Knowing that you need to make the most of opportunities is a good impetus for training. Being in SoCal and having perfect weather will certainly get you going whether you feel like it or not.
Morning breakfast by the beach and surfing by the pier
After weeks of Vitamin D deficiency and sub-zero temps I knew I needed to squeeze everything out of this trip to California. In the morning I rented a bike again and decided to make Malibu my goal. It's about 20 miles and having a goal made it more fun. I planned on rewarding the effort by finding a roadside cafe and stuff my face while sitting in the sun. I found the perfect spot and reveled in what a truly perfect day it was. Upper-70's, slight breeze and dry.
Destination Malibu and clunky bike I cranked 110 miles on
I tried not to push the pedals too hard as I didn't want to grind down my quads and not be able to run later. After a short nap I headed out the door to beat the sunset. My legs felt horrible! I can't imagine what it's like in an Ironman and I had lunch and a nap. I thought I was running 10-minute miles but was encouraged to see that the first mile was 7:05. That was a good sign that I must be getting stronger and after about two miles I loosened up quite a bit and started to feel as good as I had all week.
At the turnaround the sun was about five minutes from setting and the air temp dropped a touch more making the shirtless running even nicer. As it was a Monday there were far less people on the trails. After seeing so many people at the beach over the weekend I wondered if people in LA actually had jobs. I was able to stretch out the final miles and was hitting 6:30's until the last mile where sand had accumulated on the concrete making the turns a bit slippery.
All in all a nice training camp and worth the long trip home. Up at 4:30 to catch a flight from LA to Seattle. Just missed the flight to Anchorage by one seat so I now wait in Juneau to get home. It will turn out to be a 16 hour trip home. Small price to pay.
No comments:
Post a Comment