Weekend Recap

Gorgeous!!!!

The only hard part about having a great weekend is getting back to reality (and work) on Monday morning. We woke up at 4-something o'clock on Saturday morning to meet Team FC in Glendora to ride Glendora Mountain Road. My shoulder had been bugging me since Thursday morning's swim, but I was determined to give it a try. Although I had reviewed the course map and elevation profile, you never really know how hard things will be until you try! I knew that the first 9 miles were the toughest (i.e. consistent uphill) and set forth with the goal in mind to take it easy and feel it out. The knots in my shoulder tend to cause pain when mild and numbness when severe, so I was aware that at some point I may have to bail and head back to the car. 

(Taken from web) To illustrate the winding and climbing!

Being honest with myself and training within myself are two of my biggest goals at the moment. I can become frustrated that I'm not as fast as, as strong as, as thin as...someone else and all that does is waste my time and precious energy. I am fortunate to have a really fast training partner in Adam and to be meeting some new people who are incredible athletes. There's no way I can compare myself to people with years of training under their belts, and something about it doesn't feel right. By being honest with myself (Am I giving my all? Am I being weak? Am I hurt? Am I being lazy?) I can assess my performance and my accomplishments fairly. By training within myself I stop increasing my pace to injury-prone levels to "keep up" and am able to work at my goals in my own pace.

Mountain views!

This weekends workouts gave me an opportunity to focus on these two goals. I've become more comfortable riding and running at my own speed without feeling the need to beat myself up or compare myself to others. With that out of the way, I was able to enjoy the tremendous first 16 miles of climbing GMR and a beautiful ride down as well as Sunday's long run. Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. The hills, the long winding road, the cool morning air and some of the most stunning vistas around greeted me as I made my way up GMR. At some point a big deer leapt right in front of me reminding me that I was not alone as I thought I was! I was surprised at how much climbing I managed to get out of my legs. That's a hard ride! I could feel my neck/shoulder locking up and my fingers were starting to feel numb in spasms. I decided at mile 16 to turn around and head back as I wasn't sure what the rest of the climb looked like and my #1 priority is to be safe and injury-free, even if I have to cut stuff short. I decided to make sure my attitude remained positive and that it was better to get a part of a ride in than no ride at all. I enjoyed meeting more of the Team FC group and I will be back frequently to take on GMR.  

Not bad for a Saturday morning ride...

Sunday we spent most of the day doing all the things we put off during the week and almost didn't make it out for our long run. Finally, around 4pm we made it out the door and headed down to the Back Bay. We opted for a change of scenery and headed out on the trail that runs alongside UCI towards Irvine. We tried out our new Nathan Hydration vests we bought for summer running and long rides and set out on the trail. It's too hot to run without hydration in the summer and a lot of the trails we frequent have no drinking fountains. The Nathan vests are super comfortable, chafe-free and can hold not only my water, but my phone and other essentials (sunscreen, etc...). I'm looking forward to using it on long rides (no need to stop!) and trail runs!! The run was hot and slow, but I felt great. Long runs are so meditative to me. I spend the whole time hovering between mindlessness and a few really positive thoughts. At some point I thought, "The only thing that separates who I am from who I once was is this [training]." At the end of the day when all sweat, sore muscles, races and results are set aside, what is left is the positive transformation that results from the effort and that alone is worth it all.

Long run ended in an ice bath and coconut water!