Las Vegas in the Summer

This time of year something happens like clockwork.  I struggle.  LOL.  IF your not out the door by 5-5:15 your in trouble.  I always have harder times keeping pace and going the distance.  This year is no different. No excuses just saying.  100+ temperatures and this week super muggy.  It is hard during but the fall I benefit.  So I am going to keep busting ass and getting work done.  Here is this weeks work:

-Tuesday-Training run.  5 miles.  Nothing to report.  Moderate pace, nothing to brag about.  Super muggy and the gnats are out, WIERD.
-Wednesday-Hills.  The tribike and I are getting along quite well.  I am climbing way better on it.  I am feeling very strong on the bike.  I just need to be able to have a good training ride.
-Thursday-Long run, since this is the end of a block and with other training scheduling issues I had to do a long run on thurs.  Woke up early out the door for 8.  Sully ran 5.5 and then I went the rest on my own.  I am really liking the new shoes and I am happy to be able to run in neutral shoes.
-Friday-Off
-Saturday- With the buildup happening slow today was kind of a wildcard workout.  My training partner was freaking out with the pumkinman ride into boulder city so we had to get it out of the way.  The reason its anxiety provoking is its a climb.  From boulder beach to what will be T2 is a 2,011 ft gain.  That does not include the north route on lake/north shore roads.  Its going to be fun.  This was the sprint course.  Since I would have about 10-20 min of down time waiting for the group to get there, I decided to improvise.  Hill repeats.  I did the big BC hill 3 times.  I climbed strong.  I loved it.  The first one was 12 mph, the second 10.5 mph, and the third was 9.0 mph.  I was definitely tired.  But got some good work in for sure.
-Sunday (today)-Long run.  This blocks long run was 10 miles.  So this was a 23 mile calender week.  Today was a pretty morning.  Breezy, sprinkly, and muggy.  I stopped a few times with sully.  He needed a water break a few times.  He also wanted to lay in some wet grass.  Quality time. He only went 7 which matches his longest run.  He pulled me the whole time.  He didnt want to go home.  He is an awesome running partner.  I thought I might need some stability so I wore my old shoes.  MISTAKE.  heals hurt, toes hurt, and my blisters starting coming back.  When I dropped Sully off, I changed shoes and it saved my run.  Overall a good run.  I was tired, hot, and muggy but I got it in.  QUOTE:


“I believe in getting into hot water - it helps keep you clean.”
 G. K. Chesterton

This heat training will pay off

The Summer is in Full Swing

The morning time is requiring an earlier and earlier start.  I do love the run then go back to bed move.  The Las Vegas heat is upon us.  Some 112 or so during the day.  The bike situation is taking care of itself.  I am starting to enjoy it.  I am getting more comfortable with aero and I am in much more control.  Here is how the week went:

Monday-Swim speed work.  20 laps or 1000m.  4 off/4 on.  Here are splits: 4:31, 4:07, 5:20, 4:11, and 5:31.  Long pull, big reach, alternate breaths, I can feel the swim finally coming along.
Tuesday-Training Run.  5 miles.  There is missing data.  Filled in for softball.
Wednesday-Hills on the sisters.  With sore legs from softball, I still climbed with the tri bike.  I let it go on the downhills and it felt ok.  The way home had a headwind, and it was 2 mph faster.  WOW.  big difference.
Thursday-Training run.  5 miles.  Tired, slow, and sore.  Had intervals planned but was happy to get some miles in.
Friday-Rest
Saturday-Brick Bike/Run.  13 mile bike ended up short, 4 mile run.  18 mph average on bike, coast on the run.
Sunday-Long Bike.  30 miles.  Shannons longest ride, congrats to her.  Top 3 most windiest days I have been out there.  Miserable.  I stayed with her a lot but attacked some key spots.  I felt awesome.  I cannot wait to let this bike just go.
Monday (today)- Long swim.  1200 or so m.  Very windy, rainy, and a lot of waves.  I got some good work in.  Practiced all my new cues and it went well.  Quote:

“Most people give off as much heat as a 100 watt bulb, but not as much light.”

Beginning the build up

I looked forward to this weeks workouts.  I was excited to get started for pumkinman.  I have noticed a few things while resting/recovering.  I am starting to feel the lack of strength workouts in the last 3 weeks.  I wanted to get the strength workouts back in.  I spent the beginning of the week with a slight to moderate sore throat.  I made a decision to scale back the plans and be smart. I was able to get the triathlon training in, including a swimming time trial, I just didnt load it up.   I also, wanted to move closer to a decision on what I should be doing with my bike situation.  Here is the situation:  ok road bike, decent tri bike.  I am comfortable on the road bike but seems like I am missing some speed if I dont use the tri bike.  I wasnt sure what to make of the tri bike.  It is wobbly, there may be a brake issue, and occasionally has a misfire on the gearing.  I wanted to have a bad ride with it to make the decision easy.  That did not happen.  Here is how the week went.

Monday-Originally scheduled to have a TT swim workout scratched for sore throat.

Tuesday-Originally scheduled to have a 5 mile easy run, changed it to 3 miles on wed.  

Wednesday-I had to get sully out anyway....rough day with snot but got some work in.

Thursday-I felt very good today.  I actually wanted to get to the pool.  I did a 1000 m time trial in 11:36:52.  Then a few easy laps and then 100 m TT in 1:53:98.  These figures will be used to help with workouts and future fitness tests.  Speed cues: quality strokes on each side with fluid reach and pull through, facedown, and high elbows.   

Friday-By this time I feel great.  I decided to run some intervals.  1 mile warm up in 9:33, 3 min on/3 min off X 4 then 1 mile cool down. Goal was to be under 7:20 for the on and around 9:30 for the off.   Here are splits: 7:17/8:44, 7:31/9:30, 7:55/9:54, 8:29/12:04, and cool down in 9:24.  I felt strong except for the last interval.  Ran out of gas.  I think that is the idea.  Next week I will repeat this.  I am learning the fight at the end of the workout.  That is definitely an issue for me.  My legs felt strong but cardio isnt there yet.  I feel it getting stronger and stronger.  I feel like my miss on the end of the workout is an aerobic strength issue.  

Saturday-Long bike.  This was going to be a test.  We picked a route with some climbing.  I wanted to descend and climb with this bike and see what I think.  20 miles total, 10 miles out and back.  1,500 foot climb.  Looking at the numbers and comparing those number to what I felt I definitely need to spend more time on this bike.  I was a chicken on the very fast decent.  Not pedaling, not contributing to making the bike go faster and I went 38 mph.  WOW.  I wasnt even aero.  On the climb, I climbed easier and faster then my road bike.  I actually passed 2 riders on the climb.  That never happens.   K2 has earned one more week.  I do have a few mechanical issues that may be contributing to the lack of confidence.  Learning this bikes gearing and feel wasnt so bad.

Sunday (today)-Long run.  I am feeling very good and I thought a medium distance long run with some speed work would be a good idea.  So lets make it a progressive run.  7 miles.  Actual split (goal).  9:22 (9:30), 9:08 (9:15), 9:19 (9:00), 8:43 (8:45), 8:43 (8:30), and 10:22 (8:30).  LOL...zapped again.  No excuses.  The aerobic/mental strength not there yet.  I battled a lot more than I have in the past though.  The grade did turn back to up for the last 2 miles but I have ran faster there.  I just couldnt hold it.  Something to work on.  Long slow grades continue to get to me.  Just simply have to get stronger.  I did try out some new shoes today.  The assics nimbus 13.  A neutral shoe.  They felt amazing.  I had some muscle soreness but It was good to focus on mechanics.  Sore gluts, sore quads, and no foot or skin issues.  I felt really good just not fast enough on the end.  Quote:

   Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.  ~Cher

I am progressing very well.  Special shout out to Khadevis Robinson who was second in the 800 m at the USA championships.  Good luck at worlds my man!

Pumkinman On the Clock and 10K PR

First things first.  My classes are open!  To check out my running classes click here!

The 1/2 Iron at pumkinman will be a different animal.  The swim is the same swim I swim all the time, the bike will be a different set of hills at the lake ending in a good climb to Boulder City.  The run will be through the streets of BC and will be a collection of long slow climb type hills.  It will be mid October so the weather should be awesome.  I will have some buddies to train with so the company will be welcomed.       This weekend marked the first training weekend leading up to this race.  This 1/2 will be a different focus.  I want to do a few things different:  swim faster, ride faster, and run faster.  LOL.  I am going to tweak the swim training.  If the bike split was the same but on the tri bike, and the run was competitive with what I am capable of, I would be ecstatic.  Thats the goal.  More on that as time goes by.  Speaking of tri bike I had 2 rides this week.  One horrible, the other not so good.  Its wobbly and hard.  I dont know if I want to continue the bike on this bike but we will see.

The Ambulance Chaser 10K/5K/1 mile walk was a race at the Las Vegas Motor Speed way.  Pretty cool.  The 5K 2 laps around the track and the 10K 1 lap speedway and up and down the drag strip.  Here are some pics:

  Here is how the week went:

Monday-Core
Tuesday-Easy run 4 miles with sully
Wednesday-Strength training
Thursday-Training run 5 miles with sully
Friday-off
Saturday-Ambulance Chaser 10K.  My previous 10 PR was 55:16 or so.  I thought I had the juice for a sub 52 min race since Karl predicted 52 I wanted to be faster than that.  My Vdot says 48 min is possible.  I have had some good training runs so I thought it was going to be in play.  Here are my splits: 8:17, 8:17, 8:40, 10:05, 8:54, 7:35, and 1:59 for the 0.2.  The super slow mile came on the steep drag strip when the heat was pounding from the sun, the asphalt was radiating heat, the grade went up, and the rubber from the race car tires was making the ground sticky.  I got zapped there.  I think 3 min should have been shaved off.  My official time was 53:42.  My new 10K PR by 1:24.  Overall, a good race.  Minor soreness and fatique.
Sunday-Bike/run brick.  16 mile bike and 3 mile run.  My longest ride with the tri bike.  I am not sure what the think of that thing.  Aero is uncomfortable and unsteady.  It was hard and not as much fun.  The big gear isnt as fast and the little gears are easier to climb with.  Hmmmm.....just so different.  I dont know if I like it.  Too early to tell.  The run was ordinary.  Just getting some reps in.  1 hour ride and 30 min run.  QUOTE:

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder. William Sigei

I am learning how do this, I need to that better.