I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

I got all mentally prepared for my long ride today, filled my waterbottles, pumped up the tires, and stuffed a Clif Bar and some Gu into my jersey. You know you train too much when you start to like the taste of Gu; I used to squeeze the whole packet into the back of my throat to avoid any contact with my taste buds, now I catch myself savoring the taste. Anyway, I was all set to go, ready to hit the road, but realized immediately that "hitting the road" at two o'clock in the afternoon on a beautiful beach day does not mean getting into aero and coasting at 20mph on wide stretches of pavement like in New England. It means riding 200 meters, stopping at a red light, having your hear flutter every few minutes when oblivious drivers whizz by 6 inches away from you, and, of course, feeling that dust in your lungs every time you go to take a deep breath. But every once in a while, you look up from your aerobars and the white line in front of you, and at least for a moment everything is perfect.

 The view from Torrance was beautiful today. It was definitely a good day to be out on the Palos Verdes peninsula, I just wish it hadn't taken an hour and a half of stopping and going to get there!

There were lots of sailboats coming in and out of Marina Del Rey. I battled some strong wind along the shore, so I'm sure it was a nice day for sailing.

All in all it was a pretty decent ride, I got in 65 where the schedule called for 85, but given the chaos of the week, I was pretty happy with that. It's so frustrating to average just 12-14mph when you're riding 19 or 20 though. I have a feeling the trainer will be seeing some love in the next 11 weeks.  But it does seem to make it all worth it when you're at the top of the hill in Palos Verdes and you see the Pacific and the sky melt together at the horizon. They aren't lying when they say that LA has terrible pollution, ignorant people, unbearable traffic, and a huge homeless population, but they also aren't lying when they say that Sunny SoCal is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If only the other 5,999,999 people here hadn't thought of that...

Is it really over?

Four more days before I leave this blissful independence and go back to school to try to become a social creature again. I have already left my internship, bidding farewell to endless Keurig K-Cups, abundant office supplies, dizzying Excel spreadsheets, and a 45-minute morning and afternoon commute.

I know it's time to get back to hitting the books and practicing with the team, but part of me is going to miss New England more than ever this year. Last summer, it rained 21 of the 30 days of June. This year, I can recall one rained-out long ride, and one run where it drizzled, which was actually more refreshing than frustrating. I have gotten to experience the outdoors here like never before... I'm already making a list of what I missed so I can visit around Christmas, when everything will probably be buried under a foot of snow.

For my last weekend home, I've decided to stick around rather than drive somewhere for a weekend trip. Today, I rode the long way around to northern Rhode Island, hugging the coast. My amazing "triathlon support crew" met me there with a car and set up an awesome T2 - shoes set out next to the running hat with more than one fluid option... I felt like a pro. It was only 55 degrees when I hopped in the saddle this morning, but by the time I finished my ride, it must have been around 80. I dropped the bike and made a quick transition to a nice run with some of the best views I've seen yet this summer. Don't hate on Rhode Island cause it's little. So by 1pm, I'd ridden 90 miles in 5 hours and run about 6 miles in 45 minutes. I'm starting to feel like this ironman thing could really happen!

Views from Dartmouth, MA. It was so nice out there today, I could have taken hundreds of pictures, but I decided to spend the five hours pedalling like I was supposed to.

Maybe some Malibu canyon climbs next week? Painful, but usually worth the view. Plus, from what I hear, Silverman doesn't boast the flattest bike course in the country, so it's probably time to start climbing real hills.

The First Blog

In the recent weeks of boredom at work, I've drawn enormous inspiration from blogs of other people and their experiences undertaking endeavors much more interesting than sitting at a desk. I have found myself in   a unique place in the past three months. My feelings of calmness and freedom that have come with a summer at home seem amplified when I think of the whirlwind that lies ahead as I head back to school, where a full semester of classes, responsibilities, and my final 12 weeks of Ironman training await.

Back in May, I had mixed feelings about leaving behind the California sunshine to come back to suburban New England. It didn't take long at all for me to wonder how I possibly could have chosen summer in the city of smog and traffic over months of serene bike rides through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and along the rocky coast of Maine, or trail runs at the same state park I've been logging miles at since I was 15. When I decided back in November that I wanted to attempt an ironman, I was giddy at the thought of trying my hand at the full distance. As a tough spring semester of 5 difficult, time-intensive, "weed-out" classes and race directing got underway in January, the exciting progress I had been making in triathlon all fall came to a screeching halt. By the time Collegiate Nationals and the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon rolled around in April and the first week of May, I'd given up any lofty aspirations and went in with one goal: finish. With Ironman, finishing is a lofty aspiration in itself, so I came home from California hungry for a routine that would set me up to acheive my goal.

Now that the summer is coming to a close, it seems like it's finally an appropriate time to reflect on the last 12 weeks and look at the progress I've made. I think my workouts this past weekend speak for themselves. Saturday, I undertook my first really, really long brick. The training schedule called for a 3 hour ride follwed by a quick transition into a 2 hour run. For the first weekend in a while, I had no plans to go away, so I decided to explore my own backyard this time around. I've had some inconsistencies on the bike, but everything went my way from the first pedal stroke on Saturday. I easily cruised around flats and a few rolling hills right around 20mph, crouched in aero almost the entire time. After 60 miles, with a final average of 19.0 mph, I showed off a flying dismount to my imaginary audience and set off on the 2 hour run. I haven't run over 10 miles on just pavement in a long, long time, so I was nervous to try it in a brick. Since I usually run on unmeasured trails, I also have no clue what my long run pace is, so I wasn't sure how far I was going to be running. I figured 8:30-9:00 min/mile sounded about right, so I plotted a general course that I could add to or subtract from if need be. I settled into a pace that felt good and just stayed there. 8.25 miles and 1:06 hours later, I came around to my make-shift aid station (i.e. waterbottles and gu stuffed in my mailbox). I walked through the "aid station," refueling and mustering motivation to get through four more miles. Hit my stride again and it felt like nothing. One more stop for fuel and I powered through 2.75 more miles. Ended up running 15 miles in just over 2 hours, averaging 8 min/mile. So I think that nagging question in my head of "Have I made any real progress this summer?" was answered by those 5 hours and 75 miles.

Sunday was an easier day, 10 miles on Boston's Harbor Walk. I got into town before the city woke up, and made my way from South Boston to Charlestown and back before "recovering" with breakfast on Charles Street with my mom. A relaxing 2200 yd swim capped off a great weekend of training.

I think I've accomplished even more than my training workouts show, though. Having an internship forced me to really think about my future, and what I initially thought would be a depressing realization that life after college would be boring and monotonous turned into an epiphany that my options are limitless. Who knows what trails I might be running on a year from now.

All right, back to..."work"...