I'm A Slacker Blogger

Yes, I'm sorry to admit...I am. Sometimes I find writing about my life/training is as taxing as my life/training! Other times it's cool to jot the thoughts down. So without further adieu:

Training has been going really well for my first triathlon - now less than 2 weeks away! Last week I tried to train pretty hard - this included 2 (COLD!) ocean swims of a mile each, intervals on the bike, and a 14 mile long run (trying to keep the legs going in prep for Big Sur.) Oh, and not to mention the sprinkler system that I installed with Julia! (Which included 200+ feet of trenching! Talk about a core workout...)

On Saturday I decided to go for a long ride up PCH. I didn't want to go too hard, as I was really hoping to make the Trail Runner's Club on Sunday. However, I did wake up at 6 AM (ugh!) This was tough, but once I got going from the Malibu Bluffs I was loving it. Along with a few members of the LA Triclub we made it all the way to Big Rock and back! (50 miles!) It was a nice easy pace with some rolling hills. But my highlight came on the way back at Zuma. Dolphins. And DOZENS of them! At my request we stopped and watched them wade their bodies through the waves...GORGEOUS. I'm amazing on how much beauty there is in LA sometime...

I got home, showered off, and got back to work on the house. I'm very much in home improvement mode lately. My mom was in town and we installed an exhaust fan in the bathroom so it doesn't get so soggy...exciting! But this was another core workout! I turned in pretty early in hopes of making it out again on Sunday.

So the alarm interupts another pleasant dream. This was worth it though because it was perfect running weather. The trail started with an immediate climb. That sure got me warmed up. I settled in nicely to an easy 10+ pace. This put me right between the faster pack and the slower pack. There's something about running the trails (or running!) alone. It's very peaceful. I have to remind myself this is what was originally so attractive about running. If you know me I'm quite the talker. I even have to tell myself to shutup half the time. Running alone, focusing on letting my mind wander and ponder calms me. And the trail - taking note of the beautiful nature that surrounds instead of studying traffic and which cars are likely candidates to run you - the trail is much more of a calming feeling.

The climbing...that can be pretty challenging for me! I usually turn into a hiker at that point, but this day was different. I managed to run 75 or so % of the hills! I was pretty stoked. There was about 2 miles in which I'm luck I didn't loose an eye - lots of branches on the technical single track.

Ernie, who marks the trail had a little surprise for us at the end. He decided to add a little extra climb at the end - a trail that basically went up about 150 feet in just about the same distance! A good steep 50 degrees! Now that was more like rock climbing - but it felt great to get to the top.

I'm pretty excited about what the next few weeks bring. I'll be going out for a brick (bike-run) workout tomorrow and will play the next 10 or so by ear, although I'd love to get in a 15-16 mile run if possible. I'm a bit anxious about Big Sur!

Till my next blog - hopefully before 2010!