Tri Indy Preview

Tomorrow afternoon I'll pack up the car with my wife, daughter, all of my triathlon gear and the hopes and dreams of an entire nation everyone sitting in front of my computer right now. Sunday morning is the Tri Indy, which is our course, in Indianapolis.

Races away from home pose a different kind of challenge. Having to go through your pre-race routine on the road is not easy to do. I will have to pack all my gear and go through my checklist before we hit the road...taking the chance that I will forget something that I need. If I do, I will try to find it in Indianapolis or I will just do without it. Taking road trips with the family is always fun, but trying to eat good, complex carbohydrates the two days before Sunday's race will be tough. I haven't decided what to do, but I may end up packing some food to eat while everyone else scarfs down something more fun. I'm looking forward to spending time with some friends that live in Indy on Friday and Saturday...hopefully I won't stray too far from my planned diet.

This race is an Olympic Distance, which consists of a 1500 meter (0.93 miles) swim, 40K bike (24.9 miles), and a 10K (6.2 miles) run. As you can see by the distances, the metric system is used so that international athletes can train for this distance, which as you might have guessed, is the distance they run on the Olympic Triathlon.

Last year at this time, I had never done a distance at this length. I ended up bonking on the run and was disappointed with my race. You can see all the details here. Fast forward a year and I have two Half-Ironman distance races and second Olympic distance race under my belt. I'm feeling confident that I can do Sunday's race without running out of steam.

Goals (in order of importance):
1) Have fun and don't get injured!
2) Improve on last year's overall time of 2:50:02
3) Improve on last year's run time of 1:00:19
4) Improve on last year's swim time of 36:58

TUESDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

Fartlek run. This run consisted of running at a comfortable pace for 5 minutes, then running at a faster pace for 1 minute...then repeating for the duration of the run.
Covered 6.06 miles in 46:01 (7:35 min/mile pace)
Avg HR = 155 bpm
Max HR = 175 bpm

Swim

10 minute warm-up with drills
20 minutes at race pace (1056 yards in 20:29 - 34:08 min/mile pace)
Total workout: 1488 yd in 30:31

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

1 hour on the bike. Nothing too fancy, just tried to maintain a good pace for the entire time.
Avg HR = 128 bpm

Swim

5:30 warm-up with drills
4 x 100 intervals with 1 minute rest
1) 1:27.98
2) 1:29.53
3) 1:29.66
4) 1:30.14
5 minute cool-down
Total workout: 1104 yd in 20:10

I'll do a short (4-5 mile) run tonight, take tomorrow off completely and probably try to do a short ride and/or run Saturday morning.

Not All Runners Are Friendly

A head nod, a quick wave, a smile, a "hey" or "good morning"...any acknowledgment of the presence of a fellow runner. I always do it - usually a verbal acknowledgment if we pass close enough, a short wave if we are on opposite sides of the road.

Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to go for runs all over the United States. Memphis, Birmingham, Orlando, Las Vegas, Huntsville, Tampa, Mobile, Oklahoma City, Boston, and some other cities that I can't even remember. While running in these cities I always take notice of how "friendly" fellow runners are. While it's not exactly a scientific study, I have noticed that people in the deep south (Alabama, Florida, Tennessee) generally return my acknowledgment...while people in the north and western part of the country either give me a weird look or just pretend like they are blind and deaf. This last week, I ran twice in the Boston area. I probably passed around 8-10 runners (lots of people run there). Of those runners, only one returned my acknowledgment.

I don't get it. What's the problem? Are you so focused on your run that giving me so much as a head nod is going to ruin your workout? Someone explain this to me. If you are a "non-waver", tell me why. Do you think I'm crazy for waving or talking to a stranger?

Motorcyclists do it. You see it every time they pass one another on the road. That little wave of the hand to acknowledge your comrade on two wheels. It's like saying, "yeah, you understand". I feel this way about the runners wave. Runners are a special group of people that not everyone understands. A wave is simply a way of saying "yeah, you understand". You understand why I'm out here at 5:00 am or out here when it's 10 degrees, or 100 degrees...you get it.

So I ask all of your runners, just give me a little wave next time...it's not too much to ask!

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:
I got to run with my wife Jessica for the first time. We did the first mile together, then I went a few more miles on ahead while she turned around and continued her run back to the car. It was fun to run with her and I hope we get to do it more often. We ran in the morning around the Cambridge Reservoir close to our hotel. Beautiful place to run!
Warm-up with Jessica - 1.05 miles in 11:49 (11:15 min/mile pace)
Workout - 3.6 miles in 27:45 (7:42 min/mile pace)
Total - 4.6 miles in 39:34 (8:31 min/mile pace)

Check out the view:

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
1h30m on the bike. This included a 45 minute Spin Class with lots of good speed intervals of various lengths, from 30 seconds to 2 minutes with 15 seconds of rest in between each. Heart Rate climbed into the 140's during the intervals. Good workout!
Avg. HR = 125 bpm

Tour de France

Today was a sprint stage in the Tour de France. The riders actually sprinted 123 miles. Think about that. The main group finished in 4 hours, 37 minutes and 9 seconds for an average speed of 26.63 mph! That is a crazy fast pace to hold for just a few miles...much less 123. These guys are good. If you haven't followed the race up until how, be sure and try to find it tomorrow and Sunday. There's only two stages left and there's only 8 seconds separating first and second...should make for an exciting finish!

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:
4.92 mile run in 38:39 (7:51 min/mile pace)
This was just a short run to get the legs moving and see how the blisters were healing up. I was in Boston for work, so it was an unfamiliar route. I left from my hotel and went about 20 minutes down the road, then turned around and headed back. It was all downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back. Other than a little discomfort in the knees, everything felt good.

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
20 minutes on the stationary bike in the hotel fitness room - covered 9 miles
20 minutes on the Elliptical machine
10 minutes of weights

Cardinal Harbour Triathlon Pictures

One last post on last weekend's race and then we'll close this chapter of my racing career...for good!

Transition area before the race. Beautiful Ohio River in the background.

Putting the final touches on my transition area prior to the race.

Dad and I before the race. I can't express how great it is to have a supportive family!

I'm out there somewhere. I'm the one in the white cap.

Finally out of the water...my expression says it all. Not a good start to the day!

Getting my socks and bike shoes on in T1.

Heading out on the bike. Little did I know how these wheels would fail me in about 12 minutes!

 FINALLY heading out on the run...four and a half hours after I entered the water!

Steps from the finish line...after the toughest run of my life!

Crossed the line and collapsed. I can honestly say that I left it all out on the course.

What's left of the skin on my pinkie toe!

Cardinal Harbour Triathlon Report

Some days you just know are going to be bad from the beginning.

I woke up at 2:45am to the sound of thunder. I never did get fully back to sleep, so I felt a little sluggish as I loaded up and drove to the race in the rain.

The rain stopped before the race started, and I was able to get transition all set up with no issues.

The strong current and choppy water of the Ohio River made the race organizers change the swim course at the last minute. Instead of a simple 0.6 mile swim out and back, it was changed to two loops of a 0.3 mile out and 0.3 mile back course to give some relief from swimming against the current.

That was just the tip of the iceberg....here's a list of things that went wrong on Saturday:

• Forgot to spit in my goggles before the swim start, so they almost immediately fogged up, making it really hard to see the buoy's and navigate my way up the river.
• I got a cramp in the bottom of my foot about 3/4 of the way through the swim. This is pretty painful and requires you to bend at the ankle and relax your foot to get the cramp out. The 90 degree angle that your foot makes when you do this really slows you down in the water. Took about 2 minutes to work the cramp out.
• About 4 miles into the bike, I felt a flat on my back tire. I stopped, got the wheel off and put my new tube in my tire. So far so good. 
• As I went to inflate the tire, I noticed that my CO2 cartridge inflator/adapter was not working right. It wasn't releasing air into my tube. A good Samaritan stopped to see if I needed help and he fortunately had an adapter that would work. He suggested that he fill up the tire because his adapter was a little different than mine. I typically fill up the tube a little bit, check to make sure there aren't any pinch points, then fill it the rest of the way up. My Good Samaritan did things a little different. He just let all the CO2 in at once...and POP! He blew my only spare tube! 
• So there I was...on the side of the road...with a flat...and no more tubes. I got all my tools together and was just about to start walking the 4 miles back to transition when my wife Jessica just happen to be driving by. She waved and just kept going! Just kidding. She of course stopped and after loading up my bike gave me a ride back to transition. Her happening upon me at this exact time was truly the only time Lady Luck shown down on me all day.
• After asking several people for a tube near the transition, I found someone...he fortunately works at VO2 Multisport, so he had a car-load full of everything you could ever need - including a tube that would fit my tire. We drove to his car and he put the new tube in and got me all set. So after a 50 minute delay...I started the bike portion of the race - again.
• While I was messing with the back tire, my bike was resting on the rear derailleur. This is the mechanical device the shifts the rear gears on the bike. Apparently this caused some stress to the derailleur because once I got going again on the bike, I couldn't get it to stay in some of my lower gears, meaning that I had to use a little more leg strength than normal to power up the inclines.
• I finally got back to transition after 2:49:44 (actually riding time) on the bike. The time lost at the beginning really cost me more than just time on the bike. In order to try and make up lost time, I pushed it too hard on the bike...and I knew it pretty soon into the run.
• First few mile were good. Then my legs started to burn and the sun began to take it's toll on me. Around mile 5 a nice gentleman was out watering his lawn and decided to spray down some of us runners with his hose. It was a nice relief...until he aimed the hose at my feet. I'm sure he didn't realize it, but soaking wet feet are a runner's worst nightmare.
• Less than a mile later I began to feel the blisters starting to form. My socks and shoes were both soaked and there was nothing I could do about it. So I ran through the pain. I ran the first 6 miles in around 53 minutes (8:50 min/mile pace). Then it took me an hour and 37 minutes to run the last 7 miles (13:39 min/mile pace). Huge difference!
• With about 3 miles to go my body began to shut down. My breathing and pulse were out of control. Even taking 1-2 minute walking breaks wasn't bringing my heart rate down. I was done. I ended up walking about 2 of the last 3 miles. This really killed my run time. 

Only positive from the day was that despite all of these issues, I was able to finish the race...no one wants to see that DNF (Did Not Finish) next to their name on the Official Results. Speaking of, here they are:

Swim (1.2 miles): 51:35.9 (42:59 min/mile pace) - 27th out of 32 in age group

T1: 1:48.00 - 13th in age group

Bike (56 miles): 3:34:27.2 (15.7 mph) - 31st in age group

T2: 3:16.5 - 15th in age group

Run (13.1 miles): 2:31:58.6 (11:36 min/mile pace) - 21st in age group

Total: 7:03:06.2 - 26th in age group, 110th out of 134 overall


Just for my own knowledge, I took my actual bike time (what it took me to do the 56 miles after I started over), which was 2:49:44 (19.8 mph) and used it in place of my official time. My results could have looked like this:

Bike (56 miles): 2:49:44 (19.8 mph) - 13th in age group

Total: 6:18:51 - 21st in age group, 70th out of 134 overall

Bottom line - s**t happens. Maybe I got all of my bad luck out of the way on one race. I don't have time to dwell on this race. Olympic distance Tri Indy is only 12 days away. I'll take a few days off to let me blisters and muscles recover and then I'll get back to training. I'm as motivated as ever!!

Cardinal Harbour Triathlon Preview

So tomorrow morning I will tackle my second half-Ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). Literally months of preparation comes to a close as I enter the mighty Ohio River around 8:00 am. I'm feeling confident and yet nervous at the same time. I've done all I can to prepare, so at this point I just have to make sure I pack all my gear correctly tonight and get a good night's sleep.

My goal is to finish under 5:57:38 (my Taylorsville half-Ironman time).

I feel more prepared now than I did then, but who knows. That swim was in a nice, relatively calm lake...the swim tomorrow will be in the Ohio River. The water temperature should be in the 80's, so there's no need for a wetsuit, but what factor will the current play? Will I have to swim around any floating debris? Bodies?

The bike route is pretty hilly, but with a total elevation change of 2244 feet, it's still less than the 2750 feet of change on the Taylorsville route. Hopefully I can improve on my bike time of 2:56:08 (19.1 mph), I'm shooting for a pace of 19.5 mph, which would put me at 2:52:20 on the bike.

The run course is fairly flat and should have some shade, so I'm also expecting to improve on my Taylorsville run time of 2:10:33. Anything under 2 hours would be great!

I've been loading up on complex carbohydrates the last few days and I really appreciate my wife putting up with my eating habits this week. She's done a fantastic job fixing things for dinner the coincide with what I need to be eating each day. Thanks for all the support babe, you're the best!!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
Just a quick little brick session to get the heart and legs pumping.
Bike - 15 minute on the indoor bike at the gym at race pace
2:04 transition out to the parking lot
Run - 1.23 miles in 8:31 (6:55 min/mile pace)
Total workout: 23:57

Now it's time to eat a small dinner and get my gear together for the morning...I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!

Lance (yes that one) Coming Back to Triathlon

Lance Armstrong is currently "competing" in the Tour de France over across the pond. He said prior to the race that this year would be his last. Several days ago, after a few crashes put him way behind the leaders, he conceded that he now has no chance to win title number eight.

He's already started to discuss what the next step in his career will be now that his Tour days are done. During a recent interview he said that he will now focus on triathlons. Few people realize that Lance was a very competitive triathlete at an early age, long before he turned to cycling. In this interview he mentions that he will start off with half-Ironman distances to test himself before doubling up to a full Ironman. It will be interesting to see how competitive the 38 year old will be...because you know he's not going out there just for the fun of it!

Check out the video below of the 1989 National Sprint Triathlon Championship, in which an 18 year old Lance took home the title!




YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Swim

A quick little high-intensity swim is all I had time for, and was a good race week workout.
6:00 warm-up at race pace
4 x 100yd intervals (30s rest)
1:32 (28:06 min/mile pace)
1:34 (28:43)
1:37 (29:38)
1:33 (28:24)
5 minutes at race pace and a short cool-down
Total workout = 1008yd in 20:06

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

Little short Tempo run to keep the legs loose. I ran 20 minutes at a comfortable pace, then pushed it for 10 minutes before finishing with another 20 minutes at a comfortable pace.
Covered 6.67 miles in 50:56 (7:38 min/mile pace)
Avg HR = 158 bpm
My body is definitely feeling the effects of the cut back on carbs the last few days. Thankfully, the carbohydrate intake starts to increase today. I need the energy boost!

Race Week!

It's officially race week. The Cardinal Harbour Half-Ironman is this Saturday and I'm excited to get through this week and get to race day. I've had some good workouts lately, so my confidence is pretty high going into the race. Workouts this week will be even easier than last week as I continue my taper.

I'm also trying something new this week leading up to the race...carb-loading. I've read lots of studies and articles showing that carbohydrate loading leading up to the race can give you an advantage come race day. The human body is able to store carbohydrates for energy use in the liver and the muscles in the form of a substance known as glycogen. This carbohydrate store is able to be quickly broken down to fuel the muscles during high intensity exercise (muscle glycogen).

There are many carbohydrate loading philosophies out there. Everything from loading up for a whole week to just loading up the day before your race. I've landed somewhere in the middle.

On Saturday (1 week from the race), I did a hard workout in the morning on an empty stomach, which deplete my energy stores. For the rest of the day on Saturday, the majority of my food was in the form of protein. I did the same thing yesterday....morning workout on empty stomach, mostly protein all day, with the exception on a post-workout meal with lots of carbs.

Today is pretty much the same. Empty stomach workout, mostly carbs all day. By the end of the day today, I will have pretty much used up all the gylcogen that I have stored up. Then tomorrow, I start to introduce a little more carbs into the diet. Wednesday, Thursday will see even more increases in complex carbs and then Friday is pretty much all carbs. Heading into Saturday morning's race, I should feel full of energy and ready to conquer six hours of racing!

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:

BRICK

Bike

Covered 20.83 miles in 1:03:51 (19.57 mph). Lots of rolling hills with one big hill at the beginning (down) and then again at the end (up). I pushed it pretty hard to try and simulate how my legs would feel coming off the bike during the race. I also experimented with some Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes (electrolyte tablets) that contain 40mg of sodium each and tons of other good vitamins. They had no ill effects on my stomach, so I plan on using them during the race. Avg HR = 139 bpm

Transition

1:40
Pretty quick transition. 
Avg HR = 113

Run

Covered 4.10 miles in 30:21 (7:24 min/mile pace). My legs felt heavy the whole time and I was regretting not doing a brick last weekend. It really does take a few of these bricks to get your legs used to running after being on the bike.  Course was downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back (fun!). Avg. HR = 156 bpm


Total workout: 
1:35:54
Avg HR = 144

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Another BRICK

Bike

I little bit shorter bike ride with some rolling hills, but no giant inclines. Covered 10.48 miles in 31:09 (20.19mph). Since this was a shorter ride, I tried to keep up a good pace the whole way. I experimented with a few bites of a vanilla PowerBar. Stomach handled it fine, so I'll include it in my race nutrition. Avg HR = 135 bpm

Transition

1:47
Forgot to take my feet out of my bike shoes while still on the bike, so that cost me a few seconds. 
Avg HR = 112

Run

Covered 4.42 miles in 32:39 (7:23 min/mile pace). Legs were still pretty tired coming off of the brick the day before, but I pushed through and maintained a pretty steady pace (see graph below).  Avg. HR = 159 bpm


Total workout: 
1:05:37
Avg HR = 146

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
1h15m on the bike. 45 minutes of Spin Class with some long 3-4 minute flats and hills. Did an additional 25 minutes after class before a 5 minute cool-down and some stretching. My body is really feeling the affects of the lack of carbohydrates in my system over the last few days. I felt very weak and sluggish on the bike this morning....NEED CARBS! Avg HR = 130 bpm

Stomach Sloshing

With the Cardinal Harbour Half-Ironman a week away, I'm finally (a little late) getting around to reviewing what I did well and what I need to improve on from the Taylorsville Lake Half leading into next week's race.

Nutrition is a huge part of a race this long. I did some research leading up to the Taylorsville Race, but since it was my first at this distance, I really had no idea how my body would handle what I was feeding it. On the bike, I ended up taking in:

3 Clif Shot gels (300 calories, 75g Carbs, 120mg of Sodium, 0g Protein)
One Powerbar (240 calories, 45g Carbs, 200mg Sodium, 8g Protein)
One 24oz. bottle of Gatorade (146 calories, 36g Carbs, 30mg Sodium, .12g Protein)
One 20oz. bottle of water (---)

So during the 3 hours on the bike, I had 686 calories (228 cal/hr), 156g carbs (52g/hr), 350mg Sodium (117mg/hr) and 8.12g Protein (2.7g/hr).

Everything that I've read states that you need 300-350 calories/hr, 300-350mg Sodium/hr and 25-30oz/hr of water on the bike. I was close on the calories, but low on the water and sodium. This may have contributed to my slow run off of the bike.

So the simple solution for next week's race would be to add some calories and maybe take some salt tablets to get the extra sodium I need....however...

I also dealt with some stomach sloshing during the run portion of the Taylorsville race. Sloshing occurs when you are consuming fluids--and perhaps solids--but rather than moving to your intestines the mix just sits in your stomach. It's really hard to run when you can hear and feel liquids sloshing around in your stomach while trying to run. I had some gels for the run, but just ended up drinking water and HEED, no solids and very little calories because my stomach felt like crap. So how am I supposed to take in more liquids on the bike this time if what I did last time lead to the washing machine in my stomach?

From what I can gather, stomach sloshing is caused by a few different things. The obvious one is drinking too much water. I really can't afford to take in less, especially in the heat. Another cause could be too much fat/carbs/proteins. I've never had a problem with this...and I need the carbs. I also found that intestinal fluid absorption can be increased by sodium.

So the plan is to add some sodium tablets to my bike nutrition and to not take in any liquids or calories the last 15-20 minutes on the bike to give what I have in there time to digest before I get on the run. We'll see if it helps!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

1h30m on the indoor bike
Did some good ladder intervals after a 20 minute warm-up
30s on (sprint), 30s off (easy pace)
1m on, 1m off
2m on, 2m off
3m on, 3m off
4m on, 4m off
3m on, 3m off
2m on, 2m off
1m on, 1m off
30s on
These ladders took about 33 minutes
I finished up with 25 minutes of hill work and then a 10 minute cool-down
Avg HR = 134 bpm with spikes in the 154-156 range (Zone 5a -Threshold) during the intervals.

Weights

30 minutes of chest, arms and abs

A Little Something For The Ladies

If you were expecting some pictures of me in a Speedo, sorry to disappoint you. This post has to do with calculating a woman's maximum heart rate, which if you are serious about training, you need to know. Many runners, cyclists and other exercisers monitor their heart rates by taking their pulse (or wearing a heart rate monitor) and rely on a calculated maximum heart rate number to gauge the intensity of the workout. The typical goal is to stay within 65 to 85 percent of the estimated maximum heart rate, depending on whether the athlete is trying to build aerobic capacity or increase endurance.

In a study of nearly 5,500 healthy women, scientists discovered that a decades-old formula for calculating heart rate is largely inaccurate for women, resulting in a number that is too high.

The commonly used formula subtracts a person’s age from 220. But based on the data collected by the Northwestern Medicine in Chicago study, the right formula for calculating a woman’s maximum heart rate is a little more complicated: 206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age.

So if you are 30 years old, your calculated max heart rate would be
206 - (30 x 0.88) = 179.6 bpm

Of course, this just gets you in the ballpark. If you want to know your actual max heart rate, there are many running/cycling tests that can find this number for you. Just do an internet search to find them.

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

1 mile repeats with 2 minutes rest in between (this is one minutes less than my rest during previous 1 mile repeats). I think 3 minutes was too long, 2 minutes gives my HR plenty of time to recover.
Warm-up (ran to the track) - 1.37 miles in 9:44 (Avg HR = 144) 7:06 min/mile pace
1) 6:39 (162)
2) 6:42 (163)
3) 6:52 (163)
4) 6:44 (166)
Cool-down - 1.37 miles in 9:56 (159) 7:15 min/mile pace
Total Workout: 6.74 miles in 58:43
For whatever reason, my speed running to and from the track continues to increase. The first time I used the track at Waggner High (June 8th), it took me 10:39 (7:46 min/mile pace) to get there and 10:23 (7:34 pace) to get back. I'm going to try and get it under 7 minute pace next week. No real reason for doing so; just to see if I can!

Swim

Pretty simple workout
7 minutes of drills, then around 15 minutes of swimming at an easy pace
Total workout: 1104yd in 22:25 (35:44 min/mile pace)


TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

7.44 miles in 56:21 (7:34 min/mile pace)
Avg. HR = 159 bpm
I knew from the beginning that this run was going to be a struggle. Turns out I was right...my legs felt heavy and tired the whole way. I could blame it on the fact that I went to the Louisville Bats game last night and only managed 5 hours of sleep, but it was worth it, time with my Dad and brothers at the game was lots of fun. Anyway, I had planned on running some hills today, so even though I was feeling sluggish, I stuck with the plan. The hills on this run included running up and down two overpasses...two times each. What I didn't realize until I looked at my RunKeeper data is that "man-made" hills (i.e. interstate overpasses) do not show up as hill on my GPS. So while the elevation below shows one big hill in the middle, there were actually two small, steep hills on either side of it.

Swim

14 minutes of warm-up and some drills...as well as around 2 minutes of fighting with my leaky goggles.
1/2 mile (888yd) swim at race pace done in 16:46 (33:13 min/mile pace)
Total workout: 1584yd in 31:34 (35:04 min/mile pace)
The goggles that I wore this morning are typically ones that I only use during races. I'm really glad that I decided to use them this morning. I'm not sure why, but I couldn't get them to make a good seel around my left eye and water continued to leak in. I'll try them again next week, if they still leak - I'll be making a new purchase before next Saturday's race!

Catching Up

I've been able to get in some good workouts over this 4th of July weekend. Here's what I've been up to:

FRIDAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

1h30m on the bike at the gym. Did some good hill intervals and focused on keeping my heart rate above 130 for most of the ride. Avg HR = 133 bpm

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

30.30 miles in 1:32:54 (19.57 mph average)
Avg HR = 136 bpm
This phase of my training calls for some high intensity workouts, so I made it a point to push it on this ride. It contained lots of hills, so I'm happy with an average speed of 19.57 mph.

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT:

Run

7.44 miles in 55:42 (7:29 min/mile pace)
Avg HR = 158 bpm
Fartlek run - this type of run consists of running at race pace, with shorts bursts of speed mixed in. I decided to put these bursts in every 10 minutes. So I ran very hard for 60 seconds every 10 minutes, then slowed back down to race pace. This is a fun workout and I good way to mix it up and make the run go by faster.

TODAY'S WORKOUT:

Bike

25.55 miles in 1:18:12 (19.60 mph average)
Avg HR = 136 bpm
The Cardinal Harbour Half-Ironman Triathlon is less than 2 weeks away, so I went and did some reconnaissance this morning. I rode some of the course so that I can be at least a little familiar with it come race day. This is always a good idea if you have the time. I now know that this is a fairly flat course with a few big hills, there's lots of chances for speed. I got up to 41 mph on one of the downhills - fun stuff!