First Trimester Tales

We knew a family was in the cards and Doug let me decide when I was ready to take the big step and have a hiatus from racing. After my season ended with a broken collarbone and not a run at a podium spot at Xterra Worlds like I planned, I almost threw out the idea of trying for a family for another year so I could return to racing this year. Truth is though, I'm not getting younger and at some point I knew I would need to step back from racing to brew a baby Schuler. Going into this journey after dealing with a broken collarbone was perfect prep:

1. I put on a few pounds while hurt, which may have helped me get pregnant. I realize how lucky we are that things happened so quickly for us and not a day goes by when I'm not thankful for this. 

2. I had several months of practicing slowing down and not being able to do all the training and 10,000 projects I wanted to.  

I've heard horror stories of the first trimester and have friends who were beyond miserable. I have to say I was pretty lucky. I never got sick but just felt really, really hungover for about 2 months. I had plenty of meetings with clients where I had an escape route to the nearest trash can planned but luckily never had to use it. The biggest change was sleep. After working 8-10 hours it was all I could do to throw some semblance of dinner together before I moved to the couch and fell asleep. I'm talking being out cold at 7:30. Needless to say, my list of things to do at home, work and in life is really long now since I didn't get much done for a few months.

Now that I'm well into the second trimester things feel a little more normal. I can stay awake until 10pm, I'm back to being able to workout more and now that my belly is getting round it's really starting to sink in that I'm going to be a mom! I'm a bit worried about how big my belly will get. My friend put it in perspective, "some women have a 3 story condo to grow a baby in, you are stuck with a studio apartment". Yep, my 5'3" frame doesn't leave much space. Doug is thrilled with what the "boob fairy" has delivered to me but I just find it a burden that I'm suddenly in the market for all new undergarments. It's been hard to watch my athletic physique slowly fade away but it's all for such an amazing outcome that it is worth it 10 times over. We are so excited for the journey and adventure ahead of us!

Some questions we keep getting:

1) Due date?: September 10th (my mother-in-laws Birthday)
2) Are you going to find out the gender?: No. We have our big ultrasound next week and we plan to make it very clear to the staff to please not let us catch any glimpse of suspected genitalia. Not knowing until the end feels exciting and I believe the total surprise can help motivate me during labor.
3) Are you going to keep racing?: I plan to. I'm setting my eyes on racing Cyclocross Nationals in January as my first race back since they are being held in my own backyard. No expectations, just a goal to help me get out there and we'll see where it goes from there.

If you happen to be one of the runners going uphill who passed me last night while I was riding my mountain bike uphill, you did not discourage me, I made it to the top of the climb and refrained from yelling, "I'm slow because I'm pregnant". It is true, I've slowed down a lot but I still love getting out there and know that exercise is one of the best things I can do for baby Schuler and myself. Happy mom, happy baby!

Family to Family

Plenty of kids made their lists to Santa, watched their manners, helped others and hoped that this year they would get something they asked for. Sadly, many kids have to live with the worry that they won't have a Christmas and start to wonder about Santa when there are no presents under the tree. Instead of buying each other gifts Doug and I adopted a 12 year old boy through Boulder County's Family to Family program. We got a list of what he wanted and set out to buy everything on his list. I may have even gone a little overboard and put plenty of extra treats in the cart. What kid doesn't need a holiday mug, hot chocolate with marshmallows and candy? As I sit here sipping my coffee and looking out at the fresh snow I'm filled with joy knowing that somewhere in this County a little boy is opening gifts that he would otherwise not have received. Knowing that a child in need smiled today is the best part of Christmas for me (gluten free sugar cookies are a close second). Merry Christmas to all!

Our mini tree with all the presents for our 12 year old boy

Bad Veggie Soup

I have a new bad habit. Well, actually it is a good habit.  This habit feeds my body and nourishes my soul with each rich creamy bite. Like your normal Type Aish person I go to the grocery store every Sunday and stock up on items for the week. This working gal hates going to the store and likes knowing what I will be cooking every night after a long day. Most weeks I end up with some vegetable that I forgot to cook or we got rushed and went to Chipotle instead of making dinner. My new habit is turning unused veggies into soup. You would think that I grew up in poverty because I hate wasting things. Yesterday, I spent 4 hours making applesauce because I couldn't stand the thought of putting all the apples from our apple tree in the compost. For the record, I did not grow up in poverty but had a frugal fanatic for a father. 

So here's the most easy and delicious soup recipe:

Melt a pat of butter in a stockpot. Saute half an onion for 3 or so minutes. Add any old veggie in chunks and some kind of stock to almost cover the veggies. Simmer until veggies are very tender, 30 minutes or so. Remove from heat and blend with a hand held blender. If you're naughty like me add some half and half to make it extra creamy.  It is simply delicious on its own but you can add any seasoning you like. I really like a dash of nutmeg in my soups, odd, yes, but very yummy. Obviously this is not a one pot soup so don't throw all your old veggies in a pot and try this. Make sure the combo of veggies you use is something that sounds good. Or, throw it all in there and please let me know how your "everything soup" tastes.

This soup was cauliflower and spinach, both past their prime. Here it is before blending.

And, yummy after blending.

Putting the Fun on Hold

Rewind to September 15th, pre-riding the Valmont CX course. The day my season ended. I have no idea how I crashed on a small roller that a novice probably could have ridden a road bike on. I knew the second I fell that my season was done and was confident my collarbone was broken. When Doug finally saw I was on the ground he rushed back to me and I quickly proceeded to take a little shock induced nap. I tried to convince him we should just go home and see if I would get better all the while knowing I needed to go to the ER because I could not move my arm. I sat on a bench with 3 small children looking at me with great concern while Doug drove home to get the car. When we got to the ER I refused pain meds until they were going to move my arm a little for Xrays, then I was all over those pills. So, here's the damage:

Why did this happen to me? Why at the peak of my season one week before Nationals and 6 weeks before Worlds? I was having one of my best late season performances since I started racing Xterra. I was confident I could not only again be the top American at Worlds but I knew I could climb up on the box at Nationals and Worlds. I spent time being depressed and angry at the situation. All those 5:15 am wakeup calls to train and the effort it takes to balance it all taken away from me in an instant.  I've cried about not being able to run and ride in the gorgeous Fall colors, laughed that I had to ask my husband to shave my good armpit and tried to take away something positive. All my training is much more than training, it is my fun, my therapy, my heart disease prevention, and racing comes secondary, it is all worth it even if I can't race the rest of year.

The 2 biggest lessons I've learned are to 1) slow down and 2) ask for help. I spend my days rushing around trying to be the best at all I do, yes even perfectionistic at times. I'm learning to slow down, I have no choice really. Life goes on even if there are piles of laundry and the house is dirtier than I like. It took an injury for me to learn to accept that I don't have to do it all. The second lesson is asking for help. I've always been independent and strong willed, never asking for much help. Out of necessity I've had to ask for help in many ways and feel blessed how many wonderful people I have in my life that graciously go out of their way to lend a hand. A huge thanks to Doug! I knew I married a kind man but oh my, this has shown me just how big his heart is. The first 4 days were miserable for me and he was there at 3am getting me out of bed, making sure I took pain killers, putting my hair in a ponytail and feeding me whatever I requested. I really put that in sickness and health thing to the test right from the start.

Since everything was already booked we decided to still travel to Maui and have a real vacation for once. It may be hard to watch the race but I think there will be some satisfaction in heckling all my fellow competitors and friends with a mai tai in hand while they suffer in the hot, hot sun. I will for once come back from Hawaii with normal tan lines not a number sunburned on my arm and other horrible lines from my racing suit. And this sling just might get us upgraded on the plane.  I can't wait to enjoy this view from our condo:

I'll be back but for now I can be found with the old people at the gym killing it on the recumbent bike or supporting Doug at his cross races. Thanks to all my sponsors who have been very understanding and kind during this unexpected end of my season!

2nd place - Xterra Mountain Championships

The Xterra Mountain Championships in Beaver Creek, CO is one of my favorite events of the year because it is as close to "in my backyard" as it gets, my parents come to cheer me on and the excessive amount of climbing suits me well. This was the first year that the race hasn't conflicted with mountain bike Nationals so Doug got to watch me race my heart out and crossed the line in 2nd place. After spending all morning at work standing in a court room Doug and I headed up to Beaver Creek in the afternoon. I got a quick ride in on the top part of the course and was lucky to have Specialized super mechanic Joe Devera present to fix my sticky brake. Thanks Joe!

After my usual poor night of sleep before a race I woke up to a calm, cool, beautiful day, perfect for racing! The swim starts in Avon with two laps in Nottingham Lake. It is always nice when pros get our own start as it is easier to keep competitors in sight and I get hit and punched a little less. No matter how early I arrive on race morning I always seem to only get a very brief swim warm up in. I managed less than 5 minutes of swimming before we were called back and lined up. After the crazy loud cannon went off I managed to hang on to a group and kept two pink caps within my sight the entire swim. I came out of the water in 3rd behind Suzy and Mel. I kept both in my sights as we started the bike and was slowly making up the minute or so that they put into me on the swim. I could also see Danelle gaining on me from behind. As we hit the first feed zone and started up a paved climb Danelle caught me and I was not going to let her go. I hung with Danelle and we managed to pass Suzy and were quickly reeling Mel in. As soon as we hit the first descent Mel flatted and was forced to spend time dealing with this. I was hoping to pass Mel while we were both moving forward and was bummed to see her misfortune.

Photo: Trey Garman

Photo: Trey Garman

For the rest of the bike Danelle and I played a game of cat and mouse. She'd take the lead, I'd bring her back. I'd take the lead then she'd catch back up. It was so much fun to have this kind of race with Danelle. I really admire the "racing moms" and was honored that I was able to hang with such a tough competitor. On the very last little climb before the final descent into transition Danelle pulled ahead and put a small gap on me. I knew I was going to have to pull off the run of my life to regain the lead. Coming out of transition I could see Danelle just ahead of me. I continued to keep her in my sight for about the first mile, then she was gone. I always tell myself "it's not over until the fat lady sings" and at Xterra there is rarely a fat lady to sing so I kept pushing forward. However, Danelle had an exceptional run and the fat lady, who I never saw, must have been singing somewhere because I never could catch Danelle. I was thrilled to cross the line in 2nd and I think some were surprised to see me there since my year got off to a slow start. The top 5 were Danelle 1st, me 2nd, Suzy 3rd, Renata 4th and Mel in 5th despite her flat debacle. Good racing ladies! A huge thanks to all my sponsors for support and encouragement this year, Specialized, Avia, Xterra Wetsuits, Honey Stinger, Infinit, NoTubes and Native.

Photo: Trey Garman

Next up a wedding and some fun local races before gearing up for Nationals and Worlds!

Confidence Boost

A little late on my recap of the 2^nd Winter Park XC race of the season but I guess that’s what happens when you work almost 50 hours a week coupled with planning a wedding, training and trying to maintain some semblance of a normal social life. So, back to June 30th for the 18 mile XC loop up in Winter Park. In Colorado it is commonplace for some of the best athletes in the country and world to show up at smaller local events. I truly believe the level of competition turns local races into “mini-Olympics” on a regular basis and has made me a stronger competitor as a result. I rolled up to the start line to see Olympic long team member Chloe Woodruff there among many other fast Colorado girls and thought to myself, “well guess we’ll be racing for second place”. The start is a little over a mile straight up a fire road until we hit the singletrack. I hung about 40 feet behind Chole on the road and was ahead of the rest of the field entering the singletrack. For about the next mile I had in my head that Chole was increasing her gap on me and I needed to focus on keeping my second place spot. On a straight section of the trail I could see Chole and had an internal conversation about how negative my attitude was at the start. I quicky shifted my attitude, telling myself that I could catch up to her. I put in a hard effort and did manage to catch her and felt strong when I caught up to her. Right before the first stream crossing I went for it and took over the lead. We had some bumbling in the creek crossing where Chloe fell into me and we both ended up off our bikes, feet soaking wet. It always amazes me how friendly fiercely competitive women can be. We checked in with one another, apologized, smiled and carried on. I now had some serious fire under me and my mantra for the rest of the race, about 12 miles, was “ride with confidence”. The second I would find my pace slowing I would repeat, “ride with confidence”. Some of the descents on the course were rocky and rough on my hardtail but my mantra kept me flying and riding the downhills with more speed than I ever have. I crossed the finish line in first by over a minute. More important than taking the win was experiencing the confidence that came from embracing my current fitness and fully utilizing my mental skills. My season always gets off to a slow start and it gets exciting when my fitness starts to shine this time of year.

Next up is the Xterra Mountain Championships on Saturday in Beaver Creek…I have a good feeling about this!  

2 weekends 3 wins

The last two weekends have been successful on the racing front and my fitness is starting to shine a bit more. June 16th I planned to race the Ute Valley Pro XC in Colorado Springs to test myself against some of the best mountain bikers in the country (ok, so the test would have been more to hang on for dear life and try not to get lapped). I was so consumed with a terrible, horrible no good week at work that I didn't remember to register in time and there was not day of registration for the pro race...woops! Luckily the Winter Park hillclimb was the same day so I headed up for a 5.3 mile torture session. I started out hard in hopes that I would break up the field quickly. I didn't have a plan other than to take the lead and see how long I could maintain it. I was surprised at how good I felt and was able to not only maintain my lead but extend it all the way to the top, passing many men in the process. I finished in 39:23, almost 3 minutes faster than my time form last year and almost 4 minutes ahead of the next woman. I was super excited about my time and the strength I felt during the entire race! I joked  afterwards that having a terrible week at work and getting in an argument with your spouse the evening prior to a race is key to going fast OR maybe I'm just starting to reap the benefits of my focused hill training.

In Boulder we are spoiled with many races even on weeknights. Wednesday I suffered my way to a 3rd place in the local short track. Thursday evening I took the win for the women at the local Stroke and Stride for win #2 of the last two weeks.

Photo: Jim Heuck

Photo: Jim Heuck

Win #3 came Sunday at Xterra Gowdy. Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming is a hidden gem in an unattractive and barren part of Wyoming between Cheyenne and Laramie. I raced the Gowdy Grinder in 2011 and when I heard that there was going to be an Xterra there I was thrilled. The trails are no joke with some really technical sections, some fast flowy sections and everything in between. I got the pleasure of camping Saturday night with good friends Travis and Amy along with their entertaining 18 month old Wyatt. I chose not to hassle with a tent and made the back of the wagon my bed for the night. It was surprisingly comfortable but I still failed to sleep much. The race consisted of a 1200 meter swim, 14.2 mile bike and 5.3 mile run. The water was surprisingly cold, maybe low 60s. Knowing it was going to be over 100 outside by the time we finished made me happily soak in the cold and accept the shivering on the start line. I had a solid swim and think I finally figured out how to prevent my goggles from fogging. I was the first woman out of the water and onto the bike. I focused on riding conservatively so I wouldn't melt in the heat on the run. The bike was indeed not for first timers or people new to mountain biking. Rock drops, rock features, loose granite, tight turns and switchbacks made this course what I believe to be one of the more technical and true mountain bike courses on the Xterra circuit.  A few years ago this course would have freaked me out but Sunday my Specialized Fate and I rode cleanly except for getting my bars stuck between some tight rock sections and dismounting when guys in front of me were suddenly off their bikes and reluctant to let me by on the singletrack. The entire race with the exception of the first 3/4 mile was on amazing singletrack. With about 4 miles left on the bike I could see Maia Ignatz and Kim Baugh behind me and realized I would need to step it up a bit to maintain my position. I came off the bike still in 1st and didn't melt on the run, which was mostly exposed to the intense sun and featured somewhat technical trail running requiring significant focus. Thanks to Without Limits for putting on a great new event! If you ever want to do a low-key Xterra with real mountain biking, this is THE event! Now, I don't care where you are please do a rain dance for Colorado. It is scary dry and fires are burning all over. My heart goes out to all those who are affected by these devastating fires and to the firefighters trying to battle these monsters.