Sidelined

Note to self: Be more careful when swimming at Barkin' Springs. I cut my left foot on a rock exactly where my foot strike is when I run. I bruised my right heel when I slipped on a rock as well. I still have a core class this evening and swimming after that but no running for a couple of days at least.

  X parks the spot. The electric tape is the only thing keeping the band aid in place. Oh well I guess the puppy dogs will get a lot more time at the dog park for the next few days.

Weekend Round Up

  I think all of this training is starting to slowly pay off. It is a little frustrating dividing your training hours between the three events because your progression in each individual event is slower than if you were training for let us say just a marathon. If you add the heat and humidity of training in Texas during the summer then it is hard to judge if you are getting any better. Well here I am 2/3 of my way through my latest 3 week build and I don't feel absolutely horrible. Actually I feel pretty good. My plan is to make slow progress for the next 4 months and when the temps drop come race day I hope to have a stellar Half Ironman race!
  After Friday's adventure at Barton Springs the weekend workouts seem a little less exciting. Saturday morning began with about 4 hours of sleep for a 14 mile 6 am run with the good people at Rogue. Warm and humid were the annoying details but the run went pretty well. I started with my friend Scooby for the first couple of miles. It was good catching up with him but he was on a different run schedule than I was. We caught up with his wife Jennifer so I traded up and let Scooby go. We scooped up Super Joe and Incredible Iva and proceeded to slowly grind out the rest of our 14 miler. It was a struggle but I felt better than my last few long runs. Running with good friends really helps too. The requisite dip into Barton Springs with the dogs was a blast and then a long nap.
  Today was an early wake up to ride with Craig, Scooby and Heidi. I rode over to Craig's house off of Exposition to get in some extra miles. I ended up doing a total of 35 miles up and down Shoal Creek, through West Campus, down to Town Lake and back. We had fun and the sprint that Craig and I did southbound on Great Norther Boulevard was definitely the most fun part of the day. Craig got to experience drafting at a high rate of speed for the first time as we leap frogged each other to the end of the road. I also got to explore a trail under Mopac I have never been on before so all in all I say it was a pretty successful day.
  Oskar and Lucy got in some swim time themselves at Barkin' Springs too and are now sleeping soundly under my feet. All is well here at the casa.

                                     This is about as close to still that I can get them to pose.

Catching Up and an Eyeful

   Wow this stuff catches up to you if you don't pay attention to it. I have a couple of days to catch up on so here we go. On Wednesday I did my brick workout at the Veloway. I ended up doing 15 miles on the bike and 4 miles running. The sets were broken up by 3 mile bike loop followed by 1 mile run and repeat. When I first got to the Veloway I did an easy loop warm up before I started the workout. When I was finishing my loop this guy passes me. Immediately it seemed kinda weird. He kept looking back at me as he was riding away. Well when I started my workout loop I wanted to go considerably faster than I did for the first loop so I could get some lactic acid buildup in my legs to simulate racing conditions. I ended up passing that guy from earlier and he instantly sped up to draft off of me. As annoying as that was it didn't compare to how obnoxious he was when we started to hit the turns. He was still right behind me and I was trying to ignore him but on a particularly sharp left turn he dove his bike into the turn to cut me off and pass me. Idiot right? Well I let him get some distance from me because I wasn't there to race Mr. Drafty McDraferton. Sure enough when I got back up to speed for my workout I ended up passing him and he did the same thing but this time he cut the turn way to close and I hit the brakes to let him go way ahead of me. I calmly let that fun guy go and finished my loop. I ran all of my miles at 5K pace slicing off about 20 seconds on my run times every loop. I was hot and tired by the end of it.
  Thursday was my recovery day with Tony on Town Lake for 4 miles. I usually take Ol' Oskar but I decided to give him a little break from the heat and humidity. Oskar, Lucy and I spent a lot of time at Red Bud Isle after that Lucy really got in an swam on her own. You could kind of watch her learning and building up her courage with each pawstroke. She was very inspirational.
  Today was my long swim and I did a mile at Barton Springs. I have forgotten that it is legal for women to go topless at the Springs. So you could imagine my surprise when I was swimming along on the second half of my first lap, I started to pass two swimmers on my left hand side and as I rolled over to breath I received quite a shock as one of the ladies was not wearing a top. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to stop for a second and gather my thoughts but I thought that might seem a little inappropriate. I also felt like if I did stop it would be the perfect camera shot for some sort of candid camera show they must be filming. So I just kept my head down and kept swimming.  About a half mile later the same thing happened with two other girls who were swimming perpendicular to me. They weren't swimming laps but just crossing the pool. They weren't watching where they were going and I barely saw the two submerged breasts in time and stopped my hand from landing right where my intentions might have been called into question. What the heck was going on at the Springs today? I had one more lap and then I got out. I figured it was good open water swim practice while trying to focus with all those distractions. Hahaha.

Practice Tri and Greenbelt running

  Blogger just added some new templates and design features for the blog. In keeping up with the spirit of my training and mental focus as of late I have chosen an aquatic theme to set the mood here. Let me know what you think. Now back to the the task at hand.

  I woke up early on Sunday morning to head up to Lake Pflugerville for a practice triathlon put on by T3. I arrived around 7 ish to park, unload my bike and gear and meet up with my friend Craig who extended the invite for the free practice. They set up a couple of racks to hang our bikes and arrange our transition mats like we would at an actual race. There was probably only about 10 of us there who were practicing and a few T3 coaches but I only caught the name Maurice who was very helpful and very nice to all of us.
  The swim course was a 500 meter loop that Craig and I decided to do twice for some extra swim practice. The water was warm and comfortable and all of the practice sighting in Barton Springs is starting to pay off. We got out of the water and headed to the transition area to gear up for the bike section. Although we weren't blazing through the transitions we weren't going slow either. It was just practice. The bike course was a 12 mile loop forming a rectangle east of the reservoir. We began and then declared we would double up on the bike as well to get a longer ride in. At about mile six in the middle of a hilly climb and a stiff headwind I shouted over to Craig that I thought one bike loop would be about right. Thankfully he agreed  and we parked the bikes back on the rack 6 miles later. A quick change of shoes and then we were off for the three mile run around the Lake. Wow was I hurting for the first mile. Even after I caught my breath I was still dragging the last couple of miles to the finish. T3 had set up a Gatorade cooler at mile two and I was so glad for the breather. We finished the morning and I can't say I took away any specific tidbits of knowledge about the event which I could recall but I can say for sure the body definitely got some work in that morning. I was E X H A U S T E D.
  Monday began early for me but for some weird reason that I don't fully understand Oskar and I weren't on the trail running until about 11:30 am that day. That was unfortunate because I think we both were suffering from the heat. We ran the six mile out and back on the Greenbelt and I let him swim four or five times but he was still not a happy puppy. I am betting that going up and down the Hill Of Life had something to do with it. When we got to Twin Falls at the end of the run we both got in and swam around for about 30 minutes to cool off. It was a nice way to end the run for sure.

Long Bike, Long Run and still a Long Weekend.

   Early Friday morning I suited up for a 40 mile bike ride from my house in east Austin to Decker Lake and back. The route around the lake is the same route for my next race and if you know Decker then you know those great big hills that go with it. I got started about 9 am and cut through some back roads to avoid streets that weren't so bicycle friendly. When I got to Decker I entered the loop on the North West corner of the course and started huffing and puffing my way around it. Around 2 miles in I realized not a single car had passed me. Was it because it was still early in the morning? Okay 10 am is still an early bike ride for me. I got my answer when I got around to the south side of the lake and noticed literally hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles out at the exposition center. I totally forgot it was the Republic of Texas motorcycle rally here in Austin this weekend and people avoid that area if they aren't apart of it. Besides the loud noise the Harley's were great. I decided to do 2 Decker loops and on a down hill on Decker Lane Rd I got up to about 38-39 mph much to the surprise of the motorcyclist that was slowly passing me. 40 miles later and I was zapped of all my strength.
   No time for napping though because Lucy and Oskar needed some play time so it was off to Barkin' Springs. They did great in the crowded waters until it was time to leave. There was a nice pit mix puppy dog that wanted to make sweet sweet love to poor little Oskar. He wasn't having any of it and was running all over the concrete slab trying to escape. The owner of the other dog and I were trying to catch our dogs when Lucy, who was not about to be upstaged, decided to dive directly into the middle of a blanket belonging to a couple of sunbathers. As she was rolling around, tongue hanging out, smiling, mud being plastered all over their belongings one of the girls was laughing hysterically while the other one was well, let's just say she was less than pleased. I had to abandon Operation Rescue Oskar in order to detain Lucy. Luckily the other dog owner broke up the tryst and I snatched Oskar and beat a hasty retreat. Although it was a slightly embarrassing moment it I laughed all the way to the car.
  Today I woke up at around 5 am for my 10 mile run with Rogue. 84 degrees and 80 percent humidity was enough to wear me out. That and I averaged about 2 minutes faster per mile for the last 5 miles. More naps, recovery smoothies, second breakfasts and first lunches later and I am ready to head to work. Woohoo!!

Big Hills and Big Fish!

    Tuesday was a fun filled morning of running hill repeats. Yes I forced myself to run hills by myself. And yes I actually kind of liked them. There is a little hill across the street from the Yellow Jacket Track that runs behind the Millennium Youth Complex on Walnut Ave. If you run up the hill and loop around for the recovery it is just short of a 1/2 mile. The hill is short but according to Map My Tri it has a 9% grade making it quite steep. So I ran from my house to the track and did a couple of loops around the track for a warm up and then started the repeats at 5K pace seven times with the ipod blaring. I have come to discover over the past few years that I tend to run on emotion from time to time and when I need that extra energy music does the trick. This makes for some good workouts but come race day I have to learn some more discipline to harness the power contained within. It's true I have run three marathons, cried at all three. Yep and I am not afraid to admit it.
    The next day was pouring down raining so I got on the trainer for a solid hour spin. Right after that I did this high intensity resistance workout I got from Men's Health (1-year). It's the same one for the guy on that HBO show Spartacus and I figured since he's ripped it must be good. Here's the link for anyone interested.
   Today was my recovery run with Tony at Dirty Bird Lake. I mean Lady Bird Lake actually. The recent rains we have had here in Austin have made Town Lake less than appealing in certain spots. There is a lot of "Stuff" floating around the shores. But after my run today I noticed some very large catfish getting it on in and around the junk near the shores. These things were HUGE. They must have been at least 8-10 inches in diameter.
   My beloved and sweet puppy dog Oskar has finally learned to escape from the back yard. I do not exactly know how he is doing it just yet. He may be crawling under a portion of the fence or he might just be jumping over. I did not think he could jump that high but it is possible he is leaping off the back of a less than thrilled Lucy. I kind of hope it's the latter.

It's On again

    The lazy recovery week is over and the workload is piling up already. I definitely needed that week off physically and more importantly mentally but now I am ready for another hard three weeks. Emily just completed her Danskin Triathlon, and did quite well, and is heading off to Spain for her sisters wedding (GO Aud and Javi!) so my training partner for the last few months is gone. If anyone out there wants a bike/swim/run buddy I am accepting applications. Applicants must enjoy long bike rides through Texas Hill Country, cold swims in Barton Springs and dogs as Oskar may trip you on a recovery run.
  Yesterday was an hour session on the trainer doing one legged spins and quick spin intervals. A bucket of sweat later and I was at Barton Springs with my friend Barton, no relation, for a 3/4 mile swim in traffic. You really get to practice sighting at 4:30pm on a hot and humid Monday afternoon with hundreds of people swimming, cannonballing, diving, snorkeling and just plain floating all around you. It was very good practice. We were done just in time for Jack and Adams Core class that starts at 5:30. Is is an hour long painful reminder that I am not doing enough core work. Half way through the class a couple of massage therapists set up a table in the parking lot and announced that they would be doing some free work on anybody after we were finished. A couple of people actually stopped doing the class to get massages while we were still doing planks, squats, reverse crunches and what not. We had to watch their bliss through are sweat soaked eyes. Wonderful.
  Today I am feeling sore in all the right places. Woohoo!! It is currently 71 degrees with 70% humidity. Hill repeats here I come.