Milo's misadventure

Poor Milo- he's had a bad week!

During the snowstorm on Wednesday Milo (somehow) managed to crack one of his toenails- and it was bad. We think he broke it on the ice- but we really don't know. All we know is- upon coming back into the house from a "potty" break- we noticed that his right foot was bleeding and that his nail was completely cracked from "tip to fur" and sticking straight out. Oh gosh-- just looking at it gave me the heebie-geebies!! Because of the snowstorm, we figured the vet's office was probably closed and even if it was open, we didn't think it would be a wise decision to try to drive over during the storm. We decided our best course of action was to administer some first aid (clean it and clip off the "dead end" so it would not touch or get caught on anything) and then get him to the vet as soon as the weather breaks.

Finally on Thursday, the storm had passed and we were able to get him to the vet's office. The Vet recommended emergency surgery to completely remove his nail. The surgery only took a couple of hours and Milo was able to return home that afternoon wearing his new doggy "cast". He was so funny (when he got home) because he was still groggy from the sedation and also very drunk on pain meds.






We were instructed to remove the cast after 24 hours so now Milo's recovering well and is able to run around again (actually- he acts as if nothing had happened). The Vet said his nail should grow back in time- it just looks a little funny right now.

Indoor TT #2

This week, it's the Tart's turn to do the happy dance!

My goal was finish this race in under 23 minutes...

Today's time..... Drum roll please....

22:59.8

I made it!! And had 2/10 of a second to spare! HA!!

OMG- that was tooooooo close!

Coming into that final climb- I was sure that I wasn't going to make it! The remaining yards to the finish was creeping down like frozen molasses while the time was whizzing by at warp speed. When I finally finished- I wasn't sure if I had made it (or not) because all I could see was "bubbles". But, I could hear Pops shouting something...he sounded like he was way off in the distance...I think he was saying...."You made it!!! You made your goal!!! Under 23!!!" Once I recovered (and could see and think again) it was great! The pain was over. And YES! I had made it!!!

This week's race strategy was a totally different from last weeks. Stay my big ring and crank a slightly slower cadence for the entire race except on the 3 main climbs where I could shift down to middle ring and spin a higher cadence to the top.

Also, for today's race I tried a new drink mix. "Cytosport's Fast Twitch". This stuff is pretty good! It tasted good and it probably helped me today!!


Reciting our "race mantra".... "Don't be a doily!".......


Hey- he's smilin'- is he working?

The 2009 race season has begun!

Sunday's indoor Time Trial was the first race of my 2009 season. I had set myself a goal of completing the course in under 23 minutes, so now I'm a little disappointed because that I did not make it. I ended up with a time of 24:49.7.

I was afraid that time would secure my spot in last place, but actually, I beat a guy (2 guys if you count the one that DNF'ed). I did push a peak watts of 225- but my ave watts ended up at only 126 (in contrast, Pops pushed a peak watts of 452 with an ave of 284- he's a machine!).

My race strategy was simple; use my middle chain ring to crank a high cadence and hold my heart rate at about 5 beats above threshold until the climbs, shift to big ring and stand on the climbs allowing heart rate to go as high as max, return to middle ring and recover (back to threshold +5) on the downhills, repeat as necessary. I was able to do this only through the first climb- as I could not get my heart rate back to threshold +5, which meant I could not manage to stand up on the subsequent climbs, which meant my "strategy" was now "shot to hell" after the first climb. (Hum... may need to re-think that strategy for next race.) One thing that did help me throughout the race was my "tunes". Santa brought me an iPod for Christmas, so I had my collection of favorite "inspirational pedal songs" to provide encouragement.

We have 3 more races over the next several weeks, and I'm going to keep trying to beat that 23 minute mark. I guess "it's a process!"

I'm a trophy wife!

Last Saturday, Team Dayton had their annual "Award night and end-of-the-year party" so Pops and I drove down to Loveland for the event. We had a great time. The party was great with lots of food, drinks, and folks who also think talking about riding and racing bicycles is almost as fun as doing it. I also came home with a Team Dayton trophy! I won the ladies "Most Improved Time Trialist of 2008"!

Wow! I was stunned as well as honored! I guess this means that I'll have to work a little harder this year- so I can live up to that trophy...oh gosh!