Biking in the Rain and Fog = Huge Thrills When You're on the Ocean

I had no plans to ride my bike in Maine today. The forecast sounded horrendous so I figured my swim in the morning before I left Vermont would be it for the day.

I could hear the ocean from my hotel room - it was

very loud as the waves are high and I could smell

it but I could not see it because of the fog!  I

needed to explore.

But when I got here it was foggy but not too cold compared to what it has been and simply misty so I decided to explore on my bike.  As soon as I stepped outside it was raining so I headed back to switch to my raincoat. Very Good Decision!

First I headed up to "my" lighthouse but it was so foggy you couldn't even see the lighthouse!

You could hear the foghorn but not see the red 

flashing light.

Starting out - lovely right!

Also at the lighthouse.

I continued along loving the smell and sound of the ocean.  I had no plans of a distance to go. I was simply enjoying the ocean while also looking for a place to eat supper!  I kept going over this bridge and continued north toward Ogunquit with no intention of going very far.

I ended up riding and riding. It was hilly but they were fun hills that were easy to get up and down.

I came upon some nice ocean views - or they would have been on a different day.

 At some point I realized that I might as well set Ogunquit as my goal. I got there and rode until I got to route 1 before I turned around.  On the way back I tooled around Perkins Cove where I saw the sign below, not one one you see just anywhere.

Most of the way back it rained pretty heavily. I still wasn't cold but my shoes got soaked and I no longer made any big effort to avoid puddles.  The whole time I was trying to be very aware of cars as the fog was still heavy.  Once I got back to York I headed back to my lighthouse before heading to the hotel. As I passed Short Sands I could see several people in the water. They were all surfers wearing wet suits of course but from a distance it looked a bit like seals.  Short Sands always has good  waves but on a stormy day they are obviously bigger and must be a big draw. I didn't watch too long as I was starting to get cold.

When I got back to the lighthouse I was amazed at how much better you could see it. When did the fog lessen?  Although once I got down off this higher point of land it seemed just as socked in as ever.  

I ended up riding 23 miles having a blast the whole time! I'm glad the weather was rainy and foggy as it just added to the whole adventure.  Tomorrow I hope to do a longer ride and I will take it a little drier please.  I have stuff draped all over my hotel room drying out.  It seems like I brought half my house but a second pair of shoes for biking?  Nope.  Even though I certainly could have.  My other pair of bike shorts?  Nope. Although that could be because I can't find them.  My bike is in my room too and I did the best I could cleaning it up.  It also makes a nice rack for putting my rain pants on to dry.  

After I warmed up I went down the road for a delicious bowl of clam chowder and a lobster roll. When in Maine.............

Rain rain go away........I know I know we need it..........rain just at night then!

Taken at the end of my Thursday bike ride

I had forgotten how uncomfortable a bike seat can be.  Saturday I was ready to cry for mercy after 25 miles.  It was the same distance I did last Sunday but last week you may recall I had to stop and wait for my husband frequently so I had many breaks.  Saturday I was trying to keep ahead of the rain so I never stopped.  My butt was quite sore as were my shoulders when I stopped.  I don't see myself doing 40+ miles in Maine yet. I am going to relax and do what I can because my time in Maine is all about doing what I want and relaxing!

Maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration but the 

temperature dropped about 20 degrees on

Saturday's bike ride

Saturday  I had run first at home - 11 miles so I didn't ride until about 11:00.  I went to Midd. as I had to get groceries and that would allow me to take the route I like so much.  It was overcast the whole time but when I started out it was a good temperature - maybe high 60s.  At one point it felt like I had just ridden into a freezer the change in temp was so abrupt. I thought it was one of those small sections you hit and then it changes back but nope.  It stayed damn cold the rest of the way.  I didn't feel too bad as I was riding although I was aware of the cold but as soon as I stopped I was FREEZING!  When I got in my car I found out the temp was now 46 degrees.

When I went to the grocery store it was colder than usual which didn't help. (I heard someone else saying it so it wasn't just me.)  As soon as I got home I started a fire in the wood stove and guess what I am next to right now?  The temps forecast for Maine are on the cool side so I will need to take the right biking clothes.
 
I am trying to get my speed up on the bike but so far it is pretty consistent -slow!

Also Thursday's bike ride

 I ran for 2 hours and then biked for 2 hours so I guess training for a tri is like training for a marathon!  I had 3 doubles this week. Two days were running and biking in various order and one day was swimming and biking - though several hours apart.  My bike ride on the swimming day was excellent. It was just 13 miles but a perfect after work loop. I had gotten my hair cut in another town so I had brought along my bike and my co worker who is a biking nut (she rode 48 miles today) met me and took me on one ride she likes. It was quite flat and great.  I had done some of it last year when I went on one of my long loops.  Thursday it was very windy but the temp was great. The only bad moment was when we got back to the cars and there was a truck parked there. I was panicked over my car being towed and wondered why Cathy looked so nonchalant.  Well I had ridden right by the cars to the second pull off. She thought I was just trying to get more mileage!

See that long reach...........so not me.

I am going to go swimming early Monday morning before I head out for Maine.  I am working on getting fewer strokes per lane.  I started out okay with this last time but as I continued I was back where I started. I always do a 600  straight free style since that is what I'll be doing in the tri.  I counted strokes for one length every 100. I'm going to try again on Monday.  I liked doing this. When I did it at my lesson sometimes when I had the same number of strokes I was still a bit faster.

Sunday I ran  just 6 miles but it was 32 degrees with a mist and it never cleared up or warmed up.  I have packed so much stuff for Maine to deal with various weather I think my husband is a bit worried about how long I will be gone. I want to get out there but I'd like it to be not too bad!!

Three Things Thursday

1. I rode my bike Wednesday for my first bike commute of the season.  As everyone knows Monday it was disgustingly hot. Tuesday was fine. So I looked out the window, saw sun and decided I would ride instead of drive. That is all good but I didn't check the temp carefully. It was in the low 30s as it turns out and I wore my half gloves.  That was crazy! Crazy!  I was worried about shifting and using the brakes.  The first part is downhill but today I was excited to come to an uphill and warm up a little. When I got to school I got to my classroom only to find I could not manipulate my fingers to get my helmet off. I had to go find someone to do it for me!  My ride home was much better!

But then I went for a run and even though it wasn't immediate, again my legs were heavy and oh so slow.  Will I get past this the more I try it or is it just something you deal with and get used to?

2.  Wednesday at school was Jump Rope for Heart day.  It was exceedingly fun!  There were 5-6 stations the kids rotated through.  I stopped rotating after I got to the hula hoop station.  I had rather a hard time making that baby stay on my hips.  The kids made it look so easy and were doing all kinds of neat tricks.  I finally got so I could do it for a minute or so and it amazed me how aerobic it was.  I was tired for  a few hours afterwards, surprisingly tired.

3.  I am feeling a little better about my swimming. When I left this week I wrote down the drills I should be working on and the things I want to remember.  I always think I am going to remember them but I often don't!  I have some things I am anxious to keep trying and that is not always the case. We'll see.  I might be right back in my negative funk about my swimming ability again soon.

Thursday I plan to swim in the morning and then bike after my hair  cut in the afternoon.  I have a bag packed for each thing plus my work stuff.  This sport is nuts!  I can't imagine how much stuff I'll take to Maine with me. And if you have any in with the weather gods talk them into making all that predicted rain short lived.

Vacation.......not long now......

April break is a few days  away and I am really looking forward to vacation.  This vacation is going to be some of the same and a lot of different.

• I am going to the coast of Maine. I have done this many times but it never gets old!
• I am going alone. I have not done this before.  I have been to Maine before alone for a race but not for a mini vacation.  I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to it.  At first it seemed really strange to me that I was contemplating a vacation alone but the more I thought about it the better it sounded.  I thought my husband would be insulted I was going away alone instead of staying home but when he heard about it he could see the appeal.  I can do what I want for  a few days exactly when I want to! Appealing right? Every time I talk about this vacation I get a big grin on my face. I am a little worried as to what this says about me but I'm going with it.
• This is going to be different in that the main focus is going to be working out. I am taking a bike. I haven't decided which one. I may worry too much about my new road bike so it may be my hybrid.  I have already mapped out one route I want to take although 40 plus miles may be too much to jump into with only a couple 10 mile rides and one 25 mile ride under my belt.  I am really hoping the weather cooperates for the bike part. Of course I am taking my running shoes. I always run in Maine but usually first thing in the morning to not impinge on others' times.  I do like running first thing but now I can choose. Heck I may run twice one day!  I also plan to hit the hotel pool, not for laps but for enjoyment.  
• I hope to be able to relax and read on the beach.  I am not a sun worshipper but an ocean worshipper. Sitting and reading while listening to the waves lapping the shore and smelling that glorious ocean smell will be nirvana.
• I can wake up in the morning and watch the sun rise over the ocean from my bed. I may bring my own coffee!
• I am not one to eat out alone but I'm going to.  I may want to buy some yogurt and easy stuff and eat some meals in but I can't imagine I won't hit the Maine Diner. I am pretty easy to please and can eat simple stuff so the whole eating thing should go well.  Maybe I'll want to be sitting on the hotel bed watching tv and eating a take out sandwich.  To those of you who travel and spend a lot of times in hotels this probably sounds like hell but to me heaven. No cooking, dishes, grocery shoppign.....We don't have a tv in our bedroom so tv in bed is a treat. If I can't sleep and I turn on the tv it won't bother anyone.  
• I don't plan to shop much but if I want to hit a store, my choice.
• I plan to stay put and not do much driving once I am there. Relax, relax, relax.  

• Let's hope the weather cooperates!

Love Love Love My New Bike!

No snow today on the mountain!

Saturday I rode my bike in the afternoon after my half marathon.  I wasn't terribly energetic but I went on a short ride (11 miles) that I really like.  Last year one of my friends I rode with was paranoid about not going on dirt roads. (flats)  I don't feel I can avoid them because of where I live and so far have been going on them - not for the whole ride but for portions.  Thoughts?

I am really getting the shifting figured out.  It is easy to do and seems to be logical.  I used the cages for the first time Saturday. I seemed to have a lot more Charlie horses - maybe left over from the half marathon and my calves were tight???  I don't know.

Most of these I took while riding - looking off

to Middlebury

Sunday my husband went with me and we went on one of my favorite rides. We ended up doing not quite 25 miles. I was beat!  But man what a ride I had.  I felt like I was floating up the hills! It was a smooth smooth ride.  On the way back we were headed into the wind and it still wasn't bad at all.  I am going to be doing A LOT of riding this summer!

Waiting for my husband I play WWF with Char!

He is nowhere in sight.

Waiting again - no problem waiting at all on this 

gorgeous day.

There is one of many fisherman I see on the ride.

I have a 44 mile ride planned when I go to Maine (more about that later)  and am wondering if I can really do it without building up to it better.  It isn't so much the endurance as the build up of body position. Well, endurance too.  I imagine it will be much less hilly than today's ride.

Taking one of my favorite roads. Usually there are 

a lot of sheep but not today. We will be on this road

in 3 weeks for my next half marathon.

Soon we will be going by the Morgan Horse Farm.

I'm pleasantly tired looking forward to my next ride!

Unplugged Half Marathon Report - The Race that almost Wasn't

I started out for my race on Saturday morning running a bit late. I was about 10 minutes down the road when I realized I had left the bib at home. I had picked it up Tuesday night - when I got my new bike - and it was overshadowed a bit by that purchase.  So I high tailed it back home not at all sure I would make it in time. There was a bus to take you to the start of this point to point race.  I called my son who saved me 3 times:

• Last weekend he showed me where the bus would be so I knew right where to go.
• When I called him in a panic he told me he would give me a ride if I missed the bus. 
• He had left his safety pins from the race he did with me in my car. He knew right where they were. When I went back to get my bib I had no clue what I had done with the pins and didn't take the time to look. I still don't know where they are.

I knew it was going to be close.  As I got closer I pulled the stuff out of my bag I would want to take with me to the bus.  I didn't bother with anything I didn't need. Throw away shirt - I could be cold, oh well.  Ipod - no time to fool with it.  I grabbed my car key, camera and sunscreen. All of these fit in my hat or skirt pocket.  I made the bus as they were calling last call and closing the door.  Another minute and it would have been gone!  

I did find Christa and her friend Becky at the start.  I really didn't recognize many people but there was a good crowd. The race had two waves - two hours  apart!

The weather was perfect and I dressed just right for it.  It was a gorgeous day which made racing by our beautiful lake so much more pleasant!  The route was not the same as last year as it had been changed last year because of all the snow.  The start was in a different place and we didn't double back on the road but took a path alongside the road on the way back. We did all this winding around through the neighborhoods.  It felt like a lot more winding than last year but I could be just not remembering it.  

There was a woman beside me who was very annoying in that she was making the loudest noises as she ran.  And we seemed to be running the exact same pace. I couldn't get ahead of her and she stayed right with me.  When we crossed the suspension bridge it moved a lot because of all the runners on it. She exclaimed, "Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" over and over again all the way across it.  She had gotten a little ahead of me at a water stop and when I came up beside her she was thrilled to see her "pacer" again. She was so pleasant I decided I needed to get over her noises and be pleasant back. But then I got ahead of her and that was it. I never saw her again.  Later there was another lady in the ugliest dress wearing a fleece headband that just looked wrong together. We were together forever and then after a water stop I never saw her again.  I was a bit worried she got hurt or something.  Then there was one more lady that I thought I should turn into my running partner because we ran so perfectly together. Then she got ahead of me and I thought that would be that but later I passed her and never saw her again.  I guess I have some endurance from all those miles I put in!  

I felt great the first ten miles. At the ten mile mark I was about 3 minutes ahead of where I had ended my ten mile race two weeks earlier.  But once again those last 3 miles killed me.  I need to get over that and keep it up for them!  

But overall I loved this race and felt great about my outcome.  Out of my last 5 half marathons it is my fastest time. The last fast one - this race last year!  

Here are my goals I made before the race:

• As always to have fun and have a positive race YES
• To have my best time for the year (one good thing about a slow half in Feb. is it makes this more possible)YES by more than 5 minutes
• I want to run all my miles under 10 minutes including that hilly one near the end (last year my last 3 miles were in the tens) NOPE, not miles 11 and 12 but back in the game for mile 13
• I want to be as close to 2:05 as possible YES I'm saying 2:06 something is
• I want there to be the same delicious brownies as part of the post race food that they had last year NOPE there were some cookies but not the same .....at all
• I want to end it thinking I do want to run the two halves I am already registered before the end of May YES (I think)
• I want to have enough energy left for a bike ride in the afternoon YES at least I went, I don't know how full of energy I was
• I want someone to say to me as I am running, "Aren't you the amazing swimmer I have seen at the pool at 5:45 a.m.? YES and NO, there was nothing about a swimmer but a woman approached me and asked me if I was the lady blogger. I said maybe thinking she was mistaken but she said she reads my blog all the time and recognized me and her family goes to DC a lot too so hey!  I was recognized!  
• To celebrate the fact that this is my 20th half marathon YES, in fact I had a funny post of facebook about this that I think got the most comments anything I've ever put on there has gotten

I always like to put my mile splits as much for me to refer back to as anything.

Mile 1: 9:01

Mile 2: 9:09 (I didn't catch my time on either of these miles)

Mile 3: 9:27

Mile 4: 9:27

Mile 5: 9:35

Mile 6: 9:46

Mile 7: 9:27

Mile 8: 9:37

Mile 9: 9:25

Mile 10: 9:46

Mile 11: 10:17

Mile 12: 10:13

Mile 13: 9:52

.15 8:58

So my 20th half marathon is in the books. I'll do a post later about my bike rides this weekend and my sweet sweet sweet new bike!  

Here are my workout stats for the week. I finally feel they look like a triathlete in training because I have added in the bike.

Swim: 3900 yards

Bike: 45.5

Run: 19.6

The reward at the end!

Unplugged Half Marathon Goals

• As always to have fun and have a positive race
• To have my best time for the year (one good thing about a slow half in Feb. is it makes this more possible)
• I want to run all my miles under 10 minutes including that hilly one near the end (last year my last 3 miles were in the tens)
• I want to be as close to 2:05 as possible
• I want there to be the same delicious brownies as part of the post race food that they had last year 
• I want to end it thinking I do want to run the two halves I am already registered before the end of May
• I want to have enough energy left for a bike ride in the afternoon
• I want someone to say to me as I am running, "Aren't you the amazing swimmer I have seen at the pool at 5:45 a.m.? 
• To celebrate the fact that this is my 20th half marathon

Okay some of these are silly goals (but truly I would love to have them happen) but what fun are goals without some silliness?  Or at least that is my belief for today.  I will go back and highlight the ones I am most serious about. 

There!

On to Saturday and a great race.  I know Jill and Johann are running halves too. Good luck to all of us and may we all enjoy our races! Plus good luck to all the Boston runners come Monday especially Marlene who is as excited as anyone out there!

Last year running over the bike  bridge- there were huge vibrations I

had never felt before as one of just a few runners or 

a cyclist

Huge snowstorm last year a few days before the

race. They changed the route some and 

moved snow from portions of

the bike path

No worries about snow THIS year.