This stretch is southbound on the coast highway going through Encinitas and Cardiff by the Sea.
Self-portrait while riding through Cardiff.
This was the "high-point" of my ride, figuratively and literally. This is the view from the top of Torrey Pines State Reserve. This park is right next to one of the beaches I've worked at over the years as a lifeguard and home to one of the local cycling community's favorite locations for hill climb repeats...you can see why. It's beautiful, even when your heart is pounding out of your chest. The rest of my ride went much like the first half, although after Torrey Pines I was more focused on staying strong and making sure I kept myself nourished than taking pictures :-P All told, I rode 90 miles - many of them very hilly - and capped it off with a 7 mile run where I was able to maintain a 7:37/mile pace, which is far better than I had hoped when I first rolled out the door. By the time I was done.....I was done, and it felt great to be able to put in a solid 6-hour workout without coughing up a lung in the process.Saturday consisted of a different kind of workout for me, as I was head cheerleader for my girlfriend Kindra and her BSK Racing Team as they took part in the San Marcos Fitness Roundup. For those who don't know, BSK is a local running team that has many of the fastest runners in San Diego as its members. They pretty much swept all of the podium positions in both the 5k and 11k events....Kindra was 4th female overall and 1st in her age group, I'm super proud of her and was stoked to be there to cheer her on.
Here she is running strong to the finish - 19:13 for 5k.....let's just say I'm glad I wasn't in the race :) 
Me and my gal :)Sunday was a great end to a great training weekend. In the morning I had my annual lifeguard requalification swim, which would provide some much-needed open water (cold open water) swimming practice. The ocean temperature was about 58 degrees and there was actually some pretty decent surf on tap for us to swim in. Once again, my new TYR Hurricane wetsuit worked flawlessly and I made it through my swim with plenty of time to spare - another year in the books and a great way to start the day. The final workout of the weekend was a 15 mile run with the last 3 miles to be run at tempo pace. Admittedly, I did NOT want to do this workout. I was tired and cranky and didn't want to strap on my shoes at all. True to form, though, Kindra came to the rescue and offered to run the first 10 miles with me. How lucky am I? Not many of my friends have a girlfriend who is willing OR ABLE to run 10 miles on a moments notice, but thankfully I do!! She convinced me that I would feel better once I got on the road, and....wait for it....SHE WAS RIGHT! She ended up running with me for 11 miles and really kept my mind off how tired I was. At mile 11 she turned off and went home, taking any extra supplies that I didn't want to carry the final 4 miles. I backed off the pace a bit for a mile before finishing my run with three miles at 7:07, 7:03, and 6:57 pace - a VERY good indication for my next race, the Oceanside 70.3. Speaking of my next race, I went for an easy ride today and this is what I saw:
The road signs are up, the weather is turning warm, and the trucks are starting to pull into the Oceanside Harbor parking lot....that can only mean one thing - Race day is right around the corner!! Only 11 days until I jump in the frigid waters and get my IM racing season underway. I'm glad to be healthy again and I hope my health and the weather both hold up for race day. This is not my highest priority race for the season - IM St. George holds that title right now - but nonetheless I want to have a great race. I feel like I've done everything I can to get myself there, now I just need to hold on till raceday. Until my next post - thanks for reading - now go outside and play!!
Love that picture of you and KK! :)
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