Why type when you can link.

Here's the link to the first radio interview Tom and I did with George Thomas. It's a good summary of the race overall.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/overthetop1/2013/05/06/over-the-top-radio--trans-portugal--tom-and-cassie-1

I'll post another link soon with our latest interview.

Cassie

4 stages down, 5 to go

Honestly, I'm exhausted and the thought of writing a blog post is the last thing on my mind.

Here's how a typical TransPortugal day goes:
Wake up really stiff, take 10 min just to get moving. Morning hygiene, apply sunscreen until you look like a mime, eat breakfast at the hotel (yum), finish getting bottles, gel etc ready then sit on your bike and pedal for 8 to 10 hours, eat a ton at the finish, shower and do laundry, clean bikes, eat dinner, prep for the next day and pass out. There is no free time and I'm only getting about 7 hours of sleep a night. Not enough really, but it'll have to do.

Day 1, 142 km. with tons of climbing and rollers.

I woke up and cursed when I remembered what was coming. The first day is the hardest day according to many. I really wasn't sure I could do it in the allowed time. I did, with 1 hour to spare.

The highlights were amazing flowers, great food at the finish line and getting to ride with Tom for the second half.

The most terrifying moment was when a huge, (imagine a street gang version of a white Newfoundlander), dog made a very aggressive a serious chase as I went by. I have never been scared of a dog to that extent.

The day was full of highs and lows for both of us. In the end it was sweet with us cruising the finish line together. Tom wasn't having a good day in general and chose to stay with me. I couldn't have finished without his support.

Day 2, 110 km. moderate climbing.

Woke up stiff and tired. Holy crap, my ass is already really sore, how the hell am I going to do this for another 8 days. Surprisingly, I started riding well and Tom was on too. So we had a sweet moment filing our packs at a water stopin a fortified villiage at the top of the hill. We kissed and he was off. I continued to ride well until I kind of fell apart at km 90. Then it was a 20 km death march. It builds character, right?

More on day 3, 4 and beyond later. Now it's time to sleep. 144 km tomorrow.

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Made it to Braganca

28 hours of travel to get from Hood River to Lisbon.

48 hours later we're mostly past the jet lag. 9 of those hours to get from Lisbon by bus. I got a good look at the terrain we'll be crossing the first day of the race. It looks steep and rolling. Right now my best estimate is about 11 hours for day 1.

We've seen cork and olive trees on the terraced hillside, a stork at the roadside and wild flowers.

There are lots of friendly and very fit looking folks here. It's going to be fun, in a sick sort of a way.

Registration day tomorrow. A nerve racking day of bike building line ups and meetings. The goal for tomorrow is to maintain my sanity.

Blog revival inspired by John Lovie Sr.

When you're a kid, especially a teen, there are so many things that influence you. Obviously your family plays a huge role. But if you're lucky enough like I was, you might have two families that you're very close to. For me my second family was hugely important in my life. The family led by John Lovie Sr.

John's daughter Alison and I became close friends in junior high school. I spent as much time at the Lovie household as I did at my own. John and Janice became my adopted parents. Please don't misinterpret this, there was nothing wrong with my own parents, I was just lucky enough to have a second very loving family take me into their lives and show me many ways to live that were different from my own home. I'm sure that Alison would say the same about my parents, particularly my Mom, since we were either at her house or mine for 5 years straight.

The Lovies taught me to play hockey and helped me find my athleticism.

They taught me that I was loved beyond the expected love of my biological family.

They taught me how to navigate on a road trip. I still love road trips.

They taught me to sing out loud even though I'm a terrible singer.

They let me sleep on the floor under their dining room table when I needed a place to crash and there were no beds to be had. I had free access to their house and their kitchen. Those of you who know me, know how much I eat and can understand that this is a big deal.

The Lovies taught me to say "I love you" openly as you never know what might happen. Perhaps you'll never get a chance to say it again.

John Lovie Senior passed away and I didn't manage to get back to Edmonton to say, "I love you", one more time. I hope you know it.

We'll miss you.

I've revived this blog for 2 reasons. To express my feelings about John's passing and to get the habit going so I can blog about my upcoming race. TransPortugal 2013. I dedicate the greatest race of my life to the memories of my 2 dads, Ronald James Nobbs and John Lovie Sr.

"Well, that depends."

There's been something on my mind lately. Why is it that we all believe ourselves to be unique individuals and yet as a race, humans readily buy into ideas that are marketed as the one right solution? Why do we jump on the band wagon so quickly? Why is it so hard for us to step back, take a deep breath and problem solve our way to the right answer for us as an individual instead of just grasping onto the latest trend?

I had a strained conversation with a client this week that had me thinking about this. He asked me what seems to be a simple question, "What is the better way to train, aerobically or anaerobically?"

My answer was, "Well, that depends." Then I asked him what his goals were. His answer was to be fit. Then I said, "What does fit mean to you? What is your specific fitness goal?" He didn't have an answer for me. He wanted me to give him the one right answer. What I told him was that there is no one right answer. There is only knowledge to draw from and to help us find our way but only if we know what our goal is.

In my experience, that is precisely what most people do not want to hear. And I wonder why that is. Is it that people don't want to have to ask themselves the questions they need to to define their goals? How can you find the right path if you don't know what the desired destination is? If one person wants to go to Alaska and another to Europe, it makes absolutely no sense that they would follow the same path to their destinations.

So if we're willing to accept that each of us is different, how can we expect simple answers to our questions? There is no black and white, only shades of grey. Why are people so uncomfortable with grey?

Strong Chicks Workout Sept. 29

I'm in the middle of my fall push to get people on some strength training and injury prevention. This is the perfect time of year to do it.

As part of this plan, I will be posting examples of overviews of some workouts we do do in my Strong Chicks Strength and Conditioning class on my blog if you're interested in seeing what we've been up to.

The goal of these classes is to get in a whole body workout in one hour. We use body weight based exercises including some plyometrics, some light weights, kettle bells and resistance bands. I try to change it up frequently in terms of the types of exercises we do and the speed we do them. Usually we use a circuit format to minimize down time between exercises.

All of my classes emphasize functional strength, core strength and balance work. Not only will the exercise help people perform better in their chosen sport but it works as great injury prevention.

Here's what we did last Thursday night:

• Medicine ball warm-up
• Dynamic warm-up to prep for running
• 6 times through very short (around 10 sec) hard fast running drills
• Running against band resistance and band resisted biceps
• Pull-up (assisted), partial body weight push-up using exercise ball, squats
• Beginner kipping pull-up, Bosu push-ups, glutes!!
• A whole bunch of different core exercises and triceps using the Bosu ball and medicine balls.

Classes are Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm. I keep the class size very small (5 maximum) so that I have time to help people with form and adjust the exercises according to a participant's ability. As such, I cannot take no notice drop-ins. If you'd like to attend class, please contact me directly to confirm that I have room on the night you wish to attend.

The cost is $15 per class but a discount is available if you turn out to be a regular and wish to pay for several classes in advance.

Have fun and play hard. Life is too short to do it any other way.

Cassie

Reflecting on near disaster

High Cascades 100 was the hardest thing I've ever done. Harder than Ironman, in my opinion. Mostly because this race took me longer (by 4 hours than my slowest IM finish) and you don't have the benefit of changing activities to break things up. I registered for this race knowing that it would be a true test of my limits. I wasn't sure I could finish 100 miles on a mountain bike. Of course, the biggest challenges present the greatest learning opportunities.

The race started from Wanoga Snow Park outside of Bend OR at 5:45 am. The race was presented as a 100 miler but in the previous 2 years it had been closer to 98 miles. This year we were told that it would it would be 103 miles with 14 000 feet of climbing. It turned out to be 108. It doesn't seem like much, 5 miles, but those 5 miles turned out to be very significant.

I won't bore you with excessive details of the race. Suffice to say that there were a lot of ups and downs. Moments when I was miserable enough to cry, and moments when I giggled with delight as I floated down beautiful single track, swooping on banked corners and easily gliding over drops and log overs. Then I came to mile 75.

The Swampy aid station was the first time cut off. I had just struggled through several miles of climbing with nothing in the tank, a back that was so sore I couldn't climb more that 50% of the time, even on the low grade hills. I made it to Swampy with 30 min to spare, but based on my last few miles, there was no way I was going to make it to the finish line in the light. Tom was there and with his encouragement I continued on to the next aid station, in spite of the fact that I had already been in the saddle for 11:30.

I made the next aid station cut off by less than 10 min. I was in decent shape, still feeling like I had no power but I knew that I had the endurance to make it home. After all, I expected it to only take 2 hours, I was already at mile 87. Unfortunately, I didn't know that I had another 21 miles (the course was longer than advertised) including a huge climb.

2 hours passed, dusk came and I hit 100 miles. I still had to find my way back to the finish in the dark. It turns out, I wasn't alone, there were 14 other riders still out there. I was very happy that I had the foresight to put a headlamp in my pack. It was still a nerve racking hour trying make my way back without overshooting my headlamp, trying to stay alert for course arrows.

When I crossed the finish line. Tom was anxiously awaiting me. He didn't know I had a light and was very worried. I got a big hug from Tom and congratulations from several people. The best was from Justin who manned the last aid station. I can't quote him exactly but it was something to the effect of good job, you probably hate me a little right now. All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. Yes, I did hate him at that moment, 16 hours and 13 min after I had started this crazy adventure. But, in reality, I love Justin. He's worked at several events that I've attended and he does a fantastic job. But sometimes, you have to hate someone when they push you to your edge and he certainly did that.

So here we are 3 days later. I'm still fatigued but not really in pain. This is a vast improvement over my inability to bend over the day after the race. I can stand up for longer than 10 min at a time. I can stay awake for more than 2 hours and I'm not waking suddenly from dreams of falling off my bike. The numb spot on the base of my neck is almost gone, my hands have stopped cramping and I am ready to get back on my bike.

After I've done something like this I always get asked if I had fun. No, I can't really say that it was fun, but there is nothing like pushing yourself to your limit to help discover who you are. That is priceless.

Happy riding.
Cassie