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
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