DO WORK

Monday:

Swim: I woke up a bit late today and the heat was pretty bad...therefore...I decided to insert a big day swim instead of a ride. Swam outside today and Northlake, a short course meter pool.

• 1000 free to open in 14:40 / clearing 500's in (7:52, 7:50)
• 200 stroke
• 3 x 500 pull on 8:00 (7:40, 7:38, 7:36)
• 200 stroke
• 1000 pull with paddles in 14:25 / clearing 500's in (7:14, 7:11)
• 200 stroke
• 400 kick with fins
• 200 free to cool-down

Total Swim Time: 1:20:00 / 4700 meters

Tuesday:

Bike: Easy ride today.... Woke up way to late and left the house around 11:00. After the ride...I was just too sun shot to do anything else with any sort of quality. Temp at the end of the ride was 97. I'll be headed to bed tonight around 9 pm.

Total Ride Time: 3:44:00 / 73 miles

Wednesday:

Bike: Structure today was a bike/run brick. Left the house today around 9 a.m. Easy ride out to Keller by way of Southlake... Ride was smooth and the temp was nice. I guess I'm so used to riding at high noon....90 degrees was a nice change. Transition to the run took about a minute.

Total Ride Time: 4:10:00 / 82.5 miles

Run: Transition run was perfect... Left the bike and settled into a nice HIM pace. Felt strong and smooth...not forced...just natural. The heat was pretty hot and it was getting close to 2:00, so I turned things down after 25 minutes. Tomorrow's run should be fun as I plan on hitting the road early in the morning...

Total Run Time: 0:25:30 / 3.5 miles

Thursday:

Run: (BAD DAY....INJURY) Got rolling around 10 am. Goal was a nice and steady 95 min run. Well, things really didn't turn out the way I wanted them too. At mile 4, I felt a sharp pain around my 3rd and 4th metatarsal. I continued running but at a slower pace to see if the pain would subside. After another minute or so, it only got worse. I ended the session and walked to a nearby office building to call Julie. Thank gosh she was around to come pick me up.

Total Run: 0:33:30 / 4.1 mile

About an hour later I had x-rays taken. While the initial x-ray didn't show any fracture, I find it a little hard to believe serious injury wasn't done. I think the next week will tell a true story.

For now I will be back off the running and jump in the pool for some aqua jogging. I've never tried this before and am a little curious what it's all about. I suppose I'm a little disappointed that an injury has forced me down this avenue. I can only hope for better things to come over the next few weeks.

Friday:

Bike: Easy bike today! Goal was to see how my foot would respond to riding. Foot felt fine. Can't do any sprinting though, and, since I never sprint anyway...this really isn't an issue. Will be in the pool to swim later and try some aqua jogging.

Total Ride Time: 1:38:00 / 32 miles

Swim: After an easy bike with no issues, I was optimistic swimming would yield the same results. Well, luck was on my side and swimming went without a hitch. No issues while kicking. I do have to take it easy when doing flip turns....I just need to be cautious when I push off the wall. Opted out of an Aqua Jog as this was enough for today.

• 5 x 500 on 8:30 (7:58, 7:52, 7:45, 7:36, 7:30)
• 200 stroke
• 3 x 100 on 1:45 (1:32-1:30)

Total Swim Time: 0:51:00 / 3000 meters

Saturday:

Bike: Purpose of today was to get a strong workout in by doing a local 20k Time Trial. Everything would have been fine had I not been pulled over by a cop during the actual race.

Short story.... I started the race and felt great! At kilometer 4-5, some crazy police officer pulled in behind me and insisted I pull over. Race over. All I could do was watch other racers race on by. The police officer even apologized afterwards and said he was truly sorry he ruined my race. There were so many athletes upset with the local police officers...

Everyone was very sympathetic and seemed to feel sorry I was the one who was singled out...even the race director. The race coordinator asked me if I wanted another go at the course, but I really wasn't in the mood anymore. With nobody on the course...I felt kind of weird....like doing a triathlon after every one's finished up and waiting around.

Anyway...I was on my way back to the truck when a couple athletes I knew egged me on to try it again. Trying to be a good sport and not a sore-thumb...I gave in and tried one more time. Not really the ideal situation I had planned for.

I started again and with nobody on the course... This had to be one of the weirdest situations I've ever been in. 2 minutes into the ride, I wanted to quit. I hated every minute of it and wanted to turn around. I told myself...don't turn around...you'll feel better if you just do the stinking thing and go home! Anyway...I posted the worst 20k time of my life...30:01. I should have just cut my losses and come back another day....

On a good note...strategy wise. I did get to see the course and I did get to see the results from the athletes who posted good times. If I decide to come back next month...those things will prove beneficial...

Total Ride Time: 1:10:00 / 25 miles

Sunday:

Bike: Intention was to ride super long today but after looking back over my blog and my goals for this week...I cut the ride short in line with my expectations thus far. If I had pushed the envelope...I would have risked issues heading into next week.

Ride was out to Southlake by way of Grapevine and the Lake...once back into Valley Ranch...I headed out towards Texas Stadium. Nice hilly route today. Kept heart rate down and under control. Felt really good!

Total Ride Time: 3:41:00 / 73.7 miles

Swim: First time swimming at 24 Hour Fitness. Awesome pool. It was nice and cold!!! Will still continue to swim at Northlake as they are set up for meters right now and the pool is pretty nice. 24 Hour Fitness is a yard pool...

• 1000 to open in 14:32 (500's in 7:16, 7:15)
• 200 stroke
• 3x200 free on 3:00 (2:45, 2:45, 2:44)
• 200 stroke
• 2x500 pull on 7:25 (7:07, 7:06)
• 200 stroke
• 2x300 pull w/paddles on 4:15 (4:00, 4:00)
• 200 stroke
• 100 free

Total Swim Time: 1:05:00 / 4100 yards

Totals for the Week:

• Total Swim Time: 3 hrs 17 min / 12,521 yards
• Total Bike Time: 14 hrs 23 min / 286.2 miles
• Total Run Time: 0 hrs 58 min / 7.6 miles

Total Hours Trained During The Week: 18 hrs 38 min

Notes for the Week:

Well, I only hit one of my goals this week. Cycling was pretty good. Can't complain. I was able to harness some pretty good fitness I can take into next week. Goal in cycling over the next few weeks will be to ride really well and hit a few new milestones. Due to my running setback...I should be able to grab hold of some solid volume that will prove beneficial in Florida

I didn't hit the number I wanted in the pool this week. I only swam 3 times but was able to make them count. All very very quality oriented...which is a good thing. Sometimes athletes get too caught up in their training load and forget about structure and quality. I did manage to stay above 3000 in each session...that was a little side goal I just remembered.

Running... Well, the foot is getting better. Today, there were little to no aches while sitting around the house and I couldn't feel anything while out of the saddle climbing. Still a little achy when pushing off from the wall during swimming. All in all...right now I'm day to day and need to stay extremely focused on getting strong. As far as actual running....no way shape or form could I run right now without total risk of serious injury. Even if I couldn't feel any pain...I still wouldn't try anything for another week.

More to come....

Mg