Tackling Del Valle

Cold mornings are back.  Even though the water is still warm, it's time to start training with the wetsuit again.  Yesterday, we met at Lake Del Valle for a swim, a ride, and a short run.  I really like Lake Del Valle and even though it's relatively close, I still feel like it's WAY out there.

Four of us met up for the swim.  Nate and Nick are the fasties so they swam off together.  Phil and I generally keep up with each other until I get caught in the weeds and reeds and start yelling profanities of the sort while random fisherman shake their heads at the crazy girl in the water.  Other than the weeds and a lovely wetsuit hickey right where you'd expect to find one planted on a teenager loitering around Arizona Mills Mall, I had a really good swim.  

Sun coming up over Lake Del Valle

After the swim, we headed out for the bike ride.  Del Valle Road is one bigass climb straight out of the gate.  Seriously, every time we ride out of Del Valle, I am in my little ring while still in the parking lot!  My goal was to get to the summit without stopping.  Finally!  I rode by myself the whole ride and just enjoyed my day.  We rode out to Sunol and turned around at the little store we have coined "the Coca Cola water stop" (where we had to stop and get Coke after our miserable ride to Tracy).  

Luckily, nobody needed any Coke on this ride.  I replenished my water and headed back. The downside to this route, is that it is that it is uphill the entire way back.  And then you have to face that climb again.  

One of the things I was working on yesterday was taking in more calories than usual.  Recognizing I don't take in enough, I am hoping I nailed down my nutrition yesterday with how much I need per hour and really made a concentrated effort to take in calories every 10 minutes, which I think worked.  

Start of Del Valle Rd

I was trying hard so hard to make it to the top of Del Valle Rd again without stopping on the way back, but my sunscreen won out.  When I pretty much had both my eyes closed from the stinging of the sunscreen running into my eyes, I had to stop to wipe them.  During my climb up at whopping 3.7mph I got to enjoy a group of four skateboarders hauling ass down the road in their V formation.  A car would follow closely behind them and take them back up to to the top.  I got to watch them descend Del Valle Rd three times while I climbed up.  When I got to the top they said, "You made it!  We cheat.  We have a car that drives us back up!"

Once I pulled back into the park, I did a very short brick run and I don't think my legs ever felt so jello-y before.  After just finishing a climb like that only five minutes prior, my glutes and hamstrings were trashed.  But when it was all over, I ran into the lake.  I'm sure the kids were wondering about what the strange girl in all her clothes was doing in the water, but it felt wonderful!  And, I kept repeating Ice Cube in my head, "Today was a good day"

So inviting....