04-01-2025 Ride/Run

Had a pretty good night's sleep cold-wise, coughed a lot less but worried more about my disagreement with Ann. My head was whirling on this topic in the early morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Weather was dicey for rain but looked clear early on, so I headed out for a short bike ride, hoping to get it in before being rained on. Through the neighborhood to Matinal Rd, taking it over to W Bernardo Dr. This was an easy-paced ride for me. I rode up to RB Rd, turning right there and taking it up the hill to get to the 4S Ranch neighborhood. Extended route through that area, then I stayed on Paseo del Sur and took it down to Camino del Sur, turning left there and riding up the CdS bump slowly. Then I turned right on Via Azul to ride through that neighborhood. Another right on Via Inez, but this road dead-ended, so I backtracked to Via Presta and turned there. Right on Camino de la Rosa and left on Camino de la Luna, looking for a way to get deeper into the neighborhood, but many of the roads had security gates across them. The latter road went downhill and dead-ended into some kind of water treatment facility, where I turned around and rode back up to Camino de la Rosa, turning right there and then right again on Lazanja Dr, which got me back to Camino del Sur. From here, it was the old normal way home via RB Rd and W Bernardo Dr. It took a long time to get through that intersection due to morning traffic patterns. The rain did indeed hold out, I think there was one brief period where I got a little sprinkling. However, the roads were consistently wet until near the end, and that also slowed me down a bit.

Avg speed = 14.2 mph (14.3 mph). Total mileage = 20.7 mi

Avg power = 119 W. Weighted avg power = 148 W

Total elevation gain = 1360' (1480')

Avg heartrate = 121 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 29 (30)

Training Load = 70

Intensity = 67%

https://www.strava.com/activities/14049257996

When I got home, I did the dishes (there were a lot from Ann baking bread and making soup), then I went out into the backyard for another weeding session. Focused on cleaning out the rest of the other wood chip bed as well as the decomposed granite bed, and I got most of them both weeded, still work to do on the latter over by the fountain. I moved some of the soil I had taken from the raised bed onto the latter bed, and then I also weeded the raised bed near the fence and added some soil to even it out a little bit. Lost track of time a little bit but finished in time to have a shower and get ready for lunch with Linda and Gregory to talk about our Japan trip and offer some pointers. The ride to and from the restaurant with Ann was totally silent. Spent most of the afternoon reading in the office bedroom, took several little naps. I had finished M.R. Carey's Infinity Gate the previous day; this was a surprisingly good read from an author I hadn't heard of. It's the first in a series, and I'm looking forward to when the next book is published. I started 88 and 1 by Timothy Bourret, about the 88-game UCLA men's basketball winning streak, which is still an amazing accomplishment that will never be equaled, at least in men's basketball. The UConn women's streak of 111 games is also flat-out amazing. The book is basically a rehash of box scores with a couple of interviews thrown in, far from being even a good sports book. I talked myself into a run in the late afternoon, wasn't inclined to do it but persevered. Took the old neighborhood route from home, including the right turn onto Matinal Circle and Hohokum Way. Started out slow as it was uphill, but each succeeding mile was faster. Felt pretty good on the long gradual climb up W Bernardo Dr, and that set me up for a strong finish. Got a little help from having to wait for the light to change at Duenda Rd. It was quite breezy, and the wind direction appeared to change as I ran, wasn't clear where it was coming from. Felt cool at the start but hot and sweaty at the end, first time in a while that I finished a run this way.

Avg pace = 7:57/mi

Total distance = 3.48 mi

Elapsed moving time = 27:45

Avg heartrate = 144 bpm (Coospo)

Relative Effort = 28

https://www.strava.com/activities/14053874509

Went back and looked at my past running history to see how fast I was back in the day. In late 2014 and throughout most of 2015, I was running 3-4 miles at about 7:30 pace, sometimes faster. Still, it feels good to be 10 years older and just a little bit slower.