michelle my belle

Cycling 100 Miles, am I out of my MIND?

Monday, my wonderful, supportive of my LIST husband and I set off to conquer #15!

Which was to ride 100 miles.
I've been riding a bit over the summer but nothing very consistent
Wondering if I can really do this.
I haven't ridden 100 miles since I was 19.
But, here we are, still smiling at around mile 25 (out around Lake Merwin).
1 water bottle down. 1 potty stop. 2 pictures

Mile 70.
I asked a lady grabbing her mail to snap this picture of us.
We've done about 5000 feet of climbing up to this point.
And, been on our bikes for close to 3 hours and 45 minutes.
I'm really starting to get tired.

Around mile 80 is where things went bad for me.
I thought "there is NO WAY i'm going to be able to ride 20 MORE miles"!
I slowed down to like 12 mph and just couldn't go any faster.
I'm thinking that this is a really STUPID idea and I HATE my list!!!

My hubby's cheeriness is NOT helping!
We stopped, got a Coke and I ate the rest of my 550 calorie Baby Ruth.
Things are always better after candy.

100 miles!
actually 101 miles!
5.5 Hours
Averaging 18 mph.
All without tears or "the bicycles in the ditch" and fighting!
(like in our earlier days)

SO glad to be finished with #15 on my list!

thank you my dear husband for putting up with me!

Weekend of Ski Racing!

We got to spend our weekend up at Mt. Hood with some friends who have a cabin up there. We played a game they call "peasant" in which I won like 4 times in a row! Love that game :) ha! (pride cometh before the fall!) We ate, and I ate WAY TOO MUCH! Thanks so much Amy and Braden for a great weekend!

Our youngest won her first ski race this weekend. She actually ended up, by God's grace, winning both of the races this weekend. My aunt Cindy and cousin Monica, Mom and Dad, and Katy and her boyfriend Brandon all came up this weekend to watch her race so it was extra great to have her do so well. 

And, to top it off my oldest, who isn't racing this year, was asked to fore run for the races. We couldn't have planned it better.

 

I'm working on a new project. Can't wait to have them finished so I can show you.

MT:

Friday I ran 18 miles @ an 8:50 per mile average pace with Katy joining me on my last 6 miles. We finished the last mile in 7:57 just for fun.

Today ran 5 miles @ an 8:05 pace by myself.

Things are feeling pretty good. I've been careful to take rest days and to have slow days.

I've had an insatiable appetite with all this running. I would still like to lose at least 6 lbs. before the marathon but I just can't seem to quit stuffing my face!

I'm Officially Committed!

I have just finished my first week of the 16 week training schedule for the Eugene Marathon! For those of you who don't know I did my first marathon, Rock n Roll San Diego, last June. I had committed to that marathon on a whim of reading a friend's blog and have been hooked on distance running ever since.

My friend Stacy and I are going to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Our qualifying time is 3:45:59. Which means we'll have to average about an 8:38 minute mile pace for 26.2 miles!

I'm wondering if I'll be boring you with my running? Or if it's something you'd want to hear about?

MTU (marathon training update)

Hood to Coast!

I made it home from NY last Thursday, on the way home from the airport my husband patiently stopped by the t-shirt supply company and the screen printing supply place where showed him the screen I burned and explained what was happening. He suggested I use spray mount to hold the t-shirts down while being screened. (it worked like a charm!) Got home, ran up to the studio and began printing the t-shirts with the help of my husband. Was able to finish one front and back before we had our H2C dinner and last meeting. Got home from that and Alexis and I went back to the studio and finished the rest of the shirts! What a long day I tell you. The next morning our team met at Amy's at 6:30AM to head up to Mt. Hood to begin our fun!!

In case you're not familiar with Hood to Coast, it's the largest running relay race in the world. . Over 12,000 runners participate in the relay that stretches 197 miles from near the top of Mt. Hood down to Seaside, Oregon. Imagine yourself in a van with 5 other sweaty, sleep deprived, sore women for about 30 hours. Doesn't that sound like fun! Believe it or not-it's a BLAST!

This is a picture of our van. We have two vans of 6 gals in each van that makes up our team.

Here's Amy handing off the wristband to Stacy.

Since our team name was Team Tootsie Pops we felt it our duty to hand out Tootsie Roll Pop suckers along the way. (one gal gleefully came up to us and told us she was able to trade the sucker we gave her for a beer. lol)

Kerry and I after our second run getting ready to start our third runs at about 5AM. We were able to get about 2-3 hours of sleep between van transitions. Most people just throw down tarps but Amy's husband was too nice and went up and set up a tent for us in a field.

The beautiful FINISH LINE! Which means a shower and soon to be-SLEEP!

26.2 Miles of Bliss.... NOT!

Dan Gauger, a guy who I go to church with and that is a friend of my parents (and mine), and I flew down to San Diego on Friday morning for the Rock-n-Roll Marathon. I can't believe how fast 16 weeks of training went by. I still didn't feel prepared to run 26.2 miles! 16 weeks ago I could hardly run 4 miles without dying!

The marathon wasn't till Sunday morning so we had time to chill. We stayed at our friends Steve and Caprice's place which is like a luxury resort! This was my room. I absolutely love this painting. I need to ask Caprice again who the artist is. She has several pieces by this same artist and they're all amazing.

Just a little bit about Gary and I's friend Steve here. He is about 54 years old or so and this guy is a stud. I don't think he ever sits still. Over the 2.5 days we were here Steve went on a 70 mile bicycle ride (fast!), did 2 - 45' bike races, sit ups and chased his dog Buster all over the house! What a testimony to staying active!

Sunday morning came quick and early. We were up and out of the house by 4:45AM. The race started at 6:30AM and we had to get down to the parking area and take a shuttle to the start line. I think there were about 18,000 participants.

I was surprised that I wasn't nervous. I figured I had about 4 or more hours to figure things out so why rush into panicking, right?! CORRECTION-I was a little nervous cause I was running in brand new shoes with just 6 miles of running on them. All the pamphlets and experts say "DON'T RUN IN NEW SHOES". Finally I had to just remind myself that my old shoes were hurting my feet so what did it matter if these did too.

A few things I didn't expect in running a marathon were so many people! I was surrounded on all sides the entire 26.2 miles. I was also surprised by the vaseline on sticks aid stations. Smart, I just wouldn't have thought of it.

Here's Dan's HUGE O MONGOUS blister at the finish... and blackened toenails. Bummer!

At mile 15 I started getting pretty tight and wondered if I was going to be able to finish. At mile 20 I couldn't believe how far every single mile was. I started thinking what a stupid idea this was and that I was never going to want to do this again! As I looked around at the other runners struggling for every step I thought "what is it in us that makes us sign up and pay money to suffer like this?" By mile 24 I knew I could finish. I finished in 4:10. I would have been disappointed with anything over a 4:15 so I was happy. Within moments of finishing I was already thinking about the Portland Marathon in Oct! I know that tons of you were praying your hearts out for me on Sunday morning and I thank you! God was totally with me (especially with my new shoes! only two tiny blisters that I didn't even know I had till I did a close inspection). God is good and faithful!

The whole training process, long runs and routine was something that I realize I love. Thank you for listening and letting me share this adventure with you. And, if any of you want to... you could join me for the Portland Marathon, you have time if you start now!

The Kindness of Others!

As many of you know I'm running a marathon June 1. Just look at what came in the mail yesterday from Julie! I love how she taped all the inspirational quotes around the inside flaps of the box. Thank you Julie! You brought me to tears with your kindness. It was actually through Julie's blog that I was inspired to venture into running my first marathon.

MTU (marathon training update): I ran 20 miles a few weeks ago and since then have been having some trouble with my right hip. I've taken extra days off, been to the chiropractor and several times to the massage therapist (my dear friend Tammy!). It's a bummer to put this many months into training and have it all come down to an injury a few weeks before. I'm running 11 tomorrow morning, hoping it feels okay. : (

Marathon Training-China

In case some of you are wondering why I'm running so much. Well, I decided about 3 months ago to train for the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon. I'm still not sure what got into me. I had never ran more than 7 miles and hadn't really been running for almost a year. It's never been something I've aspired toward. But, here I am in China 12 weeks into my 16 week training program!

Four Andy Stanley podcasts, about a gallon of water and the accountability of this blog, my husband and friends later, I ran 15 miles this morning! I had ran 18.5 at home before I left but not in this heat and humidity. It was a tough run for me but I'm relieved to have it over with and excited that I was able to do it!