pretty snow covered Kettles

Hank and me decided that biking is wearing us out a bit mentally.... PLus with all the snow and the fact that we love being outside. ...
We got us some classic cross country ski's. THere are all kind of ski's and the cross country divides into classical and skate ski. I thought classical was going to be more practical for us (and easier) since we don't have too many trails with skate ski potential and we are super close to Desplaines River trail, a flat straight limestone path that runs for 50 miles in an out and back.
I think I have been on ski's now about 10 times in my entire life. (including Alpine ) But I am taking pretty well to the sport and am finding myself getting better and better every time I go out. Hank gave me some great pointers from the books he reads and I am also watching the races on You Tube which shows womens' and men's classical ski'ing. Its good to watch them because they show the technique and the more you do it the more you realize how good those men and women are!

Hank just got new ski's this winter and has NEVER done it before, as per usual he takes off like he's been doing the sport forever. He's an At'leet. When Hank gets into a sport, suddenly it is 100% immersion. Read the books, read blogs, technical sites, study the sport's aspects. Then go train. Experiment and tune it up. THen go and go and go. Its 3-4 hours every time we go out and with the holiday's long weekends, we got us three days in a row of sking. Three days of abusing new muscle groups. I do agree in one aspect he preaches: The best thing to do when you learn a new sport is to IMMERSE yourself in it and pretend every weekend is like being at a camp.

One sport I never liked was running. Mostly because my form is awful and I am really lazy about my stride. I run like an injured giraffe.
BUT...the problems I have with running: long lope, lazy long strider, bouncy trouncy, actually kind of help me in cross country ski'ing!!! At least in some aspects.
There is just so much to think about and fortunately at least the base of my fitness is already there, all I have to do is just work on all the techniques.
Knees bent...dig the poles close to the foot (but not IN the foot).push off...lengthen the glide... back heel up...toe push...Swoosh the knee forward.. push the poles......gallump and glide, gallump and glide... glide...gallump gallump.

I can't keep up with Hank yet but I am at least keeping a steady enough pace to get my heart rate up evenly and hold it steady for a long time. THAT in and of itself is the accomplishment I am most proud of. The local trails are ok but we needed to go out and try a hand at some REAL trails.

Nothing beats Wisconsin for Cross Country ski'ing. THey call the Kettles the "Colorado of the Great Lakes''. Well named and if you have not been to Kettle South and are looking for something new to try, I highly recommend a weekend day trip up to the SHack in LaGrange. Rent some ski's and give it a go. You still need a trail pass to get in but its worth it all and still cheaper than a downhill/Alpine ski'ing trip. Talk about Beautiful. Snow covered trees and endless views. Can this be only an hour north of Chicago??

http://www.travelwisconsin.com/item_detail/Backyard_Bike_and_Ski_Shop.aspx

Well once that snow hit us this weekend we went up to the Kettle Morraine near the John Muir trail. THey have some incredible trails in Wisconsin. Just endless miles and miles of trails that are reserved ONLY for ski's and no hikers or dogs allowed on the trail to mess it all up. At the Southern Kettle, they have the trails set up with classic tracks are on one side and the skate ski'ers have a perfectly groomed path on the other side. The tracks were nearly perfect. The skate ski'ers say that this snow was making their trail a blissful paradise. Across the street they have the hiking trails and snow shoe trails. Talk about a perfect set up for winter fun! Everyone is happy. I love Wisconsin!!!!

The classic ski'ing was tough. I was feeling quite the fool every time I went down a hill and barely hung on or went crashing on my rear. I was covered in snow by the time I was done with my first trail. It was the 'white' trail and was marked 'easy'. HA! But I stayed in the tracks most of the time and learned to herringbone with the ski's up the hills as best I could. WHEW! what a workout. By my second pass on the 'green' trail I was doing much better. I came down the hills in the tracks most of the time, knees bent, poles going everywhere behind me and a very quiet 'almost' scream that I tried hard not to bellow out in the quiet of the trees. If I made it down the hill upright I"d find my breath and move back in the tracks as fast as I could. Hank would shout something cocky at me like "isn't it exhilerating?' when he knew perfectly well I was nearly having a heart attack on the fast cornering descents. He was too far in front of me to get bopped by a pole for that.
Sometimes the hill descents were very steep. I'd start at the top determined to stay in the track and I"d do what Hank said and just look at nothing but where I want my ski's to be. I'd be picking up speed and suddenly my ski would slide out of the track, the other soon to follow and I"d find myself losing control on the snow packed slickness of the skate ski trail. I'd try to unweight one leg and push my weight harder on the inside leg. ( I think that is how to do it?) Aiming away from the apex of the turn at the bottom, I"d put my eyes where I want to go. But...Every fast descent seemed to have a turn at the bottom. Every turn had a tree to aim at. Every tree had a huge snow bank to land in. ....and at the bottom of the corners in the snow banks near the tree's of the apices of many of the swiftest corners on the green trail you can still see my butt imprint. They will no doubt be there till the next snow fall covers them over, at least until we come again so I can put new ones in their place.

After an hour or so I got a rythm. I was huffing and puffing on the flats and getting a great rythm going.
The trail has wonderfully groomed skate ski'ing and the expert ski'ers were blogging about how magical the skate ski'ing is up at the Kettles with the perfect snow conditions for their sport. People were driving in from Iowa and all over to ski up there at the Kettles. Despite the busy parking lot it is surprisingly quiet and empty inside the trail. (except for once when I fell pretty hard and Hank said he could hear me yelping all across the woods).

This is certainly a sport you can rely on no matter how old you are.

My hip flexors and quads are soooo sore I can hardly lift my toes to get my socks on in the morning!!! I had to pick up my leg to get it out of the car.
It is a wonderful workout and I am so excited I got into this new sport. WHy did I wait so long to try this sport ????
I love it!
MORE SNOW!!!

NO FAIR!!!!!!!!!

ALL the snow is melted!!!! Its cold and windy. I wish you could just HEAR the wind outside!!! If you live near Chicago then you can hear it plenty fine.
FULL MOOON too! wow. (Its sort of like Santa's LED)

ALL the snow hit KANSAS and Iowa...... and NEBRASKA!

:P NO FAIR.

I hope you guys go outside and play . You are snerts if you all stay inside shopping today. Get out, enjoy the snow if you can. :)

BULLY.

Maybe the trail is melted and we can ride on it. HAHA ....

I am mad at whoever is in charge of winter storms. hmmmpfh.
But hey...Moods are like getting all those Spam-Emails. You can pick and choose what to read or what to delete. SO.....delete the bad mood and OUT we go.

GRRRRRRRRR!!...CHICAGO GIRLS ARE TOUGH.

SO what if its a 20 degree 40 mph gusting winds day!! BRING IT!

Oh hey. Weather.com has some maps up just for Christmas. A 'White Christmas probability map" there is a 100% chance that Chicagoland will have at least ONE inch of snow on the ground by Christmas (yay santa can land on the roofs!)

OK...actually...We are going to the club to lift, climb, maybe spin and sit in a nice warm jacuzzi. heeeeeee. (some tough girl , huh??)

:)

Almost Christmas!

well. I am here, healthy at last and riding my bike on the trainer. Hank has been taking me out snow shoeing. I used to enjoy tromping thru the woods in the thick stuff. (avoiding the ski tracks!) Hank comes along and makes me run. The whole way.
So I ran in my snow shoes. MAN that is HARD! I made it 30 minutes then off and on for an hour and a half total. I had to rest more and more but I found if I shortened my steps a lot it helped. My hip flexors are so sore. Tuesday I was so sore I could hardly move.
GOOD STUFF!
I hope the snow stays so we can play again this weekend. Well if not then I guess its back on the trainer.


If you are a woman, then you probably got all your shopping done for christmas (except anyone that was doing Nationals..they gets a free pass on being timely for christmas). Guys...well..you usually wait till the last minute, right? Zappos does over nite shipping for FREE so you still can go to Zappos and get clothes or shoes. (how do they do that?) haha.
But there are few bargains on that site. Free return shipping.

Check out the Nike store. Things are ON sale ....you might find something for yourself at this point. If you want something cool for yourself, click on woman's apparel it has a warm hat with headphones IN the hat. I have not seen that before. For running of course. It does not seem to be on sale though. NO clue how to wash it. Oh.. The men's is sold out but they have sporty hats with headphones with team emblems.
Ours is cooler. : )
But hey...If you have a small pin head you can fit in the woman's just fine. :)
click on http://www.nike.com/index.jhtml?l=nikestore,home#l=nikestore,grid,_grid,f-10001+12004&re=US&co=US&la=EN

My particular favorite on NIke was the PARACHUTE!!!!!!!! Can we get this for the bike. I mean I have always always wanted this. haha. Maybe it will work to slow Hank down...ok probably better for running.
http://www.nike.com/index.jhtml?l=nikestore,home#l=nikestore,grid,_pdp,cid-1/gid-154380/pid-154380,_grid,f-10001+12003/pn-3&re=US&co=US&la=EN



OH...I got this image from a runnign store that had other neat things to make you stronger. Cool stuff!!
http://fastnationdirect.com/resistance_training.html



Course if I got the EXTRA LARGE parachute...this would probably happen to ME.....








NIke is fun. Usually can find good stuff but kinda pricey so a sale is nice for a change. If your order goes over $175 on Nike you get free shipping. MAKE CERTAIN AT THAT POINT TO ORDER at least FIVE Medicine BALLS!!!!!!!! haha. I am so evil.

Hmmm. actually I think I can go to sports authority and get Hank a medicine ball. THAT would be nice. but then he probably is reading this so he wo'nt be surprised. It would be fun to wrap, though.

Ooooh sports authority.... I really want inversion shoes to hang on the high bar of the weight rack. But every year I put that off and don't get them. I am afraid I'll be home sick one day and play on them and get stuck. I wonder if anyone has gotten stuck in their inversion shoes for real and hung there till their head exploded from all the blood pooling up.
But maybe it will make me taller. Hmmmmmm No.....never mind. Look at these men just hanging there.......oooh do'nt you just want to go up and TICKLE THEM???? TICKLE..TICKLE..TICKLE


NIX on the inversion shoe's. maybe next year.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!!!

Kiss your family! Hug your buds and think about ONE good thing in your life you are grateful for. RIGHT NOW!

last image was from this site: http://www.ihpra.org/Inversion%20Exercises.htm has some inversion excersizes in case you are into that. :)

Deadly bug!!!!!

Virus Starts Like a Cold But Can Turn Into a KILLER!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001630_pf.html scary , huh!?
I really think I had this. I swear I had this!!!!

"This virus has the capability of causing severe respiratory illness in people of all ages, regardless of their medical condition," said John Su, a disease investigator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Texas, where the largest outbreak is tapering off at an Air Force base after 10 months. Other outbreaks have been reported in Washington state and South Carolina, along with a single case in an infant in New York City.
"What people need to understand is that there is a virus out there that can make you very, very sick," Su said. "If you have a bad cold and your symptoms keep getting worse, go see your doctor. This is nothing to be necessarily alarmed about. But it is important to be aware that this bug is out there."

HEY..... You CAN get a vaccination for pneumonia. If this story freaks you out a bit you can ask your doctor about it. This has been a really bad cold and flu season for some people , not just me! Its a battle!!

Final Chicago Cross Illinois State Championships

WHEW!!!! The last race.

SNOW!!!!!

One could say that an important thing you can do to stay YOUNG...is to keep trying NEW things. !

I LOVE CYCLO -CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The one thing I love about cyclo crossing is that you get out what you put in. If you train hard you get it back at you in dividends. UNfortunately despite all the enthusiasm.... My first season of cross was marred, scarred and damaged by being ILL. SICK. Bronchitis or whatever it was. I swear I had a version of that nasty nasty pnemonia going around. I am soooo glad I never spread it to Anyone. ! I love people! I do! Okokok... I hate people that drive slow and hog the left hand lane without a conscience to pass...but other than that..I love everyone else!.

I am so proud of the Verdigris team.
Brian WON the Championship jersey for the Illinois cat 3 Men!
Wayne WON the men's 40+! He flew like a stone skipping on water right over all the snow and ice. Tim got second and Chris got third. Together those guys sweeeped the Illinois State Championships men's 40+. All these guys train SO hard.
They are on their way to Nationals and I wish them the BEST of luck!!!
OH! ...And fairer weather than today. (ice storms!) I am very grateful Tim asked me to race with them and to be on his team.
YES...Hank and me are totally HOOKED on this sport.
Hank came in 18th and I got 5th in my own race over all but 3rd in the championships. (the site says 4th but I think I got 5th overall there is a Katie girl that came in front of me unless she got a flat or something...?)

After being on and off and on and off sick ALL FREAKING SEASON . I was feeling so good the last few weeks . I just trained and trained and trained..... I was finally getting my legs back. Last 2 weeks I was doing hill repeats hill run ups and long nites of intervals on the wattage trainer. I was soo freaking ready! Then I got whammied with yet another cold. NO!!!! I swear!
WHAT A FREAKING SEASON! NICE, HUH???

But you know what? So what. Before every race I always thank GOD for my LIFE. It helps ground me and I just feel so much more relaxed. I am just happy that we managed to get to the race. I dragged Hank out of the house ((he was sick too and even had a bit of a temperature and had NO business racing at all) and we somehow found our way to the course and we RODE. We raced. ALL I wanted to do was finish with enough points to hold my Chicago Series podium spot. I will bleed out the eyes to finish this after trying so hard all season. I was not going to lose it all by staying home. So. HERE I was!!!

My first snowy race. I was surprised at how rideable the course was even though we had about 6 inches of snow on the ground. THey did such a nice job making the course and setting up the barricades. Turin Bike Shop set it all up. NiCe Job ~ Tough course! I have never raced on snow or ...I dont think I ever rode on snow! I didn't know how I"d do. There was a pretty formidable sledding hill plopped right in the front and center of the course. The first thing you'd do is curl around the course to jump some barricades and RUN up this hill. At the top, to the west of the hill there were kids sledding on plastic sleds and swooshing down the hill. When you climbed up and looked over to the East, (if you were pre-riding or just going slow), you could see Lake Michigan all gray and cold moving about.
Hi Lake!
Then you dove on your bike and woooshed down the north side of this long long stretch down thru a fast shallow furrow of snow that led you to the rest of the course. haha That was the funnest part!

Even though I had a GREAT start and finally got to the corner in a decent place, my best EVER in all the races I have done.... (yay me!) ...I blew it on the run up.
All those behind me just sprinted past me. grrrrrrr. wait up!

I had these different shoes on with spikes and they sure gripped the snow nice.
It was me that was slow!! I got to the top of the first run up and we had to jump on the bike and then rush down the south side into some thick snow at the bottom. The snow was deep and swishy powder-like. It had these furrows in it that reminded me of sand furrows. The furrows would redirect your wheels and it seemed to make everyone feel like they were about to bump into each other or fall over. I was not able to even clip in at all going down the first time. (different shoes) . But it didn't matter since we all had to turn around a U turn and run up the other side again. runrunrun...I am not really that slow its just that everyone else was faster. grrrrr. (again grrr) ... That alone cost me 4 positions. That's what I get! That's what I get. I think there were 9 or 10 women in the entire race? Pretty big field considering the weather and conditions.

I shoulda' run more, I"m such a lazy butt.
I got behind all these other gals (faster running gals) and was sort of stuck for a while trying to pass people. I was braking braking..waiting to pass .... It took me two or three or..Ok ...four laps. oh and two crashes. I crashed twice (in the same place~ doh!) But I finally got free! .... gogogo. But....too late.... my race was over. The other gals were long gone and I don't have sonic rockets on my legs like Hank does.
I Took 5th over all and third in the championship. I lost out to four amazing and wonderfully talented Cyclo Cross women and managed to eek past 4 other very talented and aggressive cyclo cross women.
I learned a HEAP of information that I will hopefully take with me for next year!

Well....
It was sooo fun to see everyone one last time before the indoor- training sessions start. I have a feeling that this year the indoor training is just going to FLY!

I tell you what. All the people coming out just to watch was incredible and FUN. :) Made me even more happy I went out and DID IT! Lots of tooting horns and cowbells. Great time even with the cold and snow and ice and wicked weather approaching.
I laughed a great deal and THAT is the best medicine of all!

Hank did a great job preparing me for the race and snow. He had some wonderful tips for me and set me up superbly, as usual ,on my machine. I have to admit I never pre-rode, never raced in snow before and was completely clueless. Wayne had given me some great advice for the downhill part.
One thing I LOVE about this sport.... is that you GET OUT what you PUT IN. If you train and train and train....it all pays off in the end. But I tell you what, As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, it is tougher and tougher to keep that intensity up into the winter months. I know the competition I was up against train immensely and are super talented. It really showed sunday in that snow and slippery conditions just how talented they were.

I have no regrets except that I was sick way too much and sometimes tend to look at all my mistakes more than my accomplishments. But the whole bottom line is that doing new things keeps you young. I learned a LOT and have some take home lessons for next year to try.

KEEP RIDING! See you all in March!

Hey its Snowing!!!

OK. I have not raced. Its yukky and cold out. I've been hiding inside. I"m in hibernation.

I got an email telling me what wonderful fun the Hale's Corner race was. :) Devon won the Wisconsin State Race overall. (she is from Chicago so you have to be from Wisconsin to get a Wisconsin title... I have to check out who won that! ) Here is the latest picture of what I missed: CHRIS LOMBARDO in the snow (rain coming down) . He has been racing mountain bikes for over 20 years and has not discovered KNEE WARMERS yet! ((Italians))

THe men's 40+ at Hales Corner in Wisconsin had Tim in a comfortable lead during most of the race . He said that he got a bit complacent trying to just 'not crash' and rode a steady but careful race in order to win. He was just concentrating on having a clean ride IN THE RAIN...the FREEZING COLD RAIN....when a guy caught him and passed him. Here are some pictures. (You got to click on the site to see them which redirects you off my blog) http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=692961 in picture 6, Tim's face is gritted with ferocity as he barrels after the 'one that got away'. This is just before the finish line. You can see that out of 9 pictures only 3 show them actually riding a bike. HA!!!

2nd - TIM!
6th - Wayne
7th - Lombardo

Brian did the 30+ and got 6th. Great Job!!! Team Verdigris did VERY well at the Wisconsin State Championships.

I looked in the mirror and decided. " GIRL...you are a 'CYCLO-CROSS POSER'." I am missing out by avoiding the foul weather races. Granted though, I have been SICK so much the past few months that the thought of pushing myself thru freezing rain just sounds duncey....

This is probably a right of passage for any new cyclo crosser. If you can't get out and race in snow and ice then you can't really call yourself a cyclo cross racer. It has little to do with winning and everything to do with showing up and DOING it. Here is a list I compiled of what I think are the 'cyclo cross rites of passage'.... (once you get past the barricades, little ditches, slickery asphalt, sand traps, hill run ups and fast leafy corners and MYSTERY BRUISES ...) These are the things I know I must do to be a 'real' cyclo crosser. Until then...yup. I"m just a WANNABE.

1) mud.

2) deeper slicky or creek-like mud

3) cold ( I done this if you count 35 degrees)

4) snow and mud and cold

5) ice and snow and frigid 'freeze your snot to your face' cold

www.pedalpushersonline.com/?CID=966 shows some frigid conditions. Nice blog!

16 more weeks till Road Race season!!! :)