Thursday 11.27.12

Yesterday morning was boot camp.  For the first time, I didn't feel like I had been hit by a truck after the workout.  Hopefully, my body is adapting and I am building some strength along the way.  Today, I ran to the track to run.  Jeff gave me a different track plan.  It was alot of agility work to be done as sort of an injury insurance.  It is a mile and a half to the track.  When I got there, the agility stuff was perfomed on the straights and I would run the corners.  The first 400 was lateral running without crossing feet, the second 400 was lateral with crossovers, a 800 run, 400 with high knees, 400 with heel kicks, and then the mile and a half home.  Times were obviously slow due to the agility work.  It was very cold this morning.  40 with a wind chill to 29.  Bummer but I was able to dress warmly enough so it wasn't too bad.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/247270143

Sunday 11.25.12

Back to trail running today.  Met Joe and the Matrix and we took off for an 8 mile trail run this morning at 8am.  Weather was a little on the cool side to start and changed to my running tights.  I don't like being cold.  It was great by the time we finished.  I haven't run the Northshore trail in quite a few weeks so it was great to get back out there again.  The lake level is really down at Lake Grapevine.  Close to the turnaround we took a trail down to what is normally the lakes edge.  Instead we walked around where there is usually water.  If you look at my Garmin, it looks like we are running in the water.  I should of had my phone with me to get some pictures.  We really need some rain in the worst way.  I felt really good today despite the third day of running in the last four.  Took a few gels with me and two small bottles of water.  I probably could have used a third for an hour and a half run.  We talked about doing the Cross Timbers trail race in February.  I'll have to check into that today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/246655685

Saturday 11.24.12

Busy day today.  I rode the bike this morning and we headed to the Coppell High School playoff game and then came home to watch Alabama take apart Auburn.  Seems like every Saturday for the past three weeks has been cold, like 40 degree cold.  Light winds and sunny but I hate cold.  I made the best of it and knocked out 31 miles in 2 hours.  Jeff wanted me to take it easy and go slow today so that is what I did.  I guess there is a method to the madness so I'll keep doing what he tells me to do.  Tomorrow I'm trail running the Joe and Matrix.  Should be fun to get back to running with those guys.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/246425325

Friday 11.23.12

Nice to have a weekday off from work.  I was able to sleep in after the Thanksgiving road trip and let the weather warm up a little.  I rarely run two straight days but Jeff had it in the plan this week.  It was supposed to be an easy 5 miles today.  My hamstrings were a little tender this morning so I decided to keep it low key.  After the first mile, I was warm and everything felt good.  I dialed back the pace from yesterday and kept it comfortable.  It was nice running through the park today.  I covered 5.37 miles in 51:44 translating to 9:38 miles.  Nice day for late November.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245996565

Thanksgiving 11.22.12

It's Thanksgiving and our family is on a road trip today.  My mom is coming to my house this morning, we leave for my dad's this afternoon and then make one last trek to see my wife's mom and dad.  I couldn't do a Turkey Trot because of all of the traveling today so I ran 5.4 miles in Coppell through the park and averaged about 8:55 miles.  Lots of people out and about today.  Weather was great.  60 degrees and sunny.  Very nice.  My daughter came in from college last night so I am very thankful for getting to see her on this holiday.  It's been a good year for me on a lot of levels.  I am looking forward to next year.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245695649

Wednesday 11.21.12

I took Monday off completely.  The boot camp instructor was sick and I was kind of happy about that.  I think I needed another rest day.  I was supposed to go to the track and work out yesterday but it just wasn't in the cards.  I had to be at work around 5am and my son had a hockey game last night.  I decided to skip yesterday.  I feel guilty about it but what are you going to do.  I went to boot camp this morning.  Really hard today.  My soreness was pretty much gone.  My legs felt good but my upper body was still pretty fatigued from the work last week.  I am supposed to ride the bike today as well.  Hopefully, I can bail out of work early today and get some mileage in before dark.  My daughter is coming home from college tonight so we are looking forward to that.  I am supposed to run tomorrow but it will be tough.  We have three thanksgivings to manage tomorrow so I guess it will be an early morning run before all of the festivities begin.  I was hoping to do the Dallas turkey trot again but not this year.

Sunday 11.18.12

I slept in late today.  It was cold this morning so I decided to wait on warmer temps to run.  The Cowboys were playing like crap so I decided to go run towards the end of the second quarter.  I was going to do about 60 minutes today so I took a 6.25 mile route around Coppell.  I took a Cherry Lime gel with me but didn't take any water.  I think the air temp was about 62.  Good running weather.  I'm still a little sore from boot camp so I ran a nice, comfortable pace.  This time of year it's about maintenance and base miles.

Saturday 11.17.12

Yesterday, I went to boot camp at 6am.  That was not great.  After the Thursday workout and run, I was as sore as I have ever been.  My body was a wreck.  I fought through the boot camp.  Mostly lower body work.  Despite the work, I wasn't as sore in the afternoon and evening as I was the day before.  This morning, I woke up early and left the house for a 2 hour bike ride.  I was still pretty sore but I quickly figured out the muscles I use for riding my bike were not affected as badly.  I guess most of the work at boot camp is working muscles I don't generally use during triathlon training.  It was very cold this morning.  It was about 40 degrees when I left.  For the first 30 minutes, I thought my fingers were going to get frostbite and fall off.  They finally warmed up but my feet started giving me problems at about the one hour mark.  Not a great day for riding the bike.  I probably would have put another hour in but we had tickets for the Coppell/MacArthur playoff game today at the Death Star at 11am so I had to cut it short.  I'll be running tomorrow for an hour.  I don't think it will be very fast and I'll have to see how my body responds to the training I have been doing this week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/244282131

Thursday 11.15.12

I am really sore today.  I started boot camp with my wife yesterday morning.  Jeff sent me workouts for the week that included alot of strength type work as well.  The boot camp was good for my core and upper body.  My legs are in pretty good shape.  This morning, Jeff had me doing more planks, some agility, and a 3 mile run.  I am really feeling it after all of that.  Boot camp is tomorrow morning and it probably won't be pleasant.  It should be fine after my body adapts to this new schedule.  I think I will stay with this for next few months.  We will see how it works out.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/243521039

Tuesday 11.13.12

Took the day off yesterday.  I was going to swim last night but I had to work late.  No big deal, Jeff wants me to dial back the workouts and not burn out.  I think I'll mix things up a bit for the next few months.  Tonight I ran 4.25 miles.  Took it easy and averaged about 9:23 miles.  Tomorrow morning I am going to boot camp with my wife and see how that goes.  Should be interesting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/243156346

Sunday 11.11.12

Slept in a little late today.  I got up early to help Joe out with his 50K race on the Northshore trail at Lake Grapevine yesterday.  The wind was really blowing so I didn't miss taking the day off from the bike.  It gave me another much needed rest day for my legs.  Here's a picture of me and Joe before his race started yesterday:

Our other trail running compadre, Rich "Matrix" Wessels, was also helping out with the race so I grabbed a picture of him and Joe too.

It was fun helping Joe out on Saturday.  For me, I did get a run in this morning before the rain and the cold front hit.  I have a four mile route that I had intended to take today.  Earlier in the week, Jeff wanted me to keep my runs to about 3 miles.  I felt pretty good so I extended today's run to 5.25 miles.  It took about 47 minutes which is an 8:54/mile pace.  I could feel my strength coming back a little today which was nice to see.  I think it's time to dial up the distances this week.  The bike will be tough to work in with the early sunsets.  I will have to do most of that non-weekend work on the stationary bike.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/242354548

Friday 11.9.12

Forgot to post yesterday.  It was really busy.  I ran yesterday morning.  Jeff didn't want me to do more than 3 miles.  I have a route that is 3.3 miles so I decided to do that.  Yes, it's a little long.  I steadily got faster as the distance increased.  I went 9:02 for the first mile, 8:40 for the second mile, 8:38 for the third mile and was at 8:00 pace for the final .3.  I felt pretty good and the milage was easy.  I have a little IT band pain in my right hip.  It was there in the first mile and then subsided.  My left knee has been a little tender for the past few days as well.  I don't think it's anything serious.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/241347808

I swam this morning.  I don't really have a plan this week so I pulled one of the longer swims from earlier in the month.  I got a late start today and skipped the cool down 100 yards.  Swim yardage ended up being 2600 for the day.  Back to doing some kickboard work.  I can tell there is still some leg fatigue after the race.  I got mixed up and did some of the wrong workout today.  Nice job.  No big deal.  I adapted and moved on.

I went to REI yesterday and diversified my nutrition.  I bought honey stingers but left out the Ginsting variety.  It still makes my stomach turn to think about those after the race.  I bought some GU including the Cherry Lime since that tasted so good in Austin.  Who knew?  I also bought some Shot Blocks.  I intend on mixing up the nutrition this winter and spring.

Tomorrow morning my trail running brother Joe is doing the Rockledge Ultra race.  I am going to help crew him for the race so I may take tomorrow off.  I could probably still use some rest.  I'm not all the way back yet.  Should be fun to help him out.  The Matrix is going to man a few stations as well.  Joe doing 30 miles tomorrow.  The terrain is familiar since it our home turf for trail running.

http://www.nttr.org/rumble/

Wednesday 11.7.12

I woke up this morning and really didn't know what to do.  I don't really have a plan for this week.  Wednesday is usually a swim day but I did that yesterday.  I wanted to try and get back on schedule so I decided to go to the Aquatic Center and either row or ride the stationary bike.  The Aquatic Center has spin cycles upstairs so I decided to go up there and see if anyone was in the spin room.  No one was there and a few minutes after I got there a woman named Sonya came in wanting to do the same thing.  We rode together for about 65 minutes.  She said the spin teacher gets a little bent if someone is in there using the spin cycles outside of class.  At 6:30am, I guess no one was around to care.  After I got to work, Jeff sent me an email and wanted me to take it easy this week.  He thought my 6 mile run was too much and I should stick to no more than 3 mile runs this week.  My body needs some time to heal.  I agree as it was a little painful.  I will dial that back slightly for my run tomorrow.

Tuesday 11.6.12

Enough of sitting around and doing nothing for the past week.  I did go out of town to see my daughter at college this past weekend, so I hadn't really planned on much training until this week.  Last night, I ran 6.15 miles in about 57 minutes.  I averaged 9:20 miles and didn't really push the pace too much.  My legs were still a little fatigued but I was never really winded from a cardiovascular standpoint.  I guess it will take a little time to fully recover from the race.  This morning I swam 2200 yards in the pool.  My legs were still feeling a little tired from the run last night but my pace was really good in the pool today.  I feel like myself in the pool.  I am on a quest for 300,000 yards before the end of the year.  Should be doable.  After swimming, I went to vote.  The polls opened at 7am and I got there at about 7:15.  Took about an hour to vote but I got it all done today.  My buddy Joe is doing an Ultra Run this weekend and I need to see about helping him out on Saturday.  That should be interesting as I have never seen one of these races in action.  I have started looking for the next big race in 2013 but haven't decided on anything as of yet.