DO WORK

Notes from the week:

Well, I decided to go ahead and recap my week for everyone. On a day where I botched everything...it was as good a time as any for a zero...

New colors for the website. Timex changed up the logo color so I thought I'd try and match everything. Looks good I think.

I HATE tapering. Man o Man...talk about moody. One minute I'm up...the next I'm down in the dumps. Oh well, Dave told me to hold on and everything would open up next week. He's right as I think all triathletes go through this at one time or another.

I've opted for a full 3 week peak followed by my usual race week prep. Total, that makes 4 full weeks worth of recovery. Paul Huddle once told me..."Unless you lay out the groundwork...a taper is pointless". I guess we'll see how things play out in a few days....

If you've ventured over to the Timex website and seen the blog lately...you might have noticed the little "Roast" Carole Sharpless gave yours truly! Actually, it was about half the Team. Little embarrassing at times but all I can say is...we had a blast!

Swim on Sunday in wetsuit was fast. Very fast. Little hot as the water temperature was 82. Swam meters today and was really excited to test the Helix and find out where my cruise pace is at. I was pleasantly happy.

Saturday's zero proved to be the best decision. Sunday's workouts were all quality and enjoyed every single one of them.

I'm an idiot and thought the pool I swam in on Sunday was a Meter Pool. It suspected it wasn't as my times were way to fast and checked it out with Management at the club. I knew something was a miss. Everyone staff member said it was meters...how could they not know?

Monday:

(Bike) Woke up a little late. Rode over to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) out to downtown Carlsbad and then u-turned it to Encinitas. Couple hard 10 min pickups on the coast and then headed east to the hills. Rode over some pretty nice rollers before heading back to camp.

Total Ride Time: 1:30:00 / 30 miles

Really tired from lack of sleep and poor nutrition. Trip to Camp has me a little out of sorts. For lunch I decided to handle my business and flip things around. Felt good...I was able to figure things out.

Tuesday:

(Swim) Hard swim. Kept it on the low side. Had to hurry back to the board room for a wrap-up to the camp.

• 500 easy to open
• 100 stroke
• 10x100 as (1 hard on 1:40 (1:10) 1 race pace on 1:30 (1:20)
• 100 easy to cool out

1700 total yards / :28 minutes

Finished up camp. Spent some time out by the pool with a new sponsor, Dedicated Athlete....and then headed off to the airport. Flight went well and I landed at 10:30. Almost had to divert because of bad weather in the area. That would have sucked...

Wednesday:

Felt amazing when I woke up this morning. Almost back to normal. Slept 12 hours last night. Whew...I guess I needed the sleep. Took some time today and hit all 3 disciplines during my normal Wednesday 3 sport brick. Details below.

(Swim) Felt good. It was good to be a bit rested today. Simple swim today. Details below

• 2x1000 on 14:30 (14:01) (13:27)
• 500 on 7:00 (6:37) as first 200 really hard...last 300 steady to recover
• 4x50 on :45 (:38-:39)

2700 total yards / :39 minutes

(Bike) Right after the swim....jumped right on the bike. Steady ride today. Nothing to hard. Just glad to be back home and in my own element. Pretty wind today...but that's Texas....

Total Ride Time: 1:30:00 / 30.7 miles

(Run) Felt good. I haven't run in a few days so I kept it really short. Will hit a little more distance tomorrow with.

Total Time: :16 minutes / 2.2 miles

Thursday:

Today was pretty kick ass! I hit numbers I have never seen and with an extremely low level PE... Today was another 3-sport day. Only this time I took about 1 hour in between the swim and bike. Bike to Run was done on about 2 min transition time.

(Swim) Rock and Roll swim workout today! Details below

2000 (scy) to open listed below. Clear times by the 500 as this is when I hit the lap button.

• 500 (6:48)
• 1000 (13:34)
• 1500 (20:17) Fastest Yet...
• 2000 (26:53) Fastest Yet...

After the opening 2000, I left on the :28 to finish the session.....

• 1000 pull (13:48) Fastest Yet...
• 4x100 on 1:30 as (1 hard (1:10), 1 mod (1:20)
• 4x50 as (25 free head down- 25 free head up)
• 100 free easy to cool-down

4100 total yards / 1:02:00

(Bike) Bike was pretty awesome too! Structure listed below. Nice day today. Wind wasn't too bad for these parts. Can't wait for the higher temperatures in Tempe!

• 1 hour build to IM Pace
• 3x10 min L3 w/10 min race recovery in between...

Data below from intervals. Intervals were done @ IM pace with a little extra effort at the end. Nothing hard and nothing to get crazy with....structure all the way around.

• 1st 10 min interval - 149 avg heart rate
• 10 min recovery at 139 hear rate
• 2nd 10 min interval - 150 avg heart rate
• 10 min recovery at 137 avg heart rate
• 3rd 10 min interval - 152 avg heart rate
• 10 min recovery at 138 avg heart rate

Total Ride Time: 2:00:00 / 43.2 miles (21.6 mph)

(Run) Was was smooth and fluid. I had a blast the entire time. Left transition with an up tempo'd pace and then cooled it down to race pace after mile 1. Had a blast.

Total Time: 30 minutes / 4.4 miles (6:49 min/mile pace)

Friday:

(Swim) Solid effort today. Little sore from yesterdays session. Speed is coming around in all 3 disciplines which is really nice. Details from today's workout below....

• 1000 on 14:30 (13:53)
• 200 stroke on 4:00
• 200 kick on 5:30
• 200 free easy
• 3x200 pull w/pad on 2:45 (2:31)
• 3x200 pull on 2:50 (2:41)
• 200 free on 2:40 (2:32)
• 300 free to close

3300 total yards / :53 minutes

(Run) Nothing more than easy going. It's pretty chilly outside and blowing over 30mph. I'd rather not risk a cold so I opted for a run immediately after swim. I really like these workouts. It's kind of like a cool-down run after the swim.

Total Time: :45 minutes / 4.5 miles

Saturday:

Rode a little on the trainer for about :20 minutes and then called it a day. Legs were a little sore, body was a little tired. I'm really being careful on this one to NOT over do it! I'd rather go in under trained than overdone come April 15th.

In the end...I had an amazing dinner and feel awesome. Headed to bed right now and should wake up 100% tomorrow. I'm actually hoping to come out of my TAPER funk on Wednesday. It's been a hard taper but am looking very forward to how I will perform come race day....

Sunday: (Correction in the Pool Distance...Yards, Not Meters...)

Another 3 sport day. Today's workout was a nice change, as the pool is a little cooler at 82 degrees and allowed me to jump into my Helix Wetsuit. I really want to wear the long sleeve for Arizona vs. the Long John. Florida was a touch on the warm side so I opted for the Long John there and it paid off well. I never overheated in the water.

Arizona should be pretty cold as the water temp as of yesterday was in the high 50's - low 60's. I'll cross my fingers in hopes to use the full sleeve Helix.

(Swim) Amazing swim today, as I climbed back into a wetsuit for the first time this year. I had the pleasure of "WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A BRAND NEW 25 METER POOL. NOT!! I checked on Monday with the management of 24 Hour Fitness, and it is actually 25 yards.

Today was going to be fun. Almost smashed into the wall a few times. Not really used to how fast a wetsuit makes you.

• 5x100 in 1:30 (1:13-1:16) (Wetsuit)

1500 cruise pace (1:16/100y avg) in wetsuit. 82 is NOT cold! It got pretty toasty around the 1000 yard mark!

• 500 (6:15)
• 1000 (12:34)
• 1500 (18:54) Fastest Yet...

Out of wetsuit now. A little too hot for my taste. For some strange reason...I thought 82 would be cooler. Guess not after you warm-up. Easy 400 to cool-down.

• 200 stroke on 4:00
• 2x100 on 1:45 (1:22-1:23)

(Bike) Today's workout was on the trainer. Good old fashion 2 hour 15 min stationary session. Lots of fun. Good thing the Masters was on today. Made the time go by pretty fast. Details of the session listed below

Session was relatively basic. Ride steady the entire time except for 2x15 min L3-L4 at :45 and 1:30. Couldn't have felt better today. Jumped off the trainer and took off for a run.

I always take my PE and round my projected mileage down from what I would ride outside. Today's ride outside would have been somewhere in the mid 21's. Therefore...I'll round down to 20mph for today's session. Even though I hold back on the total mileage projection...it gives me an idea of my totals come year end. Total Time: 2:15:00

(Run) Took a few minutes to put on tights, socks, skull cap, long sleeve shirt, gloves, wind breaker...and then I was off out the door. Goal today was to simulate race day pace. Nice and steady...relaxed and focused. Felt really good. Total Time: 30 minutes / 4.1 miles

That's it! Home stretch......