Author Archives: jt

Swimmers in the Mist

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It has been really foggy the last few mornings, including today. When it was lunch time and time to swim, I looked outside… still foggy. It was warm, but one of the things I enjoy the most about swimming outside is the sun. Of course, I walked down to the pool anyway. There were already a couple swimmers in the water and a foggy mist rising up out of the pool. I wished I had a camera or even my phone to snap a picture of it. It was really cool.

2 x 100 warm-up
10 x 100 free @ 1:25 on 1:45
100 easy
8 x 50 kicking on 10 seconds rest
300 pulling
2 x ( 50 fly drill, 50 dolphin kick ) with fins
100 free fast with fins
100 warm-down
—–
2400 yards

Swimming Outside

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I swam outside today at the Carmel Valley Rec Center. It’s not all that amazing that I can swim outside in San Diego in March, but the feeling of swimming outside today was amazing. I’m still terribly slow and out of shape, but I’m still very much a swimmer.

5 x 100 Free
4 x 100 Kick
3 x 100 Pull
200 IM with fins
100 Free with fins
100 easy
10 x 50 Free @ 0:40 on 1:00
100 easy
—–
2200 yards

Great Western Loop

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The Great Western Loop has been described as a rite of passage for all San Diego area cyclists. Someone mentioned to Charmaine that it was one of their favorite rides, so we decided to try it. At 45 miles, it’s not a particularly long ride, but it has a decent amount of climbing… especially for someone as out of shape as I have apparently become.

We parked along the park/middle school on Brabham Street where it meets Fury Lane in Rancho San Diego to being the ride. It started out flat and fast as we headed out of Rancho San Diego along Willow Glen Drive and turned right onto Dehesa Road. There were quite a few casino party buses on the road with us. After a few flat miles we had to turn right to stay on Dehesa Road. Soon it turned into a climb of about 6% for about 4 miles. We came to the end of Dehesa Road at the ‘T’ at the top of the hill. An easy right turn onto Japatul Road dropped us into a fast downhill section that didn’t end until we crossed the Sweetwater River. It was fun, but I knew we were going to pay for it. After a short flat section we hit “the wall”. It’s both steeper and longer than the climb on Dehesa Road, and I was feeling it. Somewhere along this section I started questioning why this is anyone’s favorite ride. It hadn’t been anything extraordinary yet, and we were almost half way through.

Japatul Road changes to Japatul Valley Road at the top of the hill so we made another right turn onto Lyon’s Valley Road and started heading down into the canyon. Lyon’s Valley Road is the reason this ride is special. The first descent on Lyon’s Valley Road was really fun. There was a small section of climbing as we headed back up the next canyon and crossed the Skyline Truck Trail. We were tempted to turn and take the straight road back, but I’m so glad we didn’t. We stayed on Lyon’s Valley Road, and I’m glad we did. The next descent was steep and windy, but it was amazing. I wish we hadn’t started so late in the day so we could have stopped to take more pictures, but we were out of time and had to push on.

After climbing out of another valley on Lyon’s Valley Road, we came to a spot where it would have been easy to jump over to Skyline Truck Trail, which is a big straight road. At first we decided to do it. We turned right onto Lawson Valley Road, which is a short spur that links Lyon’s Valley Road with the Skyline Truck Trail. As soon as we saw where the Skyline Truck Trail went, we knew we had made the wrong choice and we turned around immediately. Taking the Skyline Truck Trail would have meant a lot more climbing and our legs just couldn’t take it. We thought there was going to be an equal amount of climbing on the Lyon’s Valley Road, but we figured it would be more gradual. We were so wrong. There was no more climbing, it was all down hill from there. We definitely made the right decision. Lyon’s Valley Road is a small road through this section. It’s really steep and really windy, but it’s also really beautiful.

Lyon’s Valley Road is eventually joined by the Skyline Truck Trail anyway. As we descended I stopped at Jamul Road and thought about turning there. That would have been a mistake. We stayed on Lyon’s Valley Road until it ended and we turned right (again) onto Compo Road, which is a big fast road without much of a bike lane in some parts. I didn’t like being so close to fast traffic so late in the day, but it didn’t take long to complete the descent and get back to our car parked across the street from the college in Rancho San Diego.

https://app.strava.com/activities/43806867

San Diego

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I moved to San Diego about 10 months ago. I have always enjoyed beach vacations and even learned to surf a few years ago. I thought moving to San Diego would mean turning into a beach junkie, surfing every chance I got, etc. I was wrong. For whatever reason, I haven’t been drawn to the beach anywhere near as much as I expected. I didn’t really take advantage of the amazing weather here until recently.

I signed up to ride Seattle to Portland again this year. This will be my third time riding it, but this time I signed up to finish in one day. 206 miles. The most I have ridden in one day is about 150 miles, so it’s going to be a challenge for me to get ready. I think that’s what I like most about the decision to do it in one day. Suddenly I have a purpose to my workouts. Suddenly I am taking advantage of the amazing weather here.

One way I’m taking advantage of it is by running outside at lunch. I work from home, which definitely makes it easier, but it’s really only possible because of the great weather. I’m not much of a runner, but I do manage to get in 5 or 10 miles in 1 or 2 runs each week. I’m using strava to keep track of my running and cycling. I won’t elaborate too much on how awesome strava is, but it’s much much better than all the other fitness apps I have used in the past (RunKeeper, etc.).

I have already been out running 9 times and riding my bike 4 times… and it’s only March! Maybe I love San Diego more than I realize.

Too much running?

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I tried to do the same 5k loop around my neighborhood that I’ve been doing for a couple years today. My legs were still hurting a bit from yesterday’s terrible “run”. Each step I took today hurt a little more than the last. Soon I was walking, but that hurt too. I actually hurt less while running than walking, so I started running again for a while, but then it hurt too much and I dropped back to a walk. The walk was still painful, so I ran a little more. I was in so much pain I was almost crying. I broke back down into a walk. I haven’t ever had that kind of experience before. I kept telling myself that I would be out of pain sooner if I got home sooner, so I started running again.

When I got home I just sat outside the front door for several minutes. My legs were killing me. None of the major muscle groups were sore at all, but the stabilizers or ligaments or whatever it is that is hooked up along the sides of my tibia were killing me.

From everything I’ve read about shin splints, I think I need to take some time off from running… maybe focus on biking for a while, since it doesn’t seem to cause any of the pain I felt today.

https://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/79780289

Jumping jacks: 50
Time at mile 1: 10:36
Time at mile 2: 20:34
Time at mile 3: 34:07

A short walk and a short bike

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Normally, today would have been a longer run, but it didn’t turn out that way. It was super windy outside, so I decided I would run my 5 miles on the treadmill. I didn’t even make it through the first mile before my legs were hurting so much that I gave in and walked. I crossed the first mile around 9 minutes, but I didn’t run again. I just walked 2 miles after that and called it good. I wasn’t happy with the results, but I figured I should give my legs some time to recover. I skipped my jumping jacks before running and I wonder if that had anything to do with it. I doubt it.

Less than an hour later, Charmaine came home and we went for a bike ride. The wind wasn’t quite as strong, but it still made for a few pushes through a nice headwind. Surprisingly, I felt really strong. Clearly I’m using a different set of muscles to ride than I do to run.

We rode our usual loop up past the camels to the top of Alpine and then back down and across on Westfield Road. I was somewhat ahead of Charmaine when I reached the turn to go up Suncrest, so I started heading up. I figured I would turn around before the switchbacks started and still beat her to the turn-off. I was wrong. She reached the turn and headed up before I got back. I waved at her, then called her on her phone, to make sure she knew I had turned back. She knew. She was determined to go up as far as I had gone before turning around.

The ride home wasn’t too bad until we got to the hill on Canyon Rd. That’s always a fun hill to climb, but today the strong headwind made it a little more fun than usual. Still, we each focused on keeping our slowest speed higher than normal and we didn’t take too long getting to the top.

https://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/79645902

Push-ups: 70
Time to mile 1: 09:15
Time to mile 3: 39:19

Nice day for a run

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The weather is incredible today. I knew I burned my legs down with my big run yesterday, but there was no way I could stay inside on a day like today.

At the beginning and a few times during the first mile or so, my earbuds kept popping out. The cable is just slightly too short to go from my ears, down my shirt, and into my pocket where my phone is. Finally, I unplugged it, pulled the cord to the outside of my shirt and plugged it in again. They popped out a few more times, but then I found some position in my ear where the slight tugging that happened with each new step didn’t seem to move them anymore and I could just run.

The music seemed to help me keep a fairly steady pace. I never broke down into a walk, although I did slow my pace to about 5.0 mph going up one of the hills. I’m liking having the right music to keep my feet stepping in rhythm.

https://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/79394904

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100
Time at Mile 1: 09:38
Time at Mile 2: 19:05
Time at Mile 3: 29:22

Big Lunch = Big Run

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Today was the funeral for my grandmother. I had this idea that everything would be wrapped up by 1:30 and I would be able to get in a nice afternoon run. I was wrong. Family gatherings always take longer than you anticipate, and that’s usually because you’re having a good time. Today was no exception. After the funeral and graveside service, we all went out to lunch. I ate way too much. There seemed to be a contest between my brothers and me to see who could eat the most rolls. Nobody wins in a contest like that, but it sure was fun. I must have eaten 6 rolls before my “turf & turf” came out. That’s right, I had two 8-ounce sirloins. I was drinking water, but I figured I must have had well over 3000 calories at lunch. That’s not normal for me, especially at lunch… and then we didn’t get home until after 3:30. I wasn’t sure I would have time to run, but I decided I didn’t have a choice.

I jumped on the treadmill and started running. I walked a bit here and there, but kept up a decent pace. Suddenly I was closing in on 5 miles and realized I still had a lot of gas in the tank. Normally I’m running on empty by the time I hit 5 miles and if I go on to 6 it’s because I’m walking. Today I thought I may be able to run most of that last mile… and I knew if I did, I’d set a new personal best.

That’s exactly what I did.

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100
Time at mile 1: 0:09:20
Time at mile 3: 0:31:40
Time at mile 6: 1:02:23

Short Bike Ride

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It was easy to talk myself out of running today… maybe a little too easy. The weather was great and Charmaine wanted to go for a bike ride. How could I say no to that?

We rode our usual route up through Alpine, past the camels, back down to Westfield Road, across to Sun Crest Drive, and back home. The last time we tried to ride it, Charmaine got a flat tire, but we didn’t have any trouble today. I forgot to turn on the GPS on my phone (RunKeeper), so I only have the data from my crappy bike “computer”. It took us a little over an hour to go about 16 miles. We took the flat sections nice and easy and really tried to focus on climbing the hills fast (or at least keeping our minimum speed higher than normal). I think it worked out really well.

Still sore

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I’m not sure if I am any better or any worse than yesterday, but I’m definitely still very sore. That’s no excuse, of course, but I did try to take it a little easier today as I auditioned a few more songs for my running playlist. Songs that made the cut: Complicated – Avril Lavigne, Fishin’ in the Dark – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Any Man of Mine – Shania Twain, Sixteen – No Doubt, Whip It – Devo, In Bloom – Nirvana, Losing Grip – Avril Lavigne, Happy Now – No Doubt. I still need more if I’m ever going to finish a 10k without walking.

I had a hard time keeping a consistent cadence as I jumped from song to song trying to find the right rhythm. Sometimes I ran a few minutes at 7.2, 6.5, 6.2, 6.0, 5.5, and way too much walking at 4.0 mph. Amazingly, I managed to stay on for 6 miles without pausing anything.

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100
Time at mile 1: 0:09:44
Time at mile 3: 0:31:21
Time at mile 6: 1:07:35