Planned on hitting up an 11 or 12 mile run today. I didn’t have a set route; instead, I figured that I would add some twists, and turns, to my usual 8 mile route and see what I come up with. I was able to get up, have some coffee, warm up, and get after it around 4:50 – 5:00AM. Typically, I ALWAYS carry my cell phone with me, but this morning, I decided that it wasn’t going to be needed (that’s called foreshadowing). I was running east on Rancho Paloma when I saw a Chevy Blazer go flying by (at about 50 mph) with a teenager standing on the back bumper and holding onto the luggage rack on the roof. Whoa! Teenagers + 50 mph + 5AM + daredevil stunts = bad juju. At any rate, I continued on, but just as I was approaching the intersection another bizarre twist to the morning….a drunk driver, took his left turn too wide, hit the curb, flatted, and came to a stop just 50 feet in front of me. As I approached, the driver poured himself out of the car. I asked if he was OK. He slurringly said, “Yeah, guess I took it too wide” and gave a nervous giggle. Of all the days to leave my phone at home! I couldn’t just go about my run, but I couldn’t call anybody either. I did the only thing I could do; I ran the 1.8 miles back home. The whole way, the only thing I could do was to recite his license plate number over and over. Long story long, I called the police and gave them the necessary info before heading back out. On my way back to the scene of the crime, I encountered a curious Javelina walking towards me. Naturally, I gave her the right of way, took some pics, and moved on (yeah, NOW I had my phone). By the time I got back to the scene of the crime, the dude was already gone. No indication of the police either.
Back to the training. The run was OK, but I was either too tired from the previous days 79 mile ride, or I just wasn’t focused (can you blame me?). I ended up stopping to fill water twice and had to walk a few times too. It wasn’t until I was able to log onto Map My Ride that I saw I ran 13 miles. Really? .1 short of a half marathon distance!?! I was happy as much as I was bummed (that I didn’t bag that additional tenth of a mile). Next week, I was going to be more prepared and actually conquer that milestone!
The curious javelina:
Monday, July 12th
I guess I was really off my game, because I had a speed ride scheduled for today and I actually did it. My legs were so sore from yesterday’s run, I couldn’t believe it. It was almost like back in January when I first started. I had the bright idea to sprint that one mile up Rancho Paloma and recover back (see Friday, June 11th). After just 3 of these, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. Since I was already out, however, I figured that I’d give it my best. Instead of sprinting, I just went fast(er). I ended up with 3 sprint laps, 2 “faster” laps, and 1 “why bother lap” before heading in. I was able to put in 13.37 miles. In retrospect, I would have probably been better getting the extra sleep.
Moderate swim:
Warm Up – 300 swim & 300 kick
8x150 Pull (Desc 1-8) (:20 RI)
8x100 Pull (Desc 1-8) (:15 RI)
8x50 Pull (Desc 1-8) (:10 RI)
Warm Down – 100 swim
Tuesday, July 13th
After recounting my last 4 days (8 mile run, 79.2 mile ride, 13 mile run, 13.37 speed ride) the idea of some recovery time was starting to set in. The problem was that I was overdue for my swim test 2. I’m supposed to be well rested for these and do them about once a month. The last test was June 4th. I decided to go ahead with the test and here are my results:
1st 300 = 3:27
2nd 300 = 3:39
3rd 300 = 3:47
3:37 average
3:37 / 3 = 1:12 average per 100 yards.
I was elated with my first 300, but quickly felt the effects of fatigue. I started to hit the wall midway through my second 300 and absolutely suffered during my last. That being said, I lowered my T1 time from 1:14!
Total yards were 1600 (500 warm up, 900 main set, 200 warm down)
Wednesday, July 14th
Double dip day. Moderate bike ride in the morning and speed work in the afternoon. Recovery was still on my brain, so I decided to keep the ride mellow. I was going to go for 2 hours at about 15 mph. I was successful as I ended up netting 31 miles in the saddle. The ride was actually relaxing and enjoyable. My legs were still sore from Sunday’s run, but this really seemed to help.
So, the National Weather Service issues an extreme heat warning for Phoenix Arizona. Temps are going to be in the 111 – 114 range. What do I do? Head out to the soccer fields at 5PM for my speed work! Here was the plan:
Warm Up – 3 laps (1 mile)
Water
3x (¼ lap on & ¼ lap off)
Water
3x (½ lap on & ½ lap off)
Water
3x (¼ lap on & ¼ lap off)
Erik’s e-mail indicated that there was “extra credit” if we did an extra set, but after suffering through the regular sets, I said forget it. Also, there was a “warm down” too. A WARM DOWN in 110 degree heat? Yeah, I passed on that too. The first set went off fine and so did the first 2 of the second set. After that, the heat started to take its toll. While I didn’t walk any part of the routine, I did slow down considerably. Again, I wonder if I even accomplished anything. Maybe I should have taken some extra recovery time, or tried it during a different part of the day instead. Total miles = 4.
Excessive heat warning:
Thursday, July 15th
Today is endurance swim day (long swim) and here is the workout:
Warm Up – 400 swim, 200 kick, 400 pull
4x 250 swim (:30 RI)
1:00 bonus rest
2x 500 swim (1:00 RI)
Warm Down – 300 swim
The pattern for the 4x250’s was 100 moderate, 50 build, 100 moderate. The instructions for the 2x500 were to swim the 2nd 250 10 seconds faster than the first.
I actually felt good, but still a bit fatigued. Overall, I was satisfied with today’s workout.
Friday, July 16th
8 mile run in the morning with nothing exciting to report. Everything was pretty status quo.
Having enough of coming up 8 miles short of a century or .1 miles short of a half marathon distance, I ended up caving in. I bought a Garmin 310xt. Now I can share (if I choose to!) all the scientific nuggets that go along with my work outs. Heart rate, accurate averages, splits, route maps, calories burned, etc.
Saturday, July 17th
As I was cleaning my tri bike yesterday, I noticed an unusual squeaking noise coming from my rear hub. I took the wheel off and inspected it a bit closer, but couldn’t really do much. I noticed that there was some kind of “catch” every few revolutions as well. Figured that it would be best to take it into the shop before riding it again. That being said, I dusted off the old BH and got back to my roadie roots. I headed down to the Village to meet the team for an out and back to Saguaro Lake. I was feeling OK, but I could still feel the overall fatigue (yup, it’s time for some recovery or extra sleep). About 18 miles in, I pulled off the front and settled in to 4th wheel (of four riders). About 2 miles later, there was a chain of events that made the guy in front of me take a digger into the side of the road. Fortunately, I was able to slam my brakes and avoid the carnage. After assessing the damage, my teammate decided he could hump it back to the Village and we turned around. After several more miles, however, I guess the pain was really setting in because he accepted my offer of me getting my truck and picking him up. He stayed back at a Circle K while we headed back. Problem was I tore a hole in my tire when I skidded to avoid the crash. Fearing a crash of my own, I couldn’t really hustle back at the pace I’d like. Ultimately, I made it back with no blow outs and then was able to take him home. Total miles was 44.11 (according to my new 310xt). Since I ended up leaving my Garmin on at the crash site, as well as at the Circle K, the data isn’t too useful. If you zoom in at Saguaro Road and Shea (right around where Shea meets the Beeline Highway) you can actually see where I was walking between the Circle K and McDonald’s.
Garmin link to workout profile:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41042731
Rode on this for 20+ miles with no problems:
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