So let's back up a bit...
Thursday (6/28) After the previous day's run, today turned into a trainer ride for 30 minutes and then weights. Felt ok on the bike but I really like feeling strong while lifting!
Friday - Had a good morning swim. The pool was pretty warm and I'm sure soon enough we'll be complaining that it's too hot!
Saturday - Travel day! We loaded up the car and headed to Emerald Isle, NC. This is how we roll :)
Sunday - We woke up when Conner did and then got ready to run. I hit the road around 8 AM and it was already HOT and HUMID! I decided to run out 40 minutes, then back. I felt good running but the heat and humidity really made continuing to run a mental challenge. I decided to walk for about 1 minute when I got to 20 minutes, then at my turn around I walked a bit more while eating a Gu and drinking lots of water, then headed back. Another walk at one hour and I was back in 1 hour 20 minutes. Pretty evenly split! It was cool to see lots of other people out running and biking and to give a high 5 to my dad and Jason as we crossed paths on our runs.
Monday - Jason and I decided this would be a good time to tackle our first Century Ride. Thankfully my mom was on board with this plan and happy to watch the kiddos who had a great time at the pool and beach while we were gone. We were up early and after our final bike prep, we were off. The plan was simple, head off the island, over the bridge, follow Rt 58 north until we hit 50 miles, then turn around. This was the road we drove in on Saturday and we scoped it out then to make sure it looked ok to ride on. I also noticed a gas station at about 40 miles that would be a good water refill point. As we started out, we both felt a little "off" on our bikes. Not really sure why, but it seemed to take a long time to warm up and get into a groove. We were thinking the flat route would be nice and easy, but that wasn't really the case! I didn't miss the up hills but I did miss the down hills where I usually coast and stretch. With the flat road, it was more like a trainer ride where you are constantly peddling at about the same speed. We were going into a slight head wind on our way out and holding about 17-19 mph. We alternated leading for about 15 miles, then would switch. We stuck with our drink every 5, eat every 15 mile plan which seems to work really well for both of us. As we got to about 40 miles and the gas station I noticed before, we were both ok on water so we decided to keep going and stop there on the way back. At about mile 45 we pulled off the road into a shady spot to have a snack (I ate half a bonk breaker bar) and stretch out a bit. 5 more miles to go then we turned around and headed home. We were happy that there was a slight wind pushing us along and our speed increased to about 19-21 mph. Not sure if it was really the wind or the idea that we were on our way home, but we were both feeling better too. We got to the gas station, bought a few bottles of water to refill and stretched a bit before headed back on the road. We were really cruising now. At some point I noticed Jason was a bit behind so I slowed down, then found out he had been blown off the road by a passing truck. Luckily he was able to stay on the bike while going into the grass and then getting back on the road. Most of the cars and trucks are ok, but some really like to cut it close and give us a real scare. At about mile 67 Jason had a flat so we pulled over to fix that. He's getting really good at fixing those! We kept on cruising and had one last quick stop at about mile 85. Picked up the speed a bit and finally saw the bridge leading back to Emerald Isle. I've never been so happy to go up a hill! We finished the ride in about 5 and a half hours of ride time (about 6 hours including our stops) with an average speed of 18.3. As I came to a stop I thought, could I do another 12 miles? Sure. Then run a marathon? Yikes. I know I will, but that sure seems crazy!
Had to take a picture of this before the next ride :)
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We got back to the beach house to find the kids were with my mom, Erin and William at the beach. So we had a bit of time to eat and relax by the pool before they returned. Not a bad way to recover from an awesome ride!
Tuesday - The rest of the family (Colleen, Jason and Sean) arrived in the wee hours of Tuesday morning so I got up early to run before everyone was up. I knew if I hung out in the morning, there was little chance I would then head out for my run. I wasn't sure what to expect after yesterday's ride but was really happy to find that I felt pretty good. I ran the same route as Sunday, 8 miles, and was about 5 minutes faster. It was slightly cooler since I ran earlier, but still pretty humid. I was happy to have a good run and was back at the house as some were starting to wake up (my dad, Erin and Jason were already up and running too!)
Wednesday - Erin and I were up early for a ride. Our plan was to head down the length of the island and back, about 48 miles. She rode this route earlier in the week and said you have a wind behind you on the way down, and are going into it on the way back. So that explained why we were about 22-24 mph on our way out! Erin is a much faster biker than I am but my plan was to stay with her as long as I could and if I ran out of energy and it took me two hours to get home, that would be ok. So I worked my butt off to stay with her. We took turns leading and I continued to work my butt off when I was pulling. It was an awesome ride down the island and as we got closer to the end, I started to get nervous about the ride back... There is a park at the end of the island and that was a great place to stop for a quick break and refill out bottles at the water fountain. Then we were off and into the wind. It was almost comical how strong the wind was! At one point, I was in my aero bars, as tight as I could get, peddling hard, and going 12.8 mph. What the heck???? It was crazy. We continued to take turns leading and I was working harder than I ever have in a ride, but it felt great. Our average speed coming back was around 14-16 mph, quite a change from the first half! As we neared our turn towards the house, Erin said we could turn in and end at 48 miles, or keep going to make it 50. So on we went. We finished the 50 mile ride with an average of about 18.3 mph, and it felt awesome. It's the hardest I've ridden for that long and a real confidence booster for me.
Thursday - A planned rest day (my legs needed it!)
Friday - An unintentional rest day. I was thinking about a long run (10-12) miles, but as I got up and started to get ready, I just wasn't feeling it. So back to sleep I went.
Saturday - It's always a mad rush to get everything packed up in the morning to head back - which should count for a least a small workout!
Sunday - Back home and getting back on track. I ran first this morning and it was already in the upper 80's and humid when I started. I felt pretty good for the first half of my 6 miles, but was feeling pretty sluggish on the way back. I walked a bit more than usual and ran out of water with about a mile left. Not fun. Jason headed out after me and it was already a few degrees hotter. We've had some storms roll through this afternoon and the temp has cooled a bit, hoping to get back on track with some good runs this week.
It was a great week at the beach. Lots of good training, family time and laughs!
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