Holiday

The holidays were a bit of a shambles. Christmas week, I got two workouts in with a failed attempt at third when rain started pouring down on my bike (I got fifteen minutes of riding in, followed by two hours of cleaning grit off my bike). Family was here and I didn't take extra time off work, so training, and writing suffered.

Fundraising, however, is still on track. Tis the season and all.

If you haven't donated yet, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for 2009, through my fundraising page:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/lavatri09/dtuffy

I need your help to make it the last bit of the way.

New Year's week training was a little bit better, despite having a party to plan and execute, with five days of working out. See the daily breakdown below for details.

Getting back into the swing of things felt so good, I promptly took Monday off.

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Day 19 of training: (a short run)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 3
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 4
Ocean Swims: 2

I only got about three miles in. My family was coming into town, I was rushed and it was getting late.

Day 19 1/2 of training: (an utter failure)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 3 (and an aborted attempt at 4)
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 4
Ocean Swims: 2

It was drizzling when I took my bike out, and coming down pretty hard a few minutes later. Maybe on an older bike I would have kept going, but not with Alexandra.

Day 20 of training: (bike ride around Lake Murray)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 4
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 5
Ocean Swims: 2

It was sunny and clear today, clear as it only can be after the rain here in San Diego. It was a bit cool though, so I bundled up and rode east to lake Murray.

You'd think that San Diego would be a bicyclist's paradise, what with it being sunny and 60 - 70 degrees most of the year, but there are two things that prevent this from being the case:

1. San Diego has a policy of not fixing up the roads until they actually start to slide down the hillsides (literally: http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/071003soledad). What you end up with is rutted and cracked asphalt, potholes and bumps. Not fun.
2. Before you can get to anywhere worth biking, anywhere that's not an urban center or just stupid with traffic, you need to get in your car and drive there (or bike through the traffic for 30 miles first, but I'm not in that kind of shape).

The Lake Murray ride is a good compromise because I can take a relatively short route from my house on a main road and then cut off into some less traveled streets. With the exception of a rather harrowing jaunt across a freeway overpass with 4 entrances and exits and no bike lane, it's a pretty mellow trip to the lake, bumpy pavement notwithstanding. Once you get the the lake, it's smooth riding on the path, so long as you keep a careful eye out for dogs and kids and people who aren't paying attention to where they are going. It's a tree-lined, pretty path that looks more like New England than San Diego (ah, nostalgia) and wide enough to hit a good clip without hitting anybody else around the turns. Unfortunately, about three quarters of the way around the lake, the path ends at a big, chain-link gate and you have to turn around and go back the other way. Nice try San Diego Parks and Rec. Better luck next time. I give the ride four snaps in Z formation and a thumbs sideways for effort. 24 miles

Day 21 of training: (a longer run)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 5
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 6
Ocean Swims: 2

I left from my girlfriends house for this one and explored the neighborhoods from a slightly different angle. It was dark and kind of cold and I wasn't too happy about it. Maybe it was just one of those days that feels more difficult, or maybe running is actually pretty hard. 4.3 miles

Day 22 of training: (an attempt to ride to the office that fails)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 5
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 6
Ocean Swims: 2

I had to go home at noon for emergency repairs to the hot water faucet in the kitchen, which had decided to free-flow. I had the bright idea of riding my bike back to work, but didn't leave until late as the plumber took a while to arrive. I decided to take a "new route" which took me several miles down a road that turned out to be a dead end. I turned around and went home. It was dark. Lesson learned. 25 miles.

Day 23 of training: (running is hard)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 5
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 7
Ocean Swims: 2

I wanted to stop early. Oh yes, I wanted to stop early. In fact, I almost did. I gave myself several outs. In the end, I didn't. I'm not sure why. Yes. It's definitely that running is hard. 4.3 miles.

Day 24 of training: (my first crash)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 6
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 7
Ocean Swims: 2

I decided that I couldn't be afraid of getting my bike dirty. Bikes are for riding. So I took her out in the rain and got her good and soaked and dirty. I also had my first crash, the bike skidding out on a tight, blind right turn where a washout had strewn sand across the path. I felt her slip and started to jam on the brakes, which was probably the wrong move. I went down hard, but not fast on my right side, luckily cushioning the bike's fall. She skidded a bit, I skidded a bit. We both lost some skin, but no major damage. I got home, cleaned off a couple of nice raspberries on my hip and forearm and then spend another hour and a half cleaning all the grit out of my gears and chain. Took me two hours on Monday to get her back in tune, but I confirmed: no lasting damage. Whew. 40.4 miles.

Day 25 of training: (57 degree water is cold)
Group rides: 3
Solo rides: 6
Resistance training: 4
Spin classes: 2
Pool Swims: 4
Maintenance Runs: 7
Ocean Swims: 3

Four feet visibility. Chilly. Late in the day, coming back against a setting sun with my goggles leaking the whole way... and that's all I have to say about that. 1/2 mile.