Anxious

Today I am anxious. I'm irritable and mellow at the same time. It's a constant struggle. i'm thinking a lot and its causing me to not get much sleep but I don't feel tired. I got out for a 45 minute run this morning and put in a nice mellow 45 minute swim after work. Felt good to move through the water so smoothly.

I leave Wednesday morning for Florida. I've got lots of nervousness and even more anxious anticipation. My body is coming around starting to feel rested, especially my legs. No pain in the muscles or aches in the knees.

Couple more workouts and then it's game time. Friday night might nerves are going to jumping from my throat and I can't even imagine what Saturday will bring.

Aerobic

Today I got out for an one hour and fifteen minute aerobic bike and followed it up with an easy 15 minute run. Felt good to keep it easy. This is my last longish workout until I get to Florida. Now it's just knocking off one workout a day and resting.

I get into Florida late Wednesday morning. I'll get in a couple easy early morning swims to calm my nerves about the swim. Couple more pool workouts and then it's all about the Gulf.

Summary:

Bike: 1:15

Run: 15

Swim: tonight

Getting the feeling back

Today I had a good workout. I got out for 1:45 on the bike and followed it up with a 30 minute run. My bike is on its way to Florida so I broke out the mountain bike. I couldn't stomach two hours + indoors. Feel like the season has come full circle. It was 10 months ago...but if feels like yesterday...that I was out on the mountain bike in zero degree weather. Riding was good. I did about 5 hill repeats to get the HR going and then kept it steady at 137 - 140 the entire ride.

Transitioned to the run and had to slow it down. I laid down a 6:30 in the first mile with very little effort. I feel like I'm running slow but that's not the case. HR remained steady in the 150s for most of the run and was happy to wrap it up after 30 minutes.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 1:45

Avg HR: 138

Run:

Time: 30 mins

Avg HR: 153

Dead Legs

Ok this is getting weird. Right now I couldn't finish a local sprint. My legs are tired and feel like they are filled with lead. Time seems to absolutely stand still when I'm working out. I find myself checking and rechecking my watch hoping I'm almost done with my damn workouts.

Tonight I got in a 1.5 hour ride on the trainer and followed it up with a 30 minute run on the treadmill. My legs are tired. It feels like I'm working out in 110 degree weather and sweating like a damn dog. My HR on the bike was in the 145s but mentally I just wasn't there...I'd get into a rhythm and then loose focus and the pain in my legs would return. I got out of the saddle to reduce the monotony and couldn't stay there for long.

On the run it was a good change but I felt like I was running up hill. I settled in and eventually got the HR steady around 146. Taper is strange. I feel totally unprepared and nervous and anxious all at the same time. With a week to go I feel like I couldn't do a 5k. I'm hoping it's just my body recovering.

Summary:

Bike: 1.5

HR: 139

Run: 30

HR: 144

Run

Got in a good run this morning. Couldn't get in a swim because I'm out in Minnesota on business but I ran for 50 minutes. Legs felt heavy and I felt like I was forcing it for the first 15 then things loosened up.

Hoping to feel fresh on race day. Right now I feel...I don't know how I feel. Trying to keep perspective.

How much longer

Well I thought I was done with lifting but found it on my plan this morning. Lifted for 40 minutes- squats, lunges, step ups and ab work. I reduced the weight on my lunges and kept the intensity high and didn't increase weight. Did some light spinning on the bike afterward and didn't want to chance a run.

Hit the pool after for a 50 minute swim. Swam straight for a half hour and then did 5x100s on 1:30. Felt like I was swimming in mud on the 100s.

Summary:

Weights: 40

Bike: 30

Swim: 50

Brick

Well if it's windy in Florida, I'll be prepared. Today I got out for a 3 hour brick. It was my chance to test the 808s Max is letting me borrow for the race. The wheels are sick and without wind they require little effort to get moving, seriously moving. Problem is they are basically sails when it's windy. Today was a good test with some early morning wind blowing. It takes some getting used to when you feel the ass end sliding out from a big gust when you're doing about 28 on a flat. A little lean into the direction of the wind and you sort of sail. It was also 41 degrees so needless to say it was a cold ride. I had to pry myself out the door this morning and broke out the booties, hat, gloves and layers.

Followed the bike up with an hour run. I kept it at an aerobic pace, although it was hard not to just hammer. Foot felt good and my HR was around the 150 range for most of the run. I've still got some deep tiredness in the legs or maybe they're just recovering. Good run and the temps were perfect for a long run.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 2:05

Avg HR: 138

Run:

Time: 1 hour

Avg HR: 146

Brick

Back to back bricks and another tomorrow. Tonight I got on the trainer for and hour + and then ran for a half hour. I couldn't pry myself out of bed this morning so I was forced to ride the trainer. My HR was finally back on the bike up 20 beats from yesterday and my run was good. Not too much pain in the foot just some tightness. It's going to be damn cold this weekend and thankfully I only have one long workout.

Summary:

Bike: 1:15

Avg HR: 137

Run: 30

Avg HR: 142

Brick & Crazy HR Data

Felt good to knock one of these out again. I haven't done one in about two weeks. Got up early am and hit the trainer for 1:45 and then got out for a 40 minute run.

I had some whacky HR data. I couldn't get my HR over 130 on the bike no matter what I tried...higher cadence, pushing a bigger gear. Not sure what this means. My legs were beat down too.

Set out on the run and didn't think the legs would respond but they snapped to. My HR took some time to rise and finally got into the high 140s. Run was smooth and had no foot pain. I was supposed to get out for an hour but decided not to try today. I'll get out for an hour + tomorrow. Don't want to blow anything.

I have a 45 minute swim tonight.

Summary:

Bike: 1:45

Avg HR: 130

Run: 40

Avg HR: 143

More tired legs

Hit the weights for the last time today and I couldn't be happier. I've dreaded Tuesday's the last 6 months. Legs are still pretty tired but after the first couple sets of squats they sprang back to life. Got in my step ups, and lunges and then got the hell out of the gym.

Got in a good run. I ran with my wife so I didn't over do it. Foot is feeling good. We headed out for a nice easy 30 minute run. Tomorrow I'll try to double it and see how it feels but keep my pace down from what I normally run.

Followed the run up with a 30 minute spin on the bike. Thought I was in taper but I have a couple of days that are pretty heavy coming up including one with a brick.

Summary:

Weights: 45 mins

Run: 30

Bike: 30

Swim/Run

Got up this morning and hit the road. Felt good to finally get out and run. I took it really easy and didn't have any pain. Short 30 minute run and hoping to follow it up with another tomorrow.

I hit the pool after work for a little over an hour. I swam 45 minutes straight at my projected IM swim pace and then warmed down for 15 with some quick sprints and nice easy laps. The swim felt good on my overly cooked legs and helped stretch me out from spending so much time on the bike on Saturday. Now in taper I can really focus on swimming and building my confidence for that crazy swim on Nov. 1.

Summary:

Swim:

Time: 1 hour

Distance: 3,000 meters

Run:

Time: 30 minutes

Century - Done

Today I got out for my last mega ride before IM Florida. I had been planning this one for a while so it was nice to finally get after it. The goal was to ride Sandsifield (5,000 feet of climbing) and Beach Rock (4,500 feet of climbing) back to back. It was tall order considering when I do Sandsifield I usually am cooked after all the climbing. Following it up with equally challenging Beach Rock was sure to be difficult.

I got out a little before 9 am and you couldn't have asked for a better day. I used my car as a refueling station since there was no way I could carry all that I needed for a 100+ mile ride. Heading out to Sandisfield my legs were pretty heavy from this week's work on the trainer and last weekend's back to back 75 milers. They loosened up after the first few big climbs and I got into a great rhythm. Hit the monster hill and rode it twice. Rest of the ride back over the hills into Connecticut was comfortable.

Made it back to my car at around 3:35. Ate a PB sandwich and refilled the water bottles and stocked up again on gels. Heading out I was dreading anymore climbing but once I got back into a rhythm. Took gels every half hour and a salt tab every two hours since the heat picked up. Got over the major climbs pretty well and felt really fresh, surprisingly. So after a nice downhill I cut through some back roads with good rollers and finished up at the car. I was pretty pumped to have done these two routes in one day with about a 10 minute refueling stop in between. Six months ago the though of doing this would have never crossed my mind. More importantly, I couldn't and still can't believe how fresh I feel. Taper starts tomorrow.

The work has been done, all I can do is hope for a good day.

Summary:

Time: 6 hours 11 minutes (10 minute refuel stop)

Distance: 115 miles

Climbing: 9,500 feet

Avg HR: 136

Swim/Bike

This is becoming a theme. Wish I could mix in a run in between. Today I got in a swim and hit the trainer after work. Trainer's suck if I haven't mentioned it in my last five posts. Tomorrow I get to get out on the road after three rides on the trainer this week. I wouldn't care if it was snowing.

Today's the mega ride. Sandisfield followed by Beach Rock. Should be a nice challenge and take almost all day.


Summary:

Bike:

Time: 1.5

Avg HR: 138

Swim:

Time: 45 mins

Swim/Bike

Today was a pretty good day. I had to ride the trainer again so that sucked but at least I got my ride in. More importantly I got in a really good swim. I decided to test my endurance and swim at my IM pace for 1 hour. It went well. I was actually surprised that I had energy at the end of an hour and ended up go an additional 10 minutes. I notice that went I start my swim, my stroke is tight but after about a half hour I loosen up stop thinking about technique and it all comes together.
Not sure on distance because I lost track somewhere after 15 minutes but I was def at a 1:30 to 1:35 100 pace the whole hour.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 1.5

Avg HR: 137

Swim:

Time: 1:10

Distance: far

Time on the trainer

Tonight I spent 110 mind numbing minutes on the trainer. The sun is setting too fast so this is my only option right now. The trainer is always hard. It's harder than the 4+ hour rides I did this weekend. It's just plain boring. I kept my HR in the 140 range, put my head down and kept working.

I also got in a solid swim this morning. I feel strange not running. My foot is feeling better and I want to run but I'm doing everything I can to stop myself from just bolting out the door. I know it could be disastrous. Hopefully soon.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 1:55

Avg HR: 136

Swim:

Time: 45 minutes

Distance: 2,100+

Weights/Swim

Went to the doc yesterday and learned I had minor tendonitis in my right foot. So this week running is out.

Today would typically be a weight workout and run but instead it was just weights and a long swim. I thought this would be last time hitting the weights before the race, but looking at my plan I have on more week of weights.

Got in the pool after the weights and swam like crazy. Decided to warm up for a half hour and then did 10x100s on 1:30. It was tough but I got it done. I liked the fact I was able to sepnd more time swimming. Warmed down with a 500.

The rest of the week will be spent putting in a lot of time on the bike and some hard swims. Right now the foot feels better but I don't want to chance anything by running on it yet. Next week, if it's feeling good I'll test it out.

Back to Back

Woke up at 6 am and was pissed to see rain falling. Today I had to repeat what I did yesterday and the weather wasn't cooperating. I waited it out and finally hit the road in a steady rain at about 9:30.

I had thoughts of bagging Sandisfield and getting in the challenging Beach Rock route but decided to go after the big one after the rain stopped about an hour in to the ride. The legs took sometime to get going and they didn't fully kick in until I crossed into Mass. Sun was shining in Mass so my mood changed some.

As I hit 57 and the beast I hoped to put an all out assault on the current record of three climbs but after the first climb I knew it was going to happen. My legs were really feeling yesterday's ride. I rode it twice and my legs screamed back at the top of the second climb.

The rest of the ride was hard but I kept taking gels and water and kept my focus. I knew knocking this ride out would be huge and I continued to work hard. With all the climbing I just looked forward to the next downhill. I did hit a couple rough spots where my energy was really down but it passed after 10 minutes or so. Rain picked up again as I reached the Connecticut border and I ended up riding in and finishing about 10 minutes off yesterday's pace.

This was big. I got an order to do this ride and I fought through some mental games to get it done.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 4:25

Avg HR: 136

Long Ride

Not being able to run because of some pain in my foot has been wearing on me. Feels like I'm losing fitness by not running but I've been assured I'm not. It's just odd not running after a long bike. Hopefully I'll resume running on Monday or Tuesday. Right now I'm icing and dropping Advil. I can still bike with absolutely no pain so that's the focus right now.

Today I got out for a long hard ride up to Sandisfield Mass. It was real cold this morning. It's the first ride where I've had to breakout some of the winter gear. The legs fought back some on the first hill out to Simsbury but quickly warmed up as I hit 309. A head wind picked up about an hour in and lasted all the way until I got out to the big climb. I hit the big climb around the 2:15 mark and once I got to the top, I figured I should ride it again since I wouldn't be running afterwards. The rest of the climbs back into CT were tough as usual but really manageable. This ride used to be killer for me but now it's become much more comfortable. I even decided to extend the ride a bit as I got back into Granby. Came of the bike feeling fresh with no foot pain.

I'll get out tomorrow for about 3 hours and then maybe get a late afternoon swim in as well.

Summary:

Bike:

Time: 4:15

Avg HR: 139

Swim/Bike

With my foot aching I've been instructed to reduce my runs for the time being which sucks. I got in a bike and swim today. The swim was a long full out 50 minute swim. Time goes slow in the pool. Hit the trainer in the morning and will do the same tomorrow am.

Summary:

Swim: 50 mins

Distance: 2800+ meters

Bike:

Time: 1.5

Avg HR: 140