Oh the places I go

I'll get to this...Have to say, this has been my fastest recovery ever from a half-Ironman! So what do I do? Celebrate, indulge a little then wreck myself (non-alcoholically speaking) on the weekend!

I got in some fun unstructured swimbikeruns over the week, and by Friday I was feeling awesome & fresh so I decided to race the Santiago Time Trial (11 mile bike race) on Saturday morning, something I've wanted to do for a while. Took my resting HR 1st thing Sat morning just to make sure the bod was ok--can't always trust the brain regarding my perception of recovery. Good news, the heart's low bpm meant "go race!"

The TT was way low key. But it'd be my first bike-only race and on a route that I know like the back of my hand (conveniently 3 miles from home) so I was way excited! Got my mom to do it too. She's a trooper and I know she needs "race-morning" practice... eating early, that anxiety, etc. Matt was doing it too so we hung out a bit before, he showed off itsy-bitsy-tiny-weeny skinsuit: Next thing I know, we were all lined up on the bike path getting set off every 30 sec... that's the only time I got race nerves. Being that it was so short, the plan was to go all out. But would my legs show up? The first 4-4.5 miles are all a good uphill climb, and I knew if I could hammer up that I would be OK for the rest. (OC Tri veterans, this TT is on part of the bike course.)

Just got released... go time:
Here's my iBIke file: I actually felt really "good" the whole time. I was having fun and hurting badly--perfect! I wanted my watts to stay 200+ and HR to get into the 180s. Seriously, it's hard for me to get my HR that high on the bike! In the end, avg HR was 174, while average watts were 214.5 (max 415!!!). Dad got some good shots...

An all smiley-in-love-with-bike face:
Changed to growly-in-pain-with-snot-flowing face:The fierce mom right behind:
I cossed the finish at 30:58. Way faster than any of my solo practice trials. Stoked! Waited for my mom with Matt and them at the finish. Didn't wait long. She finished in 32:58. We all cruised back. Turns out I got 2nd place woman overall; missed 1st by only 25 sec! Saaaweet. I was very happy with that. And the ol' mom got 5th... gnar gnar! Maybe the most competitive women slept this time, but, if anything, our times were right there with some of the dudes ;)

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After the race it was a quick lunch and down to San Diego. I have a new athlete I'm coaching and he invited me to a women's field hockey game at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista that he was watching with a sports writer for the SD Union Tribune. Uh, yea--love sports, could mingle with a sports journalist, plus I've always wanted to check out the OTC. I was there. The OTC is sooo nice and in a beautiful tucked-away spot in the mountains. Too bad Olympic triathlon is not my goal cause I wanna live there! After the game (which I missed most of due to traffic) we explored the place. That led to a little adventure in the Athletes' Lounge, shhh, don't tell... at least we're athletes!: After the OTC and dinner, it was RAHA girls' night out (minus sara, bummer)... Black Eyed Peas concert at Sports Arena! I'm not gonna lie, I was utterly exhausted by 8 p.m. but sucked it up (and got an espresso). It was an awesome concert and good times with Lauren & Tatiana; BEP puts on a good show... I didn't fall asleep, so a win!

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Somehow I eeked out a 10-mile run at El Moro in the morning (aka the course for Xterra Crystal Cove 17k). It hurt, but that's what I get for my crazy Saturday with only 4-5 hours of sleep, and not running here since Jan--thanks a lot rain! In fact, I think that course got harder ;) But my time was a little faster than normal too, so who knows. I did take some un-timed breaks to wait for a El Moro-virgin running partner to catch up so he wouldn't make a wrong turn. Those breaks also probably kept me from blowing chunks as I made the mistake of eating too big of a brekkie, but I was hungry after a big night!

I died after the run and lunch--just passed out in my bed. I literally couldn't get up or even lift an arm for almost 2 hours. But after a nap, I felt better. Although, I kept the rest of sunday's pace akin to that of a 99-year-old's but with an appetite of an NFL football player's. It was a very refreshing afternoon.

Looking forward to booked weekends for the next month+!