Rough totals from Garmin Connect (some activities didn’t transfer properly and a few times my Garmin Forerunner had trouble):

• Count: 57 activities
• Distance: 791.14 mi
• Time: 77:26:32 hh:mm:ss
• Elevation Gain: 57,121 ft
• Avg Speed: 10.2 mph
• Avg Heart Rate: 143 bpm
• Avg Run Cadence: –
• Avg Bike Cadence: 75 rpm
• Calories: 64,059 C

It has been a great season overall — even with the pain from back problems and even with the countless hours of running, biking and swimming….

Sunday morning at The Shores

Met up at The Shores at 8:30 am for one last long swim since we are now starting our taper to Vineman.  The day started out as what it has become typical of late — overcast skies and coolish temperatures.   Only a few of us showed up to brave the morning after the long 4th of July celebrations.

The conditions were pretty good.  Not very much chop and gentle swells.  We made our way to the water and initially it felt a bit cool.  Soon we were making our way to the 1/2 mile buoy as our goal as to swim at least a mile.

I was able to get into a decent rhythm and it was nice to be out in the water. Though I am not a fast swimmer, I as able to keep a decent pace all the way to the marker.  Once we reached the 1/2 mile marker, we decided to go to the 1/4 mile marker — which is 1/4 mile out from The Cove — for a distance out of 3/4 of a mile or so.

The sun came out just as we started on the leg back and it made the swim very pleasant.  700 or so strokes later and I was back on The Shores. With that extra 1/2 mile of distance, we ended up swimming longer than race distance and I was happy that I felt pretty good overall.

Being that running isn’t my strongest activity and that I have been suffering quite a bit with the long runs, I didn’t expect to do anything special on this run.  In the past, I tended to average the 10K in about 66 minutes or about a 10:40/mi pace.  But on this race I was feeling pretty good and I paced myself with some slightly faster runners.  The end result was that I maintained a 9:33/mi pace and completed the 10K in 59:53 — my first time completing a 10K under an hour!  It was great to set a new PR!

The ride was an inner-coastal ride.  Starting near the coast, but heading east and then north to Rancho Santa Fe.  3 notable hills to climb, but nothing we haven’t already ridden previously.

The ride was at a decent clip — under 2 hours when you take away sag stops and traffic lights.  And the 2000′ of climbing tends to slow things down a bit as well.

During the ride a teammate convinced me to run in the SROP 10K tomorrow so I decided to cut the brick short and only did 2 miles.

Beautiful ride today through the Elfin Forest. 48 Miles in all with 2500′ of climbing, from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, up to Carlsbad, inland through the Elfin Forest, then back to the coast.  The weather was great overall and the pace was fairly fast.

As Wildflower had passed, the team is refocusing on Vineman and everyone was looking forward to this long ride.  While we have a few months left until the event, it is time to bring up the intensity a bit.

Though we all started the ride together in a large pack, by the time we were to Calsbad, we were in much smaller groups.  I was in a fast-pace group for a while and tried to stick with Emily who ate up the hills like they were candy. Once we hit the Elfin forest, the pace really picked up and I was struggling when we reached Harmony Grove.  By the time we got onto Del Dios, I was left on my own.  

I wasn’t familiar with the route and while on the Elfin Forest, my map blew away, so I was concerned about taking the correct course back to Moonlight Beach.  I knew the way from Del Dios, but we were making a turn to the north to add another 8 miles or so to the ride.  Fortunately, while going down Del Dios, I managed to make up enough distance where I had someone in my sights and was able to follow them the rest of the way back.

Part of my struggles was from nutrition.  I had Clift shotblocks as well as two bottles of Cytomax.  I also stopped at Sag before we entered the Elfin Forest.  But my stomach wasn’t feeling great from so much Cytomax and by the time I made it back to the start, I was fairly nauseous. 

Chasing the group and having an unsettled stomach left me with empty legs when it was time for 30-45 minute run.  I ended up walking with Penny since she was still recovering from her bad crash during the half-ironman in Oceanside this past March.

I still have a long way to completing the half-ironman event.  But Alfred has an even longer way to go to win his battle.  His is a daily fight — a fight of life or death.  With your help a cure might be found.

We completed the ride in just over 2 and 1/2 hours — a decent pace and distance for today!

Go team!

We had a good turnout from the team tonight as well — it is great to see everyone working so hard!

Go Team!