Road Rash => Rest Day

What can a cyclist do on a rest day? Write a blog post... So I'm on a complete rest day on account of I had my first crash yesterday. And am I feeling some pain today? Yes, I would be lying if I said I wasn't. Is it worse than my monthly menstral cramps? No. I am a bit sad that I won't have foxy arms & legs for halloween, but if it still looks gnarly I can dress up as a crash victim zombie and get some fake blood.

What happened? Well I'm still not sure, crashes happen really fast. What's going through my mind right now is (1) I ran 10 miles the day before and didn't get more than 5 hours sleep two nights in a row and worked long hours all week and I have slow reflexes even on a good day and therefore the bottom line is that I messed up (2) I got new tires and new brakes and this was my first ride after two major mechanical changes to my vehicle so the bike was to blame. The sweethearts I ride with keep offering to take the blame for me going down, but I'm just glad that I didn't take anyone else out. There is no ride worth going on if you injure yourself or someone else. I should have taken it easier that day.

What are my goals? Why put my body through this torture? What am I proving? And to whom? All these are great questions. The truth is that I don't know. I know I'm doing what feels good and right now I am training heavily. I enjoy the views and the outdoors and it brings me a warm and fuzzy feeling that lasts about a day-and-a-half. Which is coincidentially about as long as it takes for the pain from the exertion to fully hit my muscles. About the fourth day without a workout, I start to twitch and feel a pain in my muscles from not doing anything. If I go five or more days, I start to get really crabby at work and at home.

I just read a great article about how exercise can raise the baseline levels of both norepinephrine and dopamine. I think that's what I'm benefiting from. I know that without it I'm suffering. Everyone around me sees it, but I must endure. Luckily the cycling helps.

In the Interim

It's been so long since my last blog post, I had to look in the photo archives to see what I had been up to "in the interim." In August, we attended a bunch of parties, I worked in the lab a lot, yet I was able to log 250 miles between biking and running (4 runs). In September, my lab moved to a new building, we hosted a dinner party, I worked slightly less, and I logged 225 miles between biking and running (7 runs). Apparently though, I was not able to log in to Blogger and post anything. I was (and maybe still am) a little depressed. Grad school is hard.

My second time trial (Aug 29) was exciting, not as scary as the first. I got nearly the same time as the first one, but I didn't do any particular training in between them so it makes sense that I wasn't able to get much faster. I didn't mind winning the $30 prize for being the fastest woman in my age group. It didn't matter that I was only one of two people in that category. The important thing is that I enjoyed participating in it and I was able to reinvest the prize money into awater bottles, sunscreen, and new lights for my commuter bike!

My dear husband and I got to attend a fun party, the 3rd Annual Foilman (Sept 5) hosted by some fellow bicycle club members, Wade & Edith. It was a super-duper-sprint-Triathalon, complete with timers and prizes, but we just enjoyed being there and having great conversations. It was so relaxing and great for Mike to meet all (0r most) of my wonderful biking friends. It just made me realize how badly we need to get a bike for him so he can tour with us.

We also got to participate in the SmartRiverside Citrus Heritage Run (Sept 26) with family, my husband and myself along with my Mother-in-law and her husband. We arrived at sunrise and ran along almost the same route as the bike time trial. It was cool, shady and relaxing since I wasn't going for a personal best time. The point (in my mind at least) was to spend time together as a family and celebrate Riverside's history and beauty. There was even a marching band along the course to entertain and motivate us. Of course we had breakfast afterwards at the yummy Crest Cafe, which was the perfect way to end the race.

It's funny this year has gone by so fast. It's already the 10th month and time (mile by mile) has flown by! I've gone back to biking to school every day and trying to ride with friends or my club as often as I can. I've also tried to do Power Yoga at least once per week and I'm incorporating some interval training. People are asking if I'm sick or something since I've lost so much weight. I credit my genuine love for cycling and the support of my husband. Here are my updated stats from Map My Ride (prev. updated on May 18 post)...

Total Workouts in 2009: 157

Total Distance: 1,804.52 mi.

Total Burned: 82,030 kcal (approx. 23 pounds)

Gas Saved: 100.25 gallons

Money Saved: $348.87

Carbon Offset: 1,940.9 lbs. of CO2

My dear husband always asks me "What are your goals?" Like it's not OK to workout whenever I feel like it and do whatever feels right on that day. I'm not sure what to think about that. On one hand, I think I should just listen to my body, but on the other hand I feel like one thing I'm lacking is discipline and structure. One goal I have is to finish a triathalon. It doesn't seem right to have taken advantage of my relationship with the UCR Triathalon Club to get a sweet bike at a price I could afford and never actually use it in a triathalon. Hence the running. I also got a cap & goggles so I anticipate that I'll start swimming in the near future. TTFN.

I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)

It occured to me last night, as I was walking my dogs, that if my neighbor asked me to explain my life right now, I could legitimately say my life revolves around drugs.

Don't get the wrong impression, if you were my neighbor, you might think because there are always a lot of people going in and out of my apartment and staying up late talking, that we do nothing but "party."

The truth is that most of these friends are fellow scientists, studying some aspect of drugs and hoping someday to be employed by a drug company. For example, my biking friend Andrew is singlehandedly making drugs and determining their bioactivity. My good friend Homero studies the toxicicity of drugs by observing DNA damage as a function of drug dose. And I am searching for "natural products," drugs made naturally by plants.

As for me, I used to avoid taking drugs. Something about my upbringing told me that you shouldn't need to rely on external agents to "feel better." I guess that I would say now that pain which prevents you from getting out of bed is a sufficient reason to take drugs. I still tend to take the minimum dose.

The first drug I became comfortable with was Naproxen (available over-the-counter as Aleve). It was prescribed to me after a back injury. I found that it was non-addictive and effective at reducing my pain and inflammation. Those were the ballet days.

Of course when I had a fever, I was given Tylenol (paracetemol, acetomenophen) or Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Other aches and pains, including my Mom's headaches, were treated with Motrin or Advil (ibuprofen).

All of these drugs are in the same class, non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which shut down the body's inflammatory signaling pathway. Because each molecular structure is slightly different, each of these drugs has a slightly different interaction with their "target" protein, cyclooxygenase (COX). Looking at their structures below, it is easy to imagine how they could "fit" into a "pocket" created by a much larger molecule. COX is about 350 times more massive than any of these "small molecule" drugs.

Interestingly, NSAIDs (and the substances they are converted to after the body's detoxification has begun) have additional "side-effects." For example, in addition to binding COX, Tylenol's primary metabolite AM404 interacts with the body's cannabanoid system, which is the mechanism responsible for paracetemol's pain relieving properties.

I stuck with non-addictive drugs until I discovered caffeine. ( : Maybe in future blogs I can discuss caffeine and other adenosine receptor antagonists. Other classes of drugs I would like to write about are histamine antagonists and seratonin reuptake inhibitors. Future blog topics of a scientific nature may be on the new wave of "biologics," as recently featured in Chemical & Engineering News, which are the newest revolution in drug development. I found it an engaging topic on a personal level because the article really highlighted the cultural divide between traditional "small molecule" chemists in pharma and those trained in molecular biology and bioanalytical chemistry who are equipped to produce and characterize protein-based drugs.

My First Time Trial

Well, this morning my alarm chirped at 5:30am but I couldn't drag my butt out of bed until 5:47am so there went my extra 17 minutes. Was it worth it? Well I did get 17 extra minutes of being sandwiched between my husband and my furry little mutt Edna, so maybe it was just as well. It will become clearer later why this information is important.

I got out of bed and started getting the stuff I should have laid out last night together. Bike, water bottles, Clif bar, fruit snacks, cycling shorts & top, boyshort underwear, sports bra, cycling socks (not really but they said I [heart] my [dog] on 'em and I thought they would bring me luck), cycling shoes, wallet, phone, camera, house keys. I went into the bathroom and washed off yesterday's mascara, walked back out to the living room and put on fresh mascara and all-over sunscreen, SPF 70 on my face and SPF 30 everywhere else. All this time I was walking around naked and then I looked out my balcony and saw some people watching me in a truck parked outside my apartment. Got dressed.

About 6:00am, I decided I needed caffeine, made a latte, ate the Clif bar, drank the latte, played with Edna, meditated, read "Effective Cycling" on Time Trials one more time. Put on my socks and shoes, cycling gloves, helmet. Said goodbye to Edna, Mel and Mike. Somehow it was 7:00am before I left the house. When I set my alarm I knew I'd be lagging but I thought I'd hop out of bed rather than drag it out for 2 snooze periods. I knew I'd have to hustle a bit to get down there on time and I had rather wanted to "stroll" down there and warm up gently. It did feel good though, zooming down Victoria Ave with little traffic and only the thick air pushing back at me.

I got down to "registration" at 7:30am, but there was nobody there! Instead of freaking out, I headed over to where I read the "starting line" would be. I kept thinking I saw other cyclists in front of me but I think it was just my imagination because when I finally encountered the other riders and trial organizers, it was 7:43am and I was LATE. It's a reoccuring theme in my life, the lateness. I'm working on improving in that area of my life.

Luckily, they let me register anyway. A half-sheet form and $5 later, I was known as rider 115 (Kayla) and I was wearing my matching orange jersey and Mike's orange sunglasses, right down there in the orange groves where we got married. The volunteers ask me if I have a goal. I tell them that it was too much work to make a projection and calculate it and I didn't let myself lose any sleep over it last night. I think they were surprised but they agreed that it was better to be well rested.

I started eating my fruit snacks. It was hard to stay calm. It was only 7:45am by my watch and I had nothing to do until 8:00 when the trial was scheduled to start. So I started disassembling my bike. I took everything off that I could: water bottles, front/rear lights, watch and routesheet clip, bag with tools/spare parts. On second thought, I decided to keep one water bottle. I don't know why but later on I was glad I had it. I started watching the ants, hustling in synchronicity along in discrete paths across a dead palm frond. I started thinking about how this race would be just me & the road without anyone to draft behind. Yikes.

Since I still had time I started doing Yoga. This helped my nervousness to dissapate, to get my mind focused, and to get limber from the ride over. It felt good to do some deep breathing. I wonder if anyone has designed a set of stretching exercises for cyclists that can be done using the bicycle as a prop. If not, someone should.

Next thing I knew, it was time to line up and we were told a few things about the route. Pothole here, wide turn there, have fun. There were sixteen riders and I was second to last. So I'm standing there. And standing there. I do a few circles in the street. Car up. Circle again. Car back. Back in line. Standing there. I started talking to rider 116, who had followed me down Victoria in the morning. I told him that he's going to be following me all race too because there's no way I'm letting him pass. I decided it right then.

People started coming across the finish line. It was so exciting! I was cheering for them but I got in trouble because the timer and the secretary couldn't hear each other on either side of the start/finish line. But it was cool to see the other riders come in hard. There was a family of spectators with a cowbell that totally made me smile. The other two lady riders (besides me) were neck and neck, I'd say that was the most dramatic finish of all.

When there were about 5 riders ahead of me, I started to realize that it was time. There was no way that I was going to be able to quit. I was in the queue and it was inevitable that I would be giving it my all in a couple minutes. All I could think about was that I had to pee. Why did I drink that latte? Should I go now or later? Maybe I drank too much of my water? I don't want to feel cramped down there during the trial... So I said it outloud. "I have to pee." Rider 116 says "I'll hold your bike, go in the orange groves." Guess what I did...

I came back out and two other guys went in! I guess I started a trend or maybe we were all nervous. Two riders ahead of me. One rider ahead of me. Rider 115, are you ready? Yes. Secretary, are you ready? 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Go! I was hauling as fast as I could. That may have been silly. I got to the first turn and had to slow down quite a bit. Then I hustled to the next turn and had to slow down again. I was facing gravel, potholes and a large dump truck full of concrete in the oncoming lane (although stopped at a stop sign). It was intimidating and I slowed down a lot. Coming around the turn I saw the hill ahead of me and thought "maybe I should have strategized a bit more on my gearing here." But it didn't really matter.

I kept my cadence high and my breathing deep and regular. I put my upper body in a comfortable but somewhat lowered position for most of the hill. Towards the end, but before the turn, it gets steeper and I started to hurt. I thought, "maybe I burned up too much on the ride over here." Rounding the turn, I kept my cadence high and tried to visualize myself just hauling down the final straightaway and not letting 116 catch me. This is where I really opened up.

My thoughts returned to me when I saw a car on my left, wanting to turn onto the street I was on. Luckily, he saw me, but unluckily he was going my way. I decided to use it to make me go faster. I kicked it into a higher cadence and higher gear until I saw that sweet finish line. When it was clearly in view, I spun even faster and started really gulping air. Whew, when I rolled through the finish I was so amazed with myself. I didn't want to cry or anything, I just wanted to cool down and roll on home. I didn't really care about my time because I had no expectation to begin with. I finished 3 miles in 9 minutes 13 seconds which translates to 19.5 mph. That exceeds any previous speeds I've loosely documented so I'm happy with it. Now I have a time to beat. And 115 finished before 116.

When all entrants had crossed the finish line (including some of the volunteers) we took a group photo. I can't wait to see it because I know I'll have a glowing smile on my face. And I'll be surrounded by a truly great group of people.

One last topic, my knees hurt. I'm icing them now. I wish I wasn't. Any advice?

Life Lessons

So, having successfully completed my first Century ride yesterday, I wanted to sit down today and recount some of the things I realized during the ride.

(1) wanting to do something and being motivated/committed enough to finish it are 2 different things

(2) you have to take/ask for advice from people older and more experienced than you, your survival depends on it

(3) setting unrealistic goals doesn't do anyone any good

(4) a positive mental outlook is your most valuable asset

(5) each teammember should operate both independently and interconnectedly at all times, both autonomy/independence and communication/interreliance are important for team success

(6) "the price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi


I know I had some other good revelations but I didn't have a pen/paper to write them as I was riding and I was so focused on "Stayin' Alive" that I didn't have the brainpower to really remember.

I'm showing below the elevation profile, which you can see is relatively flat (1% grade at most). I've labeled some of the parts I remember most vividly.

(A) 6:45am, mile 11, When Cliff went down and bloodied his knee up, Edith and I taped a Maxi Pad to it

(B) 7:40am, mile 22, A second group joined us at the Corona West Metrolink station

(C) 8:20am, mile 29, A third group joined us at Featherly Park (see picture on Facebook)

(D) 9:13am, mile 42, Angel's Stadium/Honda Center, almost to the OCEAN!!! (see picture)

(W) 9:58am, mile 56, my first fiew of the pacific. (see pictures)

(E) 1:40pm, mile 84, The HOT part of the day (103 deg F), we took a 15 min shade break (a non-scheduled stop)

(F) ???, mile 92, The BIG HILL which was to me the most brutal part of the ride, after which I couldn't cool my body down at all. Luckily, my friend Tom told me to squirt myself with water and that helped immensely

(G) ???, mile 100, The Farmer Boys rest stop (also non-scheduled) where we sat inside in a wonderfully comfortable and AIR CONDITIONED building drinking ice water and eating beef jerky

(H) ???, mile 106, The last painful stretch where I also could not stay cool. I used almost all the water we picked up at Farmer Boys just to douse my arms and legs repeatedly

We got back to Mission Burger in downtown Riverside at ~4:30pm. At the time I felt I could have gone further but definitely did not want to face any more hills or heat.

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91961&id=660124126&l=bfe7d29b93

My first CENTURY is tomorrow!

Well, since this is a blog about biking, it would be unfortunate if I didn't write about how I'm feeling right now, the day before I do my first century. Why am I nervous? Well I think it's because I'm afraid I won't be able to finish. Or maybe I will finish and then I'll scare myself at how tough I've become. Or maybe I'll end up in the hospital because I'll finish but I will seriously injure myself in the process. See how MY MIND SPINS around every possibility?

I did some good meditating this morning, wherein I realized that I need to focus myself and not be distracted by all the crazy energies going on around me. I'm doing OK and I need to feel that everything is fine in my world, because the truth is that IT IS FINE. I don't know why I have a nagging feeling that things are not fine, but it may have something to do with my position at school/work. I can't seem to keep focused.

My boss identified that I have a lack of motivation. At first, I was hurt by that comment, but with time I realized that RESEARCH IS HARD. That's OK, everyone understands that. But I have pretty much forgotten all the wonderful ways being successful and productive in graduate school (right now) will improve my life. That's what she meant. I've been addressing areas of my life that I had been deficient in, and that is hard too, but I need to really get motivated about school and commit myself for the remainder.

I am hoping that the long road of graduate school can be seen as an analogy for an endurance sport, hence the CENTURY I'm doing tomorrow might provide me with some insight that will help me in other areas of my life. Also my research involves studying plant metabolism under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, which is something of interest to athletes as well.

On a side note, my dear husband Mike insisted that I get $300 worth of cycling gear for my birthday (July 6). Bless his heart. Don't ask about the photo.

Clipless pedals

So, I finally got my first donated gear and it is all the more special because it comes from someone I love and respect very much, my cousin Josef Nygaard. He gave me a pair of Diadora Geko road shoes (men's size 7) that he had outgrown several years ago. They turned out to be perfect for me because they are already "broken in" but not completely broken down. To match them, I got Shimano 505 Clipless Pedals from my local bike shop (Anthony's Cyclery).

I have already been warned from experienced cyclists that they really are entry level pedals, recommended because they are "perfect for first timers" due to their doublesidedness, and they are not really suitable for intense training. They are advertised as being stylish, durable, and affordable, I got the whole system for under $60. I've been told that they are appropriate for "commuting and easy riding" and I have also been told that on intense rides I will experience the "burning diamond" of heat generated in the small area where the shoe contacts the pedal. I'm hoping to train on them for at least 6 months before upgrading to something more professional. If I don't notice any problems, I can just keep them.

I've already enjoyed a couple easy rides back/forth to work (3) and several leisurely rides around Riverside (10.26 mi last Saturday and 32.96 mi this Tuesday) and I haven't noticed any serious problems except for the first time I clipped in and panicked when I tried to clip out and stop. Unfortunately, I tipped straight over, but I hear this happens alot.

It had been said to me over and over that pedal systems conserve energy, helping the cyclist ride longer, stronger, and faster. So far I've noticed the benefits most on challenging hills that previously were a lot of work, but now seem downright fun. It's definitely easier to sprint uphill. As for flat ground, being clipped in helps when trying to maintain a steady but quick pace. I do have a bit of anxiety about going downhill (coasting) and being clipped in. In fact, I had a near collision at the bottom of the Canyon Crest hill (near the golf course) where a truck almost turned right into me. Luckily I was able to slow enough and he saw me and stopped also. Glad I didn't completely panic and fall over again. I did experience a tiny bit of fishtailing of my rear tire so I guess I need to consult "Effective Cycling" for more adventageous braking protocols.