4.11.14 Taper?

So Jeff diverted me off the Ironman plan everyone else is on for a few days.  This morning was a 30 minute ride and a 30 minute swim.  I rode one of the spin cycles at the CARC for 30 minutes before jumping in the water.  It said I did 10.2 miles in 30 minutes.  Who knows what that really means in outside riding conditions.  I decided to do 1500 yards which should be 30 minutes.  It was basically right on.  Thus concludes my taper.  Tomorrow was a 5 hour ride but Jeff clipped an hour off and told me to go slow.  Right, the wind is supposed to be 15mph out of the south.  No way to take it easy into that.

Invest in the Journey

My friend Joe sent out a tweet with a link to this article.  It's written by a guy who seems to be a somewhat disillusioned lawyer who competes in Ultra distance races.  It's a little all over the place at times but does a good job at summing up why anyone would want to do things like an Ironman.  I will most likely never be as fast as this guy but the reasons for working towards a goal are applicable in everyday life and not just running a sanctioned race.  Bookmarked for my own edification here.

http://www.richroll.com/lifehack/why-you-should-stop-lifehack-and-invest-in-the-journey/

4.10.14 Slow Tempo Run

My plan was for an easy 80 minute run this morning.  Nice and slow.  Weather was perfect.  Low 60s with a real feel in the upper 50s.  I decided to run a familiar 7 mile route and add on if necessary.  My miles actually got a little faster each mile.  I didn't feel too bad but definitely didn't want any pace.  I haven't caught up on sleep so I'm still tired today.  Caveman race is on Sunday so I'll dial back slightly in the next few days.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/477242047

4.9.14 Long Day

I had to be at work at 3am due to overnight software deployment activities at work.  Unfortunately, our servers conspired against me all evening never allowing for more than an hour or so of sleep before having to get up.  Not exactly what I was hoping for respective of any extracurricular activities that may have been planned.  I didn't get back home until around 1pm.  Couldn't decide whether to bite the bullet and swim or take a nap.  I didn't really feel too terribly sleepy at the time so off to the pool I went.  After leaving the house, I had not printed my swim workouts for the week so I figured to just swim continuously for whatever felt comfortable.  I did 3000 yards a week or two ago so that was the quasi plan.  While swimming, I kept going over the math in my head for an Ironman swim or 2.4 miles.  One mile is 1750 yards so 3500 yards would be two miles.  I would probably have to get to around 4400 or so to get to the 2.4.  I decided 3500 would be a good goal.  My body was dehydrated and I wasn't really prepared for this.  I forgot to take shark salt or down any Skratch before I left the house.  My calves and feet started cramping at around 2500 yards and I really thought 3000 was about the best I could do.  I had some strange breathing problems again here and there but not bad enough to stop.  Must be spring with all the pollen plus my throat was really dried out after an hour in the water as strange as that sounds.  When I got to 3000, I decided to keep on moving.  The cramps in my feet started to get debilitating in the next few hundred so I quit at 3600 yards.  Slow but not too bad for being up almost 30 straight hours and not hydrating appropriately.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/476782067

On the way home from work, I called Jeff and asked if he was doing the DA ride.  He said yes and he wasn't planning on going all out so I could ride with him.  After swimming, I drank a bottle of Skratch and loaded another on my bike for ride.  It is usually a very fast ride lasting around 80 minutes or so.  I met Jeff at the parking lot.  They send three groups off.  We were going with the fast group but there is no expectation that anyone will wait if you get dropped.  I didn't know the route but Jeff said he would pull back if I got dropped.  These guys are really fast so I didn't hold much hope of hanging with them.  It was a fairly relaxing ride for the first few miles until we got to some longer stretches of open road.  No problem hanging on for the first 7-8 miles into Irving then the pace quickened and I was dropped along with a few others.  I really didn't have much trouble staying with the chase group.  I had no idea what the route was, so that was a good thing.  Coming back north with the wind in Las Colinas, we made contact with the lead group.  Jeff looped back to get me and I missed him somewhere along the way.  Due to the traffic lights, I lost him until we got to Valley Ranch.  The fastest guys got away a little bit in Valley Ranch and a few of them clipped tires.  There were bikes and bodies all over the road.  Jeff caught up with me there.  There were two guys that looked pretty messed up and everyone else looked ok.  We hung around for a few minutes and then took off.  Ambulances were on the way and there wasn't much we could do.  I rode with Jeff until he cut off to go home.  I found a good group to ride with on the way back.  Coming back north with the wind it was easy hitting 28-30mph for brief periods of time.  I was proud of myself for not getting completely dropped and losing all contact.  No way I'm fast enough to stay with this group but I wasn't terribly far off either.  Progress comes in small increments.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/476895358

4.8.14 Tempo Run

I swam on Monday.  Still a little fatigued from the travel but a fairly good swim overall.  I received my workouts from Jeff on Monday.  Less intensity this week with a little added mileage.  I have the Caveman Sprint on Sunday so my week will be a little different but not much.  The run on Tuesday was 60 minutes long.  20 easy, 20 easy/moderate and 20 easy.  I overslept so did the run after work.  I am still a little tired from the travel and lack of sleep.  It wasn't a great run and really should have felt better.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/476357164

4.5.14 Tuscaloosa Run

To get caught up, I did swim on Friday 4/4 and I felt really good.  Best so far this year.  I was running short on time due to overcrowding at the pool.  2500 yards in an hour.  Very encouraging.  We were leaving for Tuscaloosa in the afternoon so there would be no other workout in the afternoon.

We left the house at 4:30pm on Friday and did not get to Tuscaloosa until 1:30am on Saturday.  I slept until about 9:30am and then got ready for my run.  We had to stay in Cottondale which is east of Tuscaloosa.  I really didn't know where to run so I decided to stick with Highway 11 which turns into University and heads directly into campus.  Plan was for 90 minutes so I started heading that way and would turn around at 45 minutes.  The road was mostly two lane blacktop with little to no shoulder.  Not fun at all.  At my turnaround point, I finally got a sidewalk that I could take into campus.  I called Patty and asked if she could meet me somewhere on campus and give me a ride home.  She asked me to call her when I was done.  When I got to campus, I decided to stop at my fraternity house and see if someone there could give me a ride.  It would keep Patty from having to drive the ten miles out there.  My son was going to attend the spring party at my house later in the afternoon.  Someone kindly offered a ride so I ran another 20 minutes through campus and went back to the house.  It was a great day, cool and sunny.  The campus was very busy.  Almost all of the fraternities were having parties, the football team was having a private scrimmage for the boosters, sororities were having functions, etc.  I really felt good during the run and could have gone much further but we had stuff to do.  Two of my fraternity brothers made an appearance on campus so we were able to hang out with them all day.  Turned out to be a great day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/475729774

Sunday it was raining and we needed to get going back to Dallas so it was a lost day.  I was really tired and needed the rest anyway.

4.3.14 Tempo Run

On Tuesday, I went to the track.  No one there again but at least the gate was open.  Similar run to last  week except every interval had a 400 recovery instead of a rest.  I ran an extra cool down mile to make the distance a little over six miles.  Sluggish to start but felt better towards the end.  Not a bad day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/471568062

Wednesday I swam in the morning and rode the trainer in the evening.  I felt ok in the water.  Can't seem to get right swimming yet.  I don't know why.  Very strange.  Swimming is the most intimidating part of the Ironman for me.  Maybe my nerves are just not right.  I was really tired when I got home and was a little late heading to the Flower Mound CAC to ride with Shelby's guys.  I took a brief nap and then rode the trainer for a little over 70 minutes.  Very fatigued last night.

This morning I ran 6 miles.  One mile warm up, four moderate miles and a cool down mile.  I took the hilly Sandy Lake route which is right at 6 miles.  My stomach wasn't feeling good when I started but I finished the run ok and was better by the end.  Hope I'm not getting sick.  My miles got faster as I went.  It was good to sweat in a short sleeve shirt and shorts again.  I only wish the pool was warm enough to jump in after the run.  It is a great way to cool down before heading to work.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/472760614