Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Vineman Training Weekend

A Hot Weekend in Sonoma Wine Country.  Great training weekend for Vineman.  The drive was a "Bear"; 10+ hours due to  Friday afternoon traffic in LA.  Arkady and I got in after midnight.  It's always nice to return to my old "neck of the woods".  I spent 2 months living in Santa Rosa during my family practice rotation in med school.  Even then I enjoyed going on bike rides after finishing up in the clinic.  Well on Saturday I got to ride for 112 miles ( 2 loops of the actual Full Vineman course.) The course was beautiful.  We must have passed over a hundred different vineyards.  Watching the people going in for their wine-tastings at these wineries, while I was baking in the hot sun was real tough.  I told myself I'll return another day for a more leisurely wine country experience.

I finished the ride in about 6.5 hrs.  Not bad.  This was my longest ride to date.  I even had to deal with a water bottle falling off, and my chain fell off 3 times during the first loop.  Amazing but it didn't fall during the second loop.  Perhaps I anticipated my gear shifts better.  (I better drop by the bike shop and get a full tune-up.)  Afterwards we had a nice dinner at one of the rental homes.  Then it was off to bed for the Sunday swim and run.

Sunday was a much hotter day than Saturday.  Temperatures approached 90 degrees.  We started with a nice swim in the Russian River.  Then I ran 1 loop of the actual Vineman Course.  ( 3 loops on Full Vineman )  I thought Arkady and I would return to LA immediately after the run so I stopped after 1 loop.  But I probably could have and should have run a 2nd loop.  It turns out that as an Ironteam, we waited until the last runner came in after their 2 loops on the course.  So I waited for 2.5 hours!  But it was fun.  I had a coke, some recovery stuff, and even a couple ice cold beers!  Yummy.  After everyone returned from the run, it was off to lunch.  I was starving and had a real craving for MEAT!  So I ordered the "I Love Animals Burger."  I finished the whole plate!!! See photos below.

No comments:

Post a Comment