Last week I was hit with some sort of stomach bug, food poisoning or heat exhaustion and was completely out of commission for about 3 days. If you add that with missing a couple of other days last week due to a quick vacation, then last weeks workouts were pretty non-existent. Illness can provide an inescapable reason for a recovery week. I did get to finish out the weekend with my long workouts.
  Sunday was a 50 mile ride with my friend Craig out on the rural side of Parmer Lane, and it was awesome. There were a few rolling hills, which was good but no big climbs like there are out on the Dam Loop. We were able to keep a pretty constant pace going the whole time. It was nice because there was hardly any traffic and the scenery was very country. But a 50 mile ride is still a 50 mile ride so I was pretty spent by the time we stopped. About halfway through the ride I asked Craig if he had brought his running shoes since I wanted to try and get a quick 10 minute run in after we finished. He had, so the plan was ride, pack up bikes, run 5 minutes out, run 5 minutes back, go home and pass out. An hour and a half after we made this plan I locked my bicycle in the car and slipped on my running shoes and prayed to the gods that Craig had forgotten all about our little plan of a 10 minute run. He hadn't. Dangit. That is the power of having a workout partner. They don't let you slide at all. We ran out of the parking lot down Great Hills Trail. I guess the name of the street should have been our clue but for some reason when we hit the 5 minute turnaround we were at the bottom of a pretty steep hill. 5 and a half mintes later we were done. Whew!
  Monday was another big day. I usually end my workout weeks with my longer workouts. Since last week got away from me I decided to cram a long run and a long swim into Monday. I met my friend Barton at the Springs for a mile swim. I finished  right at 39 minutes so I was pretty happy with that. He taped my lower back again and a new spot on my upper back (more on that on my next post). We chit chatted and then I was off for a 10 mile run around Town Lake. I started too late, I wore a black shirt, I was tired from my swim and my bike ride the day before and I might have woken up a little hung over from the night before. All of these factors added up to me only running 9 of the 10 miles. I was overheated and had to stop. I wasn't a very happy camper after that. Lesson learned I hope. I got home, ate a few meals and took Oskar to Barking Springs for a little R and R.
  During my long run I was trying to figure out if Mondays workouts would be considered the late ending to a crappy week. Or, would those 2 big workouts be considered a great way to start the new week. I haven't quite decided how I would look at it yet. The third option --and for some reason I hear the voice of my friend Amy saying this, "Beginning or End it doesn't matter. They are 2 workouts in the middle of a long workout calendar." That is some very smart "imaginary" advice from a very seasoned coach who hasn't actually said it yet. Two more months of this journey are all that are left.