I think I can. I think I can.

So... three days up here at 3100m and I'm finally walking places without mouth breathing. Hey, it takes a while. Anyway, we made some plans for today, and they changed 180 degrees, and the result was wholly rewarding.

We'd read about two hikes leaving from Pitec, about an hour outside our base of Huaraz. One went straight up to a lovely lake (and someone staying at our hotel said she'd tried 3 times to get up to the lake but hadn't been able to get over the last 20' of rock scramble) and the other meandered up a less attractive valley to meet a different, less dramatic lake. Seeing as how I'm not in tip-top high-altitude-rock-scramble shape, we settled on the easy hike, and tried to find the 5S per person (less than $2) collectivo to Pitec.

Well, there were none, and we had to bargain/bribe a driver to keep going after the end of his route. Pitec wasn't really a village but a trailhead, and there was nothing there. As he dropped us off I asked the driver how we'd get back around 4pm. He responded that we'd have to use our cellulars to call a cab. I said, with no cell phones, what are the other options? He shrugged and said "90 minute walk down to end of collectivo route." Ugh. I saw two cabs sitting there with drivers lounging/sleeping, obviously hired by hikers who'd beat us to the trail. I bargained with one to come back and pick us up after he drove the earlier party back to town. 50 soles. Yarg. Either way, at least we had a ride.

A man was standing there, in the middle of nowhere, selling the compulsory ticket into the national park. He reported that the easy hike was 7 hours, that the hard one would take 3 to the top. It was 10:30am, we had 2.5l of water, 4 egg sandwiches from the market, a roll of Margarita cookies, and lacked the patience for a 7 hour saunter. We set off on the hard trail.

It was slow going. It was super steep and loose-rocky. We'd walk 50 feet and have to stop to catch our breath. At every ridge we hit we saw the trail climbing beyond us- straight up the hill, straight through the rocks, alongside a waterfall. All I could think is, "you're kidding, right?" After about 2 hours of slow going and starting and stopping, we got to the rock scrambles. There were cables bolted into the boulders, and in three separate areas it was precariously tough. The first one Ben sort of hesitated at, his legs shaking when he finally attempted the feat-- using the cable as balance/support, swing yourself up 4' on to a slanted boulder, then around to the top of another. It took me several tries. The next two cabled areas were straight up rock faces, with just tiny toe holds. I was terrified but Ben coached me on, step by step. At one point I stood there in the sun, 1" of rock holding my toes and my arms grasping this painful cable, just wanting to stop and cry. But it had to end at some point...

I have no idea how we did it, but we made it up 600m to that darn lake. Had lunch. Ben stripped and swam. Terrified by the way down on those cabled areas we took the other side of the waterfall instead, scooting our butts down as we found toe and finger holds. I have no idea how these maternity jeans made it through un-torn.

At the bottom, we were walking off the trail as the cab pulled in. Never have I felt such accomplishment. Ben and I agree- today was a very, very good day. You need to see the photos.

Hello cielo.

Greetings from Huaraz. (Funny, a week ago I was staring across the Rio Grande at the hills of Juarez, today I'm staring at the hills of Huaraz.) Ben and I didn't take well to Lima, finding the central city sort of lacking and the suburbs that people fled to (Milaflores) plastic, so we jumped a bus North to the second highest mountain range in the world, or so they say, the Cordella Blanca.

Now, today, we finally feel like happy vacationers. We woke up in our lovely little room with view of mountains, enjoyed our lovely little breakfast, and went for a lovely little walk. We picked our way through the market feasting on street food, including fresh egg sandwiches, boiled quail eggs, and soft-serve ice cream dispensed from the back of a pickup truck, all costing less than 1 sole each (about $.35).

We hopped a cab to the edge of town and began walking toward some ruins. Up, up, up a bumpy dirt road, past every form of farm animal imaginable and a wide variety of dogs. The ruins were a bit of a disappointment, but no worries, the area was beautiful and the campesinos were warm and friendly. Ben pointed to a cross high on a hill and said, "let's hike up there." We asked directions from the locals and were on the trail- which went STRAIGHT up. My lungs were working their hardest in protest of the mix of altitude and breathing for 1 1/2, and it took quite a few stop-pauses before we hit the view. Boy, what a view. We only saw one group of three people on that trail the whole way - two Beloit College students and a fellow UW alum. On the descent, we tried to follow a trail back into town but the plan was foiled when the pathway was replaced by a 4' drainage ditch. We jumped in a collectivo and I shared a seat with a bundle of sweet grass, a freshly made wooden side table, and a bushel or so of potatoes.

Back in town, it was fresh sugar cane juice and hot churros from the street vendors, followed by freshly roasted coffee.

Vacation. Ben's taking the photos- here.

Vacation. Finally.

Tomorrow Ben and I embark on our "babymoon" to Peru. Naturally I traveled in Muslim alcohol-free areas while not pregnant and saved the land of pisco sours for now. (Duh.) Packing is the usual trip down memory lane, pulling coins from Singapore and Malaysia from the bag and recovering sleepsack, pack towel, and power converter. We're pros at this, I guess. I just now booked a room for us for the first night, but the rest of the trip is pretty up in the air. We'll figure it out as we go along. We're SUPER turned off by the $$$ racket involved in Machhu Pichu (or however you spell it, they didn't have our alphabet back then anyway, so IMO there is no wrong way to spell it) so we might actually skip that.

Last night was a hoot and a holler at the Half Acre brewery. One of those buy a ticket and drink all you want all night events, and the beer offerings were some heavy hitters and some interesting and creative oddities. Everyone was drinking from 16oz cups, but our friends at HA gave me a 6 oz sample glass instead for my "baby pours." I drank two bottles of water and barely 12 oz of beer. I consider this proof positive of my having a shred of self-control. OK, it's just a shred, but it counts.

Friday night I hosted the monthly Half Acre Cycling women's pot luck. There were somehow 14 women and a pit bull in the place. It felt rather sardine like but worked somehow... it's definitely a new record for this place. I love our monthly get-togethers. Some of us race/ride a LOT more than others, but we all stay connected and cheer eachother on over hot dishes and crudites.

Unplugged.

From where I sit, I can see the American flag and the Mexican one. Only the American one is painted on the side of a giant tank at the edge of an oil refinery, whereas the Mexican one is huge and proud and marks the border (and the entry to the City known as the "murder capital of the world.") I wish these hotels weren't always right on the freeway.

My computer died on Fri and I've been largely unplugged for nearly a week, and then I flew to El Paso on Tues AM and have been physically absent as well, so I feel rather insular. Without a computer I couldn't even throw a workout dvd in whilst in the hotel room, so I've been mostly running and working. We won our election on Tues by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, and I'm hoping for the same today. Tomorrow I'm on the 7am flight home, Monday Ben and I leave at 7am for Peru. Dizzying. What else is new?

I also get kicked a lot lately. From the inside.

Hoping to get some trail time in this weekend but assuming Palos will be closed. If the only way to ride trail is to jump on the bandwagon to the WEMS race on Sat, I'll probably just go along. We'll see. I need a little nature after this week by the freeway.

it's ok, it just takes a while.

As usual, we went out for some red loops at Kettle while waiting for the group to assemble. Halfway through that short 1mi loop, I was already wondering if the ride was a good idea. It was a super easy trail but I was breathing hard. I was off the back from the start since I stopped to tell Amy we would be right back, but it was just painful. I was on Jen Mosley's Santa Cruz Juliana and it felt all smooshy and I couldn't stand and climb without feeling like the bike was eating half my effort. I was thankful for its cushyness, though.

I'm learning that the first thing I feel on any ride or run is like I shouldn't be there. The slowest paces and tiniest hills have turned into huge efforts and I just can't do what I used to. I can't help but think part of it is because I'm not doing intervals or speedwork, but much of it is certainly having to support the 10" alien. It's frustrating. I never had to warm up much before. Now it takes my body a good 20-30 minutes to get into a rhythm and stop feeling so damn awkward. Even then, I'm slow.

Either way, Saturday's ride was pretty sweet. We split into a group of fast guys and then the women and children- -they did the full 30mi but we stayed in the Muir trails. Evan fell off the back of the rest several times and he and I pretty much rode as buddies. He did way better this time than he did last time. We followed the ride with a pretty fun picnic and it was just the day in the woods I needed.

More importantly, though, Audrey's home! I scored some tickets for the beer party at the Half Acre Brewery next weekend and was so thrilled to remember that Auds can come with! WOOT. More pizza, more good times to come.

Doesn't even stand a chance.

This is my lunch box. Usually, each morning, Ben packs a lunch in it with pride. Lately, each morning, I pack a lunch in it with haste. This week, its contents are lucky if they make it till noon. I'm amazed at how constantly hungry I've been this week. I'd call it embarrassing, but I'm trying to discover a mental cave to go to where I say to myself, "Who cares? I'm married and pregnant, who'm I trying to impress?" It is this mental cave that allows me to leave the house each morning in pants with large, wide elastic bands at the top and frumpy-feeling shirts that tie in the back, with seams just below my boobs. There is no such thing as stylish maternity clothing- it's all a lie. And there's no such thing as race weight when you're 5 months pregnant. Time to suck it up.

Ben returns home tonight. I hope he doesn't hate me for the new frumpy clothes. We have some Rad Plans for the weekend which I'm excited about. Saturday we're riding trail with a nicely sized group of nice people. Only, I loaned my Spot to teammate Ariel for Dirt, Sweat, and Gears, so I had to borrow a bike to ride Sat... and Jen offered up her Juliana. When I picked it up last night, Jen handled the issue of pressure in the rear shock as delicately as you could imagine-- pointing at the weight-to-pressure chart and saying "I'm not sure what you need..." and I just came out and said, "I'm there," pointing at a weight that usually would send me off on a 10 mile tempo run. Either way, Saturday will be first soft-tail ride ever. I really hope I don't like it, though one can't really judge how much they like a bike (or its suspension) when carrying 10 extra pounds and pregnant, I've decided. But riding a Santa Cruz will no doubt result in me randomly shouting out, "and it's Steve Peat!!!"

Then Sunday we welcome home a woman I've missed very badly in the last few months- Audrey. If you're free, why not come join in? It's been a long, cold, pizza-lacking, random-bits-of-Chicago-architectural-history lacking winter without her. I have designs in my mind of making an absurd cake for the occasion, but we'll have to see if reality will allow it to happen.

Digging in the dirt.

We had trail work day at Palos on Saturday. It was awesome. I always forget how much I actually enjoy trial work. I should do it more often. It was too wet to ride and freezing cold, so after the 3 hour stint re-routing Dynamite Road, we just had lunch n' beers and called it a day. I guess my teammates took the keg and finished it off, but I didn't partake. Much.

Spent Sat night and Sunday in Milwaukee with the family. Sunday my mom and I went to a crazy store called "Destination Maternity" where they sell $78 tank tops. This place was so high tech that the strap-on belly for trying on clothes came in different sizes based on how far along you already are. In the clothes, I was sort of between sizes and my mom kept pushing me to get the bigger size- thanks for that vote of confidence, mom- so my pants are all rather saggy-butt. I somehow left with clothing in sizes M, L, and XL. Either way, the place has a zero returns and exchanges within 10 days only policy (WTF?) so I guess I'm as good as stuck with them. At least I feel like I have something summery to wear!

Back on the wagon with a 4 miler this morning. It's amazing how I used to just start running and within a block feel like I was in my rhythm. Now it takes a solid mile or two. I think I'm going to start running 5's soon, since the first two miles are awkward throw-aways and it doesn't really feel good till mile 3.

Just joking.

Ben's been out of town for 6 days now. Yesterday, my aunt and I went to a schmancy maternity boutique that had those pads in the dressing room-- you know, a giant half-watermelon that you velcro on to see how you'll look in the clothes when you're full term. Anyway, my aunt said it would be hilarious if we took a photo of me like this and sent it to Ben with a "get home fast, baby got big!"
His response? "For real? That is crazy. I've only been gone 5 days" and then he called. I looked at my aunt and asked if I should tell him, she said yes. We told him the truth, but he TOTALLY bought it.

Made it to ride trail at Palos last night. Some parts are still getting worse and worse from people riding wet, but it was pretty good. I used to be able to ride the whole park in my middle ring, but now I'm getting increasingly used to shifting to the granny ring. At least I'm still doing it. Skipped the run in the pouring rain this morning. Looking forward to trail work tomorrow and a quiet mother's day in Milwaukee on Sunday.

Welcome back, fair weather runners!

Ah, spring. When I go from being the only person on the dark icy sidewalk at 6:30am to being surrounded by runners. I'll admit, more than once I've wondered if I woke up an hour late and was going to be late for work. It's so light out, there are so many people out... there must be something wrong, right? It's sort of funny to me. What did these people do all winter to work out?

It's also sort of sad this year, because whereas most years I'm in peak form (at least for running) by now, this year I'm doing a sort of shuffle/run, which will clearly only get worse and most likely add the word "waddle." I think I could easily be downgraded to "jogger" at this point. Whatever, I'm still out there. Whether or not the 2009 marathon shirt I run in gets stuck on top of my belly and rides up, making any fair weather runner wonder where I got the shirt from since I clearly couldn't make it through a marathon.

I planted cilantro, basil, and tomatoes on the balcony last weekend, and moved the pot of mint outside. The chives somehow made it through the winter and re-sprouted. Last year we didn't get much out of the pepper and tomato plants, possibly because we put too many in each pot. This year I put one big, healthy organic beefsteak tomato plant in the pot that last year held 4-- hopefully that'll help. The cilantro looks delicate, as it always does, but hopefully with more watering and a little love we'll have a more productive "garden."

Killin' it.

With Ben out of town, it's just us girls around the house. That means we get a LOT done. Hours that I'd usually spend gazing longingly into Ben's eyes are now spent on the trail, or the balcony garden, or the dvd workout, or shopping for a new pillow.

Saturday I did indeed get to Kettle. After dropping Ben off at the airport at 6am, I wasn't so sure- nobody had shown an interest in coming with and driving 3 hrs round-trip to ride my pregnant ass around alone didn't sound quite smart or pleasant. Last minute I get a text from Al saying the boys wanted to come, and by 11am we were a full car headed North. Jason Henry met us there, and so Al and Jason slaughtered it on their singlespeeds while Jacob, Evan, and I hung back and just enjoyed the day. I hadn't been on the blue loop since the WEMS race last year and liked it a lot- I forgot, though, how some areas just have no good line through the rocks. There was some new build-up of switchbacks down to a sweet rock jump where you could just whip the bike through the turns and fly... that I liked. Oh, and we got custard afterward. SCORE.

Sunday was get-it-done day, which included trips to collect sundry small items that had been on my list forever. I had a preggers moment at Old Navy that was pretty funny, though. Went to exchange a bday gift from my sister at Old Navy and they credited her card for the item without asking me. I clearly wanted to EXCHANGE for the pile in front of me, but now not only did my sister know I had a problem with her gift, I also no longer had the $ to get the stuff I was exchanging for! Didn't take long and the manager came, looked at my irate/edgy self and the pile of maternity clothes and said "we'll just take it as a loss." In other words, refunded my sister AND me! Are we THAT hard to deal with?

Either way, I'm about halfway done being pregnant. I laugh every time I use the Wii fit because my fitness goal was "gain 25 lb." Every time I gain a pound it says "great!" Well, it all seems great till you have to haul that weight around on a run. 4 this morning, and little pinches and pains in various leg tendons and joints tell me that the extra weight is going to become taxing.