December

With the days getting colder and shorter, December is a month I strive to be cozy. This year even more. My ACL reconstruction is moving along nicely. I am at week 7 now. I still have a long way to go as ACL  full recovery can be 6-9 months.

 I've done not a stitch of swimming biking or running as ordered.  My daily routine looks very similar to millions of Americans that consider my routine quite the norm: Get up, shower, grab coffee, commute to work,come home, make dinner, dive into bed exhausted from not exercising and wanting more sleep than I ever have. The comforts of daily life soothe me more than ever right now. A hot shower, my heated car seats, chocolate, a mug of hot green tea, getting my feet massaged during a pedicure,  a glass of wine,climbing into my flannel sheets. All these things I savor to the fullest. They are my pacifiers of daily life I throughly enjoy as I patiently wait  for the day I can be me again.  Monitoring a wattage output, lacing up my running shoes, glancing at a heart rate monitor. Feeling the  fatigue of swimming a hard set. 

 Next week I see Dr Burk my Orthopedic surgeon for a 8 week followup. I'm confident he will loosen this very tight lead he has around my neck and unleash me to start the process of de-marsh-mellowing my doughy self.

 These are a few of my favorite things.....

Pedicures

Donuts

Pancakes

Squeeze Sponge Bob PT

Icing at  work

Petting Therapy

Soup Making

Pie

Attitude is EVERYTHING!

Surely you are growing weary of my incessant focus on my knee. I'll say it for you: 

"Get over it" 

I will or should I say I am! I am making great progress and I credit that progress to a positive attitude way before I even hit that O.R. table Oct. 10th. I had this perceived vision that I would work through this latest crisis in a solid steady better-than-normal pace and well, I am.

My sole purpose for documenting this will come in a year or even 9 months from now when I can participate in whatever sport at the time I decide to fully engaged in and if I utter a complaint with no merit or I am pouting concerning a given result of my effort, I will snap my ass back into the land of *BE GRATEFUL* by reading/viewing one of these posts or two as a simple reminder of: remember when...

Here's a mini pictorial view of my progress.

The MRI Confirms my  Last week of August-Cyclocross Mishap

At First, determined to not lose my fitness

Acceptance,partial recovery, begin Prehab to strengthen my legs

My invaluable help post surgery- Mom

Breakfast in bed!

Wretched Leg Brace

Lunch in bed too! Day One Post Surgery

Kelly in a cooler, TGP in a CPM machine

Mom made me homemade  soup!

Making progress! I can drive!!!

First Post-op visit  praying  this gets left behind

Dr. Thomas Burk Jr. my Orthopedic Surgeon checking my stitches and taking my brace AWAY!

Brace Free and surgical site(s) healing!

18 days post surgery and doing great! Sorry I have the UGLIEST Knee caps!!

Embrace The Knees

The Compliant Patient

  Four days shy of two months.

 2 months that I am so grateful to finally put behind me.

August 17th seems like a lifetime away now and almost surreal.

It was the 2012 Cycle-Smart Cyclocross camp in  Easthampton MA that day and  one I'll  have a hard time forgetting for a long time.

 The two full day clinic was to be a perfect bridge for me into the cross season after a full

summer of focused road cycling and no triathlon. I was stoked. A sponge ready to take in everything I could learn in the  2 days and then reinforce it by drilling it into myself repetitiously in hopes that I could become a more confident cyclocross rider.

Oddly I waited all summer for the season to end impatiently watching everyone racing triathlon through the social media outlets and being envious at times but always reminding myself, "Your race season is coming. Keep your pants on."

The long and short of it was I would be dead in the water before I even got out of the starting gate. Perhaps this newest  snafu wouldn't have stung so much if I had gotten in at least a smidgen of racing. But alas, it was not meant to be. Instead I have murky images in my head of making the trek back home  that summer day balancing a bag of ice from a gas station on my knee confused and in shock that something went terribly wrong with a part of my body I had never  ever had an issue with.

3 hours into the clinic during a drill set,  I  coasted up to the barriers like I've done a million

times before. I un-clipped from my pedals and proceeded to step over the first barrier and my right leg

on touching down just gave out. I collapsed into a heap. I had just fallen in front of a group of people and for what appeared, no apparent reason. I didn't trip on the barrier. I didn't ram my bike tire into the barrier, I didn't even twist my ankle, yet there I was on the ground. My knee was burning and I couldn't put weight on my leg right away to get up. Needless to say, I was mortified.  GET UP, I told myself, your holding up 15 athletes wondering why your ass over tea kettle and in the flow of traffic without

blood flow and gashed skin to validate."

In the act of complete denial, I  tried to quickly get up and shake (whatever "it" was) off to get back in line and continue on with the drills.  Camp had just started and damn it, I wasn't going anywhere.  On inspection, my knee showed no injury, it wasn't swelling right away and I thought maybe I just stepped in a hole in the field and just twisted it enough to send me down.

It's never that simple. Is it?

Down I went AGAIN.  Same place, same leg, same scenario. I'm not sure what the camp coaches witnessing this were thinking at this point but I didn't stick around long enough to find out. I was done.  I knew then something was terribly wrong and after gathering

up my gear and bike as quickly as possible, I exited stage right as inconspicuously as I could. I'd had enough embarrassment for the day. * Girl falling for no reason*  As my car door shut to start my drive home, I cried ( ok wailed) until I had to pay for my bag of ice and  then resumed my breakdown until

I reached my drive way.

After a quick visit with the ortho nurse practitioner that following week, a meniscus tear was the initial diagnosis. After the MRI was completed, I had sprained my MCL, I had severe bone bruising, I tore my meniscus and my ACL was torn almost completely. 

  Surgery is FINALLY completed  and my days of being stuck in the no man's land of  non healing waiting to be fixed are over.   It's all about following the  recovery protocol now and not rushing the healing process.  Reconstruction of your ACL is certainly not uncommon but you can screw it up if you don't heed the advice given and are impatient. A graft is non discriminatory. It doesn't care if you

are under weight, over weight, fit or not. It's a set time for the graft to heal and you just have to wait it out. 

I am forever grateful to my family and all of you that have checked in/reached out and given me advice. It has made a rather stressful and painful time for me that much more tolerable just knowing that people genuinely care and are concerned with your well being. It's incredibly helpful, not forgotten and  so very much appreciated.

It's time once again for another 10 Questions with TGP! Introducing Zac Daab, the founder of Hup United. Zac wears several very interesting hats besides being the heart and soul of Hup United. Click on the PAGES link at the top * 10 Quesions* and check out what Zac is up to!

France Camp Recap. I REALLY did this?????

Wild Poppies in Villard Reculas

I've had the worst case of writers block I think due to shock and awe. Ugh.  Well here I am, finally....back
down to earth. 

 Today I stumbled on my point and shoot camera and remembered I took a few images with it while in France that I have not posted to FB.  Mostly I used my iPhone during my trip. I made the right choice not hauling my big expensive Nikon D700 plus lenses. I really didn't need it. NONE of the photos have post production editing here. They are straight from the camera today. Why mention this?  It's a fine example of how beautiful the Rhone Alps region really is. Simply spectacular.  The air is pure and clean, the views, breathtaking. Everything just seemed intensely vibrant and magnified.
 You just have to be there to experience it.  

I spent 9 days in Villard Reculas, a tiny village just a stones throw

from Alp d'Huez with the main focus-cycling. I got

in 6 days of cycling in total @ France Camp hosted

by Jimmy Riccitello, a guy who I'm so fortunate to call a friend now. Just an incredible host along with his family.  I met some great people. I did

some amazing rides. Climbs of which 45 minutes or more were the norm.

Les Deux-Alpes, Notre-Dame,Croix de Fer,
Alp d' Huez, and The Col du Glandon are a few of the climbs I got to do.

The Summer Road connecting Villard Reculas and Huez

Alp d'Huez as most know is one of the most famous and often used climbs

in the Tour de France. It's about 18 km in length and averages 7.9 percent in grade. There are 22 switch backs with  numbered markers at each switch back. If you ever find yourself  on this HC rated climb, my advice is, DON'T look up at the markers .Just put your head down, find a sustainable effort and grind it out.

 The first time I did this climb, it was at the tail end of a day's effort which included

climbing to another ski area, Les Deux Alpes.   I had no idea what I was getting into at the base of Alp d'Huez that day. All I knew was it was my ticket home. This climb is  
one of only two ways to get back to the chalet. Ok.. the van was an option but I didn't go
to France to ride in a van and I swore unless I was physically puking or lost a leg falling over a steep embankment,I wasn't goin' in the van.  Not even 10 minutes into the climb, I wanted to

 bail and damn it... that van looked REALLY GOOD.  I had no idea I would be climbing for 1:30. Holy CRAP...  And this was using a triple chain. Trust me, there is NO SHAME in using a triple chain on

a carbon fiber climbing road bike especially in the Alps.  Honestly, It just saves your legs so you can

walk let alone attempt  multiple days in a row of riding. The second time I did  this climb was in a time trial

effort with fresh (er) legs and no other other big climbs before hand.  I shaved off 10 minutes. If my Aussie friend, Bruce hadn't challenged me to that goal time, I'd never thought I could. My goal was set and I was damn well gonna try and swing it.  I know

what your thinking...  "she's a stud"  and I am. ( Just kidding)

They're coming!

Of course I can't forget one of the highlights of  this trip.

I was lucky enough to pick the week The Tour would be near by for stage 11

so off we went for a longish climb up 21km up to The Col du Glandon. The last 7km 

were tough and the 5 days of fatigue in my legs were very apparent. By the time I got to the top, I was drenched in sweat with nothing to change into with 3+ hours of standing around waiting

at the top of this mountain. It wasn't freezing but it certainly wasn't tropical weather-like either.  I thought.. no way am I gonna survive up here. I  lucked out after I was spotted sitting in a tight little ball shivering. There just happened to be another American group up there that some of our crew knew and a heavy, waterproof/wind proof jacket was offered up to me. It SAVED my a$$ and I was eternally grateful. I  had to take extreme measures by taking off all my wet cycling clothes  (waist up),

laid them out in the grass/ partial sun to dry out to get my body temp  back up and have something semi
dry for the long decent back down.
Notice how there are NO porta potties up there in that picture and not a tree or bush in sight. Nice huh?
 Beer tent? Oh yeah... Stella Artois was flowing.

I thought the crowd would be 3 deep at least and I was prepared that
I would only get a glimpse of a cyclist or two. Not the case.  I could touch
the cyclists.  It was surreal... really... and the team cars, your toes could easily get run over if
you weren't careful. So as you can imagine, front and center viewing.  I was in awe.

front and center viewing

I picked a spot (by chance) that the cyclists were still climbing but also they could see a small decent before the Croix de Fur so they were eating, drinking or sitting up to zip up slowing them down if just a bit more for optimal viewing.  Lucky me.

I will end by saying this was a trip I will never forget. Even if I
get back there next year ( in the plan) nothing will be like the first time experiencing something
of this caliber. I think my jaw hung open for 95% of the time I was there and I feel
very fortunate to have experienced it first hand.

b2b

Here's all that remains of my 7th Harpoon Brewery to Brewery ride: One lonely beer ticket unused, dog-eared  and now expired. How did I let that happen?
As I woke up today watching the rain, I though how lucky we were one week ago  to have
bright blue skies and sunny warm weather for our journey of 900 + riders to VT.  It's a 19 + hour day for me crammed full of adventure starting at 3:30 AM and ending with McDonald's hot and salty fries and a creamy vanilla shake reward stop before reaching home at 10:30 PM.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt pretty trashed for most of last week hinged heavily on the solid lack of
desire to even look at my bike. I worked hard and probably the hardest I have for any of these rides
I have done. It wasn't my intention but the specimens who I rode with kept me honest and many
times, hanging on for dear life.   Specimen A, I rode with last year. One should never assume that
a year's prior performance is a clear testament of what to expect the next year.  Brian came undone
last year at the 126 mile aid station and I left him for dead to finish. Nice of me eh?  This year
we rode together again, and I could barely share the duty of pulling  and continually got blown off
the back on any longish grinding climbs which exceeded my ability to count in total.  One minute I was happy buzzing along with my group, the next counting cows in a field whining because my happy place/draft zone was all but a memory.

It didn't last  long though and before I knew it, I got zapped back into a good place whether it be catching a new group to suck wheel off of or zipping ( ok.. maybe not zipping.. but crawling) into the next aid station and my core group ride posse was there to scoop me back up, Brian and Steve x2,
ready to carry on freshly invigorated with fuel.

Here's the thing about the b2b. The party doesn't get started until the 90 mile mark and if your
not careful and pace yourself,  the hills of VT will bite you in the ass and leave you well... like this:

Numbers don't lie and they are far from impressive but for a long day in the  saddle barring no
major calamity, here's what Mr. Garmin said:
 Distance:147.52 miles 
 Time:8:30:32
 Avg Speed:17.4 mph
 Elevation Gain:7,305 ft
 Whining %: 48.3




In less than 2 weeks I'll be laughing at this elevation gain in the mountains of France. The summer
theme suddenly went from **The Crappy Hill Climber ** to
**She's Not Ashamed Of The Triple Chain**

Thanks for stopping by!

Ready, Set, Go!

I used to be so good about updating my blog but lately I'm hopelessly distracted and I'm betting other bloggers can attest to this as well. I remember BEFORE Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, I scoured my blog roll DAILY hoping for a new update on one of my homies and was vigilant about keeping my own the same way.   


 In any case, I've been busy. Who isn't, right??? 


 The b2b is rapidly closing in (2 weeks away) and I'm trying to get some mileage in while video blogging my way through the process via Ibex and Harpoon.
I drag around a Go-Pro video camera and try to capture training moments, minus anything
graphic as to not scare away future b2b'rs. It's been fun and Evan Kay @ Ibex is doing a great
job putting together a short video showcasing us (3 athletes) preparing for the ride.  We just send him our memory cards and voila! He does his video editing magic and comes up with a short little clip about what we are doing in hopes to not bore the audience to tears.  He's yet to include my pole dancing routine that I use as cross training for the b2b and there's only ONE MORE VIDEO to come out. Fingers crossed! 
  Brian and Patrick, the other two riders have never done the b2b and are puttin' in a lot more training hours than I and Patrick is a HAND CYCLIST. Frankly he is the Bomb and I wish him lots of luck in the hills of cow lovin' VT.  This is my 7th ride and I know how the day goes and what I need to do to prepare in order to get to the start line fresh and ready for a long day in the saddle.  It's not a race and my goal pretty much every year is to get to VT in one piece minus torn shorts, road rash, a broken derailleur and a sag wagon pick up.  Oh.. it happens and every year I'm thankful it is NOT ME and I didn't get taken down by a squirrely rider, a dropped water bottle that can launch you into the ditch or some mechanical calamity that can't be fixed road side.


On another note I have some EXCITING news for July. 


Ready?  


I'm going to FRANCE.  Yup. I'm going to the mountains ( Remember the theme this year) Hills Hills and OH JOY more HILLS!!! Think Alp d' huez  and I will be pedaling my bike up those mountains guided by my host Jimmy Riccitello.   MUCH more
later to come on that!  


Thanks for stopping by!!

Hills Are My Frenemies

Ahhhh May. Love this month, and why not?  It's the aperitif of summer. A season much too short but one that makes you appreciate it's fleeting visit by the other seasons which tend to wear out their welcome.
I've been busy like the rest of the world watching the days melt into each other and (trying) to keep fit and sane.  You see, if I'm not even modestly fit  then my happy place (sanity) isn't fit either. Hell hath no fury  like the insanity of TGP...  :-)


This past weekend, I participated in the Northeast Hill Climb Series. There are 10 in the series, the first event being held here in MA at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton.
 My expectations of myself were all but non existent.  I'm not a particularly good cyclist as I've mentioned to begin with and if you decide to sprinkle in some vertical-ness to my  eh... cycling, you've got yourself a double shot of mediocre . 


I was perfectly content with this and after viewing the results and seeing me down at the bottom. There was no disappointment and or TGP pouting to be had.


It is what it is.  I signed up to focus on a limiter ( climbing) and I did precisely that. I did the best I could with the fitness I had and no excuses to pull out of my back pocket. I didn't go out too hard too soon. I didn't die at the end.  Simple as that and I walked away with a good hill climbing workout to boot.

The  3,7 miles to the top was almost pleasant and I say that because usually when I've reached  the base of Wachusett on any given training ride, I'm 30 miles in and already feeling the affects of the hills that preceded Wachusett itself.  Saturday I was fresh as a daisy and ready to climb. It was fun seeing some friends and hanging out with my TP team mate KS who I rarely get to see and catch up.. She is 50 now and showed she can still blow the doors off of a large percentage of athletes many younger and male.  Giddy up! 


 Instead of packing up the bike and heading home right away, I hung around, had a burger with Karen while sitting in the sun and enjoyed watching all the goat-like cyclists get their awards.


It was short, It was sweet,and nothing like this weekend to come. (Insert scary music) 
My  Team Psycho Training Weekend starts Friday morning at 6AM and ends after one last pummeling on Sunday. Three days of glorious self inflicted pain while simultaneously trying
to grind each other down in order to keep our reputation intact and have something to talk about over the flowing Harpoon beer that will be present.


Fingers, toes and eyes crossed in hopes of the absence of broken collar bones and wind swept rain this year. 




Thanks for stoppin' by!

Getting Vertical

Mt Crumpet

The Crappy Cyclist is not a hill climber.
 Surprised? Of course your not.

Here's a screen shot of my ride this past Saturday. There's nothing compelling about this ride except maybe that it's massively hilly. I don't like hills therefore I do them and often. I fantasize my friends are too afraid to ride with me for fear I leave them in a catatonic state from burying them on our hilly venture. Or even better, for my birthday I'm given one of those fun polka dot jerseys  as a gift 'cause I'm so damn good at climbing. I stand there opening the gift in front of my non goat like friends and say, " ah geeze, you shouldn't have!" while secretly planning our next hilly adventure to painfully reinforce to everyone who is *Queen Of The Hills*  A girl can dream,  can't she?

Back to reality....

 At the end of this ride shown above, ( I ) never want to look at the average speed because it's usually horrible. Ok.. always horrible.  It's not even a long ride by most standards, (barely 60 miles) but it can and usually(for me)feel like a 90 + mile effort.  I know this route well and have done it  far too many times to count.  I just point my wheel out the drive way, utter "head for the hills" and my bike seamlessly knows where to go. If there's one thing that's a constant whether feeling fit or substantially under trained,  this ride NEVER   feels easy. Maybe if I had a pie plate as a cassette and a triple chain ring up front.....

Last weekend I spent 6.5 hours with my cyclocross bike finding my way through the trails and roads of greater Boston. It was tough to say the least. 60% trails 40 of road. I was wrecked for 3 days.  Surely that would make this 60 miler feel leisurely, no?   No.

Well one thing stands true besides me being non-goat like:  What goes up (no matter how slow)

gets to come back down and THAT makes me smile.

Thanks for stopping by!

b2b x 7

It's official. I'm in for the 2012 Boston to Windsor VT Harpoon 148 b2b ride. Let the journey begin. Here's the wavier i had to sign in blood. ( I made a few corrections based on my own needs)

I do solemnly swear, to: play by the rules be physically and mentally capable of completing the entire 148 mile ride in my designated mph category not expect others to help me complete the ride have enough left over to enjoy myself, some great beer, and the company of fellow riders review all the ride information on http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/b2b ride safely with proper cycling etiquette while looking fashionable yet with functionality. respect volunteers, other riders, motorists, and the rules of the road

I'm slowly plugging away at un-doing * The Crappy Cyclist* stigma I've so graciously attached to my backside and I've got some nice trix up my sleeve to prove  I'm not bluffing. It's only April and I've  already gotten some  semi decent time logged on the saddle.

This coming weekend I get to dye eggs and consume enough chocolate to equal my body weight , but by the next weekend, I'm putting on my frilly big girl panties and joining the fun for the annual Ronde ride. What's this you ask?   I don't really know exactly and that's probably a good thing.  I do know I'll be pedaling a cyclocross bike through roads and trails on the outskirts of Boston with a team of 3-5 other women (TBA).  The rules say we must stick together  and find our way around the 70+ loop course using whatever means we have to navigate; sundial, weather stick, fancy Garmin with GPS.  I know  just what your all thinking, "70 miles?  Pfffffff..That's no big deal" Well.. on a cyclocross bike with 4-5  town forests/parks/conservation land to contend with combined with not really knowing where the heck we are going, my gut is telling me this won't be cake walk.

2012 Ronde Ride Route

I'm just glad boys aren't on our team because we all know how they/you  are with directions and asking for help.  Secretly I'm hoping the teams in front of us will drop M&M's, Sour Patch and the likes so we just have to follow along and stop occasionally to pick up a few  for fueling purposes, right?
In any case, it should be fun and more importantly we get to drink beer,  pound burgers void of pink slime, AND get a chance to win some really gnarly raffles (yay!) post adventure all to raise money for Bikes Not Bombs. I suck at picking the winning team for the office March Madness
pool but I'm the queen of raffle winning. Just ask Mo.
Bring it.

How To Be A Crappy Cyclist

Today I decided to look back at March 2011  to compare/ evaluate what I was doing for training over on TrainingPeaks.  Specifically, cycling.  It appears ( and entries don't lie)  I was riding no more than 3 times a week (and that was a GOOD week). My results as the months progressed were flat and uninspiring to say the least and often i was rewarded with disappointment and frustration and decided to label myself as * The Crappy Cyclist*   Come May I barely got through my  Team Psycho Training weekend burning all my matches while desperately looking for any wheel I could latch on to.  I suffered  through the b2b (140 mile) ride in June  way under-trained and all of my Charlie Baker Time Trial efforts  never improved. Look how nicely they got progressively SLOWER as the season progressed: 27:17 -27:21- 27:39- 27:40- 27:41- 28:41 (CX bike night)

 It's always a good idea to  look back at your previous efforts or lack  thereof  and assess, wince, regroup,
 set new goals and more importantly,determine why something wasn't  providing the results you were expecting. Sometimes it's easy to see, other times not so much. I'm not sure what I was thinking last year but the bottom line is,  you can't have your pudding if you don't eat your meat and  my results did all the talking as * The Crappy Cyclist* I'd become.

Cyclocross season rolled around and after another stress fracture in my toe in September and a fall  run focus suddenly shelved, I jumped into cyclocross full swing.  No real cycling base, no build up, no specific training, no skills work.  Again like previous seasons, I was the rear sweep of most of the 13 races I participated in feeling slow, uncoordinated, and always finishing a race like someone tossed me in a blender going from: mix, crush, and finally PULVERIZED.
I had one speed for cross: HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE so they don't pull your from the course or get LAPPED-speed.
No strategy, no working off other riders, double hop remounts,  and way toooo much braking. Perfect
reinforcement of being *The Crappy Cyclist*

It's a new season and after 13 years in the sport of triathlon, I had to face the music that I lack the fire in my
belly to plan, train, and race in the manner I'm used to as competitive age group athlete. I haven't run a step since September18th in which I finished a race on a stress fractured toe and quite honestly, I don't miss  it one bit. I'm fit from TRX, I have a solid swim base and I'm way ahead of where I was last year in the cycling department to become less of *The Crappy Cyclist*

 So my goal this season is to simply  work hard at casting off this stigmatization of being *The Crappy Cyclist* I've created  for my very self and see if I can rekindle my love affair with my trusty steed(s) with hopes of ending  this dreadful  streak  of  being* The Crappy Cyclist*   all the while coming to terms with :
All four brake pads are NOT rubbing on my tire rims.

I will leave you with photos of my commuter bike who I've made an agreement with that if I keep shiny and clean, well oiled and rolling, will help me become * The Crappy Cyclist No More*

My Classic Steel Marinoni road bike, now my smiling commuter bike sporting pink accents helping me become less of *The Crappy Cyclist*

The essential cockpit for early morning commuting as I become less of  * The Crappy Cyclist*

It's time for another 10 Questions with TGP. This time it's All Things cycling with one of the premiere race announcers in the US. If you own a bike, then you should know Richard Fries!

Click on the 10 questions link at the top of this page to gain some thoughtful insight on the King
of all Cycling media! 

The Annual Team Psycho Time Trial. We Do This For Fun???

Time for an update.

Here this blog will sit, dormant until I feel inspired to write something and well, uninspired I've been. The months of January/February are tough ones to find  the mojo and spice to write something that won't make your eyes glaze over. For example, like swimming for a straight hour for the 2012 USMS Speedo January One Hour Postal swim?  In a nutshell, It's like watching paint dry on the bottom of a pool  but at the end of that wondrous  hour, it feels like you've been holding  a nice thick 1970's encyclopedia Britannica  in each hand (arms out straight)  pretending to be the letter 'T'  for that hour. 

Did it. 

It's over with and that's all I'll say about that.

  Another  fun (and even more self inflicting torturous) event to stir up the copacetic winter transpired last weekend. That being The Team Psycho Annual Indoor Time Trial held at FastSplits in Newton MA.  FastSplits  boasts a state of the art 16 capacity Computrainer ride studio with 2 - 42 inch flat screen monitors, mounted fans and a great  sound system all to distract you from your 15k of self flagellation. Fun!  

I was hoping my 13 race season of cyclocross would give me a tad advantage if only

that I am conditioned to sustain the discomfort one experiences in both of these situations.

 After a little bit of time off the bike I started back up with some "cyclocross" specific  pain toleration workouts to prepare.  One word: Dreadful....

 I know power is the key to cycling workouts and your heart rate is only

a result of the given work but I pay close attention to it and I know my limit before I venture to the dark side and come undone or so I thought I did.....

Too bad there isn't a special award for the highest heart rate for last weekend's time trial effort 'cause I'm pretty damn sure I'd nab top 3  or at least get the parting gift of a years supply of Swifter refills because I saw numbers I'd never seen before.  How 'bout 191?  When at home staring into the abyss pedaling to nowhere on my own computrainer, if my heart rate goes OVER 184 during a hard fixed wattage interval, it's curtain call after 10 minutes max.  During a cyclocross race of 45-49 minutes, my HR can fluctuate but hovers around 186-187.  Ain't no one's gonna tell this girl she's a slacker and doesn't push it to the limit. I might be bringing up the rear but I'm working  back there and DEARLY.

 Lucky for me, I was the only one toting around a fancy camera for the day on Saturday so of course I took full advantage of  shoving my lens  in  faces contoured in pain and thoroughly enjoying watching others suffer. Since I was the official unofficial TP  foto taker, I can't actually prove  there reeeeally were black and white twirling spirals in my own eyes and sparks flying off my over processed split ends during my bit of fun but trust me, it happened.

It's all but a memory now and I'm fairly content with my result. I didn't go out too

hard worried I'd hit that 184 mark way too soon. LIttle did I know 184 would be the least of my worries.  SOME ONE CALL 911!

Thanks for stopping by!

TPG sits down with Professional Athlete Dede Griesbauer

Check out my interview with Dede by clicking on the pages tab at the top   *TEN QUESTIONS*

2012- Here We Go!

 Here's my impression of New Years (Eve):

 It's an over rated marketing gimmick and valid excuse for people to sleep half the day away on New Years Day  belly up with confetti still stuck on their face, green around the gills from driving the porcelain bus half the night while sporting a mystery hickey.  I'm such a party girl, huh?  I'm seasoned and know better (ok.. OLD). Here's my dirty little secret:  In my 20's I use to drool about New Years Eve raking in some SERIOUS CASH slinging cocktails as a cocktail waitress. Yep, little black dress, towering high heels, cocktail tray above my head full of drinks, my cash sorted and folded between my middle and ring finger under my tray. I knew my single malt scotches, if you wanted your martini dirty and never ever wrote down a drink order. WHAT A SKILL, eh?  lol...

Now I'm like Lola.. She was a show girl...but that was 30 years ago.. when they used to have a show... and she wasn't going to bed at 9....   

Happy New Year nonetheless.  I'm gonna attempt to change up my blog a  bit. Add some spice so we're not all watching paint dry over here.  See the little tabs up top?   I'm gonna try and start filling 'em up with stuff. Stuff that may be useful, maybe not, but It will be something different to look at!   Favorite stuff will be junk

I love and or can't live without. TRX will be just that, me or my TRX coach, MD Stovalli demonstrating via mini video clip how to use it for warm up/ targeting a specific area and using it as a multisport athletic performance enhancer that will not only get you rock solid but also keep you from injury. DISCLAIMER: 

Even though I have been doing TRX for over a year consistently twice a week, I am no expert. Take what you

want from it (hopefully good stuff) but be sensible. It's not for everyone and it's NOT EASY. Take a class

to really understand how it's done and perhaps if you do have it set up at home, you can incorporate a new

exercise seen here to change up your routine.

The Snaps tab is just a sprinkling of my most recent favorite photos. More can be seen HERE.

Just my hobby that I love and strive to become better at!

Lastly, my 10 Questions. I'm REALLY looking forward to this.  I will be trying to dig up some interesting  folks who have inspired and or intrigued me in some fashion who I will ask

10 (hopefully) inquisitive and thoughtful questions and post their answers here.  

So.. stay tuned! 2012 is a fresh new superhighway. HANG ON TIGHT!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!