Here comes the Sun

Finally turned a corner on all the pain and tiredness. I don't feel it as much now, due to monitoring my nutrition before during and after riding. I rode 75 miles one weekend and throughout the week and again this past weekend for a total of 210 miles in one week. Not bad. That's what, nearly half to LA? Granted it won't be that easy but it felt good. I did the day of ride. The first ever fully supported day of the ride. It's supposed to show you what life is like on the ride. We rode from San Francisco to Woodside. I think. I never really know. We get directions but not a map. If that makes sense. So you never really know what town you're in unless you ask. Basically I put my head down and pedal. It was a lot easier that day in one respect, there was always someone to follow. I found throughout the course of training that I was always too fast for the main group and not fast enough for the few in front. Usually those people wanted to ride alone anyway so it makes sense. But there were a lot of times where I circled an intersection waiting for someone from the group to come along. There was even a time in the south bay where I got hopelessly off course and missed a rest stop and then again a turn off that would have saved me 4 miles. Those times weren't my fault, the directions were incorrect. Usually the directions were exact. This was the only time that happened. But still, getting lost after almost 70 miles is like having a weight tied to you. You start to feel all that tiredness creep in. I also noticed that I felt like crying that time. Hmm. It was like being a kid again and getting frustrated about something. I sometimes have those moments. It's rare but they exist.

I had one yesterday as I was trying desperately to find parking near a new chiropractors office. The whole day had been one struggle after another. I finally called the office of the chiropractor and explained that I was already late, couldn't find parking and realizing that this may not happen today. The woman on the other end said this, "Today is your lucky day, " really? "we had a cancellation, why don't you find a spot, go for a little walk, maybe get some coffee and come back here by 5:30?" So I did. Walking around the Marina I felt the sun on my face and accepted the fact that it could be worse. Yes, based on everything I know about myself, my job, my preferences, I'll probably never have a house like the ones in the Marina. I'll probably never be able to buy my mother a little place near me. I will probably always be single. BUT, I can feel the sun on my face. Right then I saw a cupcake place and went in. It could have been worse :)

Gels Goos and Bars Oh My

I can attest that I've tried them all...or at least all the ones that I could get my hands on. Here's what I discovered based on my own body type. Anything made by Hammer Gel makes my stomach sick. I get bloated and gassy. Gross. Steer clear. Cytomax is good. Especially the Tropical Fruit. Stay away from the Grape unless you really like grape flavor. Those cheap ones, I'm blanking the name. They come in a tube and you pop them into a drink. They do nothing for me. Which is perfect cause they taste like nothing.

Bars. I've always eaten bars. Especially cliff bars. Coming from the climbing world who doesn't. But I found something better. PB&J. Yep. I'm going kiddie on ya. These are perfect. I got the idea from a client of my who competed in the IronMan. She told me to pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into little pieces and eat a piece every 20 mins. I changed that to every 30. It works like a charm and so much cheaper!! Plus when you're in the middle of nowhere and you bite into one you feel like you're eating a gourmet meal. No joke. I've never felt that with a bar.

Nutrition

I decided I would try every single brands of energy drink, electrolyte replacements, gels, goos and bars. I've also been actively asking people what they like. How they train. Most of the answers are too vague for me. Some people buy what's around. Just around. They don't think about how their bodies or stomaches for that matter, will react. They don't care what drink they drink, how much sugar it has or if it actually helps them. I found links online like this one http://www.ultracycling.com/nutrition/eatingselfsupportrides.html

Which can sort of point you in the right direction. Then I started talking to my clients who are serious athletes. I found an article about Nutrition for Ultra Endurance Athletes. The basic guideline for hydration before, during and after an event are below:

Before
16 oz. 2 hours prior, then 4-8 oz. 5-15 mins prior to start

During
5-10 oz. every 15-20 mins

After
16-20 oz per lb of body weight lost


This may seem challenging but it's necessary to maintaining your hydration level.

It's happening

Since I last talked to my rep I've been pestering everyone I know about fundraising. What does it take to make people donate? That's been one of the questions. Well I found an answer. Not much. The people I've expected to donate take their time. Meanwhile in a surprising fashion many others have jumped on board. I was nervous about it. But it's been a good experience. There was just one person who reacted adversely. I'm going to tell you what happened just so you realize that this can and does happen and shouldn't effect how you continue fundraising.

I went into my bank of clients to find email addresses and came up with a short list of those people who I've talked to about ALC. I sent the fundraising emails and waited. Within 20 mins I had a my first donation! 50 bucks! Woo hoo! Then I got a nasty email. One of my clients lashed out at me. Asking things like, did I think he was made of money? and just because he teaches at Stanford and his kid goes to a fancy college doesn't mean he has extra income.

It would have been better if I just ignored my email. If you can't donate you can't donate. I didn't think about whether he was made of money. I knew he was someone who came to see me regularily and knew my proclivities about asking for cash.
The weird thing is, he donated 50 bucks. Yeah. So why? He felt guilty. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to thank him in person and was supposed to see him in a few days anyway so I waited. I got another email. Did I get his money or not? Wow.
He came in and I treated him like I always do, with kindness, said thank you and we haven't spoken about it since.

So what can I take away from this? Some people have issues around money.
My friend Lianne says "what did you expect? People can say anything under the sun." She was right.

Fundraising

I have to raise 3,000 by June 1st. That's a lot of money. This is one of the things I've been dreading. On my own I've spent a total of $1127 just to get started!! I'm starting to think that these types of things are more for the wealthy people of the world.
I hate asking for money. My job is piecemeal. Every time someone gets a massage from me I have to ask for money. Which is fine. But sometimes I hate it. I wish I could just get paid from someone else and not have to ask my clients for money. What I do is expensive. I know it, they know it. Insurance doesn't cover it generally. But it really should be considered something everyone does to maintain their health. It's the only thing I've found that keeps my body from falling apart. For me, my work being so physical, I have to have massages. Otherwise I can't keep working.

I'm going to have to ask my friends and clients to donate to my cause. Just to be sure I called my ALC rep Hillary.

"what if I can't raise enough money?" I said. "We have a program where we give you an extra few months to pay it off" she replied. Hmm. So I still have to fully raise the money. "Yes." The money apparently gets used immediately. So any money I raise instantly goes towards AIDS research and care. I started to feel a sinking feeling. Not because I don't want to support this wonderful program but because I'm not sure I can. There's only way to find out. I signed a contract. I'm in it.

Self Care Maniac

The knee pain and tightness all over my body intensified over the last month. It's gotten so bad that I started getting 2 massages a week for a little while there. One week it was three. A thai massage,(60$) wasn't enough. A korean massage? (65$) Not quite. Finally I went back to Michelle Malloy in SF (80$). She's great. Probably would have needed more from her too but I had done as much as physically possible to loosen up. I wasn't doing enough apparently.

You will need a foam roller (32$) if you ever plan on doing long distance work outs. Or if you don't but you have a serious amount of tension. I wanted to die but things are easing up now.

Also you must soak in hot water. My favorite places to do this are Imperial Spa (20$) and Kabuki (free with ALC card!)

Do it. Like it. Love it.

I over did it

Maybe it was all the spin classes. The new shoes (100$ REI)with clip in cleats (25$). The new bike. I don't know. But I feel a lot of tightness in my knees. In fact it hurts to bend and turn. Like they're sort of fragile. Tell me if I'm wrong but I don't think I'm supposed to feel this way.I suspect that clipping in activates your quads in a way that's different from when you have completely free movement of the foot. Every time you lift your leg you're pulling on the quad. Which, is most efficient but hard to adapt to.