I want to thank all of you that have supported me in my journey so far, whether it be financially through donations and/or items for my garage sale or through heart felt emails or phone calls filled with encouraging words. Your help & encouragement will get me to the finish line. More importantly, you are helping to accelerate finding cures for blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma), as well as bringing increased hope to the patients and families who are battling these blood cancer.
I am so gracious to have each & every one of you in my life. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your support!
-Rachael
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Lake Benbrook Ride (April 3rd)
We were told by Coach that we would be riding between 40 & 60 miles on this ride, which meant between 2 & 3 laps (each lap = 20mi). I really wanted to complete the 60 miles but didn't think I had it in me. Where's this doubt coming from? So unlike me.
Anyway, the day started out cooler than I thought temperature wise. I put on arm warmers thinking I'd probably have to take them off right away.. wrong! I started riding & froze! However, by the time I completed lap 1 I was ready to take those puppies off. We sat as a team & had a water break & grabbed a quick bite which consists of part of a Payday bar, 1/2 a PBJ & a banana. Then on to lap 2 which was kicked my butt on the front 1/2 and got easier towards the back (where there are LOTS of hills!).
After grabbing another bite, more water & Cytomax (complex carbohydrate, electrolyte performance energy drink) following the 2nd lap (mile 40) I decided I'd at least try to ride a bit more. If anything while I was inside the park I could just turn around and go back. Off we went and before I knew it we had made it through the park, and down to 377 meaning I had just ridden 10 more miles! We decided since it was already around 1pm and traffic had picked up quite a bit that we would turn around and head back the way we came to be safer. And what do you know, I rode 60 miles!!! That will teach me to doubt myself.
Famous words of Coach, "mind over matter Rachael". And boy is he right. I know I can do it, I just have to BELIEVE I can do it & trust that my body can get me there. As I said before, I don't care how long it takes me I WILL finish Tahoe & I WILL finish the "recommended" mileage each week for training. Period.
If you're up for it, I'd love you all to write a quick note or email with words of encouragement as I train & raise funds for LLS. Thanks for your support both emotionally & financially during this amazing experience that I am so grateful to be apart of. You all mean so much to me & I cannot thank you enough.
Lots of love.
-Rachael
Anyway, the day started out cooler than I thought temperature wise. I put on arm warmers thinking I'd probably have to take them off right away.. wrong! I started riding & froze! However, by the time I completed lap 1 I was ready to take those puppies off. We sat as a team & had a water break & grabbed a quick bite which consists of part of a Payday bar, 1/2 a PBJ & a banana. Then on to lap 2 which was kicked my butt on the front 1/2 and got easier towards the back (where there are LOTS of hills!).
After grabbing another bite, more water & Cytomax (complex carbohydrate, electrolyte performance energy drink) following the 2nd lap (mile 40) I decided I'd at least try to ride a bit more. If anything while I was inside the park I could just turn around and go back. Off we went and before I knew it we had made it through the park, and down to 377 meaning I had just ridden 10 more miles! We decided since it was already around 1pm and traffic had picked up quite a bit that we would turn around and head back the way we came to be safer. And what do you know, I rode 60 miles!!! That will teach me to doubt myself.
Famous words of Coach, "mind over matter Rachael". And boy is he right. I know I can do it, I just have to BELIEVE I can do it & trust that my body can get me there. As I said before, I don't care how long it takes me I WILL finish Tahoe & I WILL finish the "recommended" mileage each week for training. Period.
If you're up for it, I'd love you all to write a quick note or email with words of encouragement as I train & raise funds for LLS. Thanks for your support both emotionally & financially during this amazing experience that I am so grateful to be apart of. You all mean so much to me & I cannot thank you enough.
Lots of love.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Justin's Ouachita 60-mi Mt Bike Race
Long time no blog. Gosh, guess I haven’t blogged since Justin’s 60-mile Ouachita mountain bike race in Oden, AR. The weekend was so much fun. We decided to take a family trip (yes, we boldly brought both girls along with us) leaving the house Friday morning. We had a great ride down and were shocked to see such gorgeous landscape in Arkansas. I must have been ignorant to think that AR wasn’t so beautiful, mountainous & just amazing. We stayed in a hotel in Mena, which was located on top of the 2nd highest mountain in AR (Queen Wilhelmina State Park Hotel). It was a good 30-40 minute drive from the city, up through mountains until we reached the hotel. We stopped on the way to take some family pictures of the amazing landscape. When we arrived at the hotel we were amazed by the spectacular view.
There were 2 days of racing, day one (Saturday) was called the tour, which is basically the same mileage, however unlike day two, there were no pros at riding and there was no money at state prize wise. Saturday was pretty good with the girls because the weather was nice and there were 2 of us able to tend to the girls. Kinsley got to run around exploring the wilderness while waiting on the Team in Training (TNT) riders to make it to each checkpoint. The sun was shining, it was nice. HOWEVER, Sunday was a whole other story. It was wet, cold, and I was the only one tending to the girls seeing as Justin was riding. Poor girls spent the entire weekend in the car, especially Sunday. Here’s how Sunday went down…
We woke up dark & early (I’d say bright but the sun was nowhere to be found) to get ourselves ready, get the girls ready & head out the door to eat a diner in town. We heard they had fantastic oatmeal which I knew would be great for Justin before his race & a hit with Kinsley. We left the diner around 6:30 to ride 45 minutes to the race site in Oden. The girls slept in the car while I sat with them watching Justin gear up for the day he had been waiting for & training for for some time now. I could tell he was anxious to get out there and experience his first LLS event. I don’t think he realized just how hard this course was; he was literally biking through the mountains in AR going up & down things you wouldn’t believe. There were lots of sections where even the pros were forced to walk their bikes up or down. Unbelievable. And to make it harder, they closed down part of the course due to the wetness so they added more jeep-trails which is gravely dirt roads.. in doing this, they added 8 miles onto the course, so now it was a total of 68 miles. You’d think by adding more miles it was because they made it easier.. well the part they closed down was where the riders were able to make good time in getting lots of speed, and that’s not something you can do on jeep-trails. The course officials also shortened the cut off time for each checkpoint by 2 hours. That’s a BIG deal! Needless to say there were lots of frustrated riders. Nevertheless, Justin made great time at the 4th checkpoint that we saw him at (which was the first checkpoint we could get to by road).
We went to the only other checkpoint we could reach the riders by road and waited for the riders for hours.. I mean hours! The girls wanted to be out of the car, but it was in the low 40’s & drizzling so in the car we stayed. Kinsley learned lots of new things about cars.. how to turn on & off the interior lights, the head lights, how to stick the key in the car & turn it over, we practiced shifting since we were in a standard, we played games, ate, and tried just about everything possible to keep her mind off of the fact that we were confined to a 7’x5’ space. Gracelyn was great, sleeping most of the time except when she needed a diaper change or a feeding. I felt guilty for keeping her sleeping the entire day but there again it was easier that way.
We got out of the car about 30 minutes before the cut off for the last checkpoint and saw the sun trying to peek out of the clouds, however it was still in the low 40’s & windy as ever. We waited, and waited, prayed & hoped Justin would make the final timed checkpoint. Sadly we heard a gentleman yell, “checkpoint closed”. I was so bummed for Justin, not so much because of the fact that he didn’t make the checkpoint, but because I knew how much he wanted to make the checkpoint. About 6-8 minutes after the cutoff I see this handsome man come round the corner & down the road and yes, it was my husband!! Kinsley & I clapped for daddy while he pedaled closer to us. I could tell he was totally BEAT. As was ever other person I saw before & after him. Apparently he had a couple bike malfunctions with his rear break & was riding with his rear break engaged for about 20 miles. When he figured out it was engaged he had a mechanic at one of the checkpoints mess with it for about 15 minutes before deciding to just finish as is. Not too long after that his break snapped so he was riding the last 10-15 miles without a rear break. Kinda freaky when you’re zooming down mountainsides with only a front break.. tap that too hard & over the handlebars you go.
Justin completed 52 amazing miles and said “this is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” …something even the pros said after the race.
I am so incredibly proud of Justin! It was an amazing experience getting to see him ride for such a wonderful cause & looking like a hero doing it. He’s my hero! I couldn’t be more proud of my husband for all of the preparation he did for the race, the dedication on training & fundraising as well as being a part of such a tough group of men & women to compete in the Ouachita Mountain Bike Challenge. Until next year Ouachita!
There were 2 days of racing, day one (Saturday) was called the tour, which is basically the same mileage, however unlike day two, there were no pros at riding and there was no money at state prize wise. Saturday was pretty good with the girls because the weather was nice and there were 2 of us able to tend to the girls. Kinsley got to run around exploring the wilderness while waiting on the Team in Training (TNT) riders to make it to each checkpoint. The sun was shining, it was nice. HOWEVER, Sunday was a whole other story. It was wet, cold, and I was the only one tending to the girls seeing as Justin was riding. Poor girls spent the entire weekend in the car, especially Sunday. Here’s how Sunday went down…
We woke up dark & early (I’d say bright but the sun was nowhere to be found) to get ourselves ready, get the girls ready & head out the door to eat a diner in town. We heard they had fantastic oatmeal which I knew would be great for Justin before his race & a hit with Kinsley. We left the diner around 6:30 to ride 45 minutes to the race site in Oden. The girls slept in the car while I sat with them watching Justin gear up for the day he had been waiting for & training for for some time now. I could tell he was anxious to get out there and experience his first LLS event. I don’t think he realized just how hard this course was; he was literally biking through the mountains in AR going up & down things you wouldn’t believe. There were lots of sections where even the pros were forced to walk their bikes up or down. Unbelievable. And to make it harder, they closed down part of the course due to the wetness so they added more jeep-trails which is gravely dirt roads.. in doing this, they added 8 miles onto the course, so now it was a total of 68 miles. You’d think by adding more miles it was because they made it easier.. well the part they closed down was where the riders were able to make good time in getting lots of speed, and that’s not something you can do on jeep-trails. The course officials also shortened the cut off time for each checkpoint by 2 hours. That’s a BIG deal! Needless to say there were lots of frustrated riders. Nevertheless, Justin made great time at the 4th checkpoint that we saw him at (which was the first checkpoint we could get to by road).
We went to the only other checkpoint we could reach the riders by road and waited for the riders for hours.. I mean hours! The girls wanted to be out of the car, but it was in the low 40’s & drizzling so in the car we stayed. Kinsley learned lots of new things about cars.. how to turn on & off the interior lights, the head lights, how to stick the key in the car & turn it over, we practiced shifting since we were in a standard, we played games, ate, and tried just about everything possible to keep her mind off of the fact that we were confined to a 7’x5’ space. Gracelyn was great, sleeping most of the time except when she needed a diaper change or a feeding. I felt guilty for keeping her sleeping the entire day but there again it was easier that way.
We got out of the car about 30 minutes before the cut off for the last checkpoint and saw the sun trying to peek out of the clouds, however it was still in the low 40’s & windy as ever. We waited, and waited, prayed & hoped Justin would make the final timed checkpoint. Sadly we heard a gentleman yell, “checkpoint closed”. I was so bummed for Justin, not so much because of the fact that he didn’t make the checkpoint, but because I knew how much he wanted to make the checkpoint. About 6-8 minutes after the cutoff I see this handsome man come round the corner & down the road and yes, it was my husband!! Kinsley & I clapped for daddy while he pedaled closer to us. I could tell he was totally BEAT. As was ever other person I saw before & after him. Apparently he had a couple bike malfunctions with his rear break & was riding with his rear break engaged for about 20 miles. When he figured out it was engaged he had a mechanic at one of the checkpoints mess with it for about 15 minutes before deciding to just finish as is. Not too long after that his break snapped so he was riding the last 10-15 miles without a rear break. Kinda freaky when you’re zooming down mountainsides with only a front break.. tap that too hard & over the handlebars you go.
Justin completed 52 amazing miles and said “this is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” …something even the pros said after the race.
I am so incredibly proud of Justin! It was an amazing experience getting to see him ride for such a wonderful cause & looking like a hero doing it. He’s my hero! I couldn’t be more proud of my husband for all of the preparation he did for the race, the dedication on training & fundraising as well as being a part of such a tough group of men & women to compete in the Ouachita Mountain Bike Challenge. Until next year Ouachita!
-Rachael
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Nice Sunday ride with Justin & Kinsley
Justin, Kinsley & I decided to go on a bike ride Sunday afternoon at River Legacy before Brian’s “see ya later” dinner. (He’s heading overseas for 10 mos.) Miss Gracelyn is still too small, in my opinion, to ride in the trailer with sister. We rode a good 14-15 miles at a decent pace which was nice. The first mile or two was frustrating because there were tons of people at the park enjoying the nice spring day. Once we got out a little further on the trail there weren’t as many people.
I forgot to tell you in my last post, I have a nice “NASCAR” sunburn on my face, wrists, ankles & neck from the ride Saturday. Note to self: wear sunscreen. You’re pasty white, any amount of sun will burn you!
-Rachael
Team Training - Week 3 - Joe Pool Lake
Wow, Saturday was my 3rd team practice. I can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks already! I received an email from Coach Albert on Friday evening, talking about our ride and one part in particular made me quite nervous about the ride. And I quote: “Considering where we are in our schedule, the few hills on this course may be a bit challenging”. I mean wouldn’t you be a little nervous after reading that? I admit though, I was pretty excited about the ride, because Justin’s mountain bike team was scheduled to ride with us [road bike team].
Justin & I got everything organized so that come the AM we could get the girls up, feed them, get them read as well as ourselves & quickly head out the door to Justin’s dad’s house, who was watching them while we rode. We got out the door on time, which is a feat in and of itself. We dropped the girls off & headed to Joe Pool Lake, where the 36 mile ride began.
The ride started off great, cool, sunny, lake side, with a nice breeze. As we started around the corner I noticed we had a pretty good tailwind which meant on the backside of the ride I’d be paying for it. I enjoyed it while it lasted. I experienced the “challenging hills” coach was talking about in the beginning and hoped that soon we’d be riding more of rolling hills instead of steep inclines. Just then I look ahead & notice this quite elevated, long hill ahead. One of my teammates, Susan, and I were chatting just before I saw the hill. When I saw it, I said, “Ohh this is going to be a good one!” She pumped me up, gave me a few VERY helpful pointers, one of which was to pick a spot on the side of the road. Then ride to that point then pick another. This way it breaks the hill down into smaller portions so that it doesn’t overwhelm you.
As I start to climb this man zooms past me, which of course frustrated me, but I tried not to think too much of it & focus on the task at hand – making it up this “mountain”. Susan’s pointers really helped, but I was really starting to get tired ½ way up. Almost like clockwork Susan starts saying, “you can do it, take deep breaths, you’re doing great!” I look over to pick another spot & what do I see? …The man who zoomed past me, jumping off his bike to walk the rest of the way. I trucked past him and before long I was at the top. I definitely let out a shout, “I DID IT!” at the top. I was so proud & of course thanked Susan for her encouragement & coaching. Couldn’t have done it without her.
We got to our rest stop 20 miles in and my mentor, John, and Susan asked me what I had eaten that morning because I pulled away from him on two different occasions on the ride; one of which was the “mountain”. He said he almost blew a lung trying to catch up. It felt SO good to hear that! Guess my hard work is paying off!
I finished the second half of the ride in pretty good time, doing pace lines with Susan & John. I am glad we rode together doing the pace lines because the wind seriously picked up and it was blowing head on. I’d say the last 3-4 miles was the absolute hardest. 1. Because of the head winds and 2. Because of the cars and motorcycles that were zooming by us on a 1 lane road thanks to construction. Most of the cars and motorcycles were not cognizant of us, because they flew by us pretty close and one car honked at us as he flew past. Since he was behind us at that point it startled us pretty good. NOT COOL.
Well, I finished the ride, BEATING JUSTIN! That’s right, Rachael creamed Justin by about 20 minutes!! Now I will give him this, he was on a mountain bike and I was on a road bike AND he did an extra few miles going on a “extra credit hill” that most people chose not to go on. That being said, I still beat him by 20 minutes! HAHA! GO RACHAEL! I can be my own cheerleader right?
Oh and I can’t end this post without telling you about our FLAT TIRE! Yes, we got back to the car & Justin noticed our car was leaning catawampus. My front driver’s side tire was flat; thanks to a nice screw we got in Jake’s neighborhood. Gotta love new construction. Justin said it was no big deal, he could get it changed quickly since we had a spare in the back.. However, as he rolled the spare to the driver’s side I notice this sparkly thing in the tire. We take a closer look and it’s a nail! We bought my QX4 6 years ago and have never had a flat until now so we’ve never looked at the spare. I never thought to check the spare tire before leaving the car lot. Lesson learned. I have to give my thanks to Jake & Linda for coming to our rescue!
That's it for now.
-Rachael
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Team Training - Week 2 - TMS
I had my 2nd team training Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. The FW & Dallas team decided to meet at TMS & train together so there was about 30-40 of us which was pretty cool! If you haven’t been to TMS, let me tell you the wind is FIERCE! It was cloudy all day & quite cold although some of my teammates were walking around in shorts & a short sleeve shirt. Call me a wimp but 40’s & windy is COLD! It started out somewhat windy while we were having our “fix a flat” training for those (me) who don’t know how to fix a flat on a bike. Of course, as we hop on our bikes the wind began blowing like crazy. There are no buildings near TMS other than the racetrack itself so the wind just barrels across the large parking lots.
We started out nice & steady and I thought, “oh this isn’t so bad” as I made it around the first half of the 5 mile loop. As I rounded the second half I ran straight into 16mph head wind. It was like hitting a wall. My poor legs were pedaling like crazy yet I really wasn’t going all that fast. I took 2 laps around the speedway before stopping & taking a break at the checkpoint.
On lap 3 I met up with my mentor, John, and a fellow FW teammate, Kimberly, so that we could work on pace lines. Kimberly and I are both new to cycling so John was kind enough to give us a lesson on how pace lines work, etc. Surprisingly it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of it & boy was it easier to ride through the wind! AMAZING! My goal was to do the advanced training plan, knowing full well that I am not advanced but that never stopped me before, and do 35 miles, however, I was only able to complete 30. I rested after 30 & thought I could do one more lap, but Coach Albert decided I better not since the wind picked up even more AND 30 is plenty. I am glad I took his advice because I was really struggling with the head wind on the back half of the loop and my butt was KILLING me! Have you seen the size of road bike seats? Yeah, well they’re small! Y-OUCH!
This ride was a poker ride, so we were to stop at the checkpoint after each lap to collect a card from a deck of cards. I had a terrible hand (thanks to Brandon for pointing that out because I had NO idea what a good or bad hand was. I’m no poker player) & my only good card was a King. Apparently lots of people had bad hands as well because I actually won a prize - a water bottle! I could use another water bottle! :-) Other prizes people won were helmets & other riding gear, energy bars, etc. Pretty exciting end to a great ride!
Okay, so I was given this sheet from my coach titled, “Summer Training Schedule”. It basically is a layout of what workouts we should be doing every day that will enable us to be ready for the century ride in June. I mentioned this because if any of you know how hard it is to get in a shower during the day with 2 young kids let alone a full on workout. I want to be ready for the 100 miles in June so I have to bite the bullet & begin my workouts after 10-11pm or later depending on Gracelyn’s schedule that particular day. At least the girls sleep in until 9am? I don’t care what it takes, I WILL complete the 100 miles in June – even if it takes a full 24 hours to complete.. I WILL DO IT!
-Rachael
Friday, March 5, 2010
Team Training - Week 1 - Benbrook Lake
So I had my first ride this past Saturday and I will tell you, going into it I was SO confident that 20 miles would be no problem; “pfff 20 miles, no biggie, I can do it.” Have I been that used to driving everywhere that I had forgotten just how far 20 miles really is? I think so!
After talking with my Coach, Albert, and meeting the rest of the team who had joined 4 weeks before me, it was time to hop on the bike & begin the ride. Justin joined me, because his team was doing a separate ride in Austin this weekend which was optional and due to work restraints he wasn’t able to join. Anyway, Justin & Coach Albert stayed back with me while the rest of the team headed out on the ride. Coach went over a few basics of the bike since I’d never been on a cycling bike before and on we went.
I started off still thinking, “Oh I got this”, but not long after thought, “oh man, this is a bit harder than I thought. I’m out of shape!” The boys kept asking how I was doing & for those of you that know me you probably know what my response was… “I’m doing fine – great!” When in all reality I was dying! So I decide to get the bright idea to ask how far we had gone, all the while thinking we’d gone about 10 miles right? WRONG! “Almost 4 miles.” At that point I looked at Justin and said, “Babe, I think 20 miles is a stretch. I’m way more out of shape than I thought!” The great husband & best friend that he is said, “No, Rach you CAN do this. Just breathe, pace yourself & you will be fine. YOU CAN DO IT!” We reached a spot around Benbrook Lake where you have to get off your bike & lift it over a post and decided to take a second to rest & get some water. We got back on the bikes & about a minute after that I got q, trying not to throw up, while the boys chatted. Gosh, am I that out of shape? Guess so!
We reached 377 and crossed over the hwy to a bait shop store. Coach laughed saying, “hopefully they have snacks in here because none of us brought anything to eat & I think you need to get refueled Rachael.” As they walked into the store, I thought, "yeah they’re going to come back with worms or something gross.. yuck!" To my surprise they had food! I hate 2 peanut butter crackers, which were different than usual.. they had grape jelly in them. Have you ever seen those? Anyway, I hadn’t and boy were they delish, however, I couldn’t eat more than 2 in fear that all might come back up. So I played it safe & stuck with 2 and some Gatorade. It worked, refueled me & off we went.
The rest of the 20.7 miles (and yes the .7 counts at this stage of training lol) was tough but not as tough as the beginning, since I learned to pace myself after our rest. For those of you who haven’t been to Benbrook, it’s hilly! Full of hills! There were 2 hills that were steep & long. I tried to suck it up through the fire burning through my legs but I had to get off. Coach was nice enough to give me a push to get some momentum to get up the rest of the hill. What a nice guy right?
We finally were nearing the end of the ride but had 1 last hill to climb. And looking at this hill as a novice rider I was almost shaking thinking, “how could I go up this hill if I had issues with the others?” Coach encouraged me & up we went. The difference on this hill was not what I said to myself over & over again, “Cancer patients can’t just give up. If they did, they’d die. So what do they do? THEY FIGHT! They withstand rigorous treatments including chemo which in lots of cases brings on severe nausea amongst other things. I have no choice but to do this.. THEY ARE WHO I AM DOING THIS FOR!” And guess what?! I MADE IT UP! No stopping! At that very moment I decided, no matter what the hill, no matter what the situation, I cannot give up. I can’t! I must endure the pain, endure the frustration of being so out of shape and just DO IT!
When we finally reached our cars I was so proud of myself! Coach & Justin were proud of me as well which made it that much more of a victory!
-Rachael
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