I Almost Died Yesterday

I've never had a "life flashing before my eyes" experience before yesterday and I hope to never have one again. My immediate thoughts following the experience were:

"And just nearly killed on the highway in Vancouver... Thank goodness for excellent driver reflexes by our driver as the car on the right was 1/2 an inch from my door... Nothing like getting the heart going as your life flashes before your eyes. Puts life a whole lot more into perspective..."

In those few seconds (perhaps even milliseconds) I saw my life with a new clarity. I felt changed. The things that are important came to the forefront while those less important have begun to fall away:

1. Love like there is no tomorrow and let it be known that you love: 

I love you. Nothing will ever change that.

2. Live: explore, imagine, dream, and do.

3. Let go of what you cannot control or change. 

I know it won't always be easy, often taking daily (multiple times a day) reminders to embrace what is important and to let go of what is not but I am happier and on the way to the rest of my life, alive. 

The Bridge to Yesterday

While wandering the hills and valleys of Vancouver, BC, I experienced the most amazing thing: A forest standing still in time on the other side of The Bridge to Yesterday (Otherwise known as Capilano Suspension Bridge Park).

Starting on the edge of a cliff, the bridge spans a 450ft wide, 300 ft deep gorge through which runs the Capilano River.

Though the day was cool and raining, adventure awaited! Crossing the bridge, there are incredible views of the Capilano River, surrounding mountains, and an ancient forest.

It is a strange feeling to be 230ft in the air with nothing between you and the wet, rocky bottom of the ravine below but a wooden walkway and a few steel cables.

As you step off of the bridge on the far side, you are greeted by the hush of the massive forest. For my friends back home in New England, imagine the largest trees you have ever seen and then triple them. These Hemlock and Douglass Fir trees are up to 300 FT tall and as old as 1,300 years. It would take 4 people to properly hug a tree in this forest (Believe me, I tried!).

Everything is so lush and green in this ancient rain forest. Deciduous leaves grow as big as dinner plates with massive ferns and broad leaf plants covering the forest floor. Moss grows thick on the trees deep under the canopy. If you are quiet enough, you just might find a tiny dinosaur living amongst the roots and ferns.

Climbing up into the trees, a stairway leads to the treetop walkways - suspension bridges between the trees that hang up to 100ft in the air and encircle the park. Even on a platform at 100ft above the forest floor, the trees still tower above you another 100+ ft. Standing on the platforms, looking up into the canopy, everything was calm and quiet. Even the drops of water falling from the trees high above seemed to be in no rush, dripping down in slow motion as if time had been slowed to a near crawl.

Once out of the treetops, the Raptor Ridge walk awaits. Following the outside of the park and the top edge of the ravine, you experience views of the river below with the trees growing out of the ravine still reaching over your head. The wildlife of the forest  can be heard through the chattering of squirrels and the birdsong high above though you rarely see them, so high are their perches. I was lucky enough to sneak up on this creature in the middle of the forest.

 

Adding to the music of the woods are the tumbling streams, running over rocks and fallen trees as they make their way to the ravine's edge only to cascade over into the river below. 

 Wandering through the trees, I felt like a child, filled with wonder at the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest. Eager to turn each new corner and take it all in.

I hope that one day you can experience this adventure for yourself. But until then, enjoy the rest of the photos.

The Massive Hill of Death

O M G! I can hardly believe that I am alive to tell the tale of The Massive Hill of Death... Thankfully for you, I am! :D

It all started on a cool (think 40 degree F) morning, at 6am when my alarm so rudely awakened me from a fairly pleasant slumber. Oddly enough I was dreaming about hiking only to be awoken to go biking. 2 eggs later and I hit to road to meet up with The Bulls-eye Bikes Club for 7am. There were 6 of us to start with though we would gain 1 and lose 2 later on in the ride.

Being completely unaware of what was lurking down the road, I saddled up and headed out with the group. As it was a bit chilly, I kept my fleece on over my bike top though I opted to leave the long pants in The Dingo for safe keeping. We rode North out of town, heading over the interstate (Is it called an interstate in Canada or is it just a highway? Route 16 anyway). Hanging a left, we pedaled West past quiet farms and newly tilled fields, the sun beaming down and the wind quiet, for now. Coming to the end of the range road, we connected up with RT 779 West of Spruce Grove and again turned North.

Now the fun begins! RT 779 (and most of the Northbound routes out of Spruce Grove & Stony Plain) heads up into the Glory Hills. Remember those wonderful hikes I wrote about at Chickakoo Lake? Well, 779 is the road I take to get to those hills. I took one look at the road ahead (refer back to last weeks post with the pic of where I had been) and said to our daring leader, Herb, "We're headed to the top of that thing, aren't we?". Herb confirmed my suspicions. We were, indeed to ride to the top of the world on RT 779. Now, remember that I am riding with a group of seasoned cyclists, all with lovely road bikes and plenty of racing experience under their belts. Even though this was a "long, slow" Sunday ride, the pace so far was faster than I'd been riding on my own.

And so up the hill I went... One slow peddle stroke at a time. At one point, it began to feel like the hill that would never end and by the time I made it to the top of the world on 779, I was dripping sweat and ready to lose the fleece. About this time I realized that I hadn't really been drinking much for water (also known as the nutrient sludge - due to the addition of several supplements/powders to give me energy and keep me hydrated). I started down the other side of the hill only to meet up with the other riders headed back in my direction. You see, the rules of the ride are that we re-group at every major intersection/turn of the ride. The faster riders often double back and then ride the section a second time while waiting for the slower riders (in this case me). We took a right and headed East towards what I can only guess is the Northern end of Calahoo out of Spruce Grove through I am not sure.

Now, by this time the ride had become quite fun as the Eastern headed road was a slow gradual downhill. Ah! This is what I had done all of that work for! Taking another right, we headed South back towards Spruce Grove. Here we picked up Nadine and continued down, down, down, the hills. Hill after glorious hill! All heading DOWN... Joyous day! :D We regrouped and bid Cory farewell as Herb made the announcement that we were to complete our ride by heading back around the same loop we had just ridden, only in reverse... SAY WHAT????

Now bear in mind that I was not tired (a little muscle fatigue but nothing horrible) and it was still pretty early in the morning (8:45ish) and we'd only completed 20 miles (35 km) and my goal was to get close to 45 miles for the day. I firmly told myself that I could do this and turned my bike Northward again. Little did I know that I was to meet my arch nemesis - THE MASSIVE HILL OF DEATH! I had thought that the hill on RT 779 was big, long, never-ending. Boy was I wrong. Compared to the behemoth that was facing me, 779 was an anthill!

I'd be willing to bet that what took a matter of minutes to descend in my highest gear (and that wasn't fast enough for me) took at least 20 times as long to ascend in my lowest set of gears. This hill was determined to have the best of me. Though I never gave it the satisfaction of making me dismount. My mind was made up. I would ride this thing to the top! I have to say THANK YOU to Herb here. He must have ridden each of the 3 sections of this hill at least 2x as he circled back for me at the top of each crest. It helped not to be left to my own designs on this beast of a hill. And here is where Don left us for the day. The Hill having conquered him quite thoroughly (or he had better things to do), he turned and road down again. 

The rest of the ride is more of a blur... a slow, gradual uphill blur for a good part of it before attaining the peak of RT779's hill where I could cruise (as fast as my short little legs would go) to the bottom and pick up the East heading road back to Spruce Grove where The Dingo was waiting to take me home. We covered nearly 40 miles in 3.5 hours. A pace far quicker than any I've ridden alone. The one misstep that I took was not putting on the long pants after the ride. I hopped in The Dingo and headed home only to have both thighs make a major attempt at cramping on me. Thankfully home is a quick 5 minute (or less) drive and a hot shower and stretch awaited me. And a nap! Yes, I took a nap in the middle of this day and fell asleep straight away!

Now, I have attempted to capture a map for your viewing pleasure. However, I believe that The Massive Hill of Death has such strong powers that it has actually managed to obscure itself from the mapping device. I'm afraid that the road should have hooked back down towards the starting point (on the right hand side of the map), making a box rather that an open sided rectangle... But, such is the strength of The Hill....

Session 2 - Week 7

Week 7 of Session 2 now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday May 19th - If you read last week's post, you know that I rode 45 miles (75 km) on Saturday, May 18th. Today was the first day that I have done back to back long rides. I rode for another 45 miles to bring my 2 day total to 90 miles (150 km). Started off at 7am waiting to meet up with a local bike club. By 7:30 myself and another rider came to the conclusion that there had been a bit of a communications snafu and the ride was not going to happen. So, home I headed to hit the streets myself. By 8am I was peddling off towards Jubilee Park and the Spring Grove neighborhood for a warm up and then hills. Spring Grove is set up so that streets run North/South on a hill so it was good practice for hills. Down the hill, up the hill, repeat. :D And then I was off exploring new areas. Click the link above to read about Sunday's ride. 

Monday May 20th - A day of rest. After my weekend of riding, I was happy to have a Monday holiday. I spent 2 hours digging the weeds out of my "flower garden" and then another hour planting new flowers. By the end of the day, I was pretty tired and still recovering from the weekend of riding.

Tuesday May 21st - TRX Suspension training. This class was a bit different from our normal format in that we were doing counted reps instead of timed sets. A very, very, very hard class. You can read about it here. Legs were the target of the day...

Wednesday May 22nd -An evening of rest! Sore from Tuesday night's class (for the first time in a long time) and happy to relax.

Thursday May 23rd - TRX Suspension training - And more leg work!

Friday May 24th - An evening out with work and early to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Saturday May 25th -NO OPTIONS Butt & Gutt!! Circuit based session with 7 stations, 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, nearly every station weighted and no rest for the single leg/side stations. It was brutal! Read about it here.

Tomorrow morning I meet up with Herb of Bulls-Eye Bike Shop to ride from 7am to 12pm. Wish me luck and many miles!

NO Options!!!

Today was Butt & Gutt - NO OPTIONS style! It went like this:

10 minute warm up on the spin bikes using a variety of gears and intensities. Ashley selected the gears and this was only the beginning....

Today's B&G was a circuit based session. There were 7 stations to complete, nearly all of them weighted. What do I mean by "no options"? The weights were selected for us for each station. The format was 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest unless you were completing a single leg or single side circuit, then you got no rest at all. the stations were:

1. Back Extensions - 10lb weight - complete back extensions for 30 seconds, 30 seconds rest, repeat for 4 sets, holding the 10lb weight at your chest and bending over the machine until you were upside down and then returning to a straight angle with your body. Hello lower and mid back!

2. Squats - 20 - 30lb weight - I picked the 20. Hold the weight at your chest and squat until your butt hits the bench. Return to standing. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

3. Russian Twists - 15 - 20lb weight - 1 picked the 15. Sit in a V leaning back, knees bent, feet off the floor and twist first to the right and then to the left, bringing your elbows as far back around your side as you can in the twist. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

4. Donkey Kicks - no weight, no break - On your hands and knees, bring one knee in to your elbow and then kick it out and up behind you. Keep your back straight and move only your leg. 30 seconds on the right leg, 30 seconds on the left leg, repeat 4 times with NO BREAK in between. You will swear that your legs are about to fall off!

5. Alternating Lunges - 20lb weight - Stand with the weight on your shoulders and lunge forward. Stand back up, switch legs and repeat.  30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4

6. Ball Passes - no weight, just a big rubber ball - Lay on your back, hold the ball between your lower legs and bring your legs up. At the same time crunch up and reach for the ball, pass the ball to your hands and lay back down, keeping your hands, feet, and the ball from touching the floor. Crunch up again and pass the ball back to your legs and repeat. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

7. Side Plank with Hip Drop - no weight, no break - Get into side plank position but instead of holding it, drop your hip to the floor and then back up to plank position. 30 seconds on the left, 30 seconds on the right, repeat 4 times with NO BREAK in between.

5 minute cool down on the bike - a great stretch - and I still swear my legs are going to fall off. The great thing is that this is the first time in a while that I have been sore after a B&G class. The really great thing is that I completed the workouts. I look back over the past 20 weeks and am amazed at how far I have come.

Thank you out to Ashley, Trudy, and the girls who are so very encouraging!!! Let's rock it!

Be Who You Are!

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~~~ Dr. Seuss

 

I Work Out!

Last night was TRX class.  A very, very, very, very, very, VERY hard TRX class. Every TRX class is different and it never gets any easier as you use your own body as your weights and you set your level of challenge. Here's one class for reference and here is last night's class:

Oh, and while we are on the topic, I can't get this video/song out of my mind every time I work out (thanks, Scott - though I would LOVE to be able to do what this guy can do. Um, maybe minus the speedo. Unless the speedo was on Gumby Hiker on top of a mountain... ).  :D



Tuesday night TRX: While we usually complete timed sets (20 seconds work/10 seconds break, 30 seconds work/15 seconds break, etc), last night was different as we completed counted reps. We started with a warmup of 30 Jacks, 10 Squat Jacks (don't ask, they hurt), 10 Burpies, 30 Mountain Climbers, 30 High Knees, repeat.

The first set of exercises included squats, squats, and so many more squats:
20 Jump Squats
16 Balance Squats on each leg
20 Sumo Squats
16 Sumo Jump Squats
I'm thinking there was another exercise in here but darned if I can remember it, the class was a blur!

The second set of exercises included:
20 Single Leg Lunges
20 Second Single Leg Lunge Hold
16 Single Leg Lunges followed by Leg Lift - keep in mind you are lunging your leg backwards and then standing and lifting your leg behind you...
Repeat on the other leg
20 Single Leg Hip Hinges (stand on one leg, reach/bend forward and lift one leg straight out behind you until you are in the shape of a T)
16 Single Leg Standing Donkey Kicks (get in Single Leg Hip Hinge position and then bend leg at 90 degrees and pulse heel towards ceiling). Yeah, OUCH!

The third set of exercises included:
20 Single leg lunges with 1 leg suspended behind you
16 Pushups
Repeat on second leg followed by second set of pushups.
20 Hamstring Curls 
30 Mountain Climbers - suspended in TRX
30 High Knees (on each leg)
10 Burpies

Repeat the entire workout and try not to throw up... :D

Often when I leave the gym at the end of class I wonder who thinks these things up. And then I wonder how many people are crazy enough to actually do these things. And then I am usually very, VERY thankful that I can do these things. By this time I have usually made my way to The Dingo on my quivering legs of Jell-O, fished my keys out of my pocket, and somehow managed to get my rubber chicken arms to start the truck so I can head home and die. Don't get me wrong, I love these workouts but am always in awe that I can do them. Plenty of water, protein, stretching, and sleep later, I still hurt today.

Perspective

Sometimes you just need to change your perspective...

Rogue Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 Banana
3 Large Strawberries
1/2 c Sliced Peaches
1/2 c Crushed Pineapple
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 TBSP Hemp Hearts
1 TBSP Flax Meal
1 TBSP Chia Seeds
1/2 scoop Protein Powder
1/2 c Greek Yogurt


Blend all fruits until smooth. Add Hemp, Flax, Chia, Lemon Juice, Protein Powder, and top with Yogurt. Blend again until smooth.

Pour and enjoy!

Maybe not "rouge" per se but quite tasty! :D

9-T!

While this shot doesn't exactly do the hill justice, you get some idea of the distance and steepness that I had just traveled. If you follow the road all the way back to the upper left of the photo, that is where I had just ridden from. And.... where I had to ride back to. Lucky me! :D Yes, I do mean that itty bitty, tiny crack in what appears to be the treeline... yeah, there.

Today was my second day in a row of riding 45 miles to bring the weekend total to 90 miles (150 km). As you can see from the map below, I took a very different route, north out of Spruce Grove on Century, ending up waaaaaaaaay up at the top of a giant hill. Yes, I rode the entire thing, without stopping AND... I didn't die! :D (happy dance!)

I'm a bit surprised that I am not more tired but it is still early in the day (3:30 MST) and I'm sure by this evening I'll be ready to fall right over. Maybe it was the alternative protein, aka: bugs I swallowed on the ride.. hmmmm.

Today was slightly overcast and I had a nice cool breeze for most of the ride so I didn't add to the sunburn that I managed to get yesterday. :) Oh, and I have a funny white stripe where I wear my ID band on my wrist. And bikers tan, I am developing bikers tan. What is up with that? Geesh!

45

Today was the first day of a 2 day training ride plan. I had planned to be up by 5am, riding from 6-9am, aiming for 30 miles before my 10am Butt & Gutt session. My body had other plans for me. Being a bit tired, I slept until 7 and hit the road at 8am, riding until I met up with the Butt & Gutt class at 10. I logged 20 miles in those 2 hours (Map on the right).

As I participated in the B&G session, all I could hear in the back of my mind was my mom: "You can't do BOTH bike riding and B&G, Silly Girl. You should just do one or the other." How right she was! B&G consisted of hill running and major leg work today, focusing on the thighs. And my poor thighs were already tired!

However, feeling that I still had something left in me to wrap up the planned 30 total miles for the day, I headed home after B&G for a pit stop, whipped up a smoothie (and downed it), and headed back to the streets (Map on the left). 2 hours, 11 minutes later, I had completed 25 miles and called it a day. And what a beautiful day it was! As tired as I am right now, I enjoyed every last second of sunshine, wind, scenery, exploring new neighborhoods, and kicking my butt! :D

I've planned to meet up with Bulls-eye Bike Club at 7am tomorrow for a 5 hour, many mile ride. See you after!

Session 2 - Week 6

Week 6 of Session 2 now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday May 12th - Rest, sleep, fluids, & good nutrition. Happy Mothers' Day to all the Mothers out there. My son called to wish me a happy day and to plan our visit in July when I head for home. :D

Monday May 13th - A day of rest.

Tuesday May 14th - TRX Suspension training. Plenty of leg work in this session. It has been immensely helpful in getting me ready for the Ride. This evening's class was 40 seconds work with 10 second breaks. Mixing it up and making ourselves WORK! Do a set of tricep presses and then, take a step back and make it harder.

Wednesday May 15th -An evening hike at Chickakoo Lake! 1 hour of hiking the Advanced/Intermediate trails with Miss Ashley "Crunchy Frogs", Ghiry, and Zoie! It was a beautiful evening and the trail was challenging. :D

Thursday May 16th - TRX Suspension training - Tabata style! 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, 8 sets of each exercise, repeat!

Friday May 17th - An evening off!

Saturday May 18th - A BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC ride! :D Started the day off at 8am with a 2 hour, 20 mile ride followed by an hour of Butt & Gutt, and topped off with another 2+ hour, 25 mile ride. 45 miles on the day and scheduled to ride again in the AM for my first back to back long ride days.. wish me luck!