Still Wiped Out From the Weekend

I am still tired from what should have been an average training weekend. I don't think I paid enough attention to nutrition on Sunday. Easy to understand when the first thing I hear when I get back from my bike ride is, "Daddy, I want breakfast." Lesson learned.

Saturday was an odd run. The plan was a long run of 75 minutes with a goal pace of 11:00/mi, which I did not expect to hit for a few weeks. I get about 2.5mi into the run and this nagging calf strain/cramp/thing that had been with me all week really flared up. I had to stop and rub it and toyed with the idea of walking back home. A few minutes of this, though, and I choose to just tough it out as best I can. I start running, gimpily, and decide it's probably doable to finish the 75 minutes. I turn around after 37.5 minutes, still a bit gimpy but I'll finish. About 2 miles to go I look at the Garmin and notice that my average pace for the whole run is still pretty good. I get to the top of the last hill and I figure out that I might be able to hit my goal pace if I hustle (you think like that when you're running downnhill). Now the race is on. I ended up with an average pace of 10:59, which was under my goal, and 6.87 miles. Odd that it happened while gimpy, though. I figure it's a combination of getting fitter and not previously pushing myself enough (mostly the former).

Another cool thing about my long runs is that each one, from here on out, is the farthest I've ever run.

Sunday was a medium bike ride on my Balboa loop but with a twist. This time I would take a detour towards the end up Lopez Canyon Road. I had read about it and even driven it once but now that the rains had paused it was time to do it. It's a two-lane road that starts off with rollers but with a net incline and then you have a hairpin turn onto the last bit of the climb, which looks pretty gnarly. I wanted to have a picture to post but it turns out that when I put my iPhone in my back jersey pocket, I missed and it sat on the couch during my ride. I'll post a pic in a few weeks. So I am doing the ride not easy but more like medium because I want to save myself for this big climb. I make the turn onto Lopez Cyn and I'm still saving myself on the rollers. By the time I get to the hairpin I am out of the saddle and decide to pull over to get ready for the final push. That's when I discover the missing iPhone. Oh well. I drink some water and dump what's left to lighten the load. I take my beanie off, roll down the arm warmers, unzip the jersey, and remove the sunglasses. Time do go.

That was easy! It turns out that getting to the hairpin was the hard part and after the hairpin was pretty easy. That sure was a lot of wasted anxiety. Next time I tackle it will be from the other way, which is supposed to be a bit steeper (14%).