Starting Anew

I decided that it is again time to start documenting my goals and outcomes for all who desire to see.  This blog was created in order track progress towards a life of better fitness.  I have definitely lost sight of that over the past couple of years.  So today I wish to start anew (if that is at all possible).  First however, for my own record and your knowledge let me attempt to recap all of the running adventures I have had, since I ran my first 5k in April of 2007.

Half Marathons:
Waddel and Reed Half, Kansas City, MO October 2007
Lawrence, KS April 2009
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Oklahoma City, OK, April 2009
Albequerque, NM September 2009
American Discovery Trail, Colorado Springs, CO September 2009
Edinborough Half, Edinborough, Scotland May 2010
Women's Half Marathon, Nashville, TN September 2010
Mother Road Half Marathon, Joplin, MO October 2010
Philadelphia Half, Philadelphia, PA November 2010
Kansas Half Marathon, Lawrence, KS, April 2011
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, Oklahoma City, OK 2011
Wounded Warrior Half Dallas, TX June 2011
Hottest Half, Dallas TX July 2011
Summer Sizzler Half, Dallas TX August 2011
Disney Half Marathon, Orlando, FL January 2012
Joplin Memorial Run, Joplin, MO May 2012

Full Marathons:
Athens Marathon, Athens, Greece November 2009
Disney Marathon, Orlando, FL January 2010
Route 66 Marathon, Tulsa, OK November 2011
Disney Marathon, Orlando, FL January 2012

Little Rock Marathon, Little Rock, Arkansas March 2012

Ultra Marathon:
Pumkin Holler Hunderd 50K, Tahlequah, OK October 2011

It's pretty interesting to share, that I have had to go look at race medals to determine what runs I have done.  When attempting to list my half marathons, I was able to recall 13, but knew that I had completed more than that.

Anyway, I digress.  I never realized how internally competitive I am.  I grew with a brother who seemed to just naturally excel at everything he attempted.  He was able to not take school too seriously, make lots of friends that seemed genuine, and be athletic and successful in anything of his choosing.  I think watching this example, really caused and continues to cause me too much self-doubt.

I titled my blog, so eloquently 3 years ago in it's conception.  It's 80% mental.  Although this was referring to running specifically at the time, I believe that this is true for so many different aspects of life.  I have always been a very cognitive person. I am always thinking.  So much so, that there was a point that a physician prescribed me medication to take to basically "turn my brain off" so that I could sleep better.  I am one of those people who constantly worries and tries to plan the next step.  Now don't get me wrong, I can be laid back and go with the flow if I know that is the expectation.

Lately, I have been allowing myself to have inner reflectivity.  I have tried to take things that cause me pain and sorrow out of my life.  I have to admit that after my run yesterday in the Joplin Memorial Run, I feel that running has become one of those things too.  I really feel the pull to quit all together, but know that for my health that is not an option.  I do however, think I need a break from running group drama, and get back to walking which is something I have always loved.

I think I allowed myself to get caught up in the peer pressure, and desire to please, and to fit in, and that's how I have done all the crazy things above.  Yes, they are accomplishments, but of the entire list there are probably only 3 that I really have positive feelings and great memories of.  The rest are just check marks.  Me, trying to prove myself to others, that I am good enough to be deemed a runner.  Yesterday, I started the run in the "Walkers" section.  I actually had a friend take a picture and made a joke about it.  Why?  Why is there such a negative connotation to "Go Walkers" rather than "Go Runners"?  Why did I allow myself to think, "oh goodness, I don't want to be 'just a walker'"?

I have found myself going down the same path in bicycle riding.  I have always loved just riding my bike and being outdoors.  Now, I have this pull to go faster, do more, go longer miles.  Why?  To keep up with the Jones', whomever they might be. I have got to stop this cycle.  I originally signed up to ride Tulsa Tough this year, and I think I am going to drop from doing the whole thing.  I have got to get myself in a healthy state of mind, before I can go do such group events that might influence my mind set.

If it is truly 80% mental, then I am only about 20% in a good place today.  That is something that I can control and work towards, rather than following Einstein's rule of insanity: doing the same thing (running) and expecting different results (be more accepted).

Half #10...Who woulda thought??

TCBG (The Charlie Brown Gang) made a trip to Lawrence, KS on April 16, 2011 and conquered either the half marathon or the 5K on April 17, 2011. My good friend Ken Childress (AKA Pig Pen) already posted a great blog about the run itself, but I thought I would post about the adventure.

First, everyone is asking how on earth we all became "TCBG". Here's the story to the best of my recollection:



As you have read before Pat and I began kind of running together back a couple of weeks before the Tulsa Run 15K, which takes place in late October. Pat has a tendency to "milk" his woes when someone pushes him to his true capabilities. So I would always say "poor Pat", which then got shortened to PP. Pat wasn't too fond of PP, but said that his mom always called him that. So then I thought you can be Peppermint Patty!! This is how it all began. I originally wanted to be Sally because it starts with S like Sandra, but Pat said I wasn't as sweet and kinda as Sally...okay he didn't really say that, but he said I fit Lucy much better. And since Lucy is the one that sets up her booth "The Doctor is In," and I'm still very proud of finishing my degree I have owned the nickname "Lucy".



When Dana started running with us, in our Elite Covert Running Group, we had to give her an appropriate TCBG nickname...since she is such a sweet caring person, we immediately dubbed her "Sally". Once Lawrence was close, we knew we needed to find good nicknames for Ken and Paula. Everyone has to admit that "Pig Pen" is extremely appropriate for TZ, as he is the trail zombie who would rather play on the dirty trails any day of the week. With Paula, we wanted to pick someone who hung with Peppermint Patty, so we named her "Marcie," who is Peppermint Patty's best friend and affectionately calls Peppermint Pat "Sir". I doubt we will be hearing Paula call Pat "Sir" but you get the idea :).

Okay, so our adventure begins at my house at 8:30 Saturday April 16, 2011. Pat has major control issues with cars and driving so he "volunteered" to drive and since the 5 of us could all fit in his car alright we let him. I have a tendency to get car sick, so Dana and Ken bought me my own steering wheel so I could be a "front seat driver".



I had great fun with my new toy. I let Pat borrow it while he let me drive his car around different parts of Lawrence. We made it to just north of Owasso and it was time to get some coffee and fill up the tank of gasoline so we could make the entire way to Lawrence.



We made a couple of other potty stops on the way up, but for the most part we just trekked on up to get to the home of the Jayhawks. Once we got to Lawrence we went to my all time favorite Mexican restaurant, El Mezcal. It was so super yummy!! After that we went and checked into our hotel and headed off to pick up our race packets. Pat was now officially the keeper of a half marathon race number and chip.



After that it was time for a tour of Lawrence! You can't go to Lawrence, KS without visiting the Phog Allen Field House.



I took a close-up picture of the gang with the statue of James Naismith:



We visited the Booth Athletic Museum...amazing stuff in there:

The original "Pay Heed" sign..there is still one in the Field House


What Marcus Morris' locker looks like:


The Original Jayhawk mascot costume:


The had hand prints, foot prints, and "wing spans" of some former KU basketball players, it's quite amazing how big these guys and gals are:








TZ once caught a fish "This Big"!!



And of course the National Basketball Championship Trophies:


After looking around the Museum, I took the gang to the place where I got married: The Lawrence Visitor Center. It is still a very beautiful place, and we even got to witness one of the freight trains passing through. There are about 100 trains that pass through Lawrence every day. We decided to get a picture with all of us in it:


Then we went to Downtown Lawrence. Downtown Lawrence is just a great place to hang out. We went and visited Sunflower Bike Shop, Jocks Nitch, a T-shirt shop (I don't remember the name), Wyldeberry Wines (I highly recommend the Elderberry Sweet Wine), and Brown's Shoe Store. Then I decided to take the gang to see where Boca was born and meet Boca's family. So we took a trip to Ozawkie, KS (TATUR Dave) has family here too. It was great fun. Here's Boca's canine mom and dad:

Dad "Lovey"


Mom "Mocha"


Then it was time to get some dinner. We went to a Lawrence favorite Italian restaurant: Paisano's. One of the 2 high schools was having their prom, so we were worried we would have a long wait, the 25 minutes the hostess told us, turned out only to be like 5 minutes. It was great. They have the best bread sticks anywhere!!! I was trying to get a picture of Ken and Dana, they tried to do a kissy face picture, but I snapped just after the kiss..Dana's face was just too priceless not to post it:



So of course I was nice and took a second one:


Then I captured Pat and Paula as well:


The rest of the TCBG had calamari as an appetizer it seemed to work well for all of them as a prerace food:


Then it was back to the hotel for some rest. I slept great! Race morning was great! A little chilly but perfect. Here are the Race photos I have to share: TZ has a much more detailed report on the run itself.









At the end of the run with one of my favorite Lawrence buddies Krista!! It was her 2nd half!!





Once the run was completed, we headed back to the hotel, took showers, ate at Culvers Frozen Custard: Home of the Butterburger, and hit the road. Here are 2 pictures to commemorate the ride home:





I never would have thought 4 years ago when I began running that I would get to the point that I could say I've completed 10 half-marathons, but I have indeed done so. This trip was not at all about it being my 10th half, but rather an opportunity to do something that I enjoy doing with friends that also enjoy doing the same thing...all in the name of fun and good times!!

3 1/2 marathons in 3 months..DONE

I have successfully completed all my planned 1/2 marathons for the fall season. This past Sunday November, 21, 2010 I finished my third of three planned halves in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This gives me a total of 6 states I have run a half marathon in: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. I have also run full in Florida (Disney).

There were 27,000 participants for the Philadelphia 1/2 and full marathons. The 2 events started together in wave style format. So although the race 'started" at 7:00 AM, I didn't hear the horn go off for my heat until 7:30. It was a very energized crowd. This was a beautiful run, and really it could not have been better weather. It was around 38 at 7, and warmed up to around 55 during the day. There was a very slight breeze and it was nice and sunny.

How did I wind up doing the Philadelphia half?? Well I am a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and there is a national conference every year that takes place the week before Thanksgiving. This year the convention was taking place in Philadelphia. I had 2 graduate students who completed research and were accepted to be presenters. As their mentor this means that TU would pay for my trip to go as well. My colleague then told me they had their run on Sunday. So then I weighed the pros and cons of flying home late Saturday night and running the Route 66 in Tulsa with my run group, or taking a chance and running the 1/2 in Philadelphia and staying there one extra day. So I decided to try Philly.

I had psyched myself up that the course was going to be very hilly. I think I just associated Pennsylvania with the Appalachian Mountains. After putting over 20,000 steps on my pedometer Thursday, Friday and Saturday between conference sessions and sight seeing, I knew that it was going to be a pretty flat course. This made me feel more calm and relaxed. Here's a little about the course:

It started right by the Rocky statue at the Museum of Art. It was amazing it was very well organized and didn't feel like a herd of cattle in their given corrals dazed and confused. Everyone was very helpful and I had no problems finding my back of the pack starting area. At each wave send off they played the theme from Rocky. I managed to drop my driver's license at the start while I was getting my phone out of my pouch to take some pictures. I randomly here a lady yelling my name...I was so confused. So finally I"m like I'm right here...well she had found my license. So kind.

We headed down Ben Franklin Blvd...a very busy and well traveled street..they had closed the whole thing for this event...it's 6 lanes wide. Talk about having plenty of room to move and navigate through people. We headed through the "downtown" district..lots of hotels, by the Love statue, around a fountain, by Reading Market, by the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. This got us all the way to the Delaware River...we then followed the river for a bit then headed back towards the Museum of Art. On the way back we went by China Town, "Jeweler's District", the Philadelphia Zoo...a large park I don't remember the name of and finally onto a road very similar to Riverside in Tulsa. It followed the Delaware River and led back to the Museum of Art.

This was my worst 1/2 marathon ever. The course was fantastic, and the weather was great. I just wasn't mentally or physically in the game. At about mile 6, I had really bad stomach pains. Every time I tried to run, I thought I would hurl. So I decided to try to walk my quick walk pace, that didn't last long because then my knee that had been giving me a few issues started feeling not so good. So at about mile 7, I decided to approach the run as a walking tour of parts of Philly that I hadn't yet seen. My finish time was around 3:18. I was very glad to have finished. The crowd at the finish line had to be around at least 5000 people. I would highly recommend this run to anyone. Although in November the conditions in Philly, I would imagine would be quite variable. It was a nice flat fast course, with only 1 pretty noteworthy hill that had a huge reward downhill on the other side.

I am now going to take a running hiatus. Don't get me wrong I'm still gonna head out and run/walk, walk/walk, who knows. I am ready to be out of "training" mode for a bit.

A 5K PR and Terrible Run All Together

I have no pictures to contribute to this entry, so just bear with me.

I decided to participate in the Route 66 "Double" challenge on August 7th. This event involved completing a 5K and a Quarter marathon back-to-back. Not back-to-back days but as soon as you cross the finish line of the 5K you then proceed immediately to the start line of the quarter marathon. So in total the distance would be 9.65 miles. I was game. My half marathon training group was scheduled to do 7 miles for the training run that day, and well I have a half marathon coming up in September and need to make sure I am ready to give that my best shot.

Well....then I got myself in trouble in the mental game. I tried to tell myself over and over it was just a 10 miles training run (that would be a little short). One of my dear friends lost their daughter earlier in the week and the Celebration of her life was scheduled for 10 AM on the same day. The 5K started at 7:30. It was very important for me to be at the life Celebration of Lilian Grace as I had been privileged enough to meet her in person and hang out with her and watch some Nick Jr. So Friday night my head got to spinning around whether I should bail out of the event entirely, run just the 5K, run just the Quarter. So I was calculating times in my head. I decided that I would complete the Double, because I think Lily would have been okay with that.

So, I tried to do the "right" thing Friday night. I ate a well balanced meal with a few extra carbs. I went to bed around 9:15 to try to get a good night's sleep. However, going to bed and going to sleep are 2 different things. I tossed and turned and tossed and turned. I couldn't get my brain to shut off. I was thinking a lot about Lily. I was thinking that the last time I did an official timed 5K was about 18 months ago. I was thinking about what I thought I could do if I was having a great run day. I was thinking, thinking, thinking. I finally went to sleep around 11:30ish, only to wake up around 1:15AM having a panic attack. My stomach was churning itself inside out, my head was throbbing, I was sweating and cold, I was a mess. So I got out of bed, took some medicine for my anxiety and got comfy in the recliner in the living room to try to get some sleep. I was able to rest for a bit and then go lie back down in bed without feeling like I was going to vomit at any time. The alarm went off at 4:50 so I could go meet up with the Optimists who were doing the regular training run. It was a very short night, and I was still a bit squimish and not feeling quite right. I woke up making the decision that I would shoot for a 5K PR. My previous 5K personal record was 37:04. I knew that I was becoming a better runner. So again WRONG mind game to play!!

I had fun sending off the Optimists that met with the training groups. It was then time to head to the start/finish area of the Rt 66 Double event. I enjoyed seeing all the people that were getting ready to complete their first 5K. My mood had perked up and I was like let's go! I saw some of the Optimists that were going to do the Quarter. They were pretty nervous and excited. I was pretty nervous and excited too. Then it was time, the gun went off. I was off with my trusty Gym Boss beeper. I decided to do a 2/1 for the first mile (to warm up) and then try to do a 3/1 for the rest of the 5K to go for that PR. Well I did what I tell everyone not to do (fortunately I caught myself) but I took off with everyone...started my Garmin..started my Gymboss...and then kept running through the beeps that were telling me it was time for a walk break. Finally about a 1/2 mile in, I was like "Sandra you need to run this like you train...listen to the beeper...get on the plan..." So I begin walking at the next beep. I alternated from a 2/1 to 3/1 after every walk minute. I was feeling good, I was feeling strong. It was great to see some familiar faces at the water stops. As I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I then saw a whole slew of Runners World friends cheering everyone on ....I was in great spirits...I knew my time was going to be decent. As I neared the finish line, I noticed the clock had just clicked to 36 minutes...I was stoked..I knew that I was about midway through the pack and I was going to beat my PR! It was a great feeling. I crossed the finish line, stopped my Garmin and hit the reset button without even looking at the time. I was then told to walk around the tents to get to the start of the Quarter. This is when everything went downhill for me....

As I was walking through the tents to get to the Quarter marathon start, I realized I really didn't want to do it. I mean I did, but I knew that I gave a lot of effort on the 5K and that getting through the Quarter was going to be a challenge. My mental status won over my physical abilities. I should have been able to complete that quarter even after the 5K without a lot of struggle. I mentally planned to do a 1/1 interval on the quarter because I knew I was going to try to run the 5K hard. I couldn't do it. Okay, yes physically I could, but mentally I couldn't. I started worrying about not making it to Lily's Celebration. I started worrying about being an embarrassment to my group. I started letting myself getting into my own head. It is somewhat ironic that at the 1/2 mile mark of the quarter (the same spot I realized I needed to stop running on the 5K) I made the decision that I was going to walk the quarter as fast as I could. I let the mental game get in the way of physical abilities. So I ran parts of the quarter here and there, but it was lousy. I feel lousy about my performance. They didn't have any more medals by the time I finished, I was like very appropriate, because my effort on the event wasn't really worthy of a medal.

As the title of my blog indicates, Running is 80% mental...and that mental game kicked my butt on the quarter. I am glad that I got a new PR for a 5K (official posted time: 35:59), but if I should have stopped there instead of doing that horrible quarter....

Half Marathon Training

I am having so much fun being a run leader for a half marathon group training for the Route 66 half marathon that will take place in Tulsa in November. I named the group "The Optimists: We're half full".



As my blog title indicates, I really believe that getting through an event is 80% mental. I am truly trying to inspire through the power of positive thinking during runs. It has helped me tremendously. I battle the mental monster in many different aspects of life. I am trying to take control of my mental state during runs. The people that make up The Optimists have been wonderful!



I am continuing to work on my interval running. It is still working quite well for me. I have been able to keep my average pace under the 12:30/mile for the majority of my runs. I am hoping to be at a really solid 3/1 or 4/1 (run/walk) interval setup for the fall half marathons. I have had several of the Optimists join me in my interval running on Saturday mornings and it has been quite nice to have the company. It has been so humid that running has been quite a chore. We are going from days of feeling like this:



To having days that feel like this:



I am definitely having more Homer days than the eager beaver runner. However, I have been doing this running thing long enough that I know that to run through this awful summer heat and humidity has a payoff in the fall when things cool off and the humidity dissipates. It has been very important to hydrate with plenty of water. I have been a diligent run leader and make sure that I encourage everyone to stop at all the water stops along our routes.



We are starting to incorporate some hills into our Saturday routes. I have actually found the challenge of them fun and exciting. I think it is partly due to the fact that I am still in a good running place. So even if the hills seem like this:



Remember that it still just takes one step at a time to get to the top of the hill. Of course anyone that wants to use my method of conquering the hills is welcome...I like to chant (sometimes aloud and sometimes in my head) "I love the hills they work my butt"! It makes me smile and keep on moving forward.

I have 3 half marathons planned for this fall, and hope that they will all be at a 2:45 time or better. The first one will be in Nashville, TN: the Womens' half marathon on September 25th. So my training will continue and I hope that it will continue to be fun and successful

Free Wheel 2010

On Saturday June 12th, Sue and I packed up our bikes and headed off to Hugo, OK to begin our adventure of the 32nd running of the Oklahoma Free Wheel bike ride event from the south Oklahoma border to north Oklahoma border. I posted updates on each day on facebook, and I am going to copy and paste them here and then add the information about the last 2 days of riding.




Free Wheel is an absolute adventure. Sue Marlof and I arrived in Hugo Ok on Saturday morning around 10:30 am. It took us both a litle while to acclimate, process and adjust to the while concept of Free Wheel. After about an hour and half we figured out our tent wasn't going to be ready for several hours. We knew we wanted to make the extra ride to make it into the Texas border. So we put on our bike clothes and headed out for the first ride. It was listed as only an 11 mile out and 11 miles back. It had a few hills but the worst part was a couple mile stretch that we were on a well traveled highway. It was a little tricky, but we managed. Once we made it back into Hugo we were both famished. We decided to eat at a local cafe place that was just across from where we would be camping. We walked in and the food looked absolutely delicious. We were so excited. The food was Great, but it took about 45 minutes from when we ordered to when we got our food. Oh well it was dinner. We then found out that our tent was set up around 5 so we set up our home. Then we set up chairs from the Shuttle Guy and found a semi shady spot. We met two nice guys, Steve and Brok who are a father and son riding Free Wheel together. Steve has ridden it before but this will be Brok's first ride. "Tent city" really does become a quick little family. We went to the nightly meeting and learned some of the ins and outs of how free wheel works and that "start time" is typically around 6:30 am and there is typically breakfast served starting at 4:30 am. This kinda changed our plan of action. We set the alarm for 5 am and decided to try to leave with the mass exodus. When they say mass exodus they mean like the 50 people out of the 900 that wanted to be part of the "mass exodus". So funny.




Neither Sue nor I slept very well. There were many people who snored in tent city but Sue and I were fortunate enough to have one in front of us and one next to us. The good news is that only one would snore at a time. Therefore we had persisent snoring. We quickly understood why they recommended bringing ear plugs. We ate breakfast. It was not great but it was calories and food. Our first ride was scheduled to be 55 miles. We made the mass exodus and were on our way at about 6:35am. We quickly realized why they start so early. It was almost cool and pleasant until aroun 8:15 am. The first 10 miles went by so quickly and we were cruising around 15 mph. We enjoyed the fruit stop and ventured on our way. During the 2nd 10 miles. We saw the biggest road kill beaver ever. That then prompted our let's count how many different road kill animals we see on our journey. Throughout the ride we saw: beaver, deer, racoon, and snakes. The ride went pretty well. We made it to camp at 11:55. We made sure to stop at all water and rest stops and stopped to have lunch. It was a good ride. It was very hit. We heard at camp that the tempertature was 95 with a heat index in the 100's. It was hard to get cool and comfortable, but we tried to make the best of it. We took showers in the shower truck, which would be awesome to have at the mud run, grabbed our chairs and found a shady place to hang out under. We talked with Dale and sine lady from Houston. Tried to take a nap in the chairs bit I could not get comfortable. We hopped on our bikes and headed into town to get to the cafeteria for dinner. They served Indian tacos. It was pretty good. We then biked back to camp, went to the nightly meeting and called it a night early. I slept great. Of course I took some mesa to help and put my iPod in. Was out like a light until about 4:50 am.



Sue and I got up this morning again at 5. We were on Our bikes by 6:15. Stopped at a convience store for some beeakfast and headed out for the 65 mile ride. The first 25-30 miles of the ride today weren't bad at all. It consisted of mostly rolling hills. However I don't know what mile it was but we started our trek through the Ouchita forest/mountain range. There were 3 awful awful uphills, but we were rewarded with 3 awesome downhill. Lunch was at about mile 45. I was so grateful for 40 minutes off the bike. Then we ventured on to Heavener where we are now. As I type this we are getting good rain storms with thunder and lightning. We were told there would be 50-60 mile per hour winds. Sue and I are in our tent hanging out and just keying whatever happens happen. We are scheduled to do another 65 mile ride tomorrow to Muldrow. We hear it's supposed to rain during the day. That may not be fun. We have the alarm set for 5 and we will see what happens.



We awoke to a morning filled with showers. It rained all through the night. They had told us in camp that it was anticipated that we would experience 50-60 mph winds, so everyone in tent city was freaking out. Not Sue and I though. We were almost giddy. Seriously laughing way too hard about the comments we heard from people in tents around us. I quickly fell asleep to the sound of the pouring rain and slept the best I have since I've been a camper. However when the alarm went off at 5 I could still hear rain drops on the tent. Sue and I had no real plan in this situatio. So we looked at the radar on my handy dandy iPhone and decided to wait an extra half an hour before we got moving. Well that lasted. Whole 5 minutes and we were both just like okay let's get dressed and see what happens. Well we were almost on schedule when we got in the line for breakfast. When it was our turn to eat they were almost out of everything. We each got 1 pancake and a few scrambled eggs. Not really a whole lot to go 65 miles on but we made do. We hit the road at about 7 rather than our usual 6:30. It was almost chilly when we got started. The first bank thermometer we rode past said 73. It was a beautiful morning when the rain stopped and there was a slight breeze. It stayed nice until about 10.30 or so this morning. The ride today was relativley flat and easy. The only rough part was the roads. I know everyone will be shocked but they were full of potholes or semi-trucks. We made really decent time considering it was our 4th consecutive day of riding. We made it to camp around 1:45. It was rather warm and toasty at camp. The thermometer on the bank in Muldrow read 94.




After being in camp for a very short time we decided to be adventurous and crazy and do the optional 20 mile out and back to cross into Arkansas. This was probably not our wisest of decisions. During this 1:45 period, I decided to cry out all my emotional stress from the past 6 years. I really needed to cry like my works was ending because I am at a new stage, a new road. This trip on free wheel has allowed me to disconnect from so many things and really put a lot of perspective on other things. All you do on the rides is think. You can chose to think about the hills, the sounds on your bike, the things you see in the environment, the people in your life, the goals in your life, etc. Speaking of things in your environment. I'm not sure i've mentioned all the road kill we've seen. So here's our complete list including today:

Skunk
Opposum
Baby black bear
Worms
Dragonfly
Beaver
Deer
Cat
Raccoon
Squirrel
Hawk
Some big black bird
Armadillo
Armadillo with a beer can

I think that covers everything we have encountered thus far. This is disgusting but I can almost tell you what kind of roadkikl it is by the smell alone. I digress. So I have been thinking about my whole life my relationships with people, my friendships with people, the type of friend I want to be. I have thought about my relationships with my family, I have thought about my abitlity as a teacher, I have thought about my abilities as a speech language pathologist. I have thought about my marriage and divorce. I have thought about my life in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. I have thought lots and lots. Today between the heat, the 200 some odd miles on a bike in the past 4 days, my leg fatigue, and the many thoughts I was due for an emotional breakdown.



Tomorrow we ride to Talequah. Word in tent city is that it's the hardest ride ever in Free Wheel history. Sue and I are choosing to ignore the rumors and tackle the ride the same we have every other day 1 mike at a time. I anticipate I will be walking some hills tomorrow because my quads are shot, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. It's a scheduled 62 mike ride. 3 mikes shorter than these last two days. Oh boy. Wish us luck and send good vibes our way!!

Oh where to begin. I really wish I would have had the energy to write about day 4 yesterday, be ause even after 1 day the badness of it has already lessened. But I will do my best to recap.



Day 4 ( which for Sue and I was actually day 5 of consecutively being on the bike) had been hyped up by the Free Wheel officials and those in camp as the possible most difficult Free Wheel ride day ever. We left the Mukdrow camp at about 6:00 with the intention of stopping at a convienence store for breakfast. We have gone to a couple of the planned breakfasts but it has not been worth the money. So, anyway, we ate our breakfast at the store and were on our merry way. Well the legacy of the day and all the hype came to fruition at mile 1.6. We had a relatively steep and forever climbing hill out of Muldrow. Seriously I think it was about .6 miles long. It was torture and we were literally dripping in sweat at 6:45 in the morning 2.3 mikes into the day. The course did not get any better from there. If anyone remembers the zingo from bells then they can somewhat picture the 65 mike route. There were some good downhills but to get down them you have to go up them. So we went down and up and down and up all day. We climbed 5400 ft over the course of the day. I have honestly never had so much pain and shaking in my quad muscles in my life. To compound my issues. I was told I have Riders Palsy in my left palm. I have just tingling in my left middle finger. I have been told by many out here that it's because I'm putting so much pressure on my ulnar nerve and that I needed different bike gloves that had better support at the base of your fingers before your palm. I had also been told there was a bike store in talequah close to where Speedwheel was taking place. So imagine riding the Zingo path about 50 times on a bike trying to hold on to your handlebars to get yourself up a hill and having pain all in your arms and fingers. That was me. When Sue and I arrived to camp at around 3:15 we were just spent. Sue's parents came into town and they went out to dinner. I went and had all you can eat spagettin in the high school cafeteria and then decided to catch the shuttle to head down to watch Speedwheel and find the bike shop. I found some gloves with extra ulnar nerve support and thought well I will get these and try them. Then I went and sat on the curb and watched the bike races. Then much to my surprise I see Kristin Bunch walking along the sidewalk so I text her and when the course was clear I went over and gave her a big hug. It was so great to see a friendly face!! We sat on the bleachers and watched the masters race and during the race out of nowhere appears Ken Childress, Bobby Michaels. Deborah Gulley, and Susan Michaels. They had alll coordinated to come into Talequah to surprise me. It was so touching and so awesome. It was just one day before I was feeling very low and alone in the world. I owe those 5 people a lot. It was such a morale booster after such a hard days ride. Such great people. I did feel bad they wanted to go eat dinner and I just wanted to go to be. 9:00 is pretty much get in the tent wind down and be asleep by 10 time. So they drove me to camp. Saw tent city visited our #92 tent and I sent them on their way and was asleep in probably 20 minutes.

This morning, the start of day 5 or 6 depending how you are counting, we were up and out of the tent by 5:45. We decided to head down the road to the first convenient store which was said ti be 9 miles down the road. I had a rough morning in that I could t find things and forgot things and was like just forget let's go. Today was Sues day to have a rough day. She felt rather nauseous and out of it until about mile 28 when we hit a fun rest stop. Today's course was so easy compared to yesterdays. We cruised all day at about a 12 mph pace which given our mileage I thought it was pretty good. I stayed in food spirits most of the day and we cruised into camp around 12:15 ish. We stayed At the lunch stop in Salina for quite a while because it was cool and we had fun visiting with people. Sues husband came to Pryor today and I am so grateful he did. My Garmin died at 2.5 miles out. I had tried to charge I the previous day and it didn't. It would say it was charging then be blank. I took the charger with me on the ride thinking I'd the lunch stop had an outlet I would charge it. Well the lunch stop did have an outlet but my garmin would not charge. When we got to camp j was asking around If anyone would let me use their charger. People thought I was nuts I'm sure, but finally this man named Marion said he would let me use his. Another techy kinda guy looked mine all over and said he thought it was my USB cable and not the cradle. So Mario. Let me use his USB and guess what?!!?! It worked. So John took me to 3 different places to find. USB 2.0 cable and I am happy to report my garmin is fully charged and ready to go tomorrow. We hear tommorrow's 65 mile day is a lot like today. Maybe a hill or two here and there a lot of flat or gradual and some rough road. I will be so glad when tomorrows ride is done. They have a special dinner and concert for us tomorrow in Miami. Bring it on.


Roadkill update:
We saw the following before yesterday I just forgot them:
Frog
Turtle
Snake

Since yesterday we can add:
Butterfly
Wild pig(boar). No I'm not kidding!!

Good night all and thanks for the support and encouragement!!!


The last 2 days of riding Free Wheel are somewhat a blur. The ride on Friday on was a great ride. It was the last 65 mile ride. We were told Thursday night that we would have a 10-15 mph wind out of the south. The crowd cheered loudly. It really turned out to be true. Even on the hills it felt like the south wind was pushing us up the hills. Sue and I averaged 13.5 mph over the course of the day on this ride. It was mainly flat. There were a few decent climbs during the day, but overall it was an excellent day of riding for me. I didn't even have much pain from the saddle or in my legs. My biggest issue during this ride was chafing. I have never experienced such horrible chaffing. I have heard runners talk about it, but never really experienced it to the point that you thought you might bleed to death because areas were chafed so badly. I think the pain and discomfort from the chafing helped to keep me distracted from everything else. I was in really good spirits for most of the day during this ride. We arrived to the camp in Miami, which was on the campus of NEO. We again got to camp on a football field. Thank goodness that wind was around, if you could find some shade, it didn't feel too awful hot. At one point, I really thought Sue and I were going to get to go to Braum's (everyone had been talking about it all during the day), but when we learned the shower truck was really about 1/4 mile away from our tent, and we thought about when dinner was going to be served, we opted out of Braum's. The dinner that was provided free (only free meal on Free Wheel) was excellent. There were several choices of meat and sides and desserts. Unfortunately, my body was so hot and the entire system wasn't sure how it was working, I didn't really eat much. We then hopped on a shuttle and went to the Coleman theater in Miami, OK. If you ever get a chance to go into this theater you need to go, it is a breath-taking theater. They brought in a Bluegrass band for a concert for all the people with Free Wheel, it was amazing and so much fun. It was nice to sit in the cool air conditioning, but when we made it back out to our campsite it felt that much hotter. During the night on Friday night, both mine and Sue's fan batteries died. It was the worst night's sleep I got since the first night.

Saturday morning came quickly, Sue and I were up and moving at 4:45 am. We headed and ate some breakfast (apple turnover for me, yummm), got all our gear together, and were headed out for our last ride by 6:05 am. We had a scheduled 38 or so miles, but had heard that it was going to be quite a hilly day. We were also told that we would have 3 rest stops. It was a much more relaxed riding day. It was obvious that most people were taking the pace a little slower and sharing stories along the ride and just taking it all in. We were fortunate to see most of the people that we had met along the ride and spent time with at some point during the day on Saturday. It was a little sad knowing that good-bye would be coming. However, I was so ready to be done. At the end of the day, and the week, Sue and I managed to bike in 5 states in 8 days. We took the optional trips to the Texas border, the Arkansas border, the Kansas border, through Oklahoma, and obviously through Missouri to get to Joplin.

Today, Sunday, my body is pretty physically drained. The most fascinating part to me is that the most sore part of my body is my hands. My hands are extremely cramped and sore, I can barely hold a pencil to write. I am glad to be home. I feel that I have a clear head, and a better grasp on my life. We'll see how long that lasts.

Tulsa Tough

Well it was a weekend packed with bike riding. Tulsa Tough was in town. It was made up of some fantastic bicycle racing with some "fun" rides and the 8 mile Tulsa Townie Ride. In preparation for the Oklahoma Free Wheel, I decided to participate in the 100k (62.4 mile) fun ride on Saturday and the 50K (31.2 mile) ride on Sunday as well as the Tulsa Townie that some of my friends were also going to do. This would give me over 100 miles on my bike for the weekend.



It was quite hot on Saturday, but fortunately I had Sue and Jodi to whine to, and with about how hot the day was. Jodi successfully completed the 50K on Saturday and Sue and I got through the 100K.

Sunday morning had a nice cloud cover, and a little bit stronger wind. Both days were challenging and fun. One more leisurely ride before Free Wheel starts next Saturday...
OH Goodness.....