My Newest Quest: 100 Day Challenge

It's almost the end of January.  I'm not one to make New Years resolutions.  I do look to set goals for the up coming year.  Is there a difference?  I think so.  Most New Years resolutions go something like this;

"I resolve to go to the gym x days a week."

"I resolve to lose x number of pounds by December 31st."

"I resolve to stop doing __________. (pick your own vice)"

These are admirable things to aim for, but as soon one doesn't go to the gym x times a week, doesn't lose weight at the rate wanted, or starts doing _____ again she feels like a failure.  That usually leads to beating up on one's self and just throwing in the towel.

I have two very concrete goals for myself in terms of my sporting life.

1. Get my second degree Black Belt.
2. Do a triathlon again. (sprint or Olympic)

All of this being said, I've decided to accept John "The Penguin" Bingham's 100 day challenge.  The basic premise is this; "You can be a part of it. The rules are simple. Choose to move, intentionally, for 30 minutes every day for the first 100 days of 2012. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it ON PURPOSE."

Why do I need to do this? After all I've trained for triathlons, marathons, bike races, centuries, Tae Kwon Do, etc.  Don't I already do enough? Yes and no.  I can do plenty when I have people to ride with and Tae Kwon Do classes to attend.  It's those days when it's too cold to ride outdoors, or I can't make it to Tae Kwon Do.  Can I get myself out the door to take a walk or a run in the cold?  If it's too miserable outside can I get myself to do a little strength training, Tae Kwon Do practice, or *gasp* set up the wind trainer and ride indoors?

I admit it. I am lazy and I hate doing things by myself.  It's hard for me to drag my lazy butt out the door to go run, bike or walk by myself.  I want someone to talk to while I'm doing these things.  Sometimes I think I just workout for the social aspect of it.  It's probably a carryover from my youth where sports were my in with the cool kids.  Would I be so devoted to exercise if I never could do it with anyone?  I'm not so sure.  There were  many times where I couldn't bike because I was injured.  Instead of finding an alternative, I would just eat my way through my pity party.  The idea of taking a walk by myself to keep some level of fitness was not on my radar.

I know that exercise is important both physically and emotionally.  As someone who is closer to 60 then 50 I recognize the need to keep moving.  Last year a friend had recommended reading "Younger Next Year" There's woman specific version of the book.  It's an interesting book.  Basically the authors are saying exercise 6 days a week to help turn back the clock.  I'm sure not everyone agrees with their advice, but I think the overall premise is sound.  For me the 100 Day Challenge is to encourage me to keep moving even when I have no one to keep me company.  Though in some ways I do have company.  There's a Facebook page where everyone is sharing what they're doing each day.  Also I have friends who are also doing it.

My original intent was to write this post on January 1st.  Then share  how I'm doing with the challenge. Okay I'm 25 days late.  Being the procrastinator I am, that should be no surprise.  Better late, then never.  Obviously since I went to the trouble to write this post, I'm still on track.  Tae Kwon Do classes, Gimbels and unemployment rides have filled up many of these January days so far.  However I managed to get my 30 minutes in despite traveling for a chess tournament and dealing with very cold weather. 

Day 26 awaits!!

One Year Later.....I'm melting!

It's a year to the day that I last wrote on this blog.  I was in a frenzy trying to figure out what clothes I could take with me to Korea that were going to fit.  I was totally frustrated by an agonizingly slow rate of weight loss.  I was totally convinced that trying to lose any significant amount of weight as a woman in her mid-50s was impossible.  Guess what? I was totally wrong on that count.

A lot has happened since I last wrote here.  I suppose nobody out there necessarily knows or cares.  When one writes a blog entry once a year, the chances that anyone is still following are slim and none. It said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  So I figure this series of before and after pictures will tell my story better then I can.  Each set of pictures are taken approximately 1 year apart.  Each set marks the before and after of different areas of my life

Christmas

My sisters and I are very close.  We always spend Christmas together at my sister Anne's house.  It's a wonderful time of family being together with a lot of good food and drink.  It's three days of eating, drinking and being merry.  Christmas 2009 ended out being a very stressful event having fallen down the steps and breaking my ankle less then a week before.  Would I be able to manage a car ride to up state New York?  Come hell or high water I was going to make that trip.  No way I was spending Christmas at home.  Could I make my chocolate chunk cookies for my sisters, while dealing with a leg that I could put no weight on for two weeks?  The answer to those questions was yes.

Christmas Eve, 2009

Christmas 2010 was a whole lot easier.  With all the food and drink related activities it's not the time to be counting calories and obsessing about being perfectly on program.  I did not obsess, but I was mindful of how much I ate or drank at any particular meal.  The new me realizes she has to make choices.  Is it a slice of pecan pie or another one of my decadent chocolate chip cookies? No brainer. The cookies win out every time.

 Christmas Eve, 2010
Floyd and I together weigh less then I did a year ago.
(No; Floyd is not my dog.)

Tae Kwon Do has become a big part of my life style change. In 2007 when I was looking for something I could do in the winter that did not involve mind numbing laps in the pool, or trips to the gym. Tae Kwon Do filled the bill quite nicely.  It was something completely different and involved using my mind and body in a whole new way.  I thought it would be something I'd do for the workout and discipline, but not worry about belt promotions.  I should have known better.

The Tae Kwon Do dobak (uniform) is baggy and not the most flattering article of clothing.  "Does this outfit make me look fat?" Yes it does.  It was looking in the mirror and seeing the rolls of belly fat hanging over my uniform pants that motivated me to do something about it.  I wanted to get back to "fighting weight" by the time I tested for Black Belt in November 2010. My definition of "fighting weight" was my WW goal weight of 130.

May 17th, 2010

The above picture was taken at our retreat where the Black Belt test was taking place.  That was the Black Belt test I was originally scheduled to do.  Broken bones happen, so that was not my test.  Though it might as well been, since I did all the same stuff at the retreat that the testing candidates did.  I looked at it as a dress rehearsal for when my time would come in November.

My Black Belt test was Saturday November 20th, 2010.  On Friday November 19th I weighed in at my Weight Watchers meeting and tipped the scales at 127 pounds.  "Fighting weight" and then some.  It was few weeks later that the new Points Plus program came out.  35 daily points for maintenance, and another 49 weekly allowance points??  What? Were they kidding?

 May 19th, 2011

To go from First Degree Black Belt to Second Degree Black Belt there are 8 intermediate tests to be done.  Each test involves performing one or two new forms that have been learned since the previous test, and being prepared to do any form that one has learned as a color belt.  The above picture was taken after my second test. "Does this outfit make me look fat?"  No.  That because 28 pounds went away between pictures.

June 28, 2010

If you go back and reads old posts from this blog you will realize that at one point I was a serious cyclist and triathlete.  Sometimes priorities and interests change.  In April 2010 I had completed my physical therapy and started back on the road to Black Belt.  I think having had my share of mishaps on the bike I decided not to make much of an effort to become a cyclist who could go hammer with the guys.  I also wasn't convinced I would ever get back into the kind of shape I was in during 2003 - 2005.  Cycling last year consisted of an occasional ride on the Bronx River Parkway during Bicycle Sundays, or showing up at the tail end of the unemployment ride and coming back with the group. I thought 56 was too old to make yet another comeback after a setback like my broken ankle.

June 30, 2011

I was wrong about being too old to make a comeback.  I wasn't too old. I was just too overweight.  It's a lot easier getting back into cycling condition when one is not carrying around so much weight.  I started out slowly with short rides and meeting people at the end of rides.  A few weeks ago I decided I would just go up Central Avenue with the Gimbels ride and then head south once I got to North White Plains.  I got to North White Plains and decided "What the heck.  Let me see if I can make it to Otto's route.  The worst that will happen is I'll get dropped.  Then I'll go down Lake St."  I didn't get dropped so I just said "Screw it.  I'm finishing the ride."  Never mind it was going to be close to 10 miles longer then my previous long ride of the season.

Sometimes I just lose patience with easing back into things.  Here it is 3 weeks later and I've had put in 180+ miles for the week.  So much for the 10% rule.  I went from 30 miles a week to 75 to 180.  Do as I say, not as I do.  If you asked me how to get back into training form I'd tell you to take it slowly and ease back into the weekly mileage.  So much for my doing that.

One of the problems with bumping up my activity like that is not adjusting my food intake accordingly.  This weeks weigh in I was down another 1.8 pounds.  I don't want lose anymore weight.  I've been holding steady since March once I figured out how much I could eat, and what amount of weight was reasonably maintainable.  Now I've got to play around with my points again, and 

Here it is almost a year later and I'm getting ready to go on another trip.  Once again I'm dealing with my damn clothes don't fit.  However this time I'm coming across things that are too big. What a difference a year makes.

Hopefully I'll come back here more then once a year.  I'm not aiming to become the crazed triathlete I once was.  I'm running a little bit, but only 30-40 minutes.  I'm slow as crap.  I'm not sure I'm ready to do triathlons running 12 minute miles.  I was kind of hoping that wasn't going to happen until I hit my mid 60s.  I would like to perhaps do a low key sprint race somewhere before the end of the season, but it won't make or break me if I don't.

+0.4 and none of my damn clothes fit!!

I tracked everything, exercised a lot, but....gained .4.  It's kind of frustrating when that happens.  Today I actually got up early and rode up Central Avenue with the group instead meeting them at the tail end of the ride.  I saw a number of people who I had not seen in awhile.  One woman said she hadn't seen me in a long time.  I told her I hadn't been doing much riding.  Her response was "I know. You've put all the weight back on."  Ouch, that was a kick in the proverbial balls.  I haven't put it all back on.  I managed to stay under 150, but I'm well over what I want to be.

The good things about this week: I rode my bike Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I did Tae Kwon Do on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  Friday was the first meeting for bodan review class.  All talking and no doing.

The bad thing about this week: Not losing anything, and to make it worse gaining.  I guess I may have to horde my weekly allowance points, and not use so many every day.

Tuesday I leave for Korea.  I started packing today.  I couldn't find this one pair of capri pants that I was looking for, so I kept digging out others.  None of them fit.  Some I could get zipped and buttoned, but they were way too uncomfortable.  Others I couldn't even zip up.  It's really frustrating to have tons of clothes, and most of them don't fit.  I was even having trouble with some shirts that I bought two years ago.  Damn boobs have gotten too big, so the shirts don't fit well either.  I refuse to buy anything else.  I just will make do with what does fit. 

I did finally find the pants I was looking for.  They were stashed away in some bin that I had not looked in before.  I find it kind of embarrassing that I have so many clothes that I have to keep some of them in bins stashed in corners or under the bed.  But what makes it worse is so little of them fit right now.  I don't even know what to get rid of until I lose enough weight to figure out what will really fit.  I'm afraid the size 4 pants may never fit again, but I'd like to at least get into the 6s.

How will I fare with my weight on this vacation? Unclear.  Korean food is not my favorite cuisine.  On my last trip there were times when it was challenging to find something I liked besides rice.  However I can only take so much white rice before my insides are screaming for fiber.  Brown rice does not seem to exist there. Kimchi is most prevalent there.  I tried it, but too bitter or spicy.

 Jeonju Bipimbap - Traditional Korean meal

Wonderful vegetarian restaurant we went to.

It was hard to believe that some of the tofu items weren't really meat.

I finally got some broccoli!

Hopefully I can get through this trip without doing too much damage to the waistline. 

Alive and Kicking - Update

The weight loss journey has taken off in fits and sputters.  I'm like a car that needs a tune up before going a long road trip.  The short trips have had a few glitches in them.  Week 2 I had lost the big walloping .4 lbs.  Yes that's a decimal place in front of the 4.  That was despite being really good about tracking what I ate.   I think perhaps I need to fine tune exactly how many of my WA points  I use.  In the past I've tried to hardly use any of them, but then I'm eating in a manner that's unsustainable.  This time I decided I would use them, but I had to tweak things a bit.

 I attend meetings on Friday mornings.  I like this one particular leader and Friday morning is a convenient time to catch one of her meetings.  I was a little bummed by the minuscule weight loss, but I couldn't dwell on it because that weekend was our Tae Kwon Do school's black belt testing weekend.  Even though I wasn't testing for black belt, I still had my Bodan Keup 2 test to do.  Besides it was going to be a great weekend of training and testing.

I got through the weekend without too many food mishaps.  I tried to make good food choices as much as possible.  However the training and testing sessions were long and intense so I didn't feel bad about the piece of cake with Saturday night's dinner.  Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend.

Working on my side kick.

I'm standing on the bad leg!

Board breaking with my hand.

Graduation Day!

Me, Marguerite & Susan

Marguerite and I spent many hours training together last Fall getting ready for this big day.  However a trip down the front steps caused me to take a detour so my big day will come in November.  It was a great weekend, and gave me a chance to see what I'm going to have to do in the Fall.

Week 3 I was down 1.2 pounds so that was encouraging.  However 10 days of vacation wiped out that loss, and by the time I came back I was up 1.8 pounds.  After a few weeks of fiddling around, I got myself back on eTools and tracking again.  Last Friday I was down 3 pounds.  Hurray!

The other piece to this weight loss journey is making friends with my bike again.  I'm not ready to go hammer out those 50 mile rides of 4 years ago.  I'm going out 3 days a week and have gotten up to a longest ride of 23 miles.  The rides aren't very fast, but I'm doing them.  It's hard to get excited about riding without having some sort of competitive goal.  At the moment I have no interest in even trying to run again.  I don't know if I had someone to do it with whether that would help or not.  It probably would.  I don't enjoy training on my own.  I like being with people.  My rides coincide with meeting up with my old group for the last part of the ride when the pace has slowed down.

My club uniform is fitting a little tight at the moment.  My gut is sticking out, and I got those jelly rolls on the sides.  Sometimes I feel as though losing the weight isn't going to make them go away.  However if I can get rid of these 12 pounds it should help.  Maybe I need a "gut-be-gone" machine. 

Getting the Black Belt Express Back on Track (knock on wood)

In September I wrote a post about my so called wake up call.  I had great intentions of getting back into some kind of cycling shape, and trying to even start running again, albeit very slowly.  I had just taken my first Bodan test for 3 Keup on September 22nd.  This was the first step on the journey to black belt which was supposed to culminate in next weekend's retreat and testing.  Part of my preparation for becoming a black belt would be to lose weight and get my endurance back.

In that post I wrote about Tae Kwon Do and how far I had come from my very rocky beginnings.  I ended the paragraph with the following; "Now I am just below black belt, and barring horrendous injury, I will attain that rank next June."  I hadn't given much thought to that sentence.  In fact I had forgotten that I had even written it until looking at the post yesterday.  How prophetic that line ended out being.  I didn't really think anything would happen.   I do get concerned at times about my cranky knees, but I try to listen to my body and not overdo things.  I've made adjustments in certain things I do at Tae Kwon Do to accommodate the knees.

Unfortunately I had a moment of not being able to talk and walk down stairs at the same time.  December 19th I took a fall that would change my entire winter.   Goodbye mandatory Friday night Bodan review classes.  Hello crutches, wheelchair rides, and temporary handicap parking permits.  This was not exactly what I had in mind for Christmas. I didn't expect to be spending the day before Christmas having John pushing me in a wheelchair around a museum in Albany.


So much for our post Christmas trip to Chicago.  There was no way I was getting on an airplane unable to put any weight on my left leg.  The one bright spot in having to cancel our flights was not having to deal with airport security the day after the underwear bomber try to blow up a plane on Christmas day.

One would think having chess to fall back on would help keep me occupied in my temporary disabled state. However I quickly learned that one can't take the simple things for granted.  No longer could I simply get on a train to go play chess in New York City.  I needed someone to take me there.

I was hoping I'd be out of the cast by the time I went to Bermuda.  That did not happen.  February ocean swimming in Bermuda got replaced by wrapping my cast in a garbage bag and wading in up to my ankles. At least I got to make the trip.  If you're wondering; being on an airplane in a cast sucks. The usual swelling that occurs on a flight is more noticeable when one has a leg wrapped in a fiberglass cast that doesn't give.

I did go do an occasional Tae Kwon Do class, cast and all.  The masters helped me modify the workout in such a way that I could participate in class.  Kicking drills I would do sitting or kneeling on the mat.  I practiced my poomses without the kicks.  At least this way I was able to retain the steps.

Fast forward to March when my physical therapy began.  I like to work with physical therapists who understand what I'm trying to do and where I want to go.  So who better to help a martial artist then a physical therapist who is third degree degree black belt?  She gave me a rehab program that focused on balance, coordination and building strength in my calves.   These were all things that would help get me back to my old routine.

The interesting thing that has occurred is my balance is better then it was before the accident.  I figured it would take a few months before I would be ready to test for my Bodan 2 Keup test.  I was very surprised when Master Kim told me I would test this month.  I'm debating as to whether I want to test at the retreat or on the regular test day.  They are having color belt and tape tests at the retreat along with the black belt test.  I have mixed feelings about doing it at the retreat.  It would be rather bittersweet considering that I was supposed to be testing for black belt next weekend.  On the other hand it would be nice to show everyone that I'm back. 

Come the fall hopefully there will be a black belt with my name on it. However it's going to be a leaner and stronger woman standing before Grandmaster Kim to receive her belt.  I've returned to Weight Watchers.  I went to my first meeting on Friday.  It's the first time I've been back since 2008.  I've had a lot of success with the program when I've been faithful about tracking what I'm eating and going to meetings.  When I try to wing it, it just doesn't work.  I need the structure of paying close attention to what and how much I'm eating. I signed up for the monthly pass which includes e-tools.  This way I can track everything online.  The computer geek in me likes the bells and whistles of electronic tracking.

The other step to becoming more fit is getting back on my bicycle.  In this past week I've gotten out and met some of guys to catch the last part of the unemployment ride.  I will gradually increase the length of my ride with them until I reach the point that I can do the ride from start to finish.  In this picture I'm standing with three of the most remarkable guys I know, John, Otto and Denis.  Otto is in his 70s. John and Denis in their 60s. 

All three of them have had their share of cycling accidents, broken bones, and other assorted mishaps, but they just keep coming back for more. Unlike me who wimps out when the weather gets cold, they're out riding through the winter.  I'm not ever sure I'll stop being a weather wimp, but I want to be riding in my 60s, 70s and beyond.

This is the start.  Will I become a triathlete again?  I don't know the answer to that one yet.  I'm starting with the bike.  I'll see if I can actually start to run again.  I have many things going on, and I need to ease back into this carefully so that I don't hurt myself.

Wake Up Call!

I had my annual physical on Monday, and the came back on Friday to discuss the results. The cholesterol numbers were rather ugly. Cholesterol is a hereditary factor in my family. My father's was bad. My two older sisters deal with it. Over the years I've managed to keep mine down with the amount of endurance training I had done for triathlons. These last few years my endurance athlete lifestyle has been non-existent. My feeble effort at this year's St. Anthony's triathlon was an exercise in going through the motions. A canceled swim was probably the only thing that save me from a DNF. My "race" report can be found here.

Winter was a miserable son of a bitch, and left me totally unmotivated to do much of anything except work on Tae Kwon Do. That has been a very positive thing for me in terms focus, concentration and coordination. I've come a long way since my first class when I swore I had 3 left feet, and couldn't even get past the first two movements of a beginner routine that most people learn in the first 15 minutes of their first class. Now I am just below black belt, and barring horrendous injury, I will attain that rank next June.

This past June I competed in the ATU National Championships and won my division, Red Belt 50+ Female. However not many women start doing Tae Kwon Do in their 50s so my competition was me, myself and I. I showed up, my competition didn't.

National Champion?!

There is a serious flaw in my Tae Kwon Do training in that I don't have the sustained aerobic workout I would get from swimming, biking and running. It's been hard for me to get excited about doing an of those three sports without specific races and goals in mind. After having a long string of successes from 2002 to 2005 I got kind of spoiled. 2005 also burned me out with all the racing and traveling.

Getting back to Friday's discussion with my doctor, his prescription; get back to doing the three sports. Biking and swimming won't be that hard for me. Running is a different story. I have to start all over again. I pulled out a beginner program, and that's what I'm going to follow.

Today was the Westchester Triathlon. My race. I worked as course marshal on the bike course. The weather sucked. It was raining, and the section of road that I was covering had a bunch of metal plates in one part and two nasty potholes. It's not a closed course but the auxiliary cop at my intersection did a good job with all the impatient drivers who had to wait for hoards of cyclists coming through. Most of the amateur racers totally ignored the yellow line rule and went outside to avoid riding over the plates. Not that I blame them, I probably would have done the same thing. The pros took the plates carefully.

As I stood out there in the raining pointing out hazards and cheering for the racers, I thought to myself "I'm so glad I'm not out here in this crap." I felt really sorry for the poor newbies doing their first triathlon. Shortly after the last two cyclists passed by I went back to my car to head back home. I caught up eventually with the sweep car and cop car tailing the last racer. I don't think we were going much more then 5 miles an hour up that hill. That's not even the hardest climb in the race. That comes later. I hope she made it through the race okay.

It's time for me to start thinking like a triathlete again. I have to get over myself in terms of what I used to be able to do. The 55 year old me is slower and heavier then the 51 year old pictured below.



Maybe I can see that weight again, but I think my days of 8:45 miles are behind me. I may have to outlast my fellow baby boomers to have a chance in my age group again. Hopefully in the mean time I can stand myself. I am finding inspiration from a wonderful young woman who calls herself The Unlikely Triathlete. She working on losing weight, and using triathlon as a tool in that journey. I've got three months to clean up my diet, and get my act together. I don't want to go on meds for my cholesterol.

I'm Alive!

I went out on my bike for the first time in ages. I only did 10 miles, but it's a start. Last November stupid me decided I would use my St. A's deferral and enter this years race. I was hoping it would motivate me to train through the winter. It didn't. I spent the winter advancing several belt levels in Tae Kwon Do. I'm now a brown belt. 7 down, 3 to go. I'm hoping I can make red in April.

Back to triathlon. I turn 55 in April. Several years ago I was looking forward to aging up, and kicking butt in a new age group. Now I don't give a crap. I'm going to suck as bad as a 55 year old as I did when I did my last race two years ago. I can probably get my cycling back to something respectable, and even swimming may come back. Running is a whole different story. My aborted attempt at making a running come back last winter left me with the realization that I'm probably going to be a walker for the rest of my life. If I do some how get running again, I'll be lucky if I break an 11:00 minute mile. Gone are the days when I could hold off the competition by staggering through the run at an 8:45 pace.

We'll see doing St. A's reignites the triathlon flame. If it doesn't perhaps I will have to change this blog to Alive and Kicking, and write about my journey to Black Belt.

Alive and Kicking!

Saint Anthony's Triathlon starts in less then 7 hours, and I'm not there. I was supposed to be. A lot happened between December 1, 2007 and April 27, 2008. Also a lot didn't happen between those dates. The things that didn't happen were miles on the bike, and yards in the pool. The miles on foot were an poorly executed attempt at going from a 6:27 marathon walker to a 5:00 marathon runner. What ever possessed me to try something like that in the dead of winter? Because I entered a raffle at the NYC Marathon Expo and won a trip to the Seville Marathon. Unfortunately the Seville Marathon had a 5 hour cut off. Okay so I didn't finish the race. I did 10K and called it a day. I had one heck of a good time in Spain for a week. While New York was getting it's biggest snowfall of the year, I was wandering around Seville with no jacket on.

What I learned in this exercise in futility was that I'm not going to ever be the runner that I once was. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to run 10K without walking a few minutes every mile. At the moment I can live with that. I just didn't feel like spending a lot of money to fly down to Florida to do a triathlon that I was going to be less prepared for then I was last year when I strolled through the race in a very pedestrian 3:27. Last year I was there with Team in Training and I had a blast. This year they didn't need me as a mentor so I would have been there on my own.

I spent this past winter learning a new sport. I'm taking Tae Kwon Do. On Thursday I passed my Yellow Belt test. TDK is challenging for me. Left and right don't come easy for me, and the movements in this sport don't relate to any other sport I've done in the last 25 years. At times it's been frustrating and I feel like a total spazz, but then there are moments where things finally fall into place and I'm right on target. During the sparring portion of the test I did manage to land a few good kicks. Here I'm spot on. My technique still needs a lot of work.

My next belt is orange. I'd love to be able to do it in a month, but we will see how I do with the new forms for that level. KIHOP!!

In the meantime the weather has started warming up, and I'm getting a few miles on the bike. The good news is I'm only a few pounds over goal weight. Those two to four pounds will go soon I'm sure.

Free Meeting!!!

Finally got back to goal weight, so I didn't have to pay. It's been slow taking the weight off this time. Though I have some interesting observations.

1. The weight seems to have come off in different spots then in the past.

2. Some of my skinny clothes still don't fit.

I'm not sure whether I want to try to get down enough to fit into the skinny clothes, though I'd like to fit into the Tommy Bahama capris. Those were too damn expensive!

I will probably maintain current points level for the time being. I wouldn't mind losing a few more pounds before I leave for vacation since I know I will eat more then normal. I certainly will be drinking more wine then normal. Can't help to do that when in wine country.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last year at this time I still feeling the affects of three slow to heal broken ribs and the immense sorrow of losing my dad suddenly. These two events had made it very challenging to train to walk the Nike Women's Marathon for Team in Training. There had been some weeks where my training for the week simply consisted of showing up for the long group walks. Mentally it was hard to get myself out the door to go for a walk. However 2006 was the year I wanted to finally add the marathon piece to my Team in Training resume, and complete the Triple Crown. So come hell or high water, I was doing a marathon!

The long walks were difficult at times. I was slower then the other women doing Nike, so often I would have nobody to walk with until I'd regroup with one of the coaches for the second part of the walk. Thank goodness for my iPod. Music helped keep me sane on the lonely walks. The other issue was I had trouble with my feet. I had an annoying pain on the outside of the right foot, and lingering plantar fasciitis in my left foot. There were the annoying shin splints that made it hard to run earlier in the year, when i was trying to tri.

The day before my 20 miler I walked into Jack Rabbit Sports in NYC, had them look at me on the treadmill, and switched to a completely different shoe. I was so desperate that I made this huge change, and then went out and walked 20 miles the next day. That's about as close as one can get to breaking the cardinal rule of nothing new on race day. But then again, I don't always follow the sanest path. Fortunately my insane gamble worked, and the pain in my feet was easing.

Now it's almost year since doing Nike, and in less then a month I will be doing it again. I'm hoping to go faster this time. If my training walks are any indicator I should be able to easily beat last year's time. It's been interesting trying to balance cycling and walking. Last year I didn't have that issue. This year I've had to try not to over train. When you're walking 3 days and riding 3 days it's easy to go overboard. I was glad when the Empire State Games were over, because then I didn't have to fret over getting bike miles in.

Another thing that has helped this year is, I've lost most of the weight I'd put on last two years. Returning to Weight Watchers has helped a lot, even if they don't quite know what to do with people like me who can ring up 9 to 11 activity points in a day. (They suggest 4 activity points a day, 28 for the week.) It took awhile to get the metabolism going again. I was starting to think I'd never get back down to goal and would have to set an "old lady's" new goal. However patience paid off. 18.6 pounds down! 1.4 will put me back within 2 pounds of goal so I can stop paying!

I've had two good long walks so far, but I've had to do the last miles alone. Last weekend I did 15 miles. I had company for 10 and did the last 5 by myself. This weekend I again had company for 10, and had to do 7 by myself. The 17 miler ended the same way the 15 miler began last week. Walking in the rain! I think my last mile was the fastest because I was worried about my iPod and cell phone getting wet. I sure never had those issues 25 years ago when doing long runs in the rain.

Last week I picked my "Race Music" play list for my final 5 miles. It's got music that I've liked to listen to before races over the years. It's a mixed bag of rock, classical, new age, and jazz. It was what I was in the mood for last weekend. This weekend I was in the mood for something a little more spiritual so I opted for Handel's Messiah. How many people train to oratorio music? Actually I find Messiah very uplifting, and some of the choruses have good tempo for my walking pace. I could not have timed it better though. As I was completing my last mile the "Hallelujah" Chorus came on. "Hallelujah, Hallelujah! I did it, I did it!" I got through the 17 miles at a consistent 15 minute pace. (My apologies to Mr. Handel.)

Two more long walks to go. 14 miles next week, and then the big 20 the week after. Then the week after that John and I leave for a week's vacation in San Francisco and wine country.

Thanks to Volunteers!

Tonight there was a dinner for the cycling volunteers for the Empire State Games. I was invited even though I only helped a little at the criterium when my race was done. Though I guess volunteering to subject myself to four days of Open Division racing for the sake of having a Hudson Valley women's team was something.

It was nice to meet a number of the people who were out there each day making sure the riders were safe. I met the people who would blow a whistle when I came down the snaky descent on Cat Ridge Rd. This was their way of letting people down the hill know that riders were coming, or in my case most of the time, a rider was coming.

I was talking to one woman and we introduced ourselves. When I told her my name was Polly she said "Oh you're Polly on the Lightspeed. I was the one on the corner who was cheering for you, and you told me your name." I told how much I appreciated her cheering for me as I came by each time. It turns out she rides a Lightspeed too, so it was an easy way to spot me, and cheer. Thanks Mary for cheering me on in my lonely moments of riding OTB. (off the back)




I was not the only one at the dinner who had raced. I also got to meet Pat, who is 73 years old and did the time trial. In some ways she reminds me of Sister Madonna, the 74 year old triathlete who I want to be like when I'm in my 70s. Pat shared her story about Mark taking her out on the time trial course and building up from 4 miles to the complete 10. Her time was 32:43. My time was 28:32. 4 minutes seems like a lot of time, but considering the twenty year age difference and she just started doing time trials this year, I thought that was damn good. If I only 4 minutes of my time in 20 years I'll be thrilled. I've already lost well over 4 minutes on my 10K run time from 2003 to 2005. I don't even want to think about much more I will have lost when I start trying to run again in earnest.

Special thanks go to Mark Lalloo and Marlene Perez for gathering all these wonderful people to come help out. Without volunteers, races don't happen. So next time you're racing remember to say thanks. If you're not racing, then give something back by being a volunteer.

I guess I'm going to have to ride some extra miles tomorrow because the party ended with this:

Post ESG Thoughts and a Few Pictures

Today we did our Team in Training walk from Kensico Dam Park. It's funny, I've lived in this area for over 25 years, and this is the first time I've actually driven my car up here. A few times in the 80s when I ran marathons we would run from Eastchester to the dam and back for our 20 miler. I also did the first Danskin Women's triathlon in New York. It finished at the dam. I hadn't been back there until a few weeks ago when the Empire State Games opening ceremony took place there.

The Games had been pushed to the background as I became chess geek for a week, and I refocused on my walk training. However Hudson Valley's hometown massacre never quite goes away when you have guys like JP looking for women for 2008 already. I'm guilty of that too! I'm looking to retire from Open competition and go back to winning medals in Masters, so when I rode with Lynn on Sunday and Monday, I'm thinking "young fresh blood". When I mentioned racing at Empires in 2008 to Lynn she tells me JP said the exact same thing.

I got a "Certificate of Athletic Achievement" from the Westchester County Executive for participating in the Games. Woo hoo! If he only knew what I went through for four days. Maybe instead of mailing out certificates to all the participating athletes they could have taken the postage money and spent a couple more dollars on our uniforms. Sorry I'm being a little snarky, but geez the home team getting their butts kicked kinda sucked. As Mark aptly pointed out, our guys know the Bronx River Parkway, and how did Western come back from 5th place and win the team competition short two riders? *sigh*

Here are some pictures from our club time trial, and the "Tour de Torture" (ESG road race) taken by Jodee Novak. Great shots. I can't believe she took the road race shots from the top of Oak Brook Rd. I'm actually smiling in some of them.

USI Time Trial:
Oh crap this hurts!!!
































Empire State Games Road Race:
Are We having fun yet?

Learning the Ropes: Gimbels Ride for Newbies

For somebody doing their first Gimbels ride it can be a pretty intimidating experience. It becomes even more so if the person just moved here recently. The wonderful thing about USI is we really try to take care of newcomers. So even if one of the hammerheads brings someone new out for the ride he will make sure that someone from the club will look after that person. This past Sunday I was the go to gal to make sure the newbie didn't end out in Albany instead of New Rochelle. Since I was doing Otto's route I was a perfect candidate to show Lynn the ropes.

Lynn just moved out here from Michigan a few weeks ago. Like any cyclist moving into a new area she found herself a bike shop. Where there's a bike shop there is always a salesperson who can hook up the newcomer with all the group ride info. So why start small when you can do the infamous Gimbels ride? The ride was featured in the July issue of Bicycling as part of an article on 25 wildest group rides in America. Yep, it can be pretty wild, but Otto's route is the sanest of the three routes. It's where most all newbies begin their Gimbels career.

The trick to mastering this ride is knowing the roads, and knowing where people will attack, and where they ease up. Fortunately since the number 1 rule of Otto's route is Wait for Otto at the top of "American Can"* hill, it gives people on that route a chance to catch up. The other two routes have no rules. You get spit off the back, you're on your own. You better know where you're going or have a map handy.

*Different parts of the ride have names based on where they are, topography, or landmark. This hill is so named because it comes goes up past what used to be the corporate headquarters of American Can Corporation.

I've kept a number of newbies company in their inaugural Gimbels ride, and I tell every single one of them the same thing. "When we get stopped at a light in North White Plains roll up to the front." By moving up to the front one can avoid the chaos in the middle and back of the pack. Also if one doesn't climb so well, when we get to the "bridge hill" and start getting passed by people who can climb one won't be OTB (off the back). I learned early on that to have half a chance of surviving the ride you need to stay near the front. When you're doing Otto's route it's not as essential as when going regular or long.

If your idea of a huge group ride is 20 riders then Gimbels can be rather scary since on a nice summer's day the initial group can number close to 100 riders. That mass does divide up according to route and then sub-divides as people get spit off the back or break away off the front, but heading out of North White Plains on Rte 22 it's a mass of cyclists. The pace at that point is still such that most people can sit in comfortably, even those without the best of cycling skills. Since Rte 22 is not in the best of shape one has to be wary of potholes. The Gimbels veterans know where most of the potholes are so they know to stay left, right or center in certain spots. Despite holes being called out, there's always someone who ends out overreacting when trying to get around one of the craters. At times this causes one rider to bump another. Skilled pack riders are used to the jostling and bumping, but in a pack this large there are those who aren't so skilled. Sometimes a rider will panic when bumped, go down and take somebody with him.

I've been bumped and jostled a number of times over the years, but after an accident it can take time to get used to the pack again. July 4th was my first Gimbels ride since my accident last year. It was difficult psychologically riding up Rte 22 with all those people around me. There were times I thought I'd have a panic attack, but I just tried to keep smooth and avoid the holes. Even though I do more pack riding then the average triathlete, I still am more comfortable being in time trial mode. The combination of trying not to be in the thick of the pack, and making sure I won't get spit off the back I try to get to the front by North White Plains.

After the North White Plains train station we finally got stopped at a light so I told Lynn to move up to the front. We were able to stay up near the front heading out of North White Plains. One thing I had neglected to tell Lynn was to be in an easy gear after we crossed the reservoir and climbed the "bridge hill". She was having a bit of trouble getting out of the big ring to climb the hill. I was afraid I was going to lose her there, but she managed to recover and get back to me by the time we were heading down the other side. Lynn has an advantage in that she's young and fit. I'm two years older then her mother. Enough said.

After the bridge hill faux pas, I made sure I warned her about appropriate gear changes. The next necessary gear change is the climb up American Can hill. It doesn't matter how many times I climb that hill it never seems to get any easier. Though in comparison to "Tour de Torture" last month it's nothing. Fortunately we get a respite at the top waiting for Otto. Some people will roll easy down the other side and let the rest of the group overtake them. Lynn opted to do that.

My goal in cycling is to still be doing a ride like this when I'm in my 70s and have the "youngsters" in their 40s and 50s waiting for me. Some want to be like Mike. I want to be like Otto. Otto is 74, and still rides his bike 200 miles a week. He rides all winter. I'm a wimp in the winter. He also still rides pretty damn fast on the flats. I've watched him blow by younger riders to move up to the front where somebody will push him up a hill. My yardstick for seeing how I'm progressing fitness wise is Otto. When I can get up the hill ahead of him then I know I'm just about back in shape.

The next tricky part is what we refer to as the double whammy. It's two hills on Purchase Street. Neither of them are steep, but it's a spot where people like to attack and if you're not alert you'll get dropped. Otto's group doesn't attack, but I've gotten dropped there when I'm not fit. If you're not with the group when they crest the second hill you better hope they hit the red light at Anderson Hill Rd, otherwise they're gone. From the crest of that hill down into Rye it's pretty much all downhill. On the regular and long rides the pace is very intense. It's also where there tend to be accidents on the ride. I've seen some pretty scary accidents along that stretch of road. There's also a sprint that's contested before crossing over I-287. Most of the time with Otto's group nobody sprints. But Roberta took off so I decided to chase her down. Woo hoo! I "won" the sprint! Big whoop. Only means something when you're racing a bunch of people for the sprint on the other routes.

Though the part of the ride that scares me the most is going down Highland into Rye, and making the two right turns in the middle of town. With Otto's group it's not so bad. We take the two corners in a reasonable manner. In the larger groups you have hordes of riders weaving around cars and taking those corners going very fast. When I've been in my finest condition those two turns either make or break me. If I can get through them with the group I can hang on. If I'm gapped off, I have to bust my ass to try to get back on. If I'm having a good day I can get back on. If not, it's a lonely ride down to New Rochelle.

Even if I do get back on there's one more difficult spot. Again it's sort of nothing hill heading up to Rte 1. However somebody always attacks there, and if I've expended a lot of energy trying stay with the group through downtown Rye, it may be the proverbial straw. If I survive there then I'm not so concerned when the sprint occurs at the Rye/Mamaroneck border. After that it's an easy roll down to New Rochelle. Though when the weather is cold people race down to there to get the hot cup of coffee.

By coming with me on Otto's ride Lynn got to experience all these little topographical challenges without 50 testosterone fueled guys hammering through them all. For a newbie coming from the Midwest where there aren't so many cars and crazies on the road this ride can be unnerving to say the least. A few weeks on Otto's ride gets the Gimbels rookie used to the course. Lynn has youth and fitness going her way so it shouldn't be too many weeks before she's ready to have Tommy or JP take her on the regular ride. Mental fortitude will be the determining factor.

The regular ride has gotten much faster since I last did it, so I'm not sure I'll get back to that type of speed. Even if I do get back to that speed, I'm not sure I'll be able to hack the insanity. I think the older you get, the harder it is to come back psychologically after an accident. Also there are just too many stupid riders out there. We had two of them on Otto's ride. Neither of them can ride in a straight line. In a small group they're easier to deal with, but I couldn't believe it when one of them tried to move up by cutting through the group diagonally. I called him a f#$%ing moron. I don't do that very often, but when someone deserves it, I'll let them have it.

Racing By The Numbers

Doing the laundry yesterday I was removing my race numbers from my Hudson Valley jerseys. Looking at my assigned numbers I found a bit of irony in them. Seven is a holy number, so my friend Jeannie always tells me having a 7 in your race number will bring good things during your race. I didn't get injured or sick so that is a good thing. Number 72 was my number for the first three events. If you add 7+2 you get 9 which is the number of points I scored for the team on each of my DFL days.


This is my team time trial number. We were team number 13. Lucky number 13? I'm not superstitious. In fact I like the number 13. I wore it in high school at times. Though in this case I'm not sure being the first women's team sent out, only to be passed by 4 of the 5 following teams is considered being lucky.

I can play math games with this number too. 13-1=12 which is the number of points I scored for the team in the individual time trial.



With these kind of numbers it doesn't make me want to rush out and play the lottery.

Team Time Trial: The Last Shall Be First......

...to start.

I enjoy this event because I actually get to sit on a wheel, and be with someone. Since we're only a two woman team we have to stay together. Second rider across is the determining factor. It's not like 1992 when I was riding with two much stronger and younger women. Gretchen and Sherri took off after a few warm up rolls on my wheel. Though Janice is probably a stronger rider then me, we had similar times in the individual time trial, so we should not have trouble staying together.

Our only problem; barring a major miracle or massive mechanical failures from the other teams, we're coming in last. Even Long Island with their slow third rider (the one who saved me from the "last place grand slam" by finishing 16 seconds behind me in the individual time trial) can beat us. One of their riders who I've raced against before at previous Games said, "You're the only team we'll beat." In major league sports that would be serious "bulletin board material" to get a team pumped up for their opponents who would have the nerve to say such a thing. She wasn't be arrogant or nasty when she said it. She was just commenting on the chances of her team in this race. Unfortunately she was right, and all the motivation in the world could not change it.

The other aspect of this race of this race that I was looking forward to was the course itself. They were using the portion of the Bronx River Parkway that is closed for "Bicycle Sundays" in the spring and fall. I've ridden the route hundreds of times since 1983 when I first started riding a bike again. I have many fond memories of "Bicycle Sundays" over the years. John and I have met many good cycling friends out there, and before we started doing the Gimbels Ride we thought we were hot stuff. A group of us dubbed ourselves "The Bronx River Racers" because we could speed by all the casual weekend riders. After we took our lumps in our early attempts at the Gimbels Ride, we learned we weren't such hot stuff. Maybe being a "Bronx River Racer" wasn't something to be proud of.

I had not made it out for any "Bicycle Sundays" this past spring, but given my history with the road it would not be a problem. Between riding and driving that stretch for the last 24 years, to say that "she's familiar with the course" is an understatement. When I think back on my decision making regarding Open versus Masters, part of the draw to the Open was being able to do the Team Time Trial on the parkway.

Despite my detour to my house to pick up my orthotics, I had no problem making it up to White Plains via the parkway before they closed it to traffic. It gave me another chance to check up on the construction spots. Fortunately there's only one place where it goes to one lane. The police actually closed the parkway at 8:30. That allowed us to actually ride a part of the course for a warm up. Janice opted for the wind trainer. I stuck to my normal routine of riding on the road. After Thursday's little mishap, I'll pass on trainer warm ups.

The great thing about using this course is that it makes for long laps. So instead of having to do lots of laps of a short loop, the women had two laps and the men three laps of a 13.5 mile loop. This meant there would not be as much passing, and not trying to remember what lap we're on. It can get a little crazy out there when you have 18 teams going off at two minute intervals. Each team has it's own support car following behind, so between all the riders and their support cars it can't get a little hectic when one team overtakes another team.

Each region has two 5 man teams and one 3 woman team. The trick for the coaches is figuring out which riders they want on their A and B men's teams. In the men's race it's the third rider across that stops the clock. The coaches have to decide the right mix to maximize their chances. The riders have to agree on their strategy in terms the order of the riders, how long each rider will be at the front, and what to do if they lose certain riders to mechanical issues. So before the race starts the various teams are huddling to work out their strategy.

There wasn't anything deep or complicated about Hudson Valley's women's team strategy. Stay together, stay together, stay together, and don't drop each other was the game plan. We would figure out how long each of us would pull once we got a feel for each other out on the course. How's that for advance planning?

They send the teams out in reverse team standing order. So Hudson Valley's A Team was number one, followed by Western A, Long Island A, Central A, Adirondack A, and New York City A. Then the whole sequence would repeat again with the men's B teams going in that same order. Finally after the 12 men's teams go off, it's the women's teams turn. Once again Hudson Valley would lead off as team number 13. I thought that number was appropriate given all that we've dealt with. As were waiting behind the last few mens teams to go somebody made the observation that we look rather alone there, with just Janice and me. It's a contrast seeing a two women team standing on line behind several five man teams. It's sort of like looking at a grape sitting next to a apple. Both are fruit, but one is bigger then the other.

The other thing I like about a team trial is one foot is on the ground. No one is there to drop me! If I fall at the start, it's my own damn fault, and perhaps a sign from God that maybe I shouldn't be racing. So after the countdown from the official, and no signs from God, we were off. Janice took the first pull, and then I took us up the first hill out of White Plains. We didn't have a set time that each of us would spend at the front.

There were a couple of things I had to get used to as we took our first few turns in our pace line. One I had to make use of the curves in the road. When Janice was at the front she would cut a straight line which would mean she'd actually end out in the other lane. I'm so used to blindly following the road around the curves. She reminded me to cut the curves. The first time she did this I thought she was pulling off already.

The other thing I had to get used to was how close she stayed to me when she pulled off. I know when I'm in a pace line I have a tendency to move too far out when I pull off. Janice doesn't so I had to get used that. Given my post-crash discomfort level with pack riding, I had to deal with that aspect. I also found myself staying a little further off her wheel then I should have been. However I was sitting on my aero-bars most of the race. I only got off them when I was climbing. I didn't even want to think about how close she was to my wheel. I tried to stay as smooth as possible.

It wasn't too long before the Western women came up on us. Our team car honked to let us know when we were being overtaken. In a team trial event when a team is overtaken they pull over to the left, and let the overtaking team pass on the right. That totally goes against the grain of my triathlon mindset of stay right, pass left. But then again, team time trial goes against the triathlon mindset of no drafting. So basically I had to tell my inner tri-geek to "stuff it!"

When the men's teams overtake us it's pretty impressive to watch and hear. Most of the guys have disks so we hear them coming before we see them. There is also the beep of Gemma's car horn to let us know someone is coming. After Robin's unintentional "snarky" remark about beating us, I really didn't want to get passed by Long Island, but they did overtake us, sans their third rider. They spit her off the back fairly quickly. After they went by I said "Damn, I didn't want them to pass us." Janice told me to try to stay close to them. I didn't really see what good it would do even if we could stay close. We had a four minute head start on them based on start order so now we were at least four minutes behind. Maybe Janice is a prophet because as it turned out Robin's chain snapped, so they had to stop and swap out her bike. I didn't see this happen, I heard about it after the race was done. Sheesh, their team car had a spare bike on top? Are we at the Tour de France? Actually some of the men's teams use radios to communicate with each other and the team car. That's a little intense for me.

We had two sets of wheels in our car so were prepared for flats, but a major mechanical like a broken chain would have been a disaster. For me to switch bikes I would have needed a second pair of shoes also with the correct cleat. Having a team car is nice because now and then they pull up next to us, give us encouragement, and remind us to drink water. Drinking on the tri-bike with no aero-bottle is difficult for me. So I'd do it when I was sitting in back. So every time they yelled to drink, I'd reach down and grab my bottle and take a sip.

We got through the first lap, and my legs felt pretty good. I find that I get stronger as I go along in this event. I remember in 2004, I started feeling better as Dale was feeling worse. Janice wanted to try to pick up the pace a bit on the last lap. I was game to try. On the first lap we had managed not to get passed on the turns, or in the construction zone on the northbound side. On the last lap we wouldn't be so lucky in the construction zone. I'm not sure whether it was good or bad that the construction zone was on a hill. The guys couldn't go quite as fast as they would on the flats, but on the other hand neither could we, so it was probably a wash. Janice and I got as far over to the left as possible without hitting the barrels. I got a little closer to one of them then I would have liked to, but since I was not down on the aero-bars it wasn't a problem. The guys passed us, and after we got back to two lanes their car went by.

One of the bad things about being the first team to start is knowing just how badly you're getting beat. At some point during the race, the Central women who started 6 minutes after us caught up, and just as we were cresting the hill into White Plains for the last time the Adirondack women (8 minutes behind) caught us. The only team not to catch us was NYC. They had started 10 minutes behind. However if we had to go a few more miles they would have caught us too. None of this came to me as any great surprise. As I said before, only a major miracle or a few catastrophic mechanical failures would change anything. As it was, there was a mechanical failure but nothing like having a spare bike to take care of that problem.

After we finished we rolled back to the parking lot. It wasn't long before everyone was in, and they posted the final standings. Western, the team that everyone had left for dead after being short two riders for the entire Games came through with wins in the men's and women's team time trials. In the team standings they shot up from fifth to first. Long Island shot up from fourth to second. NYC, who had started the day in first ended out in third.

Alas, Hudson Valley having started the day in last place remained last. So much for the home field advantage. So much for having a women's team. They did the same thing in Rochester with no women. Despite our presence not doing anything to improve Hudson Valley's chances this year, I still felt it was important that Janice and I were there. How sad would it have been to have the team trial go off with only five women's teams, and have the home team be the missing team? Pretty sad in my opinion.

I only knew a few of the guys on our team. Many of them were from Dutchess, Rockland, and Putnam counties. With most of them staying home instead of on campus you lose the camaraderie of hanging out at dinner together, and shooting the breeze about the day's race. I don't know if they cared whether Janice and I were there or not. It would have been nice if we could have contributed more. However even Adirondack with their two women team couldn't do better then fourth despite the fact that they came in 3rd in the women's team time trial and the one woman won two golds and a silver. I think it comes down to having good time trial teams, and racking up as many points as you can in the individual races.

Here are the final team standings:

1			Western	1738		gold
2			Long Island	1668		silver
3			New York City	1641		bronze
4			Adirondack	1575
5			Central	1540
6			Hudson Valley	1425

Ultimately my choosing to represent Hudson Valley wasn't about the guys and helping them in the team standings. It was about making sure the home team was represented in the women's open cycling division. It was about trying to be an example to other women. It was about participating in the Games at home.

For many athletes they have to fight tooth and nail to make their region's team. I remember my niece's disappointment in just missing making the Adirondack women's ice hockey team back in 2004. It would be her one and only chance to play ice hockey at the Games. Any girls or women want an easy way to make it to the Games? Become a cyclist. You may have to move to a region where there aren't many women trying out for cycling. Cycling may be an easy ticket to the Games, but it isn't an easy ticket through the Games.

By the time I finish 4 days of racing, I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. I remember at my first Games in 1992 being so spent that I burst into tears after the team time trial. It was a combination of our women's team missing a bronze medal by two seconds, and just the stress of competing at such a level for four days. As I was talking to friends after today's race I found myself getting a little emotional. I was close to crying, but I had to remind myself that this wasn't about medals. This was about participating, and representing the home team.

Next year the Empire State Games return to Binghampton. Hopefully if I'm there next year it will be because the Cheetahs decided to make a road trip to do some masters racing. I'll show up at FDR Park next June and do the qualifying race so that we can keep the numbers from dropping. Just maybe I can actually try to race instead of being a warm body. Maybe I can simply be an emergency alternate, instead of on the team. Maybe pigs will fly soon. :-)

Another Faux Pas

I've had technical and racing glitches in every race thus far. So why should the Team Time Trial be any different? This glitch started when I went back home after the criterium. I wanted a nap in an air-conditioned room, wash my jersey and warm up suit, and I wanted to get rid of the gear that I wouldn't need for the time trial. I figured by leaving the road bike and all the associated gear at home it would make checking out easier the next day. I didn't need 700 wheels, road shoes and helmet. I had the 650 wheels, tri-shoes and aero-helmet back at the college. All weekend I had been very careful to make sure I had the right shoes for the right bike. It worked perfectly until the last race because I forgot to take the orthotics out of the road shoes.

I discovered my mistake shortly before midnight when I was packing up my gear. Yes, I know. What was I doing up at midnight packing for a race that started in 9 hours?? It's called; to paraphrase a line from an old "Who" song, "Polly can't sleep at night." I really didn't want to have get up early enough to drive home, pick up the orthotics, and drive to White Plains for the race. I can't go home now because they probably wouldn't let me back on to campus since it's curfew. I figure I can try my running orthotics in the shoes, but I'm not sure how well that would work. My running shoes are in the car. So here it is midnight, the ESG security people are getting the last of the kids to go to their rooms, and here I am wanting to go outside. I can see it now, "Um, Clarence I can't do the team time trial because I broke curfew. Sorry about that. Tell Janice she can go back home."

Fortunately there is an advantage to being a mature adult. When I say "I know it's midnight, and I'm not supposed to be out, but I need something from my car. I'll be right back.", the staff isn't going to give me a lot of flack. I got the orthotics, and talked with the people for awhile. Then needled me a bit and said "Time for bed!" I tried the running orthotics in the tri-shoes, but simply standing there I could tell there was no way I was going to survive 27 miles with this set up. The running orthotics are 3/4 length, and the cycling ones are full length. My toes were hanging over the edge and resting on the bottom of the shoe. They were starting to hurt, and I wasn't doing anything.

I thought about a test ride, but somehow I knew I couldn't go outside again, and riding a circuit around the corridor of the dorm would surely get me booted from the Games. I saw a kid get the boot yesterday. They don't mess around with dorm rules infractions. I've made my mark on these Games as the masochist master rider taking one for the home team. I did not want to become the oldest participant to be booted from the Games for inappropriate behavior in the dorms.

So I was just going to have to suck it up, get up earlier and go home before heading to White Plains. Before going to bed I tried to pack up as much stuff as possible. I decided I would check out in the morning and save myself a trip back after the race.

DFL in White Plains, but all over the ESG website.

After Friday's race, nothing could hurt quite so bad. When I woke up Saturday morning I felt very tired. Wen the alarm went off I debated the merits of getting up and going over to the cafeteria for breakfast versus staying in bed a little longer and eating a Clif Bar in the car on my way to White Plains. College cafeteria food or sleep?? Another one of those no brainers!! I didn't really fall back asleep, but just lying in bed for an extra 20 minutes felt pretty good. Finally I pried myself out of bed, pulled myself together and made my way down to White Plains.

It's funny staying at the college for races in my area, though for Thursday's and Friday's races it was a smart move. I probably saved about 25 minutes in travel time not having to deal with rush hour traffic on the Hutchinson River Parkway. For a race in White Plains on Saturday it was really not necessary, but I didn't want to break the ESG rules regarding campus housing. Coming to White Plains from Purchase felt a little strange. Despite my familiarity with White Plains I still wasn't a 100% sure where I was supposed to be going. I followed the directions in the cycling information packet. They sent me to a parking lot that was closed. I finally went and parked by the train station and rode my bike over to the staging area.

Criteriums usually scare the crap out of me. I hate the tight turns and the pack makes me nervous. I had skipped the Masters criterium at the 2005 Games in New Paltz. Competing in the Open I have no choice. However I was actually looking forward to doing the event this year. It was one of the events I had intended to enter if I had done the Masters Division. I thought it would be exciting to do a bike race in downtown White Plains, and I pictured big crowds watching.

So I was wrong about the big crowds. What can I expect early on a Saturday morning? When I got there the Master's men were racing. It was pretty intense. I warmed up on one of the side streets with some of the other women from the Open Division. I decided I did not need to warm up on a trainer like the guys. Rolling around on the streets would be fine, and once the masters men were done I could ride the course. While waiting around for the guys to finish I got interviewed for a video on the Journal News ESG website. He was asking questions about the Tour de France doping controversies and how it impacted cycling at this level. I was featured quite a bit on the video. (Look for ESG Special -Doping Controversy) After watching the video I decided I need a speech coach! All the ums make me want to shoot myself!

Riding around during the warm up helped me get a feel for the corners, and plan my strategy. Strategy sounds impressive, but all it means for me is knowing where I want be when the field laps me. Finally it's time to line up. The official goes through the usual spiel about it's a points race, and that one loses 20 points if they get lapped once, and may be pulled if lapped twice. The word may caught my ears because at the Binghampton Games the official said "will" and sure enough I was pulled after being lapped a second time.

Before the race Gemma said to me, "Whatever you do, don't get lapped." Yeh, fat chance of that happening. I was in really good shape in 2004 for the Binghampton Games, but still I eventually got spit off the back, and lapped twice. Here it is 3 years later, and I'm nowhere near the condition I was back then, and she expects me not to get lapped? Maybe she was just trying to get me motivated. No problem! But I'm a realist. It wasn't matter of if I get lapped, it was when I get lapped.

I was hoping I could make it around a few times with the field, but perhaps that was too ambitious a goal. Maybe a more reasonable goal would have been make it to the fourth corner with the field. I was already getting spit off the back on the second corner. By the third corner even the woman I beat in the time trial had dropped me. *Sigh* it was going to be one of those days. Since it was only a .55 mile loop it didn't take long for the breakaway to lap me. I'm not sure on what lap they caught me, but I knew if the officials pulled me when I got lapped again it was going to be a short morning. When I got lapped the second time I looked at my odometer. 4.25 miles! Cripe, my warm up was longer then that. However as I approached the start/finish line I didn't see the official step out on the course and blow his whistle, so it appeared they were letting me continue for the time being.

The spectators were great. A lot of USI people were out there as marshals. When I would get on Mamaroneck Ave. this one woman would yell out "Go Lightspeed!" On another lap she yelled out "Go Empire State Games!" She reminded me of spectators on the NYC marathon course that would cheer you by what ever was on your singlet. So when I came around the next time I told her "My name is Polly." On the next few laps she would yell "Go Polly." I saw the photographer who had done the video of me, and said "I told you I'd be easy to spot." He got some great shots of the race and the interviews.

This is a good action picture of me taken by Matthew Brown of the Journal News . The casual viewer doesn't have to know that I'm seriously OTB (off the back.) and DFL. For all they know I could be leading the field. (In my dreams!)

I knew my race was over when the woman who just lapped me got whistled off the course with 4 laps left for the field. At this point i had done about 9.5 miles. It was exactly was I was hoping for, but better then what I was entitled to since they could have yanked me long before. I lost track of how many times I actually I got lapped. I know it was at least 4 times, but I really didn't want to know. When they posted the standings they had me down for -60. Ouch and I thought my -40 looked bad in 2004!! Fortunately when they posted the results on the website, they listed the points we scored for the team, not the points from the race. So instead of a -60 it had 9 next to my name. Ah yes, the 9 more points the guys got by having me there instead of nobody. Whoopee! Hudson Valley's brief stay in 5th place was done. Even though there were only 88 points separating 3rd from 6th things were not looking good for the home team.

I was interviewed again and the reporter put a piece in his daily blog about my opting to do the Open instead of masters. He didn't quite get the story right since he made it sound like I was the 3rd person on the team. Oh well. It was still good to get something out about our sad women's situation. Who knows if people read this stuff or not.

I was going to leave after my race and go down NYC and play chess. However it's hard to walk away when there are still races going on. I rode around with Dale and Nancy as they were warming up for their race. I then watched them race. It was the first time I actually have watched Dale in a race that I was not in. Usually she's way in front of me so I don't see what's she's doing. It was pretty impressive watching her hang with the 55+ men. It gives me a greater appreciation of what's she accomplished this year. I'm envious of her discipline and focus, but I have to remind myself that she's free to train all year around. She doesn't also doesn't train for other sports.

It was a little difficult for me to watch the awards for the masters races. I was happy for Dale, Nancy, Karen and Liz. USI had a good showing. However seeing that empty podium spot in the 45-54 women was a little sad for me. It shouldn't really matter since third in that field would have been last in that field. I've won enough medals where I had do more then just show up. But there is something very cool about getting up on that podium and receiving a medal. I guess it's being able to act out the Olympic fantasies I had as a kid.

So one more race left. It will be another DFL day. The team time trial; where you're only as strong as your second rider. I'm the second rider. The one person I beat this weekend is the 3rd rider on the Long Island team. One just has to look at the results from the individual time trial, and it's easy to see where this is all leading to.