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Showing posts from January 4, 2009

My new ride

First off, before I talk about my new special girl in my life (BLACK HAWK), I have great news... After 2 years of racing Category 2 and trying to upgrade, Karel was finally given his Category 1 card! Unlike in triathlons where we all race together but are scored either overall or in our age group, cycling ranks you by category. In order to upgrade (Category 5 is the beginner category and 1 is near the pro level) you must have a certain number of points, based on how you placed in races, how many people were in the race and the type of race. There is a Pro level but that is what you see on versus and on other cycling webpage. Karel was having a great year in 2007 until he got hit by a car and spent several weeks resting his fractured collar bone. It was in 2008 that Karel got his coach (Shawn) and a team (Lidner Capital) and everything started to come together. We spent almost every weekend (so it seemed) in GA for the bigger cycling races and Karel raced almost all of speedweek and eve

Go to soup!

I talk about my go-to meal all the time but how about a go-to soup!!! Even for us Floridians who are braving our 49 degree early mornings (brrrr) this soup is packed with vegetables and very little sodium for a perfect comfort dinner. Ingredients Any chopped veggies you choose (mushrooms, chickpeas, beans, corn, onions, green peppers) 2 small red potatoes (diced). *you can also use frozen cubed hasbrowns (unseasoned) 1/4 cup egg noodles (not cooked) 3 diced Roma tomatoes 1 can low sodium vegetarian soup (for the flavor) Vegetarian or lean meat 1 tbsp. olive oil Water 1. Fill up a medium-size pot with a little more than 1/2 water. Add can of soup and olive oil. (be sure factor in adding your veggies before adding in the water. If you want more of a stew, add less water). 2. Turn burner to medium heat. 3. Add veggies, tomatoes, noodles and potato to soup. 4. Add vegetarian meat (I recommend the Boca crumbles, about a cup) or lean meat (de-thawed chicken breast, sliced). 5. Cook for about

Black Hawk

Nope, I didn't just rescue another animal. But, after selling my Seduza (I know, so sad...she is out in Colorado braving the snow), my 650 Zipp wheels and Karel's first mountain bike we had a little play money. Karel wanted us to have the same size wheel and after struggling to change many flats on my 650 wheels (lucky none in a race) it was time for me to go a little bigger. My road bike has 700 wheels and I feel really comfortable on Blue so I wasn't worried about the change in size for my tri bike Well, here she is....some of her. Karel has always wanted to custom build a bike for me that would fit me. He also wanted to pick his own parts for my bike, rather than paying a heck of a lot of money for a complete bike. Karel and I both know that any bike will be good for me so long as I ride it hard and it is safe. I am not very high tech and obsessed with the latest and greatest so I am not too picky when it comes to brake levers, gears or stems but to Karel, he wants to bu

New Year, New You

My latest article on IronGirl.com (subscribe for your FREE newsletter)... New Year, New You Welcome to 2009! With the New Year upon us, it is time to make some resolutions and changes. As you remember the past and look toward the future, make sure your expectations are realistic. If there are areas in your life that you hope to change in 2009, take time to reflect on what was and was not successful in 2008. If you repeat your actions, you will receive the same results. The idea of creating a New Year resolution may seem simple in your mind, but it must be practical and possible in order to be achieved. Change can be very rewarding, so start with an intention and develop steps to accomplish your overall goal. Losing weight, eating healthier and improving your fitness are popular New Year resolutions. Making these changes may seem difficult at first, but follow the tips below and you will reach your goal: (In no particular order) 1. Pack your lunch 2. Eat out no more than 3 times a month

Love/Hate

I've spoken many times about my love/hate relationship with my bike. I LOVE riding my bike I hate it when it hurts. On thursday morning Karel talked me into the Penny Farms ride with the Open road cycling group. I've hung on a few times for the 40 mile, saturday morning ride but never a Penny farms ride. The ride goes south from our place, then west over a bridge, then through several windy roads (not hilly, just a lot of turns) and then after a long stretch you go north and then east and then south again home. Yes, it makes no sense unless you live here but even I live here and I have no idea where we went. Sadly, I wasn't feeling my best for the ride that I looked forward to all week. My pectorial muscle (right) has been giving me a little grief over the past few days and I contribute it to my fall during the marathon. Perhaps I didn't fully recover after the race and it has really been getting on my nerves when I swim. It is fine when I run but the bike also hurts a