Surf City, USA

Wow, what a Super weekend. I started with a 2 hour bike ride on the Hills of PV ( my home course) with my Iron Team on Saturday. I just rode my bike down Hawthorne to join my team. It was a brick workout. So I rode my bike up Hawthorne ( 2 miles with an 8% grade) to drop off the bike at home. Then I ran back down Hawthorne and joined my teammates for the rest of the 1 hour run. After a snack of Bare Naked cereal and my recovery drink, it was back uphill to go home. Total mileage 33 miles bike, 8 miles run.
Sunday I ran the Surf City Half Marathon. Perfect weather, overcast and cool in the beginning, warmer at the end, but not too hot. Great crowd. I spent most of my run chatting it up with other runners, especially the cute ones. I met a couple ladies with Team in Training. They were very impressed with my Ironman goal. I met a couple cuties from Snail's Pace. They liked my socks. I was wearing knee high compression socks. First time. I liked them. I think they helped prevent my calves from fatigue and cramps. My calves had bothered me during the Rock n Roll Arizona marathon two weeks ago. This time my legs held up despite the hilly workout the day before. I met quite a few runners from my running club in Long Beach: AREC ( A Running Experience Club) I hooked up with them afterwards at the Beer Tent. I met a guy with a Kaiser Thrive jersey on, so I chatted with him for a couple miles about Kaiser and Health Connect ( electronic medical record). Finally for the final 5 miles, I picked up the pace to try to finish under 2 hours. I finished in 1:57, not bad considering I stopped several times, ran back and forth to catch up with different groups of friends, and basically ran the race at my easy long run pace. Perhaps this Ironman training is helping me with my overall fitness and improving my speed / ability to run faster with less perceived effort.
Afterwards the buddies I ran with ( at least for the first few miles) and I had a nice Dim Sum lunch. Later at home, I enjoyed the Super Bowl. I even got on my trainer and put in a 45 min workout! The exciting conclusion to the Super Bowl was a nice ending to my action packed weekend.