Weekend of Training In Wallace

Well, I haven't blogged forever and a lot has changed so I am doing a few posts all at once to say what we have been doing over the last couple of months. At the end of May, I had a great opportunity to meet with fellow cyclists and triathletes in Wallace, Idaho for a training weekend. Heather was occupied at the ladies' retreat that our ranch hosts, so I decided to attend the training weekend. I knew I had to be prepared for it because it was going to be several days of intense workouts. It takes forever for the weather to warm up here in the Spring so my training over the last couple of weeks before the weekend had been lacking. I did get in an 80 mile ride the week before around Flathead Lake, which was a cool experience. I had tried to get in 200 miles of biking each week for the last two weeks but I probably only got around 150 miles each week.

The weekend consisted of a 12 mile time trial on Friday where we each raced against the clock up a canyon right outside of town. It was a hard climb out but a fast ride back into town. I finished about halfway down in the pack, which considering the group of people that I was with I was happy with that.

On Saturday we ate a big breakfast and then spent most of the day on the bike. About twenty of us rode 130 miles. It was a ride I had done once before, and it is such a cool route going across a large section of the panhandle of Idaho. I often battle stomach problems on these kinds of rides just because it is such a long, physical day without regular meals. I am constantly eating nutrition bars, using gels, and drinking sports drinks because although physical conditioning is important, nutrition is just as critical. I have suffered at times because I have made mistakes. We did have one crash at one point, but luckily despite a few scrapes, a lot of dirt, and a pretty trashed wheel we were able to make it back to Wallace. It took about 8 hours total with some stops along the way. After the ride I ran a couple of miles. The transition from biking to running is often very difficult in a triathlon, so it is the kind of thing you need to prepare for. After the run, I went and soaked my legs in the icy waters of a stream near the house where we were staying. Sounds crazy but it really helps relieve soreness. After a nice dinner, we stat down to discuss the next day....a day I was rather worried about.

Sunday was a day for triathletes. Many of the people with us were seasoned triathletes having competed in multiple ironman events. In fact, we had three current pros and one retired pro with us. That may have been the coolest thing about the weekend. These people were amazing. Some of them have sponsors that provide them with fancy bikes, nutritional bars, and top-notch clothing. Linsey Corbin was with us that weekend, and she just won Ironman Coeur d' Alene this past weekend. Now that we are living back in Indiana, I hope I can continue to train with athletes like this because it can only make me better. We spent the day riding the actual course of Ironman Coeur d' Alene. We did 56 miles on the bike (or half of the course) and then half of the run course (13 miles). It took 3 hours to do the bike portion, and it was hard because there are a lot of turns and since it isn't race day, the roads are not blocked off or labeled. I got stopped at a number of lights and made a couple of wrong turns, so I am pretty sure doing this in under 3 hours is possible. The run was very hilly and I didn't take water with me, so I started to get dehydrated the last half of the run. It was a great experience, and if I can afford it. I would like to do Ironman Coeur d' Alene in June of 2011. I don't have any pictures but you can see some at Linsey's blog and you can see the perspective of someone just "a little" faster than me. www.linseycorbin.com/node/499

Roundup

Thursday we had our annual cattle roundup, and it was probably the best weather we've had in the four years we've been here. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day to be out having fun. They start out the day with the seniors and some of the older kids riding the horses out in the field to bring in the cows. The funny thing this year was that the cows were all up over a ridge pretty close to where they wanted to bring them, so they sent some kids on foot to drive the cattle out to the people on horses, so that they could then drive them into the corral. No one was thrown off the horse and injured this year, fortunately (that has been a problem in past years). After they brought in the cows, they sorted them out and we ate lunch. After lunch, the fun began. The kids go out in small groups of 4-6 and they send in one calf that they have to wrestle to the ground so that it can be vaccinated and branded. Usually the staff don't participate, but John and I both thought it would be fun to give it a try this year, so I went out with the girls from my class and John did it with the boys from his class. It was fun! The idea is for one person to get the head and the others pull on the legs to knock it down. After chasing the poor little calf around the corral for a few minutes I managed to get it around the neck and the girls knocked it down. We managed to do it without anyone getting kicked, squashed, or pooped on, so I'd say we were pretty successful. The rest of the afternoon, they take the kids on horseback rides, we eat some more, and just hang out. It was a great day, and even better since it is a day we don't have to go to school. It even counts as a school day because it is an educational experience. Its kind of like a field trip to the farm, only we live on the farm.

John's Awesome Bike Video