After last Wednesday’s dismal performance on the power line / Cave Creek run, I was determined to get out there and do it again. This time, however, I waited until it was a bit cooler and took off just before 6:30 PM. Everything started out the same as all of my other runs and stayed that way until I was finished. September is Dove season, so it sounded like a war zone when I was out there. I couldn’t see anybody, but the sound of shotgun blasts could be heard from all around. As I just stated, it was a pretty normal run with a higher HR and a slower pace. All things considered, it was an average run for me.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47999912
Monday, September 6th
Since I didn’t have work today, and Kristi was still at the family cabin with the kids, I decided to tackle my moderate ride. I was able to sleep in and take my time getting ready. I finally got out the door around 7:15 AM. I was aiming for 50 miles at a “comfortable” pace. In other words, I wasn’t out to break any records, nor was I out to make too many stops, or slow down. Ultimately, I was able to ride 51.6 miles at a 19.7 mph average. My average HR, at 143, was looking good too! Ultimately, I was extremely pleased with this enjoyable ride.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48000003
Tuesday, September 7th
Swim workout today:
Warm up
1 (400 + 4 x 100 +4 x 50) w/15RI
6 x 50 kick w/20RI w/fins w/board (FAST)
Main Set
6 x 50 easy w/10RI
6 x 50 drill/catch up or fingertip drag w/15RI
6 x 50 BUILD w/20RI
6 x 50 kick FAST w/10RI
6 x 50 FAST w/20RI
Warm Down
200 easy
Total 3000
Again, nothing to report about this workout. Still concentrating on a strong follow through on the pull portion of the stroke.
Wednesday, September 8th
Had a meeting with Frank to go over my swim video and to analyze my stroke. He offered up a few pointers on the recovery portion of my stroke as well as my hand entry. We discussed my revelation of dismissing track workouts and he agreed. At this point in my training, we have both come to the conclusion that the run will just be a “get it done at a comfortable pace” game. Spending some extra days at the track really won’t benefit me as much as getting comfortable running long distances at my elevated HR.
My run started out a 6:47 PM and I had to run portions of this route in the dark. I’d say that between miles 3 ½ and 6 ½ were the worst because there were no street lights and I didn’t have any type of flashlight. I didn’t want to sacrifice my pace, but I sure as heck didn’t want to twist an ankle on a hidden pothole. So, for those miles, I was playing a cautious game of “Looking out for Obstacles.” Fortunately, I made it through unscathed! It was a cool evening and I felt fairly solid.
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48256574
Thursday, September 9th
YES! I made it back to one of my favorite competitive rides of all time….the Jim Stenholm Crit in Anthem. It is truly an “hour of power” that has some seriously fast riders. I was able to make it out there about a half an hour early to get in a solid warm up. After about 10 small 1 mile loops, it was go time. As mentioned before, since I’m the only aero bike out there, I don’t like mixing it up in the pace line. As a result, I like to lead out as much as I can in front. On lap 2 (of the fast bigger laps) Chris Wylie showed up on his moped to motor-pace us. I cautiously started out just behind him, but pulled out to let the road bikes benefit from it instead. I absolutely love this ride, love riding with this group, and am ashamed that I haven’t participated as much this year. Not anymore! I plan on using this ride every Thursday for my speed training (instead of those intervals on Rancho Paloma).
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48377794
Friday, September 10th
Back in my May blog (written in June) I had the following to say:
"While picking up my second pair of running shoes (they were 30% off!) I saw that GU came out with a new flavor…Jet Blackberry (has 2x caffeine!) I moved from Vanilla Bean to Just Plain last year and have recently become sick of it. Oh, I’ve tried the other flavors, but immediately rule out anything without caffeine (just a personal thing), and can’t take the rich chocolate or espresso flavor while riding. I can tell you, for me, Jet Blackberry is here to stay for a while…it’s that good!"
I’ve been out of Gu for some time now and keep forgetting to pick up more. As a result, I’m running up to the local Fry’s supermarket to pick up some PowerBar gels for a $1.00 a piece. In one of my previous blogs, I indicated that it was more watery and easier to eat during exercise (compared to Gu). Well, while I was at the Airpark Bikes, picking up a Bento Box, I saw that they were having a special on PowerBar gels. Buy one box of 24 for $25.00 and get a second box of 24 for free! Well Howdy Doody PowerBar gels!!!! Back in May, I also said that I only use the caffeinated gels, but in light of me having a higher HR, I figured that I’d put the caffeine on the shelf and use only non-caffeinated. I bought a box of vanilla and raspberry cream.
Swim workout:
Warm up
2 x 100 easy swim
4 x 50 kick w/fins and board (:20RI)
Main Set
20 x 25 (:60 RI) 3 fast, one easy. Fast means FAST and easy means really easy.
200 easy
3 x 200 swim (:20RI)
4 x 100 swim (:15RI)
1 x 200 swim
4 x 50 swim (: 10RI)
Warm Down
100 easy
Total 2600
Today was the first day I tried to incorporate Frank’s suggestions on my hand entry and recovery position. I gotta tell you, it feels so wrong to do it this way, but I know it’s right. It’s difficult to break the old way of doing it because it was so comfortable, but, that being said, I could definitely tell that I was more efficient in the water.
After my swim, I had to get in a run. Since it was already 6:40 PM, I didn’t want to be out too long and decided on a shorter “faster” run that kept me close to home. All streets were fairly well lit too. I felt real good and my 8:32 pace was pleasing, but my real pleasure was seeing that last mile clock in at an 8:06 pace (the fastest split of all 4!)
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48857590
Saturday, September 11th
James, and I, wanted to nail a 120 mile ride today. So, after some planning, we came up with a route that took us down to Tempe (on part of that darn Ironman course that gave us so much trouble with flats) and back. In order to get home at a decent time, we had to roll by 4:00 AM. Just the night before, we realized that this would put us going down nine mile hill in the dark. James texted me and asked if I was cool with that. I responded, “No, but I’m also not cool with getting home at noon.” So, we rolled at 4:00 AM. As we were heading south on Pima, about 8 miles in, a white pick-up truck (with skull stickers on the back window) buzzed by us and just kept on his horn the whole time. Obviously, some intoxicated fella that just left the bars in Cave Creek. Once we started descending into Rio Verde, the temperature was downright CHILLY! I really had to keep my speed in check because it was still pitch black and my front light would only give me mere seconds to avoid any obstacles. James, on the other hand, was a bit bolder and was about a minute ahead. Finally, we reached the bottom of the hill and the sun started to light up the sky over the mountains. It was awesome. Since it was light out now, we were able to pick up our pace and climb out of Rio Verde in decent time. We hopped on the Ironman course and headed down to Tempe. When we got to the turn-around point, we noticed that there was a 9/11 memorial set up. There were about 3000 flags and each one had a victim’s name and other words attached to it. It was quite moving to say the least. We stopped and took some pics of the flags and the empty lake that we are supposed to swim in in November. The latest news indicates that it will be good to go in time. If it isn’t, a contingency plan has us swimming in Saguaro Lake (several miles off of the bike route). On our way back, at about mile 88, we stopped to refill water bottles and to grab a snack. I found a double package of Twix bars and a 16oz Coke while James hooked up a Payday bar with some Coke. I probably had the four bars, and Coke, finished in just a few minutes. I gotta tell you, this little “meal” was just what the doctor ordered! Around mile 90, I realized that I forgot to turn on my Garmin and short changed my record about 2 miles. That means that when we were done, James would show 120 and I would only show 118 even though I did 120. Well, I was determined to show 120, so I would have to put in a few more miles. Silly games, I know. Right around mile 105, we were heading south on Pima when an Escalade came zooming up behind us, buzzed us, and tried to immediately turn right in front of us. Both James, and I, had to slam on our breaks….as did the SUV. James was pretty fired up and started yelling at the guy. The driver started to roll down his window to yell back at us when traffic started piling up behind him. As they started honking, we all rolled forward and James kept going at it with the driver. After the driver sped off, a few other cars stopped to see if we were OK. Ultimately, James got the license plate number and called 911. They sent an officer out to look for the guy, but to no avail. Once we got close to home, I saw that I was just shy of 7 hours in the saddle and wanted to get it. After a quick spin around the neighborhood, I shut it down. I would classify this as an “epic” ride that we will be talking about for years! By the way, those raspberry cream PowerBar gels?!? Muy bueno!
Link to workout:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/48857614
9/11 Memorial. Notice the airplane in the sky.
9/11 Memorial
9/11 Memorial
Tempe Town "Lake"
My mid-ride snack
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