more than a spin

Major goal for 2013: Suck less on the cycling leg. (In other words, go faster, get stronger and stay upright.)

So when Thai suggested we sign up for the seven-week StrikLee coaching session at NorCal, I agreed.

Talk about an ass-kicking. When the coach said we should be doing an "easy 22- to 25-mph pace" between intervals, I would've started laughing hysterically, except that if I had opened my mouth, puke would've come gushing out.

But I survived. And in the end, it was fine and I had fun and there was no vomit.

And I'm planning to do it all again next week.

touring

Perhaps you'll recall that time, oh so long ago, when I mentioned I was getting a new bike.

She arrived in October -- small and sleek and barely weighing anything at all. I named her Muppet, after Chrissie Wellington (who is famously clumsy -- like me! -- and also shits her pants during races and still goes on to become Ironman World Champion -- maybe pooing yourself is not such a bad thing). And I took Muppet out for a spin down the rural roads behind the office and couldn't believe how she flew.

And then I left her in the garage and went into marathon mode, which was followed by recovery mode, then flu mode, then holiday fat-kid mode and then my-job-is-crazy-nonstop-travel mode. So poor Muppet just sat there.

Until yesterday.

My friend Karen and I met for a ride. We had no idea how far we were going to go -- it was ridiculously cold (morning temperatures were in the 20s, and it never got warmer than 50), and both of us were, ahem, "recovering" from a little holiday excess. So we kept it slow and easy -- just enjoying the sights.

That's right: Enjoying. When was the last time I did that on a ride? All of the cycling I've done has been about getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, hitting a certain mileage target or working on a specific goal. And because of that, I've gotten stressed out and frustrated since I'm not as strong of a rider as many of my friends. (It feels pretty crappy when you get dropped on a group ride.)

But yesterday was completely different. We had no plans. We stopped when we felt like stopping, like at this old train depot in Kenwood.

We circled back to look at things on the side of the road. We pointed out cottages tucked away under trees, sprawling gardens, funny-looking mailboxes, cute dogs. And without even really noticing it, we ended up riding to Glen Ellen and back -- 33 miles!

Yes, even the tiniest hill made us huff and puff. Yes, we took a detour looking for Jack London's writing cottage and ended up encountering a scary man I thought might kill us. (Imagine a plaid shirt and a knit cap, inching ever closer, uttering: "Guuuuurls, this is a private road ... ") And yes, a key highlight of the ride was the hot lentil soup break.

Not exactly the most athletic endeavor, but man, it was the most fun I've had on a bike in awhile.

We're already planning our next ride. We'll be choosing the route based on where we want to eat. I think I may have found the perfect cycling buddy.

where's the ... ?

Been traveling in Southern California since Monday with three winemakers on a Cabernet-focused tour.

In other words, I've been living out of a suitcase and eating a ridiculous amount of beef. And I mean an absolute a shit-ton of it -- four days' worth of red meat.

Dear god, someone get me a salad and an enema.

Out of all of the beef gluttony, the most educational was a comparative tasting of grass-fed beef (left) vs. corn-finished (right) and what kind of Cabernet pairs best with each. Answer: Older and/or more delicate Cabs go well with the grass-fed, while bigger wines go with the fattier, more marbled corn-finished. (Side note: I am kind of embarrassed to admit that when it came to tasting the steaks on their own, I liked the corn-finished better, even though I'm an advocate for grass-fed. Great, huh? Not only am I constipated, I'm a hypocrite.)

After about 48 hours of this beef diet, I started to wonder if my employer was secretly trying to fatten me up, as though I were a goose, and they were planning to turn me into some kind of human, beef-fed version of foie gras and then try to pair me with Cabernet.

(Have I mentioned I've also gotten very little sleep on this trip?) 

I won't say what that carrot above reminds me of.

I think it's going to be a very long time before I eat beef again.

perhaps this is tmi

Let's just say that tonight I learned the origin of the phrase "copy cat."

so far, so good

After toasting the start of 2013 with a little bit of this ...

... I woke up this morning, laced up my Ravennas and ran the Empire Runners Resolution Run 5K.

Confession: I didn't want to. Bed sounded so much better. (Just for the record, I wasn't hungover, just feeling extremely lazy.) And when I finally dragged myself to the starting line, I told everyone I knew that my race was probably going to suck since I was still recovering from the flu. (True story. See the complete absence of blogging in the past few weeks for proof.) 

But here's the thing about running: It's always worth it. I finished in 27:46 (so much better than I thought I would), came in ninth in my age group (30 to 39 -- a wider age range than normal) and beat two personal rivals (yes).

And the day got even better. I found the wishbone in my chicken at lunch -- and won the wishbone pull. And tonight I got an e-mail from one of my favorite restaurants that my name was chosen for a $50 gift card. (I had randomly dropped my business card in their fish bowl yesterday.)

Dear 2013: So far, I'm a huge fan.