8/20 - 8/22

Thursday was a good ride. I had gone about three weeks without seeing any improvement in my Tues/Thurs ride times and today I finished my 17 miles in 53:45 which is about a minute faster than my best for this loop. It was a good confidence boost.

Friday I ran 59 min 48 sec for 7.12 miles. It was my tempo run so the first 15 min was at an easy pace, then 30 minutes hard, and 15 more easy. I felt great except the outside of my right foot started to hurt and the pain hasn't really gone away two days later. After work I went for a swim and it was pretty crappy. I had eggs and salsa for dinner and during the swim I kept feeling like I was going to burp up my dinner.

Saturday was my long ride. Friday night we had some wicked storms, so I didn't think I would get the ride in. But I left at 6am after waking up at 5am and having a pb & banana bagel and some coffee. The first 60 min of the ride was great, I felt strong and rode really well. Then I saw a dead rattle snake, not too big of deal, then about 400 yds later I saw a tarantula. I have never seen one of these in the wild, and it freaked me out a bit. Anyway, I was still riding strong until about 1:15 into the ride I had to pee. I rode for another hour searching for a safe place to pee - which was not easy because i did not want a tarantula or a snake to catch me in the desert. Finally I found a port-a-potty at about 2:15 into the ride, after that everything was smooth. I rode a total of 61.18 miles in 3:25:49. It was a good feeling knowing I could ride the full 56 miles for my race.

This is me being a dork in my new wetsuit.

8/19: Run and Swim and the Knee Pain

So this morning I went for my long run. I was supposed to go 90 min, but due to the pain in my right knee I only went for 73 min for a distance of 8 miles. I felt great everywhere else and had a good rhythem, but didn't want to hurt myself more than I already have. I iced the knee after the run and probably will again tonight. I don't like pain when I run, it makes me angry.
During lunch I went for a swim. Today was my long interval day. After a 3oo yd warm up, I did 6, 400 yd repeats with 30 sec rest in between, followed by 100 cool down. By the end of the 6th 400 I was getting tired and was swimming very slow. Overall it was a good swim.

8/17 - 8/18

I had Monday off from work so I slept in until 6, then went for an easy 29 min 08 sec run for 3.6 miles. I still felt really tired from the weekend so I was happy with the 8:05/mile pace. After the run I went to the pool for some speed work. After warming up for 300 yds I did 30, 50 yd repeats on 1 min intervals. By the end I was dying. I flopped around for 200 yds to cool down, then headed home to do nothing for the rest of the day.
Tuesday I rode 17 miles in 56 min 26 sec. I don't know if it being dark the entire ride slows me down, but I am riding the same loop about 2 min slower than I was several weeks ago. I guess I just need to push myself a little more.

8/14 - 8/16

Wo this past weekend I took Friday off work and have Monday off also, it was nice to have an extended weekend. On Friday I went for my long run, I ran 1:41:47 and went 11.4 miles for a 8:56 min/mile pace. During the run I felt good, I brought only water with me and a pack of blocks and that was all I needed. After the run I went to the pool and swam for 41:11. I wanted to swim longer but my legs started to cramp so I just ended it early. I was able to swim a straight 1500 yds in 24:40, so that was good. Hopefully I can swim that fast in my next race. After the swim I picked up Tristin for lunch the went home a relaxed.

Saturday I went for a 3 hour ride. I got to ride up in to Cave Creek which is a neat town. I tried to take the ride a little easier so I wouldn't start cramping like my last long ride. I ended up riding 51.8 miles and averaged a 17.27 mph pace. I ended up bringing an extra bottle of water with me and I think it really helped, I just felt really weighed down with about 90 oz of water with me. By the end of the ride I was tired and was glad I had nothing to do the rest of the day. Later in the day Tristin and I went out for some drinks and I think I had one too many cause I'm still pretty exhausted and its now Monday. Also on Saturday my new tri wetsuit that Tristin got for me came in the mail, so I got to try it on and have a little fun with it.

8/10 - 8/12

The training hours are really starting to get up there this week. It will be interesting to see how my body feels the next few days.

Monday started off with a 30 min interval run. I ran 30 second building sprints every 2 minutes after a five minute warm up. I felt good and rested Monday morning. After work I went to the pool at 6pm (the summer hours have ended) and was surprised that is wasn't very crowded. My swimming volumes really starts to increase this week and today I swam 49 minutes and covered 2,500 yards total. The workout started with a 400 yd warm up, then my main set consisted of sets of 100, 200, 300, 400, 400, 300, 200, 100 resting ~15 sec between sets, then a 100 yd cool down. I felt strong and fast during the swim and my swim confidence is starting to increase again.

Tuesday was a bike only day. I woke up early had a banana and was out the door before 5am. It was dark almost the entire ride, which I did not like. I need some more lights or reflective gear cause I didn't feel very safe. I rode 17 miles in 26:23 for a 18.09 mph average. During this ride I tried to add in some intervals as my bike fitness is starting to plateau. My HR stayed pretty low, so I guess I am not pushing it hard enough. Maybe Thursday's ride I will pay more attention to my HR.

Wednesday morning was my tempo run. I started off with 15 min easy, then 30 min hard, and 15 easy. I felt very sluggish today and my legs were a little sore. I still was able to cover 7 miles in 58:26, so my pace was still good. After the run I sat in a cold bath to try and help speed my recovery. During lunch I went to the pool for a swim. I like going to the pool in the middle of the day because no one is ever there. After a 400 yd warm up I completed my main set of 10 x 200 yds on 3:45 intervals. I consistently had 30 sec of rest after each 200 which means my pace was about 1:37 / 100 yds. I hope I can transfer this speed into the open water. After my main set I did 4 - 25 yd sprints, then 200 cool down. for total distance of 2700 yds. I am tempted to do a 1000 yrd time trial Friday to see how much I have improved since my last one on July 5th (19:38).

8/8 & Anniversary 5k

Saturday I went for a ride. My normal route was blocked off by two police officers, so I found a hilly loop and did repeats. I rode 25 miles in 1:26:26.

Today was mine and Tristin's 1st anniversary. It is amazing how fast this year has seemed to go by. We started the day off with a 5k at South Mountain Park, which was a lot of fun. We are resting now and plan to have some fun the rest of the day.

8/3 - 8/7

8/3: I have decided to switch plans for the remainder of my training, so this week is now a recovery week and I took today off. It was nice to not have anything to do but rest.
8/4: Tuesday I woke up, had a banana, drank some water, and started my run. I took this run easy, or at least I tried to. My HR was really high, my lungs burned, but I didn’t feel like I was really pushing myself. It was probably due to my cold, it being super hot, and the fact that my legs were still hurting from Sunday’s ride. This run was 4.6 miles in 42:20.
8/5: I slept in today until almost 6:00am! No running or biking today, just swimming. I went to the pool at noon, and since one of the area pools is closed this week for cleaning it was super crowded. I had to share a lane with one other person, but because these lanes are so large it was no big deal. Today’s workout was 100 yd repeats every 1:55. I did 14 or 15 of them, I can’t remember exactly. I kept a pretty consistent 1:30/100 yd pace for all but the last few. With my warm up and cool down I swam 1850 yds in 36:00.
8/6: This morning I got up, ate my banana, drank some water, and went for a ride. It felt miserable outside – hot and humid all before 5am. The sun is coming up later now so most of the ride was in the dark, which is a little scary – I probably need to pick up some reflective clothing. I rode 17 miles in 57:06 while keeping my cadence over 90 RPMs. I am feeling much better than the last few days and my HR was not spiking like it had been the last few days. After work it was off to the pool for another swim. Today I swam a total of 2100 yds. Starting with a 400 yd warmup, then 8 x 25, 4 x 50, 2 x 100, 200, 2 x 100, 4 x 50, 8 x 25 intervals at a 30sec per 25 yds, then a 300 cool down. Total time was 43:33. I am supposed to be swimming 60 min eat workout, but am having a hard time getting to that time.
8/7: Today I got up, ate a banana, drank some water, then went for a run. I felt great. I didn’t feel as hot and I no longer feel like I have a cold. I ran an easy 10 min, then pushed it for 20 min, then caught up with Tristin and finished out the run with her which was nice. I saw her in the distance and played a game of catch up like it was a race. Total run was 5 miles in 42:49.

8/6/2009

Today you biked. Just to give you a weather update. At 4:51am it was 93* and 29% humidity with 5mphSE winds. So technically it was hotter temperature yesterday. However looks like the humidity was higher today... but they both are awful to exercise in!

8/5/2009 ~ HEAT WAVE!

It is hard to believe a year ago we were in StL. The weather was a lot nicer there than it is here. CRAZY STUFF. Think of all the stuff we accomplished together. You didn't think you'd have run a full marathon. In fact... you weren't mentally going to do a full marathon until you started joining me on my runs in November... and even then you were just about the 10k. I guess I just beat you down. Now you want to do an Ironman. You rock D!

8/1 - 8/3: Can't Believe it's Already August

So July just flew by, much like the rest of the year. Hopefully August will too, then it will start to cool down here. Saturday was my long run. I woke up early and grabbed a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast, then 30 minutes later I left for the run. I brought my water belt with me filled with 2 waters and 2 cytomax. I ran 9.1 miles in 1:19:07 for a 8:41/mile. During the run my feet and right knee started to hurt a little, but nothing too bad. After the run I went to Road Runner Sports and got a new pair of shoes. I stuck with the Nike Skylons that I have been using for the past year, they are cheaper than most shoes and I know how they will fit.

Sunday I woke up, had a bagel with pb, then went for a ride. I rode for 2:22:00 and was dying by the end. The last 30min was a struggle. I don't know if my legs were still tired from the day before, or if I just didn't eat enough before or during the ride. My calves even started to cramp up, which has never happened before which makes me think I didn't drink enough water, or I lost too many electrolytes and did not replace them well enough - something to think about for the next ride. For the ride I still ended up going 41.8 miles for a 17.66 mph average. I wanted to swim in the afternoon, but was just too tired.