7.31.14 Packet Pick Up Today

It's my anniversary for my wife and I.  I missed her this morning but she is coming tonight.  I met Jeff at the rez this morning. Ironman set up a little 750 yard loop.  We did a couple of loops before they closed the course.  We did a 3.5 mile run on the trail before going to packet pick up.  Ironman set up outside and the ground was soaking wet.  Not a good combination.  Good to get there early to buy a tri kit before the popular sizes disappeared.  Ironman gave us a cool backpack.  My bike was at Tribike Transport but they didn't open until 1pm.  I walked to the Pearl Street Mall to grab something to eat and tripped across Apolo Ohno outside the Newton shoe store.  I had my picture made with him and wished him luck at Kona.  It's not everyday you get a brush with Olympic greatness.  After lunch, I picked up my bike and rode for about an hour.  I did a big climb up Baseline Rd.  The elevation here was most notable today on the bike.  I really have to manage the climbs for the race.  Good day today.  Weather was nice and I was able to do a little bit of everything.  At this point, I just want to race.  My body is not happy with the short workouts.

7.30.14 Rained Out

Basically, a terrible day in Boulder.  The high today was 62 and it rained all day.  This created problems on a few fronts.  If Boulder Creek floods, the run course could be in trouble and the reservoir can have issues with bacteria.  I ended up going to the Boulder Rec Center and swam for an hour.  I rested the remainder of the day watched TV.  Jeff made it to Boulder later in the day and we are swimming at the rez tomorrow.

7.29.14 Boulder Creek Trail Run

The last week of taper is very light on the workout side.  Today was a 30 minute easy run.  I decided to drive to Boulder this morning and run the western section of the trail.  When I arrived downtown, the Boulder High School parking lot was blocked off by Ironman.  It looked like the circus had arrived in town.  Looks like the expo will predominately be held outside in a big open field next to the high school.  I don't know what they are going to do when everyone converges on Boulder race morning.  Well, I had to park on the street and ended up paying $1.25 for parking.  The weather is supposed to get bad today and for the next few days so it was important to get this in early.  Once I took off running to the west, I immediately felt more winded.  At first, I thought it was due to the 3-4 day aclimation downturn.  However, I quickly realized the grade was going up.  It was gradual at first and then is really noticeable for the two miles to the turnaround.  The course actual enters the foothills of the mountains.  I missed the turnaround point and ran an extra half mile or so into the mountains.  I'm glad the turnaround was further downhill.  Going back down was really fast.  I wasn't trying to go fast and still averaged below 10 minute pace for the run.  4.26 miles in 41 minutes.  The long grinding hill will be a problem on the run.  It will hit immediately on the run and again at about mile 13.  I will need a plan for how to handle that section of the run.  Good day overall.  The weather still hasn't moved in yet but it looks bad over the mountains.  My company bought a company headquartered in downtown Denver so I went to lunch with them today.  It's good to have something to do until everyone gets here.

7.28.14 Boulder Reservoir Swim

My plan was a short 10-20 minute swim at the reservoir to get familiar with the lake.  I drove over to the lake and arrived around 8:30am.  I was told the swimming area was not going to be open until 11:00am.  I took the opportunity to drive most of the 112 mile bike course.  The first half actually enters the edge of some of the mountains so there is some elevation to be had there.  The second half is mostly rolling hills.  Pacing and patience will be the order of the day on the ride.  When I made it back to the reservoir, it was almost 11:00am and I was good to go.  The water is cool.  I was told by the lifeguard it was 76 degrees.  It felt good with the wetsuit on.  The swimming area was probably 60-70 yards wide and I just did laps.  They are going to have a 750 yard course set up on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week in the morning.  The weather is supposed to get bad for the next three days and I felt good so I went a little over an hour cover 1.6 miles.  The wet suit was great and I didn't have any issues breathing.  I met some people from Canada and a few of them were having problems.  I feel much better about the swim after today.  After swimming, I ate some lunch and then went to Skratch Labs to get some nutrition.  They were really nice to me and I picked up some pineapple sticks and some everyday Skratch.  Good guys over there.  I drove up to Nederland in the mountains and walked around a little bit.  It is really pretty up there.  It was probably 8500'-9000'.  I could feel the effects of the altitude.  I really like Boulder a lot and I am getting excited about the race now. 

7.27.14 Boulder Creek Trail Run

Woke up this morning and headed out for a run on the actual Ironman run course.  I parked at Boulder High School and headed east.  Most of the run course is to the east.  The trail is only about 12 feet wide and will have accomodate almost 3,000 runners.  The course was really flat.  There were some hills but nothing difficult to speak of.  I stopped every now and then to get some pictures with my phone but can't upload them to this page without my laptop.  I will upload them when I get a chance.  For now, everything will be written.  The altitude, to my surprise, did not bother me at all today.  I am impressed with the supplements the Health Kick store hooked me up with.  Granted, it was less than 24 hours, but I never felt winded at all.  Good sign.  I ran up 13th Street where the finishing shute will be.  Nice to get a visualization.  I covered about 8 miles of the run loop.  There will be two loops for the race so I missed almost 5 miles but I'll pick it up during the week.  When I got back to the hotel, I decided to go to the Rockies game.  They would not be in town for the rest of my stay.  Nice stadium but the hot dogs were not great.  Cleveland still holds the crown.  The Skratch Labs twitter account told me I could come by their corporate office and pick up some nutrition.  I'm gonna do that tomorrow.  I also saw the Garmin Sharp trailer on my run.  They must call Boulder home as well.

7.26.14 Last Dallas Workout

Hard to believe but my last workout at home before Boulder is in the books.  It was just me and Shelby today for a little over 2 hours on the bike.  He was supposed to go to Boulder but had a foot injury that kept him from getting ready.  Too bad because it would have been fun to race with him.  He has been a good friend to me through the process and has logged alot of miles with me.  I will wear his Enduroshark team kit on the run during Boulder.  He has supplied me with another bottle of Shark salts so I'm good to go. They are magic.   Most everyone in our usual group was busy this morning.  That was kind of sad because I didn't get a chance to say thank you to everyone who rode a mile, ran a mile, or swam a yard with me.  To a large degree, this is a solitary lonely journey and having people to keep you company is huge.  Most week days, I am on my own.  Since January 1, 2014, I have swam 185,750 yards, biked 2,252 miles and ran 651 miles covering 326 hours.  Probably at least double the distance and time since I registered for Boulder last summer.  Thinking about that is daunting.  Failing would be devastating on alot of levels.  It's alot of pressure.  Internally generated to be sure, but it's like a big rock on my chest.  8 days until the race.  I can't change what will happen at this point.  All I can do is sharpen the spear, rest and recover.  I have started to feel some aches and pains this week while my body rights the ship.  I fly to Boulder tonight to get 8 days at altitude before the race.  I'm looking forward to getting a few swims in next week to get a feel for the conditions.  The hay is in the barn, it's time to race.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/549832705 

7.25.14 Swim

Today is a quick 45 minute swim.  I had a simple plan to work through.  My left shoulder felt sore for the first few hundred miles and then things settled down.  My knees are starting to feel a little creaky.  Jeff says my body is in repair mode and it's nothing to worry about.  I met with him today for a little while.  He will be in Boulder on Wednesday morning so we will have more time to plan out race strategy.  I leave tomorrow for Boulder so it's getting real in a hurry.

7.24.14 Tempo Run

Plan was for 6 miles today.  1 mile warm up, 4 miles at 8:50-9:00 pace, and 1 mile cool down.  I'm feeling a little lethargic this week and had a hard time getting going.  However, once I hit the road, I was running well.  It was actually the best I have felt in quite some time so the taper must be working.  Most of my miles were well below 8:50 and I didn't feel like I was pushing hard at all.  There is a war going on in my mind about needing to do more miles.  Fighting the temptation is hard.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/548471359

7.23.14 Happy Birthday Patty

It's my wife's birthday today.  In honor of the event, I got up this morning and did an hour in the pool.  I adapted the 2000 yard workout to 2400 yards to get a few extra yards in.  During the taper, it just doesn't seem natural to dial back the distances.  When you go so hard for so long, it's hard to convince yourself that easing up is the right thing to do.   I have a 6 mile run on tap for tonight but that is probably off the table for today.

7.22.14 Bike

Jeff sent me a curve ball by changing my Tuesday run to a bike workout.  An hour on the bike was in order.  I thought it was a run day so I woke up a little late and ended up riding after work.  It was hot and humid.  I also had to ride on my road bike since I turned my tri bike in to be shipped to Boulder.  I haven't been on my road bike in forever.  It really felt uncomfortable like trying to get out of a broken folding chair.  I have 2.5 hours to do on Saturday, if I can stand it.

7.21.14 Swim

Swim today concludes taper week #1.  I didn't really have a plan at the pool today.  I decided to get in the water and just swim for an hour.  When I reached 3000 yards, I was over an hour but decided to get in another 300 before I stopped.  It was amazing how much harder the 3300 yards was without the wet suit in comparison to last week at the Lewisville Nat.  There is talk on line as to whether the swim will be wet suit legal or not.  76.1 degrees is the cut off but you can swim in a wet suit up to 83 degrees.  Anyone choosing to wear the wet suit over 76.1 is not eligible for a Kona slot or age group awards.  Since the odds of me doing either are slim to none, give me the wet suit.  I don't feel real crappy yet.  A lot of people told me the first week of the taper can be a rough adjustment.  I seem to be ok.  The guys at Bikes Plus gave my bike a tune up.  I needed a new tire and they washed it for me.  Good dudes up there.  They removed the pedals so I'm ready to drop my bike off with the Tri Bike Transport people at Richardson Bike Mart.  My bike has to be there before 6pm on Thursday.  It is all becoming very real now.

7.20.14 Pilot Knoll Trail Run

Bittersweet run today.  It is my last Sunday trail run with my trail crew until probably late August.  Next week I will be in Boulder and they have Leadville two weeks after my race.  It really helps to have people to train with on the long weekend workouts.  I will miss those guys.  No way I could even think about doing this without them.  My plan was for 100 minutes today.  We went to Pilot Knoll because it is fairly flat and doesn't have a lot of roots and rocks.  I gotta stay injury free.  Looks like the rain last week submerged the northern part of the trail and it was really muddy in sections.  We fought through it and ended up going 104 minutes covering 9.3 miles.  I wore my EnduroShark tri suit to check out any chaffing issues.  The trial went well and there are a few things I will do on race day.  Weather was awesome again today.  The temperatures were in the 70s for the entire run.  Not bad for my last long run in Dallas.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/545651616

7.19.14 Bike

Today is probably my last ride on my tri bike.  My bike has to be dropped off for transport by 6pm on Friday.  After the ride today, I dropped it off at the bike shop to be tuned up for the race.  I have my Trek Madone for Wednesday and Saturday this week.  The days are really clicking by now.  My plan was for approximately 65 miles.  I rode to the CAC to meet the Enduroshark group at 7am.  Our plan from there was the Robson Ranch route which is right at 50 miles.  My ride back and forth to the CAC would add another 15.  The weather today was incredible.  It was in the 60s this morning.  I actually used my arm warmers for about an hour.  Too bad it wasn't a 100 mile day.  My training for the race is by and large complete so I took it easy.  The goal now is to not get hurt.  We added a little extra mileage at Robson Ranch so I ended up with 71 miles.  My taper for this week cut the hours and mileage by 20%-30%.  Next week should be the same.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/544845985

7.18.14 Swim

I'm resting the legs today.  Swimming is the only workout for the day.  I'm not tapering the swim yet.  I decided to pull the speed sets from last week and do 3300 yards.  I didn't push the faster intervals and concentrated on form.  The pool was really crowded.  Doubled up in almost every lane.  I'm not sure what that was all about today.  Usually, I'm alone for the most part on Friday.  I haven't decided what to do with my swim workouts for next week.  The run and bike will dial back another 20% or so.  Jeff checked on me yesterday.  He asked how I was doing.  I'm feeling the end of the road for this race and looking forward to some down time afterwards.

7.17.14 Tempo Run

Today felt more taperish.  I only had 6 miles on the agenda instead of the usual ten or twelve.  Jeff had me do it at a quick pace for me.  1 warm up mile, 4 miles at 8:30-8:45 pace, 1 cool down mile.  I took my 6 mile route through the hills on Sandy Lake road to make it a little more difficult.  I checked the weather radar and there looked like a nice break in the rain so I took off.  I really wanted an extra hour of sleep but the storms today look rough.  I am sick and tired of this sticky humidity.  It is really grating on me mentally.  I leave for Boulder in ten days.  At this point, it can't come soon enough.  My tempo miles were 8:36, 8:38, 8:36, and 8:50.  I think the effort on the hills hurt me on the last one but it doesn't really bother me too much.  It's good to get another one behind me.  The days seem to be clicking off at a rapid pace.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/543392994

7.16.14 Swim/Bike

Midway through the first taper week and it doesn't really feel all that different.  I guess it will on the weekend.  I have decided to keep the swim yardage up.  I did 3300 yards in the pool today in 80 minutes.  Overall, still feeling good in the water.  Rain started to roll in this afternoon.  We have a very rare cool week.  High temps are going to be in the 80s for the next few days.  When I left to meet Shelby for the ride, it was 94 degrees.  When I arrived at the CAC, it was 88 degrees.  Thunderstorms were to the west.  We did get rained on at the 10 mile mark but it was not heavy.  We were able to finish the ride before any hard rain made an appearance.  Pushed the pace at times but rode moderately for the most part.  We covered 28 miles today and that is about right before it gets dark.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/543183142

7.15.14 Speed Work

Jeff changed things up a little on my first taper week.  I haven't done speed work in what seems like a month but I did today.  1 mile warm up, 4x (15 sec build, 15 sec recovery), 3x (3 min at 8:30 pace, 1 min recovery), 4x (2 min at 8:15 pace, 1 min recovery), 5x (1 min at 8:00 min pace, 30 sec recovery), 1 mile cool down.  I didn't feel like driving to the track so I ran about a mile on Andy Brown trail and did the intervals on a trail that goes around two softball fields.  The trails are concrete but my legs were feeling ok.  For the most part, my times were ahead of designated pacing.  I tried to stay at requested pacing but found myself feeling faster for whatever reason.  Almost all of them ended up in the 8:00 pace range.  My spidy senses for pacing were off having not done any speed work in quite some time.  Good day overall for the first taper workout.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/542040279

7.14.14 Swim

I swam at the Lewisville Nat tonight.  The water is fairly cold there and I wanted to get a good swim in my new wetsuit to see how it felt.  The new suit is very boyant, which is good.  I sized up to alleviate pressure on my neck.  The pressure is still there but I was able to fight through it.  I don't see how there is a way to resolve this.  Something is going to touch me in a very sensitive spot.  The water stayed out of the suit except when pushing off the wall.  Basically, it's just about keeping your arms moving in that thing for an hour and a half.  I can float in the water if I get tired.  I feel better about the swim now.  It's just about patience and surviving a 90 minute swim.  I think I will do this one more time next week.  I will get there in time to do the full 4200 yards.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/541824762

7.13.14 Pacing Run

Different run today.  Matrix(Rich) and Joe are signed up for the Leadville 100 trail run in mid-August.  They planned a 50 mile run starting last night at 10:30pm.  I was to pick them up close to Rockledge park at 7am to pace them through the last 10 miles.  Since they would be on their feet for eight and a half hours before I arrived, I figured this to be a slow day.  I decided to park at the Matrix house and run to the meeting point.  It was around 4.5 miles and I could do that at a fairly normal pace and then help them through the last ten.  When I got there, everyone was waiting.  The Matrix's wife Holly brought aid station supplies before we took off.  Pineapple is so good when your running, I don't know why.  Joe was not there when I arrived.  He had some serious stomach issues and could not go on.  Rich was not looking great either.  He couldn't eat and really didn't want to drink before we left.  I have never seen him look like that.  We took off with a plan and ran about a half mile.  We walked up to 2499 and crossed the road.  The sun was up and was really whipping Rich.  We did a little bit of walking/running until we made it to the fire station next to the FloMo CAC.  I made him eat a small amount off of his protein bar but it was making him sick.  We decided to take a more direct route home at the fire station.  His stomach was not happy.  He filled his water bottle and we took off.  For the most part, walked up Gerault to Flower Mound Road and then headed back to his house.  We stopped a few times to rest.  I really didn't think we were going to make it back to his house.  He wanted to throw up but just couldn't for some reason.  I sent Holly a text and let her know I may ask for assistance if things didn't get any better.  Before we made it to 2499, he laid down for a few minutes.  Some woman came by and wanted to know if we were ok.  I told her yes but I'm not sure she was convinced.  When I told her he had been running for about 43 miles, you should have seen the look on her face.  I helped Rich up and we kept moving.  Finally made it to 2499 and I think the Matrix declared us two miles from his house.  We probably walked a half mile when he finally was able to really empty his stomach.  Some guys in a SUV stopped and wanted to take Rich home, but we convinced them it was ok.  I think he rallied a little bit after that and we were able to walk our way back to his house.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone persevere through that much pain to finish a run.  The heat and humidity right now are brutal and it will take its toll if your not dialed in with nutrition.  I was on my feet for three hours.  Covered 11.5 miles.  It was good to get time on my feet as the distance really doesn't matter at this point.  This is the last day of my build and the taper begins.  I am really looking forward to letting my body recover.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/540682798

7.12.14 Wild Ride

Jeff helped to put together a group for a 100 mile ride.  He has a friend in Plano that is doing Boulder and he came over to meet us at Andy Brown at 5:30am.  We picked up Lee on Lakeside Parkway around 5:45am.  Lee had two friends who are doing Boulder and we picked them up in Flower Mound.  We should have known it was going to be a strange day from the start.  At 5:45am some jack ass through a full beer can at us and hit Jeff in the elbow.  I saw the can explode on the concrete and thought it fell out of the truck.  Not so much.  Once we picked everyone up I heard something rattling in my rear wheel.  I stopped to check it out and the rattling seemed to stop.  Lee thought my spoke broke but I didn't immediately see anything.  We were heading out west to Justin and then around the motor speedway before heading home.  We stopped in Justin to refuel and the sound was back in my rear wheel.  I started checking spokes and sure enough, one was broken.  I was 41 miles into the ride and decided to head back to Coppell.  My wheel was wobbling slightly and hoped to get back without calling for a ride.  I had one person in the group head back with me.  A more direct route should get me home in 35 miles.  I turned on Faught road out in the middle of nowhere and heard some rustling on the side of the road.  A pit bull popped out and started chasing me down.  I wasn't going real fast trying to conserve the rear wheel.  This was not good.  I had to torque the rear wheel and get moving.  That dog was keeping up with me at almost 20mph until he got tired and fell off.  Not good.  Wheel was no worse for wear.  I limped back to the bike shop in Coppell.  It was getting hot.  I decided if they could fix the wheel quickly, I would carry on.  It took them about half an hour to fix my wheel.  I was 73 miles into the ride.  I needed to refuel but didn't want to go home.  The temptation to stop might be to appealing.  I went to a gas station close by and refueled.  The wind had really started coming up, probably 15-20 from the south.  I went south towards the airport until I had enough mileage and headed back.  Very slow going into the wind but it was nice coming home.  I did well considering the heat and did not feel too bad when I arrived home.  101 miles but I didn't finish until after 1pm.  I really didn't want anymore.  I couldn't let the last long ride of my race prep suffer for a damn spoke.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/539952471

7.11.14 Swim

After a brief consultation with Coach Bennett yesterday, I decided to only swim today and skip the optional short bike ride this evening.  I have a 100+ in the heat tomorrow so it will be best to get a little extra rest for the last long weekend workouts before my taper.  Weird in the water.  I feel tired for the first 500-600 yards in the pool and then feel great until the end of the workout.  I added a few hundred and made it an even 3500 in the water today.  Arms and shoulders were a little sore today.  Not really pain, just sore from work.  I think things are looking good.  I want to get some swim sessions in with the wet suit over the next few weeks to feel comfortable before I get to Boulder.  Hard to believe the days are dwindling down this fast.  I have put in nearly as much work in the first 6.5 months as I did in almost the full year last year.  I have tracked all of my mileage since I started doing this back in early 2011.  On Wednesday, I rolled the odometer on 10,000 miles on my bike.

7.10.14 Tempo Run

Almost identical to Tuesday, an eight mile run at moderate pace.  I was told to cut the run short if I didn't feel well.  The Thursday run used to be one of my worst days of the week.  In the past few weeks, I start recovering through mid week and start feeling good again on Thursday.  This week was no different.  I started out a little slow but quickly found a groove and knocked out the eight miles without issue.  I seem to be bouncing back just in time for the last big weekend mileage.  I'm counting the days to the taper.  Looks like the Sunday run will be a little different.  Joe and Rich are going to be doing 50 miles starting around midnight on Sunday.  I'm going to meet them around 7am and make sure they get home safely.  I'll do 4-5 fast miles and then do the last 10 with them.  I'm sure it will be like herding cats but I'm looking forward to it.  Something different is good right now.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/538441382

7.9.14 Swim/Bike

The Wednesday double.  I pulled my swim plans from Jeff's email and printed them.  Plan was for 3400 but I added an extra 100 at the end to make it 3500.  Swim seemed to go by fairly fast.  Some long and short intervals were mixed in.  One hour and twenty three minutes to complete the swim.  I felt better than I thought I would.  Legs were still heavy from the weekend.

Bike ride wasn't much better.  If the roads were flat or downhill, I was fine.  Climbing induced fatigue and it was hard to get going.  Just didn't have it there.  I'm looking forward to the taper.  The road to the Jeter loop is out so we had to add on some miles in Murrell Park and Twin Coves.  Still managed to get 28 miles in on the ride.  Summer has made an official appearance finally.  The temps were 102 degrees at the start of the ride.  I went through four bottles of water and Skratch Labs on the ride in a few hours.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/538229380

7.8.14 Tempo Run

I took the 7th off based on my coach's advice.  I did go to the Trishop and bought a sleeveless wet suit for Boulder.  They have an endless pool there.  You can try on a wet suit and demo it in the tank.  The endless pool is a high order beating.  The water coming out of the blower has to keep up with your swim stroke.  It's like swimming against a set of rapids.  I could manage a few minutes of that nonsense but that was about it.  I did get enough out of the session to find one that I think will work (Orca Sonar).  I have 30 days and can bring it back for a refund if I don't like it.  I am going to try it next at the Lewisville Nat. Their water is on the cool side.

As for today, a simple 8 mile tempo run.  2 mile warm up, 5 miles at moderate pace and a mile cool down.  Who are we kidding here, I just found a pace I could hold on to and went with that.  Run was just ok.  My body is fatigued from all the work in the last few months.  Not real slow but not fast either.  Despite the day off, I was just a little tired.  I did forget to stop my Garmin so the route below includes my ride to work so that's something.  You can see where I got on the elevator to go to my office.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/537229308

7.6.14 Pilot Knoll Trail Run

Last week's trail run was a disaster.  No other way to put it.  I just didn't have it.  Rich, Joe and I decided to leave an hour earlier this week to avoid some of the heat.  I met them at Joe's house at 7am.  We made it to the trail head at 7:30.  Same plan from last week.  Go 30 minutes south, turn around, refuel at the trail head, and go 30 minutes north and back.  We ended up going a little long on the way out.  I think it was like 34 minutes and slightly over 3 miles.  At the turnaround, we had a gel and walked for a few minutes before starting the leg back.  The southern section of the trail is more open and you have the sun beating on you.  I didn't feel great at all for the first return from miles 3-6.  I was soaking wet when we got back to Joe's truck.  We stopped for a minute to refuel and then started the second leg.  We needed about 25 minutes out and then would reevaluate what to do.  After we went through the tunnel at 2499, we got in a rhythm and it felt really good on the shaded, flatter sections of the trail.  I think we ended up going almost 30 minutes out before turning around.  Ate another gel and had a salt pill at the turnaround.  Once we passed West Nile pond, there was two miles to go and I was feeling pretty good.  We picked up the pace a little.  The 2499 tunnel is one mile from the parking lot.  I decided to put the pedal down a little and see how my body would respond.  Rich stuck with me and we were running 9 minute pace or below.  There are four logs across the trail when you get to the last half mile.  Good to see the logs and I was hopping over them instead of walking over them.  Rich helped to motivate us and keep the pace going.  Once back to the parking lot, the time was around two hours and six minutes.  My garmin had approximately 11.4 miles.  Rich and Joe wanted to get to 12 so they put in a little extra.  I was done.  We park just outside the guard shack to the park.  They have a hose there and the attendant lets us use it.  The cold water is greatness.  It's like getting a cold shower.  Feels great and cools the body temperature.  We usually set up the camping chairs in the shade, eat some fruit and drink some Endurox for recovery.  Nothing better than that after a run.  Much better day than last week and I did more miles the day before on the bike.  This whole Boulder thing might work out.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/535815650

7.5.14 Record Ride

Seems like every weekend I have pushed the envelope a little further.  Jeff was back from Ironman Buffalo Springs so he was going to ride with me.  We decided to meet at 5:30am at Andy Brown park.  I was going to leave the house at 5am to get a few miles in.  Jeff wanted to ride out to the airport and back to the park to see if anyone from the group that meets at 7am wanted to go with us.  We picked up Lowell at 7am and took off for Eagle Mountain Lake on the other side of Fort Worth.  I have never been there so it was all new for me.  After the fact looking at the ride profile,  it was uphill until you get close to the lake.  The lake is in a valley.  The weather wasn't too bad until about 10am.  It was still humid as all hell but the temperatures didn't come up for a few hours.  I felt good for the first 70 miles.  That's where we hit the turnaround at the lake.  The climb from the lake was rough on the legs.  I was spinning my way out of there and really didn't pay attention to pace whatsoever.  I wanted to conserve energy for the entire ride.  There was not a single place to get water from roughly mile 60 to mile 80.  I didn't know this and was running a little short.  There was a water fountain at the lake but it usually tastes like crap.  You do what you have to though.  It was good to see the Gaylord Texan.  Familiar territory and the knowledge that the ride was coming to an end.  When I made it home, it was a little over 116 miles and over 3100 feet in elevation gain.  Both were new records for me.  One more big week before my taper.  I felt a little sore and dehydrated.  I didn't fuel perfectly but I wasn't destroyed, which is a good thing.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/535156901

7.4.14 Independence Day Swim

The plan today was for a swim with an optional short bike ride to stretch the legs.  I will be facing another century ride on Saturday so I opted for only the swim.  It is 4th of July so I slept in and that felt great.  For once, I felt rested.  My wife made some blueberry pancakes.  I love blueberry pancakes so it was a good start to the day.  At about 10am, I decided to try and find somewhere to swim.  My pool in Coppell was not opening until 1pm and I didn't want to wait that long.  I drove to the North Lake Community College pool in Irving but it was closed.  I decided to go back to the Flower Mound CAC.  It was open and they had plenty of lap swim lanes in the indoor pool.  My swim was 3300 yards.  I messed up my plan and it only had 2900 yards in the plan.  I rearranged some things and made it 3300.  A lot of speed work and fast sets.  It only took 75 minutes to get through the workout.  I was able to get a two hour nap in the afternoon to get ready for the Saturday ride.  My alarm clock will be going off at 4am so I need all the sleep I can get.

7.3.14 Run

Jeff wanted me to dial back my run from 9 miles to 5-6.  I had surprise in store for me this morning.  Apparently, some sort of mysterious cold front came through and it was 71 degrees this morning.  An awesome gift from the Endurance gods.  I can't say I can ever remember a July morning in Dallas where it was 71 degrees.  I'll take it.  Unfortunately, it was a day with not much mileage.  The humidity was still oppressive but the temperature was nice.  I felt really good for some reason today.  Every mile was under 10 minute pace.  It felt so good, I stretched the run to seven miles.  My last two miles were under 9 minute pace.  I was running easy.  Training is a strange animal.  I felt so bad on Tuesday and so much better on Thursday.  Go figure.  I can only hope for reasonable weather for just two more weekends.  I had a visit on the trail from an armadillo today.  It ran back into the woods instead of running at me, so I have that going for me.  I seem to be one with the armadillo lately.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/533599040

7.2.14 Swim/Bike

Swam this morning at the CARC.  3600 yards.  Arms and shoulders were a little tired towards the end but I felt fast.  Modified some of the sets to suit my taste but I didn't divert too far off plan.  Swimming has me the most bugged out for Boulder so the more confidence, the better.  I called Jeff this morning about the weekend.  I can't ride on Saturday alone.  He asked me how I was doing.  Tired, I told him.  He asked if I dreaded any of the workouts.  I told him only the century rides on Saturday.  I think Jeff and Doug are going to ride with me on Saturday.  They are faster but he is recovering after winning his age group at Buffalo Springs so that will probably work.  Jeff wanted me to scale back slightly going into Saturday.  I intended to pull back some on the ride after work.  Road construction on part of the Jeter loop slowed us down.  I went with Ralph and Marcel.  Ended up having to walk the bike across a section of road that is now gravel.  Turned the ride into two hours for the 31 miles.  Quads are tired.  I'm fine on flats but summoning power on hills is a little rough right now.  I am about 10 days from finishing the hard work before the taper.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/533426425

7.1.14 Run

No speed work this week.  Just longer grinding mileage and I did just that.  I was grinding 10 miles this morning.  Goal was moderate pace for the entire 10.  Moderate seemed to be right around 10 minute mile pace.  Improvised a 10 mile route out of my usual 8-9 mile route.  Seemed to check in and out along the way.  At times, seemed like I couldn't feel my legs and just churned out the each step, which was very zen like and a good thing.  At others, it seemed to be a struggle.  Once I got out of the hillier areas, taking it to the house was fairly easy.  Good to have music in my ears, it really helps through the tough parts of the run.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/532319620

6.30.14 Swim

Monday is a rest day for the legs.  I needed 1.5 miles for 100 for the month.  I needed rest more so I didn't do anything except swim today.  I really felt beat up after the weekend and am sore all over.  Didn't affect the swim too much.  Lots of down and outs and kick board work.  3400 yards today.