DO WORK

Notes for the week:

Well, it's taper time. The work is done and now it's time to hit those key workouts, rest and nothing more. At this point...I'm not too interested in those extra workouts people like to do before big events. That one last big ride or run. Nope...not me! I'd rather soak up the work I've laid down and try to digest everything as best as possible

The Achilles issue that bothered me last Sunday is gone. I figured out what it was. It was my dead shoes. Who would have thought? After only 17 days after I purchased them....they were shot. I figured this out on Monday when I was out for an easy run. After mile 2 or so I felt the tendon start to tighten up. I immediately jumped onto the grass and all was good. Ran the remainder of the run this way. When I got home, I un-boxed a brand new pair of DS Trainers, and went for a jog up and down the street. They felt amazing....just like they should have. Nice cushion and support...very smooth.

Wednesday's brick was awesome and had "Zero" issues with my Achilles in the new shoes. It's amazing how good fresh shoes feel. For those who have nagging injuries that won't go away... You should really look to the shoe. Keep an eye on those things. Fortunately...every time my tendon acts up...it's usually because the shoe is broken down. I've had a pair of DS Trainers last 275 miles and ones last only 100. The ones that went dead on Sunday...had only 100 miles on them and were 17 days old.

On the shoe front... I'm looking into a much more technologically advance shoe. Newton Running is working on something very special right now and I hope to have my first pair in very soon. Once I get out on the road with these...I'll report back with an update. You can check them out by clicking here Newton Running .

I can't wait to jump back into the wetsuit. Talked with the Corp of Engineers at Grapevine Lake today and they said the temperature was between 54 and 66. Still a little cold to go swimming. Maybe by late next week the lake will warm up a bit...

Monday:

(Swim) Nice and easy day after Sunday's Race Sim. Legs were pretty sore and opted for an easy swim. 2200 yard to be exact. Nothing special. Just a nice and relaxed workout to loosen up the muscles. Spent the afternoon taking a nap!

Tuesday:

(Run) Today felt really good. I was happy that yesterday's easy session paid off. Opted for a nice and easy run out to Campion Trail. The trail is pretty nice. It's through a nice patch of woods and it's concrete so you can ride your bike on it if you want. When I'm bored...sometimes I'll stroll through there during a ride. Total Time: 48 minutes / 5.7 miles

My shoes are shot!!! That would be an understatement and that would also be the reason for the Achilles issue yesterday. Glad I figured that one out. Spent the majority of the run on grass.

For now, I'm just letting the work thus far soak in. No reason to kill it right now. There's still plenty of "Sharpen" sessions left and will let those be my fun days.

(Bike) Very easy out to Grapevine Lake and back. It's always fun to ride easy. This was a really good bike to make sure everything was set up correctly. Since I left my mp3 player at track last Saturday, I've had lots of time to think while on the bike lately. Anyway...that's about it. Total Time: 1:38:00 / 31.8 miles

Wednesday:

Today's

(Swim) Structured workout, 500's. Just went through the motions today. All sets were done on specified intervals. Transitioned immediately to the bike after swim. Times listed below...

• 500 on 7:30 (7:04)
• 5x100 on 1:30 (1:22)
• 500 on 7:15 (6:57)
• 5x100 on 1:25 (1:19)
• 500 on 7:15 (6:52)
• 5x100 on 1:25 (1:19)

3000 yards total / :44 minutes

(Bike) Nothing special today on the bike. Winds were up over 30 mph. Real nasty weather today. Looked like a storm was blowing in. The pool is about 10 miles down wind from the house so it wasn't too much fun to loose all that time riding into a headwind. I'm not even joking about the wind by the way! Transition straight to the run....

Total Ride Time: 2:08:00 / 42 miles

(Run) This was the fun part of the day!! Since I took it real easy yesterday...I was extremely fresh and enjoy the run immensely. I really didn't want to stop but told myself enough was enough...save it for another day. Stayed in the hills on the back side of Valley Ranch today and felt 100%. Tendon is back to normal thanks to a fresh pair of running shoes. Alternated between IM/HIM pace during the run. Just had some fun.

Total Time: 30:53 / 4.5 miles (6:51 min/mile pace)

Thursday:

Today I had one of my fastest swims to date. Very, Very Positive. Felt almost effortless during the opening 2000. Yesterday I took it easy in water with hopes of having solid swim days both today and tomorrow. So far it's paying off.

(Swim) Structure listed below with leave times and clear times....Opening 2000 is my fastest to date. Come to think about it...so was the 1500 clear time. (scy)

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

• 500 (6:50)
• 1000 in (13:40)
• 1500 in (20:23) Fastest Yet...
• 2000 in (27:03) Fastest Yet...

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

• 200 stroke easy
• 800 kick w/fins
• 500 free w/fins (6:17)
• 5x100 free on 1:25 (1:17)
• 2x50 free easy on :50
• 200 pull easy
• 100 free easy

4400 yards total / 1:05:00

(Bike) Zone 4 work on the bike today. Actually, I took it up into zone 5 towards the end of a couple intervals. Enjoyed the workout and also the speed. Nothing like a good burn... Workout wasn't long today, but very effective...

• 35 minutes build to solid pace
• 5 x 5 min in Zone 4 w/2 min rest in between
• 10 min back down to easy.

Felt really strong today...even better after the workout. I'm really happy I held off on any speedwork until recently.

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes / 30 miles

Friday:

(Swim) Pretty good swim today. Looking for a little structure with a focus on speed and pulling. Structure and times listed below.

• 500 free easy
• 12x50 free on :50
• 200 stroke
• 2x100 on 1:20 (1:11, 1:14)
• 1 min rest
• 2x100 on 1:20 (1:09, 1:13)
• 1 min rest
• 2x100 on 1:20 (1:09, 1:13)
• 1min rest
• 1000 pull on 14:45 (14:12) (recovery - steady pace)
• 1000 pull w/paddles on 14:15 (13:38) (cruise pace)
• 200 free easy
• 4x50 free on :45

4300 total yards / 1:10:00

I was pleasantly happy with the speed in the 100's. After yesterday's workout...I could definitely feel some soreness in the lats. I did a few pickups during the end of the 12x50 set to dial in a tempo. Once I hit the first 100, I felt ok.

100's wore me out a bit so I spent the majority of the first 1000 yard pull set recovering. It was nice to get in a couple large pull sets today. Allowed me to practice some speed with active recovery mixed together. The last 1000 with paddles were nice. I really felt powerful and fluid. Nice to have the shoulders strong right now.

(Run) Very easy today. Was pouring rain outside so ran on the treadmill. I spent a lot of time on the treadmill early in the year and have really grown to appreciate it's purpose. I do think one can benefit and excel by using a treadmill correctly.

Anyway...easy run today. Incline set at 2%. Started out very easy and brought the pace up to 7:20 min / mile, and then back down to easy. Total Time: 50 minutes / 6.1 miles

Saturday:

Flew into San Diego today. Timex Camp in Carlsbad, California.

(Swim) Steady 2000+ yards random. Swimming extremely fast today. Probably has something to do with the talent I was amongst. It was nice to be surrounded by talented athletes pushing you limits.

(Run) Run with Ian Ray and Chris Thomas. Nice run out to the beach and back. Pace was really steady. Two awesome guys and it was a real pleasure to run with them....

Sunday:

(Bike) Ended up in the Trek / Timex / Bontrager / Profile Design Photo Shoot. Was an awesome time and felt completely privileged to be asked to join. There were four of us and we spent about 3 hours working with the photographers for the perfect shots....

(Swim) Steady swim today. Just worked on a bit of speed. Kept the volume down to 2000. Been real busy in meetings all afternoon with the Team Sponsors.

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........

You might have noticed I changed the title of my blog over the past couple weeks. I've been in search of something that speaks to the heart of Mark Gingrich. Well, I think I've found it. Most who know me, know I rarely keep my thoughts under the table. If I feel something needs addressing or possibly aching for attention, you know I'll be the first to step up and say something. In the end...you get me...

On that note, I've always had a true loathing for cheats, dopers or shady people in general. Couple things this weekend got me thinking about this a little more. First things first...what's with the drafting. I mean seriously...are the rules that hard to live by?

For 07, I'm trying something new and have decided to forgo any racing until IMAZ. Ultimately, this leading to better prep mentally and physically. From what I'm hearing though...I'm not missing much on the racing front. Sounds like a bunch of athletes who can't step up and race head-to-head or "within the rules". I heard so much crap about the race this weekend, it makes me laugh.

I won't even get into the worst but I will tell you right now, that crap better not happen when I'm around. I've got no tolerance for that business. All of the athletes I race with, and keep as friends fly in a straight line. Every last one of us would rather DNF than resort to a cheating mentality. I've always believed that "Your only as good as the company you keep". Lived by this for a long time and it has served me well. Although I can always trust my friends to race fare....there's always that one clown that won't.

Let's hope this is nothing more than a few minor hiccup's during the early season months.

On the doping front, there's really nothing to talk about that hasn't been discussed before. I just thought I would make my opinion VERY CLEAR!!!! There's always going to be...a never ending struggle with performance enhancing drugs in our sport.

I won't get into any details but I've been hit in every single direction with this crap. Every time I hear about it, I just want to throw up. I work hard and I mean hard to get better in this sport. I have never...I will never...and couldn't afford if I wanted too....use anything illegal in my life. So don't even bother bringing it up when I'm around.

............................................

On the training front. I've outlined another week below with lots of details. So sit back and grab a snack. Lots of interesting stuff. I went through some highs and lows this week....took a day off and hit some benchmark numbers I've never seen before.

The focus going into this week was to recover from the build and base period. Relax and get my mind set for the final 4 weeks were top priority. It was pretty tough the first 4 days as the down time had me pretty fatigued and out of sorts. In the end....everything worked out fine and I'm very excited for the structure going forward....nice and focused.

Monday:

Well, I finally had to do it. Take a day off. Not because I wanted to, but because it was needed. Over the past several weeks and months...I've developed quite a bit of fitness. Now, the trick is soaking up all that hard work.... Dave was pretty adamant about me recharging the batteries one last time before my run into IMAZ. If he hadn't offered up his insight...I might not have taken the rest.

I actually took a 3 hour nap today. That was fun! Since I wasn't tired, I just took a hot shower and that pretty much did the trick. The heat always seems to do the trick. I slept so well. It turns out that today's zero was a well deserved treat!

Next few weeks should be interesting....

Tuesday & Wednesday:

Workout's were pretty low-key. Easy swim and bike on Tuesday. Easy Swim and Run on Wednesday. Taking time off seems to make you pretty tired as I found out on Thursday.

Thursday:

Key Run today. 8 miles build to Steady / IM Pace...7 miles negative split or build to IM+ Pace...move into a 2 mile easy cool-down. No HR monitor...straight PE. Temperature was 82 degrees today, almost no wind and not one cloud in the sky. In fact, I think today was one of the first warmer days of the year. Nice adjustment and good preparation for IMAZ. Details of workout below....

• 8 miles build to steady (1:02:20)
• 7 miles @ IM+ pace (51:46) (Key was to negative split each mile at this point) Miles were: 7:39, 7:33, 7:30, 7:24, 7:18, 7:13, 7:09
• 2 miles steady to cool-down (16:40)

17.1 miles in 2:11:00

.5 mile walk to relax and take in some good nutrition. Soak up some sun!

Nutrition: Worked with everything today. Coke, Gatorade Endurance, PowerBar Gel.

The run was awesome and interesting at the same time. Taking the 3 days down actually brought out some aches and pains I didn't know were there. Since Monday, my Sciatic Nerve on the left side has been giving me a couple issues (just in the hip area). Also, the down time has actually got me pretty tired. Weird....you'd think I'd have more energy. Oh well, I'm sure the fatigue will disappear after today.

Well, the fatigue is all gone. I think the run snapped it out of me. I took about 2 hours to relax after the run, and went out for an easy / steady bike to loosen up the legs. The ride was awesome and even ran into a couple fellas putting in some work. I opted to jump in for the fun and see if I could break things up a bit. There's nothing like a little friendly competition to get the blood boiling. Riding alone for the past few months, I've forgotten what that's like. After a while, I started to get a little tired and asked myself why I was pushing this sort of pace. My brain starting working at this point and I opted to pull back and finish the ride relaxed. All in all, it was fun as I haven't been up to really high race pace speeds in a while. I tell you one thing....this season is gonna be interesting.

Friday:

(Swim) Nice and structured today. Felt really strong and excited about a solid set. Structure is listed below along with leave and finish times..

• 27x100 (20 on 1:30, finishing on 1:18 - 1:20 / 7 on 1:25, finishing on 1:17)
• 200 stroke
• 2x50 free
• 2x500 on 7:30 (finishing each on 6:45, 6:46)
• 500 Cool-down
• 200 pull
• 200 kick
• 100 free

4500 yards total, 1 hr 11 mins.

(Run) Nice and easy on the treadmill immediately after the swim. Felt fine. Sciatic Nerve felt great. Calve was a little tight. Probably because my gait was off during yesterdays run.

Saturday:

(Bike) Intention was to ride 5:30 today as steady with a transition run. Well, after about 90 minutes I knew my mind just wasn't with it. There are just some days where you just don't have it. It was super cloudy, windy and I just hated every minute of that ride. Anyway, I decided to bag the ride and end it early. Total Ride Time: 2:35 / 51.2 miles.

(Swim) After the botched bike, I decided I'd go to the pool and turn out a strong set. The shortened ride set me up pretty nice for a solid swim. I went into the workout fresh...clear headed and excited to turn something special out. Structure is listed below along with leave and finish times..

• Ironman Distance, 4200 straight in 58:12 (Fastest to Date) Clearing 500's in 6:59, 6:58, 6:52, 6:52, 6:54, 6:56, 6:55, 6:57....Last 200 in 2:45
• 200 Stroke
• 300 Pull
• 300 Kick w/Fins
• 6x50 leaving on :45 / finishing on :39
• 100 free easy to end the session.

5600 yards total, 1 hr 22 mins

Thanks to my trusty Timex OVA Watch, along with the clock on the wall...I was able to capture all my 500's clearly throughout the set. What kind of an athlete would I be if I didn't plug up my sponsors. Honestly...the watch is awesome.

This truly was an awesome swim. I've never cleared the hour mark in the pool. Last time I did a 4200 yard straight set (26 days ago)...I was a tad over the hour at 1:00:12. Therefore, that makes me 2 minutes faster today at 58:12. What was interesting about today's swim was the extra 1400 I did afterwards. I just had a lot of energy. Anyway, I can't complain about this one. This will definitely be something to build on with hopes of bringing this down a touch before IMAZ.

Enough about that...I'm just happy with the progress taking place and I wanted it well documented for future reference.

(Run) The run was nothing really to talk about. Easy 15 minutes on the treadmill immediately after the swim. That's It....

Sunday:

(Bike) Decided to head over to Plano and ride with Wilk. Yep, Mr. Bicycle himself.... We opted for a steady-hard ride around Lake Lavon. The day was nothing short of hard. Overcast all day long and the winds were gusting up to 30mph. Adam rode away a couple times as I always refuse to ride on someone' s wheel. He also drug his TT bike out. Yeah, I know...me on my road bike...he didn't even give me a chance. In the end...it was both of us putting down work the entire time. The ride was cool...I haven't ridden with Adam in a long time and it was a very nice change of scenery. Total Time: 2:36 / 52.8 miles

I was going to head to the pool and take an easy run but I dranka bunch of caffeine today...and am officially crashing out. I've got an some exciting weeks coming up and I really want to nail all the key workouts. Therefore...the week officially ends now...

Talk to you next week.

This week was really good. I was able to get quit a few key sessions in the book and the weather co-operated for the most part. That's a pretty good thing for this part of the country.

If you've been reading lately...You'll notice the weekly entries to be getting quit long. Well, there's a couple reason's. The first is to share my experience while preparing for this race. The seconds is for my own personal development. The detail and records an athlete keeps during each season...especially when training becomes intense, is probably one of the single best resources you, the athlete can fall back on.

So...sit back...grab another PowerBar....maybe 2 Red Bulls...and read on. I logged each day after each workout....saving the blog as a draft during the week. This was good as it allowed me to capture how I felt each day...after each workout....

Monday:

(Swim) Easy Swim (mentally strong today but physically tired). Didn't feel like pushing the swim. Took it easy and closed things down after 2500 yards.

(Bike) Easy - Steady Bike. First 20 miles nice and easy. Next 20...opened up the legs a bit a enjoyed the weather. Nothing fast, just a pep in my step. Probably had something to do with the weather and the sun. Beautiful day. Temperature was 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Total time was 2:12 or 41.3 miles

Ride was out to Texas Stadium by way of the rollers along side Highway 114. Rode around Valley Ranch afterwards. Felt really strong today on the bike.

Planning a track workout tomorrow. We'll see how my body and legs feel when I wake up. Should be interesting after Sunday's long run.

Tuesday:

(Run) Continuous run with Vo2 Intervals in the middle.

Structure was 8.2 miles as 2.5 miles warmup....straight into 6x800 meters with/400m jog at 8:00min/mile pace or 2 mins per quarter....follow straight into a 1.5 mile cool-down. Data from intervals listed below as well as heart rate averages....

1. 3:02 / hr = 167avg/176max
2. 2:56 / hr = 172avg/180max
3. 2:55 / hr = 173avg/183max
4. 2:54 / hr = 176avg/184max
5. 2:54 / hr = 177avg/185max
6. 3:02 / hr = 175avg/184max

Last 800 was a little slower as I was starting to feel a bit fatigued. Probably should have cut the workout to 5x800 on this one. Oh well...no biggy. I really love the active recovery between intervals. Little rest but not too much....just the ticket. Immediately after the workout I opted for a .5 mile walk and 20 minutes worth of stretching. Nice way to end the workout. Total workout was done on the track for a total of 8.2 miles or 1 hr even. I don't include stretching or walking into my volume totals as I don't consider these workouts.

I rode over to the track today on my bike and was pretty nice. I like the easy spin before and after. Made for a more relaxed workout once I got to the track and a nice bit of recover post.

(Bike) Easy, Easy, Easy around Valley Ranch. Just an easy ride to stretch out the legs. Looking for a solid bike/run brick tomorrow. Should be an interesting day.....

Wednesday:

(Bike) Awesome day today. Rode on straight PE. No heart rate monitor...no speed checking. Tempo sets were done on feel and not time. Structure was easy pace...build to steady for the first hour. Followed by sets IM+ pace for about 10 minutes (estimate) with just enough time to relax...maybe a couple minutes or so, and then right back into Tempo. Ended the ride right when I was getting really strong. Need to save something for the rest of the week. Idea is to light one match every so often and then blow it out...not burn the entire matchbook! Total time was 3:35 or 71.5 miles.

I'm starting to get more and more comfortable in an upright position. Probably has something to do with the volume I'm at right now. In any case...it's an awesome feeling and I think I'm on a solid track. Speaking of track. Headed to the track for an easy run. My shoes are blown out right now and running on concrete just sucks. Therefore....easy run on the track tonight...

(Run) Easy run on the track. Exactly what the Dr. ordered after the ride today. I was so wound up after the ride....I just needed to get out for an easy cool-down. Just something to bring the hr down....

Thursday:

(Swim) Best day in the pool this year. Felt really strong. Might have had something to do with not being in the water for the past couple days. All I know is I felt really good....strong and fluid.

(Core) I did some core, a few pull-ups and a few push-ups with a medicine ball immediately following the swim. Solid effort and my core is getting nice and strong.

(Bike) Immediately after the swim and core....I jumped on the bike for an easy spin out to Flower Mound. Today's ride was nice and easy. Hair dryer was set on medium today and temp was just perfect. It was nice to spin it out for about 80 minutes after yesterday's ride. Important to get those easy rides in. Can't go hard if that's all you do. That goes triple for all disciplines.

Was planning my big day tomorrow but it's supposed to rain. Therefore, I'll take it easy and save my energy for Saturday! I think I'll pick up some new shoes!

Friday:

(Swim) Structured set today. Very nice swim. Still feeling powerful in the water. Kept it somewhat short today. Hoping to save a bit of energy for tomorrow. Next time in the water will be Sunday....

Drove out to Lukes Locker in Dallas to buy new shoes. 2 Pairs of DS Trainer's. Lunch at Eatzies afterwords....the best sandwiches in Texas!

(Run) Oh how nice it is to have new shoes. I could have run all afternoon. Beautiful day...80 degrees with a nice breeze out of the WSW. Kept the run short @ 56 minutes. Looking for a strong day tomorrow. Will kick my feet up tonight and rest...

Saturday:

Workout was a solo 112 mile ride on road bike with bouts of IM / HIM paced riding followed by a 4 + mile transition run. Temperature was a beautiful 81 degrees and the winds were nice for these parts...around 8mph.

(Bike) Structure was as followed:

• Easy ride for an hour.
• At 1 hour, spend the next 1.5 hours building to Ironman pace. Take it slow..enjoy!
• At 2.5 hours...hold Ironman pace to 3.5 hours.
• At 3.5 hours...build to HIM pace and hold to 4 hours.
• At 4 hours....back down to Ironman pace for 45 minutes.
• At 4:45 build back to HIM and hold till the end.

Nutrition on the bike: Gatorade Endurance...1000 Calories / 5 PowerBar Gels...550 Calories / 1 Coke...140 Calories. Total: 1690 Calories

Transition was a quick 3 minutes to grab my gear from the truck...change out of my cycling clothes over to running shorts and shoes. Fumble through a cooler of nutrition for water bottle and Gel, and I was off.

(Run) Transition Run was awesome. Held it pretty steady and tried to find a zone to run in. I went out to fast and spent the majority of the run trying to slow down and hold back. It will take some practice and some discipline to stay in control the first 10k during the race...but it's extremely necessary. Mile 1: 7:19 (hr - 157 avg / 164 max) Mile 2: 7:34 (hr - 158 avg / 164 max) Mile 3: 7:42 (hr - 156 avg / 159 max) Mile 4: 7:48 (hr - 155 avg / 158 max)

Nutrition on the run: PowerBar Endurance (1 bottle)...210 Calories / 1 PowerBar Gel...110 Calories. Total: 330 Calories.

Sunday:

Workout was an easy 2+ hour ride with 9 mile transition run. Day was beautiful. Temperature at 75, winds out of the SSE at 18-20 mph.

(Bike) Very easy bike. Had a really nice tailwind on my way out to Flower Mound. Rode out close to Argyle and turned around. Pretty stiff on the way back but kept it easy and relaxed. Heart Rate Avg was 125 for the entire ride. Legs felt really good but could tell my heart rate was a little low....drift! On the way back...I pushed the pace a little bit to get my heart rate up for the run.

Nutrition on the bike: Gatorade Endurance...300 Calories / 2 PowerBar Gels...220 Calories. Total: 520 Calories

Transition was 4 minutes. Enough time to change into running attire and drink a bottle of PowerBar Endurance...140 Calories.

(Run) The run was awesome. I left the house and took the extended route to the track through some pretty awesome hills. Total distance to the track was 5 miles. Once at the track...tried to lock in a steady heart rate and settle in. 4 miles on the track and then turned it off. No need to burn any unnecessary matches. Details from the run below...with heart rate and speed.

• Mile 1-5: 37:52 (hr avg 147 / max 159) (Extended loop to the track..rolling hills)
• Mile 6: 7:28 (hr avg 154 / max 157)
• Mile 7: 7:34 (hr avg 152 / max 157)
• Mile 8: 7:34 (hr avg 152 / max 157)
• Mile 9: 7:36 (hr avg 153 / max 157)

Nutrition on the Run: PowerBar Endurance before run...140 Calories / 1 Coke...140 Calories / 1 PowerBar Gel...110 Calories / Gatorade Endurance...150 Calories. Total Calories: 540

Run was completely in control and total relaxed...steady state running. I enjoyed this workout the most. I had more fun today and yesterday than I've had all winter. I guess that's a good thing.

I tried to find a nice PE and simulate a race pace environment today. At Mile 8, I turned around on the track to run the opposite direction and fumbled with two water bottle's Julie handed off to me. May account for the change in pace and heart rate. I'm pretty picky about my training right now and watching any and all variations with my PE, Heart Rate, Pace, Nutrition....Everything!

Gonna grab a bit of food and head to the pool for any easy cool-down to the week.

(Swim) Nice and easy after today's brick. Felt really powerful and fluid in the water! I really just tried to enjoy the swim. It was nice to have an easy, care-free set after the past couple days.....

Until next week...

Mg

This one's long so sit back and grab a PowerBar and Red Bull!

The week worked out pretty good as I had bit of correspondence with good friend and mentor Dave Latourette early in the week. We talked strategy going forward with my remaining build. Needless to say, this gave me some peace of mind as well as some structure in the weeks leading up to race day.

On an interesting note, I'm still on the road bike. To be honest, it's working out better than I expected. Riding upright is much tougher than I ever expected and takes much more strength mentally and physically to reach the speeds you'll see on a TT bike. Eh, maybe not mentally....but riding long sure does. I could ride hours on end in a TT position, lets just say it's a much different story riding road. Those long days just laying over the aerobars....relaxing the upper body and letting all the work go to the legs.

If you haven't tried riding a road bike...you might want to give it a try. A friend of mine last year use to tell me every day to buy a road bike. "You'll see so much improvement", he said, almost on a daily basis. Anything will do! "You don't need anything fancy", he said...just a beater you can log a bunch of miles on. He's the fastest cyclist I've ever had the pleasure of meeting so maybe he knew what he was talking about. With regards to how it will affect me....we'll have to wait for the 07 season to start.

After Ironman Florida, my buddy Adam Wilk lent me his Serotta and I've been on it ever since. Adam is a National Track Champion not to mention a pretty stellar Triathlete. He's also been an invaluable asset to questions I've had regarding cycling these past few months.

Once I make the switch, I'll be extremely excited to see how my power from the road bike transfers to the TT position. The few times I've put myself on a TT bike this year, I've been extremely pleased with the results. Another week or two on the road bike should be plenty. After that....I think I'll put it in the corner for a rainy day.

Monday:

Workouts were an easy swim and an easy run.

This was the first day my body felt 100% since getting a stomach flu last Wednesday. Heart rate was back to normal. Seeing how my heart rate didn't get above 130 bpm, no matter how hard I pushed last Fridays 2 hour run....I was happy to see higher numbers today.

Tuesday:

Workouts were a continuous run with intervals in the middle followed by an easy bike later in the day. Winds were gusting up to 35mph so the bike and run were a little tough.

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 / 75 sec jog in between. After the 4x1....follow straight into a 1.5 mile cool-down. Pace per mile during the intervals as well as heart rate listed below.

• Mile 1: 6:50 / 165avg/173max
• Mile 2: 6:26 / 173avg/181max
• Mile 3: 6:19 / 177avg/184max
• Mile 4: 6:10 / 181avg/187max

This was a great workout for me this week. I really like workouts like this. Using 75 second cool-downs allow for me to take an easy jog which usually runs 200 meters. Once I hit the other side of the track...it's time for the next repeat. Dave Latourette introduced this workout to me last year, and it has consistently made me faster and more importantly, stronger since I've put it in my regimen.

Other than the occasional pickup, this was the first true speed workout I've done since last year (Pre Ironman Florida). My times today were faster than anything I've ever laid down during an interval set. I guess all the cycling base and easier paced running paid off this winter. Last year before IM Florida, I did the same workout and my times were 30 seconds slower across the board. The next few weeks should be fun....

Wednesday:

Workout was a brick: Structured swim followed by a steady/easy bike. Wind was up to 35+ mph again. I honestly think I live in a hair dryer. If Arizona is anything like North Texas, I should be well prepared.

Thursday:

Workouts for the day were a structured swim followed by an easy run through the hills later in the day.

Friday:

Workout was a brick: Long bike followed by a 3.5 mile transition run.

This was the longest workout have done to date and I did it alone as usual. It was also the longest bike I have done to date. Wind was a steady 18mph which is normal for these parts. Bad was it was gusting up to 25mph at times.

The workout was a long bike out through Keller and Ft. Worth. I'm still on the road bike so this was a real test of mental strength. Total ride for the day was 6hrs 40mins / 125 miles. I kept my heart rate pretty low, 135 average and just tried to get the time in the saddle....not miles covered. Ben, our Timex Team Manager and I have been chatting about this for a few weeks. Ben's a former Cat I cyclist so he's had some good thoughts.

The transition run went extremely well as Julie met me at the Track and I changed in the back of the truck. I wanted to get an idea of pace coming off a ride of that length. I also got the chance to run on flat ground coming off the bike. See...I live at the bottom of a 200 foot hill that unfortunately has only 1 way out.....straight up. Any and every time I run off the bike, I run up that stinking hill.

Total time was 7 hours 07 minutes.....

I learned a couple things on this ride that I should remember for the future. I'll jot a few down in the bullet points below.

• 1440 Calories as 770 calories of PowerBar Endurance, 1 Can of Coke, 3 PowerBar Gels, 200 Calories of Gatorade are not enough for a ride that long....regardless of how hard I push the pace. At mile 124 I literally hit a wall and my heart rate just dropped...I think it went down to 120.
• When I got off the bike, I had 210 calories of PowerBar Endurance in a 24oz water bottle ready to go. I took 4 minutes to change and drink the entire bottle. That was key to a solid run.
• I met Julie at the track and changed in the back of the truck. That was good move. Run was totally focused and allowed me to monitor pace.
• When I took off for the first lap, my legs were so tight and my heart rate was so low. I told myself to just relax and keep your legs moving. Everything will open up.
• After 3 laps, things started to open up. At this point I took in another PowerBar Gel....my heart rate responded and my legs became nice and loose. After Mile 1, I was back in a groove and brought my heart rate up to 146 and held steady. Mile 1 - 8:01 (hr - 132)Mile 2 - 7:35 (hr - 145)Mile 3 - 7:32 (hr - 146)
• After 3.5 I figured it was enough for the day and why not save a little something for tomorrow.
• Most important lesson was my nutrition screw-up. While not that big of a deal. At least I was pro-active with the bottle at transition. I went through about a 10 minute low point but stuck with my guns and made it through feeling awesome in the end. Powerbar has definitely got something special in there nutrition.
• Road bikes are tough! The position is so different from riding a TT bike, especially when your alone. You can't get under the wind...you spend the whole time holding your upper body up....therefore wasting energy that could be transferred into power and speed. On the flip side....I think riding a road bike makes you stronger cyclist. If you can spend 5+ hours on a road bike....riding a TT bike will be a blessing. I cannot tell you how many times I thought about my aerobars during this ride.
• In the end....this is one of the best rides I've ever had, hands down!

Saturday:

Workouts were a structured swim and an easy bike. Could the wind please go away!

Sunday:

Workouts were a long run and an easy bike later in the day.

Run was structured as followed. 21 miles total as (8 miles through the rolling hills to the track, 5 miles on the track @ IM+ pace, 8 miles through the hills back home.)

• 8 Miles build to steady (1:02:01) (hr 138 - 142max) (hr avg - 136)
• 5 Miles @ IM+ (36:49) (hr 142 - 158max) (hr avg - 154)
• 8 Miles steady home (1:03:24) (hr 151 - 165max) (hr avg - 153)

21 Miles Total in 2:42:17

.5 mile walk to cool-down.

Nutrition was spot on. PowerBar Endurance / PowerBar Gel / Coke

This was my longest run to date and I feel like I executed it extremely well. I chose to stay in some pretty big hills to get ready for Arizona. I've heard through a few people that there are a couple hills out on the course and I definitely want to be ready. While I could definitely feel the last couple hills on the way home, it was a true pleasure to close down those last two miles.....

The next few days will tell the story as to how well my body can recover. The hour spin I did afterwards really helped loosen things up and should help with the recovery.

Other than that....it's all good. I'll be back next week with a recap on Build 3...

Mg