Blog About a Blog

One of my duties as a Pearl Izumi "Ambador" (We take the "Ass" out of "Ambassador") is to write several articles a year for the new Pearl Izumi blog at www.endureandenjoy.com.

I was super excited to finally see my first post published last week, so I decided to share it here too. I will post links to all of my future posts under "Blog in a Blog".

My Two Wheel Addiction

#endureandenjoy #ride365 #williamscycling #iamspecialized_tri #iamspecialized_mtb #trek

Stones Throw - Triathlon Training Dream Cabin

A few months ago, HS and I sold a couple of condos with the intention of buying a vacation rental instead. We originally looked at a place along Highway 50 but that didn't work out. We had considered the Tahoe area, but any place that was in our price range wasn't necessarily a place we would want to stay at or rent to people. Our next thought was Bear Valley, but when we heard that we would need a snowmobile in order to see the property we changed our mind and stopped in Arnold instead.

Snowy day in Arnold

There was still plenty of snow in Arnold, but you could still get around and it didn't require a snowmobile. As HS navigated the snow lined streets, I scrolled through the Trulia app noting properties to look at. One property caught my eye as I scrolled to the bottom of the screen. It was like no other cabin we had seen. It was modern, and different, and had a huge wall of windows. I started to make note of the address when I happened to look out the window. To my shock, I was looking at the that same cabin. "There it is!" I exclaimed to HS.

Love at first sight 

Click here to see our Airbnb listing with more photos and the reservation calendar.

We drove on to the first property on our list, but called and asked the realtor if we could look at the modern one we just saw. She said sure and set up an appointment that same day in just a few hours. We drove and looked at a couple other places to kill time and grabbed a bite to eat. When we finally got to see the inside of the modern cabin, it was love at first sight for me, HS...well, he eventually grew to love it too. I guess for me, it was the fact that it was brand new and it was entirely different from the ranch style houses we had always lived in.

Special thanks to Kip Machado and Carmie Sanchez at Better Altitude Properties for all of your help!

I love how the windows seem to let the forest inside

We looked at a few more properties after that, but none could compare. The modern cabin was mid-way in our price range and to me it was ideal. I could see it being an attractive property for families looking for a unique property for their vacation. I could also see it being an ideal training location for triathletes looking to blend vacation and training time together. We put an offer in and it was accepted. Now the hard work began trying to setup the place.

Furnishing a brand new cabin - top to bottom
can be very stressful

After finally getting our keys, we spent the next couple of months arguing over design ideas and attempting to buy furniture. Coming to a consensus on how to decorate and what to buy was often difficult. HS and I both had veto power, so many, many, many ideas were squashed before anyone could whip out their credit card to make a purchase.  Eventually the cabin came together and we were able to come up to stay without a long list of chores. We finally had time for a little recreation...I could finally try out my triathlon training dream cabin.

Swim

There are a couple of swimming options up here. One is the pool at the Blue Lake Springs recreation center. They even have designated lap swimming times. I haven't tried to pool out yet, but it looks nice and now that summer is here, there are lots of people. During the winter, however, you could probably have the whole pool to yourself.

I wouldn't recommend this

When things start to warm up, there is also Fly in Lake.  There are other lakes in the area but you can walk to Fly in Lake in a matter of minutes from Stones Throw.

I tried swimming in Fly in Lake a couple of weeks before IRONMAN Santa Rosa 70.3. It would be my one and only OWS before that race. This practice swim was in the beginning of May and the water was absolutely freezing. I had on a full sleeve wetsuit but the water temp still took my breath away. My face and fingers were frozen. I think I lasted about 15 minutes before I got out.

Yesterday, about a month after that first swim, HS and I went back down to the lake. I had packed my full sleeve wetsuit for the weekend, but when I saw all of the kids swimming in the lake, my pride would not allow me to wear it. HS and I walked down to the lake and set up our beach chairs. I saw a man swimming butterfly across the lake (show off). Another guy got out of the lake, stuffed his goggles in his pocket, put on his running shoes and took off running down the street. I guess I'm not the only one that thinks this is a great place to train. I watched the kids playing in the water and finally decided it was time to get in.

Cap & goggles and my Kindle (in case I decided not to swim)

What I like about this lake is that it feels like a safe place to swim. There are four floating islands in the middle of the lake that are about 50-60 yards apart. If I wanted to, I could swim and stop at each one. However, just knowing that they are there is enough for me. I could just keep swimming.

The water on my second swim was much warmer. However, there seemed to be a cold stream of water from the inlet to the lake all the way across to the overflow. I had to swim through that, but once I got over to the water on the far side of the lake, things seemed much better. I was able to get 30 minutes of swimming done this time. The one think I noticed this time was that I actually enjoyed it. There was no pressure to race, all I had to do was swim nice and easy. I cleared my mind and focused on my stroke.

Bike

There are four bedrooms in the cabin. The first one is right off the entry and given that every bedroom has it's own bathroom, this one is used as a bike garage when we come up to stay.

Bike storage

Bikes are always welcome here

Up hill or down hill, but never any flats

We haven't ventured too far out of the neighborhood, but MapMyRide has a lot of interesting routes that I am anxious to try. I was hoping to try one this weekend, but when we arrived at the cabin and started unpacking we realized that HS didn't pack any cycling clothes. I, on the other hand, had two pairs of shorts and two jerseys because, well, you never know. I asked HS if he wanted to borrow a pair of my shorts, but he didn't think my Pearl Izumi Sugar Shorts (my favorite riding shorts) would look good on him. He's probably right...I like them because they are short and you can get a good tan.

LTD Map Jersey and my Sugar Shorts

I also stumbled across something on Facebook called "Bike to Arnold." Apparently you ride from Stockton to Arnold. If I could figure out when they hold this ride, I would definitely want to do it. I think Rodger from S.W.E.A.T Fitness did this ride as well as Robert Fuller from RS Bike Lab. Rodger or Bob, if you're reading this, give me the details.

Run

What can I say about running. You can run anywhere, right? Being from Stockton means that I'm basically running at sea level when I'm home. Hills? What are those? At Stones Throw, I get a slight intro to elevation training. If I really want to up my game I could head up to Bear Valley for a 7,000 ft training run. Even though the area where our cabin is at is only about 4,000 ft., I did notice a change after a week long stay when we were setting up the cabin.

Pre-run selfie on the deck at Stones Throw

Usually, when we are at the cabin working I will run for about an hour. If I turn left at the driveway, I get a nice long climb. I've learned my lesson trying this run on cold legs, so now I will take the dog for a walk first and then I will do this run. I've even set up a Garmin segment for this run called "Barrelling Down Patricia". It's the last half mile to the cabin and it's basically all down hill. If you are brave enough, you can really get going! Hope to see your time on the segment.

Hilly Run/Walk

Relax

When you are done with the swimming, biking and running, there is still plenty to do in this area. HS and I have found several great places to eat in Arnold... Sarafina's Italian Kitchen (make a reservation a week in advance or eat in the bar like we do), the deli at the Chevron staton...just try the "Porker Club", you won't be sorry, but you may have to put in some extra miles to burn off some of the calories.

The "Porker Club"...best gas station food ever!

If your family thinks you've been ignoring them, take them to see Big Trees State Park, the Moaning Caverns, Arnold Rim Trail, or downtown Murphys. Speaking of downtown Murphys, there are some great restaurants and tasting rooms. Our favorites so far have been Alchemy, Murphys Irish Pub, and Twisted Oak Winery. There's so much to do up here, I can't begin to list it all.

One of my favorite places to relax after a workout

Local Events

There are some local events you might want to come up and do:

April - Angels Camp Triathlon (hopefully it will be back next year)
April - Mr. Frog's Wild Ride (century ride)
July - Hernia Hill - 5k, 10k & Half Marathon
September - Bear Valley Triathlon

A Strange Start to 2017

So, it's mid-April now...not exactly the "start" of 2017 but it's my first blog post for the year. Well, it's my first personal blog post. I did write a post for Pearl Izumi (still waiting to see the published piece). Anyway, normally I am writing about all kinds of things but this year just seems strange. My training seems off, I don't feel like writing, and I feel extremely isolated. I've been trying to figure out what is making this year so different and have come up with a few things that may be the reason everything seems out of sorts.

Weather

One of the biggest changes this year is the weather. On April 7th, California's governor officially ended California's multi-year drought emergency due to all of the rain and snow this year. While the rain was severely needed, it has forced me to put more miles on the trainer than I normally do. So far this year I have close to 1,000 virtual miles on the trainer. I did manage a few "outside" rides with my coworkers and HS but that is nothing compared to the last few years.

Lots of this

Not enough of this

Since completing my first triathlon in the fall of 2012, I really haven't had to think much about the weather. Yes, some weekends were too cold or too foggy, but most of the time scheduled rides went off without a hitch. HS and I rode almost every weekend. I looked forward to our Saturday morning rides with the tri club followed by a cup of coffee and triathlon chat. This year I hop on the trainer, log into Zwift and look for familiar names. Sadly, I rarely see anyone I know in Watopia.

It even rains in Watopia

On top of all of the trainer miles, most of my runs have been on the treadmill. I joked with HS that all I needed was a swim spa and I would only need to leave the house to race.


Puppy

My training went into a bit of a tail spin when we lost Buster last fall. I did my best to stay on track for CIM, but my heart wasn't in it.

Buster was my running buddy in his younger years.
I loved this dog.

In December, HS and I decided to get another dog and we agreed that the summer would be the best time to introduce a new pet to our household. Not only would the weather be nice but we would be done with IRONMAN Santa Rosa 70.3. This would ensure that triathlon training demands would not take time away from puppy training demands. We put a deposit down and put it out of our mind.

Our puppy plans were disrupted in January by an email from the breeder. She wanted to let us know that she had a tri colored pup available for immediate adoption. We talked it over and decided to get the puppy ahead of schedule. I knew this would make my training a little more difficult. I did my best to make the most of my time by making choices that required less drive time, less time away from the house. The first thing to go was swimming with the club.

World's cutest training schedule disruption

Switching from swimming with a group to swimming by myself was difficult. I found myself making excuses for not swimming. I would go several days, even weeks without getting into the water. Eventually I would sort of get back on track and remind myself that by going to the gym instead of driving to Lodi, I was saving at least an hour a day. So I sucked it up and went to 24 Hour Fitness. I even dumped my Garmin so I could focus on technique and not my 100y average. All I can say is that I miss my friends.

Cabin

Another wrinkle in my training plan was the purchase of a cabin we intend to use as a vacation rental. The purchase was more or less uneventful (except for the world's worst mortgage broker, but I'll let HS tell that story).

I wish I could stay here all the time
Stones Throw

After the cabin became ours, the hard work really started. We had a brand new house with no furniture, no dishes, no linens, nothing! We spent one full week after the closing driving to Arnold with stuff.  Just when we thought we had all the bases covered we would realize that we were missing something as simple as a can opener.

Starting to come together

While at the cabin, I was able to get in a few runs and several long hikes (On the plus side, every walk, run or hike is hilly). Since the truck was always packed with furniture and other household items we rarely had extra space. This meant that the bikes stayed home. I was thrilled when HS agreed to bring the bikes with us on our third truck load from Stockton.

Ready for my first Arnold ride
(appropriately dressed in my Pearl Izumi "MAP" jersey)

Unfortunately, I really had no idea where the good riding spots were and HS had not been training at all. We ended up taking a leisurely tour of the new neighborhood. What we lacked in distance, we made up for in time and climbing.

We ended our ride at Sequoia Woods Country Club

Looking Forward

At this point, I'm not feeling super excited about IRONMAN Santa Rosa 70.3. One of my team mates injured herself during a training ride and will be unable to compete. Team Turd Ferguson had a bit of a shake up too. Due to a new puppy and a new job, Lindsey had to back out of the swim. Luckily Maximus stepped up and took her place. The rainy weather also took it's toll on HS who more or less refuses to ride on the bike trainer. So, due to a lack of training and some nagging knee pain, HS gave up his bike spot to my future brother-in-law, Tony. Tony is undeterred by a lack of training and has even done the Death Ride with relatively low miles in preparation.  Ashley is the only remaining member of the original relay. Go Turds!

After IM Santa Rosa, I am looking forward to some fun, local races. I miss doing events with my team mates. Hopefully spring will show up eventually and I can get back to Saturday group rides (I miss the Pancake ride!) I would also like to get back to swimming at least once a week with the team although HS and I have already put a deposit down on a second puppy so I'm not sure how I can swing that.

Success with the cabin means keeping it rented with relatively few un-booked weekends. However, it's such a great training location that I am secretly hoping for a few vacant weekends so I can go up to swim, bike and run to my hearts content.

Ok, maybe I won't be swimming in the winter...

...but I'll definitely get some open water swims in during the summer
(and this lake is basically across the street)

#endureandenjoy365 #pearlizumi #stonesthrowarnold

Baby It's Cold Outside (but I'm Not)

The forecast was clear for Saturday. Not a drop of rain in sight. The only caveat was chilly temps. On Tuesday an email started circulating the office seeing who wanted to ride. The message included a suggestion to “dress warm”. When I got the invite, I sent HS a text to see if he wanted to ride. His response was “It is your birthday, if that’s what you want to do.” Yes, that’s what I want to do! The past few months of marathon training had left me longing for my bike. I was thrilled that the group decided to ride. I told HS that I really wanted to ride and added that I had ordered some new Pearl Izumi gear that I wanted to try out. “Then we’ll go for a ride” he answered.

The group finalized our plans. We were going to do the “Clements Loop” as we call it. It is roughly a 40 mile route with a coffee stop about half way through and some nice rolling hills. We would meet at the boss’s house and head out at 8:30am. Only a few of our group’s normal riders opted out due to existing plans. Nobody opted out due to the weather.

On Thursday, HS, who must have been checking the weather forecast, sent me a text that read “Are you wanting to ride in freezing weather Saturday?” According to him it was going to be around 28 degrees. I got online and checked for myself. My forecast showed a low of 35 with a high of 50. That doesn’t sound too bad. Besides, my cold weather gear was scheduled to be delivered that day and I really, really wanted to try it out...

My Order

Thursday afternoon I was thrilled to see the familiar black and white packaging sitting on the kitchen counter. I tore into the bag and started pull stuff out…wool socks, thermal shoe covers, wool long sleeve shirt, and thermal tights. HS walked over and looked at my pile of gear. I proudly held up each piece and told him what is was.

• Women's Transfer Wool Long Sleeve Cycling Baselayer
• ELITE Softshell Shoe Cover
• ELITE Thermal Wool Socks 
• Women's Sugar Thermal Cycling Tight
• Women's ELITE Thermal Jersey LTD

Lots of good stuff!

HS: “No wonder you don’t care that it’s going to be freezing on Saturday! What am I going to wear?” 

IN MY MIND: Uh, oh. 

ME: “You have stuff.” (Lame) 

HS: “Not like this” (referring to my pile of cold weather gear) 

ME: “We could go shopping” (Weak)

 
HS didn’t want to go shopping and said that he would find something. 

I followed him into our room and into the closet as he started looking for something warm to wear. Thankfully, we had both picked up a pair of  Pearl Izumi AmFIB Cycling Tights (good for temps between 30-45) a couple of seasons ago at REI during their end of season clearance. The tights were a steal and normally a bit too warm for our rides. I decided that I was going to wear these tights on Saturday and save my new pair for warmer weather.

Once HS was able to cobble together a warm enough outfit, I felt a bit better. The only problem was his gloves. I thought he had bought a pair at last year’s REI clearance sale, but he didn’t. I guess I was the only one lucky enough to find decent pair at that sale. I had been itching to try out my gloves for a while, but it just never seem cold enough. The gloves have a temp rating of  0-40 degrees. Usually, if it dips below 40 I stay home and ride the trainer.

Score!

Lets Ride!

Saturday finally rolled around and I was up early airing tires, filling water bottles, and laying out my new gear. My only disappointment was the fact that the striking, screaming pink and yellow jersey that I ordered was shipped from the east coast and would not be arriving for several more days. Meh! I put on my long sleeve wool base layer shirt, my cycling shorts and my wool socks and went to study the thermal jerseys hanging in my closet. 

I considered a white Louis Garneau jersey with pink and black piping that is cute but not very warm. Next up was a vintage Skittles jersey that is warm but fits sort of weird. My last option was a red Performance Bike store brand jersey...it’s warm, but not very interesting. I decided to play it safe and picked the warmer jersey. I then decided that although I was feeling nice and toasty in the house, things would change quickly once we started riding. I decided to wear my Women's ELITE WxB Jacket over the red jersey. This would keep the wind out and hide the red. Problem solved.

Everyone was on time and ready to go. Once we were all out of our vehicles and getting into our cycling gear the question started circulating the group… ”Who’s idea was it to start riding at 8:30???” It was definitely cold. I popped the tag off of my shoe covers and placed them over my shoes. I made quick work of the transition from street shoes to riding shoes. I then zipped up my jacket and snapped on my helmet. Last but not least were my gloves. They may not have matched my outfit, but they were definitely warm. I had a bit of a chill as I waited for everyone else to get ready, but it didn’t seem unbearable.

Ready to go!

HS Bundled Up

The boss's wife came out to see us off. She was on her way to a nice warm yoga class and clearly thought we were crazy. We hit the road and within minutes the pace picked up. I quickly found myself playing "catch up" and wondered if my legs would hold out for an entire ride at this pace. Luckily, I think it was just the guys' attempt to warm up because about a mile or so into the ride the pace settled down and everyone started chatting. Whew!

Nice and Warm

It was a beautiful, clear winter day. To make things ever better was the fact that I was not cold! As we rode along I would hear comments from the guys about cold feet, not being able to feel fingers, and freezing faces. Iced over mud puddles along the road reminded me that we were riding in very, very cold weather (at least for us). I decided to not mention that I was feeling quite comfortable.

Views like this make it hard to ride on the trainer

Having the right gear made all the difference for me on this ride. I've done cold rides before and have been absolutely miserable. That was not the case today. Today I was prepared!

This scarf (from my IRONMAN Vineman goody bag) kept my face warm

My first pair of thermal shoe covers. Why didn't I buy these sooner?

Warmest gloves I have ever used

After completing my first cold weather ride with appropriate gear, I can honestly say I would do it again and again and again. Being outside, riding with friends is so much nicer than being on the trainer!

Post ride beer.
The guys left it outside to chill while we rode :-)

#endureandenjoy365 #ride365 #pearlizumi #REI