February = Hill Month!!!

Hey everyone,

I've been slacking on my blog posting the last couple of weeks, so here's an update on the last 3 coaches/captains workouts. I'll make sure I do a better job of posting on a daily basis! Please keep checking back and donate to help fight blood cancer if you're able! http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/louisir10/kpham5

Superbowl Sunday!!
Day: 2/7/10
Time: 8 am
Workout: 31 mile Captain's Ride http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/CA/Oakland/992126515234220155
Location: Rockridge BART - Oakland, CA
Weather: PERFECT!!
Comments: First of all, I want to say thank you to my wonderful husband, David, for waking up early to come sag for us on his day off! This wasn't my day, but I had a fun and beautiful ride none-the-less. I fell a couple of times since my shoe decided it didn't want to unclip (first time that's happened since I first got the bike). After that, I guess I must have messed something up, because I fell a 3rd time when my chain jumped off the gears. Finally, my gears decided they would just start shifting on their own - not something I'm too comfortable with on hill climbing. The ride took a little over 3 hours total. While I had some bumps, it was a gorgeous day. I didn't know parts of Oakland were so scenic! We had an amazing view at the top of the hill of San Francisco and both bridges. It was a crystal clear day, and the views really made me appreciate where I live. Part of the ride was also in the shadows of some beautiful coastal redwood trees.

I'm not going to lie, the first hill at the beginning of the ride seemed to never end, and I ended up walking my bike for part of the incline. I also walked the very top of Pinehurst hill since I was nervous about my gears jumping around. Overall, I had a great time. Tony, the master mind behind the day's bike route, led a group of us through the ride. I enjoyed some great company and a great workout prior to going home and vegging in front of the football game. Such a great day!!



Day: 2/6/10
Time: 8 am
Location: Novato High School
Workout: Team workout! Swim drills with wetsuits, plyos and Indian run, and core workout!
Weather: Cold and raining

Comments: Go GROUP D!
The swim was good practice. It was the first time the team practiced swimming in our wetsuits, so they eased us into it with an open-water swim. We practiced the swim start as well - which feels a bit like the Clif Bar Triathlon Start commercial. We also used it as a chance to practice sighting and surging in the water. Despite some people getting kicked in the face, we had a good time.

The track workout wore us out a little. We started with plyometrics before being split into groups and doing the Indian run, which was basically running in a pace group and the person in the back of the group has to sprint every 20 seconds to get to the front of the pack. We did this in 5 x 1200m intervals. Good times! We kept a sub-8 min/mile pace during each interval.

Core: Dave learned some funny tricks from his coaching training with Dave Scott. Something yesterday must have done something though, cuz I was feeling my calves when I woke up Sunday morning!


MARKER RIDE!
Day: Jan 31st
Time: 9 am
Location: Orinda BART
Comments: This ride was actually 2 min slower than my last marker. However, I'm not going to count this as too big of a disappointment since I'm a genius and had my brakes rubbing up against my wheel during the entire ride. I was wondering why the initial hill seemed so much harder than last time! I guess that's my blonde moment for the week- or I could just pretend that I did it on purpose to make the ride more challenging (Yeah right!).