Festival of the Trails -Mountain Biking Event

Saturday, June 02, 2012

This past weekend, my husband and I got away for the first time without the kids (who are now 9 and 7 years old.) We spent our weekend "up north" in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest at a mountain biking festival. The mountain biking trail system consisted of over 300 miles of trails. It was amazing.

We mountain biked for 3 days - and it was exhausting by day 3! We put on over 50 miles on single track trails.

Here is my husband:


And here I am:


Both photos were on day one - before we were worn out - and before I broke my bike. (We needed to rent me one, which got us a little behind. My husband broke his as well - but was able to have his fixed.) -- Rental bikes - not as fun.

The event was EXTREMELY well planned. There was a social get-together every day and some type of food event. All participants received a punch card at registration where they had hole punchers on markers throughout the 300 mile trail system. The more punches you received, the more tickets you got to a drawing on the last day. We did quite well, we ended up leaving the festival with my husband winning new bike shoes ($150 value) and I won new grips ($35 value).

We stayed at a bed and breakfast for the first time (because it was only 1 mile from the trail head) - overall, this was a little too intimate for me. I like to come and go and not worry about who is also living in the house. The breakfasts were fantastic though.

We will definitely be doing this again, but next year, we'll bring our kids. We have all year to get them ready for this type of event. I have a new respect for mountain biking! I want to go again. I need to increase my speed and confidance going over rock piles and across skinny bridges.

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BLC19 - 12 Week Goals

Monday, April 30, 2012

My goals for these next 12 weeks:
1. Lose 6 pounds (0.5 pounds per week) (Go from 140.8 pounds to 134.8 pounds)
2. Improve my fitness level (be able to run and bike faster and farther.)

To do each of these goals I plan to...
1. Track EVERYTHING I eat EVERYDAY. (And stay in my calorie range on MOST days)
2. Exercise 6 days per week - 4-5 days of this to be "high intensity" such as running or aggressive bicycling.
3. Post 3 times per week in the Panther Den.
4. Participate in all the TNT, LCW, and Weekend Challenges of BLC19.

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My 1st Race Ever - Legal Run Around 5k *PICS*

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Yesterday I ran my first official race every - a 5K. I had signed myself up for the 5K and my kids up for the kids run. At the last minute, my husband, brother, and his girlfriend decided to run with us.

Prior to the event I was very nervous about being in the big group and that the whole concept of racing was odd and wondered how ackward I'd feel. When I got to the event, everyone there was racing and I felt that I fit right in. We all lined up on the street and I didn't feel ackward or clausterphobic at all. I made sure I had a spot on the side of the pack. When the horn sounded it took a little bit of time to pass the start line, but eventually all the people separated as their speeds all varied.

Overall, it was quite fun. My husband ran with us for the first mile, but then he had to drop off and walk. (He's only ran 2 days in his adult life!) I was very pround of him, he finished in about 34 minutes - very good for being 240 pounds. He was very festive - here is a photo of him taken from the backside in his outfit. (This was on the local newspaper's webiste. My mom and me are also in this photo.)


My kids ran the kids race after us. All kids under 12 ran together and my 7 year old was the 4th girl to finish! WOW! I didn't expect that. My 9 yr old son is sick and had to stop and catch his breath in the middle due to a coughing attack. But he finished - great considering he is over weight. Here is a photo of my daughter in her running gear.


So I finished the 5K in 30:15. According to my brother's girlfriends Garmin GPS running watch, we actually were under 30 minutes because how long it took us to get to the starting line after the horn sounded. (The race was not chip timed.)

Overall, this was a great experience. I am looking forward to doing more races in the future.

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MARCH 2012 – Still Committed to a Triathlon

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Well, I have one month of training in and it’s going well. I’m still really motivated and excited about this goal. I have this blog to help me keep focused and a place to track my training.

I want to do my first race ever this month. (My goal is one type of race every month to keep me motivated.) I’m going to register for the following Races this month.
3/17/12 – Legal Run Around – 5K Run – Fond du Lac, WI (changed which race I originally intended because this one has a kids run for my children to do this with me.) **** Registered 3/5/12 *****
4/1/12 - Run for Home - 5K Run - Appleton, WI (I wanted to do one with my husband and kids - this one gives my husband more time to train.) **** Registered 3/5/12 *****
5/11/12 – Oshkosh Fitness Festival 40 mile bike ride – Oshkosh, WI **** Registered 3/10/12 *****

I’m going to slightly modify my training plan. What I’ve been lacking is strength training and Brick workouts. (Brick workouts are one type of exercise immediately followed by another – Bike then Run or Swim then Bike, etc) I also want to get outside and train – off the treadmill and out of Spin class! My goal is to do the following workouts every week:
Swim x 2
Bike x 2
Run x 2
Strength Train x 2 (or Daily? I’m not sure what I want to do yet.)

Plan:
Thurs March 1st: Rest
Fri March 2nd: Run 40 min (5K in ______)
Sat March 3rd: Bike 30 min
Sun March 4th: Swim 40 min

Mon March 5th: Strength - 10 min of "get ripped in 7 weeks"
Tues March 6th: Run 32 min
Wed March 7th: Bike 45 min
Thurs March 8th: Rest
Fri March 9th: Run 35 min (5K in 31:44)
Sat March 10th: Family Bike Ride - 5 miles (45 min) in EXTREME wind
Sun March 11th: Family Bike Ride - 8 miles (1 1/2 hrs) and Run 5k outside (32:44)
Mon March 12th: Rest
Tues March 13th: Run 32 min (3.3 miles)
Wed March 14th: Bike 45 min
Thurs March 15th: Rest (for Sat race)
Fri March 16th: Rest (for Sat race)
Sat March 17th: Run - legal run around 5K - 30:15
Sun March 18th: Bike Ride

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FEBRUARY 2012 – COMMITTING TO A TRIATHLON

Monday, February 06, 2012

I’m committing to doing a triathlon this summer… Or rather multiple racing events this summer. If you would have told me a year ago that I’d even be considering this, I wouldn’t have believed you! And now, here I am - knowing I can do this.

I want to be able to do a full Olympic triathlon (1.5K/0.93mi swim, 40K/24.8mi bike, 10K/6.2mi run) by fall. I’m going to start with some shorter Sprint Triathlons to get me going (750m/0.5mi swim, 20K/12.4mi bike, 5K/3.1mi run). I’m going to also throw in some 5K and 10K runs… The goal is 1 race/month starting in March. Here is my tentative list of events.

3/17/12 - Shamrock Shuffle – 5K Run – Madison, WI
4/22/12 - Oshkosh 5K – 5K Run – Oshkosh, WI
5/21/12 - Happy Trails Events – 5K off-road run – Appleton, WI
6/30/12 - Just Tri It! Of road Triathlon – Shorter Sprint Triathlon – Manitowish Waters, WI
7/29/12 - RMC Sprint Triathlon – Sprint Triathlon – Green Lake, WI
8/11/12 – Antigo Tater Trot – 10k Run – Antigo, WI
9/8/12 – Lake Geneva Triathlon Series – Olympic Triathlon – Fontana, WI
10/8/12 – Horicon Nat’l Wildlife Refuge – 5K off-road run – Horicon, WI
11/10/12 – The Amazing Turkey Trot – 10K Adventure Run – Wausau, WI
12/2/12 – Enchantment in the Park – 5k Run – West Bend, WI

I’ve chosen to do a triathlon instead of running, biking, swimming individual because I need the variety. I get bored with doing only one type of exercise, even with a little cross training mixed in.

To prepare, here is my training schedule for this month. I have 5 months to prepare for the first Sprint Triathlon I’m doing. I’ll update this as I meet each of my training session goals. The goal is to bike/swim/run twice per week.

Week 1
2/6 -Monday: rest / off
2/7 -Tues: Run Goal 20 min - Actual 40 min; 10 min Strength Training
2/8 -Wednesday: Bike Goal 35 min - Actual 45 min
2/9 -Thurs: Swim: 15 min (met) -and- Run goal 20 min - actual 25 min
2/10 -Friday: Bike: 40 min (met)
2/11 -Saturday: rest / off
2/12 -Sunday: Swim: 30 min (met)

Week 2
2/13 -Monday: strength train (Chalean Extreme Burn Circuit 1)
2/14 -Tuesday: Run: 20 min (met)
2/15 -Wednesday: Bike: goal 35 min- actual 45+ minutes
2/16 -Thursday: rest / off
2/17 -Friday: Bike: 45 min (met)
2/18 -Saturday: Run: goal 25 min - actual 40 minutes
2/19 -Sunday: Swim: goal 20 min - actual 35 minutes

Week 3
2/20 -Monday: rest / off
2/21 -Tuesday: Run: goal 25 min - actual 40 minutes
2/22 -Wednesday: Bike: 45 min (met)
2/23 -Thursday: rest / off
2/24 -Friday: Run: goal 25 min - actual 40 minutes
2/25 -Saturday: Bike: 30 min (met)
2/26 – Sunday: Swim: 35 min (met)

Week 4
Catch up week – because I will miss some of the above training plans due to life events getting the way. I’m throwing a week every month for catch-up. If I don’t need to catch up, I’ll just do leisurely run/swim/bike/other activities, repeat week 3, or go to week 4.
2/27 -Monday: rest / off
2/28 -Tuesday: Run: 40 min
2/29 -Wednesday: Bike: 45 min
February - Success!

More training plan to come next month…

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