07/18/2010 - 07/24/2010

Sunday, July 18th

After coming up 0.1 miles short of a half marathon last Sunday, I was determined to nail that milestone today. This time, however, I had my new Garmin with me to make sure I wouldn’t miss it. Today’s goal wasn’t speed or turnover. What I really wanted to accomplish was my longest “non-stop” run with good form, proper hydration, and proper breathing. I wanted to find a nice, steady, pace and stick with it the entire time. What I didn’t want was erratic splits, dehydration, cramping, or having to walk. With that in mind, I set out. I quickly found a comfortable pace and felt smooth for the first 9 miles. Right around mile 9, I started to labor a bit. I wasn’t out of breath, my legs weren’t hurting, and wasn’t uncomfortable. I can’t quite describe it, but it seemed tougher to keep things “as is.” At about 10.5 miles, I was ready for the run to be over. My legs were now heavy and I was running out of water. Between miles 9 and 11, I spent more time above 10 minutes per mile than below. To my defense, this portion is a bit uphill! As I was passing my original starting point, I realized that I needed a bit more distance to bag my goal, so I kept going. It would have been all too easy to cut it short and say, “Close enough”, but I didn’t. Overall, I was very satisfied with this run and accomplished what I set out to do. The only surprise was my heart rate. My average was 168. This seemed to be a bit high for the “casual” pace I was holding.

Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41042741

Monday, July 19th

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

Here are some comments from last week’s workouts:

• “I was either too tired or I just wasn’t focused”
• “Why bother?”
• “In retrospect, I would have probably been better getting the extra sleep”
• “The idea of some recovery time was starting to set in”
• “Felt the effects of fatigue”
• “Recovery was still on my brain”
• “Again, I wonder if I even accomplished anything”
• “Maybe I should have taken some extra recovery time”
• “Still a bit fatigued”
• “I was feeling OK, but I could still feel the overall fatigue

With my 13.1 mile run out of the way, I was determined to focus on recovery this week. That, combined with some car/scheduling issues, made today a complete day off. NOTE – my legs were very sore from yesterday’s run.

Tuesday, July 20th

TWO days off? In a row?!? Heck yeah! Legs were still sore.

Wednesday, July 21st

No way, no how, was I going to take 3 consecutive days off, so I kept with my scheduled moderate bike ride today. The only difference was that I was going to keep the pace down, keep my heart rate down, and just enjoy the ride. As you can see, I was able to do just that. This was an incredibly enjoyable ride that seemed to work out some of the lingering soreness in my legs during the 21.22 miles ridden.

Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41276483

Thursday, July 22nd

I was able to put in a slow 5 mile run before work. I really tried to keep it low key and comfortable, but when I saw my heart rate results, I was a bit surprised. Even though I was able to keep a very conservative pace, my average HR was 173 bpm! That’s almost zone 5!!!! That’s not what I call recovery. Can’t figure this one out. I will be very interested to see my running HR results going forward.

Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374211

Friday, July 23rd

3 DAYS OFF in a week? Wow.

Saturday, July 24th

Another team ride with a myriad of options, during the route, to add miles and/or elevation. Michael, my teammate who crashed last week, was going to be taking team photos before the ride and during. Since the ride left the Village (16 - 20 miles away depending on the route taken) at 5:30AM, I needed to roll promptly at about 4:40AM to make it on time. Once there, we snapped a couple of group pics and then headed off. Once again, the pace really began to pick up just 6 miles in (mile 22 for me) and didn’t let up for about 10 more miles. There were 4 of us working nicely together. Once we rolled to the rendezvous point, we waited for the rest of the team. A nice treat was having Michael there with a cooler full of bottled water and Gatorade for us. The rest of the ride provided plenty of intensity and fun as well. Overall, I was very satisfied with this 71 mile ride.

Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41924782

The team heading out:


Taking my turn up front:


Me n Buddy heading up Cave Creek:


Me n Buddy cresting Cave Creek:


Having fun:

07/11/2010 - 07/17/2010

Sunday, July 11th

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:

07/04/2010 - 07/10/2010

Sunday, July 4th

Still on vacation, so today was designated for ATV riding and fishing.

Monday, July 5th

After another round of fishing, I decided to take the bike on a trip over to New Mexico. I wasn’t sure how far I was going to ride because I didn’t know what some of the roads were going to look like. I knew that I would have a nice wide shoulder all the way until Luna Lake, but it was a crap shoot after that. The temperature was in the mid/high 70’s and there was a strong West to East wind blowing. The ride there was fast and smooth. After crossing the border, there was only about 2 miles of decent shoulder to ride on until it became sketchy. I stopped on a bridge to assess the situation. Along with the diminishing shoulder, there were a fair amount of branches, rocks, and other debris as well. I thought about continuing, to see if the route improved, but when I saw the “6% grade” signs, I figured that I didn’t want to risk it. Heading back was still smooth, but now I had a head wind. I definitely had to put in some extra effort, but it was still an awesome ride. I really wish I could have ventured into New Mexico more. Total miles ridden = 18.5.

Once I got back to the cabin, I had the wonderful idea to throw in a quick brick. Not knowing how far I was going to run, I laced ‘em up and took off. I don’t know what it was, but my runs, at the cabin, were physically demanding! If it was the altitude, why didn’t that bother me during my rides? This was a quick 2.6 mile trail run that had me second guessing my decision. A paltry 2.6 miles making me second guess my decision?!? At any rate, it was a scenic run that took me on an old ATV trail just across the street. The run was slow, sluggish, and cumbersome, but was so worth it. Overall, the brick was very satisfying and really gave me a run for my money.



Tuesday, July 6th

Day spent Geocaching, packing, and getting a new battery for our truck.

Wednesday, July 7th

1st day back and I’ve got a “two-a-day” on tap. The morning started off with my moderate bike ride and I only wanted to put in about 2 hours. Took my typical Wednesday morning loop and ended up bagging 39.38 miles (19.7 mph average). I felt like I had great form, was fast, and was smooth.

Since Erik was on vacation, he e-mailed our speed run workout and I was able to get started a bit earlier than normal. Once I got out on the freshly cut grass, I realized that I forgot sun block. I guess that meant that I had to run even faster to get out of the sun quicker! Here is what I accomplished:

Warm Up – 3 laps (1 mile) jogging

12 x (½ lap on & ½ lap off)

When I got back to my car, which was parked in the shade, the thermometer read 103 degrees! Needless to say, when I got home, I walked right through the house, grabbed my son, and jumped in the pool….clothes and all. As for the workout itself, I felt pretty good about it. I was able to put in some good speed for the “on” laps and didn’t get any type of cramps. I was very satisfied with the day’s workouts.

Thursday, July 8th

Endurance swim that looked like this:

Warm Up – 200 swim & 2x (50 swim, 100 kick, 50 swim)

400, 300, 200, 100 swim (Moderate) (:20 RI)
300, 200, 100 swim (Moderate) (:20 RI)
200 swim (Fast) (:25 RI)
100 swim (Fast) (25 RI)
6x150 pull (:20 RI)

Warm Down – 100 swim

Everything felt pretty good. The first 1000 felt a bit slow, but I quickly found a groove. Total yards = 3200.

Friday, July 9th

My moderate run was just upped from a minimum of 5 miles to 8 today. This 8 mile run started off great. Legs were good, breathing was good, and rhythm was good. Mile 5 is where I noticed some fatigue. I actually thought that I was running with the proverbial cement shoes. Not quite sure what happened, but I know that I didn’t go out too fast. Maybe I wasn’t hydrated enough? After all was said and done, I felt fairly satisfied with the workout.

Saturday, July 10th

James, Kyle, and I were rolling around 4:45AM and wanted to meet up with our tri team 20 miles away. We made pretty good time and ended up waiting for them about 2 miles from where they started. As the first group came rolling by, we noticed that they were flying. We quickly put the hammer down to try and catch up, but realized that they would inevitably be stopped at the next intersection. We rolled up and waited along with them. When the right turn arrow flipped to green, I noticed the group flinch forward (thinking it was the main green light to go straight). I thought to myself, “OK, it’s going to be THAT kind of ride!” I was right. We were absolutely FLYING for the next 30 miles before we stopped at the rendezvous point. The ride continued on a climb up to the Cave Creek ranger station, where a couple of us refilled fluids, before heading back. Around mile 50, I decided to break off from the pack and get some more climbing in. I headed up Dynamite road and then up Jomax. Now it was only about 20 miles back home. Right around mile 75 I started to get wicked hungry and began planning what I was going to eat when I got back. Let’s see, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter, a table spoon, and began my feast. As I was pulling the spoon out of my mouth, I was reaching for the carton of egg whites. As the egg whites were cooking, I grabbed some more peanut butter and reached for the milk. As I was pouring my milk, I remembered that we had some blueberry Eggos in the fridge. As the waffles were cooking, it was more peanut butter and another glass of milk. Total miles = 79.2. A great ride that provided a great deal of satisfaction.

Elevation of my ride:

06/27/2010 - 07/03/2010

Sunday, June 27th

Today was scheduled for a long run, but James, and I, decided to put together a nice brick instead. The day started out with neutral (16 – 18 mph), 35 mile ride. Nothing too much to report except that there were a few spots where we decided to set some tempo. Once back in our neighborhood, I headed home, put down some fluids, took a GU, and ran to meet up with James. I was a bit early to the rendezvous spot, so I took this opportunity to get some additional stretching in. Once James showed up, we took off for a 5 mile loop around our neighborhood. The first half was pavement, then trail, then pavement again. We wanted to keep a 9 – 9 ½ minute per mile. The ride was marginal and the run was pretty good. Put ‘em together, however, and it was a nice little work out.

Monday, June 28th

5 mile run before work. Usual loop.

Tuesday, June 29th

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

Wednesday, June 30th

Double trouble….Moderate ride, in the morning, and speed run in the evening.

The morning was super windy and not ideal riding conditions. I wanted to get 50 miles and knew that it was going to take me every bit of the 3 hours I had available. My final results were 50.17 at approximately 17.6 miles per hour. For some reason, I felt slow and sluggish. While I was happy to get in 50 before work, my overall satisfaction with this ride was average.

Today was scheduled as a “test” day. Erik wanted to time our 1 mile run for future reference and progress. Remember that the perimeter of the soccer fields is .33 miles. The total workout looked like this:

Warm up – 3 laps jogging / 2 x (¼ lap on, ¼ lap off)

3 laps race pace

Here are my results:

Lap 1 – 2:05 minutes
Lap 2 – 2:20 minutes
Lap 3 – 2:19 minutes

My 1 mile run came in at 6:44 and I couldn’t be happier. I was expecting something in the area of 7:15 minutes per mile. The workout wasn’t supposed to end with our timed one mile, but I was spent. After I realized that I needed 1 more lap to make my work out an even 3 miles, however, I got back on the field.

Thursday, July 1st

Day off. Leave for Alpine, AZ for the long weekend.

Friday, July 2nd

I was determined to get in some trail runs on this trip. Today, I wanted to put in 5-8 miles. Right out of the gate, I realized that 5 was going to be the magic number. I don’t if it was the altitude (8300 feet) or what, but I just didn’t “feel it” today. Along the route, 3 deer crossed the path right in front of me. I slowed down to see how close I could get, but they noticed me right away and bounced off into the forest. It was at this point that I remembered that I have seen elk and a Mexican Grey Wolf on this exact trail too. My father in-law actually saw a black bear and her cub once. The next 3 miles were spent running through different scenarios, in my mind, on how I would avoid a bear or wolf attack. Oh, and I had to lookout for the occasional ATV and motorcycle too. As I was headed back, there was a light mist that started to fall. The temp dropped a bit and I could really smell the forest. Overall, it was a very memorable run that gave me a great physical, and mental, challenge.

Saturday, July 3rd

The highway leading from Eagar to Alpine is about 26 miles long and is one that I’ve always thought about riding. Over the Memorial weekend, I did a little recon to see what the shoulders looked like and to see what condition the roads were in. Turns out that the shoulders are HUGE and the pavement is nice. That being said, I brought my tri bike to the mountains to give it a shot. When I was getting ready to roll (at 5AM) the thermometer said 48 degrees. Who would have thought that I’d be donning arm warmers and a wind vest in Arizona, in July?!? The ride started out phenomenal and only got better. On the way down to Eager, I even saw some elk on the side of the road. One of the best parts of the ride was around mile 12. This is where the elevation levels out, but keeps a nice downhill pitch for about 8 miles. I was able to get in my biggest gear, get aero, and just hammer. Overall, this was one of my most memorable, and enjoyable, rides this year. Total miles ridden were 51.

The turn-around point:


The road back can be seen in this pic. The cabin is somewhere in that mountain range on the right:




Elevation of my ride: