Riding the Rails

When I was a young girl I used to dream of the railways and being able to travel by train. I am not exactly sure where the dream originated from but I always had this rather romanticized notion of a train. I still dream of traveling via the Trans-Siberian Railway and I am determined to live out that dream at some point in my future. It is on my very long list of places to see and things to do, and I have no doubt that I will get there.

Yesterday I traveled round trip on the Cape Cod Rail Trail on my bicycle. It was not quite the same adventure as being on a train or the same relaxation as having the locomotive do the work but I did, at certain points along the ride, imagine myself on the Old Colony Railroad trains that used to travel this railway corridor. The CCRT is a 22+ mile paved bike path that runs from Dennis to Wellfleet MA. The trail is mostly flat with only two hills - that are really just bumps - and a few minor grade inclines. To the average New England cyclist, these things are hardly worth noting.

I had originally hoped to take a group of about 8 people with me on the ride, but one by one they all had to drop out from the ride for various reasons and I ended up going it alone. Since it was Good Friday, I didn't mind spending the time alone with God, contemplating His sacrifice, and enjoying His creation. And I ended up having beautiful weather - sunny and cool.

I took my time on the first half of the journey out to Wellfleet, stopping along the way for lunch, to take pictures, and for snack breaks. I chatted with the locals at a lunch hangout along the path and smiled with great joy to see the Chocolate Sparrow was open for business (aka Ice Cream), making a mental note to stop there on the return trip. I completed the 22.5 mile ride to Wellfleet in a leisurely 2.5 hours.

I sat down to eat my second lunch (a whole wheat ciabatta sandwich with sharp cheddar, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, and avocado, yum!) and glanced at my watch. Good thing I did because it was already 1:45. Yikes! I had planned to leave the Cape to head for home at 2:00-2:30 and I still had the 22.5 miles to ride back to Dennis. So much for the ice cream stop at the Chocolate Sparrow, so much for any snacks on the way back, so much for pictures on the way back, so much for a leisurely return trip, and so much for leaving the Cape at 2-2:30.

I high-tailed it back to Dennis and made it in 1.5 hours - waving at the ice cream shop on my way. I stopped only once with 8 miles to go to retrieve a text on my phone from my son Dave and respond to it. That whole return ride was a bit of a blur, but I am glad I got in the faster ride and pushed myself just a bit. It was worth it to be able to spend the time at my church's Good Friday service last night. What a great day it was. I am looking forward to going back in May to ride the rails again. I will spend a little more leisure time on the back half of the ride and will plan to have that ice cream at the Chocolate Sparrow - make it a double!

Learning to Listen to My Body

The last time I went to trapeze school two years ago I was sore in muscles that I didn't even know I had. Even my fingers and toes were sore. It took days and days to feel human again. So here I was two years older and 15-20 pounds heavier, but in the best shape of my life. I knew that I would be sore, but I was not sure what to expect.

I went to trapeze school on a Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday afternoon I was still feeling pretty good. The bruises were blooming but the muscles were still holding steady. Unfortunately Sunday night I ate something that didn't agree with me and I spent the night with very little sleep and a whole lot of vomiting. Neither of which helped my poor sore abs.

I took the next day off from work to rest and did very little all day except lay on my couch. BIG mistake. While I got some much needed rest, my muscles felt like they were in a rigor mortis state by Monday afternoon. It hurt to breathe, cough, sneeze, sit up, lay down - you name it, if I moved then I hurt. Silly me. I knew better than to lay around doing nothing but I did it anyway.

On Tuesday I woke up considerably less sore and slightly more black and blue and I went off to work and then two hours of dance class. Silly me. I should have known better than to jump right back in to my routine so soon. Instead of re-energizing me, it knocked me back into soreness and tiredness for two full days. I am kind of hooked on exercise and now here I was completely unable to do anything.

By Friday, I was chomping at the bit with all kinds of extra energy. I had to force myself to stay away from the gym at lunch time so that I wouldn't be too sore for my planned bike ride that evening. I was glad I listened to my body (3rd time is the charm!). I was able to have a great ride on Friday night with my friend Cori.

So I learned two things. (1) rest does not mean to do absolutely nothing, it just means to take it easy and listen to your body and (2) when your body is too sore to dance, stay home and stretch instead. Listen to your body; it will let you know when it is ready to start having you push it to knew heights and distances again, but never ever give up!!

Flying Trapeze

Pretty much all triathletes do is cross train. We swim, bike, run, lift, strength train, punch and kick the heavy bag, do push ups & sit ups - the list goes on and on. Last fall I added dance (tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary) to my list of cross training sports. But last week I added a new sport - the Flying Trapeze. I had been to Trapeze School once before a couple of years ago with my son. I caught the bug, but never was able to fit trapeze into my life at that time. Well I finally decided that I just had to go back. I even had a friend, Joannie, who was willing and able to come along and fly with me. It is truly a special friend who will go flying with you. I am a lot stronger now than I was then and I was pretty sure that I would love it just as much. Well I was wrong - I loved it even more. So here I am now simply addicted to trapeze.

The first jump is always the scariest and this time was no different. I balked a little before finally allowing myself to jump and fly free from the platform. I am not afraid of heights, instead my fear is that I will not be able to hold up my own body weight. After the first jump was over, I felt like my body responded well to the swinging motion. With each subsequent swing I learned how to listen for the caller better so that I could get the most out of the centripetal force of the trapeze and work my body less.

I learned to complete the knee hang well enough so that I was allowed to try the "heels off" trick. In this trick you hold on by your heels and then let go with your hands and reach for the catcher. In the picture above you can see that I am literally hanging by my heels. I was so happy to be able to attempt this trick. It meant that I was gaining small successes as the class went on.

Near the end of the two hour class we start to actually do release and catch tricks with a very experienced catcher ready and waiting for us on the far trapeze. The audio and visual cues of the tricks change just a tiny bit. We get to try for the catch three times. My first was the knee hang and it was a success. Then I was set to try the heels off trick. I had a bad hop on the first jump and totally lost my concentration and then blew it. I nailed the second jump with confidence, but then missed the catcher by inches.

Without a doubt, Flying Trapeze is a full body exercise. I was sore and bruised for a full week after the class, but I have not let that deter me. I am all signed up to go back again next month, ready and determined to successfully complete the heels off catch!

Traveling Maniac - Peru The Rest of the Story

I am such a poor blogger. I abandoned my blog in the cloud forest of Peru last December and haven't returned. My apologies to any of you who actually read my blog. I thought that I would have so much time to blog over the winter and nothing to blog about. Well the second part is mostly true, but I had NO time. I don't exactly know where it went, but it is now gone and there you have it. I did plan some really, really great vacations for 2011 though :-)

With the arrival of spring comes the beginning of triathlon training season. I sent out my first of many weekly training emails today and already I can feel the energy of the season coursing through my veins. And so here I am - ready to leave Peru and get back to my tri-girl training blog.

When last I left my blog we were headed into the rain forest. We camped in these little huts the first night. I played jungle soccer with the locals, watched amazing bats as they hunted for their evening meal, and viewed the most beautiful starlit night searching in earnest for the Southern Cross to no avail.

We awoke early the next morning to head deeper into the rain forest until we reached the reserve zone where we signed in at the ranger station. We proceed down (or up?) river stopping only for "bathroom" breaks and to spot birds, caymen, and monkeys along the way. I was far more enthralled by the flora than the fauna, and there was so much flora to take in that it all started to run together. We had little books to keep a checklist of what we saw, but really - could I identify it for you today? Nope. But it was truly amazing.

We spent two nights in the reserve zone hiking through the rain forest, touring the local lakes, smelling the pungent odor of the wild boar - but never quite getting to see them, and watching the giant otters at play. One of my fondest memories here was climbing to the top of the tower in the middle of the rain forest with no civilization anywhere for miles in every direction and looking out over God's amazing creation. It is no wonder that He said - "It is good".

While in the reserve zone, we were finally able to spot the Southern Cross. What an amazing treat and definitely one of the top 10 things I saw on this trip. We went on a night hike to see the nighttime wildlife and then later went on a tarantula "hunt".

Perhaps the most amazing part of any trip is the thing you don't plan for. My sister and I were supposed to fly out of the reserve zone a few days ahead of the rest of our group because we had plans to see Machu Picchu. The bush plane that was scheduled to fetch us was broken and could not be repaired in time to retrieve us. We had options for getting out so that we would not lose out on our plans for MP.

After weighing all options, we opted to stay with our group one more day and then leave by river canoe (2 hours), at which point we would be met by an English speaking guide who would escort us the rest of the way back to Cusco via taxi (45 minutes), river canoe (30 minutes), and another taxi (10 hours through the Andes Mountains). I think we were both kind of dreading the long taxi ride. In the end - it too was one of the highlights of the trip for both of us. We got to see some amazingly beautiful sites along the way and we got to eat in a local Andes "restaurant" - interesting for two vegetarians!

We did finally make it back to see Machu Picchu - a place that defies description. I am at a loss to find the words to describe the beauty, the enormity, and yes even the sadness of the place. I took hundreds of photos, but even they do not do justice to this wonder. I hope some day to return to this amazing and beautiful country. We left so many stones unturned there and I feel compelled to go back and see more.

Traveling Maniac - Peru Part 1

Two months ago I was in the jungle of Peru in the Amazon rain forest. My sister Molly and I like to travel together and we often talk about what kinds of trips we want to do. She mentioned Peru, I said "sounds great!" She mentioned a jungle adventure, I said "sounds great!". And it was. We started out at the tour company in Cuzco where we boarded a bus and headed into the cloud forest. We drove on winding roads up and up through the Andes Mountains. It was just absolutely beautiful. We stopped in a small village called Paucartambo for breakfast and went to the farmers market to see all the local vendors and their produce. After the brief tour, we got back on the bus and headed out again. We would often get off the bus and hike a bit. We saw some ancient ruins and beautiful flora and fauna.

We stopped for a picnic lunch and got to hike some more. We saw so many types of orchids and we saw incense plants which I never even knew existed. We got to see the national bird who is quite elusive to the camera. We spent quite a bit of time watching the Cock of the Rock and trying to get a good photo of one of those beautiful bright red birds. We saw unbelievable devastation to the roads and the landscape from flooding that had occurred earlier in the year. Finding an appropriate toilet became more and more of a challenge and an obsession as the cliffs up and down either side of the road got steeper and steeper. At one point I needed to pee so badly I climbed down the side of a cliff for modesty and poor Molly thought I was going to tumble into oblivion never to be see again! Needless to say, I survived.

At last we reached our final destination for the day. We stayed at a nice little camp where Molly and I shared a cabin with camp beds. It was very cold in the cloud forest and we had to bundle up in many layers to keep warm. We had power for a few hours so we could recharge our camera batteries and there was real running water. We ate an amazing dinner, got to know our fellow travelers a bit and went to bed early knowing that morning would come soon enough.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and we had a quick breakfast, packed up, and headed back to the bus. We were leaving the cloud forest and heading back down the mountains into the rain forest. Along the way we stopped in another small village to interact a bit with the local people and to see how they live. It was the day after election day so everyone was curious about who had won which elections. We headed out of the village and back onto the mountain roads where we stopped again at a coca plantation. Coca can be grown and sold legally in Peru, albeit highly regulated. The Peruvians use it to make tea, to bake with, or to simply chew on the leaves to help alleviate altitude sickness. I bought some oatmeal coca cookies and they helped with nausea and other symptoms from the high altitude. After we left the plantation we came upon a clearing where we could see the river Madre de Dios and our guide told us that we would soon be boarding our boat that would take us on the next leg of our journey into the rain forest. Stay tuned for more!

Final Race of the Season

The FUNtastic2 Nantasket Sprint Triathlon. September 26, 2010. 1/4 mile ocean swim, 10 mile bike, 3.2 mile beach run in the scenic Hull, MA. Why has it taken me so long to write about this race? Because I hopped a plane to the S. American jungle 5 days later and I have only been back in the USA for a few weeks, readjusting to corporate life and getting back into the swing of reality.

After the epic PA Olympic distance race in August, this race should have been pretty easy. And it nearly was. It had its moments -- both high and low, but for the most part it was a great season ender. I did this race last year and really enjoyed the festive atmosphere and knew that I had to do it again this year. This one will be a keeper on my list, life permitting of course.

Last year the swim was shortened due to high surf (and I mean scary high). This year, the tide was out so far that we had to run the first 1/4 of the swim and the last 1/4 of the swim. Not much actually swimming took place in the swim. Last year I placed 2nd in my age division in the swim, this year I placed 6th. I guess that means I need to work on my shallow water running. When we actually were able to swim, the water was so cold that it took my breath away. I swam as fast as I could whilst numb, hoping to end the pain and overcome the feeling of needing to vomit. It was at that point in the race that I decided quite firmly that I would not do the 5k swim on Veterans Day, where the water would be at least 5-10 degrees colder. The difficult part for me for this race is that I am a swimmer. It is my strongest leg of the race. It it where I get any advantage that I can hope for. On this day my hopes were washed away by the tides.

The bike was a great experience. It was pretty much all flat, which was such a blessing after all the hill training I did for the PA race. I had hoped to improve my time over last year by posting an average 14.8 mph ride. Last year I came in last in my division in the bike but I knew that I had been training hard since. I came out of the water strong, peeled off my wetsuit and suited up for the bike. Once I passed into the riding zone and hopped on I started passing people right away - shocker! I gave everything that I had left in me on the bike, with no concern for "saving it" for the run. I ended up posting an average 16.6 mph (!) and coming in 14/23 in my division. I was so pleased and so shocked that I not only accomplished my goal but far exceeded it. I had underestimated the progress I had made in my training and the way the adrenaline and determination would hit me during the race.

I hopped off the bike and onto to the beach for the 3.2 mile run. Last year I came in last in my division, with no shame - I finished and I was happy! This year the beach conditions were so much better, I was in much better shape (but still not a runner), and the adrenaline high from my bike ride was keeping me moving fast. This lasted for about 3 full minutes when I hit the wall. My first mile was a disaster - 15 minutes, at least. My second mile was much better, I actually felt a rush of energy and did it in under 10 which for me is quite amazing, and then the last mile was my usual 12 minute pace. I felt great when the race was over, sure that I had blown away my run time from last year. Final result for the run? I came in last in my division and last in the ENTIRE field of racers, and only finished 2 seconds faster than last year. Sheesh. Oh well, I finished and overall I was 18/23 in my division at 1:26:55, a vast improvement over last year.

Guess what I have been focusing on ever since I returned from the jungle? Yup - running. I figure if I focus on my running for next season like I did my biking for this season I might not come in LAST PLACE again when I do this race next year.

Next time I write I'll catch you up on my jungle adventure. Wow was it ever amazing!

Traveling Maniac - Part 2 (Venezuela)

Life never really slows down. I keep thinking that it will, but it just never really does. I got back from an amazing trip to Venezuela, squeezed in a quick triathlon, then headed off to South America again -- this time to Peru with my sister. I have been back for almost two weeks and things just keep moving faster and faster. I have unpacked from the race and both trips, but nothing is put away, laundry is in disarray, and my house is need of an old fashioned scrub down. Today I was so amazed at the creative way in which I have arranged the piles of stuff, that I actually thought about renting a dumpster just to empty the house and start over again. If I don't start the cleaning tonight it won't get done until next weekend, at which point I will be naked unless I either locate where I put the clean laundry or I buy more clothes. At least my dogs recognize me when I walk through the front door!

When we last left off I had just returned from Venezuela and was hoping to squeeze in some training for my race. Ahhh Venezuela. So many people ask me why I go to Venezuela. I have been there twice and both times it was with my church on short term missions. I hope to go again and again. I love the people there and I have made friendships with my brothers and sisters in Christ who live and worship there. I go because I feel called by Christ to go. I go with no fear for my safety when I am there for His purposes. Some will think I am not being very smart. I am okay if you think that. I know God will protect me and that He has a plan for my life and He knows how my days are numbered. I don't take unnecessary risks. We go as a group and we have well seasoned travelers and savvy locals who travel with us. It is sad that a few people in that country who speak out against US citizens can scare us away from such a place as this where the majority of the people really do love us. But I understand the fear. I would not want to go there as a woman alone and vulnerable.

Our mission this time was to help build a church in Pampatar on Margarita Island. We worked harder than we ever have on a missions trip. We poured bay after bay of a concrete floor without the help of any heavy equipment. We were the heavy equipment! We laid block to build the walls of the church. We tied re-bar, we shoveled dirt, and we consumed gallon after gallon of water. For 5 days we worked in hot (100-125 degrees F) and sticky weather to accomplish what we set out to do. We took a siesta every afternoon when the sun was at its highest so that we could eat lunch and rest to allow us to be more productive in the afternoons. We worked side by side with the locals until the sun went down, and sometimes some of the crew had to work even longer to use up the concrete that we had mixed so that none went to waste. I saw people push themselves far beyond what they would normally be physically or emotionally capable of. How? Only through the power that Christ provides which strengthens us in our weakness. I experienced it there and I continue to experience it now that I have returned. God continues to bless my life in so many unexpected ways.

We didn't work every second. We did have Sunday off plus one other day where we got to enjoy the local sights and spend time with the local people. I had the opportunity to go snorkeling for the first time in my life (I know, really?). I was amazed at the simple beauty of a sea urchin and the complex nature of the coral beds and the tides that pushed us around and around in the water. The island that we were on is off the northern coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean not all that far from Aruba. There is a beauty there which I have never seen before, but hope to experience over and over again in my life. God gives us this beauty as a gift and we can choose how to experience that gift - with eyes wide open, or through our cynical nature. I try so hard to set aside my cynicism and more often than not, I fail miserably. But trips like this truly change me and how I view this world that we live in. I am blessed.