Monthly Archives: May 2013

Fresh Legs

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After a week without running or swimming, I put my shoes on today and went for a run. I felt really fresh, so I modified my route mid-stream to get in some extra miles. I wound up going almost 11 miles, which is my longest run ever. Well, it’s the furthest I’ve gone without stopping. I can’t really call the whole thing a “run”.

It started raining on Sunday and didn’t stop till yesterday. In fact, it was a beautiful day yesterday and I was all set to swim, but then I remembered I had a lunch meeting, so I just worked and worked and didn’t go outside all day. That made me want to run today even more than I already did. I was so excited to get out there that I told my team not to expect me back for at least 90 minutes. It quickly turned from 90 minutes into 120, and I’m really happy about that. It was so nice out there.

Strava says I put in my 3rd fastest 10k and my 2nd fastest 15k. Of course, I’ve only made it to 15k one other time, so I had little choice on that one. I guess I could have set a PR, but I didn’t.

I started off on my normal 10k out-and-back, then decided to extend the “out” portion and then cut down to the 56 bike trail and run until I was tired, then head home. I wound up feeling pretty good the whole way, so I ran all the way down to El Camino Real before heading back up the hill towards home.

Going up El Camino Real really sucked today. I was feeling great, but I ran out of water right as I started up the hill. I really need a third (and possibly even a fourth) water bottle for these longer runs. So I started heading up the hill with no more water, but I seemed to be keeping my pace fairly well. Then I hit a red light, and another one, and another one. Before I made it home I hit 5 red lights. Having to stop and wait at a light doesn’t just slow you down, it makes it really hard to find your rhythm again. My legs tightened a little more each time I had to stop and stand there. And it was hot. Before I got home my stomach was really hurting and it was all I could do to drag myself up to the apartment.

RunKeeper: https://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/178410371

Strava:

Lots of Rest

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I didn’t swim, bike, or run yesterday. Charmaine was going to meet me for a swim at lunch, but got caught in long lines while shopping and didn’t make it back in time. We thought about going for a short bike ride after I was done with work, but instead we did a little more shopping and then went for a walk on the beach at La Jolla Shores. It was really windy and the tide was high, so it wasn’t great and we didn’t walk too long.

Today we went for a bike ride, but it was filled with rest stops and taking it easy. There was a strong wind from SSW that built throughout the day and made things a little interesting as we rode home along the beaches.

We headed north up El Camino Real. I decided to push hard through the descent on El Camino from Linea del Cielo to La Orilla. I managed to land 7th overall for the segment (out of 337). I almost didn’t make the tight right turn at the end and had to slam on my brakes. I think if I had been paying more attention there I may have shaved off a few more seconds and been in the top 5. I guess that will have to be a goal for the future.

I was really strong today as we headed up Rancho Santa Fe. I felt like I could have gone a whole lot faster, but I didn’t want to leave Charmaine behind. We seemed to hit every single light just as it was turning red, so there was a lot of rest on that climb… and it really didn’t even feel like climbing.

Then we headed north across Vista and the wind was starting to blow into our face. It only got worse as we got to Oceanside. We stopped at a Walgreens for about 20 minutes to do a fluid exchange break. I picked up a Red Bull and a XXX Vitamin Water, as per usual. Then we got on the bike path to the ocean. The headwind was amazing. It was blowing straight at us. Charmaine had to tuck in behind me and it felt like I was climbing Sun Crest. I’m estimating the wind at about 15 to 20 mph and very steady.

When we got out of the canyon and headed south along the beach we were still facing a monster head wind. It wasn’t quite as bad as it had been along the river trail, because it wasn’t directly in our faces, but it was still pretty harsh.

I was feeling great from my Sausage McMuffin with Egg this morning and I was a bit hopped up on Red Bull from our stop at Walgreens. I wanted to pass everyone and push hard going south, but Charmaine was having a rough time. She didn’t fuel up with McDonald’s this morning and it was coming back to haunt her… You really do need to start off the ride with a good mix of carbs, protein, and fat. The carbs burn fastest, then the protein kicks in, and finally the fat. I was feeling great, but Charmaine needed some real food and we didn’t have any. So we wound up stopping a couple more times so she could rest. I also think the massive winds were causing her to play mental games… making her think it was a tougher ride than it was. I didn’t care too much, I was just happy to be outside in the sun with her.

When we climbed up through Del Mar the wind seemed like it had died down, but it hadn’t. We were just shielded from it along the 101. This became obvious when we made the turn and headed east along Carmel Valley Road. The wind was really strong and steady, still coming from SSW. It practically pushed us the whole way up El Camino Real on the way home. I know we were climbing, but I didn’t even need to pedal to go up the hill.

I feel like I have to comment on one more thing. I didn’t crash today. It’s about time I finish a ride without crashing. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Punishment

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I didn’t want to run today. The muscles along my shins were still sore from Tuesday’s run. I had completely convinced myself that I need to take it easy on my running and let my shins recover. I wasn’t going to run. I thought about riding my bike, but I had already declined the opportunity to ride with Charmaine this morning, so it would be pretty lame to go out and ride after that… and the pool is closed on Thursdays, so I wasn’t sure what I would end up doing.

I knew I was going to do something, because it’s the warmest day we’ve had yet this year. We may hit 85 degrees today. I absolutely had to go outside… and that pretty much meant I had to run. So I suited up and headed out.

Right off the first step my shins and ankles were hurting, so I headed straight for the dirt path along the 56. Despite the pain, I wasn’t upset about my jog down the hill to the 56 trail, but once I got there I fell apart. I was walking. My legs were buckling underneath me. It wasn’t pretty.

Eventually I regained my legs and decided to punish myself for the extremely poor performance on the 56 trail. I think that’s about as poorly as I’ve done on that trail since I started running it. It was really bad. So I decided to head on up to Old Carmel Valley, which has this massive hill at 25% grade or more. It’s insane. I let myself walk part of that and I didn’t feel bad about it in the least. Old Carmel Valley eventually connects to Del Mar Heights Road, which has been my main route the last month or so. I felt right at home along there and finished steady.

RunKeeper: https://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/175085405

Strava:

Once again my POS Zephyr Heart Rate Monitor recorded nothing. I really hate that thing. On the other hand, my Pebble watch continued to perform very well. I’m really starting to like having it for these runs.

Swimming Cold

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If you told me last year that there would come a time in my life when I would call 66 degrees “cold” I would have laughed at you. But that’s exactly what I did today. We’ve had a bit of a cold streak the past two days and it’s dropped down to 66 degrees outside. They say it will be something like 85 tomorrow and through the weekend (which sounds down right hot), so it will be a huge change. I’ve been wondering if I would like to live somewhere warmer, but I’m not sure I can handle the heat. If it really does get to 85 tomorrow, it will be a good test.

So it was 66 degrees and not extremely sunny, but I decided it was the right thing to do, so I went swimming anyway. To my surprise, the pool was fairly crowded. That made it sort of fun.

500 warm-up
5 x 100 free under 1:15 on 1:55
5 x 100 kick
500 pull with paddles
100 free easy
2 x 200 IM
100 warm-down
—–
2600 yards