A Day in the life of a Leg Leader, W&OD 50-miler, and Annapolis 70-miler

Hi followers :)

I'm sorry that I have been neglecting my blog for the past couple of weeks. It has been pretty busy. I'll focus on the main things that have been going on - being a leg leader, and a couple of long training rides :)

So, what's it like to be a leg leader? Well, think sitting outside the chemistry building making a list of phone calls to Utah during your 15-minute break from class. Apologizing to your chem lab group for having to step out of lab to answer a call from Imperial, Nebraska. Giving your name and number to up to ten random strangers across the nation in a day. Brainstorming new ways to convince said random strangers that hosting 27 unknown college students in their building for free is a good idea. 

Rough route of Leg 2 of our ride :)

Since my last post I have been focusing on finding us hosts for Leg 2 of our ride. At times it has seemed like a piece of cake, and at other times it has been extremely frustrating. Basically what it means to secure hosts is that if we have been to the city before, I first contact the host we had last year, assuming we had a good experience with them. I simply introduce myself and ask if they'd be interested in hosting us again. If we have not been to the city before, I come up with a list of possible hosts (churches, schools, or universities), and then call and give them my "sales pitch." The main problem is that I don't like talking on the phone, I don't like asking for things, and I don't like talking to strangers....all of which I have to do to secure each host. For this reason I procrastinated beginning this for a while. What got me to make the first call was finding something I wanted to do even less, which was studying for my chemistry exam that was the next day. So that's what got me to start, and I began with repeat hosts, which was a good idea. After the first call it wasn't so intimidating anymore. People are generally nice, and I've gotten pretty good at giving my "sales pitch."

Call history. You can't make this stuff up.

Securing our hosts for Nebraska was very easy. All of them are repeat hosts who seem to really love us and are all looking forward to us coming. Seriously, a couple of them kept me on the phone for 15+ minutes talking about the great times they had with the 4K team last year and how excited their whole community was going to be to find out we are coming through again. All of these host will be providing us with community dinners (which I heard from last year's team are delicious - Nebraska cuisine is apparently quite noteworthy) and some will be providing homestays. The first host I secured was Arapahoe, Nebraska, where we will be on the fourth of July and where we will take a rest day. So excited for this! This is the 12th year Arapahoe will be hosting us. In last year's trip journal, where they typically wrote a paragraph about the day, this is what they said about Arapahoe:

So descriptive. So excited for this.

Finding hosts for the new cities, on the other hand, has been not as easy of a job. It's a lot to ask of someone, calling them out of the blue, to host 27 sweaty college students, during a season when many of the tourist destinations (relevant for Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming) are very busy. For that reason it's important to emphasize that we are a charity, and to downplay the needs that we have - starting from the most basic and working up. Plus, if a host doesn't have everything we need, we can piece together a couple of different arrangements, like sleeping at one place and showering at another. I've had people interrupt me mid-sentence and say they're not interested in giving money (when that's not what I was going to ask for), and I've also been angrily hung up on once. That wasn't fun! The main problem I've encountered is when I can't get a hold of a live person, I leave a message, and my message doesn't get returned. Almost none of the messages I've left for potential new hosts have actually been returned, and I have to wait a couple of days before I can acceptably call back and try again. There are also a couple of cities in which Chelsea and I are really striking out on finding hosts. They are cities so small that they don't have very many places that are even large enough to host us. This week Chelsea and I will be working hard to secure all of our remaining hosts before finals start!!

W&OD 50-miler
A couple weeks ago, I did a 50-mile ride on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Virginia, with one of my mom's work friends, Shani, who is a great cyclist. It was awesome! We started from Herndon, Virginia and rode to Purcellville and back on the trail. The trail was very nice. Paved, scenic, and not too crowded with people but not too sparse either, and the weather was great. In addition to Shani, there were also 3 men from Shani's work, all of whom were experienced cyclists that were training to do the Face of America 2-day ride (fundraiser for disabled veterans) which actually took place this past weekend. They were very willing to give me all sorts of cycling advice. The first thing one of them said to me: "I'm Chris. Ok, let's talk contact points." He proceeded to explain how to minimize problems relating to the contact points your body has with the bike: your handlebars, your saddle, and your shoes. 

Purcellville, VA: Halfway point! This picture reminds me that I still need to name my bike..

Me, Shani, and George after the 50-mile bike ride.

This was also the first time I used my clip-in pedals, and surprisingly, I did pretty well! I didn't fall, but came very close a couple of times! It's not hard at all if you remember to clip out one foot a little bit before you come to a stop. However, if you try to stop short, you're in trouble. This happened to me a couple of times when I was coming up to a small intersection, thought there were no cars coming, then saw a car coming and decided not to cross at the last minute. I definitely almost fell about 3 times in this way, and plenty of people saw.. luckily no one laughed at me and I didn't get hurt :)

Freshman year roomie Emily and I, after running a 5K for Teach for America - April 7th

Random 11.5 mile run
Two weekends ago, I was considering going back to the W&OD and doing another 50-miler by myself, but decided not to go, since no one could go with me. Instead I went out and decided to run as far as I could. It turned out to be 11.5 miles, which was a little less than I had hoped- I wanted to try for 13.1, a half marathon. But I was still happy with 11.5, and realized I needed new running shoes because my knees killing me was the reason I had to stop. So, I ordered those (from Amazon of course) a couple days later, and here are the beautiful new babies:

New running shoes - Asics Gel Kayano 19s; been wearing Gel Kayanos for 5 years

I ran through the Anacostia Tributary Trail system, towards DC, and then back. The first 8 miles were a piece of cake, and the last 4 were a struggle as my knees started to hurt and got worse. Also, it was unfortunate that it was the middle of the day on a Saturday and there were parts during which I didn't feel perfectly safe. Just the parts that were in the woods and no one was around.. that's College Park for you! But for the most part, I did feel totally safe. The other problem was that the trail has NO water fountains, which was a very unpleasant surprise. I don't carry water with me when I run but if I do a long run like that again, I may have to. I was soooo thirsty towards the end and felt like I was about 2 minutes away from drinking out of the Anacostia River (the nastiest thing ever). I stopped at the Kim building on the way back (my home as a bioengineering student) and drank easily a half gallon of water from the water fountain. Other than those difficulties, though, it was a great run and a nice substitute for a long bike ride. My legs were the most sore I can remember them being since high school.. so bad that I took two rest days after that!

Lake Artemesia during my run

Annapolis 70-miler
Last weekend, some 4Kers and some members of the UMD Triathlon team took on a 70-mile round trip ride to Annapolis and back. There were 11 of us in total! This was actually my first road cycling experience, and we took back roads all the way there and back. Not going to lie, it was scary! Riding next to cars is quite nerve-racking, though I did get more used to it as the day went on. 

About 20 miles in, Chelsea and I both got flat tires at the same time... we didn't know how to fix flat tires. We were discouraged and thinking we might have to get someone to pick us up but we waited for one of the MD Tri kids to pass by and he helped us change them and also taught us how to do it ourselves!

Learning how to fix a flat...

It was a good thing he taught us because I managed to get ANOTHER flat tire later in the ride, and another rider also got a flat later. Fellow Team Portland rider Meredith also had a wipeout on the way there, but got back up and still completed the whole ride. We made it to Annapolis a bit later than everyone else, took a group photo, ate lunch, and then headed back. The last 20 miles were a struggle as we were just very tired, and discouraged from having so much bike trouble. 

The crew having arrived in Annapolis!

Me, Chelsea, Meredith

Also, a lot of the other riders were very fast! It was a challenge to keep up-- that is, up until the flat tires, after which we had no chance of catching them. My legs actually weren't sore the next day, which tells me that I'm okay riding those long distances, and maybe I should work on my speed. Not exactly sure how to do that, though. I've always been more of an endurance person rather than speed. It was nice to be able to meet some other 4K riders and get to know Meredith and Zach.

Eating lunch  Devouring burritos in Annapolis with Meredith, Zach, and Chelsea

The group's 4th and final flat of the day....

Confession: It was actually 69 miles as I pulled into my apartment complex, so I rode around in circles just to get it to 70 just to get this picture.

Other than these long rides, I do have some other exciting training news to report: I've definitely noticed an improvement in all aspects of my athletic abilities! For one, biking around campus has become considerably easier. I get to class a lot quicker in the morning -- and with a lot less effort. Also, I used to absolutely dread the ride from the Kim building up to CSPAC for orchestra (only UMD people will know what I'm talking about), but now it's no trouble at all. For swimming- I can do my swimming workout in under 40 minutes now, whereas it used to take me about 45. Running has definitely improved because I don't think I'd have been able to run 11.5 miles before I started this training. And at body pump, I've upped the weight I lift on every exercise. It makes me happy when I'm lifting more than all the girls in the class, and that's usually the case lately!

Other than training, I have been really busy with school. Exams, projects, and a wonderful 10-page paper for Technical Writing, which I have conveniently decided to write on a safe biking route in Nebraska and Iowa. Amazingly enough we somehow only have two weeks of classes left, one week of finals, and then two weeks before leaving for the 4K. CRAZY!! I am ridiculously excited.

5 weeks left!!!

I will post again this week about some other exciting stuff: whitewater rafting, which I did this past weekend, my 4K mentor, and my new gear!

Until then, XOXO,
Mary

Training Plateau, New gear, and Florida

It happens to everyone - after you've gotten into the swing of things, you just hit a bad week where your fitness doesn't seem to improve. That's been me this past week! I remember this all too well from high school cross country and as always it's very frustrating.

Since I got back from spring break my training has been at a plateau. My workouts feel way more difficult than they did just the week before and it's more of a struggle to get out and do them. Also, cycling class was practically empty the first day back from break and there wasn't the "strength in numbers" vibe that the class usually has. The next day Body Pump was full by the time I got there, so no Body Pump for me for the week :( As a substitute I decided to hit up the weight room at the gym!! GASP!! I had never been in there before. I'm intimidated by all the crazy weightlifting guys and I don't want to be embarrassed by not knowing how to use the machines. Soooo what better to do than bring my trusty boyfriend with me to show me the ropes. With his help I managed not to look like a complete idiot and got in a pretty good workout. Anyway, I don't know why this is happening now, because I had a nice change of pace over spring break when I could only go running in Chicago. But whatever the reason, it's frustrating and I hope it ends soon!

Some positive training news: The training game that Team Portland was playing for the month of March ended Sunday, and the team that Chelsea and I were on won! This means that the other half of our team will serve us dinner on Day 1. The score was pretty close, though, and everyone did a good job. The average amount of points earned per team member was 463. As an example, biking outside was 3 pt/mile and biking inside was 2 pt/mile -- but all sorts of other exercises had designated point values as well. Chelsea and I also got "awards" (chosen by our 2 ride directors and posted on our team's group on Facebook):

Screenshot of our "Award" :)

In other news, for Easter I got to go to Florida! My parents wanted to take a mini family vaca since we won't all be home at the same time this summer (thanks to the 4K). We all flew down to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night and then Michael and I flew back Sunday night. My parents and James (littler brother) are still down there soaking up the sun until tomorrow. It was really great -- if you know me you know I LOVE the sun and the beach so I was super happy :) It was great weather and we pretty much just chilled on the beach the whole time. I managed to burn myself to a crisp.. I underestimated the Florida sun and attempted to use SPF 8 on the first day... which ended up not really cutting it. Oh well, it's pretty much all better now! 

Florida!!!

We also spent Easter with my dad's aunt and uncle who live an hour from Ft. Lauderdale. The uncle is the brother of my grandfather who I am doing the ride for. They look and act a lot alike. It was great to see him and his wife and we got to chill at their awesome house.

Me driving my uncle's sweet Mercedes!!

Training while in Florida- I went for a lovely warm run on the beach with my brother. We went around 4pm when the boardwalk was ridiculously crowded and we were constantly dodging people. There were also a lot of drunk people (still spring break season). I also got to use an awesome exercise bike at the hotel called the Expresso. It has a screen and it's kind of like a video game in that you get to choose your course and level and then you race people! You actually steer the bike too so it's really cool. I felt like it made me work out harder because I was trying to beat my "competitors" in the game.

Fundraising - My fundraising total is now $6,493!! So close to $6500, and within range of $7000 which is my goal. I actually JUST noticed, as I was looking at my donors' cities in order to update my Donors Map (see older post for that) that I got a few donations this past week via checks. For checks sent in to the 4K office, I don't get an email informing me of the donation as I do for online donations, so I have to check back on my donor page to see if anyone donated. I also don't know how fast they are at putting the donations through on the 4K end once they receive the check, so I apologize if it has been a while! Thank you so much Mr. Dan and Mrs. Lois (Mr. Dan I have your email so you'll get a real thank-you), Anthony Bambace, and Cory Muscara!!

For future fundraising - Chelsea and I are going to have a "drunk bake sale" (us sitting on Rt. 1 outside of the bars and selling a bunch of goodies late at night, aka profiting off of the bad financial decisions of drunk college students). This will probably take place next weekend. Don't worry - we want to get a campus police officer to sit with us or sit close by to keep an eye on the safety of things. I also want to do a car wash in Bel Air at some point.

Gear -- I kind of went on a cycling buying spree and got a cool poster, shirt, and bumper sticker! I'll post a pic of the bumper sticker once I get it on my car.

Poster - now hanging next to our bikes :)

Awesome shirt to make a statement about cycling! I got it on Ebay for $9

When I got back from Chicago, Andrew's parents were nice enough to surprise me with the cycling glasses I wanted! Again it was Andrew that did all the research on the glasses for me. He narrowed it down to the top 3 and then asked me which I liked from there. I got the brand recommendation, Tifosi, from our new cycling friend Nick (thanks Nick!!). They are really cool and come with 3 different lenses which you can switch out depending on the weather: yellow for foggy weather (they increase resolution and visibility), red for overcast/cloudy weather (will increase contrast and brighten the surroundings), and black for regular sunny days (these are polarized to minimize glare from the road). I've tried all of the lenses and love them all!! I feel a little dorky with them on but also super sporty. They also have little vents at the top to keep them from getting hot on the inside, and they're also adjustable on the sides so I can fit them to my rather small head and then adjust them during the day if they ever feel too tight. Finally they also are supposedly quite indestructible. A video review on the website we got them from shows a guy hitting them with a hammer and they don't break. As you can imagine this is very important as I'm sure that these glasses will suffer a few falls and bumps between Baltimore and Portland!

Awesome new cycling glasses, with the yellow lenses.

Anyway, back in good old CP, I'm currently neglecting a ton of studying I have to do and the remainder of this week will be very busy for me. Early next week it will be clearing up, and that's when I hope to get in most of my calls to secure hosts for the ride. I want to get everything done before May. I think Chelsea and I will do a long ride this Saturday, so more on that this weekend :). I will continue getting myself get out there to train every day, and I hope that the sort of training plateau I've been in ends soon. Thanks as always for the support!!!

XOXO,
Mary