I was traveling last week and finally got home Sunday night at midnight- which is why this post is a day late. I’ll do a full report of my trip, but if you didn’t catch any of my Instagram or Facebook posts, I spent 4 days in San Diego! I was there for a work conference, but got to experience some of the city myself. One of the highlights was definitely meeting SOAS founder Stephanie Swanson, and two other SOAS ambassadors, Jenna and Kimmie.
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I know I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it many more times, but I am so honored to be a part of this team and such an amazing group of women!
For being on the road, I was actually pretty happy with my mileage for last week. (But then I realized that the best parts of it were from before I went away. whoops.)
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Here’s the summary:
Monday: Long Run, 16km
I was definitely not looking forward to this run. Monday’s workouts are HARD. Doing a long run on tired legs is never fun. But, I sucked it up and ran with my favorite running buddies. We didn’t really have a plan, other than to run for at least 1:15. We kinda were all over the place in terms of pace and route. But, with about 4k to go before cool down, we were all on our own to bring it home. I surprised myself, going 4:51, 4:52, 4:50, 5:05 <- slight hill. Another long run in the books!
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Tuesday: Swim, 3200 yards
Pretty much every Tuesday from now til our race we’ll be doing pull sets. For now, it’s 20 x 100. Soon, that number 20 is going to increase.
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Wednesday: Bike 32 km, Run 4 km
I knew I wouldn’t be getting any saddle time on my bike this weekend, so instead of our prescribed trainer workout, I got up and rode around Davis Island before work. It was pretty foggy, chilly, and just not the best day for riding. When I got home my arm warmers weren’t wet from sweat, but from the moisture in the air. All I wanted was a warm shower! Instead, I put on my running shoes and ran a 4k. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but I was hungry when I started, so I knew I’d finish slow. When it was over, I’d run a little over 4k in 20:38. I’ll take it!
Thursday: Swim 3600 yards, 1 hour spin class
I made it to San Diego on Wednesday night, and almost immediately took to the streets to check out the closest gyms and see their gym schedules, particularly spin classes. Thursday is typically swim day, so I also wanted to hunt down a pool if I could. The gym closest to my hotel advertised a pool, so I made a stop there. Unfortunately, this is California, so the pool was not a lap pool, but instead was one for lounging. I headed back to my room, figuring that I’d have to save a swim for another time. I had already done some research and found the closest public pool, but it was a few miles away and without a car, I just wasn’t going to make the effort to get there.
Before bed, I did one final search for a pool, and ended up stumbling upon the Broadway Athletic and Swim Club. This gym was less than a mile from my hotel, had a 25 yard pool, and had a spin class too. Score! I gave them a rang and asked how much a day pass was, and when I heard the magic words $20, I knew I would be spinning and swimming on Thursday.
Oh, and did I mention that the spin class would be outdoors, on the roof, overlooking the pool?
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#winning
I had a decent swim – boring as all get out (ladder anyone?) and then putzed around for about 20 minutes before the spin class started. Unfortunately, the class wasn’t my favorite ever, but I still got a decent workout in. It was definitely refreshing to be outside in the cool evening air!
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Friday:Plan: 3 x4K; actual: 2.5 x 4K
The plan called for 3 x 4K, and I was excited to run in San Diego for the first time. It was Friday afternoon, at about 3:30 or so, in the low 70s and sunny. Perfect weather. I set off, and my first few kilometers felt okay, but not great. The path I was on was actually quite crowded, so I spent some time dodging the tourists and trying not to knock over any small children. By the fourth kilometer, I was starting to feel tired. Ugh. I stopped for 90 seconds as instructed and off I went for number 2. At this point, the trail had cleared some, but I felt so sluggish! Each kilometer felt like it took forever to pass, and my calves were starting to feel so tight. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought my brand new shoes and expected to go 12k on their second outing…The last 4k was ugly. In fact, I didn’t even run the whole thing. I stopped my watch at about 10.5 km, and told myself that I probably should have turned around after the first 4km. Oof. That was not a good run.
Saturday: Ride, 42K
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I worked in the morning, but then went to a bike shop a block from my hotel and rented a decent road bike! There was a 26 mile (one way) route to Coronado island- about half of it was on city road that had a clearly marked bike lane, and the other half was on a paved trail, closed to cars. I did get a little lost at two points- once at the trail head of the bike path (I completely missed the sign and entrance, as it was right next to the entrance to a restaurant parking lot, and you needed to be on the sidewalk) and then, shortly after getting on the trail, a part of it was closed! You could follow the signs to wait for a shuttle, but instead of waiting for the shuttle, I figured I had a map and my gps, I could figure it out myself. I had to stop a few times to check the map to make sure I was heading int he right direction, and I definitely ended up on a busier street than I wanted to be on, but I finally made it back to the trail.
Unfortunately, the route was quite ugly. It went through the industrial parts of town, so I didn’t get to see much, other than a salt processing plant. At least the road was quiet. Once on the trail, it got a little prettier, but it was low tide and the wind was in my face. Once I was on the island, I headed straight for the ferry port. The trail got super crowded as I got closer- lots of pedestrians, casual riders, runners, etc. I had to slow way down and dodge and weave my way through the crowds. When I arrived at the port, the ferry was just pulling up its gangway. In 10 minutes, another would be leaving, so I quickly ran to the bathroom. I figured I also had enough time to grab a cupcake too:-) Funny- I was wearing my Smashfest tri shorts and in the cupcake shop, someone came up and asked “Do you know Hillary?” I was caught off guard, not knowing who she was talking about, and then it hit me- Hillary Biscay! I responded, “No, I don’t, but that would be cool if I did” and then I asked her if she knew her. “Yes” was her response, and she told me she was going to text her to tell her she saw a Smash Kit in Coronado. Silly me should have asked for her name- she was probably a triathlete too!
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I ended up missing that next shuttle, but thankfully another was about 20 minutes behind. This time, I waited on the pier the entire time so I wouldn’t miss it;-)
Sunday: I totally could have/should have gone for a run, but I knew I’d have a long run with the team on Monday, so instead I opted to spend my last few hours in San Diego exploring. I’d say I walked at least a few miles, so that should count as a workout!
8 weeks til the Gator Half!
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