Longest Ride Evah...Until Next Weekend

This morning Gabe and I went for my longest ride ever.  I started off feeling like a pack mule - aero water bottle, two cage water bottles, a gel flask, spare gels, my cell phone, a bento box with spare tubes, and rocking the new (well...not so new but new to the bike) power meter.  What MORE can I fit on this bike?  After 5 miles I ditched one of the water bottles on the side of the road because I felt like I was hauling my entire house.  I'm not sure it really lightened the load but it sure improved my attitude...which was sub par to begin with.

We headed South from the house and did the Lake Samish loop and then headed North for the second half of our ride.  The wind was rocking out of the West and it was pleasant going OUT but coming back left something to be desired.  Note to self, when it appears to be windy outside head South - there is simply more protection from the elements in that direction.  Then again, there are more hills...it's a trade off.  Oh, and yes, I did pick up the water bottle on my way back into town.  It had precious pickle juice in it (yes, I said pickle juice.  Have I mentioned that it's AWESOME?!).  There was no way I was leaving it out there when I was only 1/4 into my ride.

Post ride we went for a short 30 minute run which felt great.  That's right I LOVE bricks.  I know that sounds crazy and maybe like I'm being sarcastic but it's true.  I own bricks (at least in my own head).  Sure, my legs feel heavy and it hurts but I'm always pleasantly surprised by my average pace.  Maybe it's because my expectations are so low and you feel like you're doing a 12 minute mile and then you look down and you're flying in comparison.  So yeah, I like bricks.

And with that we end our morning.  I came home to freshly made Junior Mint cupcakes (more on that in a future post - they're delicious), beer (yes it was only midday but it's hydrating), a burger, onion rings, and a milk shake.  What?  That's not normal?

Until next weekend...

Failed Muffin Top

I hinted in my recent post about the Ski to Sea race that I had a cupcake extravaganza.  Well, here are the details.  Since our team name for Ski to Sea was 'Dirty Muffin Tops' and we were having a post race potluck I decided my contribution would be a Dirty Muffin Top Cupcake.  And...given Kyle's advice, I would make a coffee cake cupcake with an over the top muffin top and a sort of brown sugar crumble topping.  It was 'supposed' to work out perfectly.

Friday night I made up a batch of these coffee cake cupcakes and 1) the muffin tops were not so 'over the top' and 2) the batch only made 12!!  I needed way more cupcakes than that.  So, Saturday came around and I decided to go with chocolate cupcakes with the crumble topping.  Well, my chocolate cupcake batter (same recipe as all other chocolate cupcakes) produced 2 dozen cupcakes so instead of just adding the crumble topping I created three different flavors - Oreo, chocolate strawberry, and chocolate caramel.   

Recipe:

Coffee Cake Cupcake - 
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream

Crumble Filling- 
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup oats or nuts (I used oats)

Crumble Topping - 
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter

Brown Sugar Frosting - 
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar (or enough to make it the right consistency)

Prep:
1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy
3. Add eggs one at a time and beat.  Add vanilla
4. Alternate adding dry ingredients with sour cream.  If the batter seems to thick add milk.
5. Pour cupcake liner half full, sprinkle a spoonfull of crumble topping into the middle then fill cupcake liner until near the top (if you're going for a muffin top).
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

For the crumble topping mix ingredients together and spread on a cookie sheet with wax paper.  Bake for about 20 minutes then crumble the hardened layer using the wax paper.

Since I'm lazy and you've seen the recipe before I won't type up the chocolate cupcake recipe here.  For the Oreo cupcakes I simply added an Oreo to the middle of the batter before cooking.  This cupcake was sans frosting.  The caramel cupcake I added a dollop of caramel to the batter and drizzled caramel on top.  The caramel was from the Snickers cupcake I made previously and I think next time I'll either make it right or simply go and buy real caramel so it will be more flavorful.  I thought the caramel would be overpowering so I didn't put as much as I should have with the chocolate cupcake.  And lastly, I threw a dollop of strawberry cream cheese frosting on top of the last chocolate cupcake.  Just a hint.  The recipe for the frosting will come in a subsequent post.

Needless to say NONE of the cupcakes I made this weekend had a sufficient muffin top.  It was deeply disappointing but I can't say I didn't try.  I mean I DID make 3 dozen cupcakes.  Oh well, there is always next year.

Ski to Sea Race Report

I'm a little late in getting this out so I apologize ahead of time if the details fall a bit short.  

Trying to get organized for Ski to Sea is a bit of a cluster.  The logistics of the entire race are ridiculous.  First there are the early bird folks that need to be on the mountain.  The roads from Glacier on up close around 7:30 and the race starts at 8.  All of the first 4 legs of the race need to be up in their spots at that point.  The ski legs are taken care of as they can carpool together both directions since they start and end in the same place.  Now if the skiers have enough room in their car then they can shuttle up the road biker, drop them off at the DOT station and the pick up the runner on the way down.  Of course, I like to be difficult and so I planned on driving myself up and having Dave, our runner, pick up my car when he got to the transition (more detail to come on this in a minute).

The rest is fairly easy.  I pick up the car at the canoe start, drive to the canoe finish, pick up the canoeists and then head down to the finish to watch our kayaker come in.  Basically the mountain biker and the kayaker are on their own as far as getting to and from their appropriate locations.  Or...there were more logistics than I cared to pay attention to.  Probably the latter.

Anywho.  The pre-race dinner/meeting was at Kristen's (the kayaker) house and consisted of organizing the above logistics and an excellent pasta feed!  We got all of the race goodies and numbers and then headed home for an early evening.  All of my stuff was packed and ready to go.  With the alarm set for 5 AM I fell into a fitful sleep.

I woke up not overly rested but feeling the pre-race energy circling through my system.  I got the last of my things together, loaded into the car, and had a breakfast of Rice and Shine cereal with a dollop of peanut butter.  Then I hit the road, picking up Marti (fellow cyclist) on the way up the mountain.

The drive up was nice - good company and great weather.  I can't believe we lucked out.  The week leading up the race it poured every day and the forecast had rain all the following week.  Sunday, race day, was supposed to be the only nice day.  This usually means it's a lie but this time we lucked out.  Clear blue skies!

We got to the parking lot just past mile post 48 around 7:30ish.  After unloading the car it was a few minutes walk down to the staging area.  Unfortunately Marti and I were hoofing it with our trainers, bikes, and bags.  Needless to say it was awkward and apparently we looked pathetic (stopping every 10 feet or so to switch hands) because two folks stopped to help us carry our trainers.  Maybe next year I'll just warm up next to the car.

The staging area consists of the driveway in front of the DOT station.  It's fairly large but not set up for 500 cyclists to hang out for a few hours.  But we made the best of it and plopped down on the ground to hang out.  Again I mention the fantastic weather.  I can only imagine how miserable that wait would be if it were raining.  No cover!  I guess even more of a reason to warm up at the car.

Shortly after 9 the first runners came in.  I was expecting Dave around 10 so I took that as my queue to make a pit stop at the porta-potties and start getting warmed up.  My 'warm-up' was a little bit of a joke.  I spun on the trainer for a bit but as I watched runner after runner come in I got a bit too amped to sit there.  I was freaked out I'd still be in my warm-up clothes and attached to my trainer when they called my number.  So instead, I opted to hover around the transition area.  There goes the warm-up.  Ha!

Right on schedule our number was called off and I walked up to the line to wait for Dave.  Now we hadn't coordinated the timing chip hand off, nor had we talked much about it, but I had received advice from fellow cyclists to tell the runner to put the timing chip (Velcro band) on your wrist.  In their minds it was the easiest and safest way to transfer it.  Well, it came as quite a surprise when I asked told Dave, after running a stellar race and exhausted, to put the timing chip on my wrist.  Ha!  At least it worked out.  I didn't crash trying to get it on, the chip didn't get lost because it was loose in a jersey pocket, and I only put Dave out for the briefest of moments.  Thanks Dave for being a trooper. 

The ride itself was great, hard, exhausting, exhilarating, frustrating, lonely.  So many adjectives so little room.  Honestly though I had a blast.  Right out of the gate my heart rate was skyrocketing.  All I was thinking about was catching a pack of riders and hanging on.  But as I rode on and worked my butt off in those first several miles there was no one.  So, I settled down and soon I was caught by two cyclists - a girl on an aero bike and a guy who seemed a bit awkward, had toe cages, and wasn't gearing appropriately.  What the heck, let's hang on.  The awkward guy and I clung to the woman's back wheel for maybe a mile or two.  The guy was dropped on a hill and I scooted up to the woman.  I'm pretty sure she didn't want me on her wheel because shortly thereafter she began swerving all over the road and at one flat section she totally dug in and took off.  I sprinted for maybe 10 seconds and then gave up.  It was way too early to be working this hard.

The next several miles were spent all alone.  I have to say it was a bit frustrating.  I had high expectations that I would have a whole group of folks to work with.  The miles, however, were ticking by and the scenery (I know it's a race and I shouldn't be paying attention to such things) was gorgeous.  A winding mountain highway, sharp downhill corners, the sun streaming through the tall evergreens, and glimpses of mountain backdrops in the distance.  I mean, come on, it was picturesque.

At some point awkward guy caught up to me.  I'm thinking it was because of the descents and his greater body  mass.  Anywho, we decided to work together for a bit and FINALLY we caught another pack of two riders.  I grabbed on to the back wheel and heaved a sigh of relief.  For the next couple of miles it was the four of us, then a larger group of riders came up from behind.  YES!!!  Time to put in some work and really fly through this course.  Unfortunately that was not to be.  The group of about 8 - 10 blew up on a hill but at least I was still hanging on to a group of about 4.  We rode for at least 5 or 6 miles like that and it was great.  At times I coasted and gave my legs a rest and we were still clipping away around 24 miles an hour.  Now this was what I was expecting.

As we neared the turn at Silver Lake I came in just behind the lead cyclist.  He was riding a bit slower than I would have liked but I knew there was a big hill and a turn coming up and I didn't want to be the one pulling everyone up the hill just to get dropped at the top so I hung in second position.  At the turn the lead guy obviously didn't know we were supposed to turn because he kept going straight.  I turned and became the leader of our pack of 4 and I guess the guy dropped to the back.  I pulled for several minutes, just long enough to put in a good effort and play along but not enough to totally exhaust my engine.  I then pulled off to the side and dropped to the back of the pack.  This is where it all went drastically wrong.

A few minutes into being at the back of the pack I look up only to notice that 'wrong direction guy' had been dropped.  SHIT! (Excuse the profanity but it's well deserved here.)  I go around him and sprint as hard as I can to try and catch up but the pack of 4 cyclists (we had picked up another guy) was gone.  I glanced over my shoulder in hopes that 'wrong direction guy' was on my wheel and we could possibly work together to catch back up with the pack but I dropped him like a sack of potatoes.  He was done.  At this point I was just super annoyed.  Not only with 'wrong direction guy' but also with myself.  It was obviously a newbie mistake.  I should have been paying more attention to the group as a whole.  Lesson learned as far as drafting and cycling goes.  Dang triathlons - I blame you!

At this point in the race we are about 20 miles in, halfway through, the steep descents are gone, and the flat long rode beckons.  I settle into a rhythm but find myself concentrating on the fact that I'm all alone and my average speed is slowly slipping.  Bummed.  I look around every once in awhile hoping that a group is catching me and all I see is empty country rode.  Bummed.  There are a few duos that catch me and I pretend like I can hang on but these guys are way out of my league.  Disc wheels, aero helmets, and thunder thighs.  They pass me like I'm standing still and it's almost laughable to see my attempts to speed up and catch a wheel.  But hey, at least I tried.  The most suitable theme song - 



As I near the Canadian border I notice a 'large' cyclist up ahead.  I see him glance back a few times waiting for me to catch him.  Getting closer I realize it won't be helpful for me to work with him, he's barely moving, so I bomb by him.  Of course he grabs my wheel and is peddling like a mad man trying to keep up.  We accumulate a third guy and he moves to the front to take a pull.  Then another rider hooks up with us and those two go off, leaving me and...oh wait we dropped the large guy...leaving me to fend for myself again.  Opportunity lost.  The bright side, only fifteen miles to go.

I HTFU and peddle on. Once I hit South Pass my legs start to fatigue.  I've gone pretty hard all day and my heart rate has been all over the place.  There aren't any cramps (yet) but I can tell that my speed is slipping or maybe it's because South Pass adds a few climbs back into the mix.  Either way there isn't much left in the tank.  But with each turn of the crank I'm that much closer to the finish line and getting the rest of my team on their way.  It's motivating to remember that I'm part of a team and I can't let them down.  That helps me whittle away at the miles.

Around 5 miles to go my new friend Andy, who I had just met up on the mountain AND who happened to be Kyle's teammate, caught me, gave me the 'we only have 5 miles left' pep talk, and then promptly scooted in front of me to carry my sorry butt to the finish line.  Relief!  Well, not really but at least motivation.  We worked hard those last five miles.  We flew down the hill into the flat four mile stretch into Everson and were cruising along at 24, 25, 26 mph.  At one point I could tell Andy's legs were getting fatigued so he pulled off and I took my turn up front.  In comparison it was brief and slower but I did what I could to help out.  My left shin (that's right, 'shin' not calf) started to cramp up but we were still flying.  As we neared the sharp right hand turn into the transition area I ripped off the timing chip and prepared for the quick hand off with Gabe.

Now...before the race Gabe had mentioned he had a 'surprise' for me.  I had pretty much forgotten all about that and at this moment I had total 'game face' on.  I wanted to throw that timing chip at him and send him on his merry way.  The competitive side in me was in full force.  That said, his surprise was to have our hand off be captured by the local media.  He had set up camera men to take a picture of our exchange and had even given them our names to print in the papers later on.  Had I known I TOTALLY would have played along but of course I was oblivious (which would have been more fun) and I was in 'game face' mode so I yelled at him to 'Go, go, here's the chip' and tried to swerve out of his way.  Not to mention that the officials had told us to keep going straight so as not to bottle neck the transition area.  My Catholic (follow the rule) instincts set in and I was trying as hard as I could to 1) get out of the way, 2) not crash into Andy who was stopped right in front of me, 3) send Gabe on his way and 4) not fall while still clipped into my peddles.  It was a cluster and I totally ruined the moment.  Shortly after Gabe took off it clicked that I had just ruined the surprise and so I yelled after him 'Sorry! I love you!!!' which was warmly received by the audience who laughed heartily.  Oh well.  At least the picture below captures the cluster.

And that's my portion of the race.  Done!  Would I do it again - in a heartbeat.  It's a gorgeous and challenging course and although I had my down moments (which is ALWAYS going to happen) I enjoyed it.  Next year I'll pray for more clumps of folks to work with but I'll be prepared for the inevitable alone time and I'll be stronger and faster, just you wait.

Back to my mention of the car swap from the beginning of this post (can you remember that far back?).  I get a call from Susan, Dave's wife, with the leading phrase 'So I have some good news and some bad news'.  Alright...I'm prepared.  Dave got my stuff and is off the mountain - good news.  The car won't start and is stuck on the mountain - bad news.  My first instinct (no offense Dave) was to think that he didn't know how to start the Prius.  I mean it is a little weird seeing as how you just push ON.   I come to find out, however, that the battery is completely dead.  I left the spare key in the car (in case Dave forgot to bring the other one) and being a 'smart key' it apparently kept parts of the car on the entire morning.  Awesome!  So Dave was able to get it started, unroll the windows, and move it ten feet before it died.  

Needless to say, Gabe and I had a long afternoon.  Post canoe leg we hustled down to Fairhaven, jammed a wrap of some sort in our mouths, saw Kristen cross the finish line - 3rd in our division and 47th overall, WOOT!, and then hopped in the truck to head the hour back up the mountain to jump start the car.  Which, thanks to Dan Mo. we figured out how to do.  Then it was driving back down the mountain, quick shower, feed the dog, grab the cupcake extravaganza (in another post), and rush over to Ralph and Dorthe's house for the post race party.  Long, long day.

And...I leave you with a few pictures of my fellow teammates.  Go Dirty Muffin Tops!

First OWS of the Year

The water was cold but bearable given the 70 degree temps we held all day.  I had no real agenda other than to just get in the water with Gabe and do whatever he wanted to do.  We swam a few lengths along the shore to warm up and then made a couple of round trip jaunts to the pilings.  All in all we probably swam at least a 1/4 mile.  I'd call that a success for the evening.

It's weird getting back in the wetsuit and open water after spending so many months in the pool.  My body felt constricted, my form went out the window, and the cold water took my breath away for the first few moments.  As the next couple of months go by I'll have to focus on keeping my gains with my stroke and body position - otherwise this winter training was all for not.

In other news, I rode the Lake Padden competitive course this morning with the Bellingham Fit tri group.  It was nice to be out in a group for a change although I ended up riding with just Roxie and Kyle - woops.  The ride felt easy and the day was gorgeous.  I even had to lather up with sunscreen.  Unfortunately I apparently didn't reach my entire shoulder blade - I now have nice red splotches on the edge of my shoulder blades, right where the tank top started.  Oh how I love triathlon induced tan lines.  I guess they're only going to get worse over the next few months.