8.31.13 Taper Run

Last tune up run before TriRock Austin on Monday.  I found my self in the middle of a 5k race today in Andy Brown park.  I had no idea one was going on today.  I was about half to three quarters of a mile ahead of the race when it started.  This wasn't a fast run for me today and the race leaders did not catch me so that was fun.  I saw them when I turned around on the trail and headed back to the house.  They were basically on the same path as me since I was doing a very easy 3 miles today.  Once I got across the race finish line, I headed back into the race traffic to home.  I saw the Hammer and his wife Laura this morning going the other way.  All the traffic today made it a little more interesting.  I have a short bike ride planned tomorrow and then it's off to Austin.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/368078406

8.30.13 Swim

I'm resting the legs today and only had a short 34 minute/1300 yard swim today.  I took the regular workout and split everything in half hoping to get 30 minutes.  It worked well.  My efficiency and SWOLF was much better today than it has been.  I only did half the usual work so that may be the reason for the improvement.  My 910xt does not pick up my kickboard work because my arm isn't moving but the data is still good to have. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/367534420

8.29.13 Taper Run

My plan was a slow and steady four miles for today.  I got my route confused again and added an unnecessary mile.  One of these days I'm going to get this right in the morning.  My heart rate monitor was freaking out and I spent too much time trying to fix it so I got a late start.  My miles were all in the 9:16-9:38 range.  Very slow but deliberate.  I am backing off the intensity for the rest of the week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/367211579

8.28.13 Taper Double

Wednesday is a double workout day.  I swam in the morning.  My plan was for about 40 minutes today.  I ended up going a little long at 55 minutes covering 2400 yards.  It's been a week since I was in the water and felt like a few extra minutes would be ok.  I definitely felt a little sluggish to start but picked it up towards the second half.  Lots of speed work today in the workout.  This evening I rode the bike for an hour.  Interval work today.  I started at the Flower Mound Rec Center and rode out to Murrell Park at Lake Grapevine and back.  Intervals were 3 minutes moderate, 3 minutes hard and 4 minutes recovery.  I repeated four times book ended by a 10 minute warm up and cool down.  It was still 95 degress at 6:45 but the heat was not a problem at all.  Legs felt good tonight.  It is the start of my taper for TriRock Austin so the workouts will be easy for the rest of the week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/366896041

8.27.13 Track ??? Run

I was supposed to do a track run this morning but I didn't feel very good this morning.  One time around my block is almost a half mile so I decided to make my track workout a neighborhood loop workout.  Pretty simple today.  One mile warm up, 800 at 3:20- 3:30, 1200 at 4:45- 4:55, 800 at 3:20-3:30, 400 at 1:40-1:45, 1 cool down mile.  Doing the math, these intervals are all below the 7:00 mile pace which would be tough.  I think the math on the 1200 was a little off as this would have been a very hot pace and is the only one I missed.  All of the others were really good.  800-3:22, 1200-5:26, 800-3:28, 400-1:37.  Happy with the effort but I'm not sure my knees will be after a fast run on the concrete.  I hope it wasn't too much today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/366211358

8.26.13 Damn Cell Phone

My wife and her boot camp crowd are having a rest week and she was looking for something less intense to do.  I asked Shelby if we could join the Enduroshark crew for his Monday boot camp.  He was good with that.  Since the boot camp we both were going to in the winter closed, I haven't had a chance to do too much with Patty, so that was fun.  Monday is a swim day so I was going to hold off until later in the evening.  It was the first day of school so the turnout was light.  I got burpees again on the blind tennis ball draw.  Happens every time.  I think half the balls in the bag are burpee balls.  I like doing the big rope during the station work.  In the afternoon at work, my phone wouldn't come on.  The touch screen was dead.  On further review, the LCD screen was cracked and I was screwed.  Patty and I had to go to the Verizon store and get a new phone.  Full price since no one was eligible for an upgrade.  I can't live without it.  I decided on insurance this time since I take it everywhere including the bike and running.  What this meant is I missed my swim workout.  Since it's a taper week before TriRock Austin, it probably isn't that big a deal.  First my Garmin falls off in the lake and now a cracked cell phone.  I'm on a bad run of luck right now.   

8.25.13 Northshore Trail Run

After missing a few days of work while moving my daughter into her house, I decided to get some work in on Sunday.  Our plane was due to arrive from Minneapolis at 9:20am.  I asked if my trail running crew could hold out until about 11am to run.  Joe confirmed, the Matrix decided to run coming off Leadville and so did Fred.  Excellent, I had some company.  Since I haven't logged much mileage on the bike this week, I rode my bike to Joe's house (~13 miles), run for 75 minutes on the trail, and then ride back home.  26 miles round trip riding the bike along with approximately six miles of running on the trail.  I left the house on my bike at 10:35am.  The wind was blowing from the east so it was a quick trip to Flower Mound.  I put my running gear in my camelback.  I took the water bladder out.  This worked great.  It was really hot as a downside. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365085628

We took off on the trail at 11:28 by my Garmin.  I'm not sure if flying creates problems running or not.  I was sluggish but I was also tired from getting up early for the flight and moving stuff for the last few days.  I really had no intention on setting any PRs.  The heat really took a toll by the end of the run.  I don't think anyone was real happy about waiting to run with me but I appreciate the company.  I think we almost lost Fred.  He went into the hurt locker in the last mile.  When we got to Joe's, he turned on the hose in the back yard and we all cooled off in the shade pouring water on our heads.  I wasn't sure about the ride home but after a few minutes of cooling off and getting my body temperature back down, I felt good about heading home.  Rich started to feel good again and he was smoking fast for the last few miles.  I stayed with him for awhile and then let him go when my heart rate was spiking in to zone 5.  I needed to back off and have some reserve for the ride. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365085653

It was almost 1:30pm when I headed back home.  45 minutes of really hot temperatures to ride through.  I had a full compliment of cold water bottles so it was fine.  One to pour on my head and one to drink.  I wasn't fast but I made it back easy.  I'm not sure if this was the brightest thing to do a week out from the race but it's in the books now.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365085679

8.23.13 Minnesota River Tempo Run

We had to get my daughter moved into a house for her second year of college in St. Paul, Minnesota.  We left on Wednesday afternoon and arrived on Thursday evening. 

 

 

 

I was able to get a swim in on Wednesday morning but we were just too busy to get my bike workout in.  It was good to get a little rest and take my mind off of working out even though I have race #5 of the Tri Series on Labor Day.  One very cool workout was running in Fort Snelling state park on the Minnesota river.  It was very pretty along the river.  Patty went with me to run which was great.  On the way into the park on Friday morning, she took a picture of me with some wild turkeys.

We parked under the Mendota bridge which was at the end of the line for driving our car.  We decided to climb up to the bridge and walk across before starting our run. 

View from the Mendota Bridge

 

Downtown St. Paul



Downtown Minneapolis

Me and Patty on the Bridge



Jeff had a fairly tough tempo run for me to do.  One warm up mile, 7:30 mile, 8:00 mile, 7:30 mile and a cool down mile.  It was about a mile climb out of the park and across the bridge so I didn't really count that mileage.  The trail led downhill almost the entire way to my turnaround.  The first 7:30 mile was fairly easy.  The 8:00 mile was ok.  It was downhill for the first half but the last half was going back up the hill.  I was close to time.  The last 7:30 mile was a beast.  It was at least 100-150 feet of elevation gain basically going slowly up hill the entire mile.  I was good until the 20 yards or so of the climb.  I really felt a little dizzy and had to walk a little bit.  I wasn't going to make 7:30 but was around 8:00 pace until I walked.  Blew the last mile but wasn't too unhappy.  Met up with Patty for the cool down mile and then we walked the last mile over the bridge and down to the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 



I was tapped out.  Good work though.  Saturday, we spent the day shopping and moving Meghan in.  I don't know if you get credit for going up and down stairs.  If you do, I had a busy non documented workout on Saturday.  It was good that we were able to spend our last few hours with our daughter before heading back to Dallas.  That was more important to us than anything.

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

8.10.13 Biking and Rock Climbing

It's my long bike day.  Jeff wanted me to do no more than 3 hours today but do several hard intervals.  I decided to go out to the whitehouse and back.  There was a fairly stiff north wind this morning that was tough on the way out but made it fast coming home.  The bridge on Wichita Trail was out so I ride by Joe's house.  He was out back today and I stopped for a few minutes to talk with him and refill my water bottle.  It was really humid today and pretty miserable towards the end of the ride.  I was trying to average 17.5 today which is fairly fast considering stop lights, stop signs, and stops to eat or drink.  At the halfway point, I was 2 minutes off pace but was flying on the way home.  I made up the time with 12 miles to go.  Felt pretty good today overall and ended up with an average speed of 17.8 which is quick for me.  I went up to Bicycles Plus and they put my cadence meter on my bike so I will be getting more data next week on the bike.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/356598785

This afternoon I went rock climbing with my wife and kids.  I don't know if this is good cross training but it was fun.  My arms are toast tonight.  We probably climbed for a few hours before heading home.  I'm sure my form is incredible as you can see.

8.9.13 Wow, that escalated quickly!

I slept a little later than planned this morning.  I just didn't get up for some reason.  My plan was for 2600 yards.  I had to stop at 2300 and get to work.  I used my new 910XT.  It must mark laps by arm movement and change of direction.  It didn't track distance when I used the kickboard.  It added 25 yards on my way out of the pool as backstroke.  Oh well, it was still cool the way it worked in the pool.  I have some more data to pour over now.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/355945246

On the way home from work, it looked like rain was coming from the west.  It never rains in August.  I decided to go eat with the family and then ride when I got home.  I was going to get some interval work in for about 40 minutes tonight.  When we got home from dinner, I looked at the radar and was about to give in.  Joe sent me and Rich and motivational video he found.  It made me want to go ride so I checked the radar.  Still looked far enough way to get 40 minutes in so I took off.  I was going to do my intervals on Parkway after I crossed over Denton Tap.  The rain started at the CARC.  When I crossed Denton Tap to start my first interval, the skies opened.  Oh my god, it was a deluge.  The lightning started next.  At least 5 cracks of lightning over my head and it seemed like one of them hit a tree 5 feet from me.  Loudest thing I have ever heard.  I tried to get home as fast as I could.  Lost cause for tonight.  I'll ride again tomorrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/356160364

8.8.13 Tempo Run

My hamstrings were still really tight for my run.  Residual from JGT.  The run was pretty simple as laid out by Jeff.  One mile warm up, 4 miles in the 8:15-8:25 range and a cool down mile.  The weather was warm (it is August) but the humidity was down so it wasn't too bad.  My HR monitor was reporting strangely for the first quarter mile or so.  I didn't get it wet before taking off.  I just took it easy to start and tried to work through the soreness.  When mile two hit, it was time to pick up the pace.  I was a little slow and was running at around 8:40 pace.  Same held true for mile three.  Mile four was my best mile at 8:19 and mile five was 8:35.  Not terrible but not great.  I passed the high school cross country team during mile four.  They were coming at me while I was going down Parkway.  I could hear Coach Farris yelling at them to share the sidewalk.  She's a piece of work and I always liked her.  I jogged in the last mile.  Good thing about summer is jumping in the pool after a run.  My body temperature cools faster and I don't feel like I sweat all the way to the office.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/355480357

8.7.13

I took Monday off completely.  My hamstrings and feet were tore up pretty badly.  Tuesday, I woke up early and ran an easy 5 mile recovery.  It was fairly painful.  I got faster as the miles rolled off but it wasn't easy.  The heat and humidity didn't help either.  These first few weeks of August are typically the worst week's of heat in Dallas.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354392149

We have one of our air conditioners out this week and the repair man was supposed to come by the house at 6am.  He didn't show until 7:30am so I completely missed my swim this morning.  I was still feeling pretty banged up so it wasn't a big deal.  I had a 90 minute bike ride planned for tonight.  It was still over 100 degrees when I left on my ride at 7:00pm.  I made it to the lake and felt my rear tire getting soft.  Sure enough, another flat.  I am really starting to get pissed off about this.  There is something wrong with that rear wheel.  I'm glad it didn't happen at the race.  I will be going to the bike shop tomorrow.  The whole thing is disappointing and I only was able to ride for an hour tonight.  A lost day of work today which is out of my hands to some degree.  Bummer.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/355240221

Jacks Generic Triathlon Olympic Distance 8.4.13 - Texas Tri Series #4

Top 5 finishers in my age group.

 



This is race number four of the series and the beginning of the longer distance races.  The race was at Lake Pflugerville and is a good location for a race.  Nice parking area, plenty of transition space, and a small but nice lake to swim in.  My wife went with me since the weather was looking hot and I worried about the ride home from Austin.  It figured to be a two and a half hour sufferfest in the heat and did not disappoint.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Dell Circle in Round Rock.  As far as less expensive hotels go, this was a jewel and they let me have a late checkout without a fight.  Very accomodating.  The hotel is close to the outlet mall in Round Rock.  We did some shopping on Saturday after picking up my packet downtown and checking into the hotel.  I got a good deal on some New Balance trail shoes so I will be giving those a try on my Sunday trail runs with Joe, Fred and the Matrix.  I may not see them for a few weeks because the Matrix is doing the Leadville Trail 100 in a few weeks.  Critical item for this weekend was my pillow.  I brought my pillow and I slept great before this race.  I haven't slept this good before a race outside my own bed in forever.

PreRace:
For some reason, the race did not start until 8:00am.  The sun was up at about 6:30am and you would think they would want to get this going considering the 100 degree temps in August.  The race consisted of an intermediate distance race (1000m swim/26.8m bike/6 mile run) and a sprint race.  To be eligible for the Texas Tri Series, you must do the longest distance at each race.  The intermediate race had the early swim waves so I was to start at about 8:05am.  We left the hotel at around 6:15am and made it to the venue at 6:30am.  It took about 15-20 minutes to park and we got a good spot by the luck of the draw.  The parking was row by row and when they filled up a row, they started another one close to the transition area and worked the cars back.  We were actually less than a couple minute walk to transition.  The transition area was set up by age groups this time so I was able to locate my competition in the series.  Roger was in the rack next to me but I would never see him after the start.  He is going to win our age group unless he flats like four times on the half iron distance race.  Doug is in second place right now and he was in the rack across from me so I knew where everyone was that I needed to keep an eye on.  It was good to have Patty with me because she could let me know what my time gaps were with Doug.  After setting up transition, it was time to hit the portapotties and then head down to the beach for the swim start.  They wouldn't let us get a warm up swim in until about 7:40am so we sat around and waited for the start.  I was very calm and felt good.  Usually, I'm a bundle of nerves before a race.  Some fitness club did a warm up but I skipped that, why burn excess energy.  My swim warm up would do. 

Waiting on the warm up for the swim.

When they gave the word, I swam a couple hundred yards as a warm up.  Hydrilla was growing off the bottom for the first 75 yards or so from the beach.  My hands and arms were getting tangled in the stuff.  I'm glad our wave was early.  After the national anthem, it was go time.

Swim:

At this course, the best start is to the right.  The buoys line up better for you.  This was a beach start which was something new for me.  Probably 10 yards to the water from the start line.  The other unusual aspect to this race was a two loop swim course.  Each lap was 500 meters.  After one lap, you exit the water and run down the beach for 50 yards or so and then do a second lap.  I made sure I was at the front of the group going into the start corral so I could get a good start. 

Talking to Roger at the Start Line for the Swim

Doug is usually a slower swimmer than me and I need every second to close the gap to second place.  Roger was standing next to me and I talked to him for a few minutes before they told us to go.  We counted down and then it was a mad dash to the water.  I was probably 20 yards from shore and felt my Garmin on my left wrist come loose.  It was on a pull stroke through the water.  I tried to grab it and it slipped from my hand.  I felt it on my leg and tried to kick it with no luck.  I stopped in the water and looked back.  There were lots of people in my wave behind me and they were swimming at me.  I had to consider this a lost cause and moved on.  Needless to say, I really couldn't think of anything else for the next few hundred yards.  How the hell did that happen?  It was a good and trusty watch.  I have beat that thing to hell and back.  It was showing signs of age but it was like losing a trusted friend.  RIP watch.  I'll miss you.  My focus was a little off and I had trouble staying tight on the buoy line until the turnaround to head back to the beach.  There was lots of traffic and body contact.  I was getting whacked in the head and guys swimming on my legs.  It really sucked for almost the entire first lap.  I caught alot of guys in the previous wave at the turnaround and that added to the madness.  When I exited the water to run across the beach, I felt good.  My heart rate had calmed down and I was in a good place again.  The beach, however, was not nice.  The sand was of large grain with several sharp rocks.  It was tearing up my soft and wet feet. 

Out of the water and down the beach for Lap 2

With the adrenalin going, you ignore things like that and keep going.  I remember seeing Patty on the run to the second lap.  My line on the second lap was excellent and I felt my speed was better as well.  The hydrilla was really stirred up at this point so the first and last 75 yards were littered with the stuff.  It was all over me.  On my way back in, I was trying to split two big guys.  One of them clipped me hard in the back of the head about 15 yards from the beach.  When I stood up, it was Doug.  This was depressing on several levels.  He hasn't been that great of a swimmer to date and his times on the bike are significantly better than mine.  Doug bought a speed suit for this race.  If there is any doubt that a speed suit makes you faster, this should answer that question.  I should have had a minute or two on him easily in the water.  He had a great swim.

Out to T1 from the Lake

T1:
On the way to transition, Doug was trying to find someone to unzip him and I was first to my bike.  He was next to me.  I was as fast as I could be.  I had considered wearing socks for this race but I had no time considering we were even at this point.  He clips his shoes into his pedals and I do not.  I put mine on in transition and run out of T1 with them.  We left T1 together and my time was good.

Bike:

Doug struggled with his shoes after we got on our bikes and I passed him.  The course is diamond shaped going NE to start.  There was a slight south wind when we started the first of two 13 mile loops.  I kept him behind me for probably two miles before he passed me.  I was ok with this.  I wanted to pace off him and try to keep him in sight, if possible.  I had a bottle of Accelerade, a bottle of Skratch, three gels, some Honey stinger chews and a Enduroshark salt.  I taped the shark salt to my bento box and swallowed it right away.  After Doug passed me, I stayed really tight with him until the SW turn on the course which was about 8 miles in.  Most of the roads had been repaired or paved since the last race so the pavement was fast.  There a few short but steep hills in the SW section and he put a little distance between us on those hills.  As we finished the first loop, I lost contact with him.  I know I'm a better runner and had to resist the urge to burn myself out on the bike.  When the second lap started, the sprint race athletes were pouring on to the course and it was crowded.  I was running low on Accelerade so I was doing a good job on my liquid intake.  Unfortunately, someone moved left while I was passing and put me into a pot hole.  My bottle of Skratch Labs went flying off the road.  Another bad moment, first my watch and now my Skratch.  The race of lost gear.  The second lap was basically a bunch of non stop passing and traffic navigation.  I was passed by a few people but not many.  Usually, the faster women in the swim wave that started behind me.  The wind was much heavier on the second lap.  I was hoping this would be a nice equalizer.  Doug is a bigger guy than me.  I did my best to keep a nice even pace and not go too hard.  It was really hard to stay with my own pace when I lost touch with him visually.  I really wanted off the bike so I could chase him down.  I hit the last stretch along the lake and pulled my feet out of my shoes to get ready for the dismount line.  I saw Patty yelling for me next to where we parked my truck.  I did a very nice one legged dismount and kept running with my bike.  I looked like I knew what I was doing.  It's harder to pull one leg around to the other side of the bike while your moving for a graceful dismount than one would think.

T2:
My socks were laying there begging to be used and I wanted to use them.  I was behind and knew my feet would suffer without socks.  I could feel the cuts and the irritation from the swim.  No time to waste so I just slid on my running shoes and took off.  The sun was really starting to beat down hard at this point so I threw my wife my visor and I took her cowboy hat on the way out of transition.  More shade coverage for my face, neck and head.  That was the theory at least.

Run:
The run course for six miles was two loops around the lake.  It's fairly flat on a crushed granite trail meaning lots of little rocks that can get lodged in your shoes while you run.  This was the main reason I thought about socks.  When I came out of transition, Patty told me I was a little over 3 minutes behind Doug.  For the first lap, I decided on a consistent pace that wasn't too fast.  I wanted to stay in HR Zone 3 or low 4, if possible.  I stopped at each aid station and poured water on my head and body along with drinking a cup of Gatorade.  The water on my head felt great but the refreshment would only seem to last about 3-4 tenths of a mile and it was hot again.  For the first lap, I couldn't really spot Doug anywhere on the course ahead of me.  It made it hard to stay motivated.  Coming into the finish area after my first lap, my motivation was not good.  It was hot and I was tired.  When I saw Patty, she said I was two minutes back.  I had closed about a minute and a half.  It was good news and I could feel him crumbling out there. 

End of Lap 1 and looking tired.

At this point, I picked up the pace and pushed through the fourth mile and would hope to get a visual on him.  If I did, it was time to go to work.  If not, I would just get a decent pace and cruise in.  I didn't have to wait long.  At about a half mile into the second loop, I saw Doug where the course made a right turn at the end of the lake.  Hope was out there.  I didn't really get on the gas but I didn't get off it either.  I still decided to walk the mile four aid station to drink and try to cool my body temperature.  I would have to make a decision what to do at the mile five aid station.  From mile four to mile five, I was slowly making progress.  It was going to be close.  I had slow my pace slightly from between mile four and five to have some reserve for the last mile.  When I got to the mile 5 aid station, Doug stopped for a few seconds to drink.  I knew stopping was not an option at this point.  Once at the aid station,  I just threw some water on myself and drank a little bit of Gatorade while running.  I didn't have time to stop or walk the aid station.  Doug was probably a one to two tenths ahead of me and I got on the gas a little bit to make up the difference.  I was about 100 yards away from him when my body begged to stop.  I think we were probably less than a half mile from the finish.  I wasn't going to take back any real time from him but I wanted him to know he didn't get away and beat me.  I walked for about 20 feet to get a quick break and then started running again.  I had no idea how much he had left in the tank and really didn't want to pass him too early.  I'm sure he hadn't felt any real pressure up to this point and didn't expect to see me coming.  I caught him with literally a few hundred yards left and passed him.  Once I passed, I just went as hard as I could and did not look back.  Race results say I got him by five seconds.  Not a whole lot and I'm still 1:45 down in the overall standings but he knows I'm there.  I'm not going anywhere.  I have a month to get ready for TriRock Austin on Labor Day.  This is getting interesting.

Crossing the finish line.

Post Race:
I was dead when it was over.  Someone took my timing chip and I saw Patty at the finish line.  I told her I got him at the end.  She knew that.  It was easy to spot me in the cowboy hat.  The hat was a big hit on the course.  I got lots of comments on it.  I think I'll look for one of my own for the last two races.  She said I didn't look good and I should probably get in the kids pools they filled with ice and water.  It was the best thing ever.  Hard to get into at first but it really cooled my core temperature and I started to feel better.  Patty grabbed her camping chair and sat just outside the barrier to keep me company.  I asked her to check the standings.  If I didn't make the podium, we could leave.  She came back and said I was third of four finishers in my age group at that point.  Made sense, I was right next to Doug so we decided to hang around for awhile.  My legs quads and calves started to cramp and one of the medical people came over to help me.  I'm not sure what she did.  She was putting pressure on my muscle.  I mean hard pressure and it hurt like hell.  She said it was going to hurt now but I would thank her later.  Someone else grabbed me an electrolyte drink and I took another salt pill.  Whatever she did worked.  I would thank her if I could find her today.  Patty grabbed my camping chair from my truck and we sat in the shade of the pavilion waiting on awards.  They were coming up soon.  When they called my group, they didn't call my name.  I was fourth.  We aren't sure how that happened and it doesn't really matter.  The only race I care about right now is the race for second in the series.  The guy that did win third place at this race is also running the series.  I was about 10 minutes ahead of him and was finishing ahead of him in all the races up till now.  He has apparently done something to gain speed on the bike and he took about 2-3 minutes back from me and moved from fifth to fourth.  I checked my bike out of transition, we went back to the hotel to shower, and then ate at Chuy's on the way out of town.  It was excellent.  I was very hungry.  Two races to go in the series.  I have no idea how this will end up but I'm glad I have some time to train between races now.

Post Race Ice Bath

8.3.13 Bike

Jacks Generic Triathlon is tomorrow in Plugerville so I went for a short bike ride today.  About an hour out Lakeside Parkway and back.  I don't think I have been on the bike in about a week and a half and it was good to get out there again.  It is getting hot now.  Summer has finally descended.  The race tomorrow may be the toughest of the year.  It's an Olympic distance so I'm looking at two and a half hours of work in the heat.  For some reason, the waves start at 8:00am.  Why not start at 7:00am?  I guess there will be incentive to get done.  This will be #4 of the Texas Tri Series.  I haven't had a stellar month of training so we'll see how it goes.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/352649552

8.1.13 Tempo Run

Out for a 4 mile Tempo Run this morning.  Scaled back slightly because of my race on Sunday.  Summer is definitely in full swing now.  It was hot and humid this morning.  Usually, August is warm but the humidity isn't very high because we get no rain.  Not today.  Felt like a little bit of Houston dropped in on us.  I'm still not feeling very good after Mexico but I made it today.  Not a stellar performance but it will do.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/351872297