TexasFire

Okay...I heart cycling jerseys. I don't heart farmers tan, though! I got major farmers tan last Saturday. I need a pair of sugar shorts, I guess....and do they make spaghetti-strap cycling tanks with pockets on the back? LOL If not, they need to!

Man! That is a GREAT surprise, indeed! Whatcha got in mind for new gear?

Yikes, BG! I'm glad I'm not the only brat here! (Come to think of it, MOST of us are brats, huh? :huh2:) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Birthday, J!

Thanx, J! You heart hills?!?!? I effing HATE hills! I should have known, though...that's the only ride that shows you a topographical map! It's okay...Lancaster is close enough to go train there a couple times a month. I will be ready next year like you said! I am happy to report that I have now had my first fall! After I sagged in, got back on my bike...I was about 50 yards from my truck when a car cut me off crossing a street. I slammed on my brakes hard, and couldn't unclip as fast as I braked, so over I went! I was already mad for having to sag in, then I fall...I was so pissed that I kicked my bike off of me and sent my beauty flying! TERRIBLE three-year-old temper tantrum! An old guy in his bike shorts and nothing else came running to my rescue, and after he knew I was okay said "you just took one look at handsome me and just fell over, didn't you?" We laughed, I thanked him for helping me off the ground, and I pedaled away with a few additional scrapes and bruises...but at least the bike gods were looking out for my bike while I was falling and kicking! Not a scratch on her! Oh yes, you will! You will be there THIS WEEK! (I've got my "swamie" turban on...making predictions now! LOL)

Hey, DADDY! Way to go on the run! Love the pic! You are rockin', as usual! You are my hero, Ferris Bueller! TEXGIRLY...I don't FEEL like a monster! I feel defeated! I DESPISE giving up! But thank you very much for the encouragement! And I started just like you, so keep at it! I remember just last summer that I was fighting my way through my first 7 mile ride. That's the great thing about cycling...improvement comes quickly. You're doing great! Everyone is doing so well this month! I love it! Keep it up, y'all! :huh2: Well I'm not going to try to catch up from before I lost power last week...suffice it to say that I'm keeping up my weekday workouts, one body part a day, hour and a half to two hours, went 35 miles on my bike damn near all uphill on Saturday, and went for a walk with my Lab on my regular biking trail for about 15 miles on Sunday. (My gym was at half power for days...that means half the lights worked, the rest flashed like in a disco (very annoying while working out), and NO AIR CONDITIONING! But at least I was able to get a hot shower at the gym...at home it was cold showers in the dark!) I promised my Pomeranian that he would get to go next time...I just can't handle a 65 pound mutt in one hand and a 5 pound mutt in the other all at once! LOL Since the Lancaster Country Ride kicked my ever-lovin' ass on Saturday, I decided to up the ante for my workouts in the gym. I'm back to pushing the heavy weight with the same reps and sets. Today we did legs for two hours and I darn near passed out during the kickbacks because it was so heavy. I also added two new exercises. No pain, no gain...right? I have GOT to get my legs in shape for hills on the bike. Lancaster is close enough for me to drive to a couple times a month to train on those same hills that beat me, too. That ride will not beat me again next year!

Finally got power, but don't care! 63 mile route Sagged in after 35 miles 2 hours, 17 minutes riding 1 hour, 2 minutes stopped Avg. speed this event 14.4 Usual avg. speed about 19 Reason avg. speed down this event? 85% of the route was UPHILL No lie G'nite...me sleepy Tons to report for this week, but will have to be tomorrow. I'M EXHAUSTED. Love & miss y'all! Will catch up on reading and post tomorrow after I recover.

Finally got power, but don't care! 63 mile route Sagged in after 35 miles 2 hours, 17 minutes riding 1 hour, 2 minutes stopped Avg. speed this event 14.4 Usual avg. speed about 19 Reason avg. speed down this event? 85% of the route was UPHILL No lie G'nite...me sleepy

I hear ya on the cold...since you do live where it is colder longer, I would definitely get a good pair of cycling tights with a good chamois. I wear them even here in Texas during winter. They really do a good job of keeping your warm and comfortable. And they are OH SO SEXY! (NOT) I would also recommend a pair of TOESTIES to keep your toes from freezing. Performance Bike - Home for all your cycling needs! always has good deals on these things and are likely on sale big-time now that it's getting warmer in most places. That's so great, Ceradad! You are really rockin' the band! I bet you are a real hottie yourself! And yes, I think the cops just loved seeing all us gals in our little lycra shorts! :frown: The Couch to 5K Program is a beginner running program that I have yet to see fail. It's really good. You can find it at MarathonGuide.com - Marathons, Running Directory and Community and if you haven't set up your free ITUNES account yet, do so and you can download the C25K Podcast to your IPOD for free! What is a Nike+ ? :confused2: I agree with your trainer and Ceradad. I eat a lot more than the typical bandster because I work hard at the gym and on my bike. In fact I've been studying eating/fueling for endurance events/training for some time now. What you are eating before you go is good, but you might try eating a small apple on your way to the gym. I do and it helps a lot. Frutose is a great boost for your workout. Of course, with my tight fill, I have to peel it first, but so be it. If you are working hard most days of the week, I would recommend upping your protein, too.

Yeah, my kids just told me I am gross! LOL Sorry! :tt2: :frown: :wub: But if we can look at wild icky "cooch" pics, I should be able to say "poop"! HA

Sorry to hear that you are sick today, HP! Sending some good mojo your way to get feeling tops! What do you mean where are the cops in TX? :frown: Oh, me too! I take every ounce I can get off of me before I weigh in the morning! And pooping's even better! LOL

I so feel your pain, J! Last time I went riding at my regular park trail, it was particularly busy. Yes, people who walk on the wrong side, people to stop on BOTH sides, people walking on the correct side not paying attention that I'm about to mow their dog down in my own lane, four young "adults" with purple mohawks or red hair spikes and multiple facial peircings walking two dogs and taking both lanes with the dogs straying to either side of the trail while smoking POT in a heavily traveled large public park! UGH! And all of these people are annoyed at ME when I announce "keep to your lane!", "guess what? it's two lanes for two-way traffic!", "get your dog!", "POT in the freakin' park with families with kids? Are you kidding me?" UGH! People are so freaking rude and inconsiderate! Almost all bikers there announce "left!" to pass, so why can't people respond by being equally courteous?!?!? There are trail rules posted in several places...do people even READ any freaking more?!?!? Me thinks not. J, what kind of bike do you ride again? I forget. My bike had the center mount brake levers, too. (I never used them, though.) Unless you are opting to keep those over the aerobars, they can be removed. That's what I had to do to mine. They unwrap the drop bars, remove the center levers and cables, re-wrap the drop bars and mount the aerobars. Voila! The labor was a killer, though. Just a thought...

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement on Tour Dallas! And yes, Ceradad...it was wonderful having all those cops along the route cheering us on! OMG! 2 hrs and 15 min on the elliptical?!?!?!?!?!?!? I might have heart failure just envisioning that!!!!!! I bow down to you, Ceradad! Today was a short day for us, so we did biceps and triceps. Great workout! I really noticed a difference this week after pushing biceps last week...was able to increase my weight again. YAY! After an hour, my workout partner had to pick up his little girl from toutoring, so I stayed and did some ab work...six sets of twelve knee raises. Then I headed out myself for an early exit for once. If it isn't raining in the morning, I'm going for a bike ride. Not sure how far...will let the moment dictate. See y'all tomorrow!

"It's a heavily agenda'd method of preying on the dieter, whose mind is weak from starvation and preoccupation with nothing but food. Have you tried to hold a conversation with somebody on a diet? The first 10 pounds they lose are mostly brain." Personally, I wasn't offended by the book, but I sure see why some would be. But if I were offended by the book, I would be MORE offended by this part of the review! I got the book on tape that included the cookbook. I can't tell you how many times it had me laughing so hard that I almost had my drink spewing out of my nose while listening to it in the truck!

ZZ - Yeah, I know. But actually, there are so many "recommended rides" as a prelude to doing the 150 mile ride in May. They recommend them for training. All the fun is a bonus! But it does seem impossible for me to sign up for the lower mileages. Tour Dallas had 8, 20, and 30 and I had to do the 30...the Lancaster Country Ride has 23, 42 and 63 mile routes and I have to do 63. I don't want to miss anything! LOL BG - That ride sounds amazing! I don't know of anything like that around here. How will the family survive without you for a week? I can't wait to see you pics from that one. HP - Sorry you are sore from yesterday! I'm glad yall got to ride, though! I was feeling bad for all yalls cold weather! And you hit the 100 pounds lost goal! That is totally rockin! I'm proud of you!

Thanks C, J, ZZ! And I am SO glad to hear everything turned out okay for you today, HP! How scary! I would've been a basket case! I hope you get to feeling better from your fall very soon, too! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, so I didn't get to my camera today...maybe tomorrow...for sure tomorrow. Normally, I would agree that I've ridden enough distance that 30 miles should be pretty easy for me. However, now I know how "cake" my normal trails are! I have got to find some better training ground with some hills. This ride today really tested me with the hills. Of course, I was stubborn and refused to stand up to climb...insisting that my legs just pump them out. And these hills were nothing compared to what I will face on future rides, from what I heard. (On those hills, I kept thinking about how Lance Armstrong lives near and trains on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smokey Mountains. Anyone ever driven that? It is awe-inspiring! And tough for any motor vehicle's transmission to make it all the way through! Now imaging biking it! He's amazing! Of course, his legs put out the most wattage ever measured in any athlete, any sport, elite or not.) So surely I can climb these little Texas hills, right? Yeah, right! I sucked wind! LOL My legs are so sore that I could cry! And while I was whining about my legs tonight, I signed up for the Lancaster Country Ride, doing the 63 mile course. GDB Rally-2005: Lancaster Country Ride It is next Saturday, and will be the real test for the MS150, I think.

It went great, LULUC! Thank you! I just posted this over on the "bycyling" thread, but wanted to post it here, too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, guys! I just got in from Tour Dallas, and WOW! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! We got off to a rocky start. Start time was 8am...us 30 milers were set to head out first. No wait...safety issue. Give us 10 minutes. IT WAS COLD THIS MORNING and I wanted to get moving! 10 minutes passes...still have safety issue, which is the company with the cones and barricades is a no show! JEEZ it couldn't have been a worse scenario. Scrambling for tons more Dallas Police to cover most every intersection on the routes. There were 3 routes...8, 20 and 30. At 8:30 we take off! Those cops volunteered and showed up FAST and they were SO NICE at every intersection, cheering us on! Okay, this was my first organized event, and i almost chewed pavement at the starting line! It is SO DIFFERENT riding with THOUSANDS of people! Very slow getting going, as you might expect, but it was REALLY slow. Picked up quick, though. It was a fantastic ride! Beautiful weather, nice people, great ride support. Went through downtown, through the historic district, around Lake Ray Hubbard. And Texas is flat, so where the hell did all those hills come from?!?!? My legs are SHOT. First time with my aerobars, too. I like them, though it was close quarters and so many twists and turns much of the time that I didn't settle into them very often. At the end, there were cops and spectators yelling and cheering, bringing us in to the party area where they were handing out Water, sodas, monster something-or-other drinks, pizza to all the riders. So I hung out for a bit visiting and drinking my monster and water before heading back to my truck to load up. I'm exhausted and exhilerated (sp?) all at the same time! Exhausted wins, though...I'm off for a shower and a nap! I'll make a slide show later with all the pics I took and post a link here! I should've taken more, but I was having so much fun that I would forget about the camera around my neck! See y'all laterz!

Okay, guys! I just got in from Tour Dallas, and WOW! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! We got off to a rocky start. Start time was 8am...us 30 milers were set to head out first. No wait...safety issue. Give us 10 minutes. IT WAS COLD THIS MORNING and I wanted to get moving! 10 minutes passes...still have safety issue, which is the company with the cones and barricades is a no show! JEEZ it couldn't have been a worse scenario. Scrambling for tons more Dallas Police to cover most every intersection on the routes. There were 3 routes...8, 20 and 30. At 8:30 we take off! Those cops volunteered and showed up FAST and they were SO NICE at every intersection, cheering us on! Okay, this was my first organized event, and i almost chewed pavement at the starting line! It is SO DIFFERENT riding with THOUSANDS of people! Very slow getting going, as you might expect, but it was REALLY slow. Picked up quick, though. It was a fantastic ride! Beautiful weather, nice people, great ride support. Went through downtown, through the historic district, around Lake Ray Hubbard. And Texas is flat, so where the hell did all those hills come from?!?!? My legs are SHOT. First time with my aerobars, too. I like them, though it was close quarters and so many twists and turns much of the time that I didn't settle into them very often. At the end, there were cops and spectators yelling and cheering, bringing us in to the party area where they were handing out water, sodas, monster something-or-other drinks, pizza to all the riders. So I hung out for a bit visiting and drinking my monster and water before heading back to my truck to load up. I'm exhausted and exhilerated (sp?) all at the same time! Exhausted wins, though...I'm off for a shower and a nap! I'll make a slide show later with all the pics I took and post a link here! I should've taken more, but I was having so much fun that I would forget about the camera around my neck! See y'all laterz!

Worked legs yesterday as planned. Bought a lifting belt to see if that would help, and boy howdy, does it ever! Went real heavy on the leg press. Normally leg day has soreness settling in two days after, but not this time...it hurts to move at all today. So it was a good workout. Leg press, cable kickbacks, calf raises, leg extentions...all six sets of twelve. Then four sets of twelve hanging knee raises. No crunches...feels like my abs are positively ripping apart even with knee raises and need a break. Worked two hours. Today was shoulders. Again, the belt is awesome! Was able to lift more with the support. Worked for an hour and a half through my sets of twelve. Six sets of twelve knee raises. Again no crunches for the same reason. No bike today, and going to bed early. Have to be out the door by 6:30am (Ugh, I don't do mornings)...TOUR DALLAS IS TOMMORROW! YAY!

I won't have time other than Tour Dallas tomorrow...my Sunday is locked up with the exception of maybe an evening ride. We'll see. J - I so heart soccer! It is huge here in my area and hubby used to coach my son's team for many years. All the excitement at the park, all those games going on, kids of all ages...love to see the tiny ones in there little uniforms and shin guards trying to figure out which way is up! Alas, my son got "too cool" for it and we stopped playing. It is such a fun sport!

Man that really stinks, BG! I can't believe so few kiddos signed up! If she would be comfortable, I'd put her with the boys! Man I'd be mad, too! Especially calling at that time!

Oh I know what it was...ZZ is a Taurus like me. My B-Day is April 24th.

Hey, you can still sign up! They are taking entrants right up to start time. There are three courses...8 miles, 20 miles (I think that's right?), and 30 miles. I'm doint the 30. There will be SAG wagons, rest stops outfitted with volunteers to hand out water/drinks and Snacks, and a party afterward. You two should so go! Yeah, I know about cops! You're ALL a bunch of pervs! LOL At first, I thought you might be the exception, but now I know better! :thumbup: You should of never let the cat out of the bag, because now I will set you up every chance I get! :eek:

And y'all KNOW I am in! Thanks for starting the thread, Ceradad! Wow! It's great to see so many new faces this month! Welcome everybody! Okay, I'm behind on posting again, so here goes: Sunday rode 62 miles on my bike...still in training, as y'all know. Monday was two full hours at the gym working chest, then three sets of slant board crunches and three sets of knee raises. Did I mention this ab work is KILLING me? But I want a six-pack, dang it! I also rode 17 miles on my bike that morning. Tuesday was an hour and a half of biceps and triceps...did that bicep relay again! Glad we only do that once a month to shock our muscles...I'm so sore. Finished with three sets of crunches and three sets of knee raises. Rode 17 miles on my bike that morning. Wednesday was an hour and a half on my back. (No spitting Water all over your monitor on that one, Ceradad...you KNOW what I mean! :biggrin:) Added a couple new back exercises, as I told my partner that was my focus this month. Three sets of crunches and three sets of knee raises. Another 17 miles on my bike in the morning. Today I went for 29 miles on my bike and will work legs at the gym later. Will post how that goes. I'm so excited about my ride this weekend! http://www.tourdallas.org/ Turns out my Mom can't go, so I'm going alone. But that's cool...this ride allows IPOD's, so I'll be taking that and my camera and enjoying the ride and the other participants. And the weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's...I couldn't ask for better!

Thank you, Ceradad! I heart muscles! Hey, I just now realized you started April for us! Thank you! In the event that others just kept coming here without realizing it is a new month, here is the link Ceradad started: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f81/april-exercise-challenge-57011/

Oh boy! What is this week long cycling trip? How did I miss that? Sounds fantastic! And hey! We are ALL sexy mama's (and papa's) who are going to kick ass and take names this season! Oh yeah, that's right! I can't wait to see them! I heart April the best for the same reason...jeez, how many of us are April babies? I forget...J, BG, TX, ZZ...who else? Where the heck has D gone for so long? LOL I wish I HAD been there in person to see that! Yeah, upon re-reading what I wrote, it made me giggle. I left that WAY too open for interpretation! :tt2: :wub: :wub: :biggrin: :w00t: