What happened to summer?

I'm not sure what happened to summer ... we had 5 beautiful days around the 4th of July and now we are back into rain season :(

Oh well, here is hopeing we have good weather for the 100 miler in Bend, OR next weekend! All ready to go, just need to decide which bike to race and ensure i taper!

Thwarted by a tooth (ache)

Yeah, it's true!   I went to the dentist a few weeks back ... they are replacing all my old fillings with the new stuff .... and the bite was not adjusted correctly when we were done. What this meant is that every time i closed my jaw, a huge amount of pressure was being put on two specific teeth. The pain was insane .... and of course my denstist went on holiday the week of july 4th so i had to wait to get it fixed.

I am not a fan of taking pain meds but i was full on in pain med mode ... ouch! I cannot tell you how much it hurt!

So ... yes, a toothache kept me from CCP100 ... but have no fear, i got it fixed yesterday and am gunning for HC100 !!!

Using Cascade Cream Puff as a 'training race'?

I think i might be crazy.  I know, I know ... most of you reached that conclusion ages ago! But yes, i've decided that i am going to use CCP as a training race. Hah. I am so going to get killed ....here are the details:

100 miles
18,000 feet of climbing
85% single track
Full on epicness - reports of hail, snow, sun, and wind ....

yeah, i'm crazy. It's July 10th .... a mere 1.5 weeks away!

So what am i training for? I want to do the 100 miler in Bend in Sept - its the National Marathon Championships and I figure i should practice a bit :) So in July i'll do 2 100 milers - CCP and High Cascades 100. Then in August i'll do one more - Capital Forest ... and top it off in Sept!!  If the 100 mile thing doesn't work out i'll do another 24hr race in Bend in Sept instead.

Catching up

Yeah, it's been a while... i know, i know! Slacker :)  I really don't have an excuse ... unless you count spending all the time i can on the trails (running or riding), geting some sweet hiking in, working too much, working with the awesome crew here in Seattle on Cycle the Wave, and leading some Women's rides.

hmmmm, maybe i do have an excuse! But i've been motived by none other than mother and triathlete extrodinaire Danelle. She's re-commited to bloging and this post talks about spending a little bit of time each day doing the things you love. So here i am :)

I have a lot of catching up to do but for now i'm just lettting you all know i'm still alive and kicking ... and that i am still enjoying the adventures in life - big and small.

Tonight, for example, I went for a run to do hill repeats (my least favorite and weakest running workout) ... turned out mother nature decided to give me an extra reason to sprint the hills. The skys were promising rain but i figured it would hold. As i got to the bottom of the .5 mile hill i break into 3 parts with recovery, I heard a HUGE crack! Thunder!!! and off I went, that was all the motivation i needed to get my butt into gear! I had to outrun the rain - this meant doing my intervals and then finishing off with a 2 mile run home. And yes, I won! i made it :) But i will tell you, i have never ran the hills that hard!!!