5.30.14 Swim

We are traveling to Minnesota to help my daughter move into her new house today so I only had time to swim this morning.  I haven't been able to swim this week so it was good to get in the water.  I didn't use a workout today.  I just swam 3000 yards without stopping that took about 72 minutes.  A little slower than I expected, but I wasn't really pushing the pace either.  Good to get a solid swim in today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/510008799

5.29.14 Bike

I was really tired this morning from the travel and decided to sleep instead of getting up early and running.  It was a run day but I haven't been able to ride the bike.  I decided to ride the bike this evening since I won't be in town this weekend.  This is a rest week and Jeff told me to only do one hour workouts this week.  We are about to hit a very strenuous build period for Boulder so I am basically letting my body heal this week.  I rode for an hour around Coppell and felt really good with the lighter work load this week.  Nice and easy ride for the most part.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/509838249

5.28.14 Birthday Run Through Tuscaloosa

We were at the University of Alabama from Monday through today for college orientation for my son.  I was not able to get any work in on Monday and Tuesday.  It was a really busy schedule.  My birthday is the 28th so I decided to run through what I consider one of the greatest places on earth.  We were staying at a hotel on campus so it was an easy run through the University, to downtown Tuscaloosa, back to campus, through the quad, down Fraternity row past my old house and down University until I needed to turn around to come back to the hotel.  Nice easy run.  It was really humid as is the case in Alabama and the heat is just starting to come up.  I only ran an hour so it wasn't that big a deal.  Good times.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/509152544

5.25.14 Northshore Trail Run 100 mile Month

Good day today.  I met the entire Goat Trail Crew at Joe's house at 8am.  We decided to drive down to Murrell Park and run the round trip to Rockledge.  This usually comes in at close to 9 miles.  The trail on the east end is less technical and close to the lake so we usually get a nice breeze off the water. As a secret goal, I was at 88.6 miles for the month of May.  It would have been nice to go over the 100 mile mark for the month.  I have never had a 100 mile month.  The air was fairly stale and humid in the trees.  I stayed on the gel every 30 minutes and took two shark salts at the turnaround.  We found a water fountain and refilled water bottles.  It was nice to splash water on my head to cool down a little bit before we headed back.  I felt better during the last half of the run.  The first half was a little rough.  The mountain bikes were a constant pain in the ass on the way back.  When you get 6 or 7 miles in, coming to a complete stop and letting them pass every few minutes is a real buzz kill on the legs.  There just isn't a way to get into a good rhythm.  Close to the end, I let everyone know about my secret goal.  We had to decide between going west for a few miles and then return or run back to Joe's house on the road.  Fred volunteered to drive Joe's truck back to his house so we were going to pick up the last three miles on the road.  From the lake to Joe's house is basically an uphill climb the whole way.  Matrix was determined to pull me through this and to do it fast.  We ran the first few steeper grade hills fast and finished the first mile in 9:02.  I didn't think I had much left in me to go faster but Rich kept barking at me so I went faster to see what I had in the tank.  We really got into a very good groove at this point.  Rich told me we would have to go all the way to Flower Mound Road to get the full three miles in.  I wasn't happy about that because it's uphill all the way.  The good news would be the down hill from the corner back to Joe's house.  Second mile was 8:16.  All right, not bad.  The down hill was coming and we kept digging.  On the way downhill towards the turn to Joe's house, Rich had the bright idea of going straight and coming down a trail because we were going to be a little short.  I told him no way.  We would just keep going down Native Oak until the third mile was complete.  I didn't want any more up hill climbs.  I think we had about three tenths to go once we reached Joe's house so we just kept going.  The last mile was 7:49, a very respectable last three miles after a nine mile trail run.  I felt really good about the run.  Thanks to my boys for getting to my goal for the month.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/506849376

5.24.14 Bike/Run Brick

Plan was for four hours today with a 30 minute run brick.  I went a little long on the bike and covered 73 miles.  I was shooting for 80 but was ready to come in and run.  I felt really strong during the ride and was hitting 20mph into the slight headwind without difficulty.  The brick was tough.  Really made me think about how hard the 26 miles will be at the race.  Daunting.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/506072003

5.23.14 Little bit of Everything

Swam in the morning and picked out a 2500 yard workout.  Shoulders were still a little sore but was able to finish without much trouble.  Still in recovery mode after the 4000 on Wednesday.  In the afternoon, I did a quick brick.  30 minutes on the bike and a 10 minute run.

5.22.14 Tempo Run

Plan called for 10 miles this morning.  I felt really good the whole way and knocked out the mileage easily.  No difficulties.  I was worried about my calf after Tuesday but everything bounced back well.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/504638184

5.21.14 Swim

Fairly significant swim for me today.  I decided to just swim the distance or close to it.  I went 4000 yards which is about 200 short of the 2.4 miles.  My shoulders were sore after the fact.  I think I need a little more strength in that area but I'm happy to know what it feels like.  Didn't ride the bike because of issues at work so I missed one this week.

5.20.14 Track Run

Jeff dropped an intense track workout on me today.  I think I pulled something in my right calf today.  Hopefully, it will resolve itself quickly. 

1 mile warm up
4X(15 sec pick ups with 10 sec rest), then 2 min rest
4X(2 min at threshold, with 1 min rest), then 3 min rest
2X(4 min at threshold with 2 min rest), then 3 min rest
8 min at threshold, then 4 min rest
1 mile cool down

I don't know what my threshold is so I just went a pace that I could sustain with some difficulty.  The two minute intervals were at 7 minute pace or below.  The four minute intervals were around 7:40 pace and the 8 minute interval was at 7:50 pace.  I met a guy at the track named Lee that is doing Ironman Boulder as well.  Small world.  He was really fast.  One of those guys that's keeps a fast pace but makes it look effortless.  I might have someone else to workout with for the longer distance work over the next month and a half.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/503391537

5.18.14 Weekend

Saturday was a bike/run brick.  Plan was four hours on the bike followed by a 30 minute run.  I rode from the house at 6:30am to the FloMo CAC to meet Shelby's group.  Ralph rode with me for three hours so I could get my four in.  It's about 30 minutes to the CAC from my house.  Kind of cool temps in the morning.  Decided to enjoy it as much as possible.  It isn't going to last.  We took the Robson Ranch route to the other side of 35W and back which works in Hilltop road.  Nice ride.  When I made it back to the house, I changed as quickly as possible and headed out for my 30 minute run.  I didn't feel great running.  Maybe because I haven't done a lot of brick work.  Towards the last 10 minutes I settled into a decent pace but never felt right.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/501230829
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/501230865

Sunday, it was just me and the Matrix at Northshore.  We road up to the guard shack at Murrell Park and ran to Rockledge and back.  It was about 8.5 miles round trip.  Both of us were a little tired to start.  Rich did 20+ on Saturday.  After we got in a groove, we felt pretty good.  The eastern part of the trail is less technical and easier for just running.  Good day on the trail.  The weather was great.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/502389093

5.15.14 Tough Tempo Run

I had planned to go 9-10 miles this morning.  I woke up feeling ok but I had a weird feeling about the run today.  We are eating dinner with my dad tonight so I had to move ahead.  I took my supplements, shark salt, and arthritis meds together today.  Perhaps that was a mistake.  I got about 4-5 miles in and my stomach started giving me problems.  I ended up walking a little and then running a little.  I made it to the Tom Thumb and thought I was going to throw up but didn't have to.  I cut the run short by coming home through the park.  I don't know if this was a wasted day or not.  I did manage to get 8.5 miles in but it wasn't exactly the kind of effort I should have been putting in.  I'm going to back off my supplements in conjunction with other stuff for the next few days and see if that makes a difference.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/500046416

5.14.14 Wednesday Double

Wednesday is a swim and bike day.  I swam in the morning.  Jeff put a 1000 yard timed swim after about 1000 yards of drills in the workout.  I was supposed to go as fast as possible.  As with most endurance activities, it's always hard to know how hard to push.  You don't want to blow up towards the end.  I pushed at what I would consider 75%-80% effort for each length of the pool.  All of my lengths were consistently between 28-31 seconds.  The timed portion of the swim was 20:17.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/499844886

In the pool without a wetsuit, 20:17 is a very good time for me.  Basically, sustaining 2:00 hundreds for 20 minutes.  Not bad.

Rode the bike with Shelby on Wednesday night.  We did a longer loop out to Bartonville and back.  Weather was a little cool.  Might be the last time I get to say that for awhile.  Windy again today.  When June hits, the wind should die down but the heat will settle in.  It's always something.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/499844861

5.13.14 Track Run

Speed work today at the track.  Short but fairly intense workout today.  1 mile warm up, 800 at 5k pace 60-90 sec recovery, 1200 at 10k pace 60-90 sec recovery, 1600 at half marathon pace, immediately with no rest 800 at 5k pace, 400 easy, 1 mile cool down.  I didn't get this completely right.  I rested between the 1600 and the 800.  I also ran the 400 easy at 10k pace.  I guess it is close enough.  Probably the fastest speed session of the year.  I'm on day 10 of the supplement regiment.  I don't know if it is making the difference or not.  The weather was cool but very windy so half of each lap was into a very stiff wind that slowed my times.  Despite the conditions, my times were very good for me.  I ran a 7:45 pace 800, 7:55 pace 1200, 8:42 pace 1600, 8:00 pace 800, and a 8:17 pace 400.  All of these were well under 9 minute pace and the shorter ones under 8:00 pace are good.  The top end speed is still not great but my ability to hold on to a faster pace is improving.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/498717439

5.12.14 Spirit Airlines = Rest Day

At my son's request, he asked for a blog post concerning my trip home from Minnesota on Spirit Airlines.  I have never flown Spirit.  They nickel and dime you for everything to make up for the cheap fares.  I sat in 13F on the way up.  I am not tall, 5 foot 10 inches.  My knees were jammed into the seat in front of me the whole flight.  It was impossible to get comfortable.  I wasn't all that excited about the ride home.  You can upgrade your seat to a first class type seat for $40.  I was going to try to get on that.  After my run on Sunday, I decided to use the hotel computer to check in and get my boarding pass.  The first computer I used was horribly beat down and slow.  It wouldn't show the seating chart.  Must have been running IE6 or something ancient as a browser.  Abandoned that PC and moved to the next one.  Much better.  However, when you came to the page to change your seat, the seating chart didn't provide any upgrade options.  I left the hotel with my seat assignment as 23F.  Had to be the back of the plane.  Feeling defeated, I decided to try and call.  The number for customer service is no where to be found on the web site.  I had to google for it.  The number I called referred me to another number.  Finally, after navigating the IVR hell hole, I got a real person.  For $40, I was the spanking new owner of a first class seat on the first row of the plane.  I was feeling better until I checked my flight status.  Flight was delayed 9pm to 9:40pm.  My daughter was doing her homework in the Student Center.  I had nothing to do so I watched TV.  When she finished her homework, she was going to print my boarding pass.  When I printed the boarding pass, my flight was delayed again to a 10:30pm departure.  This was getting worse by the minute.  My daughter had a lot of work to do, so I decided to just have her take me to the airport at 8pm.  No need to keep her from the things she needed to do.  I don't think anyone flies out of Minneapolis after 8pm.  That airport was a ghost town until you arrived at the Spirit Airlines gates.  Every single plane was late.  This wasn't some bad luck thing for me.  My boarding pass said my flight was leaving out of H2.  No one was there and the screens were dark.  Plus, this was the hell gate usually occupied by Sun Country.  It was the same gate where they picked me out of a crowd of hundreds to extort a baggage fee from me.  Didn't work  but that is another long story.  After a few minutes, I started thinking something was wrong.  I looked it up on my phone and the gate was showing H6.  Back to the mass of humanity waiting on Spirit flights.  I asked the gate agent if I was in the right place because the board said Chicago.  She said yes.  Dallas would be leaving out of H6 at 10:00pm.  My plane was on the way from Denver.  Checked flightaware.com and sure enough the plane was coming.  Landing at 9:50pm so there was no way we were leaving at 10pm.  One of the flights that was supposed to leave around the same time as mine was a flight to Las Vegas.  The Vegas flight was delayed until 12:15am.  I grabbed a seat close to the gate and this was highly entertaining.  Travelers to Las Vegas come in two varieties.  People who live or work there and people who are going on vacation.  I literally watched at least 20 different people ask about the flight.  The people who live or work there were very agitated and the gate agent was getting an ear full about the crappy web site and lack of notification.  The more entertaining crowd belonged to the vacationers.  They seemed to all find each other and took over the bar next to the gate.  Nothing to lose for that crowd.  The longer they waited, the more they drank.  Each time they would walk up to talk to the agent, the more contentious it became.  The vacationing drunks came in two varieties as well.  The pissed off drunks and the happy go lucky high fiving drunks.  The bar was erupting into strange chants like an Aggie football game.  I don't know what they were doing in there and I didn't want to know.  Every so often, one would stumble out and look for a status.  Granted, the board said the Vegas flight was not leaving until 12:15am.  Maybe they were too shitfaced to remember the status hadn't changed in the last 10 minutes.  I sat there until 10:30pm watching the insanity.  These guys were hammered by the time I left.  I can't imagine having to ride to Vegas with all of those idiots.  It would either be very loud and obnoxious or half the plane would be barfing all the way there.  Best case would be they all passed out.  Sitting on that Vegas flight was going to be miserable for everyone.  One of the last drunks to stumble out with the deer in the headlight look was a woman looking to start trouble with the gate agent.  Lots of repeated explanations with blank staring and repeating the same question over and over.  I'm pretty sure a cat fight was going to ensue but she finally gave it up and went back to the bar.  Once my plane arrived, the gate agent dispensed with the usual orderly loading by zone.  She announced the entire plane was open to board creating a mad dash to the gate.  I'm fairly sure a few people were trampled in the bum rush.  I made it on fast since I was right next to the gate agent.  Never was $40 better spent than getting the seat up front.  We didn't take off until around 10:45pm and landed after 1:00am.  The terminal was empty in Dallas with the exception of a Spirit flight going to LA.  I feel your pain people.  They still had not left yet.  Good luck guys.  As a result, Spirit created a rest day for me on Monday.  I only slept for a few hours and went to work.  Thanks for the memories Spirit.

5.11.14 Mothers Day Minneapolis Mississippi River Run

My plan called for another 90 minute run on Sunday.  I have wanted to go downtown and run the Mississippi since we have been going to the Twin Cities to visit my daughter the past few years.  I drove to downtown Minneapolis and found a parking lot right next to the river.  I started at something called the Old Mill Ruins.  Minneapolis was/is a hot spot for makers of flour.  They have some actual ruins of the old mills right on the river close to the University of Minnesota.  I started from there and headed south.  I did get lost a few times and headed the wrong direction but quickly got myself back on track.  Due to some of my detours, I ran about 52 minutes and then turned around.  I ended up getting back to the ruins right at 90 minutes so my calculations were dead on.  I had a little stiffness in my hamstring but I felt really good again.  Two back to back 9 mile runs on concrete and I wasn't really sore or tired. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/498325003

I am almost certain I saw Minnesota Viking great John Randle riding his bike.  The river was really roaring.  There is a dam at the spot where I started and the water was really moving.  Here is a picture of the dam:

This is a bridge that crosses the river at the University of Minnesota.  I think they have a few buildings on the west side of the river.  It was a really cool looking pedestrian bridge.

Last, I came across the Minnesota version of the old school paddle boat.  Anyone from the south, will get a chuckle out of this.  You can barely see a van off to the right so that gives you a little bit of scale.  Let's say it was diminutive compared to those I have seen in Mississippi or New Orleans.  Maybe they can't make them too big since they probably have to pull them out of the water for the winter.  Anyway, I thought it was funny.

5.10.14 St. Paul Run

It's still in the 40s in Minnesota for the morning.  Good running temps.  I haven't seen 40s in a few weeks in Dallas.  I wasn't really sure which way to go but my plan called for 90 minutes since I didn't have my bike for the usual Saturday ride.  I ran through the Hamline campus and then went down Lexington to Summit.  Summit is a large avenue with some very expensive and large homes.  It's very nice.  I basically retraced my steps at the 45 minute mark to make sure I was able to get the full 90 minutes in.  Jeff said to keep the pace slow so I was doing about 9:50 mile pace or something like that.  The weather was great and I felt like I could have run 20.  I was never really sore at all.  Maybe there is something to this supplement.  Covered 9.13 miles in the 90 minutes.  Good run.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/498324968

5.9.14 Swim

The only thing I had time for was a swim.  I was getting on a plane in the afternoon to visit my daughter in Minnesota.  My swim felt really good again today.  I didn't have any speed sets that blew me away but I felt strong throughout.  My swimming seems to be improving which is good.

5.8.14 Tempo Run

My stomach wasn't feeling good this morning and I wasn't able to get going as quickly as I needed.  I was supposed to do 8 miles and ended up truncating the run back to 7 miles to get to work on time.  We were due for bad thunderstorms all afternoon so I had to run in the morning.  1 mile warm up, 3 miles at half marathon pace, 2 miles at 10k pace and a cool down mile.  I felt really good but was a little pressured to get through the run.  I was able to hold the 10k pace comfortably under 9 minute miles.  I wasn't tapped out from the Wednesday work so that was good.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/495556514

5.7.14 Wednesday Double

So I went to the health store over the weekend to get some more Endurox and pick up some GU my wife ordered.  I have a friend who posted a link to a supplement called Mountain Might.  I asked the guy at the health store if he was familiar with it.  He looked it up on line and based on what was in it decided he could combine a few supplements together for me and see how it worked.  I started taking the supplements on Sunday.  Fast forward to Wednesday.  I was told the effects would not be completely apparent for about 2 weeks.  The supplements should theoretically boost red blood cell production, hemoglobin, and EPO production.  Therefore, making acclimatization easier at altitude.  It should help a sea level and improve recovery between workouts.  Thus, I started my swim with no expectations.  I had a couple of 4x100 intervals with 20 second rest descending.  Meaning each one is to be faster than the one before.  I usually start these at around 2:00 per hundred and work my way down to maybe 1:48 or so.  On this day, I started at 1:55, then 1:50, then 1:45 and the last at 1:40.  I really had to make sure this was right and I didn't miss anything.  I had another round coming and would do a better job of paying attention.  Results were the same.  The bears some further analysis but it looks good so far.  Swimming would seem to be the perfect place to determine results since your breathing is obviously labored and directly influences speed under duress.  My bike ride was after work and I really didn't feel better or worse than usual.  The wind was really blowing hard so my effort was high without a lot of performance gain.  Hard to know at this point but interesting to say the least.

5.6.14 Sad Tempo Run Day

Monday was a rest day and we start another build cycle starting this week.  I woke up late around 6am to run.  It was 5 mile tempo run.  Unfortunately, we have a very old dog (almost 15) that has been struggling lately and he didn't make it overnight.  It was fairly traumatic.  Chip was my daughters dog and we had to call her at school and give her the news.  Rough day all the way around.  Chip was a sweet dog.  We will miss him.  I ran after work.  My head wasn't really in it but I need to keep things moving along.  1 mile warm up, 3 miles at 10k pace, 1 mile cool down.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/494688433

5.4.14 Pilot Knoll Trail Run

Ran today with the Goat Trail crew minus Fred.  We parked at the entrance to Pilot Knoll park and decided to south until we needed to turn around.  My plan was for a soft 60 but we went 90.  It was a really nice day.  We went 4.1 miles and then turned around without running out of trail.  I'm not sure how far the trail goes on either end but we know there is at least 20 miles round trip.  Weather was great.  It was nice to sit in the shade in our camping chairs, drink some Endurox and eat some Pineapple chunks Joe brought with him.  Nice day for a run but the heat is coming.  You can feel it.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/492945991

5.3.14 Bike

Since this is a rest week, I only had three hours planned for the ride.  It was actually cool in the morning.  It was close to 50 but would get to 80 within 3 hours.  I sucked up the cold for about an hour until things were comfortable.  I rode up to the CAC to ride with the Enduroshark group.  Marcel was the only one who was going long so he went with me.  We rode out past 35W and back.  It was almost exactly 3 hours and we got 51 miles in.  The day was great.  No wind and comfortable temps.  Why couldn't we have a day like this when Jeff wants me to do big mileage.  I hope for a solid May weather wise.  The miles are going to get long.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/492152706

5.2.14 Recovery Week

I just finished a build cycle so this week is a recovery week.  I took the entire day off on Monday.  On Tuesday morning, I had a five mile tempo run.  1 mile warm up, 5x (15 second pick ups with 2 minutes recovery), and finish the remaining distance at an easy pace.  My body was still in recovery mode and this seemed more difficult than it should have been.  I started to get my groove on at about 4 miles and felt really good from there on out.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/489701983

Wednesday was the usual swim/bike double.  I didn't get an actual swim workout.  Jeff said to just swim for 30 minutes.  I ended up doing 1.2 miles of straight swimming.  The pollen is bad right now and I had some issues breathing.  The swim went about 47 minutes so it was a little long.  Seems like a waste to get in the water and not get at least 2k yards in.  I rode the bike that evening with the Enduroshark group.  We rode out to Murrell Park and back.  I think the ride was 68 minutes and covered almost 17 miles.  I took it real easy.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/490462366

Thursday was a 4 mile tempo run at easy pace.  I started to feel good again on Thursday.  My easy miles were just over 9 minute pace.  I don't know what happened but I did one mile per my Garmin at 8:13.  I really didn't feel like I ever pushed the pace at all.

Today was a swim day.  Once again, I was to go 30 minutes.  Same as Wednesday, I knocked out 2200 yards and went home.  I was really comfortable today.  No breathing issues and tore through the swim without issue.  I'm sure next week will start another build so I'm not going to push it too much this weekend.  It will be hard because I'm feeling good right now.