Rest is a Good Thing!

At the beginning of this week I was sincerely wondering if doing SO little training last week was a mistake. Well, I knew it wasn't a mistake (could a week in Bermuda ever be a mistake- NO!). This weekend it was really time to get back into the swing of things. I wanted to ride long on Sat, and run hard Sunday. I was a bit nervous about both. This is especially true because I planned to head out to Lake Henshaw with some ridiculously fast riders. Marit and Charisa are amazing athletes. Both qualified for Kona at Oceanside (undoubtedly the hardest place to qualify for the Big Dance in my opinion!) What do all 3 of us have in common??? We're 3 girls who LOVE our Brooks running shoes!


The worst part of the ride was the beginning. I had to meet them at 7, which meant leaving at 6 and waking up by 5. Ouch! Not too bad on a hot sunny day, but it was killer on this day. June gloom is worse than I've ever seen. The marine layer is so thick that its been "raining" every morning. weather.com doesn't call it rain. Just 100% humidity, and cloudy. But the clouds are dropping water and the roads were quite wet. Within 10mins I was drenched. Within 12 mins I had a flat. I didn't allow time for this. So I rode home, changed the flat, threw my bike in the car, got in the car (helmet still on!) and drove as fast as I could. Once I thought I could ride to meet them in time I parked, jumped out of the car and rode away. Thankfully San Diegians are scared of rain, so few ppl were on the freeway watching me drive with a helmet.
Once we were inland enough the dark gray clouds parted, and everyone was instantly happy again.
This picture was taken just before we were attacked by several swarms of flying crickets! I never knew such a thing existed. It was like riding through a swarm of small birds.


Merit and Charisa were great at following their power meters and heartrate monitors. Meanwhile I just tried to hold pace with them. Along the route there was the ostridge farm, swarms of flying crickets (again, so gross!), and cowboys herding cattle:



We took time to refuel, recaffeinate, and fill the bottles. Sadly we didn't include Julian Apple Pie into the stop.







After the pit-stop it was off to find Mt. Palomar.


The second half of this half is often thought of as "all downhill." Truth is, there are several hills and mountains remaining, its just that they are separated by flat and downhill sections. Eventually we'd have to return to the clouds of June Gloom shown in this pic. Thankfully while many cyclists stayed nestled in their beds we rode far enough east to escape the dangerously wet roads!

After 6 hours I was still feeling good. I could have turned towards my car, but then I would only get in 90ish miles. Mentally I had prepared myself for 110+, and was surprisingly still feeling good. I rode with the girls to San Marcos, then turned east at Elfin Forest. I finished with a strong 20min half ironman pace effort. To feel that good 90miles in gave me the mental boost I needed!
The benefit of driving to meet the group was that my car was parked close to a great running trail. After 110miles on the bike my legs and energy level actually felt great for my t-run. The run finished right outside this mexican restaurant that I've wanted to try for quite some time.



Hernandes Hideaway wasn't worth it, so save yourself the trip (that is unless you're out there riding/running for 7 hours- then anything tastes great). After eating for 2 hours straight I was off to the bar to cheer on my boys with my fellow Red Wings fans. Wings 3, Pens 1.



After a largely sleepless night it was time to hit the trails for the Sunday Ranch Run. I run out there almost every Sunday and love it. The loop is 11.5 miles of trails, and finishes at a place with more trails for those looking for longer runs. I'll have to look back through my training history on trainingpeaks, but I think I was close to last year's PR for the loop. Due to the speedy pace we had to tack on a few easy miles at the end before hitting the pool for a recovery swim. Then it was back to eating!

Both Trevor and Marit are racing at Ironman CDA in 3 weeks. Both are strong and ready to go! I can't wait to see them tear it up. And for those who raced at Honu, great job tackling the heat! A huge congrats to Mike and Linnea who cashed in (literally) their tickets for Kona!

PS- if anyone can tell my why the pictures are downloading into the draft screen as text instead of the picture please let me know! It didn't use to do this, and it is quite annoying!