Training for 6/29/21

What a weekend! Saw a lot of people I haven’t seen in months, ate a lot of great food, drank a lot of good beer, rode some roller coasters, ran some miles in the East Coast summer weather I don’t miss haha.

Thursday afternoon, we dropped off Pepper at his sitter’s and went to the airport. We cut it a little close — I was the last one on the plane, in fact — but we made it. The flight was fine, we picked up our rental car and drove to Clark’s parents’ house in Federalsburg, finally making it to bed around 3:30 a.m. East Coast time. Long day!

Friday morning, Clark’s aunt and grandmother came over and we all had breakfast. Then Clark and I hit the road again to head to Cape Charles, Va., near the southernmost point of the Eastern Shore.

We drove by our old house on the way. They removed all those old railroad ties we’d spent all that time and energy putting in place around the flower beds the summer before we sold the place! Oh well.

We also stopped by Bart’s house to see the 1970 Chevelle he’d just bought last fall.

I wound up having to rent an Airbnb in Cape Charles when I waited too long to reserve a room at the hotel/campground resort where the wedding was. Yes I’m still a terrible procrastinator. But it worked out fine. Our host, Billy, an older guy, was an artist who’d hung his own paintings all over his little house (and yes they were all for sale ha.) He showed us our private room and bathroom and then we went to the resort for the rehearsal and dinner.

I was so excited to see Kelly and Susan! And Kelly’s fiancé (now husband) Corey, and their baby Reese, and Susan’s girlfriend Gretchen. I missed them a ton. We picked up right where we left off and were laughing about who knows what in no time.

The rehearsal dinner was at The Jackspot at the resort, overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.

Saturday morning, I met Susan, Kelly and Corey (and Reese, in his jogging stroller) for a run.

Good lord it was HOT! And so humid! We all ran 3 together around the campground, and then Susan and I kept going and ran 3 more on a paved trail/former railroad track across the highway from the resort. I was dying. I honestly do not know how I used to run in that weather on a regular basis. I have gotten soft!

Later that morning, Clark and I went into Cape Charles. I’d driven past the turn for it a thousand times but never been there. It was a cute little town right on the water. We did a little shopping along the main street and then walked out to the end of the fishing pier.

Near the public beach and fishing pier.

And then we had to stop at Cape Charles Brewing Co. for lunch and to try the beers. It was all delicious.

And then it was time to get ready for the wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful! I have apparently turned into an old sap. I have never cried at a wedding before — not even my own haha — but I teared up as soon as Kelly started walking down the aisle. Guess that’s a thing now!

The reception was a blast too. We had an open bar, tasty barbecue for dinner and good music to dance to. Couldn’t ask for much more.

Clark and me.

Clark, me, Susan and Gretchen. I loved our bridesmaid dresses (we got to pick our preferred style in the color Kelly liked) but Gretchen’s suit was next level!

This is the only picture of Kelly and Corey I took all day. Just use your imagination to picture how good they looked from the front haha.

I think we stayed until a little after 11 p.m. I was beat when we made it back to the Airbnb.

Sunday morning, I wasn’t feeling so great. OK, I was hungover. But I was hoping I’d feel better by the time my sister and I made it to Busch Gardens to ride roller coasters all day in 90-plus-degree heat and humidity. Sounds like a great plan, huh?

Julie picked me up and we headed to Williamsburg. We rode Escape from Pompeii first, for the big splash in the water at the end, and then Apollo’s Chariot twice, first in the back and then in the front row.

I was not feeling so hot after that second ride on Apollo’s Chariot. Long story short, I puked haha. I at least found a nice secluded spot where no one had to see it, and sent it into a forested area where no one was going to have to clean it up, but yeah. Turned out hangovers, roller coasters and Virginia humidity are not a great combo!

I felt better after that, though I skipped the next roller coaster Julie wanted to ride, Verbolten. That one has made me gray out on a good day.

We got some lunch at Trapper’s Smokehouse after that and I felt almost fine again. We rode the log flume next, and then wanted to ride Griffon, our second favorite roller coaster there.

But it was closed… for wasps.

Apparently it happens frequently enough they have a permanent sign.

As far as I know, Griffon never opened again that day. They sent employees up on it every 30 minutes to check if it was clear, but it looked like they reported the wasps were still there, and they were still angry. That was a new one.

We rode Loch Ness Monster and then Apollo’s Chariot one more time, and that was enough.

We forgot to take a picture until we were standing in line for the tram back to the parking lot, but here we are — I had produced at least 3 gallons of sweat by the time this was taken haha.

We stopped in Cape Charles again on the way home, this time for ice cream at Brown Dog. It seemed like everyone in that town was there in line. It was worth the wait though!

Julie dropped me off at Clark’s parents’ place in Fenwick Island and I went straight to bed. Another very long day.

Monday morning, I went for another run, 3 miles along the road in Fenwick. It was just as hot and humid as it’d been in Virginia. I managed a 9:06/mile average.

When I got back to the house, Clark and I took the standup paddle boards out toward the bay. I hadn’t done that in two years.

Looking up the canal from the house.

We closed up the house and then went to Dewey for crab cakes at Woody’s. Had to.

The best!

And then we stopped at Dewey Beer Co., then went to Lewes for oysters and beer at Big Oyster.

Then we stopped at the circle in Georgetown where we got married:

The Brick Hotel on the circle, where we had our reception. Apparently it’s been sold and will soon be offices for the Delaware Department of Justice. Boo.

We stopped by Clark’s parents’ Federalsburg house one more time to say goodbye and pick up some things to bring back with us (they are on track to settle with the new owners at the end of next month) and then we went to my parents’ house.

I got to hug my mom and dad for the first time in 16 months! My aunts also came by, and my younger sister and brother were there too. It was so nice to see them all! My sappy old ass cried again. What is happening to me!

We made it to the airport for the return flight with more time to spare than we’d had on the way home. The flight home was fine (no delays for weather, thankfully, unlike when Clark tried to take that flight home two weeks ago) and all of our luggage even made it to San Diego when we did too.

It was after 1 a.m. when we got back to Carlsbad so Pepper just stayed one more night at his sitter’s. So he was already there when I had to go into my office today, which was good, because I had a hard time getting out of bed and out the door on time.

Work wasn’t too bad — I think I mostly got caught up on the two days’ worth of stuff I’d missed — and then I finally got to pick up Pepper after.

He was so excited to see me! But not as excited as he was when we got back to the house and Clark was here haha. I’m used to it, it’s fine. Really.

Pepper was also really happy to get back on his couch:

And that’s that!

Anyway, it was one of the most fun weekends I’ve had since before the pandemic, but I’m ready to get back to sleeping more than like four hours a night and back to my marathon training schedule. That did not happen today though. Hopefully I’ll feel like running again tomorrow.

Training for 6/24/21

Well I kinda fell off the ol’ training wagon this week. We’ve been busy in general, and on top of that, we’ve been getting ready to fly back east this afternoon for a long weekend.

Monday night, we went to see the Padres vs. the Dodgers here in San Diego. I had reserved one of the “Barkyard” areas behind left center field, which came with four game tickets and allowed up to two dogs. Jennifer, Riley and another friend of Jennifer’s met us there.

Clark had been to a game there before, but when he was staying in a hotel downtown. Neither of us had ever driven to Petco Park and had to find parking. That turned out to be a big pain in the ass but at least now we know where not to go.

Same with just trying to get into the stadium — the info I got made it sound like there was a separate entrance for the Barkyard into the stadium itself, so we wandered around outside looking for it for a long time. Finally a staff member told us we had to go through a general admission gate and then we’d be able to find the Backyard entrance inside the park.

So they were already almost done with the first inning by the time we got seated, but once we were there, it was really a lot of fun.

Petco also sponsored the Barkyard, and they had a box of treats and toys waiting for both dogs. A couple mascots came around to say hi too. Pepper could not have cared less but Riley was a little curious.

This was the humans’ view from the area:

Right after Machado hit a homer.

And this was the dogs’:

Pepper’s not much of a baseball fan anyway haha.

We had such a good time! I emailed the park staff the next day to let them know we’d like to be on the email list for any future availabilities that pop up. It was a big surprise we got to go to this one — I’d emailed them about it a couple weeks ago and they’d said everything was sold out for the entire season.

It was really late by the time we got home, well past midnight. I did not get up in time to run or anything before I had to be in the office Tuesday morning. I’d already made plans to meet up after work with Randi, a coworker I have not seen in person since last March (she is still working from home 100% indefinitely.) It was nice to talk to her in person again, after talking on the phone almost every work day for 15 months! But that meant Tuesday was a rest day.

Wednesday, I didn’t have to go into the office until late in the morning, so I could’ve run before work — but Clark went in to his office at 5 a.m., trying to get caught up on stuff before we take a couple days off, which left me alone with Pepper, which meant no run after all. And then I was busy after work taking care of some stuff before our trip so, again, rest day.

Today is Thursday and Clark again went into his office super early, again leaving me no time to go for a run without having to leave Pepper alone. So I just did a virtual strength training class since I don’t have to go into the office at all today. Better than a third consecutive day of no training.

I did at least get up early this morning and start getting everything together to pack.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to this weekend! We are going to Cape Charles, Va., for Kelly and Corey’s wedding. Susan and I are both bridesmaids!

The rehearsal and dinner are tomorrow and the wedding is Saturday. Then Sunday, my younger sister is picking me up and we’re heading to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the day. Unfortunately, Pantheon, the new roller coaster that was originally supposed to open last year, is still not open and probably won’t be until 2022 at this point. But everything else is up and running so that’ll be fun.

And then Clark and I are coming back late Monday. Hopefully we don’t run into the weather-related flight cancellations he did a couple weeks ago, since I have to be in the office Tuesday.

As far as running goes, I am taking my gear with me, and I’d at least like to get in one run with Susan and Kelly while we’re all together, but I’m not going to be too strict about sticking to the training plan on vacation. That’s why I did the 13-miler last weekend, after all, so if this turns into even more of a cutback week than intended, oh well.

Training for 6/21/21

I got in some good training this weekend!

Saturday morning, I did the Weekend Warriors workout, and then I went out to run the 6-mile pace run on the schedule.

I left the house thinking I should do an easy mile to warm up, six miles at pace and then the mile back home easy again, a total of eight.

But man, I’d already forgotten how anything faster than easy pace is still killing me right now, so that plan went out the window about halfway through the first “fast” mile haha.

What I wound up doing was an easy mile to warm up in 11:48 (my younger sister called me so I walked part of it to talk to her), four pace miles in 8:20, 8:28, 8:02 and 8:05, and then a slow mile back home in 9:19, to run six miles at a 9:00/mile overall average.

Where I turned around on the coast.

I’m pretty sure I put down 3:35 (8:12/mile pace) for my predicted finish time for St. George. Those four miles at what turned out to be 8:14/mile pace didn’t feel like I could run 22.2 more of them, but hey, that’s what training is for. I might make some adjustments when I get closer to race day but for now that’s my goal.

The rest of Saturday was pretty quiet. We watched the U.S. Open golf tournament since it was right down the road at Torrey Pines, and the Olympic Trials for swimming and track and field.

Sunday morning, I got a relatively early start, for me, on my long run. I was supposed to cutback to 8 miles this week, but like I mentioned before, I’m going to be in Virginia for a wedding this coming weekend and I don’t feel confident in the likelihood I’ll do a 13-miler, so I did it yesterday instead.

It was another overcast morning, perfect for running. I just went out to the coast and ran until I hit 6.5 miles, which happened to be near Grandview Beach in Leucadia, so I went out there to eat my one gel.

Top of the long staircase to get to the beach.

Part of the bluff that fell off a couple weeks ago. No one got hurt.

It looked like surfing conditions were very favorable, judging by how many surfers I saw in all the popular spots along my run. Grandview was the most crowded.

I had a couple slower miles on the way back, but overall, it was the best long run I’ve had in a while — 13 miles at an 8:58/mile average. I was very glad to be done though.

While I was doing that, my older sister was swimming 11 miles, from Cambridge to Suicide Bridge. One of her swimming buddies also swam it, and my younger sister and nephew kayaked with them to keep them on course and hand them snacks.

Kara before the swim.

Enjoying some fruit somewhere between 6 and 6.5 miles.

Kara after haha.

Congrats to Kara! She’s a beast! Running that far is hard enough.

The rest of Sunday was a repeat of Saturday — U.S. Open, Olympic Trials, plus the NASCAR race from Nashville (another new track we have to add to the list to see.)

We called our parents as usual, but also because it was Father’s Day.

This morning, I got up early enough to run before I had to start work for the day. I just had an easy 3-miler on the schedule. I wasn’t too sore but I was happy to take it easy, and ran a 9:09/mile average.

Tonight, we are taking Pepper to the Padres game! I can’t wait!

Training for 6/18/21

Wednesday evening, I really didn’t feel like running at all, but I made myself get in what turned out to be 3.1 miles at an 8:58/mile average.

Thursday, since I didn’t have to go into the office for work, I ran in the morning. I had this week’s speed workout — four 800s (half-miles since I run these on the road instead of a 400-meter track.)

I ran the mile to the coast easy to warm up, in 9:13, and then the Garmin measured out four half-mile intervals and four quarter-mile recoveries.

I really didn’t know what pace to shoot for on the intervals. Back in the olden days, I tried to run 7:00/mile pace for those, but I know I’m not in that kind of running shape right now. So I just tried to push it and see where I was.

Three of the four were 3:45 on the nose — 7:30/mile pace, which was pleasantly surprising. The second one, however, was half uphill, so I wasn’t shocked to see it was 3:58, a 7:56/mile pace.

Anyway, with the recoveries and then the slow mile back to the house to cool down, I ran a total of 5 miles at an overall average pace of 8:45/mile.

I didn’t do a strength training class after work yesterday because I had to take Pepper to the vet to get his rabies shot updated. We managed to score tickets to a Padres game on Monday night in a section that allows dogs! You just have to prove they’re up to date on the rabies vaccine, and Pep’s expired in March.

We also met Clark at a brewery in Oceanside that just reopened, and then tried a new beer and taco place that just opened for the first time (it’d had an “Opening Soon” sign on it since I got here in December 2019.)

So, even though I was working from home again today, I didn’t feel like getting up to run before Clark had to leave for work this morning. I will make myself run something when he gets home.

This weekend, I’ve got the Weekend Warriors workout and a 6-mile run at goal marathon pace (whatever that is — I’m not sure yet) tomorrow, and then I’m going to do a 13-mile long run Sunday. Technically this should be a cutback week to 8 miles, but I’m switching it with next weekend, when I’ll be in Virginia and not nearly as likely to actually do a long run haha.

Also, the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials are this weekend on NBCSN and NBC, so I’d like to watch some of that.

Training for 6/16/21

Monday, I could not bring myself to leave Pepper at home at any point to run the easy 3-miler on the schedule. So that turned into a rest day.

Clark was supposed to fly home from Maryland that night, but storms in Baltimore delayed his flight and then canceled it altogether.

So Tuesday morning, since I’d still have to leave Pepper alone, I didn’t run first thing — before I had to go to the office for the first time in 15 months!

Instead I got in the shower. Pepper knew something was up and pooped in the house in protest. Off to a great start.

But I got him to his sitter’s on time and then went to work.

It was weird to be back!

But it was also kinda nice. Our bosses took us all out to lunch at a Mexican place across the street to celebrate.

Pepper had a better time with the sitter than he’d like me to think.

Out on a walk with Riley.

Stole Riley’s bed.

And claimed the ottoman.

Clark eventually made it back to San Diego too. I finally got to see him when we both got home from work that afternoon.

We both did a strength training class, and then I ran 3 miles at an 8:48/mile average.

This morning, I had to get Pepper to his sitter’s extra early because she had an early work call. Pepper didn’t poop in the house, we left the house on time and everything was going well — until a half-mile down the road, I realized he’d just pooped in the back seat of my car.

Let me tell you, if my car had an eject button, I’d have hit it so hard Pepper would’ve been launched into the trees. I could have strangled him. He had all the time in the world to go out in the back yard and do that before we left, but no! He saved it for the car.

I dropped him off at his sitter’s and cleaned up his butt (because of course he sat in it) then went back home to clean up the car. So much for getting to work early and leaving early.

That was the last crisis though. The rest of the day in the office was fine. And the best part is I get to work from home again tomorrow and Friday. This is my new regular schedule.

I’m about to go out and run something now.

Training for 6/14/21

Pepper and I had a quiet weekend here with a couple training runs thrown in (for me) and it looked like Eagleman went pretty well back in Maryland.

Saturday morning, I got up and did the virtual Weekend Warriors workout, and then I took Pepper over to Jennifer’s while I did the easy 5-miler on the schedule.

It was after 9:30 a.m. when I got started. We had perfect weather here this weekend and the road along the coast was packed with vehicle traffic, runners, walkers and bikers. I made a mental note to get started earlier on my long run the next day.

I ran 5 miles at an 8:44/mile average.

When I picked up Pepper, Jennifer and I got talking about one of the taprooms in the village and decided it was a great day to take our dogs there and have a couple beers. So I went home and took a shower, and then Pepper and I left again, much to his displeasure. But we had a great time there!

I got home in time to see most of the SRX Series dirt track race that Bobby raced in. He finished fifth. It was fun to watch and I’m looking forward to the remaining five races.

Sunday morning, I woke up long before I needed to leave to drop off Pepper, but I already had some alerts from the Ironman tracker on my phone about how things were going at Eagleman, and I got so wrapped up in that, I wound up getting to Jennifer’s a few minutes late.

Clark’s mom sent me this picture of him running toward the transition area after finishing the swim:

By the time I started running, my brother had finished his bike in 2:35, which is a 21.6 mph average — super fast! Clark sent me this picture of him running his bike back into the transition area:

He’s the one in the middle.

The run course has a lot more timing mats on it, so as I took off for the 11 miles on my schedule, I was getting frequent alerts on my brother’s progress, as well as for Clark’s teammate, Bart, on the bike course, and then for Clark’s brother, Chad, when he started the run for their team.

So I kept stopping my own run to check the alerts and text Clark about them, but I eventually got through all 11 miles at a 9:14/mile pace, running to Oceanside, down the Strand and onto the bike trail, and then back.

Another beautiful day on the Oceanside Strand.

Anyway, Dave’s run didn’t go as well as his bike had. It wasn’t terribly hot there this year, but the sun had come out and the ever-present Delmarva humidity made it feel hot. Dave said his legs started cramping about 0.5 miles into the run haha. He wound up running the half marathon distance in 1:51, which is still faster than he ever ran it as just the relay runner for the team with Kara and me, and finishing in 5:19 — not the sub-5 he’d trained for, but still 15 minutes faster than our relay team ever pulled off. He did great!

Clark sent me this picture of Kara. I said she didn’t look impressed and he said that’s because she was expecting to see a sub-5 haha.

Chad had some trouble dealing with the heat and humidity too but still pulled off a sub-2 half marathon for The Bald Hairybacks relay team, giving them a 6:16 finish.

Chad and Clark after the race. And a bonus Corgi butt in the background!

Looked like a fun day that I’m sorry I had to miss! Maybe next year.

Pepper and I made a stop to pick up more dog food, but then we went home and stayed there the rest of the day. I called my parents, read some of my new library book and watched the NASCAR All-Star race and the Westminster Dog Show.

Pepper was not interested in any of it, not even the dog show. He just wanted to catch up on naps.

This morning, I found a bunch of tomatoes and a couple shishito peppers ready to be picked in our garden:

And Clark gets home tonight! Very late tonight. Pepper and I are picking him up from the airport.

I’m supposed to run an easy 3-miler today. Not sure how that’s going to happen. I might try to sneak out later and hope Pepper doesn’t notice I’m gone for a half hour.

Training for 6/11/21

Wednesday, I never did make Pepper go out with me to try to do the easy 3-miler on the schedule before Clark got home from his work trip, so that became a rest day.

Thursday, I got up early and ran before work. I had this week’s speed workout on the schedule, a 30-minute tempo run. Been a long time since I tried to do one of those! I was a little nervous about it.

I ran an easy mile to the coast to warm up, which clocked in at 9:24. When the end of that first mile beeped, I tried to pick it up to a “comfortably hard” pace for the next 2.5 miles.

There was nothing comfortable about it. It felt pretty bad haha. And it wasn’t that fast compared to my old tempo run pace — 8:02, 7:52 and 7:56 pace for the last half-mile. Gotta start somewhere though. I was glad I’d made myself do it.

I ran the mile back to the house pretty slow, maybe in 9:35, to cool down, and finished 4.5 miles total at an 8:45/mile overall average.

Yesterday afternoon, I took Clark to the airport. He’s gone back east for the weekend to do the swim leg for a relay team at Eagleman with his friend Bart and his brother.

I’d have liked to have gone too but we’re both going back in two weeks for Kelly’s wedding and I didn’t feel like taking time off work and arranging things with Pepper’s sitter this weekend. So it’s just me and Pep until Clark comes back Monday night.

So today, I figured Pepper and I could do a short run/walk to make up the one I skipped Wednesday. I had to take a book back to the library and pick up another I’d placed on hold. It’s only a couple miles round trip, so that’s where we went.

The first, oh, 0.2 miles went OK, but then Pepper lost interest. He was already dragging when we made it to the library, making it clear he wanted to turn around and go home. The rest of the way after the library was even worse. I don’t think he realized we were doing a loop so he thought we were getting farther and farther from the house, which made him walk slower and slower.

He perked up when we turned onto our street and actually ran a little of the final stretch downhill to our house. We finally made it back to the house. We did about two miles at a 17:20/mile average.

He has been passed out on the couch ever since.

Anyway, this weekend, Pepper is going to his sitter’s just for the morning both days so I can run. I’ve got an easy 5-miler tomorrow and an 11-mile long run Sunday.

Other than that, we probably won’t be doing much, though I’m looking forward to the first race in the new SRX Series (the dirt track series Bobby Labonte is racing in) tomorrow night, and then tracking everyone at Eagleman on Sunday. My brother is doing the whole thing himself and shooting for sub-5, which is pretty fast! The fastest our relay team ever did it was 5:34.

Training for 6/9/21

Monday evening, I almost didn’t go out for the short easy run on the schedule. I’d gotten wrapped up in reading my latest library book — “The Last Mrs. Parrish” by Liv Constantine — and decided to just finish it.

It’s a fictional “psychological thriller.” One of the main characters is written as the most unlikable, completely irredeemable character I’ve ever read, but in the second half of the book, it becomes clear why. If readers had even a shred of empathy for her, they’d feel bad about what happens to her and wonder what the hell was wrong with the authors (it’s two sisters writing under a shared pen name.) That’s all I’m going to say.

But it was a quick easy read, and clearly entertaining since I finished all 400 pages in less than 24 hours. So if that’s a genre you enjoy, I’d have to recommend it.

By the time I finished it, Clark had gotten home from work and there was still daylight left, so I went out and did 3 miles at a 9:02/mile average.

Yesterday, after work, I did a strength training class, and then I did this week’s middle distance run, 5 miles at an 8:55/mile average.

Today, I have another 3-miler to do, but I’m not sure if it’ll get done. Clark had to take a day trip for work. He left super early, so there was no chance to do it before he left, and he probably won’t get home until close to dark. I might make Pepper go out and run-walk with me.

In other news, here’s the first tomato from our garden (that I was able to get a picture of, that is — Clark ate the actual first one immediately ha.)

Training for 6/7/21

Saturday morning, I did the virtual Weekend Warriors workout. I got this picture of Pepper just before it started:

Livin’ the dream!

Later that morning, I went out for a run. Since I’d skipped my hill repeat workout the day before, my plan was to run to the “big hill” along the coast, do some repeats there and then go back.

Well it didn’t quite go like that ha. It was about 3.5 miles to the hill, on a warm morning, and by the time I got there, I did not feel like pushing it three times on that hill. So I ran it once, then turned around and tried to run a little harder up the other two decent climbs on the way back.

In the end, I ran 8 miles total at a 9:07/mile average.

When I got home, Clark said his friend Bart had listed our Jeep Cherokee for sale on Facebook and already had a hit.

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I will miss this thing, but we have to get rid of it. There’s no reason to bring it out here and no way for us to keep it tagged in Delaware, since we live here now. And Clark’s parents bought that van last fall, that they can use for toting around surfboards, which was the only reason we had it.

Later that afternoon, I finally took my bike out for a single mile before the duathlon, just to make sure everything still worked. I legit could not remember how to downshift, it’d been so long since I’d ridden it! I had to pull off into a cul de sac to figure it out. Not a great omen for how this ride would go the next morning ha.

Honestly I was kinda nervous about the “race” Sunday morning. Yes it was just an informal workout, really, but I had not tried to run a step of speedwork in almost a year and I really didn’t know what to expect out of the run. And then of course there was the bike — it’d been more than a year since I’d ridden mine, I still don’t really know how to change a flat and I’d only run the bike trail before but have seen how busy it gets.

Well, I got everything ready the night before, stayed home with Pepper instead of going to the village with Clark, didn’t drink any beer all day and tried to go to bed at a decent time. I’d done everything I could.

Sunday morning, we got the bikes loaded into the truck, dropped off Pepper at his sitter’s and made it to the Strand in Oceanside about a half-hour before the start of the 5K.

It was an overcast morning. Nice weather for running and biking.

There was a good turnout. We had people from the gym and running/biking group in Vista, as well as several members of a San Diego-based tri club and some people who weren’t necessarily affiliated with either, as it was open to anyone.

Also, we could do all the distances on our own, or do them as a relay team.

A little after 7 a.m., they started the 5K. The course was just to each end of the Strand, and you had to run to the end of the pier at some point as well. Didn’t matter if you ran it on the way to the other end or on the way back, as long as you ran the whole thing.

I took off with a few women from our running group. I didn’t want to run an “all out” 5K anyway since there would still be plenty more work to do after it. But I didn’t want to just put in another easy run either.

The course wound up being a little long, 3.22 miles, and I ran it in 26:27, an 8:16/mile average. Not fast compared to my previous 5K times, but that was the first time I’d run three miles under 8:45/mile pace in a LONG time!

I was probably about the 10th person to finish the 5K, but I lost a lot of time in the first transition. First I thought I’d be smart and use the bathroom there. There was one person in there and no one else in line, so I waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. Finally she came out and said the freaking toilet wasn’t flushing. So I lost all that time and didn’t even get to use the bathroom.

I ran over to my bike, got the bike Garmin fired up, changed shoes and swapped my hat for a helmet. I went to take a swig out of the water bottle full of Roctane on the frame, only to find the freaking cap wouldn’t open. So I swapped it with the cap on the other bottle, which was full of plain water — but it didn’t work either! It’s like they were both permanently fused shut, which meant I wouldn’t be able to drink anything while riding the bike.

Gah. I walked the bike out to the Strand and finally took off. I was among the last to leave.

It wasn’t too busy yet on the Strand and I rode straight to the north end, then got on the San Luis River Trail. This is the paved trail I used to run all the time when we lived in Oceanside.

Fortunately it wasn’t too busy yet either. I only had to pass a few other people on bikes on the way to the turnaround.

I stopped at the turnaround to eat a gel and take the cap off the bottle of Roctane so I could take a huge gulp. Normally I like taking a swig of it every five miles on the bike but the malfunctioning bottle caps made that impossible.

The ride back on the trail was fine, but when I got back to the Strand, it’d really picked up since I’d left. The last mile back to the transition area was definitely the slowest as I had to dodge all the cars inching along the road and the huge roving packs of clueless people.

I wound up riding 19.6 miles in 1:11, a 16.5 mph average. That’s also slow compared to how fast I used to ride that bike but again, I can’t be mad that I’ve lost speed when I never train on it.

I was relieved to have that behind me though. No equipment malfunctions or run-ins with other bikes, so it felt like a success.

I put my running shoes and hat back on and took off for the 10K.

Well, I don’t know if “took off” is accurate. I shuffled away. My legs were toast after the bike ride and not cooperating.

The 10K course was just two loops of the 5K course. I know I’d said I wanted to “push it” again for the 10K, but I’d forgotten how you have to train to be able to run again after biking. My new goal was to just finish it.

I was surprised to see the first mile was 8:42. It really felt like I was barely moving.

I stopped around 1.3 miles to finally use the bathroom. As I was leaving, I saw Sheila, one of the women from our running group also doing the whole duathlon herself, run by. I tried to keep up with her but she slowly pulled away from me over the next couple of miles.

I stopped again at the transition area after the first 5K loop to get another gulp of Roctane. I was so freaking thirsty! I had side stitches everywhere.

Then I shuffled off again to finish. Not much more to say about the last few miles. I just ran until it was over — 6.4 miles in 58:10, a 9:04/mile average.

I was beat when that was over! But I was glad I’d done it. It really made it clear how much work I have to do if I want to run a fast marathon in St. George in October. Gotta stick to the training plan!

I changed into dry clothes and went back to Carlsbad to pick up Pepper, because his sitter had brunch plans, and Pepper could hang out with us at the after party. Then we went back to Oceanside.

The after party was a lot of fun! Bear Roots Brewing, one of the running club sponsors, had free beer for us. We also got our faces melted by a band made up of actual children, Wasted Years. I’m not exaggerating, they were amazing.

Then there was a cornhole tournament. Clark participated in that while I called my parents.

After the clouds from the morning burned off, it was a beautiful day. We had so much fun hanging out there most of the afternoon.

Oh yeah, all the running club/gym members got a free sweatshirt for completing the workout. They’re pretty sweet.

We stopped at Stone, since we were there, and then headed home and got everything unloaded.

This morning, I’m mostly sore from the bike ride. It’d been a while since I sat on a bike. I’m really glad the bike segment wasn’t any longer — I completely forgot to put on Body Glide, but I somehow managed to avoid chafing.

Today, I just have an easy 3-miler on the schedule.

Training for 6/4/21

Happy National Donut Day!

There still aren’t a lot of Dunkin’ Donuts out here, but there’s one about 11 miles from our house and I had a slack afternoon at work, so Pepper and I made a trip just so I could get a free donut with a drink purchase. I tried the new powdered berry donut. It was OK but I was sorry I’d skipped my usual Boston Creme.

Anyway, on to a training update.

Clark got home from work pretty late Wednesday. I could’ve gone out and run but Wheel of Fortune was coming on soon, so I skipped it.

I did that short easy run Thursday morning instead, 3.1 miles at a 9:02/mile average. I also did a strength training class after work. We did one of those workouts where we start at 100 reps of something — squats this time — and then go down a list of exercises, cutting down by 10 reps each time, until we finished with 10 burpees. Those are definitely the toughest because there’s no rest until you’re done.

I really meant to run this morning before work again but I didn’t, so hopefully whenever Clark gets home I can make myself go out and do the three hill repeats that are supposed to be the first speed workout on the schedule. Or I might just tack them onto the 5-miler I’m supposed to do tomorrow.

The moral of the story here is I really need to consistently run in the mornings. It’s just so easy to keep putting it off until it’s either too late or I’d rather do something else with my evening.

This weekend, I have a 5-mile goal marathon pace run and a 10-mile long run on the schedule, but we’re doing that unofficial duathlon with our running club Sunday morning.

So the plan instead is an easy run tomorrow (possibly with a few hill repeats thrown in because I’ll be honest, I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna run this evening) and then try to push the pace in both runs on Sunday.

I don’t know what to expect from this “race” Sunday. I haven’t done any attempt at speedwork since last August, before last year’s St. George Marathon got canceled, and I haven’t ridden my bike since last April. The only time it’s been outside since then is when we moved!

It should be fun though. When the race is over, there will be live music and everyone can hang out and celebrate the “end” of COVID. It’s not over, of course, but we can finally all be together outside again!