Livestrong

About a month ago I was interviewed by some awesome folks at Livestrong about my upcoming bike ride in Durango, CO. I answered some questions and while it wasn't a guarantee that those answers would be published, today I was excited to see that I was featured on the site. If you go to the Livestrong page and click blog you will see my interview with them!

Or you can click here: Livestrong.org

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Mother-in-law and Grandma!

Thanks for teaching me kindness and patience (and maybe a little turning and walking away) when it comes to raising my own kids. Thanks for always believing in me.

I love you.

And to all my friends who are Moms... may today be filled with sleep past 7:00 am, enjoying an entire cup of coffee before it turns cold, not having to plan dinner, and one nice hot uninterrupted shower.

To Pee or Not to Pee?

Warning....TMI post

One of the thoughts that has been keeping me up at night is what am I going to do if I have to go pee at some point during these next two races?

The Iron Horse ride will take me about 4 hours (I think). I know I will be drinking a lot of fluids and what if I have to "go"? Will there be porta-potties along the route? I am pretty sure I will be riding along the side of a cliff so it's not like I can run and hide in the bushes.

For the Half Ironman I am guessing my race time will be about 7 hours. I can't hold my pee for 7 hours. I have heard people say you can just pee on the bike but yuck my water bottles are right below me! I know the pros pee on the bike but I am no pro and I think I would just die if someone saw me peeing all over myself.

Any advice from some experienced triathletes who have done longer distance races? You can comment anonymously, I understand.

Umm... yeah I am pretty sure this isn't one of the shirts I will be buying at the Race Expo.

Livestrong Iron Horse Bicycle Classic

The countdown is on for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Livestrong ride! My bib packet arrived in the mail yesterday and it's seems so real now. Just 20 days to go. I am excited but yet very nervous. It seems like the majority of the people I describe the ride to, respond with the comment: "Oh yes I know those mountain passes but wait you are going to ride your BIKE up them?" NOT HELPING PEOPLE...NOT HELPING!

I am very grateful for my friends, family, Twitter strangers, on-line fitness groups, and former co-workers who have pitched in to help me raise money for this ride. To date I have raised $1365.00. It really means a lot to know I have that kind of support behind me. And speaking of that, anyone want to come run behind me and push my bike up the passes?

The training has been going well. I am trying to get in several long rides a week. So far my longest ride has been around 35 miles. Yes it's not 50 but on both those rides I was able to get off the bike a run immediately after so I am basing it on the fact that I will have enough energy to make it the entire distance. I have also been practicing hills. I am slow at the hills but am lucky that we have some serious hills around here to climb (our street being one of them).

I purchased and was fitted for a new saddle on my bike several months ago and invested in a really good pair of bike shorts. So far it's made a huge difference in my comfort level.

I am guessing the ride will take me about 4 hours. That's a lot of time to myself. I know I will be thinking of some special people on this ride. One of them being Dina (who is no longer with us) and her sweet little girls. I know there will be times that I will probably want to give up and point my bike back down the hill, but I have to remember that she never gave up. In fact her expression she often used was "Game ON!"

So here we go Durango to Silverton:

GAME ON!

If you would still like to donate to the Livestrong Foundation you can find my link here:  Amanda's Livestrong Page

Whiskey Offroad Bike Race

This was a big event for our little town. Last year I blogged about it on my Luna page here.

Once again this was an event our family was not going to miss. This year was special as both Paul was racing and Tyler wanted to race the kids race.

The weekend starts off with the Pros racing up and around The Square to secure a spot in the starting line. This is called the Crit and if you blink you miss these guys and gals go by!

After the Crit the kids had a chance to go over and say hi to a Luna Pro Chix teammate. They enjoyed chatting it up with Georgia Gould (who won the Bronze this past summer in the Olympics). T busted out the phone so he could show off a couple pictures of him catching some sweet air on his bike. I think he thought he could take her on-medal and all!

The next day was P's race. His race was 30 miles with lots and lots of climbing. It took him around 4 hours. The race seemed to grow in popularity this year so that meant many more riders and unfortunately for him there was quite a bit of waiting around especially on the steep narrow sections where so people had to get off their bikes and walk. He had a great cheering section waiting for him when he arrived closer to the finish-line.

courtesy of EpicRides.com

The next morning it was T's turn to race. I think he was excited (it's so hard to tell with him). He lined up ready to ride alongside Dad. Off they went while D and I waited. As we walked over to meet him at the end of the race I could tell something was wrong and that he was hurt. His poor little face was all beat up. P said he lost control at one point and flew off the bike. His head smacked the concrete so hard that he cracked open his helmet. He is ok but pretty badly beat up in his face, arms and legs. He has got some serious bragging rights today at school, though! He was shaken up and I hope this will not discourage him from riding again. We are heading out today to let him go pick out a new helmet. Thankfully he was wearing his helmet (well not an option in our house) and that he was wearing it properly. 

 Despite the bad crash, he still got his medal!

Later that afternoon we finished off the weekend buy watching the Pros race the 50 miler at a secret- not so secret location. I guess word got out that this was the spot to catch the riders as they crossed the rocky creek. You can tell how popular this spot was from this video:

What an awesome weekend. I couldn't be more proud to live in this town. I can't tell you how many times I heard strangers say: "Wow this is such a cool town, I wish I lived up here!"

I am also so proud of hubby. This was a tough race and I know he felt like he could have done better but to us he did the BEST! 

More Whiskey Offroad photos can be found here.

Now, who wants to come out next year to do this race?

KT Tape Giveaway

Have you heard about KT Tape? Or have you seen that crazy colored tape on runners legs and thought: "What is that?"

According to KT's website it works like this:
KT Tape is applied along muscles, ligaments, and tendons (soft tissue) to provide a lightweight, strong, external support that helps to prevent injury and speed recovery. KT Tape works differently for different injuries. KT Tape can lift and support the knee cap, holding it in place for Runner’s Knee. KT Tape can support sagging muscles along the arch of the foot, relieving the connective tissues for Plantar’s Fasciitis. And KT Tape can lift the stress off of shin splints to allow pain release and give the body a better opportunity to recover. Depending on how it is applied, KT Tape supports, enables, or restricts soft tissue and its movement. By stretching and recoiling like a rubber band, KT Tape augments tissue function and distributes loads away from inflamed or damaged muscles and tendons, thereby protecting tissues from further injury.
By applying KT Tape over affected tissue, athletes experience an external support which helps to prevent further injury and allows the body’s damaged tissue to rest and heal naturally despite continued activity. KT Tape also reduces inflammation and increases circulation which prevents muscle cramping and lactic acid buildup.

Do I use it?
I sure do! And I love it. Prior to using KT Tape I would get horrible painful blisters on the side of my foot after running, where my bunions are. Yes I have bunions. That is what I get for years of wearing cute pointy high heeled shoes in the corporate world! So I started using the tape and I now I am able to run longer distances, pain free and no blisters. It is also nice that it stays on in the water so no need to waste precious transition time in a triathlon, applying it.  I haven't tried the tape on any injuries because (knock on wood) I have been injury-free. But I know many triathletes that swear by this stuff. 

What I like about the KT Tape website is that they have many videos on how to properly apply the tape based on what area to treat. You can find those videos here.

Do you want to try it?
KT Tape has generously given me 3 sets of the regular tape in either lime, blue, black, pink, beige, navy, purple or red to giveaway to 3 lucky winners. Follow the prompts below to win! You have several chances to win. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The opinions are my own. I received the products/samples for free and was not compensated for the review.