Sensory Strides podcast

Quote "God is great all the time. All the time God is great."

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

Sometimes you see God's hand in multiple ways in a short time period. This week has been one of those times.

Normally when I am on my long workouts I listen to podcasts about podcasting, fitness, or other self-improvement topics. One podcast I have listened to is Just Go Bike which is hosted by RAGBRAI and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. Last summer, they interviewed End of the Earth Cycling, who also has a podcast called Cycling for More. I was interested in the Cycling for More podcast and subscribed after hearing them on Just Go Bike. However, I was so backlogged on my podcast listening that I didn't get around to listening to the episodes until a few weeks ago. I had kept all the episodes in the playlist and downloaded all the new ones since, so I had quite a few to listen to. Cycling for More featured Patty Birchard of Revelation Wellness. That episode led me to the founder of Revelation Wellness's podcast Reving the Word which has workout episodes with encouragement and reflection based on a reading from the bible. Exactly the balance needed on some of my workouts and the best balance I have found for this niche.

http://justgobike.net/

https://ragbrai.com/

https://iowabicyclecoalition.org/

https://www.endscycling.com/podcast

https://www.revelationwellness.org/category/podcast/

My workout this weekend was a 12-mile trail hike. The map for the park I am using for my long workouts doesn't have trail distances on it, so I estimated what a good route would be for my 12 mile hike that was scheduled. I knew I may have to do some backtracking in order to make the goal, but I didn't want to overestimate and be out there longer than planned either. I did do a couple of rounds on one of the trails, before hiking the last mile plus portion back to the car. I ended with 12.17 miles – I probably wouldn't have gotten that close even if the trail mileage had been on the map and I planned it. And my Garmin's battery died about 10 seconds after I hit stop when I got back to the car.

I also want to wish Savannah Horstman good luck as she prepares to travel to Orlando to compete at Miss America's Outstanding Teen. This young lady has competed with my daughter in pageants over the last five years. She has had the opportunity to compete at state twice before winning this year. Savi is a poised, talented, young lady with a heart of gold. She has tweaked and focused her platform over the last few years and you can tell she knows what she stands for and how she wants to support others. God has plan for this young lady, and I look forward to watching her continue to grow and see the amazing things she is going to accomplish. Good luck Savannah!

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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"Back in the saddle again." – Gene Autry

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

I did it! It has been nearly 11 months, but I got back on my bike again.

My husband switched out my pedals for me yesterday, taking off the clipless pedals I used for my 70.3 last year and putting my safer, regular pedals back on. I've never understood why pedals that connect your feet to the pedal are called clipless. I'm glad I didn't have them on though. As it was I almost fell over at the first stop sign. It would have been a complete wipeout if I had the racing pedals on.

I got back on as my 50k training plan calls for cross training. So, the bike is back in the rotation.

Although I wasn't trying to ride fast, I was really slow. I had an hour training session and didn't even get to 10 miles.

My butt is a bit sore, but not as much as I would have expected. I think my legs are going to be talking to me tomorrow though.

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it…The hard is what makes it great." – Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

I have been struggling for quite a few months with my weight / body shape over the past few months. I don't necessarily focus on my weight in general, but I do pay attention to how my clothes fit and use them getting tighter or heading into summer as identifiers for when I need to focus on my eating and get things back to what is normal for me.

I have been trying since last November to pay more attention to what I am eating and limits sweets and less healthy options. I wasn't seeing any movement so after the first of the year, I started recording my intake on my phone to not only monitor my calories, but also my carb/protein/fat mix and some macronutrients I know I sometimes get low with. I stayed within the goals I had for over a month and wasn't seeing any progress.

This has never been a problem for me before. Losing weight isn't easy, but I can be very focused and have always been able to keep my self in my limits when I work at it.

I took a couple of weeks off when I went on vacation, but then tried again for another month when we returned.

At this point, I am very close to my highest weight ever rather than anywhere near losing weight.

I can feel it in my clothes since none of them fit well and in my body in general. Even my calves are much bigger than they have ever been before.

It is so frustrating, but I'm not willing to give up the fight yet. I just have to find a new tact to take.

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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"You can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week, or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime" Mark Allen

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

I want to give a shout out to Lindsay Hiken of the age groupie podcast. She completed Iron Man Santa Rosa in May this year with a half hour to spare! I appreciate her summary of her race as it really gave me ideas for the future, made me feel 'normal' since I race with a standard road bike, and balanced reality and encouragement. http://agegroupie.libsyn.com/ep-26-ironman-santa-rosa-race-report

I loved how she shared her why for racing IronMan and how that came full circle during her IronMan race.

I am so on board with the worry about the GI issues. That is always my first priority the last few days before the race.

While listening to Lindsay, I thought back on my first tri. Perhaps one of the issues I had was riding the bike I had bought in high school, thirty years before.

I was also excited to know that see is a run /walk person when need be. I've decided that my 50k is going to be run /walk – I just can't force my body to train that hard for that long. Especially since my run pace and walk pace are fairly close. I will get all the miles in, just with less impact on the joints.

The part about being alone on the course after dark was scary. I'm not sure how I would feel about that. Especially in the environment she described.

I laughed out loud when she talked about not wanting to every get on her bike again after the race. I still have touched mine since August.

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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"Some sessions are stars and some sessions are stones, but in the end they are all rocks and we build upon them." – Chrissie Wellington

I thought I would talk about my racing history and how I came to the place I am now.

I am very goal driven and need a big race to work towards in order to stay motivated to work out regularly.

In 2011, I came across the Power90 DVD series. This is a knockoff of the P90X series by Beachbody, but shorter work outs. I expect it isn't quite as intense either, but I haven't done P90X, so I can't be sure about that. I completed the entire 90 program along with a very focused diet. Not only did a lose quite a bit of weight, but I was lean and strong. I was in the best shape of my life.

In spring of 2012, I decided I needed a new challenge and set my sights on tough mudder. I continued doing Power 90 workouts and used the playground for some of the obstacle training and began running. I completed Tough Mudder in September of 2012. I wasn't able to complete all of the obstacles, especially the upper body ones, but I did make it up the quarter pipe and through both electrical obstacles. I also managed the Artic Enema, a water obstacle with ice which requires you to submerge and go under a wall. I made it through, but if it hadn't ben for the person behind me that wanted out, and basically tossed me over the edge at the end, I'm not sure I would have figured out how to climb out.

Since that time I am also deathly afraid of electrical obstacles in races. I didn't realize this until I was doing the Foam Fest obstacle and there was an obstacle that looked like Tough Mudder's electric eel – a mud pit where you have to belly crawl under wires that are electrified. When one person touches, everyone in the pit gets a shock because we are in the water together. We were at this easy, fun obstacle race (no electricity) and apparently by the time I got out of their mud pit belly crawl I was white as a sheet and my sisters couldn't figure out was what wrong.

https://toughmudder.com/obstacles

Over the winter of 2012-2013, I focused on running and put my sights on the Grandad Bluff half Marathon. I ran outside almost all winter. I remember one day I came home, and my skin was beat red. At first, I didn't know what the problem was, but then I turned the tv on and found out I had been running in 10-degree weather with a 10 below windchill. OOPS! Race day I was able to get my daughter and future son in low to run with me – even though neither had trained, but they were only 18 and 19. We all finished, but those two didn't walk well for a week. I didn't walk well either, but it was because I had a slight fracture in my foot. Based on how I felt during the race, I think I injured myself about 2 or 3 miles from the end. I finished in 2:53.

https://www.grandadhalfmarathon.com/half-marathon

After the foot experience, I decided to try a triathlon instead for 2014. I of course couldn't start with a sprint, but I was lucky enough to have an Olympic distance tri right near where I live. Lots of early mornings in the pool that was a half hour away. Race day did not go so well. I had gut issues and was just feeling well. I hadn't trained on my bike enough for the major hills we had to ride. Luckily, my entire family came out to support me and, since I was all alone on the course, were able to drive along side me as I finished my bike and the ran my 10k. y daughter ran a bunch of the 10k with me. I finished the race 45 minutes behind the person in front of me in 4:05. I was surprised a week or so later when I received a package in the mail with my medal – which said 1st place! Apparently, I was the only person in my age group!

I had fun with the tri and knew I could do better. There was another local tri that I had wanted to do for a couple of years. Instead of a swim, bike, run though we kayaked for 7 miles, biked for 15, and then ran on a trail for 3. I finished that in 4:11 – not much less time than my Olympic disaster, but a whole lot more fun.

http://kvr.state.wi.us/Events/Annual-Events/DamChallenge/

That tri wasn't a big enough goal race for me though, so my big goal for 2015 was the Norwalk Rails to Trails Marathon. I managed to complete it and felt great afterwards with a time of just over 6 hours.

https://runsignup.com/Race/WI/Norwalk/RailsToTrailsRun

In 2016, I switched things up and joined a team race, Ragnar Great River. Our team of twelve in two vans ran from Winona to St Paul Mn. over 200 Miles. My three legs added up to about 16 miles. This race had an interesting start too as two days before the race the area got a major storm and a couple of the roads we were supposed to run along got washed away so there were some detours and a part of the course was actually closed. My favorite part of this race – besides my first taste of peanut butter energy balls was my last leg which was a trail run through state park outside of St Paul. I had gotten a taste of trail running during the Kickapoo tri, but this solidified my love of trail running.

https://www.runragnar.com/event-detail/relay/minnesota#overview

In 2017, I was newly married and my husband, who had been a dairy farmer and thus had not had many vacations before, showed an interest in bicycle riding. I had heard of this little event called Ragbrai and signed us up. 411 miles over 7 days. It was amazing and even better because we got to do it together. Well, kind of together. We left together in the morning and he had the tent sent up by the time I arrived at the campsite.

For more on Ragbrai – listen to season 1 as I talk about my training each week to prepare. Episode 7 that season is the summary of the ride.

https://ragbrai.com/

In 2018 I was ready for a bigger challenge and looking ahead to 2019 and my dream goal for my 50th birthday. A half iron in 2018 and full iron in 2019. Season 2 covers that training and episode 29 is the race summary. Finished in 8:32.

https://www.dutrirun.com/page/show/845808-chisago-lakes-triathlon-july-28-2019

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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Twitter @sensorystrides

Find us on social media! Facebook fb.me/sensorystrides Twitter @sensorystrides We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

"You can quit if you want, and no one will care. But you will know the rest of your life" John Collins

Last year I completed a half iron with plan to do a full iron this year for my 50th birthday. After finishing the half and recovering I realized a full iron was not in the cards for me this year as I can't appropriately give the training necessary to finish within the cutoffs.

During this morning's run I listened to the bib rave podcast ep #137 with Mike Reilly - the voice of iron man. I nearly cried multiple times during the episode with the emotions I felt hearing his stories and thinking about my lost dream. I've added mikes new book, Find My Voice, to my reading list.

https://blog.bibrave.com/2019/03/22/the-bibrave-podcast-episode-137-behind-the-ironvoice-with-mike-reilly/

https://mikereilly.net/findingmyvoice/

http://eu.ironman.com/#axzz5psT5ZZ30

Then I thought about a book I just read; Smart women finish rich by David Bach. My biggest takeaway from this book was the chapter on finding your dreams. The example in the book is of a woman who dreamed of taking her family on a cruise to Alaska but struggled with the cost. The woman was financially able to afford it and when someone broke down the cost of the trip into a smaller variables that seemed more attainable – even though the total was the same, she was convinced to have this trip of a lifetime and the memories are still strong today. I have many things that I don't do because of the cost and the book encouraged me to move forward and not give up on dreams by worrying about the pennies.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Women-Finish-Expanded-Updated/dp/0525573046

As I'm running and listening to Mike and thinking about dreams, I realized my iron man dream doesn't had to be done. I can continue with training towards a big goal each year to remain fit and my first year of retirement can be my iron man year.

Sometimes dreams take longer to reach, but they can always remain in front of you. Without dreams we have nothing to reach for.

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check our show notes for links to inspiration items and … don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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Half Iron outcome and looking towards next year.

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it" Russell Baker

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

Whew! It is hot out there! I love summer because I am usually cold until it gets to be about 80 degrees. Working out in the heat is a different story. Friday morning for my 13 mile run wasn't so bad, but Saturday's 55 mile bike was hot and humid. I took off early in the morning as Friday we received a heat advisory warning beginning at 1 Saturday afternoon. The first hour of the ride was lovely, but then it started getting hot. When I was just a couple of miles from home, I recognized heat exhaustion symptoms. I have had heat exhaustion before and it is not fun. I got to a shady place and made sure to drink the rest of my water before working on the last two miles. Those last two miles were a slog and I was worried I waited too long before stopping to drinking my water. About a half mile from the house I finally started feeling better and after cleaning up, getting food in my stomach, and changing clothes, I was feeling normal again.

This weekend is my second wedding anniversary. One of my husbands and my favorite hymns is "How Great Thou Art". We had it sung for prelude at our wedding. We do not sing it very often at my church, but it just so happened that we sang it this weekend. This song just fills my heart with joy and praise.

Tianna Vanderhei is Miss Wisconsin Video of crowning – look how excited everyone in the background is for her. She has worked for 6 years for this opportunity. https://www.facebook.com/MissSparta/videos/10156621560885799/UzpfSTgyMjYwODM3MTI1MDI3ODo5NTIyNDMxMjE2MjAxMzU/

Thanks for joining me this week. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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"Trust in your training and make it happen" Peter Vidmar

Welcome to the Sensory Strides podcast. Observations of the world through activity, reading, listening, and everything else.

I don't normally look ahead in the training schedule more than a week. I figure there isn't anything I can do about it and too many things can change if planning more than a week ahead. However, this week I had a 12 mile run and a 50 mile bike ride. I was exhausted at the end of the week. Since these distances are close to race distance, I was curious if they were the longest training distances. I thought they might not be because the race is still fairly far out to have the longest training segments. In looking at the plan, I was right. This week my long run is 13 miles and my bike is 55 miles and next week the run is 14 miles and the bike is 60 miles. After that is starts going back down again.

I listen to lots of podcasts to get tips and tricks for training and planning for the race. A couple of weeks ago, Endurance Hour was looking for questions regarding the bike portion. I emailed and asked my question about increasing speed. They actually responded to my question during the show. Her suggestions mimic my training plan, but reinforced I am doing the right things and need to really focus on the nuances during training as they are important. I sent a thank you and let her know her reply gave me the boost I needed to double down and keep going with what I am doing. They read my response on the next show. As Mac Barron would say "double name endorphins"!

Thanks for joining me this week. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

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We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.