Tiki Swim

I had the opportunity to do the 4th Annual Tiki Swim yesterday in Oceanside.  I have to say it was an amazing event.  Well planned, priced fairly, nice swag and a good time other than than the water temp dropping, me freezing in the not wetsuit swim and the big waves.  


 Parking was easy race morning.  They offer a 1.2 and 2.4 mile swim. I am not sure about logistics for the 1.2.  For the 2.4 you have a gear bag at the start  (which is near the pier- where i parked (although next time I  would have parked at harbor near the finish) and they transport it to the finish ( at the harbor) 

It is a beach start and we had some surf for sure... I was not "race ready"  Siren went off and I leisurely walked into the water, it was cold, really cold.  I chose the non-wet suit option, they have both, as I thought it would be a great Ironman prep swim. 2.4 miles non wetsuit,  It would have been great LAST week before the water temp dropped.  But I was committed.  The water was cold.  First wave tore off my goggles (duh goggles were out outside of cap)  Grabbed goggles, cap off, goggles on and I am still standing in the surf.  Pep talk and in I went.  Navigating the surf was tough but took my mind off the cold.  Swim was wavy and challenging.  

When I hit the 1/2 way mark I was a bit depressed as I was sure I was nearly done. But I still had 1.2 miles to go.  I got my head in the game and went work, focused on strong swimming, sighting and stopped the pity party.  I passed a few people and went to work trying to catch as many Orange caps (2.4 milers) as I could.  

Once we hit the harbor it warmed up a lot.  I was relieved and then started wondering if the warmth was due to the fuel in the harbor.... ditched that thought and kept swimming.  This was now like the Oceanside 70.3 finish,  Up the ramp and done.

I was definitely cold, a bit disorientated and chattering, Thank you Jim Murph who got my bag and towel.   Quick change and I was soon warming up. 

The emcee was great encouraging everyone to cheer and help out the people coming in.  They had post swim egg and bean breakfast burritos - I was starving and at almost 1/2 of it.... I regretted that BIG time on my long run an hour later, but at the time it was sooo good!  


The race had  good community feel. Brian Long was all over and supportive,  It sold out this year and suspect it will in the future,   I don't like paying to swim 1 mile, sort of like a 5K, I want more pain and suffering  :)  The distance was great and timing perfect. 

Manged a 2nd AG finish and a nice TIKI.  Grabbed the free shuttle back to the pier and had to muster the mental and physical strength for my last long run.  I am not going to lie, it was not fun.  I settled in for the 1st hour and was holding my pace and feeling decent and then I died...  next 15 min was ok but hard and then the last 30 min was tough. Running out of water and dealing the GI mishap of a breakfast burrito DID NOT help,  It was one step at a time. Got to my car, drank 40 oz of water and started to feel human again.  I had zero calories on the run due to the burrito distress so was in a depleted state and was feeling sick.  Venti  iced mocha sounded good and went with full sugar  for the much needed calories.  

Stopped for an Apple n Greens Smoothie from Jamba... solid food was not happening for me. A blend of apple and strawberry juices, kale, peaches, mangos and bananas and it was delicious! Major work is done!!! Let the taper begin....

 

Giro San Diego and what's happening....

Full training mode for Kona means swim.bike, run repeat.  I'm feeling good and having fun so that is the good. No injuries - yeah!!

 One of my athletes...not really sure which one, but suspect Lisa, suggested Giro San Diego.  105 miles and 10k + of climbing- been there done that, so figured why not.  It would be a great day of training with many of my athletes.   

Ride starts in Solana and weaves around, includes climbing Palomar, then Cole Grade and a whole lot more. What I did not factor in was the massive heat wave we are having meaning temps were well into the 100's, my legs were shot going into the ride from a 15+ hours already and did I mention the heat.   Lets just say I used an entire canister of NUUN, 20 salt tabs and drank 20 bottles of fluid in the 7hours and 19 minutes it took me to finish.  HOLY Shit.  In Valley Center the ice queen offered the ice bucket challenge to empty her water and I took it- saved me.  Liz was feeling crappy so turned around 6 miles into Palomar so I was solo from there on out..... It sucked honestly but around mile 80 I found a group and we pace lined it for a bit until 95 and then they freaking died as in we hit a small climb and they nearly stopped. Done- so the last 15 were just gut wrenching, alone and a giant pity party  - 

Meanwhile I had an 8 mile run to do. It was 88 in Solana Beach and I was cooked, fried, lobster and done!!!   No freaking way, but I had to at least try so I decided to run 1 mile at least, it was okay so I ran 2 and knew that was an issue, mile 3 was ok, mile 4 felt like mile 22 of an Ironman.  I ran 4.3 and kicked off my shoes and jumped into the ocean.  It was not even that refreshing. I hit the shaded, thank you, food tent and served up a mound of greens, pasta and sauce. Beer was out of the question but 6 glasses of iced lemonade hit the spot.  Mind you I had not peed in over 4 hours.  UGH!   But I did it and was darn happy!  once I was home, on my 2nd plate of nachos and had taken a shower.

Nothing like getting home after 6pm... long day.  All I can say is training like that makes Ironman seem easy.  I am so proud of my athletes who endured and suffered- they got poured on when descending Palomar and many were in the saddle close to 11 hours.  Again IMAZ will seem like a sprint tri after that!

A few days of swimming than back in the saddle and had a pretty serious run this AM and rolling into a big weekend - and for the record temps are looking to be in the 90's with a low of 70.   I know I know heat training....but really, really I am DONE.  But I am not suffering alone..I get it.  We are all sweating together, right? 

As for the rest of life.... hold on, We are putting the house on the market when we go to Kona which means working every day on packing, cleaning, sprucing up - perfect to be doing during IM prep.  I told John no way- NOT before Kona but when the realtor pointed out that selling the house while we and the filthy, smelly destructive dogs are gone will be SO much easier, I acquiesced. SO 2 hours a a day I pack-  we have to get ride of ALL our personal stuff and make the house look bigger.  

Painters come this weekend and then John is redoing the floors next week.   

We are excited..... the work will be worth it when we sell this house and find a new one in Encinitas.  We are looking and have found few we could buy today- so that is good news- but we have to sell this first.  

Empty next.....still rocks!  miss the kids tons but don't miss living with them.  Feels like we did our job and launched them... not kidding ourselves they could be back but that is why we are looking at 2 bed 1 bath house.  JK....we will always have room for the kids to visit for a max of 5 days.