Greg riding the Santa Ana River trail towards Huntington Beach on his big cruiser with Sofia in tow.
Jax Bicycle Shop parking lot on Main Street Huntington Beach. Downtown roads are closed for the parade and the bikers.and I thought this title only pertained to my ultra-endurance sports...
Greg riding the Santa Ana River trail towards Huntington Beach on his big cruiser with Sofia in tow.
Jax Bicycle Shop parking lot on Main Street Huntington Beach. Downtown roads are closed for the parade and the bikers.
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We started with a quick 1.8 mile bike ride to the kayak section. Although it had been over 2 years since I'd paddled, I was confident I could make it around the lake. I dropped my bike and quickly put on my PFD and hopped in the boat. Bike shoes, helmet and bike gloves still on, I started paddling. I was doing well until about 15 minutes into it when I started to wonder how big Vail Lake really was. I put my head down and just concentrated on using my core and couldn't wait to switch disciplines. 7.5 km later, I was done and so were my shoulders!
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No, I haven't taken up juggling (although some of you wouldn't be surprised if I said I had). I'm talking about the constant juggling of life, especially with a baby.


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Sofia and I took a two hour drive up to the local mountains of Idyllwild to the 24 Hours of Adrenalin. Nope, I didn't race this time. I was there to DMS massage the racers.
My babysitter backed out at the last minute so I took Sofia with me and we made the best of it. Luckily Carl and Marless were there to help me for the first day and Christian was there to help the rest of the time. A few other friends came by our Feed The Machine/DMS Massage Booth and played with Sofia.
I came up with the ingenious idea of enclosing her in a blow-up kiddie swimming pool that had a canopy. I padded it with a cozy comforter and put all her toys in there and she was happy. It was only $25 at Target and it worked perfectly!
It got down to the low 30's at night so Sofia and I cozied up in my Honda Element. I took the back seats out, put all our blankets down and we slept together in the back. Every hour and half I turned on the heater for a few minutes to warm up the car and we stayed pretty cozy all through the night. (I know it's a box on wheels, but dang I love that car!)
And thanks to La Ruta Lou, Sofia had the PERFECT outfit! She was wearing her "stars & stripes" bike jersey and she looked adorable! Meanwhile, Mommy is still trying to fit back in her's! :)
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Bernice
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I've been following a blog written by a friend of mine who took time off of adventure racing and ultra running to have a baby. I'm always interested to find out how other new moms are dealing with the effects of taking it easy through pregnancy and new-motherhood.
It's seems as though my friend and I have been going through similar emotions. We were excited and anxious to become pregnant and have our children even though it meant slowing down our intensely active lifestyles. All the while we were probably thinking that a couple of weeks after popping out the kids, we'd be back on the trails running and riding. Of course we knew we'd be slower and have to take a little time to get back in shape but I'm sure we didn't realize how much work it would be.
While reading her blog, I was amazed at how quickly she got back to running long distances and how she had some very ambitious race goals so soon after giving birth. Although I knew I had to keep my own pace, I was almost beating myself up for not keeping up with her post partum fitness levels.
I've been training as much as I can around working and taking care of Sofia, and a few times I've been plagued with some knee pain that I didn't have before. I'm pretty good about listening and understanding my body so I've attributed the pain to the changes my body made during pregnancy and also the extra weight I'm still carrying. Surprisingly I've been really good about taking it easy and not pushing myself too far to further any injury. Maybe it's because I'd rather spend more time with Sofia anyway, but whatever the reason it doesn't matter. At least I'm being patient about my return to pre-pregnancy ultra fitness levels.
It turns out that my friend now has some injuries in which she is attributing to post partum and is not able to fulfill her ambitious race goals. That news just assures me that listening to my body and taking my time with my return to pre-pregnancy fitness levels is something I must do in my own time.
Every week I have to plan a training schedule and try the best I can to adhere to it. Luckily adventure racing has made me very patient and flexible because having Sofia means that plans will always change.
I still have about 15 pounds I'd like to shed but I've finally accepted my current size and have bought clothes that fit. I've got a few races on my calendar including a 12 hour run (which I will walk) and a 12 hour mountain bike race. So maybe by Sofia's first birthday I will be back to where I want to be.
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Competing in races has always been very motivating for me. I know that if I put a race on my calendar, tell the world I'm going to do it, and then I PAY for it, I will force myself to train. So I decided to do a duathlon: 3.1 mile run, 18 mile road bike ride, 3.1 mile run.




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