We started out in Buchanan VA. Our stuff *mostly dried out…athough it was raining outside! We woke up at 5:30, and started the day warm and dry.
Stopped in Troutville at a small grocery store for a bathroom/snack break and signed their “hikers and bikers guestbook”. Passed a church named “God’s House”.
Rode thru Roanoke. It’s huge! Took forever to get past the traffic and stop lights. Who knew? We also had a slight detour when we missed a turn. No biggie, got back on track quickly. We then hit Christiansburg mountain. Yikes. 14 minute climb at my lowest gear. Not easy. We stopped for subway afterwards which tasted delicious. Also Jacob called Mick from the warm showers website. Lucky us, he was willing and able to host us for the night. We just had to make it to Radford about 23 miles away. No prob! We hit the ultimate jackpot with or host family. His house is awesome. There’s a butterfly tree in front and it backs up to the river. Mick’s wife, Lee, cooked soup for dinner. We ate out on the deck with them and their other houseguests and we talked with them about our adventure as well as their own. Mick has done the xcountry ride twice. Once each direction, of course. He’s also biked from Radford to Boston to met Lee for a wedding…just cuz:) Their basement tenant Tom works at a bike shop and has also done the xcountry ride. He gave us some sound advice on biking and staying sane. Very cool folks! Crawled in our sleeping bags with full bellies feeling grateful for the kindness of strangers. Amazing.
Bike Day 3
Well, it rained. ALL night and then all day. Jacob woke me up at 4:45a. Tent was soaked thru and I was sleeping in a puddle. Spent the first hour drying clothes and packing up.
Had to climb up a half mile steep to get out of camp. Jacob’s spirits were very low but he pulled it together and we made it to 7-11. The brazilian dark coffee tasted A-mazing and felt better even though we were wet.
Rain started to die down a little after noon. We ride thru Lexington and took a pic at the VMI track.
Day three had 3 broken spokes total. One bright spot was a store at the top of “Fancy Hill”. We picked up a tomato and bacon for dinner and cheese for Jacob’s snack.
Had to cut the day in half due to rain and the broken spokes. Called it quits in Buchanan and checked into a motel to dry out the gear. Beautiful view of the mountain over highway 81. Jacob worked on the bike while I cooked dinner. Then I slept like a rock! Tomorrow will be better:)
Bike Day 2
We cooked and ate oatmeal for breakfast at 5:30 without getting out of sleeping bags!
Jacob decided that Robin is the hummingbird and he is the duck from Peter and the Wolf, since I’m a perky morning person.
Fisher hill was a bigger climb than yesterday.
We rode apart for the first half of the day. Caught up with each other at least every 5-8 miles.
Rode thru Strasburg VA and toasted Stephen with nuun electrolytes and water.
Jacob busted 2 more spokes do we needed to reroute to harrisonburg for bike parts.
Church signs “if you’re going to heaven, take someone else with you”, “our idols have too many medals and not enough scars”
Staying at an amusement park style campground with fishing, hot tub, domesticated bunnies, DJ playing macarena. Will need to bike up .5 mile of the steepest hill yet to get back to route 11 in the morning.
JMU guy took a picture of me stretching (without asking permission), then said “that just went viral”
Saw a busted target style shelf on the street and I said “looks like it’s past it’s shelf life” waaa waaa!
Bike Day 2
We cooked and ate oatmeal for breakfast at 5:30 without getting out of sleeping bags!
Jacob decided that Robin is the hummingbird and he is the duck from Peter and the Wolf, since I’m a perky morning person.
Fisher hill was a bigger climb than yesterday.
We rode apart for the first half of the day. Caught up with each other at least every 5-8 miles.
Rode thru Strasburg VA and toasted Stephen with nuun electrolytes and water.
Jacob busted 2 more spokes do we needed to reroute to harrisonburg for bike parts.
Church signs “if you’re going to heaven, take someone else with you”, “our idols have too many medals and not enough scars”
Staying at an amusement park style campground with fishing, hot tub, domesticated bunnies, DJ playing macarena. Will need to bike up .5 mile of the steepest hill yet to get back to route 11 in the morning.
JMU guy took a picture of me stretching (without asking permission), then said “that just went viral”
Saw a busted target style shelf on the street and I said “looks like it’s past its shelf life” waaa waaa!
Bike Day 1
Church sign “trust your lifeguard if he walks on water”
License plate LUV 2DAY
12:40p Rt 743 Millville rd 1.3 miles down a gravel road (Jacob looked at it and said “THIS road?? This is gonna suck balls!” Aaand it did. I lost control and nearly fell… Jacob busted a spoke.
He fixed it outside a polo farm Llangollen while we listened to the refreshments.
11 minute STEEP ridiculous mountain climb!!!
Met a man who has been walking for 8 months (from California heading to Massachusetts after his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash)
Swimming at the battle of cedar creek campground pool. Our site is next to a lake and has a swing set.
Jacob thinks native Americans should start a football team and call it “the Whitey crackers”
Garmin vs Robin
Garmin vs. Robin
One of my great running buddies is sooooo attached to his Garmin, he is known to all as “Garminowitz” (Hi Rich!).
On July 10, 2011 I bought myself a brand-spankin-new Garmin 310xt GPS watch for running and tri training. I posted a picture on the facebook with the caption “Forget diamonds, Garmins are a girl’s best friend!” I was psyched to track my progress and use the tool to get faster. This thing does everything. It gives real-time min/mile and mile/hr pacing, splits, mileage, calories burned, and workout reports uploaded to the computer to share with (brag to) friends.
I learned quickly that my competitive/ego-driven brain did not get along with this tool. I got angry with the watch. When I raced, I usually averaged around 7:30 miles running depending on distance, and 20 mph biking. Granted, I was well aware that I trained at a considerably lower speed, but I wasn’t prepared for how MUCH slower.
I took the watch out to play for the first time on a 15 mile SLR (Saturday Long Run with the DCRoadRunners) around Battery Kemble Park in DC. At the end of a great run with friends in the awesome July heat/humidity, the watch told me I averaged 10:15 min/miles…… What the heck? My first thought was: “THE WATCH LIES! Or it’s broken. Man that’s sloooooow.” It was a punch in the face. Jeez, what was I doing out there, smelling roses?!? Did that even count as a run? On subsequent runs, I paid close attention to my pacing, checked the watch frequently and sped up when I didn’t like the numbers it was telling me. Basically, any time it registered over a 9:30 mile, I sped up…out of vanity. Haha…but seriously, for real.
So round 1 in the “Garmin vs Robin” event goes to the Garmin. I think that new obsession with pacing contributed to the injury I suffered a few months later. There was no such thing as “slow jog days”. I upped my tempo runs and speed work and tried to maintain a “decent pace” (whatever that means) on long runs. Instead of listening to the body for feedback, I let the Garmin dictate my pace…let it drive me into the ground and into an injury.
Since I’ve been healthy again, I have chilled out on using the Garmin. I’m almost ready to try it again. This time I will have a different mindset and game plan. The “decent pace” on long runs is one that feels good to my body – not LOOKS good on the report. I now know myself. If I feel good, I will push, regardless of what a watch says. If I feel crappy, I know I need to chill the heck out and relax. I will try using the Garmin as a “restrictor plate” on long runs or easy runs. Instead of speeding up when it tells me I’m going slow, I will use it to slow down on days I’m supposed to be taking it easy. I’ll try taking it to the track for short bursts of speed. If I don’t like the “results” the watch tells me, it’s getting turned off. There’s a balance out there somewhere that will allow me to take advantage of the spiffy shiny GPS toy… I know it, just gotta find it. Mark my words: Round 2 is going to Robin!
My Rock Award
Have I mentioned how much I like winning stuff?
At the 2010 Giant Acorn Triathlon I killed it and won an age group award! Heck Yeah! Sadly I couldn’t stay for the ceremony (due to a previous obligation i.e. tailgating for a UMD football game with Karin, to be exact – Go Terps, unless they play UVA, of course). When I found out that I had won, I called and asked to have the hardware mailed to me. It cost me $7 in shipping. Whatever…I thought “It’ll be a nice addition to my collection – super shiny and show-off-able”. I might even wear the medal around the house for a bit, just for fun!
When the package arrived a week later, it was like Christmas morning. Grown up Robin all-smiles like a kid, as I tore open the packaging and bubble wrap to behold my award and….wait for it….it was a rock. A rock with the Tri logo on it. It felt like I got coal in my stocking. WTF? Not even any inscription of “Robin came in second in her age group and ROCKS”, no medal to wear around my neck, no plaque to hang on the wall. Just an EFFING ROCK. How are people gonna know what this means?
So the question is, who really cares about the rock? Answer (after a gut check and mindset shift): only Me. Why did I feel the need for everyone and their mother to know about my successes? Purely the big-head ego part of myself wanting validation?? I checked that attitude quickly.
But it IS nice to have a physical object acknowledging something I worked hard for to achieve. I personally know what that rock symbolizes – a PR at the time, a “sprint to the finish” to race ahead of another age-grouper who I knew had passed me on the bike (grrrr), a proud “all-out, nothing left on the pavement” kind of effort. Priceless memories and I display the rock proudly. Who cares if it means nothing to anyone else? On the very rare occasion when a houseguest asks a question like “what the heck is that rock doing there?”, I’m able to indulge a bit and tell my story of triumph!
The rock kinda rocks!
Robin’s Story
I’m an Arlington, VA native and a die-hard DC sports fan…HTTR! I vividly remember 2 Superbowl Championship Redskins teams waaaay back in “88 and “92. If you told me at age 12, fresh off a Superbowl victory dance, that the next time one of my teams would win the championship I would be 33 years old (cuz this is always the year!)….well, sure, I wouldn’t have believed you and I might have cried a lil bit… but I would have cheered hard just the same.
I have always been super-competitive and love winning almost as much as I hate losing. Since my pro teams weren’t doing it, I was forced to win stuff all by myself. 12 year old Robin loved trophies. And I STILL DO. You know what I’m talking about, right? Hardware rocks. I might be slightly addicted to the stuff. Unfortunately, there are no trophies for piano teachers. So, in 2004 I competed in my first triathlon in Columbia MD. Even though I did not win a thing in that race except a feeling of accomplishment and a pretty cool “runners high”, I FELL IN LOVE with tris. Triathlons are the perfect combination of events that feels good to my body, challenges me and fills my competitive spirit. They’re just awesome.
After training moderately as well as diving into the group fitness world as an instructor, I won a few age-group awards in sprint and Olympic distance tris. Woohoo! I actually even came in 2nd overall in one smallish race – yeeeah Dewey Beach! In 2010 I decided to elevate myself from “pretender “ to “contender”. Heck, I only had to shave 2 minutes off of my best Oly time to qualify for the elite starts in some races – how hard is that… really? I began to train rigorously and consistently with longer and faster runs, a few weekly “2-a-days” and plenty of brick workouts. I slogged through miles that the advanced program had prescribed. It was no-doubt a grueling schedule, but I actually kinda liked that fact – I was SO HARDCORE! What I did not like was the extra 8-10lbs that seemed to have magically appeared on my body. I didn’t get it. Exercising more should make me weigh LESS, right? This was not all muscle either. I was training hard AND eating everything in sight too – because I was hungry ALL the time. So I fed myself. Duh! I was fatigued more days than not, but the program seemed manageable and it was designed to get me the results I wanted, so I stuck with it.
How easy was it to shave those 2 tiny minutes? Couldn’t tell ya. My butt started hurting. I suffered an injury at the beginning of the triathlon season. I still raced that year, but not fast. After my final race of the season, I saw an ortho who diagnosed ischial tuberosity tendinitis. Prescription: REST (the most painful news an athlete can hear). 6 weeks at least. At least I had company, though. I ran into a lot of running friends at the doc’s office and the pt office – we all had the injury bug. It’s a DISEASE! What is there to be done??? HELP US!!!
About a week after my first appointment with the doc, I received my first bill from the doc. $1200. Mind you, I’m self-employed with a basic health care plan… $1200 out of my not-so-deep pocket. Ummmm, nooooo. I cannot afford to be injured repeatedly, as many runners I know and love tend to be (hi Dad!). My subconscious was screaming “Learn this lesson, Robin. Fix yourself and your training!”
Enter Metabolic Effect, a nutrition and exercise program designed at fat loss. I became an ME certified Fat Loss Coach in order to help my personal training clients grasp a good concept of basic nutrition so they could lose weight. I started ME for myself in support of my clients, but also (since I couldn’t race/run/bike at the time) I too needed a way to keep MY body under control weight-wise. It WORKED. For the first time since childhood, I had balanced hunger/energy/cravings. Excuse the double negative here and stay with me – I did NOT think it was possible to NOT be ravenously hungry at all times. Make sense? I jumped off of the “eat less, exercise more” bandwagon and got on the “eat more of the right foods, exercise efficiently and practice proper mindset” bullet train to my new happy, healthy lifestyle.
My hamstring/ischial tuberosity issue healed after (not 6 weeks, but) 3 months of rest and very minimal exercise. Meanwhile, thanks to my nutrition program, I had lost 4% bodyfat, numerous inches and about 5 pounds. I started running again, limiting myself to 3 days a week and reducing miles considerably from before my injury. I felt GREAT in my own skin, on my short and medium distance runs and in the gym. My first race back after my hiatus was the Love the Run You’re With 5k. And guess what? SURPRISE PR. And I wasn’t even trying! Ok, I always try in races, but seriously, it felt so smooth and natural. I never would have thought it was possible to run faster after running MUCH LESS in training. I credit ME nutrition, CX core training, less long runs, more speed work, lifting heavier weights and, importantly, NOT working out when my body told me it needed a rest day. I also quit feeling guilty for taking those rest days, I stopped feeling guilty for having ice cream and pizza every once in a while, and I “took it easy on myself” by learning to look at myself and my body with greater kindness.
I’ve gone on to set a new PR at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in 2013. I’ve found direction for workouts, meals and exercise psychology, and I want to spread the Gospel! Haha, no, I’m not talking religion. Although my dad ever-so-kindly reminded me that Jesus was 33 when he died – my age now — lovely. While I will not walk on water or change water into wine (as awesome as that would be!), I will ROCK YOUR TRI-training-eating-and-believing world! Stay tuned, please.
Robin Hersh Fitness 