Blog

Well that was no fun

After waiting two weeks (really five months) to watch the Chargers show a national TV audience how great a team they are, they go and sh*t the bed like that! Bummer. I’m taking a hiatus from Sportscenter and the sports pages so I don’t even know (or want to know) how the “experts” are breaking it down, but obviously there were failures in a few key aspects of their game (Nate the Great’s kicking and Rivers’ awful interception in the 3rd to name a couple). I’m trying to keep in mind that it’s just football. As of now, my mourning period is over.

In better news, I ran yesterday. Without pain. It was a very short run. And very flat. But it was just meant to be a test. And I passed. Before getting to that let’s work sequentially through a good training weekend:

Saturday morning I was up early and on my bike with the sunrise. I needed to be home by about 10am so my normal Santa Monica ride was out. Instead, I rode to Griffith Park and was fortunate to be climbing up to the Observatory while the sky was getting bright. I had great views of the city surrounded by pink sunrise clouds. I did various climbs around Griffith Park, spent some time on the LA River bike path and then came home via Barham Blvd for one final climb.

Normally, I don’t ride two days in a row (unless I’m in the middle of serious training), but Mike suggested a Sunday ride and since the weather forecast was calling for rain from last night until sometime next week (they’re right so far), I wanted to get out another ride before the rains came. It’s hard to tell, but this picture outside my house just now definitely isn’t what we’re used to here in LA:

Sunday morning I met up with Mike and Warren for a 30 mile ride from Santa Monica to the Marina and back and then Mike and I climbed Mandeville Canyon. All my cyclist friends in LA talk about riding Mandeville Canyon (and not just because of this guy), but for whatever reason I’d never climbed it before. It’s a 5 mile gradual climb with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain. The last 500 meters are very steep, but by that point you can see the top and you know you can give it that final push. Local cyclists train on that climb all the time and after yesterday’s ride I can see why.

After the ride, I put on running shoes to test my achilles. To be honest, it’s been a little swollen recently, even without doing any real running. I feel like I’ve been really careful with it and doing all the recommended exercises and stretches. The one thing I did do before the run was throw on some kinesio tape. When my achilles was bothering me in the fall, I kept my achilles taped for every run and was able to train and complete the race. Since then, I haven’t used the tape at all and haven’t been able to run. Hmmmm. I’m still not entirely sure what kinesio tape actually does, but I don’t think it can hurt. And viola, a pain-free run. Now, I only ran 2.5 miles. And I took it pretty easy. I followed Dr. Lehnberg’s recommendations and concentrated on forefoot running and high cadence. Whatever the reason, I ran pretty well, and my achilles doesn’t seem as swollen today as it has been recently. I’m taking today off from running, but will probably give it another shot tomorrow. Or maybe Wednesday.

Angeles Crest update: I got an email back from the race director saying the confirmed entrants list would be online this week. At this point, although I’d prefer to race at Angeles Crest (mostly because it doesn’t involve travel for training or race day), I don’t really care, I just want to know so I can make a plan. Mike – good call on Wasatch. It’s on my list of alternatives. That’s supposedly a friggin’ hard one, even by 100 mile run standards!

Bike – Jan 16
Distance: 40.3 miles
Time: 2:41 (2:37 ride time)
Course: Home to Griffith Park, some loops, including climbs and bike path
Conditions: Sunrise, then mostly sunny, high 50’s/low 60’s

Bike – Jan 17
Distance: 31.9 miles
Time: 2:21 (2:11 ride time)
Course: Santa Monica to Marina and back, Mandeville climb
Conditions: Mostly sunny, high 50’s/low 60’s

Run – Jan 17
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 18 minutes
Course: Ocean Ave
Conditions: Mostly sunny, low 60’s
Notes: Kinesio tape, no achilles pain

Strength/core – Jan 18