You want me to get there how???

Last Saturday, I did indoor climbing for the first time. My friend Jesse, whose been doing indoor climbing for nine months, invited me to her gym for some indoor climbing. Game for pretty much anything athletic, I accepted her invitation.

While we waited for Jesse's friend Hannah to join us, Jesse helped me get into my harness and showed me how to make a figure eight loop with a rope. When Hannah arrived, we were ready to head for the climbing walls. My first climb was a 5.5 climb. All of the walls have various climbing routes that are marked by colored tape. (Rather than try and explain the rating system, I've copied and pasted Touchstones' explanation: "Roped routes use the Yosemite Decimal System, in which every number is preceded by a '5' to indicate technical climbing - followed by a dot - followed by a number from 1 to 14 which indicates increasing difficulty. Hence, a climb rated 5.3 is relatively easy while a 5.13 is the domain of the elite.")

I was a bit nervous getting up the 5.5 route and noticed that my palms got sweaty relatively quickly (I attribute that to my nerves). I can't recall if I made it to the top of my first route but I do remember doing it twice.

We then proceeded to a 5.6 climb and, though I struggled with it, I made it to the top.

Throughout my climbs, Jesse and Hannah kept reminding me to use my legs more than my arms but my instinctive reaction was to use more arm power than leg power. There were times when I got stuck in the middle of a route because the next step seemed almost impossible to make (e.g., I had to extend my right leg far to the right and stand on that leg so I can reach for the next climbing hold above me.) There were times when Jesse and Hannah had to yell out directions toward the next climbing hold because the holds were hard to see from my vantage point. I remember looking over my left shoulder and seeing how far away the ground appeared to me. Damn, that made me nervous!

Although I did make it to the top of most of my climbs, there was at least one wherein I just couldn't reach the top. When I got to the middle of the route, I froze! I was scared to get around the "ledge". Jesse and Hannah yelled at me to move my left leg to a particular hold above me but my leg would not budge out of fear. At one point, I slid off the wall. That's when I realized that I was going to be o.k. because I was securely fastened to my harness and I had confidence in Jesse's belaying skills. (A belayer is the person who controls the rope fed out to the climber.)



Towards the end of our two and a half hour workout, Jesse and Hannah and encouraged me to climb the bouldering wall. The bouldering wall is about 12-15 feet high, with routes of varying difficulties. While this wall is not as high as the other walls, you climb it sans rope. So, if you fall, there's no harness to protect you (although there is a mat immediately below the wall to cushion your fall should you fall.) I was a bit scared and failed to climb to the top on my first attempt but I did make it to the top on my second attempt.



At the end of my indoor climbing experience, I realized that indoor climbing is as mentally taxing as it is physically challenging. Although you have routes laid out for you, you still have to make decisions as far as what's your next best hold. Should you go for that hold to your far right or go for that hold above you on your left?

I also learned that indoor climbing is great for working on any trust and or fear issues you may have. You have to trust the person below you who is feeding you your rope and you have to trust yourself to know that you can take that next step. As far as the fear, you have to get past it to make it to the top of your climb.

The next time I go indoor climbing, I hope to be less nervous and more daring.

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Oh yeah, it's measurements time:

QUADS: 56 CM (damn, this isn't the type of consistency I want!)
CALVES: 37 cm
BICEPS: 28 cm

My Adventures with Team Oakland

I bought my first road bike in January 2006 at Cycle Sports. I remember hanging out at the shop sometime in May '06 when sales rep, Mark Munoz, introduced me to TO racer, Sean Smith. Looking at Sean's big, muscular body, he struck me more as a body builder than a cyclist. Nonetheless, Sean was extremely friendly and invited me to join TO's casual Thursday night rides and the Tuesday night port rides. I took him up on his offer and showed up for both rides where I met more TO people.





I remember our first non-lycra ride was the Halloween ride where we all dressed in costumes and rode around town just being goofballs. I had a blast!



In January 2007, I officially joined TO and ventured out to the Early Birds. I was nervous as hell when I rode out the the Bart station for my first EB session. When I got to the 19th street station, I saw two cyclists waiting for a train. I walked over to them and asked them if they were headed out to the early birds. It turns out they were headed out there too so I asked them if I could join them, to which they said yes. This was my first introduction to Ms. Bad-Ass Quads and Racer, Beth Newell, and Mr. former racer but I-still-got-a-lot-of-fight-in-me, Fred. I almost made it through the race series crash-free. Almost. I ended up being part of a three-woman pile up in the 4th race. It shook me up and I almost didn't do the 5th race but teammate (and EB mentor) Andrew Hardardt encouraged me to set my fears aside and do the race. I did it and came in 13th out of 22 despite hanging out in the back of the pack for most of the race. (Beth was not so lucky, she was involved in two crashes, one which was pretty serious. However, she has proven to be absolutely fearless and tough as nails and is now kicking ass on the road and at the track!)



In February 2007, TO racer, Mel Schultz, initiated a Saturday morning women's group ride that welcomed women of all skill levels and riding experience. I've met a few good women on these rides, two of which joined TO this year (Laura Walpert and Lauren Haughey).








In the months that followed, there were races, TO group rides, parties, and Tuesday night dinners at Los Cantaros.














I can honestly say that Team Oakland has some of the friendliest, toughest, and funniest people I've ever met. I'm very grateful to have found a group of friends who inspire me and humor me. I love these guys.

I'm also happy to report that Team Oakland now has a myspace page. Yay! http://www.myspace.com/teamoaklandcycling

Here's to another great year with Team Oakland!

I feel like such a lame ass!

Today in my kickboxing class, the instructor asked me if I would help with a punch/kick combination demonstration. I thought, "Cool, I can show off what I've learned so far." So, the instructor calls out jab, jab, cross, left roundhouse, right roundhouse." Well, it turns out that he just wanted me to hold the pads while he demonstrated a jab, jab, cross. When he called out "roundhouse", my brain computed that instruction as, "he wants you to show a roundhouse kick", so I lifted up my left leg with the intention of releasing a full force roundhouse kick (for some odd reason, my left kicks are stronger than my right kicks even though I'm right-hand dominant). Instead of unleasing a powerful roundhouse kick, both of my feet slipped from underneath me and I fell flat on my ass in front of the whole class! I heard a collective gasp and saw that some people moved towards me, perhaps they thought I had gone down so hard I would need help getting up. Thankfully, the only thing that was brusied was my ego. I jumped back up as quick as I could, put my game face on, said I was o.k. and continued with the demonstration. The pathetic part of it all was that the instructor had only wanted me to hold the pads while HE demonstrated a roundhouse kick. I have a feeling this episode is going to bug me for a long time. Aaarghhhhh!! Serenity now, godamnit!

Measurements, workouts, and food

As Michiko has pointed out, I've been remiss in posting my measurements. Not only will I post my quad & calve measurements but I will add my biceps because I'm doing muay thai training and I'm interested in seeing my arms becoming more developed.

Quads: 56 cm (damn it, when will they get to 59 cms???)
Calves: 37 cm (my jump roping should keep this number from decreasing)
Biceps: 28 cm (hmmm, I wonder what an average size is for women)

As much as I enjoy riding my bike, I like mixing up my workouts. I've now discovered the awesomeness of muay thai (thai boxing). Known as the art of the eight limbs, muay thai involves usage of the hands, shins, elbows, and knees.

When I first began my muay thai training, I tired quickly during my jump rope warm ups. My trainer had me do three sets of two-minute intervals with forty second breaks in between each set. By the time I was done with each set, I was breathing and sweating profusely. As the weeks progressed, jump roping became easier. I can now do six minutes nonstop. (My next goal will be to do cool tricks with the rope. ;-) I also noticed that I was hitting harder, as evidenced by my bruised hands.





I'll continue working one-on-one with my trainer until I find a martial arts school that's within my budget and my neighborhood.

As far as my food intake, I've been reading about the raw food diet. While it makes sense to me, I don't see myself eating a 100% raw food diet. (What can I say, I love wine, coffee and dining out.) However, I am trying to eat more raw meals. Instead of eating Trader Joe's frozen organic enchiladas at lunch, I'll eat fruit, vegetables, pumpkin seeds, and/or almonds. I need to be careful, though, because a lot of these foods are high in calories (e.g., avocados, nuts, etc.) My goal is to get stronger and slimmer, we'll see how these next few weeks pan out with my diet shift.

My game plan for 2008

This year I’m keeping it simple: I’m simply going to love myself and take care of myself in the following ways:

(1) I will do tai chi and yoga to keep my mind calm and my body flexible and keep negative thoughts and vibes at bay.

(2) I will appreciate all things in my life, even those physical/spiritual gains that seem minor.

(3) I will set constant goals for myself to challenge my mind and my body.

(4) I will not beat myself up if I fail to meet a goal.

(5) I will remember to laugh and enjoy things for what they are.

(6) I will eat foods that give me nourishment for sustained energy and strength.

(7) I will surround myself with positive people so that when I’m feeling down I will have positive energy and inspiration to draw from.

These are the big-picture endeavors that I think will help me stick to a training plan with consistency and enthusiasm.

Bad Things Do Happen in 3's!!!

Recently inspired with a new sense of determination and a desire to get stronger on the bike, I looked forward to today's 70-mile ride with members from Club One, Left Coast, and the Duros. Yeah, I knew the ride was going to start out chilly (Lafayette was in the 30's when I arrived at the bart station at 8:35 a.m.) but I came prepared! Two base layers, a long sleeved jersey, and a jacket provided me with enough insulation to keep me from chattering my teeth as I rode to the bart station.

When I arrived at Lafayette, I learned that Mark and I would be the only two Club One members that would be doing this ride. Although a bit disappointed at not seeing other Club One peeps show up, I was prepared to get in a good ride. Once Mark got suited up, off we went. Riding though the residential area of Lafayette, I noticed that the chilly air was piercing through my gloves. Numbness started to enter my thumbs. What the hell?!



I tried to think warm thoughts but to no avail. My hands were freezing. Yeah, I know you east coast readers are thinking, "Whimp!" Having been born in a tropical country and grown up in lovely L.A., I will readily admit that I don't handle cold weather very well. I started thinking about upgrading my gloves to pogies.




(In case you're wondering where you can find pogies, check out www.icebike.org.)

BAD INCIDENT #1, albeit a minor one, happened to Mark while we were waiting for a red light. I was talking to him when all of a sudden I see him tilting over before falling on his right side. *scratching my head* "Uh, Mark, what just happened?" Apparently, Mark wanted to walk over and push the light button so we could get a green light faster. Ummm, perhaps, he should have unclipped before trying to walk over to the light? I'm just sayin'. ;-)

Anyhoo, we eventually met up with the Duros and Left Coast Riders at a Shell station. Before we left the station, Mark warned me that these guys can ride pretty fast so I better be on my toes. Sure enough, these guys started picking up the pace and I was hanging in the back trying to keep up. Thank goodness for that red light where we had to turn left to turn into the Livermore hills. Although I didn't expect them to slow down, I at least knew their pace and did my best to stay with them.

We eventually made it to rest stop number two where we refilled our water bottles and consumed some calories. Being the camera-happy person that I am, I whipped out my camera and started snapping pictures as I also tried to gulp down a cup of hot coffee.




All of a sudden, I heard people getting on their bikes and rolling. Damn! I took another gulp of coffee before throwing out the remains, jammed my camera into my jersey pocket, and adjusted my other jersey pockets before I jumped on my bike and started pedaling quickly towards the group. I'm not sure if it was the sudden acceleration but all of a sudden I felt a twinge in my lower right hip/ass area. Damn again! I was a little concerned that the dull pain might develop into a sharper one as the ride progressed but I figured I'd just wait and see what happened.



We had a fair amount of riders in the group and they were pretty good about calling out objects on the road. At one point, I heard someone yell "rock." I immediately saw a mini-crater on the ground and people splitting off to the left and right. I then saw Mark hit the rock before he lost control of his bike. I was behind him so I quickly glanced over my left shoulder to ensure there weren't any cars on the road before I split off to the center of the road. Bam! Down Mark went! We all stopped and checked on Mark. Aside from some aches, Mark appeared well enough to continue riding. His bike was also in tact enough to continue the ride so on we went. That was BAD INCIDENT #2.

As we approached the Pleasanton bart station, we learned that Bonnie had a rear flat tire so we waited for her and Deb to catch up with the group.

The ride continued for a while before the group split off. Eventually, it was Mark, Bonnie and I riding into Lafayette together. Bonnie asked me if I was tired and I said no (although, I still felt that little twinge on my right side.) Mark asked, since I wasn't tired, would I extend my ride by skipping the bart ride and riding home instead, to which I responded, "No. Considering what's happened on this ride already, I'll end up with a flat and I'll have to wait for someone to come along and help me fix my flat." Mark retorted, "You rode home by yourself on our last ride." I replied, "Yeah, but I'm superstitious and I believe that bad things happen in 3's. So, I'll be taking bart today."

As we neared the Lafayette bart station, Bonnie noticed that she had a front wheel flat. She figured that she could make it up the little hill and into the station before she got off her bike to fix the flat. As I turned left into the parking lot on Deer Hill Road, I heard Bonnie yell out. I looked behind me and saw Bonnie on the ground in the middle of the street. I put my bike down and ran over to her and Mark. Bonnie was in serious pain and couldn't get up. BAD INCIDENT #3!



The first driver that stopped to check on Bonnie happened to be an EMT. He asked her various questions and did a mini-physical exam. Although, it appeared that Bonnie might be o.k., she yelled out in pain as she tried to get up. She appeared to be experiencing severe pelvic pain when she tried to sit up. Traffic started building up as various drivers asked if they could help out or call 911. One woman even got out of her car. We let them know that, while we appreciated their offers, we had already called for an ambulance and were waiting for them to appear.

The Lafayette police were the first to appear. They set up their two patrol cars to ensure Bonnie didn't get run over while laying on the ground.



Eventually, the firefighters and paramedics showed up. At this point, Bonnie was freezing and she couldn't get into the ambulance fast enough.




While waiting for the ambulance, I learned the following things:

1. Never give a seriously injured person water or food; it might send them into shock. (Bonnie asked for water but we had to
deny her request per the first EMT's recommendation.)

2. Off-the-clock nurses, paramedics, and cops are more likely than doctors to stop and assist random injured people in
public places. (This is according to the lady cop's personal experience.) What's up with this?!!

3. When you continue to ride with a flat tire, you run the risk of going down. (Perhaps Bonnie's flat, front wheel hit a bot dot
as she attempted to make a left hand turn and the tire gave in, causing her to go down? Bonnie was also tired at this point
so perhaps that was also a factor?)

4. BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN IN 3'S!!!!! (Affirmation of pre-existing knowledge.)

Mark was going to go to the hospital to check on Bonnie. As soon as I get an update from him on Bonnie's status, I'll add it to my blog.

As you can see from some of these pictures, Bonnie remained a trooper and let me snap pictures of the event. If you're interested in seeing the other pictures, you can find them at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7616589@N06/

BONNIE UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Mark and he said Bonnie has a pelvic fracture but she will not require
surgery or rehab. She'll have to endure some pain but her fracture will heal on its' own. Although a fractured pelvis sucks, I'm happy to hear that Bonnie is now on her way to recovery.

my dual blogs and current measurements

I have two blogs: this one and myspace blog. Although I generally try to use this blogger as my "fitness-related" blog, I sometimes find myself blogging about my workouts in my MS blog. Tonight I'll cheat and I'll copy and paste the blog I wrote on MS tonight. (If anyone is bored and curious to see what kind of other stuff I blog about, here's my MS link: http://www.myspace.com/cyclist06)

(Oh yeah, I haven't done measurements in a while so here goes: Quads:56 cm, Calves 38 cm)

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According to Wikipedia, microtrauma occurs to your muscle fibers whenever you engage in weight training or some other strenuous activity. Your body then tries to compensate for this muscle damage by replacing the damaged tissue and adding more muscle tissue (thus, the bigger muscle appearance.)

Fret not, I won't be blogging on the intricacies of weight training. I begin my blog with this tidbit of information because it was this physiological visual that came to mind while I was working out today and going over my physical and mental state this past week.

During the last three days, I was bedridden with extreme fatigue. I felt like I couldn't get enough sleep or enough rest. Mentally, I wanted to shut down. There were moments when I experienced frustration because I wanted to be out doing my regular workout routines but I just couldn't muster the energy.

I'm not sure whether I can attribute this fatigue to a build-up of insufficient sleep or some weird flu. Whatever the reason, I can now look at these past three days as a necessary "breakdown". Maybe I needed this "breakdown" period to re-evaluate my mental outlook; maybe I needed it so I can get enough rest to come back harder to my training.

I feel that I possess a fair amount of mental and physical toughness. However, I have athletic friends who are mentally and physically much stronger than I. I don't envy their toughness as much as I admire it and aspire to match it.

I want to have the grit to ride strong when I'm riding with a stronger group of cyclists.

I want to have the discipline to hit the weights after I'm exhausted from my cardio workouts.

I want to have the fortitude to push myself harder when I want to ease off.

After experiencing a few days of metaphorical microtrauma, I now feel re-energized and with a renewed sense of determination. Here's to a stronger body and a stronger will! Booyah!