Starting over

Today was my first day back on the road bike since Solvang. I've taken a few trips on the commuter, but nothing resembling actual training - like keeping a minimum cadence or speed or paying attention to form.

Since I'm going to be working long hours for the next few days, I decided to do a brick today - 2 hours of hill repeats on the bike, followed by a slowish run (out of the water, yay!).

Admittedly, the hill I did was a very gentle hill, maybe a 2 % grade, if that, but I've lost enough lung power in the few weeks since Solvang that the first lap really made me wheeze, especially trying to maintain 90 rpm.

Once I warmed up, though, I was fine, and as a bonus today was a beautiful day with temps in the 70s and blue skies.

Also, the coral trees are blooming, and they make me happy. I thought they were poinsettia trees for the longest time until someone with actual knowledge of botany set me straight and kindly didn't mock me.

After my ride (26 miles in two hours. Not great, but good enough for the first day back), I went for a nice easy run. The heel held up very well, which is good, but just to be safe when I got home I sat in a tub of cold water for 10 minutes.

The cold water that comes out of my tap is impressively cold (or maybe that's just because in my old place the cold water was tepid on a good day), so much so that I'll go completely numb after sitting in just cold water for a few minutes.

Which is good, because not only do I not have an ice-maker, I don't have space in my freezer to store half a bag of ice.

The two ice trays I have are full of serving sizes of the raw food diet I feed my cat (whole different story there).

So - tub of cold water for 10 minutes.

Tomorrow, before work, I'll go swim, and that will have to do for the rest of the week. 

Rest(less) day

Although I know rest days are vital to any workout plan, they still make me nuts.

I feel like I should be up and doing something - anything - other than sitting around.

I look longingly at the bikes hanging on the wall and think what a lovely day it is for a ride, but I can't because I have to rest.

Dammit. I hate it.

That's weird, isn't it?

Someone saying that they hate the idea of not working out?

It's weird. I know, but I also know that I really need the rest, especially with Death Valley coming up in less than a week.

I've decided that I'll be satisfied with anything over 50 miles, and extremely happy if I can make the 100 miles.

But then again, I might lose my mind and decide that they're going to drag me off the course when my cold, stiff carcass misses the cutoff point.

I'm not bringing Gary - I'm renting a really nice aluminum/carbon road bike from an awesome local bike shop called Zone 3 Multisport.

When I went in to reserve the bike, the guy who works there picked up Gary, looked at me and said "Oh, you're going to fly on our bike".

So, the schedule is: rest today (dammit), run/swim tomorrow, long ride Tuesday, swim Wednesday, yoga or stretch Thursday, Friday I'm off to Death Valley, and Saturday's the ride.

Two weeks from now is the Solvang Century ride (should be cake after Death Valley), and then I'm back to regular training for Vineman 70.3 and commuting on the Cannondale, which as of late's been doing a whole lot of nothing.

It builds character

One of the things the training plans for just about anything mention is called a 'mental toughness day'.

Since you can't control conditions in races, you may have to power your way through rain, wind, dust, heat, plagues of locusts, etc..

With that in mind, I headed out to PCH for a long ride. Leaving my house it was a bit windy, but by the time I got to the coast the winds were very, very strong, and, of course, blowing south so as I rode north I got the full brunt of it (plus the occasional gust from the side, which was a surprise).

Although I desperately wanted to turn around, go home and curl up with a warm blanket, I kept riding. I knew I wasn't going to make my targeted distance of 100 miles, but I figured if I could just go a little further I'd be fine.

I stopped briefly at a farm stand where they had freshly dug green garlic (so tasty). I didn't have a backpack or bag since I was on the road bike, so I shoved the garlic up the back of my jersey, which made me smell great (I'm sure of it).

I don't know what a Zuman is, but apparently it's vital.

I continued up the coast, eventually turning around at Leo Carrillo beach, which is 30 miles from my house.

Enough! I turn around!

So I did 60 miles instead, but it felt like 100 in that wind. Even going back, when I should have had a really good tailwind, I still got gusts from the side.

Mental toughness, right?

The really interesting thing is that today, my legs aren't hurting at all, and they probably should be. I guess that's a good thing.

Bridge over the California Incline. The troubled waters are to the west.

My nether regions are hurting like hell, though. Forgot to bring the chamois cream with me. I won't make that mistake again.

Chinatown Firecracker Ride in pictures!

This was my first time at the Chinatown Firecracker ride - there were two routes offered - an easy flat 20 miler, and a hilly 30 miler.

I chose the hilly route, thinking it would be fun.

It was, but the main challenge wasn't the climbs, but navigating Los Angeles' legendary shitty roads. 

Starting line

And the impending rain, of course. Despite hopes that it would hold off, it started sprinkling just as the race started. Luckily, it never really rained, just misted enough to make the roads slick and fog up everyone's glasses.

Tandem!

The ride had a really nice mix of people, and since it wasn't a race but an organized ride, there wasn't such a sense of urgency to go flat-out, but I did end up joining one of the pacelines, which was fun, but since the road was wet I got covered in the goop being thrown up by the tire in front of me.  I looked like "Pig Pen" from the Peanuts cartoons.

Griffith Park

About halfway through Griffith Park, the blue sky started to peek through the clouds.

Steep climb

So steep that everyone had to stop and rest 

The only aid station of the ride was at the halfway point, located at Travel Town.

Aid station

Appropriately, we were given fortune cookies in addition to the standard fare of pretzels and bananas.

Fortune cookie for the Chinatown ride! Get it?

...in bed.

Good thing they had a repair station at Travel Town, as a large number of people were having mechanical problems related to the wetness and shittiness of the roads.

By the time I left the aid station, the sun had come out and it was a gorgeous. We rode through Burbank. looped back to the LA River bike path, and made our way back to Chinatown, where there was a huge line for the promised carbo load lunch:

Load me up! I'm hungry!

Noodles, and more fortune cookies.

There was a beer tent, which seemed promising, but they weren't serving good beer. I wasn't expecting top-end microbrew or anything but:

I'm sorry, I thought someone said there was to be beer.

I didn't drink any of the so-called beer, instead opting for a Vietnamese iced coffee from the Pho place across the street.

Red Lanterns

Red Lanterns and puffy clouds

Gong on a shop

I wandered around for a bit, chatted with some fellow riders and some friends who were there picking up packets for the run on Sunday.

When I got home, the first thing I had to to was wash the gunk off Gary, then I took a shower myself.

It was a really fun ride, and I'll definitely do it again next year, but I'll seriously consider bringing a mountain bike because of the pavement.

Wow, didn't see that one coming.

Between road biking and commuting, I put in a respectable number of miles on the bicycle.

Consequently, my legs are pretty damn strong.

Strong enough that usually weights don't make me sore the next day, so when I was at the gym Sunday pre-Superbowl party, I decided to do the workout that they call 'the board' which is posted on, natch, a board on the workout floor.

This one looked good, but not super hard for someone with legs of steel:

In case the photo isn't showing, that's "Push, Pull Squat"

3 x 20 push ups
3 x 20 cable chest presses

3 x 20 seated row

3 x 20 lat pulls

3 x 20 body weight squats
3 x 20 body weight alternate lunges

I added in some ab work, but holy crap.

That easy-looking workout kicked my ass. It's Monday night and I'm still sore.

I knew the shoulders would be sore because of the push ups, but they're way less sore than my quads.

Masters swim tonight was an adventure - of course we were doing sprints. I ran out of gas about 45  minutes in and only have myself to blame.

However, in the future, if I need a really good quick workout (this one took under 45 minutes), I know what I'll be doing.

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).

Busy!

Work has been insanely busy, which is good - overtime equals money, after all, but it also means that I haven't got a lot of time to do much else with my life, including biking, running or swimming.

I've gotten a few swims in, but I haven't been running due to a sore Achilles tendon, and haven't been on the bike for almost a week.

Which is super bad, since I have a race in 11 days. 

I'll do the Malibu Olympic distance on September 17, and I feel like I just haven't gotten enough saddle time, but there's not much I can do about it,since I'm not willing to quit my job to finish a few minutes closer to the middle of the pack.

Oh, well.  Just remind me that the purpose of all of this is to have fun. And get a T-shirt. But mainly to have fun.


Also, I got the score of a lifetime at the TriLAB's Labor day sale - TWO DeSoto women's tri tops and shorts for $11 each.

At least I'll look good when the people who actually had time to train blow past me.

Ah, hot tub. How I love you.

My friend, the beautiful and talented Jenna Phillips, leads an indoor Mission: Possible at the Sports Club LA.

Since I'm not a member of one of the most expensive gyms in the city, I have to beg Jenna to put me on the club's guest list for the class.

When she can, it's great. Jenna's Mission: Possible workouts are fun and extremely challenging, and afterwards I get to sit in the club's hot tub. 

While my gym is nice, they don't have a hot tub and the bathtub in my apartment is too small to get more than a third of me in there, so getting to soak my entire self in overheated water while getting a back massage is a rare treat.

I know it's bad for me, but it feels so good.

So after an ass-kicking Mission (push up tabatas. Ouch), I swam a few laps in the club's beautiful pool to get the lactic acid out of my limbs, lolled on the sun deck with the rich people, then retired to the locker room where I soaked in the glorious hot tub. 


When I started to feel like an overcooked noodle, I got out, hit the shower , then strolled over to the clubs in-house restaurant and had a happy hour pepperoni pizza (personal sized, not a giant one) and a beer. I then biked about a mile home while chanting "shut up, legs"

This morning, I'm only moderately sore, but I am feeling a little bloated from the salt.

It was worth it.

I hate my HRM

Several years ago, when I was shopping for a heart rate monitor, I settled on the Polar F6. Mainly for cost reasons, but also because my gym had a workout rewards program that would read that particular monitor (one year later, I got four free personal training sessions because I logged so many workouts).

It's been an annoyance from day one, though. My main issue with it is that it loses signal at least every five minutes, so when I look down to see what my heart rate is, it reads 250 bpm or something.

"Oh, that's great", I think. "My heart's going to explode. Hope I paid my life insurance bill this month."

Then, I look down a minute later and see that my heart rate  now reads 00.

"Awesome. I'm dead. But I'm still running, so that must make me a zombie. Which is kind of cool, but I don't really like brains, so what's a girl to do? Do they make zombie mojitos?"

"Oh, wait... 155. Good to know I'm not dead. Yet."

The older the Polar has gotten, the worse this losing signal thing has become, so now I'm logging workouts like this:

Duration: 1.5 hours. Max heart rate: 240. Average heart rate: 50. Calories burned: 12.

I've replaced both batteries (the one in the wrist band and the one in the chest strap), and have come to the conclusion that it just sucks and I'd love to replace it. Unfortunately, there's no money around here for a new one, so I'm just going to have to deal.

But when I do come into some funds, I want to get one of those fancy HRMs that have a GPS and can balance my checkbook for me. 

DISCLAIMER: I don't drink mojitos, but maybe I would were I a zombie. Who knows?