6.28.13 Getaway Day

My plan for today was a 20 minute swim and rest.  I slept until 7am this morning.  I don't know the last time I slept that late.  It felt good.  I decided to just swim flat out for 20 minutes at a fairly consistent pace.  I was able to get at least 1100 yards in (I find it really hard to keep count for longer distances) for the 20 minutes and felt really good.  Maybe it was the extra sleep.  My rheumatologist gave me some antibiotic to help fight a possible sinus infection.  It may have been what was bothering me two weeks ago in Austin.  I am starting to feel a little better.  Hopefully, everything is coming together.  I am going to REI to pick up some nutrition on the way home from work at noon.  My wife and I are going to take off a little later this afternoon but hopefully we can miss rush hour and get passed Ft. Worth before the traffic gets bad.  The ironman.com site will have live coverage during the race so I can be tracked on Sunday there.

6.27.13 Taper Tempo Run

I purposefully waited until after work to run tonight.  I wanted to get some work in the heat tonight.  I was only going an easy 3 miles with four hard 20 second intervals.  It was right at 100 degrees when I took off for the run.  The heat is a factor.  It just saps your energy.  If you can manage to stay cool, it isn't bad at all.  I have decided to take my fuel belt for the sole purpose of pouring water on me between aid stations.  It's the best way for me to stay cool.  I should have plenty of opportunity to drink and get some gel in me at each aid station.  They usually have an aid station every mile for the run.  The weather is looking favorable at the moment.  The high on Sunday is going to be right around 90.  That would be amazing for the last day of June.  We leave for Lubbock tomorrow afternoon.  On Saturday, Jeff is going to go over the course with me.  We'll probably drive the course and may ride a section.  I would like to take a quick swim in the lake to get a feel for the water.  I have a 20 minute swim planned for tomorrow and then pack up and leave.  It's probably about 5-6 hours to Lubbock.  I'll try to get a good nights sleep, check out the expo and get my packet.  Should be fun.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334199821

6.26.13 Hump Day Double

Easy double today.  I went to the pool this morning for a quick 30 minute swim.  I decided not to do any of the drills on my schedule and just swim.  I decided to go a mile today in the pool and the 1800 yards took about 34 minutes this morning.  It's nice to sleep a little later.  I had a dentist appointment at 10am so I wasn't in a big rush.  My bike ride was an easy 50 minute ride.  I waited until after work to ride to get some work in the heat.  I don't want to get tired or overheated this week but I definitely need a some time getting acclimated to the heat.  I may wait to do my short run after work tomorrow as well.  It was 107 this afternoon in Lubbock.  It's starting to freak me out just a little.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/333815481

6.25.13 Taper Run

I'm backing off the distance this week.  My plan is really scaled back.  I did an easy 3 miles at around 9 minute pace and walked one mile as well.  The work has been done so I'm in a maintenance mode for the week.  I can also sleep in a little later since the workouts won't last as long.  I need to get as much sleep as possible this week to get recharged.  The weather is up and down every day for Lubbock on Sunday.  I guess it won't really matter in the big scheme of things.  It's going to be a long, hot day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/333088942

6.24.13 Swim

I decided to forgo the usual swim drill workout and just do the distance today.  I needed to know what it was like to put in 2500 yards without stopping to get a gut check on how I would feel with the distance.  Open water is completely different mentally and with the full contact in the water, more stressful to be exact.  It's my preference to go through the distance to calm my mind.  Things have been stressful at work so I need some inner peace going into this on Sunday.  I felt pretty good in the water today.  Saw a couple of the regulars today and they wished me good luck if they didn't see me again before the race.  I'm getting a little more anxious every day.  I would ideally like to get a chance to swim at the race site but don't know if that will be possible.  They are having races on Saturday so I'm not sure the course will be open.  The weather looks to be hotter every time I look at the forecast.  A cold front is coming through but it may be two days too late.  Unfortunate, the highs are going to dip into the 80s for the 4th of July.  Bummer.  I'm waiting for my workouts this week from Jeff.  Should be fairly light work load the rest of the way.  I'm leaving on Friday so there won't be too much I can do between now and the race.

6.23.13 Northshore Trail Run

Last long run before Ironman Buffalo Springs.  I met the Matrix, Joe and Fred at Joe's house for our Sunday run at Northshore Trail on Lake Grapevine.  I decided to keep the pace pretty steady but go after the hills today and give my legs one last solid workout.  There are several hills at Buffalo Springs.  I felt pretty today and managed a pretty steady pace.  Rich and I raced in for the last quarter mile. I think it was a dead heat. He ran 24 miles yesterday and still almost outran me at the end today. Amazing.  Matrix is training for Leadville so he has been doing big mileage.  Joe is coming to Lubbock for Buffalo Springs and is doing the half marathon portion with a relay team.  It will be good to have some friends at the race.  I took the Go Pro camera with me today and will see if I got some good shots today.  It is really downhill from here.  I'm sure we will be backing off the intensity this week.  I'm a little nervous about this race.  I have never rode a bike course with actual catgorized climbing and running in these conditions.  I really don't know what to expect or what goal to set.  At this point, getting to the finish line seems like goal number one.  My time in Austin last year was around six and a half hours.  I would like to do better but this is a completely different race.  I'll have to do some thinking on this.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332034616

6.22.13 Bike

Today was my somewhat last long bike ride before Ironman Buffalo Springs.  I scaled back the bike slightly today and only went 3 hours and 7 minutes covering 51.4 miles.  I did not push the pace today at all and this was a slower ride than usual.  I was supposed to go with my neighbor Justin today at 5:30 but I must have missed him this morning and ended up going alone.  My route to Argyle is still blocked so I went southwest through Southlake and then Las Colinas before heading home.  There are some nice hills in Irving and I probably needed a little hill work.  It was early and I didn't get enough nutrition in today.  I had some cramping problems when I got home so I'll need to get a handle on that before next week.  My ride was early enough that it was not hot but it was humid this morning.  It's been a weird spring/summer this year.  The hot weather has held off for the most part and I'm a little concerned about acclimating to the west texas heat next weekend.  At this point, the hay is in the barn so no sense worrying about it. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/331471730