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biking

Sunday Playdate

October 15, 2012 by gracefulfitness 4 Comments

 

So we went!

 

 

3 down, 207 to go…

 

 

Yesterday was the most perfect Fall playday.

Eleven of us hit the country roads on two wheels for our second annual winery tour.

Geoff had a little extra weight to pull!

 

Ki got a chance to burn off some energy at the vineyards, while the rest of us rested.

 

 

We covered about 25 miles over the course of the day.  Our first stop was White Hall Vineyards.  They honestly seemed a little taken aback to see our sweaty, bike clad, selves saunter in but they eventually warmed up to us.  On the other hand our next stop, Montfair, was very friendly and welcomed us back with kids, pets, and picnics anytime.

We finally rolled into our chosen lunch spot, the gorgeous Glass House Winery, around 4pm.  Hungry!

 

 

Plenty of food and a little more wine later we were ready to tackle the last five miles.

 

 

My body (i.e. my thighs and ass!) is used to my paltry 10-15 miles A WEEK of town biking, I was wiped out last night and a little sore this morning but the trip was well worth it!

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Posted in: workouts Tagged: biking, Virginia wineries, wine tasting

Endurance Assurance

September 5, 2012 by gracefulfitness 2 Comments

Tate and I have been together for 12-14 years (depending on when you start counting 😉 ). Back in the day we were immediately drawn to each other and soon discovered that we are very similar in many ways.

We also soon discovered our differences.

Exhibit A; this man is brave and tough and craves-no thrives on-adrenaline.

Me?  Well, I’m happy to have my feet planted firmly on the ground and the kind of ‘rush’ I like is from riding my bike 12mph down a street or performing in front of a crowd.

Somehow everything works out, Tate inspires me but I don’t aspire to join him on his crazy  athletic pursuits.

He does make me proud though.  The man rode 100 MILES on a mountain bike through torrential rain on Sunday.

The Shenandoah Mountain 100 is a bad-ass mountain bike race in the hills of western Virginia.  Tate has had his eyes on it for over a year but as summer rolled around he started to question his commitment.  The course takes 7-16 hours to complete and Tate just wasn’t up for putting in the time it usually requires to train for that kind of endurance.

The key to that statement is ‘the time it usually requires’.  So he didn’t really train, finally signed up for it a few days before, and killed it!  The man is a machine.

9 hours and 33 minutes and still smiling.

(he did collapse off his bike just after this picture was snapped and request I grab him a beer while he proceeded to lie on the ground in a muddy pile for a little while 🙂 )

The storms made the course more challenging than usual and Tate likened it to running through loose sand for 100 miles.

The most common question Tate’s received about the event is “What did you eat?”.

The race is very well run and includes a pre-race dinner (pasta), breakfast, aid stations along the course, and dinner upon your return. Oh yeah, and lots of local beer which lucky for me, Tate was not in the mood for so I took full advantage of his bottomless finishers pint glass ;).

He had coffee and a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, then throughout the race there was lots of Hammer gel, Gatorade, bananas, oranges, pringles, some pizza, and a couple granola bars.  His recovery meal was a burger, some pasta salad, and fruit.

(Aside: Have you ever heard the story about how “ultramarathonman” Dean Karnazes will order a pizza while out on training runs and roll it up like a burrito to eat while on the go?  Love me some pizza but that sounds kind of miserable to me!)

The thing that impresses me perhaps even more than his ability to do this type of event and do it really well is his ability to recover like a champ.  He was “just a little sore” on Monday and by yesterday he was “fine” and rode his bike to work then played squash.

Hell of an athlete, that man is.

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Posted in: workouts Tagged: biking, Shenandoah Mountain 100, Tate
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I am Faith Levine, a movement instructor, home gardener, mountain biker, hiker, pickle maker, closet poet, and best of friend to some of the most amazing women in the world.

I’d love to hear from you,
gracefulfitness@live.com

Header photo: Meredith Coe

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Hi, I'm Faith! New? Check out I Am for my story, I Cook for recipes, and I Move for some motivation to get moving! I'd love to hear from you, e-mail me gracefulfitness@live.com
Header photo: Meredith Coe

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