It's officially fall here in Southern California, which means that the fun we've all had swimming in the ocean (and making friends with various sealife) is now officially on hold until next year.
Which sucks for me. I much prefer swimming in open water to swimming in the pool, but even though I'm totally game to hop in the ocean when the water's below 60 degrees, no one else is, so I'm stuck staring at the black line until summer.
Yesterday, a group of us went for our last OWS of the year - I just dragged my legs, although I could have kicked as the water made my feet, hands and face go numb after a few minutes.
The downside was the visibility - about 18 inches (although given what's probably in the Santa Monica Bay, that might be an upside. I don't really want to see the shopping carts and used condoms.), except that every so often, we'd swim through these odd warm patches of water.
I know that it's just an ocean current thing, but part of me kept wondering what it was that could pee that much and how close it was to our group.
We swam about a mile, which was a bit longer than usual, but we had to swim an extra few hundred yards to find a place to exit that wasn't crowded with surfers.
I don't mind surfers, but I don't want to be swimming near them when one of them loses a board.
We managed to go through the surf zone in between wave sets, which is good for swimming but bad for body surfing.
It was a great morning, and I'm sad to see the seasonal end of the ocean swims.
Guess I'll have something to look forward to for next year.
Because of the injury, I've dropped out of what was to be the final race of the year - the Palm Springs HITS Olympic. I'll probably go and cheer team mates, but it's not the same as actually doing the race.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
My Achilles Heel
So the soreness in my left Achilles tendon escalated during Sunday's race, and when I went to the doctor Monday, he gave me the bad news that it's now full-blown tendinitis, and told me very firmly that there is to be no running of any sort in my life for at least the next four weeks.
Which is fine, there's still biking and swimming - except that Tuesday, when I got in the pool and tried to do a flutter kick, the tendon hurt when it contracted, so now - no kicking, either.
Except that I won't give up swimming. I just won't. You can't make me.
I figured I'd just use the pull buoy and still manage to get some swim work in - which was fine on Tuesday. Tuesday's workout is very drill-heavy and focused on form, so I really got a chance to pay attention to my catch and pull.
Today, however, was the masters workout with the Sadist (and yet he looks so normal), and true to his reputation, it was 2200 meters of speed work.
All of which I did with the pull buoy.
I can still feel my arms, but I kind of wish I couldn't.
The upside is that after a month of this, I'm going to be super ripped! Yay!
Which is fine, there's still biking and swimming - except that Tuesday, when I got in the pool and tried to do a flutter kick, the tendon hurt when it contracted, so now - no kicking, either.
Except that I won't give up swimming. I just won't. You can't make me.
I figured I'd just use the pull buoy and still manage to get some swim work in - which was fine on Tuesday. Tuesday's workout is very drill-heavy and focused on form, so I really got a chance to pay attention to my catch and pull.
Today, however, was the masters workout with the Sadist (and yet he looks so normal), and true to his reputation, it was 2200 meters of speed work.
All of which I did with the pull buoy.
I can still feel my arms, but I kind of wish I couldn't.
The upside is that after a month of this, I'm going to be super ripped! Yay!
Monday, October 17, 2011
What Not to Do
Instead of posting yet another boring race report (good swim, good bike, bad run. Same as ever), I thought I'd share a post-race parking lot photo for your enjoyment:
Yes, that's a very expensive bike and very expensive race wheels left in the bed of a pickup truck - not locked, and no owner anywhere in sight. Plus there's a wetsuit if you care to grab that, too.
I'm stunned that someone would be this, well, trusting in the second largest city in the US, which, by the way, has had a rash of bike thefts in the last few months.
Hell, I wouldn't even leave Gary unlocked in the bed of my pickup, and I'm fairly certain no one in the parking lot of a triathlon would want to steal Gary.
I threw Gary in the back of the car and drove off in search of post-race food after taking this picture, but I sincerely hope that this person - whoever they are - came back from where ever they were to find their bike and wheels still there.
Yes, that's a very expensive bike and very expensive race wheels left in the bed of a pickup truck - not locked, and no owner anywhere in sight. Plus there's a wetsuit if you care to grab that, too.
I'm stunned that someone would be this, well, trusting in the second largest city in the US, which, by the way, has had a rash of bike thefts in the last few months.
Hell, I wouldn't even leave Gary unlocked in the bed of my pickup, and I'm fairly certain no one in the parking lot of a triathlon would want to steal Gary.
I threw Gary in the back of the car and drove off in search of post-race food after taking this picture, but I sincerely hope that this person - whoever they are - came back from where ever they were to find their bike and wheels still there.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Fall Means Furnace in Southern California
It's time for the annual Santa Ana winds, which means just when the rest of the country's getting pink-cheeked from the frosty air, we're cooking like proverbial hush puppies in the deep fryer of life.
The winds create a hot, dry heat that burns the eyes and makes anyone with allergies wish they were dead.
I went for a quick run this morning before work - I'd intended to get up at 6 and run for an hour, but I overslept so I decided to do a half hour run. I stepped out of the house at 6:45 and it was already hot and dry.
I spent most of the run coughing due to the dry air, and by the time I got back from an easy, easy run (30% walking, actually) I was sweaty and gasping.
What I really want to do is go jump in the ocean and stay there until it cools off, but sadly, I've been working too much to get in more than a quick workout here and there. I've also been drinking what seems like gallons of water and not peeing at all, which I'm told is bad.
Local news is predicting the heat breaking over the weekend, which will be wonderful.
Sunday is the Playa del Rey sprint tri. I'm woefully under trained, but it's just a sprint and it's so hot I don't really care, so I'm not sweating it much (insert groan here).
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Santa Monica 5000
Sunday was the Santa Monica 5000, which I had signed up for a few months ago and then promptly forgot about.
I hadn't done any running since Malibu (not even for a cab), but it was such a beautiful day that it made up for any lack of training on my part.
I rode my bike to the start, since I figured parking would be evil (and it was), and then checked in and got my number. I'd forgotten to bring my race belt, so I had to pin the number on my shirt, which was really annoying - I kept hitting it with my hand and I'm sure I'm going to look pregnant in any race photos.
The start was huge! All of the various races (pro/elite, kids, baby joggers, 5k, 10k) went off in waves through the starting corral. I hung back as the corral was really crowded and it was too early in the morning for me to be dealing with body contact.
I ran into my friend Dan (who has run the LA Marathon three times!) and he was kind enough to slow down and run with me for the first quarter of the race, and give me some pointers, which was very cool.
After the first water station, Dan took off like a rocket and I stayed at my pokey pace. I was actually running slower than I had after biking 40k a couple of weeks ago, but the sky was blue with fluffy clouds, the day wasn't too hot and everyone was in a great mood.
Halfway through the 10k, my glutes started to stiffen up, so I kept having to stop and stretch out, which is probably helped contribute to my time being so slow - 1:14 (I averaged just under a 12 minute mile).
Still, it was fun and at the finish line, they had cheerleaders, which was awesome even if the did run out of pancakes by the time I finished. To console myself for the missing of the pancakes, I joined a few fellow racers at M Street Kitchen and had some of their fantastic bacon!
I hadn't done any running since Malibu (not even for a cab), but it was such a beautiful day that it made up for any lack of training on my part.
I rode my bike to the start, since I figured parking would be evil (and it was), and then checked in and got my number. I'd forgotten to bring my race belt, so I had to pin the number on my shirt, which was really annoying - I kept hitting it with my hand and I'm sure I'm going to look pregnant in any race photos.
The start was huge! All of the various races (pro/elite, kids, baby joggers, 5k, 10k) went off in waves through the starting corral. I hung back as the corral was really crowded and it was too early in the morning for me to be dealing with body contact.
I ran into my friend Dan (who has run the LA Marathon three times!) and he was kind enough to slow down and run with me for the first quarter of the race, and give me some pointers, which was very cool.
After the first water station, Dan took off like a rocket and I stayed at my pokey pace. I was actually running slower than I had after biking 40k a couple of weeks ago, but the sky was blue with fluffy clouds, the day wasn't too hot and everyone was in a great mood.
Halfway through the 10k, my glutes started to stiffen up, so I kept having to stop and stretch out, which is probably helped contribute to my time being so slow - 1:14 (I averaged just under a 12 minute mile).
Still, it was fun and at the finish line, they had cheerleaders, which was awesome even if the did run out of pancakes by the time I finished. To console myself for the missing of the pancakes, I joined a few fellow racers at M Street Kitchen and had some of their fantastic bacon!
 | ||
| One gorgeous day and one shitty phone pic. |
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