Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I'm Such a Nerd


I got this Nike+ accessory for my Nano (actually, my grandma gave it to me for Christmas!) and I broke it out this week (finally!). I'm in San Fran and don't have much access to cycling (although tonight I'll be trying to finish work in time to make the "Butter Lap" ride), so I'm testing out the whole running vs. riding ratio this week.

I am not a product tester of any kind, and really am not going to go into all my thoughts, criticisms and suggestions about this Nike/iPod accessory. It's just plain "neat-o" right now and I'm enjoying the little charts they show me (you can totally see how in my run this morning, when this guy passed me I picked up my pace and drafted behind him for a few minutes--but then let him go so he didn't think I was stalking him!).

Cool.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

We rode. We yoga'd.


So, we hit the woods one last time before snow falls and it was so fun (and warmer) that we didn't do any road riding. And what's better, after punishing the body with climb after climb, than some stretching.

Ahh.

Seriously.

I officially give Angela, our instructor for the "open house" class we took, two very-relaxed-and-fully-aware thumbs up. Since I have like no experience at such activity, she was gracious enough to do a very introductory workout for me and like 27 other people. It was a full class, but it didn't affect my experience. There's something so stereotypically cheesy about yoga (vegetarian, hippy cult-ish), but also something incredibly self-appreciating (I'm nodding my head as I write this).

Inhale. Exhale.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Saturday January 20th Happenings

Hello everyone,
Just a note about things going on for Saturday 20th:
Check out
The Pilates & Yoga Center of St. Louis FREE OPEN HOUSE 12-4 pm
**Free one-hour lessons on Pilates equip-1,2,&3 pm(call to reserve a spot)
*Free Pilates mat class 12-1pm
*Free Interval training 1:15-2:15pm
*Free Hatha Yoga class 2:30-3:30
*Free Chair massages with the message thereapists
*Healthy refreshments

Address:
1015 McCausland Avenue
314-781-5050
info@pilatescenterstl.com

Tell them you heard about it from Team Revolution!
One Revolution Member wrote:

'..I wanted to chime in on the Pilates and Yoga Center which I think is WONDERFUL. Karen Prechtl who owns/runs it is delightful and I have enjoyed every class I have
ever taken there. Truly a high caliber of instruction there. ...

Ride info for Saturday barring rain(call if you have questions)
MTB: 10 am Castlewood (main bathroom and playground parking lot)
Road: Leave from Castlewood at 11:30 am (1.5 hrs approx)
Bring warm clothes and a little winter grit!!

Trail Advocacy:
Details:
GORC and SIUE trail building
Meet at the North Trail Head at 8:30 on Saturday Morning.
(directions:http://www.gorctrails.com/trails/msiue.asp)
We will ferry you over to the trailhead
We will return to the North Trailhead for lunch and then if the trail
conditions permit ride afterwards.
Visit the Gorc website for more information:
http://www.gorctrails.com/

Let me know of anyone that I might need to add to my list.
Let's ride or Yoga, or play in the dirt, what do you say?!!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Ride. Eat. Work. Ride. Work. Sleep.


That's what I've been doing lately. After taking a week off for the holidays, I jumped in the deep end. Yikes.

How does one train on the bike in the winter? How am I supposed to fit in my 2.5 and 3 hour rides? That's been a big issue. I've been splitting time on the rollers (some in the morning and some whenever I can fit it in throughout the day). I'm not totally convinced that it's as effective as a single, long ride. But, my, um, "seat" is not prepared for that time on my saddle on the rollers; I'm sorry, but it's just not the same.

So, I'm toying with the idea of integrating running as part of the training. I've been doing a bit of research (bear in mind, math is by far my worst subject--to an embarrassing degree) and I think I'll be using a 5:1 ratio on mileage. So, if I would have done a 20 mile ride, I should, instead consider running 4 miles (and maintain the same intensity as the bike workout would have been).

This trade-off comes with a good background and familiarity with running and pace. I know, given my experience in both disciplines, that a 13-14mph ride roughly translates to me (specifically) as a 10 minute mile pace. Comfortable. A higher intensity ride workout demands a higher-intensity run and so on.

OK, so this is just something I'm TOYING with. Not recommending. Especially not without establishing a running base. I'll keep you posted and we'll see if it works at the first race of the season....

Monday, January 08, 2007

Man-haters Unite!



I'm going to (attempt to) dispell what I suspect may be a myth: We're an anti-male feminist riding group.

Um...(dramatic pause)....no, we're not. We actually like men and many members of the club are married to them. Men. Various members are married to various men. Whatever! You get the point!

Men. We often ride with them. Hell, sometimes we even race against, er, with them. But, in establishing the club, we just thought it would be a good idea to generate an environment where women didn't have to worry about men; there's plenty of time for that everywhere else.

Just in case you were wondering.

Also, it's my personal new year's resolution to "blog" more. Winter sucks for many reasons. The main one is that it's really hard to get out and ride in the few hours of daylight--by myself, let alone with a group of people. So, maybe there's a few people out there like me, perusing the web by the dim light of your screen after 5pm. I hope to keep you better company in the future.