DO WORK

Monday:

Swim: Very positive session again today. Still looking for consistent time during open swim sets. Took the length up to 40+ minutes today. I couldn't have felt better and it couldn't have been more opposite to the last long session I did. Where I WAS feeling nauseous through the 30 minute mark...everything seemed to flow nicely today. Stomach and body are getting stronger! My ability to relax during longer sets is getting easier to mange. I felt like I was gliding during the last 1000 today.

On a side note. When I state the word "cruise"...this means all "effort" is done on Long Course (IM) Pace....

(scy) Southlake

• 150 smooth to warm-up
• 3000 cruise in 41:03 (clearing 500's in 6:55, 6:52, 6:50, 6:51, 6:47, 6:46)
• 150 smooth to relax
• 500 pull in 6:51
• 4 x 100 cruise on 1:30 (1:20)

Total Swim Time: 1:00:00 / 4200 yards

Bike: Very easy bike today. After about two dozen e-mails to blast through...a trip to Central Market...and a few odds and ends...I did make it out the door at about 4 p.m.. Will try and wake up early tomorrow!

Total Bike Time: 1:48:00 / 34.2 miles

Tuesday:

Run: Back to the track today for another solid run. Had to turn things off early because of the football team. I feel kind of weird running while the JV and Varsity guys are out walking around...running drills, kicking field goals, passing, getting water, etc, etc. Just thought it would be polite if I left. Ok with me...it was pretty toasty!

Kept it on cruise again today and worked on negative splits again...smooth action!

• Mile 1 - 7:35, Mile 2 - 7:37
• Mile 3 - 7:32, Mile 4 - 7:30
• Mile 5 - 7:21, Mile 6 - 7:16
• Mile 7 - 7:09

Total Run Time: 52:04 / 7 miles

Bike: Easy spin after getting some really awesome news from Red Bull... I will post more as things progress. I guess you can say it's quit exciting and not sure how to feel about it right now. A little overwhelming and want to convey a sincere blog entry regarding the events that have transpired.

The bike was smooth and easy. Little hungry on today's ride. I have a feeling I'm not eating the way I should. Possibly neglecting my nutrition a tad. Will work on that over the next few days. Really need to nip that in the butt!

Total Ride Time: 2:06:00 / 41.2 miles

Wednesday:

No bricks today. Slept late and handled business in the afternoon under the heat and sun.

Bike: Steady state today. Rolled out to Texas Stadium and through the hills on the backside of Las Colinas out towards the airport. After I made it out there...I turned around and did it all over again. Extremely good workout!!!!

Total Bike Time: 2:25:00 / 47.2 miles

Swim: Back in the bathtub at 24 Hour Fitness. That pool is so much slower than everything else. Although....I do like the tougher conditions. It's like swimming in the ocean or lake. Your just all over the place. Also...when you head back to a standard competition pool...your like 3 secs a 100 faster...SWEET!

(scy) 24 Hour Fitness

• 2 x 400 cruise on 5:55 (5:36, 5:36)
• 2 x 400 cruise on 5:50 (5:29, 5:26)
• 1 x 400 cruise on 5:45 (5:23)
• 200 stroke
• 5 x 200 pull cruise on 2:55 (holding 2:44)
• 50 stroke
• 50 free

Total Swim Time: 0:51:00 / 3300 yards

Thursday:

Swim: Back over to Southlake again today. Love that cold water and indoor Natatorium!! Solid workout today and wanted to focus a bit on tempo.

(scy) Southlake

• 5 x 200 cruise on 3:00 (2:44, 2:45, 2:41, 2:41, 2:37)
• 5 x 200 paced on 2:50 (2:35, 2:33, 2:32, 2:31, 2:30)
• 2 x 50 on :60 (:38)
• 2 x 50 on :55 (:37)
• 2 x 50 on :50 (:36)
• 2 x 50 on :45 (:35)
• 200 stroke
• 100 free easy

Total Swim Time: 0:42:00 / 2700 yards

Run: Elliptical and Treadmill today. Watching my efforts running outside. Having a few issues with my Brooks. Might need to switch... 1:05 on the Elliptical and :10 minutes on the Treadmill

Total Elliptical-Run Time: 1:15:00 / 1.2 miles

Strength: Nice core workout

Total Strength Time: 0:13:00

Friday:

Run: Woke up really early as I couldn't sleep well. Seemed refreshed so I hit the track for a long run at about 5 a.m. Things didn't really click though...felt really heavy in the head and body. After about 3 miles...my shins started hurting. Stopped after 3.1 and went home.

After going back to sleep and waking up again at 10 a.m., I ventured back to the running store to talk with my guy about a different pair of shoes. I think we nailed it and went with a similar setup to what I had about a year ago. Sometimes...you just have to go with what works. Hopefully this will workout and I will be able to go ahead without any issues.

Total Run Time: 0:25:00 / 3.1 miles

Swim: Really tired!!! No mood to workout but I was already here so I just turned out a few yards.

Total Swim Time: 0:16:00 / 1000 yards

Saturday:

Zero....

Completely shelled!!! Slept 15 hours last night. Went to bed at 9 on Friday and woke up at noon the next day. Ate some food and went back to bed around 2. Slept until 4:30. Total hours slept was around 17.5.

Honestly....I cannot remember the last time I felt so run down! My sleep over the past few days has been horrible and I think it's finally caught up to me.

It's about 9:30 right now and I am headed to bed. Hopefully I'll have a relaxing evening and nail the workout I've been looking for all week....tomorrow.

Sunday:

Well...Everything turned out perfect. Taking yesterday completely off turned out beneficial. I will definitely take note of this for my upcoming race down in Austin. All the sleep yesterday was exactly what I needed. I still can't believe I felt so bad the past 2 days and turned out a day like today. Really makes you respect your body and how important rest and recovery play into training.

Bike: I wanted a solid race sim this week and that's exactly what I got!!! Left the house at around 9:30 a.m. and just went with how I felt. Never really pushed the pace...just fell into a groove and went with it. I'm a big believer in letting the body determine how you race or train.

The day ended with me wanting so much more from myself. Excited about my next race...tomorrows training....and everything in between now and Florida. This workout was so important as yesterday I was in a bit of a funk!

The structure was a long ride + a transition run....all at race effort. Rode out to Roanoke again to hit up some solid hills. Made my way back to Valley Ranch by mile 80. Worked the remainder of the ride inside of Valley Ranch and Las Colinas. I was looking for some flat terrain to wrap up the last 30+ miles.

Things couldn't have gone better and I found myself clearing the 112 mile mark in 5:12:30. This is positive news as I put myself into a far more difficult course than the one I will be racing in Florida's... Not to mention zero race gear...and and no real taper....I think I'm seeing some solid bike fitness come about! SWEET!!!!

It should be very exciting to see the past 4 months of bike fitness culminate over the next 6 weeks. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully....there will be more good things to come!

Total Ride Time: 5:15:00 / 112.9 miles

Run: Transition run was done at Campion Trail today. I was looking for a concrete surface, not a lot of traffic and somewhat flat terrain resembling Florida's run course.

I rolled into Campion Trail relaxed and ready to roll. I think the 2.5 minutes standing and stretching after mile 112 worked well for today's run.

Left the truck and ran to the first mile marker which was about 200 yards away. I didn't record the time as I will have to do the same thing in transition come race time. Leaving the tent in Florida...you will have a short run before crossing the mat to begin the marathon.

Anyway...I settled in nice and smooth today and felt awesome! Clicking through the miles with an unusual ease! Felt pretty good.

I want to say thank you sooo much to Julie for helping me out today. I wouldn't have been able to nail the workout had it not been for her help! Thx Babe!

• Mile 1 - 7:24, Mile 2 - 7:30
• Mile 2 - 7:26, Mile 4 - 7:24
• Mile 4.5 - 3:44

Total Run Time: 0:33:00 / 4.5 miles

Totals for the Week:

• Total Swim Time: 2 hrs 49 min / 11,200 yards
• Total Bike Time: 11 hrs 34 min / 235.5 miles
• Total Run Time: 3 hrs 05 min / 25.8 miles
• Total Strength Time: 0 hrs 13 min / 1 sessions

Total Hours Trained During The Week: 17 hrs 41 min

Notes for the week:

What goes up...must come down. Well, the same goes for good and bad. When luck's on your side and things are going well, sooner or later...that luck will be tested. I suppose it's how you play your cards that determines a hardships outcome. Yeah...that sounds about right!

This week I've seen every side of emotion. Positive news coming out of Red Bull regarding my artwork in Philadelphia was the highlight of my week. (More to come on that...will post a full blog in a day or two. I was waiting on photos and the Art of the Can website.)

Now...on the flip side...I saw severe sleep deprivation and exhaustion you would not believe even if I told you!

Friday was a true nightmare. I only slept 4 hours before heading to the track for a 5 a.m. run which turned out horrible. Issues with my shoes and shin were the main culprits. Later, at the pool....I felt so run down I could only turn out 1000 yards. I did manage to get some new shoes.

Sleep wasn't much better that afternoon as I couldn't calm down and relax...only focusing on the work I was missing or the issues I was having with my body. I was actually wondering how I could get through a marathon in 6 weeks. A talk later in the day with good ol' Alex was positive but didn't actually hit me until Sunday. All the things he said...all his positivity was severely overshadowed by this horrible feeling I was having.

I actually had to call the doctor and get something to calm me down. The lack of sleep had me real jittery and anxious. I was so tired....but I couldn't relax. Anyway...after taking some medicine...I was out cold...15+ hours of straight sleep. When I woke up...I think I felt worse...HA...go figure. Sooo, I ate some breakfast/lunch and went back to bed. Another couple hours of sleep and I woke up a bit better. Went out to Dinner...came home...watched some TV and went to bed.

Woke up Sunday morning like a new person. The days down were perfect and has me thinking about how I will prep going into Florida. I am listing a couple notes below.

• No unnecessary workouts! (While all weeks have fillers...I will just loose a couple unnecessary ones!)
• I will use the day off before race scenario this week once..and again at the Longhorn Half Ironman 2 weeks from now. Will be testing this scenario for IM Florida race day.
• Focus for IM Florida will be on the bike. I have to use what I can and what I've trained.
• While I will be able to nail a few key runs before the race...my volume will almost certainly be down. I just refuse to force anything my body cannot absorb...
• The run in Florida will be tough...I just need to do what I can and stay positive. I can still run an awesome marathon and have to remember that!
• Body dictates pace...training and workout intensity! Remember that!
• Longhorn Half Ironman is just another race sim! It's not your A race but an event to run through the motions and iron out some cobwebs!
• Longhorn will be an event to swim well and bike harder than normal... Can't wait to bike.
• Key workouts. I need plenty of them and that's what these remaining 6 weeks will be tailored around.
• Again...No more unnecessary volume, no more junk miles... All Quality!

Your probably like...whoa...lots of stuff! Well, after a week like I just had...if I didn't learn anything or didn't take notes...I'd have to call myself in idiot!

OK...next blog will be about the Art of the Can Exhibit in Philadelphia. After that...it's back to training.

Mg