5 Reasons Why I Miss Bike Commuting

I'm linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales & Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0.

Today is National Bike to Work day, which reminds me of my early days in Las Vegas. The first couple months of working at the Review-Journal were spent commuting about 5 miles each way to work. Then winter came, and I got out of the habit. That was back in 2012.

I'd still jump back on the saddle now and again until May 2016 when my office moved to a different area of town - around 13 or so miles from my apartment. That's a little too long of a commute for me.

Since I'm not commuting by bike today, here are 5 reasons why I miss it.

5 Things I'm Super Excited about this May

Oh. My. Goodness. May is already off to the craziest start! I mean cah-ray-zy! I hope things calm down because I've got goals for May!

It's the first weekend of the month, which means it's time for COFFEE! Well, every day is a good day for coffee, but let's take a few minutes to catch up during the Ultimate Coffee Date! Ok, coffee isn't required. Perhaps you enjoy tea, milk, soda, water. Or maybe something a little stronger. 😜

Other than crushing my goals, here are a few things I'm looking forward to this month.

Ultimate Coffee Date - September 2014

Good morning! It's time for another edition of The Ultimate Coffee Date, so grab a cup of joe, and let's chat!

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd be very distracted! We're heading out for a 30-mile bike ride in a few minutes for Day 1 of the Ventura Marathon Beach Party weekend! Day 2 I'm running a half marathon. We arrived yesterday afternoon to some CRAZY wind. I'm hoping it dies down a little for the ride and the run.

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd tell you all about my awesome August, and ask you how your August was. And maybe ask what fun plans you have for September.

If we were having coffee this morning... I'd definitely ask you for your advice about running a free full or half marathon on Oct 12th in Long Beach. I've mentioned it before, but I still haven't decided which distance to run. You see, I'm running a full in mid-November, and I've got to PR it, so I'm not sure if I should risk running a nice, easy full just a month prior or trying to run a fast half. Help me! :)

Kind of a short coffee date this month, but I've gotta jet! Have a great one!!

While I'm out biking, feel free to relax for awhile, and catch up with some other bloggers at the Ultimate Coffee Date?
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Ultimate Coffee Date - August 2014

Good morning, and Happy August to you!!

I've already gone for my 1 mile run and did some yoga on the patio. There is some zucchini bread baking in the oven, so it seems like a perfect time to link up with the Ultimate Coffee Date!

If we were having coffee this morning...I'd tell you that I love August, because it's MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!! Whoo hoo. Let the celebrating begin. :) Ok. So, maybe I started celebrating on July 5th with my birthday streak. Running or Yoga or both or any combination. Or maybe not even a streak at all. YOU CAN STILL ENTER TO WIN SOME FUN PRIZES! More info on the prizes can be found here. Not very many people have joined my party, so your chances of winning are pretty good. :)

If we were having coffee this morning...I'd also tell you about how excited I am for my actual birthday weekend. I still need to firm up some plans, but the biggest, most fun event of the weekend will be running the E.T. Full Moon Midnight Half Marathon with my husband. It will be his first half. What a fun birthday present for me! Plus I'm working on a super fun costume to wear. Hopefully I can get it all pulled together with just a week to go!

If we were having coffee this morning...I'd probably ask your opinion on zero-drop shoes. Pros? Cons? Jeff has kind of become my personal shopper, and wants to get me some new running shoes. Isn't he the best? He's new to running, but has probably done more research on how to run and the best shoes than I ever have. He likes the idea of adjusting to zero drop, and I don't really have an opinion, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.

If we were having coffee this morning...I'd confess that it's been months since I've ridden my bike. Jeff and I have a 30-mile ride coming up in the beginning of Sept, and I'm a little nervous about it! Especially, since I'll be running a half marathon the very next day! I'd ask if you were going to be in CA for the Ventura Marathon weekend, because it's going to one awesome party!! :) If all goes well, we are planning on a swim and bike ride at Lake Mead tomorrow. Fingers crossed it all goes well!!

If we were having coffee this morning...I feel like I'd have more to say, but I can't seem to think of anything else right now, so I'd just sit back, enjoy my cuppa, and ask about your weekend and what else you might have planned for the rest of the summer!

Why not grab a cup of coffee, relax for awhile, and catch up with some other bloggers at the Ultimate Coffee Date?
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Eat More Veggies - Bountiful Baskets

In an effort to eat better and include more veggies in our diet, I posed the question to my Facebook friends about the best place in Vegas to buy local or regional produce. One friend mentioned Bountiful Baskets. I immediately remembered reading a blog post about this last summer and remembered how much I wanted to give it a try.

So, I read everything on their website and decided to try it out.

If you're not familiar with the program, it's a co-op way of purchasing produce. Basically, you choose a location for pick-up, make a contribution on Monday or Tuesday, all the money gets pooled together to purchase whatever is available, you show up Saturday morning to pick-up delicious produce.

It's all run by volunteers, so all your money get put toward the produce. Since it's run by volunteers, they ask that you volunteer at least every 6-8 times that you contribute.

We picked up our first basket this past Saturday, and it was so much fun!!

The two nearest locations were about 5 miles away. An easy bike ride. We chose the one location because it had a later pick-up time and we are not at all early morning people on Saturdays.

We fully intended on getting there early enough to help volunteer. The website said the volunteer time was 7:15. We arrived at 7:10, and everything was all finished. I guess we'll have to get there earlier next time. :-)

With your order, you get one basket of fruit and one basket of vegetables.

All packed up and ready to head home.

Ewwww!

Yep. That's ketchup splattered all over my legs and shoes.

About a mile or so from home, I ran over a ketchup packet. I'm not sure why I didn't really think to avoid it, but I definitely learned my lesson as I scrubbed the dried, sticky ketchup mess from my legs and shoes. Ugh!

Here's everything we got in our baskets!

Fruits: 4 mangoes, 3 grapefruit, 1 pineapple, 1 cantaloupe (not pictured, as it was already cut and in the fridge)
Veggies: 5 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, 1 head of romaine, 1 box of grape tomatoes, 1 butternut squash, 1 pound of carrots, 1 head of cauliflower

It seems like kind of a lot for just the two of us, but hopefully it will force us to eat more veggies.

We've already eaten most of the fruit, but writing this post reminds me that I still need to cut up the cauliflower and carrots into snack-size portions, so we actually eat them.

I'm going to need to get a little creative on some of the veggies, because we already committed to week #2. :-)

We also purchased some additional add-ons like bread, tortillas, and a Mexican blend of veggies. So excited for next Saturday!!

Hope you all enjoyed a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Back to the grind in the morning...

Have you ever tried Bountiful Baskets?
Where do you get most of your produce?
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Running and Biking and Baseball

I had a really fun weekend. And by weekend, I mean Sunday.

Saturday, I was pretty much down for the count due to female issues. Boooo...

Thankfully by Sunday I was feeling much better, so I decided to tackle the St Patty's Day virtual race.

As far as I can tell, there is no specified distance for this virtual race, so I attempted to push myself with a 10K. I'd been pretty crampy (TMI??) the day before, so I wasn't sure how it would go. Plus, I decided to do a 5K route twice instead of mapping something new. This is usually too mentally difficult for me, but it would allow me to end after a 5K if I needed to.

I DIDN'T! In fact, continuing and starting the route over seemed like just about the most natural thing ever. Woot woot! There was a brief moment about 43 minutes in that I started to hit a small wall, but I jumped right over that mother and crushed it.

I'd never run a 10K in under an hour, so in the back of my mind that was my goal.

**drumroll please**

I FINISHED IN 58:18!!

My previous PR was 1:04:54. Virtual races totally count for PRs, right? :) The best part? I didn't even feel like I was pushing it all that hard - even though I did get super sweaty.

I even had enough energy left over to finish my 7-Day Arm Challenge, and bike to a spring training game - about 5 miles from my apartment.

I started this run a bit lot later than I really should have, so we ended up leaving for the ball game later than we'd hoped. In fact, by the time we hopped on our bikes, the game had already started. Oops!

We're not die hard baseball fans by any means, so it wasn't really a big deal to us that we didn't get to the game until the 3rd inning.

You can't really tell from the picture, but we were watching Cubs vs Rangers. It was a fun game. Sorry to all you Cubs fans out there, but they really didn't seem to bring their A-game. Both teams, actually, didn't seem to be very alive out there, but the Rangers at least seemed to be a little more awake.

All I could think about, though, was an ice cream cone. I really wanted one! A nice soft serve ice cream cone. Mmmm...

They didn't have any, but they did have Ben & Jerry's. It would have to do. LOL.

The final inning was probably the most exciting! The score was 8-5 Rangers and the Cubs were up to bat. Bases were loaded. Two outs already on the board.

Would he hit a home run? With that single hit, the Cubs could win. So exciting. Unfortunately, the batter struck out. How embarrassing. :D

Our bike ride home was nice and easy - other than a few dick-ish motorists. Please, please read and share this post on sharing the road! So many times we have to just shake our heads at how ridiculous motorists can be. *sigh*

How was your weekend? 
Any running or biking or baseball for you?
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I often see so many tips for bicyclists on how to be safe out there and share the road, but what about tips for the motorists?

Since I've been biking to work for several months now, I've noticed a few things that might be helpful to share.

Share the Road: Tips for Drivers

Be aware. This is just a good driving tip in general. Pay attention to other vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians. Try to anticipate hazards a cyclist may encounter and give them room to maneuver around them.

Know the hand signals that bicyclists use.

If there's an available 2nd lane, use it. If there's a cyclist sharing the lane with you, and there is another available lane, move over to the next lane. Soon, you will be far enough ahead of her to be able to safely move back into your original lane.

Also, if you're approaching a red light, and you see a bike in one of the lanes, and there is an empty lane -- or even if there are only 2-3 cars in the next lane -- pull up to the red light in the lane without the cyclist. Most likely, you'll be well through the intersection before the cyclist is.

Don't use the shoulder as a right turn lane. Most cyclists will use the shoulder if there is a good one available. Remember, a bicycle is consider a vehicle and has the right of way when traveling straight through an intersection, unimpeded by a car turning right.

Don't pace with a cyclist. We know we're going slower than you, and waiting behind us in order to turn right might be a slight inconvenience, but it's really minimal; you'll make it up in no time. If you're turning right and need to wait for a cyclist, just slow down and get behind her - just as if it were another car you were waiting for. When you pace with us, it is often difficult for us to determine what you are trying to do -- cautiously wait behind us, turn right, or get our attention to alert us to something, etc.

Above all, Be courteous. This is kind of a no-brainer, and a good driving tip all in all. I already kind of touched on leaving plenty of room when passing a cyclist, but also avoid honking or yelling out the window. This will likely cause more harm, as it might startle the cyclist causing them to swerve.

More and more people are jumping on their bikes for recreation and/or commuting, so sharing the road is becoming more and more important. Let's work together to makes our roads even safer!

Here is a link with more excellent tips.

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/groups/EveryMove/Documents/ShareTheRoad_Tipcard.pdf

What other tips do you have for drivers, in sharing the road with cyclists?
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I ♥ My Bike

It's Monday, which means it's listicle time!! I'm straying off topic today, but I hope you'll stick with me. :)

I want to give a little love shout-out to my bike this week. Y'know, since it is Valentine's week after all. I may do a little running love later in the week, too. Stay tuned.

As you know, I'm a runner. I've always been a runner not actively, but it's always been my #1 choice of exercise, and resisted riding a bike for many years. Even as a little girl, I never really liked riding bike. I'd much rather walk.

Whenever anyone would ask me if I would ever consider doing a triathlon, I'd say, I'd love to except for the whole biking and swimming parts. I'm still not on board with the swimming, but I've really come to love my bike.

10 REASONS I LOVE MY BIKE

1. It's pretty. I like the green color and the overall design.
2. It's fancy. When we got rid of our car back in Aug 2010 and bought our bikes, we spared no expense and got a little fancy. It's got disc brakes and an internally geared 8-speed hub. That's about as technical as I can get and yes, I had to look that up to get the terminology right.
3. It allows me to slow down. Commuting by bike is definitely more strenuous physically, but it allows me to notice the mountains more and other things in my surroundings.
4. It helps save on gas. This is better on our pocketbook as well as good for the environment. Win-win!
5. It's fun! There isn't a lot of things that Jeff and I can do together outside he's not really a runner or a hiker, but we can enjoy a nice bike ride together.
6. It's cheap. Well, the bike itself wasn't, nor were the accessories, BUT I don't have to pay to use it. I just jump on and GO.
7. It's accessorizeable. yeah. I know that's not really a word. From panniers to pouches to safety lights and bells, there are so many cool things to make biking even more fun and convenient. Jeff recently ordered me a bunch of new stuff, and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival.
8. It gives me bragging rights. You commute to work?! How many miles?! Wow! I'm jealous! I wish I could do that! I love hearing things like that.
9. It makes me a better driver. The more I bike commute, the better a driver I become. I've become more aware of what else is going on around me when driving - watching for cyclists, walkers/runners, and, of course, other drivers.
10. It gives me an excuse to eat more. This might not be such a good thing. ;-) Honestly, though, I think it helps me crave healthier, better energy burning snacks.

All that being said, I'm driving to work today. It's only 42°F feels like 34 outside with a 15 mph wind. Um. No, thank you!

Now, why not pop on over to The good life to read lists about top “OH NO YOU DIDN’T” GIFTS for Valentine's Day. I bet they'll be a lot of fun and will probably make you laugh a lot more than this one did.

If you bike ride, what do you love most about your bike?
What would be on your list of "Oh, no, you didn't" gifts?
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Biking the Strip

I know, I know. I'm way behind in blogging. I've got a few videos to share and some fun pictures, but that takes time for editing and processing. In the meantime, here's a quick update.

I have now run in ND, MT, WA, OR, and CA.

I have driven through some pretty spectacular scenery.

I have been in Las Vegas now since last Wed morning. Wed-Sat afternoon I spent reuniting with a few college roomies.

Since Sat afternoon, I've been chilling with my husband.

My favorite hotel/casino has got to be NY, NY! It made me really nostalgic of my time living there and *almost* made me want to move back.

It's the one hotel I wanted Jeff to be sure to see.

So, we strapped on our bike helmets and headed to the Strip. We're staying in a hotel off the strip about 3 miles. Jeff had already biked it a few times, so he was familiar with the route.

The route was mostly *quiet* side streets, but it would take us onto the Strip for over a mile.

I'll admit it. I was a little apprehensive about biking on the strip. I mean, it is a busy, car-packed, pedestrian-filled street.

Scary.

No, not really.

In fact, it's probably one of the easiest, high congestion roads I've ever biked on. I'd guess it was a little past 7pm when we were biking the strip. There were no horns honking, no evil stares, no cruel gestures.

I never felt in danger.

In fact, it was wonderful and very fun!
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Beware of Cooler Temps

It wasn't raining this morning, so I figured I'd go ahead and ride my bike into work -- even though there is a 40% chance of rain when it will be time to go home.

With temps in the 50s, I figured I'd wear jeans and a long-sleeve, button-up shirt to work. Yes, I could wear jeans every single day to work, if I chose. Since it was so cool, I threw on my rain jacket as well.


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Perhaps I ought to have dressed more like this...

Big mistake!

I. Got. So. Freaking. HOT!!

After about 4 miles, I had to stop and take off my jacket. Only to discover that my shirt was pretty much drenched. Ew.

Thankfully, I always keep a sweater at my desk, so I dried off with some paper towels and switched into my sweater. Sure, my yellow bra is slightly visible through the white knit, but at least I'm not sitting in my cold. wet. shirt.

Note to self. Temps in the 50s does not necessarily mean it's time to bundle up. Also, it's a good idea to bring extra clothes.

On a slightly unrelated note, I was looking over the information for my 5K on Saturday.

Courses: Challenging rolling hills courses in scenic Roseville.

Yikes! Not only hills, but challenging hills? Why did I not notice that beforehand? Will receiving a t-shirt and rose really be worth it? OF COURSE! :)

Thankful Thursday #10

I had a great day!

I'm thankful for frozen pizza! So fast. So easy. So tasty! Hitting just the right spot after my 17+ mile bike ride.

I'm thankful for google maps. Even though it sometimes creates the funkiest routes, it's still super helpful when navigating around on my bike.

That's it for now.

I'm off to finish enjoying my pizza and watch Megamind.

Back home

Well I'm back from my adventure weekend, and it was an hilarious blast. So much fun and laughter. :)

Naturally, when I went to download my photos, our computer flipped out!

Hopefully we'll get it up and running soon. In the meantime, I'm safe and had a fabulous time (read: I'm totally exhausted now).

More on Pedal & Paddle coming soon.

Thankful Thursday #9

Day 9

Ok, so the first 8 TT weren't numbered, but I thought it might be fun to start numbering them, so here we are to #9 (pathetic considering I started this over a year ago) and my first numbered post.

Today I am grateful for:

Band-Aids - They help heal, and more importantly, they keep me from getting blood all over the carpet at work (see yesterday's post).



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Pop-Tarts - Ok, so these are actually Wal-mart's brand, but they are so tasty and quick and easy and just perfect for when you're in a hurry and don't have time for an actual breakfast.



My husband - He has got to be one of THE most supportive, encouraging husbands out there. I am so grateful every.single.day. BUT I was especially grateful at how understanding he was during/after our first scuba lesson. He helped calm me down and even helped me not to give up but to get back in the pool the next day. He is nothing short of amazing. Last night, he helped me get ready for my Pedal & Paddle this weekend by finally installing the computer he gave me for my birthday last Aug on my bike

and attaching a mirror to my helmet.

I figure a 45-mile bike ride will be a good time way to get used to riding with a mirror. So, we'll see how that goes.

What are you thankful for today?

What was I thinking?!

Remember my inspirational woman post?

Well, I've bitten the bullet and decided to join her next summer for a women's only pedal and paddle weekend excursion. It's a Friday through Monday experience with a 45 mile bike ride one day and a long kayaking trip another.

I've mailed in my registration form; I'm all set.

Well, except for that fact that to date, I don't think I've ever ridden more than 7 miles at once.

I DEFINITELY have some training to do!

Wish me luck!