IMC Defectors

With Ironman Canada just 2 weeks away, our training group was slimmed down a bit last weekend down in Carlsbad. We lost Kevin and Allan to taper and a few others to various excuses.

Saturday began with Mt. Palomar and Brian decided last minute to join us for the ride. Thankfully he did as he serves the dual role of team bike mech as well as the un-catchable rabbit when we put on the running shoes. Charisa's other half, Steven, returned for some more after his Palomar debut 2 weeks ago. So we ended up with a pretty solid group. Of course it wouldn't be a Saturday ride if I didn't forget something, this time it was my neatly packaged bag of nutrition for the ride which I had been so careful to properly calculate all my calories. Luckily Steven was willing to part with some chews and that held me over till the Taco shop where I grabbed some of their old and stale powerbars.

The climb itself wasn't that notable. We did the same heart rate pyramid workout with the only adjustments being longer holds at certain rates. Steven took home the MVP award for not only serving as the "PB pretzel sherpa" but also dominating the climb. Back to the car with 5hrs and 80mi in the bank. After the "trouble" I had on the run a couple weeks ago after climbing Palomar and then not eating til we got back to Casa de Wernick, we opted to bring along an Igloo and have ourselves a little picnic in the park (I love being a 3rd wheel on a romantic picnic with a married couple). This gave us a solid 2.5hrs to digest prior to heading out on the run.

To be completely honest, if I had to pick out one thing on my schedule that I was harboring serious doubts about my ability to complete, it would have been this run. After 3 hard weeks, and a morning of Palomar, a 2.5hr run was not looking too easy. But at 4pm we hit the road, both a little weary of what lay in front of us. Surprisingly I felt pretty good and my legs were respondinfg. I was able to keep the heart rate in check and was happy for most of the run. On the final hill back to the casa, I spotted Charisa in the depths of a serious BONK. I could tell from about 200yrds behind her, that she was just barely hanging on. Thankfully I had resisted temptation and hadn't taken the gels that I brought. I offered her one from across the street and just getting to me took what I am sure was her last expendable calorie. Thankfully we were only about 10mins from done. Back to the house, with 21 miles in the legs, I felt nearly dead! And the idea of being fully dead didn't sound too bad. FOOD was all either of us could think about and a whole bunch of it was consumed.

Sunday came WAY TOO EARLY, and we were back in the saddles about 7:15 heading to meet up with Kevin and Mike for the Henshaw loop. They stayed with us for the climb up to Ramona, but from there on out, it was Charisa, myself, and our thoughts. I took this as a good opportunity to focus on my aerobar climbing and tried to stay in on as many climbs as I could. It got hot, and we fought a pretty good headwind most of the day. At the Julian stop, we felt a little out of place in our spandex amongst the mini cooper club and the Corvette club, so the fuel was consumed and restocked rather quickly (always time for a photo op, but notice I couldn't stop eating for the pic, I'm a multi-tasker).

A couple hours later, and at yet another convenience store, I decided we both deserved a treat. A Popsicle never tasted so good.

6:15 & 111mi later we were back at Casa De Wernick where Steven had really taken to making the name apt and cooked up a little Mexican fiesta. Salty tortilla chips and salsa = VERY Happy riders.

Yet another great weekend. I was totally worked yesterday. The walk from the courtroom to my car had me hoping there was an aid station along the way. THANK GOD this is a recovery week!!