followed by a baseball game.

Our son did amazing in the run!! Only his 2nd 5k event and I can see where he might be wanting to do another very soon. I loved seeing and cheering him on. So very thankful that we are an "active" family.

So that brings me back to being wiped out today.... in a good way. This week i am scaling back just a bit for a needed recovery week. I hit an all time high last week at just over 185 miles.

What fun... Robin

Experience x3

This past week had offered different experiences that are all great in their own way:

Humbling Experience: I continue to receive donations for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. My goal was to raise $5000 and to date I am just over $6000. Still today I want to do all I can to raise funds to provide future research and treatment to those who are undergoing treatment. Just this past weekend two of my team members lost family members battling cancer. This part SUCKS and it only makes me realize that this is about something that matters and is much bigger than me.

Embarrassing Experience: So I am one of those riders who believe that it is safer to rider with another person than to go solo. Sunday I opted to ride the trainer due to poor weather. About an hour into the ride I was sweating it out in my garage and decided to reach for an addition water bottle on the floor and not clip out while doing so. Yes I ended up on the CEMENT floor and as a result I have a nasty green and blue hip BUT my sweet new bike is fine. This was my first question to Scott as he rushed to my rescue... "what about my bike"... :)) Just to make sure my hip was good I changed into my running shoes and went for a short run. All is goooooddd. Scott is still laughing at how a person can wipe out on a trainer.

Strong Experience: While riding with Scott on Monday morning I took a nail in my tire. Long story short... only took 40 minutes to change my tire. True performance tires are very tight and almost impossible to muscle on the rim. I wanted NO help and so it took forever but I DID IT :))

So with this amazing week I am ready to tackle our Thursday night Mountain ride. Bring it!!

Robin