Le Tour 2006

Le Tour 2006

This morning there was snow on the ground.  We are having another cold front but it is supposed to be gone this weekend.  I was planning a trip to race in Austin but I will be hanging out here saving money.  I also have a lot to do in getting prepared for Monday to start coaching some office people.  I am going to practice wellness coaching on these guys.  This will be a new challenge for me and I am looking forward to it.

Run Intervals-  This morning started out with a long run and some one mile repeats in it.  I really do not mind repeats that are a mile but I do hate doing the shorter stuff.....crazy.  I have some new shoes and I am using my orthodics in them.  I had someone suggest cutting them down so that they would fit into my normal size shoe.  I did like they said and I think one of them is to short and I can feel my tow hanging off the end of it.  I should not have listened to the shoe salesmen but it is something that can be fixed.  The intervals were really fast.  I do hope that I get to race next week in Arkansas.  I am checking the weather and right now it is on the list.

Corporate Wellness-  I have been on the computer almost non-stop reserching all kinds of stuff.  I am also meeting with someone else that works in the feild tomorrow.  My van is huge and it has bikes, skates, shoes, clothes, helmets, camel backs, lights, food, and now it has an area to file papers that I will be using.  At one time I was looking at a mini cooper to drive and looking at my van now...there is no way!  I think I found a way to get my wellness coach certification without getting a college degree so I will be getting into this course soon.  I am now wanting to get more education and excercise my brain for a change.  This is going to be expensive going to school and racing.  That is why I am home this weekend for a change.

Le Tour Ultime-  I keep thinking of things that happened at this race.  We were really getting tired and having a lot of trouble functioning.   We had two cars and we had to stay together at all times since we did not have any communication and only one GPS.  We were still trying to make some quick transitions even though we were dead last.  We still had this idea that we could catch up to the Australians...there was no way this was going to happen.  Anyway at night we still had one car pull ahead and the rider would get out and be ready so that there was little down time.  The car that did not have the GPS in it would take off after the rider.  Sometimes it took a while to get the bike loaded and back into the van.  We were always trying to keep the other car without a GPS in sight.  One time Charlie and I loaded the bike and we were at a round-a-bout that had 5 streets going into it.  We had no clue where to go and drove around that thing a million times.  The GPS would take a while to show the signal that we were on the right road.  Sometimes you even had to drive up the road before you woud.find out you were off course.  We finally got on course and we were driving fast thinking that we had lost the other car and rider.  They did not have a GPS and the route book was useless.  We just knew we had lost them and I looked at the computer screen (GPS) .  It looked like we were going backwards on the course.  We had to call the race office to find out.  We had a sensor on our car so they could track and make sure there was no cheating.  Sure enough we were going backwards on the course.  We turned around thinking we would never see the other rider but somehow they were on course...Keith was using the route book and it was working. 

Speaking of the delayed signal.  This GPS would show us that we made a wrong or right turn about 1/4 mile after you made the turn.  We did a lot of turning around at the race.  Bubba has a rugby-like body.  He was not planning on climbing a lot and he climbed more then all of us...I think.  We told him to turn one time and it was a really steep climb.  I did not think it was right but we still had to wait for the GPS to show us.  It turned out that the road turned into dirt and ended up at a grandma's house.  He smiled and he went down the hill but he had to go back up the hill on a road that paralled the driveway.  Poor Guy!  He also climbed the Col de St.Jean (not sure the name) and it was not even on the route.  He got lost the second night and decided to add a mountain I guess.   What a crazy race!!  This was more like an adventure race. 

Schedule-  This is getting nuts with races and classes. Since I do so many sports I look up mountain bike races, trail runs, triathlons, brevet rides, and now certifications to get.  Most of the races are determined by the weather. I always have A, B, and C races on the list and sometimes I do none of them.  Tonight I used my southwest miles to book tickets to Death Valley on memorial day weekend and to California at the end of April for a 24 hour mountain bike race.  This is the race that got Shanna Anderson on the cover of a magazine so I have to do it.  Niterider is going to be there so it would be a nice showing to make it to the race. I still have the gigathlon on my list for next year.  I am beginning to think it would be simpler to just do one sport but that is not me.

Posted: Mar 06 2008, shanna

Le Tour Ultime 2006

Today was a slow day at work. Sometimes doctors have things come up and I get the day off.  I will be hanging out in town this weekend and working some on Saturday.  It all worked out. We are expecting snow again tomorrow so I took of on the mountain bike to kill sometime and then went back to work sweaty.  I wonder why I did not get big tips..hehehehe

I saw a guy out running on the mountain bike trails and flagged him down to find out if he wanted to do some longer races to split expenses on some of the gas. You could tell that he was a runner.  I asked him about going to a 3 day stage race next weekend in Arkansas.   He is checking it out but I bet it is to much to just jump right into.  I bet he is checking the race out and thinking I am a nut. It is true...I am.

Badwater-  I am training again and I think this sauna is working out.  I slept like a baby last night after melting in the sauna and reading a book.  I came out tonight and caught my little pomeranian peeing on it.  He was wondering why I was getting mad at him since he was outside.  I doubt my client wants this if he keeps peeing on it.  I have some ideas on protecting it from him.

Trail Running-  I am hoping to go to a 3 day stage race in Arkansas next weekend. The first day is a 50k, the next day is a 50 miler, and the last day is a 20k.  It is a very long drive but it wont be so bad doing it. I can leave next wednesday night and drive to my cousins in Ft.Worth and the the rest on Thursday.  I am blowing off a race this weekend to save some funds and get some clients taken care of. Spring break is the week after so things slow down at work for me.  I then will be going almost every weekend to a running race or something for a while. Weather always changes things for me.

Le Tour Ultime 2006--  this was the race that we finished as a 3 person team.  We did start as 4 person but a rider and crew member were missing in action. They did show up in the middle of the race right before the pyrenee's and got us through one night. We should of known not to let them out of our sight but that did not happen.  It was in the daytime the next day and I rode a longer shift while the rest of the group got food at the store. When I got off the bike all that was in the pace van I was in was some yogurt and a few other things.  I was hungry and asked the other vehicle if they had some food.  The reply was that they did not have any. I was concerned about not getting through the night with food looking at what we had in our van.   Bubba and I decided to send the other crew to get some food and sent them off with some money. There was no way that they would get lost.  When they drove off....Bubba's response was.... "why do I feel like that was a mistake?"   They were the two that claimed to have been lost for 36 hours.   They stayed gone until almost the end of the race so it was a mistake.  After the rider that was riding got off the bike we found out that they did not need to go to the store afterall.  They had fruit, cokes, and all kind of goodies in the van with them.  They just wanted to bail. The night after they did this to us was the night that I got the car stuck in the ditch and we ran out of water the next day....pitiful.  Who would of thought that two grown adults would of needed a chaperone?  we still had fun without them but it was hard on us.  Some of the crew was worried about them and the rest were hurt that these two people could leave us in such a bind. We were short handed but we did make it to the finish line.  It was the hardest race I ever did.  We ended with two crew, 3 riders, and 2 cars. All the riders became crew and none of us got any rest.  We did not have any drama...we were to tired to fight so it was best that the others were gone.  We ended up being a great team.!  The team in the end was Frans, Keith, Charlie, Bubba, and me. We did have two others in the beginning named Eric and Reiks.  We took so long to do the race that the others had to be dropped off at bus stations to get back to work on time.   When Frans took them to the station we would be a 3 rider and one crew team in that time.  This race was so crazy it is hard to explain.  The team left really hung in there and stuck it out.  It is too ncool to think that we finished. We did have a blog in the race but even he had no clue what was going on.  The blog is on www.bikestories.com

Thanks for reading

Posted: Mar 05 2008, shanna

Shanna Anderson and RAAM 2005

Today I got a call that had me jumping up and down with excitement. I got a call from one of my sponsors.....Niterider and he had magazine in front of him that had me on the cover. He told me there was bad news and good news so the good news is that it said i was one of the more pretty mountain bikers but the bad news is that it had my name as Shanna Anderson....oops. I have been getting a lot of misprints lately.  I will just have to do another couple of wins this year to make up for it. This picture is one that Niterider wanted to use but the photographer wanted to much for it.  I was goofing off at the race the picture was taken at so I did not look to beat up.

Badwater TrainingI am really training hard!  Right now I am sitting in my sauna typing my blog. Wow this is really nice.  One thing that you will learn about me is that I go all out when I set my mind to somthing. I wont have this sauna forever. I do have a client that is going to buy it from me after I get done with it.  I do want to do well at Badwater and my research has proven that those who did not do sauna training wish that they did, i dont want to have any regrets.  I do love the heat so this part of the training is really nice. The sauna is blocking the window in my bathroom that I hate.  I am not sure why everyone wants a widow to look out of in the bathroom...dont they know that people can see in as well??

Giant-  I got my new bike in today so now I can make all my orders to my other sponsors.  I did not color coordinate last year and was waiting to do so this year. Rudy Project is providing me with sunglasses and helmets and zoot is giving me clothing so I am getting my gear together for the season.

Hammer Nutrition-  These guys have been so good to me. I am getting all of my supplements provided along with lots of clothing. It makes up for the goodyear blimp picture.   I am pretty demanding when it comes to my vitamins and they provide the best you can get.  They are sending my goodies out and I will be sending them my bloodwork to see about what is going on with my low sodium and iron number.  I would not be healthy if it was not for them! 

Arthritis- This is something that I have always had trouble with. This is the first year I have not had to use my doctor prescribed medicine.  Hammer has a great product called Tissue Rejuvinate that is better then any arthritis medicine I have ever taken. I just thought that my arthritis was in remission but I ran out of the tissue rejuvinate a couple of weeks ago and my problems came back with all the weird weather.  This is a product normal people can take and I swear by it so check it out if you do have any problems.

RAAM 2005 "The cargo net"

In 2005 when I was racing team we had a mini van that someone else had set up.  It was not a bad set up but it did have some flaws.  My crew and I pretty much lived in this and did not spend much time in the RV.....i dont think we were supposed to be on it for some reason...at least we felt that way.    My crew did not get any time in a real bed since I was in it on our rest stops.  I did not sleep much and that is because the van was so trashed.  My crew worked really hard to try to keep the van organized but it was impossible after a few days.  We had one seat taken out that had some walmart cabinets behind it.  Behind the cabinets was a cooler long cooler taht you could of fit a body in.  There was a mattress on the other half of the van for sleeping in and then there was a huge cargo net above it.  If anything was missing it was in the cargo net.  This thing was really full at the end of the race and it was dangerous.  There was no sleeping in the van when it was moving down the road...if you were sitting up then the cargo net would swing into your head and hurt you.  If I laid down then when the van would make a turn the cabinets would fall on me and all the drawers would come open. To clean this up what did not go into the drawers went into the cargo net.  When the car was parked and I was trying to rest I would see a glove or something we had been looking for in the bottom of the cargo net and I would try to wiggle it out of a little hole to stick in the drawer it was supposed to be in.  My coach got annoyed at me trying to organize when I was supposed to be resting but the darn net drove me nuts.

The crew had wounds from the van.  They had bloody hands and my dad had the worst hands.  If I needed something out of the cooler or something mixed the guy in the back had to do it.  Peter and Brad stuck my great dad in the back.  They would tell him what to do and he would have to crawl onto the mattress and dig his hand into the cooler.  The lid of the cooler had to be pried open since it could not open all the way. It was to big for the van and it was as tall as the window seal so it would slam shut.  This is what created the bloody hands...it would slam shut on your hand.  My dad was a real trooper.  Brad and Peter would laugh at my dad cussing everytime his hand got stuck.  My dad also had sore thighs from crawling around on the mattress. Peter and Brad really missed my dad when he was gone.  They were not as great at my dad at getting my nutrition. 

I got home tonight and thought that my internet was screwed up.  I spent a while on the phone and we found out it was unplugged.  The cable guy got a laugh tonight.  The maid must of done it but I should of checked that out first.

Thanks for reading

Posted: Mar 04 2008, shanna

Bar-B-Que Humans

Yuck!  I felt yucky this morning after training and traveling this weekend but it was well worth it.  I had  terrific time in Ft.Worth and love the fact that I am not biking all day anymore.  I now have time to enjoy a little balance. 

YWCA---  The pool had problems this weekend and the heater got left on.  I can tell you that the water was like bath water and most of the people got out early.  I felt like they were trying to Bar-B-Que me but I got my swim in anyway.  I just thought of it as Badwater training.

Long runs planned-  I was going to a mountain bike race this weekend in Austin but I have decided to hang around here.  As much as I would like to play all the time...I do need to play grown up and save some money as well.  I might be going to Arkansas on March 15 for a 3 day race and will be going to Ft.Worth the last two weekends as well.  This is not all 100 percent and I do not go if the weather is bad. We will see what trips I go on. I can't wait to see my family again in Ft.Worth!

Trouble--  I made a mistake yesterday on someones age.  I seem to always do this....oops.  I dont even know how old my parents are so does that tell you how much I pay attention.  I got invited to a B-day party a few years back and took the guy a card about being 50.  He was only 45....oops!  I figured you only had parties for 50 year olds.   They laugh about it everytime they see me.  Perhaps I should start guessing younger.

Career Coaching-  I went to another session today and it seems like I am heading in the right direction...it is just a little slower then planned.  I have big goals and I dont want to give any of them up.  I want to get the book done, race, motivational speak, and work on my new career in corpoate wellness.  Each of these things has a big list of things to do but I seem to be working on all of them all the time.  I have 3 speaking engagements coming up, a publisher that has shown interest, a few ghost writers thinking about things, some school in the future, and a great office that I am working on with corporate wellness.  I seem to spend a lot of time on the computer or the phone but I might get organized soon.  The reserch is a pain.  I just blab to everyone I know and evertually I learn some things and get some help.  Some people offer some help and then forget they did but I figure it out eventaully.  It might be better if I just focused on one thing but I am not sure if that is my style.

The 20 minute Sauna-I did it! I ordered a darn sauna of the internet that was really really cheap.  I sold some bike parts to get it.  It got delivered today from Estes Shipping.  I have never heard of this company before.  The guy delivering called me and wanted directions to my house and wanted me to unload it...I am not sure how long the company will last if they are not familiar with Lubbock.  This guy did not know east and west.  The sauna was supposed to take 20 minutes to assemble but it took an hour to get it out of the box and unwrapped.  It did not come with directions either...so much for 20 minutes.  My buddy Keith is over here and working on it now.  We are up to 4 hours at this point.  I think it might work out but we will see.  Sometimes you get what you pay for.  I really do want to do well at Badwater and I want to be ready for the heat.  This sauna is cheap.  I think the wood for the bench will beak in two when I sit on it......Kodak!

The GoodYear Blimp--  Looks like this year I am published as the goodyear blimp again.  I have this lousy picture that was taken at the 508.  I look like a tub of lard in it and I am not the only one that says that.  I was the same weight as now but you can tell in the picture.  I had  little hypernutremia going on and the wrong set of clothing on.  Hammer Nutrition has taken the white stripe of the sides of their shorts since it was not so flattering for us girls.  I did not get my sponsors good pictures this year so they are all using my most hated picture.  I about died when I saw this picture again in the magazine.

I will write a RAAM story later....I am still working on the sauna.

Posted: Mar 03 2008, shanna

Terrific weekend

It is almost 11pm and I just got home from a really nice weekend.  I actually felt like I had a social life. 

Brevet Ride-  I showed up to this Saturday morning.   I had to get up at 5 am so that about killed me but is was worth getting to see my friends.  There were 3 rides going on a 200k, 300k, and 400k.  Most of my friends were doing the 400k and I did not want to do that.  There were only 4 planning to do the 200k.  I hate reading route so it was my goal to find someone else my speed to ride with. All the riders were on the same route for a while so that made it fun.  Once again I hoped out with Mark and the other faster riders,  I was just horsing around and then next thing I knew I was working my butt off. This was a really hilly course and I am not good on rolling hills.  I was getting a good workout in but like the last ride I did not get to hang out with some of my other friends that were doing the 400k.  I had to be somewhere at 5pm to meet up with my crew members for Badwater.  We rode hard until the turn around and then it was me and this new guy named Brian.  It turned out to be a really nice day but the wind did pick up a little an I had no problem getting behind Brian to let him do more of the work.   This guy is from Austin and has moved to Plano. He inline skates and does races.  This is a really cool thing to know.  This might be the guy to teach me how to inline for the Gigathlon next year.  He actually skates where I do my runs in Ft.Worth so I bet I set up some lessons with him if he has the patience.  We took it easier on the way back and finished the ride in 7 hours and 44 minutes.  We had an 18.1 mile average...I think this is terrific on such a hilly course.   I was really stoked that I got to go take a shower before meeting my friends.  Most of my riding buddies are always going to be doing the longer rides but I am at a point now that I need to be focusing on my running more these days and I like the idea of having more of a social life for a change.  Perhaps Brian will do some of the other rides and do the shorter ones with me...otherwise I will be riding alone.  These guys that show up for brevets are hard core!

Badwater-  I met with a guy that has crewed at Badwater after the ride.  Both Donna and Sandy who are crew members were there at well.  This guy Butch had a twinkle in his eye when he talked about Badwater and would like to go back.  I have hopes that he will crew for me and he is the final peice of the puzzle.  Sandy and Donna are friends with him and we are all hoping he can go.  He has lots of info and is really experienced in the ultra running...not to mention he seems really nice and has good energy.  I was not sure if he was interested in crewing but when I met him I got even more excited about Badwater.  I had to leave the table and go jump up and down that the perfect crew was coming together.  Sandy and Donna are really good friends and to see them click to well with Butch was awsome.  My goal is for the crew to get along and have fun and there is no way these guys would ever butt heads.  I do well with positive energy and we all had fun just talking about the race.  A good friend Johnny and Donnas husband Kit was also at the table so we had a really great evening. I can't tell you how nice it is to be around my friends.  I will give you more Badwater info later.

Really Really long run-  I had a long run today and lets just say it was over a marathon.  Donna, Sandy, and Johnny all hoped on the bikes just as the wind was picking up.  I got up earlier then them to start my run.  Kit joined me for the last part of the run with a pulled hamstring.  Kit is 60 (i think) but he know more about running then anyone.  He went to nationals in the 5k and coaches runners all week along with a real job.  He said I was running pretty fast and that my form was much better....perhaps I am starting to look like a runner for once.  I was running with my orthotics today and kept them in the whole run.  My feet are sore but I am getting used to them. What is really cool about todays run is that my heart rate was really low. I am getting faster and my heart rate is lower...yipee!

Ice Cream Anyone?  After we all got done training we went to look at Sandy and her husband Jimmy's house that is getting built.  They are moving into a nice neighborhood that has some million dollar lots around them.  We took my van that still looks like an ice cream truck from stickers to check the lot out.  We were running around and playing on the cool lot and then the cops showed up staring us down.  I know that someone called them because of my suspicouse vehicle.  We got a real laugh out of it.  Two cop cars showed up but they did leave us alone.  If everyone in the car makes it to Badwater then it will be a very fun race. We did nothing but laugh all day.

Posted: Mar 02 2008, shanna