Biking the Strand

Looonnnggg ride for me....we biked the entire Strand, 43 miles round trip, from RAT Beach north to Pacific Palisades and back.

Adventure! Danger! Excitement! Wipe outs! Bonking!

And this is supposed to be fun??

I wiped out in Venice Beach going north, going too fast (we're talking relative speed, here) around a turn. Slipped on the sand. Skinned up my calf (readily apparent) and got a monster bruise on my butt (not noticed til after we got home and I took a shower).

I bonked in Marina del Rey going south but ate enough Clif Shots to get a burst of energy that got me the last 12 or so miles back to our car.

Overall a success.

ugghhh

I injured my ankle. Don't know what I did. Rested it, took some days off, it's better, but now I'm beating myself up for slacking off. I know, not slacking off, recovering from a mild injury, but ..... it feels like slacking off.

ARGH.

Work Interferes

Ah, yes; the story of most of our lives, if tri's are just something we do in our spare time. Work. 8am-6pm plus throw in a little (or a lot of)time for a commute. Luckily if I'm schedule 8am-6pm I get a 2 hr break for lunch which is of course enough time to do a workout, even if it's just at the gym.

I'm still squeezing in most of my workouts. I've scheduled a lot of work for July, to make up for the slightly light June and the two week vacation coming up in August. The long bike rides have suffered the most -- I'd hoped to have biked the entire Strand (40+ miles) by now but my longest is still about 25 miles, and a normal ride is about 14-17 miles. I'm slowing upping the distance on my runs (again, trying to follow a schedule for the Long Beach 1/2), and swim class is still fun and going well.

I've convinced Dave to try a tri. We bought him some tri shorts and goggles the other day so between all the other stuff he already has he's totally set.

We're still considering Solana Beach but logistically it'll be hard if we do it, primarily because we really don't want to spend a lot on a hotel right before we go on our long vacation. If we don't spend the night down there we'll have to be leaving our house by around 4:30 a.m. to leave a small cushion of time before the start; plus we'd have to have driven down the day before to pick up our race packets. So anyway, if we don't do it, that means no tri's til September.

I'm also debating on doing something closer than Pacific Grove for the 11th, so Dave can do it too (he'll be back teaching school by then). The LA Tri is that weekend, as is a tri in Newport Beach. LA initially sounded easier logistically (I mean, we LIVE in LA); but the start and finish are at two different locations and it doesn't sound like they do shuttles or anything like that. According to their FAQ, they've found that most people have spouses who are going to spectate, who can drop off their triathlete at the swim then drive to the finish during the triathlete's bike segment. Well, what if you both do it????

We're definitely going to do Malibu Sept 25th.

Week's Training

Training is going well. I may add on the Solana Beach Sprint the end of this month.

The long bike ride didn't happen -- we painted the new bookcase/window seat all day Wednesday. The joys of home ownership! See Sunset Cat for a more complete description.

We did do a short run/walk Thursday morning and a bike ride at lunch Friday.

The intermediate swim class is going well -- I'm getting tips on my technique as well as a workout.

I did the beginner's Redondo Beach swim this morning, meeting fellow LA Tri Club members. I only did one loop/400m, but swam MUCH better than I did in Ventura, despite the nasty red tide. Still slow, but I swam closer to how I swim in the pool (head down, breathing every same side stroke) (as opposed to whatever it was I did at Ventura). Terrye and I then biked from Redondo Pier to El Porto and return, braving numerous idiots on the Strand. Too crowded! (Note this was an EXTRA ride, so it sorta makes up for the long ride that was missed.)

I can't believe how much fun I'm having doing the training. It's a lot more fun than a marathon.

Dave and I are doing the Village Runner 4th of July 5k tomorrow a.m.