Namrita K. O'Dea, MS, RD

That would be a "non-bike-related-injury". This appears to be a minor setback...yesterday morning, while walking around my house in my pajamas in a half-awake/half-asleep daze in an effort to make some coffee, I stubbed my toe on the Kinetic Trainer sitting in the middle of the room. Let me tell you, those things are built strong! So strong that it broke my toe. Walking is proving to be a pain in the butt..especially when I have 180 lb. of dogs to walk at the moment. But, luckily cycling shoes are stiff so hopefully this doesn't impact any training because I was on a roll (good pun, huh!)

Short update..

I definitely did NOT think I was going to have a good race. I was trying to stay positive..but..it really wasn't working. My legs have been fried all week and they weren't any better on my pre-race ride on Friday. I was beginning to think I am anemic or have mono or some other crazy disease. I am going to get my iron tested. My diet includes very little red meat and I haven't been trying to get iron like I should be. Bad dietitian..very bad. Anyway, on to the race.

I just took another look at my 2010 schedule to update it and I am getting pretty excited! It feels good to have real goals that I'm working hard towards. It is different than the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants racing I've done for nearly the past year. I think having a training plan to focus on is the only way I am (barely) staying sane through school, too. In the very very short term, I can't say I'm too excited about the Snake TT this weekend, I am tired.

After deeply regretting missing the Iceman race last year I had decided it was going to be the "highlight" of the schedule in 2010...it has been the race I'm most excited about doing. My friend Danielle forwarded me the registration info last weekend and I promptly created a "pre-registration" in their system. Registration would open on Monday March 1 at noon.

Some of the best rides are the unexpected ones. After standing, talking, riding, and working for most of the day at the SEE-ME expo yesterday and getting Bob the new foster dog last night, I was pretty tired this morning. We had planned to salvage a good ride on Sunday and chose our favorite trail, Snake Creek Gap. I could barely keep my eyes open on the drive up and I was pretty sure I was going to have a slow, lazy ride. I took off because the guys were running late so at least the first hour of my ride was alone. It was nice..very nice.

Ergon and Competitive Cyclist are excited to announce the next stop on the Ergon MTB Klinik Tour. Running in conjunction with the Ouachita Challenge race weekend in central Arkansas, Team Topeak-Ergon riders will be on hand at Competitive Cyclist in Little Rock, AR for a no-drop mountain bike ride followed by a MTB Klinik.

Go here to download. Inside, you will find great photos, stories, recipes, and even a feature on the Southern Cross 2010. Enjoy!

Overall, it was a good early season race. We forgot some key things like a light for the pit tent, a changing towel and toilet paper, but remembered most of the other essentials. It's been awhile since I've been to an endurance lap race! It's also been a really long time since I've ridden at night...yikes.

I just spent 2 days in Greenville, SC for the Southeast ACSM conference. Not only is it a good opportunity for networking, it's also a chance to see all the newest research coming out from the Nutrition and Exercise related university labs in our region. I will say that I learned of some very interesting new quercetin and caffeine research..some of which will be a good complement for what we are doing over in our lab.

This week's training hours were pretty lousy but I did get all my specific workouts in. The theme of training lately has been short and to the point. I have no regret about skipping the Snake Creek Gap TT 2 yesterday..I heard a lot of folks spent the race with chain suck, pissed off drivetrains, and 4+ hours cold/wet/muddy. Emily pointed out that they have me as a DNF on the website, not sure why, because I was still fast asleep in my warm bed when the race started.