Cowtown week 8

Total lost week.
Christmas was Tuesday so track day was Monday. But I didn't see the point in getting up at 4:50 on a vacation day.
So I went to do the run in the afternoon when Terri went to the gym. This meant that I would be running on the 1604 Acces road over by Rogers ranch. Pretty hilly. After a warm up I went for the first interval-a 1:30 400m.
Towards the end I felt a sharp pain in my rt achillies. It got worse in the next interval so I shut it down. Got a little swim and a little lift. By Thursday, tempo day I thought I was better but found out by mi 1.5 that I was not. Shut down again. By Thursday night I was sick. Cedar fever or a cold or something but as of Saturday night I am still a mess. Might as well knock it all out at the same time.
There is a flu going around. I got my shot but it isn't fool proof.
I guess I am at the 1/2 way point more or less. November and December are done. January and february to go.

Cowtown week 7

Spotty week. But much of it was my fault.
After going a bit too hard last Saturday, I took Sunday off. Then I had to spend 8hrs in a car on monday for work. So Monday was rest as well, but pretty stressful.
On Tuesday, I hit the track for 6x800m on 2 mi. Rest. I was supposed to be 3:15 or 3:20, but I went 3:00 for the first round without trying too. I think I was just more rested than I am used to being and the pace just came out.
But when the bell rang for round 2, I was not recovered. I still hit round 2 at 3:00, but shortly after that I quit for the day. I just isn't have it mentally after the stress of work.
The rest of the week was better. I got in a Crossfit class, an 8mi tempo run, a 1500n swim, a lazy hour bike ride and some heavy deadlifts. but the big event of the week was saturday's run. This was a "recovery" week so the long run was to be 13mi at 8:15 pace. Some quick math told me that this would be about a 1:48 13.1. So I decided to go out hard and if I felt good that I would stretch it to 13.1 and see what I could do.
50min and 30 sec later, I hit the turn around point but the run back was up hill. I crossed the line at 1:41:43. Which is a 4min pr. I had a gel before the start and another at the turn but that is all.
Not a sanctioned course. But it was Valero trail and it is marked every quarter mile. It was also about 36 degrees.
Today, Sunday I did some clean and jerk work but didn't feel snappy. Stopped at 135lbs when I was having to press out.
Track day is Monday next week. Lets see if I am recovered.

Cowtown week 6

Had another solid week of training.
Total miles have more or less leveled off and now times are improving.
This week was capped off by a 2:53 20mi run which was a 3min pr over the 20mi time from 2 weeks ago.
These long runs start to get hard between miles 6 and 12. But I am not having trouble holding the pace. The truth is that if I can put another 6 mi in at around the same pace, I will hit my dream goal more or less.
This week is a recovery week. In addition to my long run dropping back to 13mi or so, coach has asked me to take more rest this week. So I will be off completely today (Sunday) and at least one other day. Most likely it will end up being Monday because I have to drive out to the woodlands and back for work. I could get a session in before I head out but it would mean getting up extra early and that does not seem like it would be in keeping with the spirit of a recovery week.

I feel good right now. Really, I wish the race was in late January instead of late February. Nothing really hurts and I am hitting every split of every session.

Cowtown week 5.

Thursday was rough. Simple 6mi tempo with 2@8:35 then 3@7:30 and 1 easy. With 70degree weather and so much humidity that my feet slipped on the ground, hitting the times was rough.
So I skipped Thursday Crossfit. Friday was 4 Rnds of 200m swim, 20 push-ups and 20 sit-ups on a 6min send off.
Saturday was 18mi at 2:36:30 or about an 8:42 pace. Valero trail is pretty flat and I felt great for 6, ok for 6 and worked hard for the last 6.
Sunday I felt ok and did 10x 1 rep bear @95 lbs and 5 toes to bar.

Cowtown week 4

Woah. A 20mi run in week 4 of 16.
And pr's for the 4mi and 20mi distance in the same week. And a 17mi on Sunday followed by a 20 on the next Saturday.
I am pretty wiped.
Sunday was blurry. My stomach got sour Sunday evening and remains so as of Monday morning.
This week is a recovery week. And I am looking forward to it!
I don't see how I will make up enough speed to hit 3:45 though. I can see 3:55 or so. But it might have been the warm weather that slowed me down on Saturday.
It will be interesting to see how I do at the track in Tuesday. I was on the trainer this morning and was a little flat.

20mi lead up food

Had trouble last week with gi on 17mi run.
So I will log food day before.
I am trying to follow the core diet nutrition plan.
Day before:
Big breakfast: 2 bacon and egg tacos and a bagel w cream cheese
Balance bar
Turkey sandwich
Vitamin water
Salmon w couscous
A little ice cream. Very little...
Morning of: apple sauce and protein powder. 1:10 prior to start. Couldn't get myself up 3 hrs prior to a 6am training run.
1 cup coffee
No bm
Ran fine. 20mi in 2:56:36 in some pretty warm weather 70 or so.
Drank a couple bottles of perform. I had a pickle juice sport and a powergel 15min before starting.
Then a gel every 30min for the first 120min. After that I had a clif block every 2mi from 2:15 to the end. Stomach started to sour a bit by the end. Didn't like the blocks. I will try 1 more gel next time. That way I will only start the blocks at 2:45 to 3 hrs into the race and there won't be much further to go at that point.

Took a day off

We ran 1k repeats on Tuesday and I went to Crossfit Tuesday afternoon.
By Tuesday night, I was sleepwalking.
So I skipped bike intervals this morning in favor of rest. Extra sleep would have been better but with little ones and work that wasn't really an option. By lunch, I was scheming to swim or ride a spin bike. Then I would stand up and feel how rickety my legs were and I would reconsider.
Foot feels pretty good. Got a 6mi tempo run in rthe morning.

This post was from last week. But this week I am in exactly the same spot.
Track Tuesday morning then Crossfit at lunch = big soreness Wednesday morning and no morning trainer.
I'm not sure what if anything to do about this. For today at least I will reassess again at lunch.

Cowtown week 3

This week was thanksgiving. I only worked Monday and Tuesday which was nice.
I got in 3 strength sessions, 2 bikes and a short swim in addition to my 3 runs.
The track session was 1mi, 2mi them 2x800. The target pace was 7:05 or so. Which was a little slow but people were still feeling Sunday's long run and I wasn't complaining.
Thursday's tempo run was moved to Friday because of the holiday. 1mi easy, 5 hard and 1 easy. This was easy for me. I had a great run and my tempo miles were ahead of pace.
Sunday was 17mi of rolling hills. Target pace was between 8:47 and 9:05. I was 8:56 which is pretty well in the middle. That includes a stop to water the plants at about mile 8.
But this run was tough mentally. It started to feel hard from about mile 7 or so on. My hr was around 155 for most of the run. The last couple of miles I picked up the pace and my hr went with it. This I think was a mistake. I'm not sure it is a good idea to let training sessions become races. Gonna talk with mike about that.
My real concern is my right foot. I have some swelling and tenderness under the ball of my right foot. It came on a couple of weeks ago and gets better as I get farther from my long run if the week.
For now I will watch and wait. I have built so many miles so early that if I have to shut down for a week or so I can. For sure I will take a long hard taper.
My achilles feel great and my sinuses are good.
After the 17, I took the kids on a hike.

Cowtown week 2

This week was a bit of a fire drill. Work was tough and the whole house got a cold. As a result, I missed a bike and a Crossfit.
The 3 runs went fine though. Did some 800's on the track on Tuesday. On Thursday I ran 1 easy, 5 at just under 8min/mi and another easy. Saturday, Terri raced a 10k and the kids did a fun run so I was Sherpa. So long run was on Sunday. 15mi at 9:06. Which was a few sec fast but close enough. Avg'd hr was 149. I was practically sleeping.

Long run paces from mike are slower than I am used to. But I am also not used to running this long this early.
So we will see how things shake out.

Cowtown week 1 wrap

Last week was week 1 of 16 for cowtown. I am training for a 3:45. Working with Alamo endurance.
Hit Crossfit 2x last week, got on the trainer 2x (1vo2 max and 1 FTP set)
And 4 runs- 1 interval set, 1 hill set, 1 tempo and 1 long run. Tempo was 6mi and long run was 13 @ 9min/mi.
I had 2 full rest days and feel pretty good after the first session if week 2.

Cowtown training plan

Ok, yesterday I mapped out the next 4 months. Subject to change of course.
I am looking at 4 runs, 2 bikes and 3 Crossfit sessions per week. Set out like this:
Monday- rest. Start the week out right!
Tuesday: track session in the morning, Crossfit at lunch.
Wednesday: bike vo2max, brick run
Thursday: tempo run in the morning. Crossfit at lunch.
Friday: Crossfit or rest
Saturday: long run
Sunday: threshold bike session.
Wednesday will get crowded as the runs get longer. Might move some of that run time to Friday once that starts to happen. The bike vo2 session only takes 40 min but I could see that run stretching to 8+mi at a slow pace so that day could get long. Will have to figure that one out. And I don't want to get up before 6 bc I will be up before 5 on tues/thurs to run with Alamo endurance.

Next year vs this year

So I started writing just about 1 year ago. My goals for 2012 were;
1)Complete a sub 4hr 26.2
2)Complete a sub 6hr 70.3
3)sign up for a 140.6

I missed goal #1 in feb. after a pretty solid train up I got sick and was out of commission till a few days before the race. Goal #2 I crushed last month in Austin. My hope is that I learned something about training and fueling that I can keep going forward.
And #3) was met when I got a slot for imfl during the 1minute that registration was open!

This off season I am going to make a couple of changes as I gear up for cowtown.
- less swimming. Maybe even none. I will pick it back up in march.
- shorter, more intense bike sessions. With the trainer and power meter, I want to focus on pushing vo2max and threshold power. 2 sessions per week. 1 hr per session.
- more running. Add a 4th day with a mix of z1 to z3 work.
-cf 2 or 3x per week with a strength bias.
I am thinking of dropping endurance nation till after cowtown. It would save $400 and I don't think I will follow their plan anyway.

This time next year I will be really tired

Because I signed up for imfl. I was by the computer a few minutes before registration opened. I even practiced a few times on imtx. So when I hit refresh as 12:01 I was ready. By 12:04 I was $650 poorer but I was signed up.

Austin 70.3 Race Report

The basics: 5:41:47 with 43min swim, 2:53 bike and 1:56 run. 84^th in AG out of 286.

Backround:

I got the endurance bug a few years back from my assistant. She had just completed a marathon. I could not wrap my head around it. She didn’t look like a superhero. When I asked her how she did it, she said "oh it wasn't that big a deal. I walked when I got tired."

That simple statement flipped a switch in me. Of course! you just put one foot in front of the other. It can take as long as it takes.

So I set out to prepare to run a local marathon in the summer of 2007. But I am a portfolio manager by trade and in late 2007, our whole industry fell apart. The Marathon goal got downgraded to a ½. Just didn’t have the time to train.

But I completed my first 13.1 in 2:22. I think I might have cried at the finish line.

Fast forward a few years. I lost 25 lbs with the help of Crossfit and a good coach. My 13.1 pr dropped to 1:45. I ran a handful of marathons but couldn’t get faster than 4:20. I always cramped. Somewhere between mile 16 and 20 I would lock up and have to hobble in.

Last spring, I was fed up with marathons so I decided to try triathlon as a way to get through the texas summer. I did a few sprints, a couple of Oly's and Austin 70.3 with the help of Crossfit Endurance. I also ran a couple of 26.2's I cramped in all 3 long events. I just resigned myself to it.

My Austin 70.3 time was 6:07 with a 41:30 swim, a 3:07 bike and a 2:11 run (welcome to crampy town!)

This spring, I decided that I wanted to try more time on my bike and less time powercleaning to get ready for another triathlon season. In my search for a coaching system I found EN's website. I read about how EN Rx'd higher intensity over fewer hours than most other programs. Given my background, that sounded good. After the 5 day free look, I figured I would give it a try.

EN was a tough transition. The hours were about the same but wow, so much biking! And we actually ran slowly for extended periods of time.

5 Months later and in addition to the training sessions (which make up about 10% of what I get from EN) I have learned about power, pacing, what a box is and how to stay in it, how to fuel a 70.3 (thx core diet. worth the money 10x in my case) how to ride hills and how to love pickle juice. I have a few hundred coaches who all know their way around a course.

Pre race:

Core diet suggests a big breakfast the day before a 70.3. This worked out great for me. The Austin race is only 90 miles up the road so I spent Saturday morning making pancakes and eggs with my 3yr old and 6 yr old girls. We had a blast. They were not used to seeing me early on a Saturday morning. By the time we were done, cleaned up and I had them out the door with mom it was time for me to head up to Austin. The Austin race site is in the middle of nowhere. It made more sense from an SAU perspective for me to go do this race solo. So I packed up the car and drove up to Austin.

I got to Austin later than I had planned. I also forgot about what a logistical cluster this race it. 2 transitions about a mile or two apart. Lots of lines. By the time I got signed in, dropped my run bag in at T2 it was getting on in the afternoon. I went to bike check in and was advised to carry my bike to the rack because folks were getting flats on the way to the rack. Yikes! I put the toe covers on my shoes (It was going to be 46 degrees at start time) and set my bike up. I decided to hold my bike bag and the rest of my bike supplies overnight so that I could practice getting changed a few times. Plus I didn’t like the idea of leaving it all out overnight.

I had planned to get a short swim in at the race site. This pre race swim has become important to me this year. I had done 4 races this season. A sprint, 2 olys and Mt Tremblant 70.3. In the first race of the season, a non-wetsuit Oly, I had major swim freak out. I could not get my breathing under control. It was ugly. Lots of dog paddle. If there had been a canoe near by I would have quit. So for the next 3 races I made a point of getting to the venue a day or so early and swimming on the course. Just playing around in the water. No more swim freak out. Standing at the edge of the water Saturday afternoon in Austin, I decided not to go for  a swim. It was really cold. No one else was swimming. I was afraid of getting in trouble etc etc. I put my hands in the water and reminded myself that I had raced this course before.

That night I stayed off my feet. No kids. It was pretty relaxing.

I got up at 4:45. Core diet said a ton of apple sauce and some protein powder 3hrs before race time. So at 5am I got after it. 3 cups is a TON of applesauce. I puttered around for another hour or so and then packed up the car and headed for the race site. Parking is near the finish line so you take busses to the start/T1 area. I misjudged the amount of time it would take to get from parking through the bus lines at over to T1 to set up. When I got off the bus I heard the announce say that T1 would close in 15 min. Yikes. Ok. Stay calm.

I headed for T1 and was turned away because I had not been body marked. Go get body marked and come back. 10 minutes to T1 closing. Running around looking for body mark. 2 minutes later I came to the conclusion that there just wasn’t time. I had on a sweatshirt over my wetsuit due to the cold. So I just put myself in the center of a pack of people on the way in to T1 and when they asked if I had been marked I said yes. Not much I could do at that point. The mistake had been made hours earlier when I didn’t mark myself and get there earlier.

I get the bike loaded up and as an after thought I squeeze the tires. WHAT!?!?!?! The rear is dead flat. 5 minutes till t1 closes. Take the rear wheel of and head for the mechanic. I am like 8^th in line. Everyone has flats. The race starts and the pro's head out. Macca was there. So was Potts. Never saw em. Ate my power bar during the 20 minute that I stood in line. Drank pickle juice bottle #1. I could have changed the tire myself but I figured that I would let the pro do it. And really, my race didn’t start till I crossed the start line so I might as well relax and have everything ready before I cross the timing mat.

As it turned out, I got the wheel back on and got down to the water as my wave was going off. Time to race.

Swim: 43:06, Men's 40 to 44 AG rank 165/286.

What a mess. About 50m in, I got a lung full of water and the swim freak out returned. Chest tightness, couldn’t catch my breath. I looked for a canoe. I was not going to race. The panic is too much and the thoughts of being one of those poor folks who drown were getting the better of me.

No canoe to be found. The closest floating object was the first buoy so I swam to it and held on for a bit. After settling down a little, I decided to swim to the next buoy and do the same thing. At this point, I had decided that not only was I not going to go for IMFL next year, I was never doing another triathlon. I was day dreaming about cyclocross. I made it to buoy 2 and held on again. I went for #3. By the time I got to #3, I realized that it was the first turn of the triangle. It was kind a crowded so I decided to press on. As I worked my way along side #2, I calmed down. No more stops. fewer breaks. As I rounded the turn onto triangle side #3 I was myself again. Getting annoyed with the people frog kicking in front of me.

When I came out of the water and saw 43 minutes, a few thoughts struck me. The first was: wow. crappy swim time. I have dug myself a hole already. The second was that the difference between my best HIM swim ever and my worst HIM ever was 3 minutes. At my ability level, it just dose not matter. For me, success on the swim is more about how comfortable and relaxed I am because the times just don’t vary much. Lastly, I will never omit the pre race swim again.

Looking at my splits in the water, the first section with the stops I was swimming 2min/100y, side 2 was 1:49/100y and side 3 was 1:45.

The really shocking thing to me now is that 121 people in my age group managed to swim slower than I did.

T1 was long. But I knew it would be. It was cold out so there was more clothing to put on and I would need to carry my bike out of transition given the spontaneous flats that were occurring. Plus, I wanted to down pickle juice bottle #2 and a powergel before I left the rack.

5 minutes. So between swim and bike, I was 2:30 behind last year's pre EN pace.

Bike: 2:53, AG rank 92/286

My Sunday rides took a huge turn for the better after talking with the core diet folks. They upped my cal intake majorly and it really agreed with me. So I was curious as to how this would play out. On the bike I drank 4 bottles of perform and had a powergel every 30 min.

My Garmin got wonky very early on and I wasn’t getting 5mi splits after the first 10 miles. But it was displaying 30s power so I just tried to ride as close to target as I could. I rode from gel break to gel break. My focus was mostly on staying on power and drinking the bottle I had before the next aid station. I did not once look at my speed or my time. Just power.

Core Diet and EN suggest that if you are drinking enough, you will need to pee once on a 70.3 bike. I went 3 times.

The course is pretty ugly. The roads are pretty bad. In many places all we had was the shoulder and some cones separating us from traffic.

After Mt Tremblant, I may be spoiled for life when it comes to roads and bike leg traffic management.

I felt good coming off the bike but I didn’t really know what my split was. T2 was 3:52. Stopped to have yet another gel and pickle juice #3. I let the sun block folks work me over because by this time the sun was out and it was getting warm.

The Run: 1:56:35 AG rank of 84/286

The run is a 3 loop course. rolling mix of road and dirt. No steep hills like Mt Tremblant had, but no flat sections either.

My plan was to run by heart rate. I wanted to be around 150bpm for lap one with a cap at 155. For lap 2 I would let that drift to an avg of 155 with a cap of 160. Lap 3 would be whatever I had left with the real "line being at mile 11. But the real deal with the run was that I was either going to cramp or I wasn’t. If I did, I would have a slight PR and another "what if" race. If I didn’t cramp, well, who knows.

Lap 1 was an avg hr of 147 with a max of 154. It took a mile or two to get my HR up to target. With the constantly rolling terrain, my mile splits were all over the map. I just kept my eyes on my heart rate.

Lap 2 was an avg hr of 153 with a max of 157. I felt the urge a couple of times to go harder on this lap. But I have never gotten to the end of one of these without blowing up so I just kept my eyes on my heart rate and tried to relax.

Lap 3 was an avg hr of 158 with a max of 165. I kept my eye on it for the first mile or so. Having gone a couple of loops already, I knew where on the course I felt like I could let my legs go a bit and where I would want to settle. Once I got to mile 11 I quit looking at my watch and just tried to push. I was worried about cramps. Usually I was cramping badly by this point and every now and then the thought would creep into my head. When the cramping thoughts came, I tried to replace them with something else. Almost like I figured that if I let myself think about cramping, I would cramp. I did have a secret 4^th bottle of pickle juice in a flask tucked in my tri suit pocket just in case.

I still didn’t really have much of an idea as to what time I was running. I figured that I was going to run about 2hrs but I had no idea what my bike time had been. All I knew was that my wave went off 30 minutes after the pros kicked off the race.

The finish line in Austin is inside an old rodeo arena (of course…). You run through a tunnel and it takes a second for your eyes to adjust and then you see the arch. I knew that I would see the clock on the arch and I was hoping hard that it would read something less than 6:30. Under 6:30 would mean a PR and a time that started with a 5 which was my goal for the season. My super secret everything goes right goal was 5:45 but after the swim and t1 I figured that it was totally unrealistic.

As I went under the arch I saw 6:11. I was too foggy to do the math but I knew I had my 5 something time. It would be another 45 minutes before I got to the internet to see that I had gone 5:41. A 26 minute improvement over last year and a time that was not even on my radar screen.

The EN log in screen advertises: "Take 30 minutes off your 70.3 time with less training time". Well, I guess 26 minutes is close enough.

I learned a lot this year. Mostly about execution. Over the outseason I certainly plan on improving my fitness but I can see significant improvement coming next year just from fixing the execution errors that popped up in this race. I WILL ALWAYS SWIM ON THE COURSE THE DAY BEFORE. I WILL GET A REGULAR BIKE COMPUTER. I WILL GET TO TRANSITION SET UP EARLY. I WILL BE CONFIDENT IN THE LAST 1/3 OF THE RUN.

For now, I will rest and take a break. When I do come back, I will get back to crossfit for a while. I miss my friends and picking up heavy things and dropping them. But I know now that I will train with EN next season. And I also know now that it is possible for me to complete a long race without blowing up.

And I am going to register for my first IM next weekend when IMFL opens for 5 or 10 minutes.

Thanks to everyone in EN for your help. Especially the Summer HIM Training Group. Yall taught me a lot in a very short period of time.

26min pr.

5:41. Best bike/run ever. Had a flat tire overnight and almost missed my wave start.
After that, a 43min disaster of a swim complete with anxiety and rest stops at the first two buoys. But in 70.3, it all comes down to bike/run.
I will get a full rr up soon. For now I taking a little break. Even from talking to myself.

Race morning

530am in Austin before 70.3.
It is 46 degrees.
Over the past 12 hrs I have gotten gradually less brave regarding what to wear on the bike.
I started with just adding arm warmers and toe covers. I am now up to a jacket and lobster gloves as well.
It was suggested that I keep my wetsuit on as long as possible after I get out of the water. Go ahead and run to the rack with it on. Makes good sense.
It has also been suggested that we don't race to test our fitness. We race to test execution.
So with that, here are my execution goals:
Swim:
Stay inside. Swim as short a distance as I can.
T1: dont sprint to your bike. Put on as much clothing as you want
Bike: first 15 min look for 170w. Slowly inch up from there.
T2 this one should be shorter. Still, don't rush. Rushing could dump you into the run too hyped up.
Run: hr below 155 for first lap. After first lap, decide where you are. But no higher than 160 for lap 2.
Ok. Time to get moving.

Checked in

Busy day. Made big pre race breakfast at home with the kids. Scrambled eggs and pancakes with the help of a 3 yr old and a 6 yr old. We had fun but trashed the kitchen. Luckily mom was there to keep order and make sure everything was edible. After we were done, I told Terri that this must be what normal families do on weekends. I am always riding or running in he morning so I wouldn't know.
Actually, this whole taper week has been family catch up time. I made the bus stop 3 times and was at each kid's school.
The Austin 70.3 is a hassle in terms of logistics. At least compared to my tremblant. You have to drive everywhere. Lodging is 10mi away. And the town support is nothing compared to immt.
I got my t2 bag packed and dropped it off. In t2 I was reminded how this run is always slightly uphill or slightly downhill. It will not have the same ft of climb as immt but it just isnt ever flat.

My bike is checked in but I am going to wait till the morning to set up t1. Or maybe tonight.
Right now I have my shows with tow covers clipped in but the run to bike out looks a little sketchy. So that might change.
I need to re read the core diet list of what to eat for the rest of the day, go get supplies and then hunker down for the evening. I should take advantage of the fact that I am here solo to lay really low. There is no one here that I need to take care of/ look out for. I should take advantage of that.

Thursday of the week that would not end

Race in 3 days.
There is a front blowing in that will drop temps by 20 degrees.
So the race day high will be 70 instead of 90.
It is also kicking my allergies up. I am going to start taking my allergy meds today as well as the zinc just in case.
I don't think my allergies really impact my racing. They just make me a little more achy.
This week is dragging by really slowly. Today feels like it should be Friday. But yesterday felt like it should have been Friday as well.
Training wise, I am recovered and ready to go.
It has been nice to spend extra time with the fam this week. I was able to be at Ellie's bus stop in the morning twice, got to go on her evening field trip and was able to make an event at cc's school. Good stuff.

Up off the mat

My energy is back.
Monday through Friday was rough in terms of energy/attitute.
Felt depressed actually.
Very low energy.
But I am starting to pull out. Had a good session yesterday. Last real vol before Austin. Pretty much had my fastest time ever on the 34mi loop around my house. Ran a few mi as well. And I practiced grabbing bottles while riding.
Everything i in position for Austin. Now I just need to take it easy this week and I should be in my best spot do far going into an "a" race.

I am a little bummed that my kids won't be there to see me. But that is a good bit to ask. Besides, they were there for the cowtown marathon and they will be there at the end of imfl.

So health is good. Nutrition is set and I know what my goals are for each section of the race.
Swim- take an inside line. Behind the midpoint of my wave. But close to the line. I am gonna get caught and swam over by 1 or 2 waves but it will end up being a shorter swim. Every extra 50m is an extra minute.
In t1, I am not going to run hard. I want to focus on keeping my hr down. Drink a pickle juice, eat a gel, put other pj flask and run gels in my suit pocket, put on arm coolers and go.
On the bike, I want to get ahead on hydration. Look for avg power starting at 170 for the first 5mi and moving up to 180 by the second 1/2 of the ride.
T2 is super short. Visor, glasses and go.
Run is by hr. 150 to 155 for lap1. 155 to 160 for lap 2. Lap 3 the cap in off.

Training is not racing.

My mental tank is at zero. I am taki h today off. My body actually feels ok but my head is tired.
This feels a bit familiar though. Something about this point in the training cycle. I am about 10 days out from my race. The vol has backed off a bit but will be even lower next week.
I can see the finish line for the season and my brain may be gathering itself for one last big push.
Swimming is the hardest. I have felt this mental tiredness coming on in the pool for a week now. Group runs and bike have been easier to keep focused on.
But when the mental heaviness increased last night and then even more this morning, I knew I was taking the day off. My hunch is that if I rest enough, my body will get antsy and talk my brain into moving it around a little. Worst case, I have gotten sick at this point in my other two main races this year so let's rest and avoid that!

Rr#2 in the books

Race rehearsals are a chance to see what is working and what is not within the context of a workout that won't take too long to recover from.
For a 70.3, the race rehearsals are a race intensity ride followed by a 6mi run at the intensity of the first 6 mi of the run.
Saturday I had rr2 the last dress rehearsal before Austin.
I had roger it done early because Ellie needed to be at gymnastics by 10. So I aimed for a 4am wake up a d 5am start. By 9am it should be all over.
I set up transition in the garage. On the bike I had 3x24oz perform and 4 gels. In transition I had a gel and a pickle juice. In the run I had another 24oz perform and another gel.
Since I was supposed to have 3.5 bottles on the bike I downed one with a gel right before I headed out.
My goal was avg power of about 175w with as little variation as possible.
At 5am in October in boerne texas, it is dark. Really dark. I had never been out in this kind of dark. Then it started raining. I guess that helped explain the dark.
For the first 90min on the bike, I had to take it easy. I had to coast down hills because I couldn't really see very far in front of me. As the ride went on a d the visibility improved, I was able to pick it up a bit. As a result, the ride was a little underpowered and the last hour was a little overpowered.
I was a couple of minutes slower than I wanted to be and the power levels were to variable but in the circumstances I think I did the best I could.
I peed twice. Once about 30min in and once at about 90 min.
Back at the house I changed, peed again, drank a pickle juice, ate a gel, grabbed my run bottle and got back out. T took about 3min.
In the run, I felt good from the start. Like the ride didn't really take anything out of me. I dropped my bottle on a corned and did out and back 1mile loops around it. I stopped for a drink each time I went by and ate a gel at 30min. For pacing on the run, I wanted to target a heart rate of 150, allowing it to drift up to 155 going up hills but slowing down if it got that high.
I was able to put down 6mi at a little under 9min per mi. With no real problems at all.
When it was all over, I really felt fine. Not at all like I did in the past. I know I am more trained but my guess in that the increased calories and fluid are the main reason.
Over the 4hrs and 62mi, I consumed 4.5 24oz bottles of perform and 8 caffeinated power gels. My weight prior was 165 and after was 161.
Today is a rest day. I slept in till 7:45, then went to church with the kids and took them to breakfast with my dad.
Even though I didn't execute on the bike like I would have wanted, I felt great on the run.
I really like the new bike position. And running is going well.
Now I just need to put a decent swim together and I should be in position to pr in 2 weeks.

Rr#2 coming up.

Tomorrow is my last race rehearsal before Austin.
Putting together these big events is always a logistical effort.
In this case, it looks like I will be getting up at 4am so that I can be on the road by 5 so that I can be done by 9 so that I can take Ellie to gymnastics by 10.
And today I need to get gels, a gate clicker and applesauce so I may or may not get to swim.
Had a tough run yesterday. Had tu push really hard to hit target interval paces and today my lower back is complaining. So, again resting today might be a good idea. If anything next week could be a little swim heavy if I feel like I need to make up for it.

3 2 1

3hr interval ride Saturday. 55mi in 2:54.
Felt good. I used the new fueling plan from the folks at core diet.
Big change. Instead of 3x24oz of perform, I had 3.5 plus a gel every 30min.
The extra cal and caffeine put me in a good spot and I got home feeling great.
Then Sunday I took stepdad out for a ride to Helotes. Comedy of errors. First, the temp had dropped to the upper 40's. And he didn't bring cold weather riding clothes. I have a little so we cobbled together what we could.
Then about 1/4 of the way into the ride, going down a steep descent the front end of my bike started to shake. 35mph. Big time shakes. I managed to get out of aero and come to a stop. The front end had come loose. As I was looking at it, Sandford realized that one of his cleats is about to fall off.
So we limped in to the bike shop in Helotes for repairs. And jackets!
Today was a 1hr run. 3mi easy, 2ni hard 1mi easy. 53min.
In the afternoon, I got new bars so that I could get more forward. The bike feels and looks great. And I am broke!
Let's get out to the track tomorrow.

Ism

Sent the dash back. After spending a week with the ism race it was clear that they were pretty much the same.
Except the ism was 250 cheaper.
So I got an aero helmet too.
The weather is cooling lately and I have been running more. Last week was 10h.5 total with 5 on the bike, 1.5 at the pool, one lifting and 3 running.
I have 2 more big weeks before the vol starts to drop. In fact, weekend after next is the final dress rehearsal. After that, i will take a rest day and then focus on intensity and rest to avoid getting sick.
After the saddle change, my bike position is really different. I had to get a stem that is 2cm longer and flip the pads on my bars to get the front end far enough forward. Now the extensions are too short. Gotta take the bike in to the fitter next week.
In the mean time I will enjoy the cooler weather and the instant run speed improvement that it brings.

Dash saddle

I was bored the other day so I decided to do the 2 week demo of the dash tri saddle.
It is crazy expensive but I figured that if it worked as advertised it might be worth it and in the mean time it would put me on my bike a little more while I evaluate the seat.
I ride a sella italia right now with a pretty deep cutout but towards the end of a long weekend of riding, I have issues with my bits. I also have some lower back pain which I thought might be related to my bits pain in that when the bits hurt, I rotate my hips back to take pressure off them which in turn puts more pressure on my lower back.

So 10 days later and it is clear I will not be going back to the sella or any other traditional saddle. After a little fiddling with saddle position I noticed a massive change in bits comfort and hip rotation.
The hip rotation put my upper body forward so I may need a longer stem but the end result is a lower position with more comfort in aero.
The dash is not that comfortable when on the pursuit bars. But in aero it is great.
And it changes my body position relative to the pedals. I feel much more aligned from head to toe over the pedals. The ride feels much more like a front recumbent bike.
The dash is stupid expensive though.
So before I commit I am going to demo ism and see if I can get the same effect for 1/2 the price.

Not for lack of effort.

Followed up last week's rest with a week of big vol. about 12.5 hrs.
Gonna try and get one more heavy week in and then cut back again for a week as I push towards Austin in late October.
I sure do miss Crossfit. I miss oly lifting most of all. And the people.
But
I am tired of race results that are disappointing and wondering what I could do if I trained in a more traditional way. So let's keep going.
My Saturday ride has ended up being a half iron bike once a week. Intervals instead of smooth power. But 56 mi on a bike is becoming normal.
So, 55mi yesterday. Today was rude to the lake, swim, ride back.
Not gonna miss my bike over the next couple of days.

Tri rock oly

Descent race. Swam 1670m according to garmin.
I am not swimming wide any more. So folks better watch out.

Day before Austin oly

Terri and I are in Austin for the weekend. To celebrate her birthday and so that I can race the tri rock Austin oly.
Today I walked all over the place. Ton of walking. 5 or 6mi.
To the water to get a practice swim in. With Terri to the check in and bike rack. Shopping w Terri.
The practice swim was great though.
I went to the swim out ramp and just played around. There were lots of folks there with their dogs throwing balls in the water. At one point, I had a retriever swim out to me add escort me back to the ramp. He was saving me.
This was all good. I have not felt relaxed the past two races that I have had in this water. Not sure why. But I felt very relaxed today. And I will have positive memories to revisit when the pre race nerves set in tomorrow.
The run from the bike rack to the mount line is a monster. Long and mixed surfaces. Grasses and sidewalk.
I don't know if I should put on Ike shoes in t1 or leave them on the bike.
I will walk around the area tomorrow morning without shoes and see how the grass feels. Last year it was dirt due to the drought. This year there is grass but I dont know about thorns and such.
Terri asked me what my goal was for tomorrow. Simple answer is under 2:40. But that might be out of my control. So here are my controllable goals for tomorrow:
Swim: pace myself do that I do not take any breaks.
T1- rubber band the shoe
Bike- more than 20mph.
T2- not much to it.
Run - gonna try and be more consistent. I had a decent run time in may but I ran my hr up to high and faded at the end because I had to walk a few time. So this run I will be watching pace and heart rate. Max of about 160 for the first 2mi. 163 to 165 for the next two then 170 for the last two. 8:30 is fine pace wise as well for the first 3 or 4 mi. Either one will be the limiter early on. My avg pace was about 8:30 for the middle 4 miles last race. My chip time says I was faster but I think the course was short. My gps says I was 8:30 ish on avg with miles everywhere from 8 to 9.
Ready to go.

Tapering for Austin

Today is Thursday. I race tri rock Austin on Monday.
So I am tapering a bit. Sunday was scheduled rest then this week on my 70.3 plan was a testing week so the vol was lighter anyway.
I have even made it to a couple I Crossfit classes! Tri bodies are pretty unattractive and I can see myself developing one.
Anyway, Saturday and Sunday will be light for my 1/2 iron plan and I will rest Tuesday but then I plan to be backin the swing on Wednesday.
As for Austin, I really don't know what to expect. If the course measures the same as the earlier oly, I can see getting into the 2:30's. I think I am running smarter, swimming better and transitioning quicker.
BUT the course measurement might not be the same.
So, here is what I can control:
I want to get a practice swim in. It can be the day before. Fine. I just want to have been in that water. I think it will calm me down. Ideally, I just want to swim steady the whole way. If the course is long, fine. If I have to go wide, fine. I just want to swim straight through.
The bike seems like a straighter course than captex. But with a little more hill.
I really don't know what to expect. I am worried that I will not bring enough intensity.
On the run, I want to go by heart rate and cap myself at 160 for the first 4.2mi.
Last time in Austin, I had to walk a few times. I would like to avoid that this time.

Race rehearsal and gear shift

This weekend I did an early race rehearsal for Austin. It it still 9 weeks away but I wanted to take a first draft and see where I was.
I rode a 55mi loop around my house with about 2500ft of climb. About 2x the Austin course but it was the best I could find. The ride was meant to be steady effort, practice nutrition keep hr in check.
It went quite well. Time was 2:57 so I was right where I wanted to be.
Heart rate was avg of about 143. Power was right in the target zone.
VI was a little high at 1.03.
Off the bike, I ran 3mi. I would have liked to go 6 but I was pressed for time.
The goal on the run was to keep my hr in the 140's. Mission accomplished.
It got a little elevated going up hill.
But I kept a lid on it. Pace was slow. 9:44. But, if I can hold that for the 13.1 I will be in position to pr.
Right now, I plan to keep it in the 140's for the first 6 mi, in the 150's till mile 10 then let it go for the last 3.
I have a 2hr run or 2 on the calendar later. I might use one of them to try this target hr pacing out.
Now it is time to taper for the Austin oly. I really want to attack the swim this time. There is no reason that my ows should be so much slower than my pool swim.

Between Florida and Austin

The Florida sprint went fine. I swam my first ocean race. It was also the coldest water I have been in without a wetsuit.
It really wasn't that big a deal. Cold when you get in pre race. The swells were challenging. But no big deal.
Transitions were smooth.
Bike and run took a while to get going.
I was 20.5mph on the bike and was faster in each of the 5mi splits.
Run was on the beach in the sand. 33min for a little over 4mi with each mi faster than the one previous.
All in all I liked the way it lines me up for Austin.
Right now I am I'm the middle of a high vol 12 days before I taper a bit for the Austin oly. Things are going fine although I am a little sleep deprived.
I never realized it till I took that testing week a few weeks back but getting more sleep makes a world of difference in how I work and how I treat my kids. Going forward, I am going to make sleep a priority over training every 3rd week more or less.
I swear, I can get a months worth of work done in a week when I get more sleep!

Prepping for Florida

Had my first week of half iron build towards Austin.
Crossfit Monday
60min track workout, 2000m swim Tuesday.
60min interval bike, 30min brick run Wednesday
90 min run, swim drills Thursday.
Tomorrow (Friday) we are headed FTP Florida. It would normally be a Crossfit swim day but that is ok.
Hauling the kids thru the airport is an endurance sport as well.
I will race a sprint on Sunday. 800m/15mi/4mi. I should ride a ton while I am out there. With the biggest ride on Monday after the race. Actually a long ride after the race would be great but I'm not sure I could get away with it. We shall see...

Get faster wrap up

All done with 6 weeks of the endurance nation "get faster" program and Crossfit.
Made big gains in swim and bike. Run held on.
Now it is time to transition over to my half iron build. Along the way I have a sprint race next weekend and an oly September 1.
They are not supposed to be "a" races but you know how that goes...
I will train through the sprint but I'm gonna taper for the oly.
I felt great after the test week for get faster. It was a full day off then short intense sessions. A 1000m swim Tt, a 42min bike Tt and a 5k run. I will re use that week as a taper for the oly. So I have about 2.5weeks of hard training then I will cut it back for the rest up to the oly.

Testing weeks

I am at the end of the endurance nation "get faster" program. I have 2 rest days in a row then I re test sbr to set training zones for the build to Austin.
So I will rest today.
Past that, I'm not sure what my schedule will look like. Which I am not crazy about. I like my routines...
I do plan to hold on to the strength training for as long as I can.

Another weeknd's beating

2.5hrs of bike intervals on Saturday. 85min ad 9.12mi run Sunday.
What made it all tougher was 60 back squats at 135 in Crossfit on Friday.
I spent 20 min or so swapping my feet in and out of an ice bucket just now. It really hurt. I will hit the foam roller tonight. My goal is to be recovered enough to hit it again on monday.
2 more tough weeks and then a week of testing and tapering before my sprint race in florida.

Mid week update

I took Monday off after sunday's tough run.
Tuesday I did my power test on the bike. 15min warm up then 2x20min max effort with 2min rest between.
Swam at lunch.
Today I ran for 60min including 3x1mi repeats at threshold pace. Another tough run. This style of intervals Inserted in a steady state run is really tough for me. I am used to doing the 3x1mi but with 4min of stopped rest between. I find that way easier.
Crossfitted today at lunch.
I am beat. Swim day tomorrow.

A bad run after a good ride

Happens in training...
Saturday's ride was a good one. First with power. Found a new route with good roads. Put in some good hrs and hit my intervals.
Tried a diff drink mix with more sodium. Also took in a bit more cal.
Felt pretty good after.
But I was not up to lifting. So I punted that to Sunday.
Sunday was a 75 min run. With 3mi of tp interspersed.
I was sweating it Saturday night. So I went out to Valero trail to run somewhere flat. I hit my intervals but my pace around them was slow. It hurt. Then by Sunday evening, I was limping. My right achilles is acting up again.
Sooo- today is a rest day. Most Lilly tomorrow will be reworked as well.
This might become a bike swim week.

No imtx

I had my hotel lined up. I was starting to plan 2013 around it.
Then I revered that I had promised to go with my dad to visit his HS for his 50th reunion.
I checked my notes to discover that they were both set for the same day.
It is a bit disappointing. But there was no question that passing on imtx was the right choice.
So now it is looking like I am back to trying to get in to imfl for November 2013. It is 6mnths further off, will cost a good deal more, it will be harder to ride the course. But there is no way around it. Maybe imtx for 2014.
The flip side is that I can run the 26.2 in ft worth in late feb without worrying about turning around to do an im build.
And I will have another season on the bike in my legs.

Get faster weekend

Saturday was a double of bike and lift.
Bike was course recon for a long oly race in a couple of weeks. The course is about 27.5mi. So it is long. And the roads are crappy. And it is hilly. Bottom line is that it will be a slow race.
In the afternoon, I hit the garage and wod'd a bit. I included a rounds for time that included clean and jerk and running.
So today, when I got up to run, my hips were tired.
The run was 70min for time with a main set of 2x1mi at 7:53 with a 4min rest. Past that I was to accumulate 8:30 mi time. It was a really tough run. I got the intervals in. I picked up some 8:30 time. But it was a really hard effort.
I brought a bottle of pickle juice sport to test out. I was able to get it down ok. Pretty nasty stuff though. Hope it works!

Get faster

I am in a 7 week patch between immt70.3 and imaustin 70.3 training.
Endurance nation suggests that I do the Get Faster plan during this time.
I am, but loosely. I am also working in sessions at the track with my running group, and Crossfit classes and oly/power lifts.
Mostly, I am trying to build strength and speed without as much concern about endurance. Fun stuff.
Today, for instance the morning session was with my track group. After a mile warm up, the main session was 2mi as 1:00 on, 1min off. The goal was to get the 8laps done in 10 "on" minutes. But that comes out to a 5min/mi pace and that was a bit beyond me. My first interval was a 5:05 pace and I drifted as slow was 6:00 by the end. Still, a 6min pace really popped my hr and was pretty fast for me.
I am getting a power meter hub installed in my hed jet 9. Should be ready next week. Looking forward to testing and getting more specific in my cycling training.

Mt tremblant race report first thoughts

6:08. 231of 283. Yikes.
Splits were:
39:53 pr of about 1:30 over Austin. Felt very composed in the water. Got kicked a few times. Kept drifting right. I sure do prefer wetsuit swims. Came out of the water 220 in ag.
T15:43. Massive long run. T1 was 800m long. I put on socks but the real time lost here was the 1/2mi run from swim out.
Bike 3:05 2min pr. 236 in ag. Avg hr of 145. Lots of hills. I will be interested to see the elevation data from garmin. I should have put on a large cassette. I really had to work to get up the climbs at the end. I think it hurt me later. But I kept my avg hr in the 140's which is what I was targeting. Except for the last 5 mi where it crept up. I felt good on the flat sections but couldn't get enough speed on the downhill to make up for the time lost going up hill. Next time I race something like this I will adjust my gearing.
T2 1:58. Pretty simple.
Which put me out on the run at about 3:54. I remember hearing them already interviewing the winner as I was coming out of t2.
Run 2:14, 231 in ag. I felt crappy about this run but I guess I moved up a few slots. The hills on the run were torture after the bike. My hr was 144 in t2 so I was calm enough getting out on the run. My avg hr on the run was 163.i had to work really hard for that 2:14.
I started feeling cramp twinges early and went to a run 14/walk 1 routine very early. And I just tried to stay focused on 1 15min block at a time.
That seemed to work pretty well and I feel good about my ability to maintain focus on each block.
I didn't check my total event time until the 9.6k turnaround on the run. At that point I was at 4:49 but I was totally unable to do the math to figure out if breaking 6hrs was possible or not.
As far as I can tell I was 1:07 through the first 7mi and 1:07 through the last 6.1. So I fell off. Miles 11-13 were 11, 12, and 12:30. By then, I was back in the steep hills, cramping and struggling.
I think that while on the run, I really need to just cut the race into chunks and stay in my chunk. Not worry about pace. Or total time. Just get to a heart rate that I can maintain for the chunk and go till it is time to walk. My mind was calmer during the portion of the run when I stayed in my chunk. Once I checked my total time and started projecting my finish, I got stressed.i had hoped that it would motivate me to push harder if I knew that I was close to my goal time. But at that point in the race, I am pushing as hard as i can. I am right on the edge of cramping and blowing up. My hr is in the 160's with 170 as lthr. I can't go harder. All I can do is go steadier. Fewer breaks. And I think that setting a chunk size, be it 14/1 or 9/1 or even 5/:30 and then staying with it will help me walk less and stress less.
After some rest, I am looking forward to shorter races in the summer. More Crossfit too. Gotta put my strength back together.
This little village is the perfect spot for a race btw. Just need to flatten the course a bit.

It is a week later and I have a feeler thoughts about this race.
On the bike, I need to go to power. My target hr was 140 and I biked 145. That would indicate too much work. But my hr was spiked from the swim and run to t1 and it took an hr to settle down. I was on target in the flats but in the last 1/3 it spiked on the climbs. Power and bigger rear cogs would have helped.
For cramps, it turns out that I am taking about 1/2 the sodium that en suggests. I will fix that going forward. Might help with the cramps.
Also, I am going to try pickle juice sport the next time they hit. Research shows it stops cramps cold once they hit.

Race morning mt. tremblant

It is 4:45 am race morning.
The trip to the race site was a modest adventure of delayed flights and $250 can rides. But we are here and everything is ready.
I got on the swim course yesterday. I would guess that the water is 75. A far cry from 65. And the water is pretty clean compared to texas lakes. So the actual swim is not the problem that it could have been. Some light chop but not a big deal.
Gonna start a bit wide and find my stroke.
T1 i swear is 800m from the swim out. We run up the beach and down the street, turn a corner and into another parking lot. There is no way that t1 isn't 5min.
The bike and run courses are hilly. Period. 3 main uphill sections to each. But the weather is cool. Just going to take it easy uphill and the first few miles of the run.

Massive amounts of drainage

The amount of junk draining from my head over the past 12 hrs has been truly awe inspiring.
Meanwhile, my sore throat is gone. Completely. Which to me supports the notion that it was infection that was causing the pain, not drainage. I took the 3rd day of antibiotics this morning.
Then I went for a short 45min bike. It rained hard at a few points.
I do not have my legs back under me yet but I feel better than I did the Wednesday before cowtown.
We will see. Gotta keep my focus on my one thing for each event and let the race play out.

Nothing but drugs. Day 3.

Tuesday. Antibiotics, steroids, and rest.
Today I want to run. Hopefully tomorrow I will.
I don't feel 100% in terms of being sick. But after a week of much more rest(in the past 5 days I had 1 day of work and it was a 30min swim and a 20min run) I feel pretty strong. And ache free. My achillies have been on the mend nicely. Knees feel good.
I actually feel like I could go put out a respectable run right now.
So maybe a bike run tomorrow and a swim Thursday. Travel Friday with maybe a short run.

Taperitis

Apparently, getting sick right at the start of a taper is not unusual.
This time I went ahead and started the Antibiotics. I will take my last dose Friday of I take them all.
I am feeling much improved and really want to train a little tomorrow. I won't. But I want to and that is a good sign.
I have been advised that this close to the race I should let go of time goals and focus on execution goals. So here they are:
Swim- get in to a rhythm. Find a stroke and sighting pattern that I can string together. I think I found it last weekend. I will practice it one more time in the pool and one more time at the race site.
Bike- maintain a steady effort. Same work level uphill and downhill. Hr in the upper 130's.
Run- pace the first 3mi at 9:30, the next 7 at 9 and the last 3 as fast as I can.
Starting to get excited.

Crap. I really am sick

In February, after a really good training run up I came down with a fever a week before the cowtown. I stayed in bed all week and ran the race but I wasn't myself. Got the first wave of calf cramps at mile 3, had an elevated heart rate the whole time and didn't race as well as I had trained.

I got the same bug. After skipping Friday, I decided to ows Saturday and run for 20min. I was pretty fatigued. I made it thru the rest of the day but by last night I could really feel it coming on.
I woke up at 12 with a pretty high fever. I managed to get up for more Advil but I was shaking. A few hrs later I woke up in a big pool of sweat. I think the fever may have broken. I turned off my alarm. No 2 he ride for me today. Gotta find a time to spin the legs of I can though. Even if it is on the trainer.

Hmmm... Habit?

Another Friday and I am skipping out.
I feel kinda crappy for the 2nd day. Soar throat, aches. So I am resting today in place of Sunday.

I have not had good tapers. Either I get sick or hit a wall or something. I tend to hit the peak workload then crash. So file this one under "listening to your body". And today mine does not much care to run and REALLY does not want to get in a pool.
On the positive side, I am eating well. No big cravings for crappy food. It feels like my caloric needs are backing off with the reduced workload.
My body feels pretty good. Achillies are in decent shape. Still having problems with the outside of my left ankle. But they are sporadic and when they occur while painful they clear in a few minutes.
Let's hope this is allergies or a mild cold. Either way it should be well clear by race day.

75 min in the sweat lodge

Yesterday I did my 75min run with a z4 and z3 interval.
I waited to run till lunch in 93 degrees. And it only got hotter.
I lost 5lbs during the run. Pushed my heart rate way the hell up compared to my pace. Once I popped it up on an interval, it never came back down.
To me the message was not to spike your hr on the run. Not till the last few miles and not till you plan to keep it elevated.
I am missing a swim this week but I'm not worried about it. Really, I'd like to get to the lake. I'm just not sure how to fit it in.

My dog is still dead.

That is my central reality today.

Monday was an interval run and a swim. Did em.
Today was an interval bike brick run. Did em but didn't quite hit the run times on the back half of the run.

I drop my bike off for transport today.

I have a soar throat and feel a little sluggish. Could be allergies. Will be getting extra rest.

Might have to schedule juggle the next couple of days to accommodate a work trip to Austin on Thursday.

2 weeks till race day

Today was a 2hr ride. Zone 3. Maintain focus and ride hard. Did pretty well.
It is funny how much road quality can effect average speed. I do most of my rides on a bumpy, hilly bad stretch of road that does not get much traffic. You can go for 20mi without a stoplight.
Today I went on the freeway access road. Smooth. 1.5 mph faster.
Sure hope the roads are smooth in Canada.
I miss my dog. It has been 48hrs and I guess that it is starting to sink in. He is really gone. I wish at times like this I had a belief in an afterlife. I told our 6yr old that George is in heaven. Where he is allowed to get up on the couch whenever he wants and he gets to eat lots of peanut butter. I wish I believed it.
And I can't really get behind the idea of racing for George either. Like "that is what he would have wanted". Because it isn't. What he would have wanted would have been for me to sit on the floor with him and feed him treats while I scratched his ears.
Endurance nation says that in an ironman or a half at some point in the race you reach "the line". The line is that point on the run where it gets very very hard to keep going. All of your race plan execution is about pushing that line back as far as you can get it to go. But once you get to the line, you need to rely on your "one thing" to keep you moving. The one thing is your motivation. The reason that you race. I'd like to say that george was my motivation. But it isn't true.
What seems true at the moment is that I train to stay strong and sane. And to put myself in a position to race well. To do something special that I can be proud of.
And I guess that I race to validate the work of training. So at mile 6 on the run when I want to slow down, it will be all of the times that I got up at 4:50am to train. All of the money I didn't make because I didn't have the energy or time to work more. All of the times I was short with my kids or with my wife because I was exhausted.
The vacation that was centered around going to MY race. All of the people who gave a little or a lot so that I could get to the starting line. If I won't keep going hard for me, I need to do it for them.

Post brick

51mi in 2:52 or so. A little slower than goal pace but I was dogging it. My hr was like 128avg.
Ran 6mi in 53min. Run pace is just fine.
I felt really easy the whole time. Tonight I don't really feel like I did much today. Very odd. But I'll take it.
Guess I am ready for Canada.

Goodbye dear George

Terri and I had to put our great Dane George to sleep yesterday afternoon.
He was 9 years old and had developed a form of heart disease common to his breed.
He lived a full life and was a wonderful companion. He saw me change jobs, houses and bring home two kids from the hospital.
I will remember him fondly for the test of my days.

Playing workout hookie

I'm skipping today. It is set to be a recovery day anyway. A relatively easy swim and a 45min z1 z2 run.
But, I am feeling beat up. After the 12mi run on Wednesday and the interval run yesterday, I am feeling it.
And I can see tomorrow's 4hr brick coming.
The clincher is that I am waking up a lot during the night. That is a pretty clear sign for me that I am red lining.

So instead of today's work, I am going to get a massage and doze off during it.

I will be up at 5 Saturday morning to get on the road by 530 so that I can be back in the house by 930.

So if I Dnf in Canada, you can all point to today :)

Thursday

Ok, got some sleep. Feeling a bit better.
Got Tuesday's high intensity ride in.
Yesterday was a 105min run with z3 and z4 intervals.
Today and Friday I have short runs and swims. I had planned to get to Crossfit for the first time in a couple of weeks. But work is getting in the way.
So I will just do what I can do. Saturday is the final race rehearsal before Canada. Let's hope it goes better than the last one.

Sleep... Must have sleep...

Tuesday. Need some sleep.
Got sunfay's ride and run in. Solid work but not spectacular.
Monday was swim. Ms was 20x100 as 50sprint, 50 recover. Broke it in to 4 sets of 500.
Today is a shorter 75min bike. But a ton of z4. I will get as much hill in there as I can.
I have to travel to and from Dallas today for work. Hope I can fall asleep on the plane.

I want to do texas.

So a big goal for 2012 is to sign up for a full ironman for 2013.
But which one?
My original plan was to shoot for Florida or Arizona like everyone else and just hope that I am quick enough with my computer to get in.
Why? Both are flat and late in the year. I have committed to the cowtown marathon in late feb for one more year and I need to see that through. That makes any race before june tough.

But I keep thinking about texas. The woodland is just a few hours away. Yes it is hot and humid. But. I know the area. And I could get out there to train on the course. And it would be easier to have family close during the race. And for some reason I just feel good about it.
I can't sign up yet. Wtc is still duri g it out with the local govt over the details for the race.
By the time registration is open, I will have raced mt tremblant 70.3.
Who knows, I might want to go back there for the full. The timing is better and I will have raced the course once already.
Yesterday was a 120min interval run. Mostly z3 and 4 intervals. I did as much hill work as I could.
Today was 25min z1 run followed by 180min interval bike. Got it done. But I couldn't get to z4 on the bike. Just didnt have the legs.
Tomorrow is 25min z1 run then a 120min bike. I have a loop that takes about that long. I will see how fast I can get through it.
I already looking through next weeks workouts for something I can skip in place of Crossfit. I miss heavy things and I miss my family there.

A few days later

Today is Thursday. Since captex's ugly swim, I have been in the pool twice.

First was 4x500 at 2:05 pace with 30" rest between sets. No problem.
Today was a race rehearsal. 2k swim. 41:55. Which is a pr. Easy easy.
I just got totally thrown by the lake last Monday. Hopefully, getting in the water the day before Canada 70.3 will help.
Yesterday was a 75min ride of mostly z4 intervals followed by a 20min run.
Also no problem.

Boy do I miss Crossfit. I really want to pick up something heavy overhead.

But tomorrow is a 2hr run. And Saturday is a 3hr bike and a 20min run and sunday is another 2hr bike.

So I will take my rest where I can get it.

Tough start, good time

Captex oly 2:42:03. My first and only other oly was last fall 2:56.
I picked up 3min on the swim, 7min on the bike, 1 min on the run and 3min in transition. On pretty much the same course.

As I was setting up transition, we got the word that wetsuits were not legal. The water was 81 degrees...
Big bummer.
The swim was tough from start to finish. My hr spiked before the gun went off and it never came down. I had trouble breathing which meant I couldn't swim straight. Which got me more winded. Vicious cycle. Lots of contact for the first 1/2. Most of any race I have done. Lots of breast stroke.
Just felt bad. Really surprised that I only dropped 2 min on my 1500m pool time.
Both transitions were fine. Nothing noteworthy.
I hit the bike pretty hard. At the start my hr was a little over 160. At the end it was about 150. First loop was my slowest. Total for 25mi 1:13. This was the most fun part of the race.
The run started good but my hr got away from me. 10k 49:55. 2 5k laps. Second lap was slower as the heat and my hr got out of control. I would like to criticize my execution on the run but the truth is this is only 1min off my stand alone 10k pr. So I can't argue with the results.
I think the key to getting into the 2:30's on this race will be to tighten up the swim by a couple of minutes and run a bit smoother in terms of pace.

Today is a swim day. I am going to do the workout and see how it goes.

Good morning pflugerville from 5 28

It is 4:20am on he morning of the captex oly. My first race of the year.
I am staying up the road about 20mi at my brother and sister in law's house.
At home, my kids are wearing my wife out and my great Dane is having trouble walking and getting up to go to the bathroom. And he Internet doesn't seem to be working for my wife.
I have trouble focusing in situations like this. I really am tempted to just cancel and go home. I was so excited for this race yesterday and one bad call from home is enough to totally turn me around.
I really have to do some work on this.
Because if I can put focus together for a little sub 3 hr race, what am I going to do when things get tough over a 13 hr slog?
The truth is that my wife can handle whatever come up at home.
I need to learn home to stay focused on what I can control and let go of the rest.

I spent a few weeks in spin class a month or so ago. 2 of the guys from that class are here. Sure want to beat them. Not that they are anything other than nice.

My plan is to swim hard. As hard as I can while maintaining rhythm.

The bikes 4 loops with 3 180 turns rr loop. Ideally, I would go hard lap 1, all out lap 2 and 3 and then hard for 4.
But traffic is a problem in this race. So congestion might dictate when I rest.

The run will be by heart rate. I top out at 170 for 5k. This is a 10k but I want to try and stay up there as much as I can. I just want to see how long I can hold that level of discomfort. We will see. As long as I am running sub 8:30's that will be good enough for lap 1. I am not as wrapped up in negative splitting a race this short. My fastest 10k times (5k too) have come when I have gone all out early for a mile or so and then settled in and then kicked at the end.

Hope the fam is ok. But I am giving myself permission to let go of them till about 11am.

Friday

This seems to be a catch up week. The workload is scaled back. This times out well for me in that I am racing in a few days.
The week looks like this as writtend by en:
Monday: swim
Tuesday 95min brick
Wed swim and short run
Thursday run
Friday swim
Saturday long bike
Sunday intermediate brick.

I added a Crossfit in place of the short run. For a short taper, I will cut Saturday's ride from 3 to 2 hrs and ditch Sunday.

I swam in my full suit Wednesday for the first time in months. Man I go so much faster in that thing. I can really glide forever between strokes.

I am a bit preoccupied with Monday's race. I feel confident with my sbr but still just a bit excited to get on the course and anxious for the pain of 170bpm for 10k.

Another day another brick

Today was a 75min interval bike followed by a 20min run.
Having done a few lately, I feel comfortable making t2.
Ran without socks today to make sure my feet would be ok. They were fine. I expect that for Canada I still may put socks on but not for shorter races.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a swim and a 40min run. I am going to bag the run and go to Crossfit.
I feel the need to swim in my wetsuit so I will do that in the morning. There is a lake nearby but I do t feel comfortable swimming there alone in the dark so I will go to the neighborhood pool. Just gotta be careful of critters.
I am worried about the amount that I am eating, ESP given that I am not really strength training. But my clothes fit the same and that is a pretty good gauge. Better than a scale most likely.

Since I have switched shoes to a pair with a bigger drop, my achillies problems are clearing up. I am very excited about that.

It is Tuesday and I am already getting preoccupied about next Monday's oly.
It is hard to stay focused at work.

Take what you get...

Yesterday was to be my main race rehearsal for Canada 70.3.
Had a 48mi bike and a 5mi run planned.
In order to get it in and be back for the 2 birthday partied that Ellie was going to, I was up at 5 and on the road at 530.
All was well till mile 31 when I hit something and flatted. No problem. Happens in races right? Changed out my spare tube and I was off. And I flatted again. Now I was cooked. Cuz I didn't bring a second co2.
Ended up calling my father in law who has a truck.
When I got home I used the rest of my time to run.
While it was all cut short, I felt great.

Today was an interval ride. It was supposed to be 2hrs so I chose a loop that took me 1:57 last time. Got there 10min fast so I bricked a mile.

All in all, the en program feels good. I am going to stick with it till after Canada.

Bit the bullet

En called for a 2 hr run today. My previous recent long run was 80min so I had planned to go 90 and then Crossfit.
But as yesterday wore on I started to feel like the best thing to do would be to just do the run as written.
So I did. It was a mix of easy pace and faster intervals. My zone 1 pace is about 9:50. At that pace my hr is around 140. That was the base pace for about 60min with 8min and 8:30 sessions sprinkled in.
By the time it was over I was fighting to hold the 8:30. All told I covered 11.9mi in 2hrs with an avg hr of 150.
I knew that my run was weak after my injury but it was still ugly to look at the results. I have a few weeks to build endurance. If my goal is to go 6 hrs I need to shave 7min off of my October time. I know I am swimming and biking faster. We will just have to see if the run holds together.
I am confident that by the time Austin rolls around in October I will be ready.

Tomorrow will be swim only.
This weekend is a race rehearsal. 3hr bike and 30min run. Good to practice nutrition and pacing.
Sunday I will head to the lake with the wetsuit for a swim rehearsal. The Austin oly is in about 10 days and I want to get the suit wet ahead of that.

2k swim test

Bike got rained out today. And work was crazy after being gone for a few days.
So I snuck out late morning and hit the pool. 2k swim. 42:45. No hurry. Just swam along. A whole bunch of 2:08 100's.
I was 49min last summer.
Tomorrow I will do the en brick and a Crossfit.
I am thinking that during the heavy vol days I will be missing class a bit. Oh well.

Relaxing

Dodo this trip to Iowa has forced me to downshift. With the kids and the family stuff going on, there just really isn't time to train.
I ran once and hope to get one more in tonight or tomorrow early. But this is a big cutback in hrs.
This was very bothersome at first. But after a couple of days I have given in.
I am sure I will be better for it.
En calls for a major test race this weekend for 70.3. 56mi bike with 1hr run. I will see if I can fit it in next weekend.
In the mean time I will just soak up the last major rest before my mt tremblant taper. Might as well. Not much choice!

I managed to get Monday's run in.
It was an hour or so. 15min wu with 4x30" strides. Then 2x1mi z5 (4'). Then z2 home. My 1mi times were 7:30 and 8:05. Due to an incline.
Given my background, the high intensity parts of the en workouts dont really bother me. I mean, they hurt. And my hr gets to 169-170 and my body starts sending warning signs to my brain that we have topped out.
But that discomfort is familiar and manageable.
Where I really suffer is the 2mi z2 jog back home! At that pace, I start to notice how much everything hurts. All the aches and fatigue seem magnified.
Which is interesting for lots I reasons.
One thing for sure, I want to go out slow enough that once I decide to ramp the hr up to 165+ I will keep it there till I cross the finish line. And right now, I figure I am good for 3mi at that intensity. So there you go.

En #1

Did my first heart rate zone run from en yesterday.
30'z1
2x10'(5') z3
15z1
20z2
Got the first 80' done but then gi issues forced a halt.
We are on the road in Iowa for a wedding and nutrition is off. Doing my best but only do much I can do in the land of mayo.
The run itself was nice. Farmlands.
En does intensity like cfe but they seem to add volume after the speed work. Gotta say this makes sense.
This trip is a grind. It is challenging to stay positive.
No bike no pool. Might be resting today for lack of an alternative. With a 2yr old and a 6 yr old in the middle of nowhere there are limited oppertunities