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Too Much Time Stressing Since registering 10 weeks ago for my first bike race, a 100-miler on gravel no less, it’s felt like I’ve spent every waking hour thinking about it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been competitive in an endurance event and I’m older now. Old people fret about everything! LOL In […]
Taper Mode After a 10-week training cycle, Saturday’s ride was to be our last mid-distance gravel ride before our big 100-mile race scheduled for this coming Saturday. Non-stop rain on Saturday had me changing gears and declaring that I was ready for the race, and a soggy and slippery ride wasn’t worth the risk. I […]
The W&OD Trail, a Longtime Friend I stopped during Saturday’s ride to chat with volunteers of the Friends of the W&OD Trail who had a tent set up celebrating the trail’s 50th anniversary. My husband and I have logged thousands of running and biking miles on the W&OD Trail over the years and enjoy supporting […]
Spring Time in Virginia I’d hoped the wind would settle down over the course of the week (but it didn’t) as the temperature rose bringing us mostly delightful, albeit breezy, spring weather. The animals, both wild and domestic, have been out in abundance so I’ve had to keep a watchful eye out for the unfenced […]
Overview of the Week Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details… Sunday Cycling: 50 miles • Average speed: 11.9 MPH • Bike: Salsa Warbird • Surface: gravel • Elevation gain: 3,648 feet • Start time: 10:29 AM • […]
Dressing for Cold and Windy Days I don’t know about you, but I’m so over the wind (and rain), and ready for warmer weather. These cold windy days remind me of the first few weeks of high school track practice every spring. We didn’t have the wide range of athletic clothing choices back then so […]
Rough Draft to a Training Plan My husband and I have been researching various websites and YouTube channels of cycling experts while working on a training plan for our upcoming bike races and tours. I made a rough draft of a training plan several weeks ago that I’ve been loosely following and it seems that […]
Spring Break with the Fam We spent six days in Richmond, VA for spring break. It worked as a good meeting point for our growing family and provided plenty of activities for all ages. Pablo lived his best life, joining us most days for hikes, visiting breweries, and outdoor lunches. My husband and I took […]
In My Happy Place Gardening was the theme of the week, or at least in my spare time and when it wasn’t raining. This time of year keeps me busy with spring cleanup before my lawn guy comes to spread mulch. I find working outside with my flowers and plants to be very therapeutic and […]
Training for a Bike Race As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I registered for several spring, summer, and fall bike races and events. I’ve never raced on a bike, but it’s been a goal since I got back into cycling with more consistency in the summer of 2020. Don’t be impressed, […]
One Neighbor’s Trash is Another Neighbor’s Treasure If plogging is the Swedish slang word coined by Erik Ahlström for picking up trash while jogging, I wonder what picking up trash while walking might be called. Whatever it might be, I did some of it this past week for both selfish reasons and to keep our […]
The Perfect Snowstorm I love snow and in the future if I could order up the perfect snowstorm, I’d request either Tuesday’s or Saturday’s and be quite happy. Both gave us beautiful snow covered trees and grass, but in both cases the roads stayed clear. Now that we’re on the downward slope of February, I’ve […]
Physical Therapy After mentioning last week that by Sunday my stiff and spasmy back (thoracic region – half way up on the left side and not the typical lower back pain) felt pretty much back to normal, I did something early Monday morning that sent it back into a spasm and back to square one. […]
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back I woke up last Sunday with a really stiff and sore back (half way up on the left side – not the typical lower back pain) that I can only attribute to the perfect storm of twisting while snow shoveling, over twisting my back during my torso flexibility stretches, […]
Torso Stretches I notice when I’m riding my bike that I’m really tight whenever I turn to look over my shoulder. Even though I’ve got a Varia rear radar detector (affiliate link) which notifies my bike Garmin (affiliate link) that a vehicle or another cyclist is behind me, for safety reasons seeing what’s back there […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Tour Teasers I’m keeping it to only one picture and a brief summary for each day of our fabulous Florida coast-to-coast tour because I plan to have a full recap chocked full of pictures up on the blog on Tuesday. In the meantime, a little about our trip… […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Looking Forward to 2024 With 2023 neatly packed away, the year is off to a good start in the fitness department. My first week even included a race with my friends. I adore those ladies and even though we get together several times a year for dinner, I […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Wrapping Up 2023 Based on my Strava, I spend 495 hours, 12 minutes (or 20 days, 15 hours, 12 minutes) participating in my 4 favorite types of exercise during 2023… • Cycling – 3,415.7 miles in 247 hours, 56 minutes • Running – 142.6 miles in 24 hours, […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Snowy Gravel Two to three inches of snow fell at the farm on Monday and by Thursday when we arrived most had melted except for on the north facing hills and gravel road kept shaded by those hills. We may not have a white Christmas, but seeing snow […]
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links Keeping up with Workouts Between work and the holidays it’s a busy time of year for sure and I’m trying not to fall into the trap of using that as a excuse to skip workouts. As I’ve mentioned many times, before I’m a morning exerciser and truly that’s […]
