Monday, February 09, 2009

Getting through it...

Local Trail head. I am so stoked to have these near my house. They handle the rain so well and let me get out and train when a lot of people are stuck on the couch.



The weather since last Thursday has made training interesting. By Socal standards it's been raining a lot. I have had to change the schedule up a bit but was still able to get in some really good workouts... and maybe even better than if were sunny and 75 again because I tried out some different routes on the run and bike.

It all started on Thursday night on my drive home from work in a full-on downpour. I decided that night that if it was raining in the morning I was getting on the trainer but if the ground was wet and not actually raining I would head out on the single speed.

Well I woke up and the ground was wet but it was not raining so I suited up and hit the roads on the SS and headed for the trails in San Elijo Hills. It started raining lightly 20 minutes into my ride and then it started coming down pretty hard just as I was starting a 10 min climb. I almost turned around but decided to stick out. I ended up getting in 16 miles in 90 minutes with a lot of climbing. It was definitely a hard workout both physically and mentally. By the time I got back home I was soaked to the bone and freezing.

Single speeding:


Saturday morning I woke up to more pouring rain but while sitting on the computer and having too many cups of coffee the clouds broke and sun was out. I rushed around and headed back to San Elijo again to get in my long run. The weather was perfect and the hard pack trails were handling all the rain very well. This was hardest and best run since I have been back on my feet. I did some more exploring up there and found more ways to link stuff together. It never stops. I am mentally putting together some really long runs with a ton of climbing for my Pikes prep later this year.

the run.



After the run I hit the gym and dry sauna (recovery) before heading up to LA to hangout with my sister. When I hit the road the sun was still out with some scattered clouds and showers, but still a good day. I definitely could have gotten in my long ride but I moved that to Sunday instead. Saturday night my sister and I hit the 8oz Burger bar for some killer burgers and beer (review on Vo2 Maxxed) and then headed of to check out the Groundlings.


I was up pretty early on Sunday morning and headed down to Huntington Beach to meet Ryan for some road miles. It was drizzling a bit and pretty cool but we headed out any way. It was hard ride. We got in 65 miles in the cold, rain, and wind. Our route took us past Santiago and Trabuco Canyon. The weather and clouds up in the hills looked even worse than what we were dealing. All could think was that Luke and Allision were supposed to be up there riding. I was hoping they were staying dry and warm, but I guess that wasn't the case. I totally blew up the in last 30 minutes of our ride while riding back up the coast. 2 continuous hours of headwind just ended up crushing me... I was done. I am stoked that we stuck it out and got in the miles despite the crappy weather. We'll both be better for it.

Training grounds.


That's about it. I am pretty stoked with how I am feeling right now. I have definitely noticed a shift in my fitness. It's coming around. I am already starting to feel the running coming back into form. I just gotta be patient and not get a head of myself. My races still aren't for quite a while and I am just having a great time training right now. Finding new workouts, routes, training partners, new motivation, have been very refreshing.

good beer & grub.

11 comments:

Luke said...

yup...got punished out there! and we weren't the only ones...that trailhead was packed! i guess sometimes you just gotta ride...good stuff bro!

Trevor Glavin said...

The SLO camp is going to happen whenever it's not SNOWING!!!
We do need to plan the camp though. I will give it some thought and then send out an email to gauge interest.

Pedal Circles said...

Way too much blue sky in the photos! I haven't seen more than a minute or two of it since Thursday!! I see some now, but the clouds are blowing back in.

Tomorrow I'm climbing hills either way!

Matt said...

Way to tough-out a "bad weather" weekend (how relative is that?).

I'm fired-up to run So. county, but then again those trails of which you speak are just too good. Nothing like that down here. Nothing.

But we have competitive ale :)

ll said...

good thing to tough it uo like this! always build more towards a campions mentality!

Ryan Weeger said...

that burger is basically what I was thinking about the whole ride on sunday. im hoping for good weather for you in az.

Carolina John said...

i bet you are stoked with how you feel right now! you got in some good training, that looks like a fantastic burger, and a few beers. it's all good.

Zach said...

Way to stick it out in the rain. Those trails look like they're pretty sweet rain or shine.

Zippy said...

Yeah, we got pummeled riding San Juan on Sunday. That burger looks tasty...

GW said...

You and Beth should think about http://www.lostdutchmanmarathon.org/ this Sunday in AZ. There are tons of options. My wife is doing the 10k and I'm doing the 8k trail run. Should be a good time.

Sarah said...

Man you are so hardcore!! Sticking it out in spite of the rain...awesome. You are definitely going to be better for it in a few months. I wish I had that much motivation. ;)

I'm so glad to hear the training is coming back around for you, too. Sounds like we both benefited from taking a little time off!

Oh and I never noticed your beer blog before - awesome, I can't wait to go check out your reviews!