Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Ohio, Day 7

Adam continues to whoop it up in OH/PA.  Now with fresh truck tires so he's only slightly less likely to get stuck in the snow.

I am on the third and final day of the juice cleanse.  Long story short: I. Am. Starving.  In the plus category: using the juicer is wicked fun (pulverizing unsuspecting vegetables is a bit of a high), I have lots of cashew meats to make cashew butter, and if I were to need an emergency colonoscopy, I'd be ready.  Minus category: I'm hungry, I keep feeling like I might pass out, and I've been snapping at my coworkers all day.  The website of the cleanse I followed insisted that I would have extraordinary amounts of energy since I wasn't using it on digestion.  LIES.  They also said I could exercise, but they must have been meaning those little girls on ellipticals, because running today was slow, and the aftermath (i.e. no substance) was painful.  But like I said, shoving stuff through the juicer was awesome.  Except lemons.  They produce about an ounce of juice each, and must be peeled.  I think I get more out of the squeezy contraption that does not require peeling, so that will be the way forward.  And mixing said lemon juice with bourbon and maple syrup.  But I digress.  I'm actually a little nervous about adding foods back in tomorrow.  Kale & a poached egg is on the menu for breakfast, since I'm suppose to start slow (which apparently means no bacon).  Sushi tomorrow night for Dana's return from Down Under / birthday dinner.  New Guy Pat (NGP) and I figure raw fish will be like defibrillation for my digestive system, which could be fun, but I might stick to miso soup and eggplant.  I'm already planning dinner Saturday evening with Martina: pork tenderloin, cherry tomato pie, whatever veggie dish she thinks of, wine and coconut ice cream.

Ok, before this turns into a food blog...

I'm forcing myself to take a break from Grey's Anatomy.  I've made good progress on the series since Adam has been gone, but I'm not sure I can do a marathon session every night.  Wait, no.  I'm not sure I *should* do a marathon session every night.  Not without the coconut ice cream -- which, for the record, I am attempting to perfect in the next three weeks so that it's perfect when Adam comes home.  Just for the record.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Ohio, Day 4

I'm just going to jump into the singletrack race report.

This morning I went down to Tacoma for the first race in the singletrack spring series.  I was nervous that I was completely out of my league when a saw a car full of dudes with cross bikes roll up.  And then I got yelled at by a power hungry, rule obeying, rule ENFORCING, cookie selling, single digit aged girl scout for not wearing a helmet while rolling down the hill on my bike.

Anyway, semi-mass start (in that there were 14 women) in the beginner's category.  I hit the trail in 4th position, and really felt pretty good about how I was riding.  I was being bold and rolling over stuff that may have even surprised Adam.  Lots of staying in the saddle while climbing.  We lost one of the women about a third of the way in and for the rest of the race, the remaining three jockeyed for position.  I think I was the strongest climber, and possibly the most comfortable bombing downhill, but the girl on the 29'er ultimately got around me on a climb and I couldn't get around the other woman with enough course left to catch up.  We did pass a handful of dudes who had started in the group before us, which was unfortunate for them and their egos, but also because it always seemed that one of them was in my line on a hard climb.  So, all in all, I came in 16th of 45 overall in the beginners, 2nd in the women beginners and 1st in my age category.  I have never won anything on the bike, so even though damn near everyone who showed up got a medal, mine will be hanging on the rear view mirror of the Jetta for a while.

In other news, Adam was adorable today when he a) got excited for my win and b) when he told me he went to a brewery for dinner and had a burger on a GF bun.  He also got to see a movie in an old theater with dollar popcorn, and didn't get the bald-tire truck stuck anywhere in the snow.  What a guy.

I finally opened up the juicer Jo sent, and am nearly prepared to start Juice Cleanse Day 1 tomorrow.  I'm trying to copy the Blue Print Cleanse model, so I've picked up lots of stuff that's listed on their labels.  The cashews are still soaking, but I may not need them before after work anyway.  I'm just going to go pick up the spicy lemonade juice at PCC tomorrow at lunch because peeling and de-seeding enough lemons to make 16oz of juice is so not worth it.  But the juicer is really cool.  And totally fun.  So it was kind of easy to put enough greens through there to make over two liters of goodness.  That also was the end of my veggie stockpile in the fridge, so a TJ's run for more inexpensive veggies is on the list for tomorrow too.

Ohio, Day 3 was jam packed with fun too.  I actually got up to row with Katie & Lisa, and as I was driving up to the boathouse, I was cursing the early hour and claiming it just wasn't worth the alarm wake up call.  But then I got to see the girls, and be in the boathouse, and get out on the water, and just feel the motion of each stroke and it was completely worth it.  Them's my roots and they're just not gonna go away.  Then Gaia and I went back up to Fremont after some coffee back home for a walk in a non-industrial area.  She hung out in the car while I got my hair cut, then we saw the doggie acupuncturist.  And while Gaia was completely not pleased about the experience, she did enjoy all the treats the vet sent home (i.e. glucosamine) AND the sweet potato fries I shared on the way home from Uneeda Burger.  Good day.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Ohio, Day 2

Adam is off playing EMT somewhere between Ohio & Pennsylvania.  He must be feeling adventurous out there because he's eaten sushi twice already.  Bold.  But that's one of the things that makes him so lovable.  So Gaia and I are having a month of girl time here in Seattle.  And cleaning.  Anyway, let's get to the things that require Constant Supervision, shall we?

Alternate post title:  Lexi, will you be my Valentine?

I was hoping this would look like a flower,
but it doesn't really at all.

Between the nice weather and the 27 hours of OT I put in last week, I blew out of work early to ride Grand Ridge.  My focus was threefold:
a) Stay in the saddle while climbing.
b) Enjoy the sun and the fact that I didn't even need knee warmers or tall socks.
c) Avoid getting run down by the weekday trail hogs.

How did I do?
a) Not bad.  I still instinctively stand up when the hills get hard, but maybe that's the road rider in me that refuses to be stifled.  The big breakthrough here was to throw Lexi into the granny gear so I  could actually spin.  The difference was amazing.  So much so that the third and final climb over the ridge on the way out was not only doable, but I dare say bearable.  I kept waiting for it to get really hard, but then I was bombing back downhill again.  Now this makes the second climb out the really tough one.  Better get un-lazy.
b) This was the easiest of my three goals.  I nearly failed when the tuna salad I had for lunch threatened to revisit on the first climb.  And after the second trail I rode out at Duthie, my toes started to get cold.... and continued to get more cold until I put them under the blasting heater back at the car over an hour later.
c) Even with all the things that made (b) a point on this list and the fact that it was already Friday afternoon, there were still a handful of riders that I crossed paths with during my first climb in who were CLEARLY not interested in yielding to us weekend trail riding working stiffs. I nearly got run off the side of the mountain only once, so I think we can call this a success.

So a pretty good ride overall.  Maybe next time I'll make my focus be to not ride the brakes down all the hills.  Or at least not both of them.  Baby steps.  This was the longest solo ride I think I've ever done.  Granted, this may only be the second or third solo ride I've ever done, so the bar was not too high.

I don't understand why the climb & downhill stats don't match,
considering I started and stopped the app in the same place
.