8.20.13 Track Speed Work

Doesn't seem like I have been to the track for speed work in a few weeks.  It was good to be back on the softer surface today.  My knees are much happier.  My workout was a warm up mile, 5x (800 meters at 3:35-3:40 which is 7:10-7:30 mile pace), and a cool down mile.  My times were very good today and most of the intervals were faster than expected.  If I can relax and concentrate on form, I do better.  When I think about how far to go and tense up trying to strain through each interval, it is much harder.  Usually because my form falls apart.  If I needed more speed today, I worked on form and stride.  Worked out well.  My intervals were at 7:08, 6:59, 7:10, 7:10 and 7:06 pace.  My cool down mile was around 8:35 and seemed really easy.  I thought my pace was in the low 9s.  Good day.  I took the day off yesterday.  I was wiped out from the weekend and slept in on Monday morning.  I figured the rest would do me good.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362148869

8.18.13 Sunday Open Water Swim and Trail Run

Shelby and the Enduroshark crew were swimming at Lake Grapevine followed by a run.  They dropped a few buoys in the cove where the boats are launched at Murrell Park.  The boat launch is closed due to the low water level.  We started the swim at about 6:30am and the air temp was 68 degrees.  Very unusual for Dallas in August.  I haven't done an open water swim with my new Garmin 910XT.  It is supposed to have better tracking in the water.  The distance looked close to what it should have been given my time in the water but the GPS mapping still looked a littel skewed.  Overall, good to get an open water swim in.  I was tired from 2 hours of kayaking the day before so I probably wasn't as strong as usual.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360994008

After the swim, Shelby's group took off for a run on the concrete.  I like to run the trails on Sunday so I went my own way.  My plan was for a steady 75 minutes.  Some bikers popped out of the trail and I asked them if they started at the guard shack and they said yes.  They knew what I was really asking and said they cleared the cobwebs for me.  Excellent.  Rich and Joe were in Leadville and I don't know that end of the trail very well.  I got about 30 minutes or so in and looked for a turn around.  I found one slightly past the MADD shelter and headed back.  My run was a little over an hour which was short but considering the swim, plenty of work for the day.  My speed was actually pretty good.  I didn't feel like I was going that fast.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360994037

8.17.13 Saturday Triple

First, one of my running buddies, Rich (ie. Matrix), is attempting to conquer the Leadville Trail 100 mile race today.  All the best Rich.

My morning started with the bike today.  I went with Shelby's group today and we did intervals using the Jeter Loop in Bartonville.  I took it pretty easy out to the loop and back.  I felt pretty good today.  Shelby's group was going to do a run brick today after the ride so I put in a 3 mile run.  I used the road on the way out in Murrell Park and used the trail on the way back to the boat ramp.  The training effect per Garmin today was in the low 4s which is fairly intense.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360545362

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360545382

When I got home, we had a reservation to Kayak the Trinity River this afternoon before my daughter goes back to school.  The 4 mile route we were going to take wasn't available so they took us upstream to do a 5.8 mile paddle.  My arms were burning but it was fun doing it with the entire family.  It took us about 2 hours to finish the kayak trip.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360545407

8.15.13 Tempo Run

Kind of back to the normal routine today.  The Thursday tempo run was on tap today.  It seemed pretty challenging from the outside looking in.  One warm up mile, 3x (4 minutes at 8:30 pace, 3 minutes at 8:00 pace, 1 minute at 7:30 pace, rinse and repeat), and a cool down mile which should add up to approximately 5 miles.  I searched my Garmin database for a good 5 mile route to use today.  It seems like I haven't reallly used that distance in a while.  I found a five mile route but I wasn't wearing my glasses.  My eyes are becoming a problem.  I put them on for the run because I was having trouble reading my watch.  I took off and went my six mile route instead of my five mile route.  I figured this out about three miles in but it was too late.  Damn eyesight.  I hit my numbers today.  Some of the 7:30s were more like 7:40 but close enough for government work.  My legs are a little sore this afternoon but that was probably to be expected.  Good morning despite the extra mile I put in to get home.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/359303369

8.14.13 Bike Intervals

I did an hour of bike intervals today.  I tried last week and the rain cut me short.  I was able to get it in today.  My plan was a 20 minute warm up and 5 intervals of 1 minute at 60%, 1 minute of 70%, 1 minute of 80%, 20 second sprint, 3 minute recovery, and a 10 minute cool down on the way home.  I was a little sluggish to start but felt ok through the first 3 intervals.  Interval 4 and 5 was a little rough.  All of the intervals averaged around 20mph.  The pattern change for this week has definitely changed the way I have felt all week.

8.13.13

Jeff is changing things up for me a little bit this week.  Instead of swimming on Monday, I went to a running boot camp at the Flower Mound rec center run by Jeff's buddy Shelby.  It was a nice change of pace but an early day for me.  It started at 5:30 so I was up around 4:30.  I felt a little fatigue in my legs this morning when I woke up for my swim.  Probably just working the muscles differently.  My 2400 yard swim this morning was just ok.  Not terrible but not great.  I think the rock climbing on Saturday combined with the boot camp has me turned around a little bit but that's fine.  Both were great.  I am to  rest my legs the rest of the day and ride the bike tomorrow.

8.11.13 Northshore Trail Run

I met Joe and Fred at 8am for our Sunday trail run.  Plan was for an easy 75 minute run in HR Zone 2.  We were missing the Matrix today.  He is in Leadville getting ready for LT 100 next weekend.  Weather was very humid again today and we took a fairly easy pace so it wasn't too bad.  The shade of the trails is great in the summer.  You can really tell the difference when you transition to sunny sections.  Hydrated well today and felt good.  My legs were a little heavy from rock climbing yesterday but no real problems.  Only a few more weeks of the really hot stuff and we should start moving towards cooler temperatures.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/357248805