3.18.14 Taper for Grasslands

I'm not following the Boulder plan everyone else is on this week due to the Grasslands race on Saturday morning.  Jeff put me on a little bit of a taper for my legs this week.  Instead of speed work, I ran around 5.5 miles at half marathon pace for the most part.  Started a little slow to warm up on the first mile but finished at a decent sustainable pace for a half distance race.  All of those miles were in the low 9s which would translate to a very good result for me.  Of course, Grasslands is usually home to a North Texas weather event on trails which is highly unpredictable.  So far the forecast is good so I feel good about the race this week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/463276563

Monday, I gave the legs a rest from impact and only swam.  It was 2700 yards but had a lot of kickboard which is good for strengthening the legs but takes a lot out of you.  A little fatigued from the weekend but covered the distance without much issue.

3.16.14 Weekend Workouts

Yesterday was my long bike ride.  I needed four hours and it looked dicey as we were expecting very heavy thunderstorms at some point in the day.  I left at 7:30am to meet Shelby and his group at the FloMo CAC.  Shelby was not going to make it but a few other guys were going to go with me.  I tried to add as much mileage close to home as possible.  We evenutally made it out to Argyle city hall and then headed back.  Wind was in our face coming home but I think we negative split the ride actually.  I felt really good and never had any lingering tiredness from the week.  We never had any rain and it held off until the afternoon.  Ended up with almost 62 miles in 4 hours.  Good days work.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/461440363

The heavy rain yesterday afternoon closed the trail this morning.  I went ahead and slept in this morning and ran around Coppell today on the road.  The wind was blowing about 25mph today and the temps were in the 40s.  Not a great combination.  Plan was for 100 minutes.  Didn't really know how many miles to factor so I created a route that should be around 10 miles.  I ended up going something like 10.7 miles in a little over the 100 minutes.  The last few tenths were walking to cool down.  My pace was really good today and was in a very good rhythm for the last 3-4 miles.  The weather was brutal and would have been completely out for bike riding.  We can't seem to shed winter once and for all.  Grasslands is next weekend.  I feel good so I am expecting a good race.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/462189132

3.14.14

On Wednesday, I swam 2800 yards.  Longest swim in a while.  I felt pretty good throughout.  I'm starting to get my endurance back in the water.  After work, I rode the bike for 70 minutes outside.  Met Shelby at the Flower Mound CAC and we rode intervals on Spinks Road.  The wind was really blowing hard, probably 15-20mph.  It was in the low 60s outside but that wind made things a little cooler than I expected.  The work was hard in the wind but I guess that's a good thing.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/460017001

Yesterday was the dreaded Thursday run.  When Jeff tells you it will be hard on the plan, it can be a little daunting.  1 mile warm up, 1 mile moderate/hard, 1 mile easy, 1 mile moderate/hard, 1 mile easy moderate, 1 mile hard, 1 mile cool down.  My warm up was a little fast at 9:58 but I was feeling good to start.  My moderate/hard miles were in the upper 8 minute pace and the easy/moderates were mid 9s.  The hard mile was 7:52 and it really took a lot out of me.  I had to walk for a few seconds before coming in at an easy pace.  My legs were pretty heavy.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/460186050

Today should have been easy.  I'm resting the legs today and only have a swim.  I was really fatigued on the swim all morning.  Never seemed to get it going.  Arms were dead for the most part.  The intervals were short and I didn't really have any issues finishing anything, it just wasn't snappy or fast.  Guess I'm kind of tired.  It was a long build week with the weekend to go.

3.11.14 Track Run

Finally, I ran in shorts and a tech shirt today.  Temps were in the low 50s with a 8mph wind from the south.  Gate was locked at the track so I had to get the ladder out and scale the fence again this week.  Once again, I was flying solo at the track with the exception of a few rabbits that seem to dart out in front of me every so often.  1 mile warm up, 6x(800 at 5k pace -5 seconds with 90 second recovery), 1200 (first 400 moderate, second 400 mod/hard, third 400 hard), and a one mile cool down.  The 800s were tough.  I tried to keep them under 8 minute mile pace and was successful.  The 1200 was really hard at the end.  My last 400 was the fastest lap of the day.  Top end speed is still a work in progress but I'm feeling good so far.  The miles have been longer distances as time moves along and I'm sure that will continue.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/459126535

3.10.14 Winter Sucks

I had a somewhat busy training schedule for the weekend.  Saturday was a four ride.  It was dark, overcast, with a chance of rain and kind of cold.  Just enough to make it uncomfortable.  I was going to ride with Shelby and meet him at the FloMo CAC at 8am.  When I got there, Shelby had done something to his Achilles and was in some pain.  One of the guys he trains decided to ride with me for the duration.  It was good to have someone along.  I thought the route out to the Argyle town center would be enough distance.  The wind was fierce and blowing right in our face all the way out.  When we got to the turnaround, the watch said about 1:45:00 so we decided to keep heading west.  I ended up taking the Robson Ranch route which includes a steep climb up Hilltop Road.  They destroyed one of the country roads through the cemetery and replaced it with a subdivision.  It was a little confusing but we navigated through it.  Once we turned around, it was a big relief.  Coming back was fast and I missed the 2 hour mark arriving about 8 minutes early.  I covered 62 miles which is a decent distance for this early in the year.  We had to deal with a little rain on the way back which was a pain in the ass.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/457250764

Sunday morning was cold, again.  This is Dallas and the temps should be turning around.  There will be the odd days of cold here and there until early April but this has been far more bad days to good days.  I am seriously over winter and it needs to go.  The Matrix wanted to leave at 7am but the time changed and sunrise was scheduled for about 7:45am.  Joe and I made the executive decision to wait for the sun.  Plan was for 90 minutes but we ended up going a little long at 101 minutes.  The north wind was stiff but you couldn't feel it in the woods so much.  That's the great thing about trail running in the winter.  I hit the same rock that wiped me out a few weeks ago but did not go down this time.  Despite the long ride on Saturday, I felt really good.  8.5 trail miles in 101 minutes is really good time at Northshore.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/457872871

This morning I just swam.  Shelby was having boot camp but I was tired in combination with the time change costing us an hour of sleep.  Swim went well and my legs needed the day off.

3.7.13 Build Week

Felt really run down after the weekend so I took the day off on Monday and did not swim.  The Tuesday track workout was one of the longest to date.  No one at the track again this week and I had to use my ladder to get over the fence.  1.5 mile warm up, 2x1600s at 10k pace with 400 recoveries in between, 2x800s at 5k pace with 90 second rest, 800 with first 400 at slightly faster than 5k pace and the last 400 as fast as possible, 1.5 mile cool down.  Weather was cold but no wind so it was very nice.  Tough but felt pretty good.  Wednesday I swam in the morning and did my 80 minute bike workout on the trainer at home.  It's still too dark to get 80 minutes in after work and I couldn't get to Shelby's trainer session because I was late getting home from work.  Thursday was the tempo run.  2 mile warm up, 4 mile at half marathon pace, and 1 mile cool down.  Pace wasn't fast but it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be.  The last few miles were not bad as I had settled in pretty good at that point.  I swam this morning and am due for an easy 60 minutes on the bike this evening.  Weekend mileage is up slightly so the build continues.  I wish winter would give it up.  Riding is just miserable in the cold weather.

Track Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/455313149

Tempo Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/456008461

3.1/3.2 Weekend

This was supposed to be the end of a  recovery week.  I'm a little off based on my trip to Minnesota to see my daughter last weekend.  Mainly missed a long bike ride last weekend.  The 3 hour Saturday ride was to be accompanied with a 30 minute run brick.  My ride ended up going 3:15:00 due to a heavy headwind at the turnaround.  Felt like climbing a hill for an hour and a half.  When I got home, I threw on my running shoes and started my run.  10 minutes easy, 10 minutes moderate, and 10 minutes hard.  That last 10 minutes was rough.  I couldn't get out in the morning.  I had some errands Saturday morning so the ride and run was late in the afternoon.  I didn't have a lot of time to recover before my Sunday run.  It was 82 degrees on Saturday but a front came through overnight and the morning temps were around 29 degrees falling throughout the day with sleet coming as well.  The Sunday trail run was rough.  Flats and downhill were fine.  Climbing the steep sections was miserable.  We fought through it and ended up right at the 80 minutes in the plan.  I felt pretty trashed after Sunday.

Bike:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/453554246

Brick Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/453554251

Trail Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/453963524