Sunday, March 15th

Well-yesterday was THE day and it went much better than I'd anticipated. The course was incredibly, breathtakingly, beautiful, idyllic scenes at every turn. It was "hilly" but then there's the downhill portion. It was a very cold ride most of the time and we had intermittent cloud coverage with a bit of moisture in the early hours. I had built this ride up in my mind to be such a crazy, big challenge that when I reached mile 43 and still felt fresh and great-I was just struck with such awe of God and how He cares and works. Because, yes I put in a ton of work preparing, but I felt His presence in a tangible, amazing way. At various times along the route when things were getting tough, I could feel all the prayers lifting me up with wings as an eagle. I thought about the recipients of the bikes and how it will dramatically impact their lives for the better. I thought about all of you and how you care enough to partner with me in this undertaking. Compound that with the incredible scenery and I was awestruck!
Other than childbirth, this was the most mentally and physically challenging thing I've ever done and I feel SO pleased with the outcome!
Thank you again for caring and your support, I am so appreciative!!!

Totals:
Ride 103.4 miles
Time 6:04:17
Experience amazing and grueling
Gratitude immeasurable

Friday, March 13th

Well folks-This is it!! I have just come from the World Vision Mobility Dinner where we learned more about the Bikes for Africa project and it's far reaching ministry! Jamie came away pumped and excited to get back into cycling-so that's a huge blessing right there!
I am so honored that you would all partner with me in this undertaking and am thrilled to tell you that I have reached my goal of $500!! That will impact so many people's lives and I am so glad that you have helped make it possible!
Please keep me in your prayers tomorrow as I ride the 103.4 miles, I'm very excited and very nervous and need to go to sleep now!
I'll put one last update tomorrow night!
Lv, Hj

Wednesday, March 12th

I got my bike back, yay! Set out to go up through the foothills and focus on all hill climbing and realized something is not right with my shifter. My bike kept skipping gears or falling out of gear and rattling when it shouldn't have been. Everything was all cleaned up and pretty from it's tune-up but they obviously didn't adjust things back properly. I pushed through that though, and was pleased to see that my lung capacity is returning to normal and I was able to attack the hills with almost my previous level of vigour.
The day is almost upon us and I have raised, with your help $355 so far!!

Totals:
Ride 25 miles of hills
Lungs much better(thank you Lord!)

Tuesday, March 11th

Bike was still in the shop and I needed to get things from the store, so I made the boys hoof it with me rapidly to the store and back.
This week is supposed to be a laid-back week anyway but I feel like I've already been doing that due to illness and thus can't help feeling like this may leave me a bit unprepared.


Totals:
Speed walk (bible study people are a comin') 5 miles
Doubt fight

Monday, March 10th

My bike was still in the shop today so I ran 4 miles, got the boys and had them run another mile with me. They've agreed (Nic reluctantly) to do a 5k in April, it'll be Nic's second and Mason's first of that length. I find that I enjoy a tangible goal and so have set that as one for them. Jamie will run with Nic so that they can go as fast as they possibly can, and I will go with Mase at his speed. Mason loves a challenge of any sort, especially physical and is psyched and serious about this, Nic is unhappy but showing great promise already. I haven't decided yet if I'll push Logi in the race and make it a full Johnson family event-the first half is all uphill. ;0)

Totals:
Run 5 miles
Lunges 80
Crunches 100

Sunday, March 9th

Took my bike in to get it thouroughly tuned up and cleaned, which will take a few days. I had intended to do this right before the century but the bike shop dude was saying that I should ride the bike a bit after they've worked on it.
Was laid up today with yucky lungs, lovely lady stuff, and sick kiddos.

Totals:
Be sick

Saturday, March 8th

Today my friend, Marty, came out and we rode out from my house up through the foothills and back, trying to get in a decent amount of hills. My lungs GREATLY inhibited my ability and I was discouraged that this illness is happening now when I've been planning and training for this ride for so long, and now it's almost here and I'm not at peak performance. We met a fellow cyclist, along our route, who has done Solvang many times and he gave us some good advice and info. Everybody says to go out slowly and take your time, so that when you hit the hills and "the Wall" at the end you'll still have juice. All in all a good ride was enjoyed today, just wish I had an extra lung or two right now.
ONE WEEK TO GO!!!

Totals:
Ride 50 miles
Breathing not great

Friday, March 7th

Today I set out on the bike and only made it about 5 miles as the frigid cold was killing my sore lungs. I wrestled with whether to just push through it or not and decided that I should rest my lungs. But, I still needed to do something physical so I decided to walk to pick Nic up from MOPs, where he was babysitting. I convinced mom to join me and I pushed Logi while Mason rode his bike. It's a 10 mile round trip walk and Nic was none too happy when he saw us walking up instead of driving. ;0) File it under PE for the boys!!

Totals:
Walk 10 miles
Listen to complaining boys 3 miles

Review of the X2Cycle Tandem Rack Trail-a-Bike

I discovered this unique product while doing research on the Trailgator to pull Mason behind me. We needed to move him out of the Burley d'lite (which I LOVE) but he is SO not ready to ride on his own for any kind of distance.
Enter the X2Cycle Tandem Rack, which mounts on the back of a bike and looks like a storage rack for bringing along a bag or cooler but a telescoping arm comes out and attaches to another bike. This allows him to hook on and off throughout the ride as he desires, or is told to.
Pros:
Your child will not outgrow this as it works for adults too! We haven't tried it yet, but the product purports to also allow two adults to ride in tandem potentially allowing a slower rider to keep up with a faster one.
Allows Mason to hook on and off at will.
Folds up easily and is very lightweight but strong.
Didn't have the safety issues that I've found with the Trailgator.
Has an automatic disconnect if the rear rider is venturing too far to the side of the front rider.

Cons:
Pricey $120 + $10 shipping
Seems that the one being towed needs a good, light bike or it's VERY difficult to tow them. I found it more challenging to tow Mason alone with that than the two kids in the Burley.
Good communication between riders is a MUST!
Rider being towed must be old enough to easily ride and steer on their own both to stay in line while being towed and in the event that they become disconnected.
After a particularly rough disconnect, one of the bolts on the connector part on Mason's bike went missing, so now we need to go to Home Depot and find a replacement.

All in all, this product has great potential that we haven't fully explored yet!

Thursday, March 5th

My body just isn't getting rid of this lung thing, which has added pressure as this is supposed to be a week to really crank it out and then start to taper back next week, so...I've just been pushing through-but not at optimal ability. So, I decided that I need to just give my lunges a break and hopefully the chance to heal today. So, I'm taking today off from exercise and I'm praying (please pray with me) that they heal up so that I can return to training with a vengeance and more importantly, that I will be totally healed and well by the century.
On a positive note, numerous muscles in my body are sore from yesterday!

Totals:
Rest and recuperate hopefully

Wednesday, March 4th

Well, an interesting thing about all the cycling I've been doing; I've been working SO hard and all I have to show for it are these ginormous speed skater thighs(not that there's anything wrong with that) and less than admirable abs. I realized that I have been sacrificing my usual routines in favor of the necessary work I must put in for training. But, I decided on Off-the-Bike days I'm going to REALLY step it up! So, today I ran almost 4 miles (used the baby's inhaler) and then did my Kick, Punch, Crunch video which I haven't done in months and I loved it! I sweated so much the boys got grossed out-that's hard to do let me tell you!! Followed by much weights and band stuff.

Totals:
Run 3.89 miles
Kick,Punch, Crunch 1 hr 15 minutes
Arm curls 3 sets 15 (25 lb)
Lateral lifts 3 sets 15 (10 lb)
Triceps 3 sets of 20 (blue band)
Overhead lift 3 sets 15 (25 lb)

Tuesday, March 3rd

Today I rode up into the foothills and tried to get in as much hill work as my lungs could handle. I am still fighting this chest cold thing and I can feel the reduction in my oxygen intake and it's direct effect on my cycling ability. I think Fat Girl in my head is really sick because she just would not shut-up, kept bugging me to go home and rest, not push up that hill, we've done enough, slow down already. I almost listened to her and then I saw a man up ahead on a bike, well then Competitive Girl kicked Fat Girl out and we busted it out. Almost killed me with my current lung capacity, but it was definitely a work-out!

Totals
Ride 25 miles of hills
Lunges 60
Weights 2 sets of 12 (25 lb)
Crunches 100
Sick yep

Monday, March 2nd

Today, I rode out to the church and met Jamie and the wee ones there (we picked up Mase from Bball practice and dropped Nic for Boy scouts) and we rode over to the Cucamonga trail. I pulled Logi and J pulled Mase with the X2Cycle Tandem Rack, which is a wonderful invention but Mason needs a much lighter, better bike!!! He's such a little stud, he just pedals his little heart out, he never complained and whined, he wants to "train"! Anyway, because of the company (and I SO loved riding with my family!) I put my bike in a SUPER easy gear and just spun the whole way, which I dislike but is necessary for training my legs into a smoother stroke and also kept me in the same vicinity as my family. ;0) I rode back home while they drove and I cranked it to try to beat them, which I did!!! ;0) They went a different way and left after I did, but it was a good impetus to bust it out!
Hopefully, J got the bicycling bug again and will soon resume his riding!

Totals:
Spin 10 miles
Ride hard 10 miles
Family time priceless

Sunday, March 1st

The chest cold that has been trying to get me for a week finally jumped me last night and so today I was forced to take it easy. I had planned on doing an easy 20 miles or so to just spin out my legs from yesterday-but my lungs said "NO"!
Good news though, my friend Marty has agreed (and I signed him up!) to do the Century with me!! So, I won't be riding 100 miles all by my lonesome, well other than the 5000 other riders.
Yay Marty, you rock!!!