DO WORK

Notes for the Week:

In this section...I'll post a few tidbit updates to the week as they come and go. For a structured detail of each day. See below.

Threw up a new picture to the website. A couple friends told me it was about time to change the home page pic. OK, so I caved in and try to find something that fits the mold. Since all I'm doing right now is training...there's a new training photo's in the Gallery.

One thing I'm going to try and incorporate to the site is a new picture each week. If not each week...at least more often than not. With plenty of things going on this year, it shouldn't be that hard. Although...when things get busy, the little things tend to fall by the waist side. I'll do my best to keep up.

I'll be in California next week with Timex and the Team. That alone should make for a few good photos. After that...I'll be in AZ for Ironman. I get lucky on this one as Julie and the Pups will be joining. It will be so awesome and comforting to know that she's around. I'll talk more about that later. After Arizona, we're making a stop by the Grand Canyon on our way home to see the new Grand Canyon Skywalk. It's got a new observation deck or glass bridge that you'll just have to see to believe. I cannot really explain it but from what I heard....it's utterly amazing and very creepy at same time! Aside from the deck...I've never seen the Grand Canyon, or I was too little to remember, so it should make for a spectacular day. Definitely have to get a few pictures while I'm there.

The TT bike is finally here!!!! After a few modifications and a quick fit...she was ready to roll. The first ride today was an absolute pleasure. Extremely stiff, Aero and quite. That carbon sure makes the road feel like butter. After IMAZ, I should have a really good idea how the bike performs compared to all the others I've owned. First opinion....I was more comfortable during today's 2 hour ride than I've been in a long time...A really long time! As far as looks....I posted a picture below for your viewing...

Best Workout this year took place on Sunday. After the botched ride and long run on Saturday...I wasn't sure what to expect come Sunday....but everything worked out perfectly.

Details for the week listed below.....

Monday:

(Swim) Structure today was 15x200...followed by some cool down sets. Leave times and clear times listed below...

• 15x200 (5 on 3:00, clearing on 2:45 / 5 on 2:55, clearing on 2:40 / 2 on 2:50, clearing on 2:38 / 3 on 2:45, clearing on 2:36-2:38)
• 200 stroke
• 200 pull
• 2x50 free easy

3500 yards total, :53 minutes

Swim was very nice today. Was happy to see some faster numbers. Was a little tired on the way to the pool. Probably has something to do with the weather. Its another cloudy day. Winds are up over 30 mph and there's all sorts of junk in the air. My allergies are going nuts! I dropped by the pharmacy on the way home to pick up some medication.

(Bike) Just an easy spin to loosen up the legs. Felt really good. Threw in a couple pickups for fun. Total Time: 1:10 / 21 miles

Today was nice. Good way to set up the week. Excited about tomorrows Key Run...

Tuesday:

(Run) Today's Run was pretty sweet. Another Continuous Run with Intervals in the middle. Winds were up again today as steady out of the South at 24 mph, gusting to 34 mph...or what i like to call...another lovely day in the hair dryer. Maybe someday I'll get a track workout in calm conditions. On the other hand...that's probably wishful thinking.

Continuous Run as a 3.5 mile warm-up...easy to steady over to the track. Once at the track....straight into 4x1 mile repeats with / 65 sec jog in between or 200 meters. After the 4x1....follow straight into a 1.5 mile cool-down. Pace per mile during the intervals listed below. No heart rate today...straight PE.

• Mile 1: 6:29/mile
• Mile 2: 6:25/mile
• Mile 3: 6:12/mile
• Mile 4: 5:57/mile

9.5 miles total / 1 hour 8 minutes

Speed is coming around very nice. This was the first time I have hit a sub 6 min mile in a repeat mile session. More important than speed...is the bodies ability to recover from each interval session in a given time frame. I shortened today's rest period down to 65 seconds... The last time I ran the mile repeats...the RI were at 75. Easy bike in about an hour....

(Bike) Easy spin. Loosen up the legs again. Total Time: 1:42 / 31 miles

Wednesday:

Workouts today were the 3 Sport Brick. 3500 yard swim followed by a 2hr bike followed by a very easy and short run.

(Swim) Felt good today. Structure today was a mix of everything... Details below

• 1000 to open (13:55)
• 300 kick w/fins
• 500 free w/fins (6:29)
• 2x100 free w/fins (1:06, 1:09) leaving on 1:30
• 300 stroke
• 500 pull (7:05)
• 2x100 pull (1:15, 1:14) leaving on 1:30
• 3x100 pull w/paddles
• 50, 100, 50 free to cool-down

3500 yards total, 1 hour 00 minutes

(Bike) Immediately after swim. Bike was steady at IM with HIM bouts thrown in for fun. Felt really good today and my body wanted to open up just a bit. Last time on the road bike for a while. TT bike came in today and will be on that for most of the season. Total Time: 2:00 / 40.6 miles

(Run) Easy to cool down after run. Total Time: 15 minutes / 2 miles

Today was a solid day. The wind was atrocious. Around 30mph the entire ride. TT bike came in as soon as I finished the run. Was happy to see it arrive. I'll be even happier during tomorrows ride.

Thursday:

Workouts today were a 2 hour ride / 30 min run brick. Weather was cloudy again but I had the TT bike and that alone made everything wonderful....HA!!!!!!!!

(Ride) Awesome ride today. Just steady and smooth. Just had to get a feel for the bike. Best ride in a long time. I think the timing was actually perfect to transition bikes. I couldn't have felt more at home. Total Time: 2 hours 02 minutes / 42.4 miles

(Run) Transition run was the best this year. Probably has to do with the fact that I'm running off a TT position. The road bike actually caused a few knee aches that I'll have to look into next time I jump on the frame. Seat was probably too high. Anyway. Run was smooth and effortless. Total Time: 30 minutes / 4.1 miles

Moderate to Easy day tomorrow and then big on Saturday....

Friday:

(Swim) Solid Structure today. 3x1000 and 5x200 all on set intervals. Actually, this is one of the toughest swims I've had in a while. In the end...I felt really good about my execution and was happy with my times. Details on the swim listed below. Also included are leave and finishing times. Only rest was what you see below. After the 5th 200....the remainder of the set was cool-down.

• 3x1000 on 14:30 (14:01) (13:38) (13:27)
• 1st 200 on 3:00 (2:38)
• 2nd 200 on 2:55 (2:37)
• 3rd 200 on 2:50 (2:35)
• 4th 200 on 2:45 (3:36)
• 5th 200 (2:37)
• 200 stroke
• 500 kick
• 5x100 on 1:40 (clearing all on 1:22-1:24)

5200 yards total / 1 hour 20 minutes

(Core) Nice and easy core work after swim. 25 minutes worth. A strong core will be good for a course like AZ where your down in the bars the majority of the bike.

(Run) Easy to Steady around Valley Ranch. Threw in some hills to spice it up. Was a little bored....Probably has to do with the fact that I haven't seen the sun in days. Arghhh...Pisses me off! Anyway....felt good. Total Time: 57 minutes / 7.5 miles

Can't wait to ride long tomorrow.........

Saturday:

(Bike) Intention was to ride long today with a transition run. Well, I guess that plan feel through as I ran into a bit of trouble around the 2 hour mark. I was out in Keller and had my first flat of the year. Whoops, make that 2 flats. As soon as I changed the second tube...aired it up....I heard a lovely little whine as the air came out of a crack around the valve stem. Oh well, all I had was 1 spare tire. I guess today wasn't meant to be. I'll hit it tomorrow for sure....first thing. Total Ride Time: 1 hour 55 minutes / 38.5 miles

As far as the rest of the day goes..... I just finished up lunch, and have decided to go ahead and do the long run scheduled for tomorrow in about 30 minutes. Should be for a good time. I feel nice and loose....and definitely ready to roll.

(Run) Great Run tonight. Left the house a little late as I had to make a trip to the bike store and pick up a few tubes. Flat tires are the last thing I need to worry about at this point.

Structure of the run was steady and nothing more. I locked in to a nice and steady PE right from the start and ran with it. In the end...it worked out perfect. Took the hilly 8 mile extended loop to the track. Stayed on the track for a few and took the hardest and hilliest route home. While on the track...I upped the pace just a tad. Enough to feel but not much to write home about. The hills in the end were tough and exactly what I needed. Loved It......

18 miles in 2:19:00

Tomorrow I will pick up where I left off today and re-do the race sim....

Sunday:

Workout today was a long ride and transition run....race simulation. After the botched ride and long run on yesterday, I wasn't quite sure what to expect today.

The goal today was to ride steady and nail my nutrition. After 20 minutes into the ride.......I decided to change things up a bit. After spending the past 3 months logging near 3000 miles on a road bike, I figured it was now time to see where my fitness was on a TT bike. Structure to the ride is listed below.

I rolled out of the house around noon. Temperature was 75 degrees and overcast all day. Wind was out of the south at 18mph. Not to bad as it gets much worse around this time of year. Anyway, I tried to simulate the Arizona terrain as much as possible. Although, around here...it's hard to find a stretch of road without hills. At the end of the day....I probably kept today's climbing down to 2500 feet.

By staying within the confines of Las Colinas and Valley Ranch, I was also able to get out into the open where there's ablsolutely no shelter to the wind. I've got a pretty nice 30 mile out and back as well as an 8 mile "winding and technical" out and back through the neighborhoods of Valley Ranch. All roads are mostly 3 lanes with little traffic. I'll get to the 8 mile course a little later.

During the first 20 minutes I took it nice and steady. After 20, I decided to bring the tempo up to IM pace. At this point, I jumped onto the 30 mile course that takes me out and around Texas Stadium. Once I got back to my starting point...I opted for an easy 3 mile loop to relax and think about what to do next. I've got about a dozen or so loops around town here. After the 3 mile loop, I decided to Time Trial the 8 mile "out and back" course I spoke of earlier, through Valley Ranch at 40k race pace. At this point...I'm 40 miles into the ride and feeling great.

The 8 mile TT took 20:18...or right at 23.6 mph. That felt pretty good. Not record fast but made the impact I was looking for! Reason I did this was to see how fast I could recover from an intensity this high...and this far into the ride. I needed to know if I could push it without cracking....

After the TT, I rolled right into a steady IM pace that lasted the remainder of the ride. I took the 30 mile out and back one more time, and rolled through the 8 mile Valley Ranch course until the end.

I rolled right up to the track half a mile away from 100 miles. Cool...a quick half mile circle on the street to bring it to a triple digit....the ride was over.

Total Ride Time: 4:39:10 / 100 miles (21.5mph)

Transition Time was 3 minutes 30 seconds to change and grab a bit of fluids. I actually did this at the track with a towel.

(Run) Run was nothing more than steady-state. I might have gone a tad faster than IM pace but I felt good and just tried to stay relaxed. I made a point not to look at the watch except on every 4th lap after finishing up each mile. I was pleasantly surprised to see my pace and was even more excited with the amount of effort I was putting out. I "even split" each mile within 1-2 seconds of each other. Very happy. I stopped after 3.6 miles as my Achilles said it was time to end the session. I have a feeling the reason for the aching Achilles is the 30 miles worth of running I've put in over the past 3 days.

Total Time: 26:30 / 3.6 miles

Nutrition on the Day is listed below:

Bike:

• 400 Calories Gatorade Endurance
• 550 Calories PowerBar Gel (5)
• 490 Calories PowerBar Endurance
• 140 Calories Coke

Total Calories on the Bike: 1580

Run:

• 140 Calories of Watered Down Coke
• 110 Calories PowerBar Gel
• 70 Calories PowerBar Endurance

Total Calories on the Run: 320

See you next week........