One of these days I'll just be crazy

So,  I've done something possibly stupid.  But good stupid. I think.   I've signed up to do Barb's Race, a half ironman distance triathlon on July 28th.    This is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run.  I did this race two years ago -- it was hard, but doable.  So not such a bad idea. . . except that its exactly 2 weeks after the Death Ride, on July 14th. 

And because the challenge of seeing if I can walk normally after the Death Ride, let alone do this triathlon, isn't enough, I've committed to fundraising $500 for the Vineman Charity, an organization that donates to local groups that supports cancer patients, their families, and research to find a cure. 

 The real challenge for me in this double adventure is to figure out how to do the swimming and running training, while still focusing on the Death Ride.  The timing has been tricky.  The last thing I want to do is bust out my legs on a long run a few days before a long bike ride.  So that only leaves doing long runs on Sundays, the day after our epic Saturday training days. 

The last few weeks, I've woken up very stiff legged on Sunday morning.  Sometimes hobbling around the house and feeling very sore.  And now. . .now I get to run on these legs.  So far, I've managed to squeak out the runs, but it has not been pretty.  I'm hoping at some point it will get easier and that the running will be great cross-training for the Death Ride.  Right now it still feels like a big challenge and maybe still a bad idea.

But I'm going to keep at it . . . training, fundraising, training some more and fundraising some more.    One of these days, I will get to do one of these events just to be crazy and not because we need to find a cure.

Wish me luck!

A Children's Book

So when you ride 80+ miles, you have a lot of time to think.  Much of the time, you spend trying not to think about how hard the ride is. So you set you mind on various tasks that you can really chew on.

Last week my teammate Kristie and I spent a good amount of time thinking about different foods one could wrap in a tortilla and would be tasty on a bike ride.  I settled on a sushi type wrap with sushi rice, scrambled egg, cucumber, soy sauce and maybe some sesame.  Wrapped in seaweed and then wrapped in the lavash for good carb measure.   We had a good 1.5 hour climb, so there were lots of variations.

Anyhow, the most recent mind-distracting project has been a "children's" book about the Death Ride.  But since it's hard to remember whole paragraphs at a time, I've only been able to write and remember chapter titles.   Here's what we've got so far:

• The Sorting Ride
• A Llama with a Sweater
• Fish Granola
• Rainy Day Death
• Let's Design a Jersey!
• Popsicle Angel
• My Angry, Angry Ass

Stay tuned to see how the book turns out!  Like a chapter?  Why not donate to a good cause?  Or better yet, why not donate to two good causes? 

And for good measure a picture from our ride last week.