If It's Monday

it must be time to catch up on my blog!  The hard part about these big crazy weekends is just how much backlog occurs and if I don't stay on top of it, I'll be hopelessly behind.

I finished off my biggest training week yet this year with a bang - things are feeling GREAT (even my hip - yay!).  On Friday afternoon we headed down to San Luis Obispo for the Lighthouse Century.

Jeff and I found a nice little brewpub on the creek in downtown SLO to hang out until Nigel and George arrived.

Once we were all assembled and checked in for the ride, there was carbo-loading to be done. 

(Mine's the root beer)

The boys are very serious about their pre-ride hydration.

And after a solid night's rest, it was time to fuel up and get ready to ride 100 miles on the Central California coast!  I highly recommend the Lighthouse Century for anyone considering one - beautiful scenery, not a difficult course, and a VERY well supported ride.  It sells out within 2 hours every year!

After a few bobbles in the parking lot at the start (*someone* brought 2 right bike shoes and was not able to join us until later in the ride), we met up with Mary and Suzy and were off at a brisk pace up the coast in the fog and rain.

 I had SO much mud and dirt on my body from the first 40 miles

At the first rest stop, we met up with my aunt and uncle who were doing their 1st century.  I look short in this crowd.  My aunt says that's because I am short.

 View from the 2nd rest stop

 Once we hit the far turnaround, our missing team member had finally joined us and we headed back into a strong headwind going uphill - FUN!

Heading into the final rest stop, the guys decided to stop in to refill bottles and I continued on by myself.  Before I knew it, I'd picked up a whole line of men drafting off me for the last 20 miles!

I only had a couple points on the bike where I felt a little ache in my hip and I was careful to dial it back a little to keep it in check.  Overall, my fueling went perfectly, my energy levels were great and my legs were strong throughout - I pulled the last 15 miles at 18+ mph!

Once back at the car, I ditched the bike and headed out on a transition run.  ~4 miles later, I was stoked to be done with my fastest century ever (beat last month's time by 22 minutes) and a great run off the bike!

From there, we raced home, picked up the dogs, showered, and made it in time for the Sharks' 2nd home pre-season game

You'd think I would sleep late after a day like that but I knew I had a big Sunday ahead - my long run split into two segments, morning and night.  So there I was awake at 5:45 am eager to run!  After giving the dogs a long walk and having some breakfast, I headed out to see what my legs had left - 8 lovely miles later, I was back!  I spent the whole day twitchy waiting until I could go for my 2nd run.  This time, Nigel went with me and we churned out another ~6 miles (for a total of 18+ in the weekend).

After Nigel and I were treated to the special sight of a man shampooing his hair and washing it in the kiddie water play area at the playground full of children, we headed off to meet up with Jeff for dinner. And I was ready to EAT.  People wonder why we are at Tomato Thyme once or twice a week but they shouldn't after seeing this food!

Summer tomato salads with mozzarella are like candy to me, seriously.

Nom nom nom.

I think I'm entitled after riding 100 miles and running 18+ in one weekend.

And with that, I'm on to a rest week - yay!  My body needs this as training is about to get even harder in Kona and Arizona the following weeks.  I'm really just happy that the distance is feeling so doable this time around in Ironman training.  My legs STILL feel great - not sore at all - after that weekend.  I think I have to attribute it to excellent fueling, compression socks/tights and overzealous use of Recovery e21 (every hour on the bike and run this weekend).
If there's anyone left who hasn't tried some e21, message me and I'll send you a sample.  Otherwise, it's 20% off with code "mollymc"