Just when we thought the weekend was over at 2.4 + 112 miles, bright and early we met back at the high school to do our long run! We ran on the exact path as Vineman, so there will be no surprises. Teammates doing Vineman Full ran two full loops, then a portion of the third loop, which totalled 19.65 miles. People doing other events had modified routes depending on their training schedule. The course itself was relatively flat. Some rollers, but one large hill towards the middle of the loop, which I think I’ll be walking up anyway. Most of it was nicely lined with trees too. It was hot, but luckily, there was a breeze to cool us down. My pace wasn’t as fast as I would be on fresh legs, but hey, we did 112 miles of biking the day before. I was actually surprised I still had some run in me!
You’d think that after another monter bike ride, especially to San Diego that you’d have the rest of the weekend to have some nice R&R. Nope not us! Not the IronTEAM. We wake up bright and early the next day to run 14 miles! This morning, we did a basic out and back route, from Solona Beach (where we were at) to just north of Encinitas. It was nothing new to us because we pretty much biked through there yesterday – we just had a little more time to soak up the nice ocean views. It was relatively flat with some gradual climbs & descents.
The coaches split our group into two, primarily splitting people who usually run together, which forces most of us to run with someone new. I ran with my teammates Patrick and Annette, which was really fun because I’ve never ran with them before. It was a similar situation for other people as some were pushed further & faster than they have ever before. It was super inspiring to see teammates reach new milestones!
Overall, the run was a nice cap to end the weekend’s training. Thankfully, there was no swim workout! The rest of the day consisted of hanging out at the Amtrak station & pizza place across the street, waiting to pack & load up bikes into some of our coaches cars. It was a logistical challenge because some of the trains only hold 6-12 bikes so we all couldn’t ride home at the same time. Backup plan was to load up as many bikes on cars, then the rest to come back via train. It was my bike, and 2 others that didn’t get to fit in the cars, so we were stuck. First train was 12:30pm, then 1:30, etc. I ended up on the 3:30 train, so the team had a fun time getting to know each other a little more at the restaurant. The train ride went by very quickly because the moment I sat down, I knocked out! I was just glad I didn’t get this kind of train experience:
The waves this morning during our Open Water Swim (OWS) were pretty scary at Tower 26 in Santa Monica… I just remember having to look up as if I was looking up at a building, then tumble under a double wave. Took even more tries than usual because those waves were bigger than I’ve ever encountered. I was coming into the practice feeling confident because Friday was such a huge milestone, but I guess you can’t have it all. Was able to make 1 loop to the buoy though with the help of one of our coaches. I was happy to even just do 1, because at one point, I was already about to walk back to the car. It was so rough out there!
After the swim, we all changed to our running gear and went on to our longest run of the IronTEAM season- 19 miles! It’s nothing new to me, but it was a big milestone for some of my teammates, as it marked some personal bests in terms of mileage. What was new to me was the fact that I just did 100+ miles on the bike, so running this distance on not-so-fresh legs was such a challenge! The route started near our swim meetup spot, and headed north to a place called “Troll Bridge” (you’d have to go through parts of the Amalfi neighborhood to get there), and do 2 out and backs. Tried to run the whole time, but those hills near the end of the loop took so much out of us that walking was a better option if we wanted to finish the distance. It’s all about pacing! I practiced more of my running technique and form on the flats. This special route was trying to simulate the Vineman out and back type of course where the course is 3 loops, and that can really mess with your mind!
I gotta admit, I’ve been skimping out on my midweek run practices. Last time I ran was Wildflower almost 2 weeks ago, and even before that, I’ve been swapping my runs with more swims. Right about now is where our run training (or all training in general) will be stepping up in volume, and all 3 sports must be taken seriously. Last year’s IronTEAM coach Paul gave me some pretty good advice even before the season started. He knew I came from a running background, but he told me, “You still have to pay attention to your run, don’t take it for granted.”
I’m usually good with running up until maybe the 16 mile mark, but there’s always room for improvement. Earlier today I set out to run to the boardwalk of Manhattan Beach from the office. My Garmin wasn’t charged so I just had a basic Timex watch to keep track of when I should turn back. It was just me and the pavement, enjoying the sights and sounds of a beautiful day in the South Beach. I ran for about an hour along Rosecrans, occasionally looking around appreciating some nice houses, greenery, and loved the ocean breeze. I took a light jog along the boardwalk (also taking the snapshot above), where I saw the waves hitting high but made a calming sound. I headed south on a somewhat empty boardwalk, then ran back to the office. You gotta love these midweek lunch runs because it’s one way to schedule in some workouts that doesn’t eat away from your morning or night routines. Oh wait a minute, I have to do some shoulder strength training tonight…. the day’s not over yet!
There were weather forecasts of hail and snow in Los Angeles this weekend since the past few days have been torrential downpour, wind, and very cold. Rain or shine, our team still trains, but in this case, we were on standby this morning if we were to bike or run. I took a chance last night and didn’t prepare my bike nutrition. Luckily, we didn’t have to bike because the rains left a lot of unsafe conditions on PCH – our coaches didn’t want to take any chances.
So instead, we were back at our usual “Amalfi” meeting. This loop was very familiar to me because it was something the TNT Westside Marathon team did a few times. It was similar to the run last week where we met at Ocean & San Vicente, proceeded down the hill and back up the neighborhood. We then kept going up and up and up! It spit us back out to Sunset and eventually made our way down San Vicente from 26th St. Sorry, only the people familiar with this route will understand this. It’s also a popular bike route in Santa Monica. Again, I ran with my new running buddy Liz from the 70.3 team since she’s training for LA Marathon and we’re about the same pace. I’m glad we push each other to keep on running, otherwise, I don’t think I’d be able to run such a hilly course without walking. Overall, another great run!
I still have a love/hate relationship with running. Through these past months of training, I admit, I love the swim and bike part, but the running is my least favorite. Out of convenience though, running is my favorite because I don’t need to set up my nutrition the night before, I don’t have to set up my bike rack, I don’t have to gather up so much gear – just my running shoes and sunglasses! I look forward to our group runs though because that’s when the team gets to socialize the most. On the bike, we can’t ride side by side to have a good conversation, and on the swim… well, it’s obvious we can’t converse there. This morning, the coaches introduced us to a nice 9 mile loop around Griffith Park, to get us used to trails just like Wildflower. It wasn’t so bad because the terrain is softer, but I challenged myself to keep running without walk breaks, and did it!
I’m FINALLY doing Bay to Breakers this year! In the past few years it always conflicted with my marathon training schedule because we always practiced on Sundays, and it was usually a few weeks before the big Rock N Roll San Diego Marathon. Well this time, it’s on! Yesterday I registered, and I can’t wait!
Goodbye 2010! What a wonderful year it was! A year of running events, travel to 10 cities & 2 other countries, and started new adventures. Looking at the Dailymile graphic above, I *only* ran 431.21 miles. I should be at the 1000 mark, considering I did 5 marathons, but I didn’t really do any midweeks (oops!). It’s interesting to see the spikes and dips in my training though. I’ll also recap the major milestones and highlights of 2010 here:
