Some random thoughts that I had while riding with my husband

Yesterday, Kenny and I decided to take advantage of both kids being in preschool and ride along the bay. I cut my run from five to three miles so that I wouldn't be too tired. This was Kenny's "recovery ride" since he completed his first triathlon on Sunday!! (**stay tuned for a guest blog entry with his race report and post-race thoughts... I can't wait to read it**). We did 14 miles at a relatively easy pace. I think my highest speed was 17 mph and our average was 10-11 mph (unfortunately, I paused the Garmin when we stopped to fix a chain and forgot to turn it back on. d'oh!)

Here is a snapshot of the inside of my head during the ride:

• What a GORGEOUS day in San Diego.
• I hope one of us finds a good job here so we don't have to move.
• Crap. I don't want to move.
• Hmmm...I guess 10 a.m. isn't the best time to ride along the beach on the boardwalk. "On your left!"
  
• Where in the world can you say to your husband, "hey, it's a bit crowded along the beach, do you want to go bay side?"
• Ah.. it is nice along the bay.
• Tourists don't seem to realize that we have a beautiful bay just a block away from the ocean. Thank goodness.
• I love checking out other runners' form, gear and outfits!
• Check out that chick... I bet she is doing the 'walk of shame.' She was wearing black capris, an extra large navy blue t-shirt and carrying black high-heeled wedge shoes. Oh... that made me grin, I don't know why.
• Hmmm... I wonder how fast I can go on this bike path?
• Wow, this bike doesn't go very fast. It is a large, downhill mountain bike with fat, knobby tires (my husband has several bikes, mostly mountain bikes and he raided my mountain bike for parts WTF?).
  
• Someday, I want a road bike.
• Or at least a girl's bike.
• My husband is 44 going on 17-- he just rode past me doing a wheelie.
• We are such polite bikers. We passed two older gentlemen on a narrow path. I said, "excuse me, on your left.... thank you." Behind me, I heard Kenny say, "thanks, fellas... have a great day."
• I really love being fit and active so we can spend time like this together.
• Check out that group of senior citizens biking past us. We definitely need to stay fit so that can be us in twenty years.
• Good thing Kenny knows how to repair his broken chain. I'd better learn how to repair things like tires and chains if I am ever going to ride with anyone other than him or *gasp* by myself. I imagine myself having as difficult a time as Alice did.

• Mission Bay park is really quite lovely.

• Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Kenny just tried to jump up on a curb and misjudged. He flew forward and ran off the bike nearly careening down the bank into the bay. Oh! That would have been FUNNY.
• Wait... he has my camera in his fanny pack. Bay water and cameras don't mix. Damn his juvenile bunny hops!
  
• What is up with this headwind!
• Is Kenny drafting off me???
• Ok, let me try this. How do you find the slipstream?
  
• My legs are really tired.
• I'm hungry.

We ended the morning by going through the drive-thru at a nearby taco shop. I had envisioned a light sandwich or salad at Panera, but ended up with greasy, fried rolled tacos and several large bites of Kenny's carne asada burrito. Unfortunately, that lunch may have contributed to my horrible run this morning in my neighborhood. Let's just say that one of my neighbors came close to having me squat behind their bushes or ringing their doorbell for an emergency pit stop. Thankfully, I made it home. Man! That is no fun. But that is a story for another post.

Our ride was good. With the stress going on in our lives right now, it was good to get away. We didn't chat that much, except to point out various things etc., but it was nice spending relaxing time together nonetheless. It is interesting when both of us are home due to circumstances beyond our control, we don't seem to make a lot of quality time. Yesterday was nice.

Where did THAT come from?

I ROCKED my run today!!

On tap: A twenty mile run.

The day before: I really didn't prepare well for a long run. Instead of having a pasta dinner, I had a burger, chips and a cocktail or two. I did have some pasta salad. Does that count? I didn't hydrate like I would have liked and I went to bed late after hanging out with friends.

This morning: I was tired. When my alarm went off at 5 a.m., the last thing I felt like doing was running twenty miles. Thank goodness for Zip Fizz. I ate my Luna Bar and a Toaster Strudel. I put on a tank and shorts since it was already 60 degrees!

The beginning: Laura and I had talked about trying to take it out slow and then see what we had at the end. My goal was to run it easy for fifteen miles and then push it for five. To Laura, taking it slow is a 9:20 pace, so that was my target. I had kept it closer to 9:30 during the last twenty miler, but I thought I would try it a bit faster. The first mile was 9:24 and I wasn't feeling like I wanted to go any faster. I didn't feel like I was getting into a good rhythm.

My shins were bothering me from the get-go. They didn't hurt so much that it affected my running, but I could definitely feel them. I was worried that it would get worse. Luckily, they didn't get worse.

It was a beautiful morning. Thank goodness we started relatively early, it ended up being a hot one*! The bay was like glass and not many people were out as we ran around Mariner's Cove. We ran down to South Mission and then up the boardwalk along the ocean. I feel pretty darn lucky to do my casual long run where so many people come to vacation.

Laura and I were able to carry on a conversation throughout the first part of the run. If we sped up, I consciously slowed the pace down to keep it between 9:25 and 9:15. I didn't want to burn myself out too early.

The middle: I still wasn't feeling great. My shins weren't really bothering me anymore (thank goodness) and I was getting into a bit of a groove. At mile nine we decided to put our headphones in and listen to some music. Laura started speeding up. I kept the pace about the same. I just figured that she was feeling good and wanted to push the pace closer to the halfway point. She told me later that she thought I was slowing down. The music really gets her going faster!

We stopped around 14.5 miles so Laura could get some water (she is much more of a purist than I am and doesn't like to carry stuff) and we could stretch, use the bathroom etc. We were at the beach and all I wanted to do at that moment was go soak my legs in the cold ocean. I thought about Irene's photo that she posted a week or so ago of her standing in the ocean after a long run. Even without a refreshing (read: COLD) dip in the ocean, I felt surprisingly rejuvenated after the short stop.

The end: When my Garmin beeped that we had hit fifteen miles, I decided I had enough in me to kick it up a notch. My idea was to bump the pace up closer to 9 minutes. As we ran through Ocean Beach towards Sunset Cliffs, I was feeling good. Really good. We ran that mile in 8:52! When we reached the turn-around just past sixteen miles, I realized that that mile was the best I had felt the entire run. Would I be able to keep it up? Well... I did. And then some. Mile 17 was 8:40! I was still feeling good.

We weaved through the parking lot at Dog Beach, dodging cars, surfboards and a LOT of dogs. We made it to the path back up the river. At one point a guy, his buddy and his dog blocked the entire path and running around them was almost dangerous**. I love dogs... I do**. I just don't love dogs, leashes and clueless owners while I am running. This is a nice, wide bike path with plenty of room for everyone. Despite the congestion, we still ran that mile in 8:40!

Two miles to go. I still felt great. At this point, I decided to see what I had left in the tank. I just stared straight ahead and ran. When the Garmin beeped, I actually shouted an explitive****. This is uncharacteristic and Laura looked at me. I told her that we had just run that mile in 8:23. Holy sh!t.

I was getting tired, but was still feeling good. I pushed it even further. As we crossed the river and ran down from the bridge on the other side, it crossed my mind to slow down. At this point, Laura turned it on a bit. We only had a half mile to go. Aw, heck... I could suffer for a half mile. At this pace, I would be done before I knew it. I tried not to look down and see how far I had to go. I just ran. In the end, I ran the twentieth mile in 8:05!!!!!!!! I believe that is actually faster than my average pace for my 5K PR!

After an ice bath and attempt at a nap, I was pretty worthless this afternoon. I had big plans to clean, put away laundry etc. Hmmm...didn't happen. I am pretty thrilled with my run though, so my mood is up. Now my head is spinning about the potential of this marathon six weeks away...


*It was over 90 today. At 7:40 p.m. it is still over 80.
**Both Laura and I had to do some fancy footwork not to trip over the leash, step on the dog, plow through the dude, or roll an ankle off the path.
***I love MY dog- docile Beagle who rarely makes sudden moves. When we walk on a path, I try to have him stay close to me in conjested settings.
****"Holy Sh!t!!"

So lucky to live here!!! (edited with some pictures)

San Diego rocks! I decided to try to run at the beach today. My son was in preschool and pushing my daughter in a stroller isn't too bad (heck, I have run with the double stroller often enough... this was a breeze compared). We live about 20 miles from the beach. That 20 miles can be a 10-20 degree difference in temperature. It was much nicer there than it was out here. It was still 75 degrees and sunny. Other than the icky humidity, it was rather pleasant (there was a bit of a breeze off the ocean).

I am so glad I went. My daughter loved looking at the ocean and all the people. She and I went walking on the beach after I was done running. I ran between the roller coaster in Mission Beach to the Crystal Pier and back. MapMyRun says it is about 3.4 miles. My Nike+ said it was closer to 3.5. I think it is time to calibrate my Nike+. I ran under 10/minute miles which surprised me since the back of my thigh was really bothering me. It is my IT band or my hamstring (back of the thigh, but over a bit on the side). I am going to skip my speed workout (again) in the morning.

The marine layer was well off the coast, making it a beautiful day. The people on the beach were part of a surfing school. Someday, I need to do that!











My daughter was kicking back in the jogger.












I really wasn't trying to take a picture of this guy-- I was trying to show bikers and joggers on the boardwalk.











It is a good thing that I did run earlier today. My husband didn't get home until 8:30. I don't think I would have been motivated to run that late, in the dark.
So I got my dinner after all!