Chugging along

S: 7000
B: 120
R: 52

3 swims this week, one of which was very promising.  I had more speed than I've ever had in the pool before, averaging 2:31 per 200 repeat in the one good workout.  The rest was just filler but I AM starting to feel more comfortable and loose again.  I'll probably swim 3 or 4 times a week through March but I don't plan to try and really kill it in the pool.

A slightly down week in biking with most of the time coming indoors in spin class.  The main effort was doing the bike relay portion of the Charlotte Long Course Duathlon (3 mile run, 30 mile bike, 3 mile run) where Behme did the run portion.  It was a fun time but I had psyched myself out by the time Saturday came around; there were some pretty fast guys at the race: Brian Duffy (Inside Triathlon's Amateur Triathlete of the Year), Tim Surface (first year pro consistently in the low 4:0x at the 70.3 distance), Justin Park (another pro), and Will Haas (2nd place last year and a good short distance duathlete recently converted into triathlete).

Behme started out hard right on those guys' heels with a 5:35 first mile before finally coming to his senses and backing down a little bit before coming into T1 at 18:30.  I quickly grabbed his timing chip and headed out for the hardest 30 miles I have ever ridden.

Headed out on the bike in roughly 10th place and almost immediately reeled in 4-5 guys in the first 3 miles. Stayed on the gas and caught Will Haas just before the turn onto Willowside and the ridiculously hilly section of the course. I believe at the point I had moved into 4th. I saw Justin Park at mile 7 off in the distance but it took 3 more miles to reel him in; I was closing the gap hard on the hills and he was maintaining it on the flats. Haas had been trying to pace with me for a while but by the time I passed Justin I hadn't seen him for a bit. Passing him was a huge mental boost and I needed another shot in the arm for the next 20 miles. At mile 15 Carrie and Melinda were at the top of probably the most difficult hill on the course so I couldn't really say hi or thanks. For the next 8-10 miles I was pretty much by myself. I had opened up a pretty big gap on the guys trailing me and I knew nobody was closing the gap so I had to bear down and push myself even though no carrot was in sight. I saw Tim Surface around mile 22 or so but he remained off in the distance for a little longer until I caught him going through Mt Holly where Dave was stationed. I passed him and moved into 2nd place - Duffy was no where in sight - on the long uphill stretch to the right turn towards the tracks. I kept the pressure very high and put in a little minute-ish gap on Surface before handing off the timing chip to Behme.


John then promptly gave up 2nd place to Tim Surface who was running at about 20 miles an hour before cruising to the finish line for a 3rd place overall (first relay) with an 18:56 final 3 mile split.  In training shoes no less (only because he wasn't ready for me when I got back to T2 unexpectedly quickly!).  


All in all a really good day for us; we both had very promising performances.  I was especially pleased to have the fastest bike split (yes, I was a relay but mentally it felt good to have guys like Haas, Park, and Surface all try to hold my wheel - legally - and fail) and set a new course record (with an asterisk).  It would have been cool to see Nick race this year.  I think he would have had his hands full but at the same time it would have been a really good race.  


Running was also promising, culminating in a fast finish long run of 15 miles with the last 2 at roughly 6:10-6:20 pace on Davidson trails (last 1 mile was miserable as it was on the hilliest section of the trails) and my fourth consecutive week of 50+ miles.


I still haven't decided about Corporate Cup next weekend.  I really just want to do it as a long tempo run.  If Behme decides to actually run it I'll probably just end up running with him.  Then a weekend break from race and then it's Atlanta marathon.  w00t.  

Big week followed by big news!

S: 5200
B: 190
R: 54

Hours: 18.5

Swimming was limited this week as planned. It feels nice to only have to get in two swims per week, not gonna lie! I'm feeling a little better now that I've significantly decreased my swimming volume but I'm still lacking in the motivational department, but it will return eventually.

I managed to get in some solid saddle time this week since the weather was a LOT nicer (most importantly it was nicer on the weekend) so I had a bit over 5 hours indoors with a long ride of a bit over 80 on Saturday. Not bad.

Running was good this week and focused on the long run on Sunday of 22 miles up in Davidson. We went 12 easy then 1.5 hard to get Carrie a fast finish 15 miles before continuing on for our last bit which John and I polished off at 6:30 pace for the last 2 miles.

My big news is that today I was offered admission to UNC Chapel Hill's masters program in Exercise Physiology. Fun stuff!!

Olympics!

With the 2010 Winter Olympics beginning this week a lot of fuel has been added to the fire.  It's too bad I can't relate that well to any of the sports they're playing but it still looks really cool and any competition is bound to get my juices flowing.  So far the coolest moment has definitely been Hannah Kearney's gold medal in the moguls.  The last woman to go with everything on the line and she comes through big.  While I can't relate to that I can certainly admire it.

S: 5,000
B: 163 mi
R: 53

Time: 17.5 hrs


I only swam twice this week as I continue to try and recover from my bout with greediness in the pool.  The first swim this week felt pretty terribly but the second one wasn't nearly as bad.  Both were pretty laid back so it's hard to get a real good indication of where I am right now but it's certainly better than nothing.

I got in a little over 5 hours on the trainer and in spin classes this week before a long ride this Sunday outdoors on a beautiful and chilly day.  I felt pretty strong, which was a very pleasant surprise.

The running this week was pretty awesome.  Well, not really but what does it matter.  The important race this year is IM Louisville so it's important to not get caught up in tempo runs and fartleks and hill repeats, etc.  While it would be nice to bang out a bunch of great run workouts it's more important to bang out a good marathon in August.  February is still early.

Superbowl Week

Yes it will get repeated over and over again and everyone other than Saints fans will get extremely bored and annoyed (although not as annoyed as everyone NOT from New England was after the Patriots victories) with this saying but "Who Dat?"  What an awesome game to watch, seriously.  I can't say that I've been a true Saints "fan" my whole life but I've always supported the team; it's just that most of the time it has been half-heartedly because for my entire life they have sucked.  Big time.  I remember when Bobby Hebert was QB and how he was so...below average.  That was pretty much the theme of the Saints as long as I've been around until 2006.  Since then the team has had a lot of promise but rarely quite fulfilling it.  At least 'till now.  What an amazing weekend for New Orleans (that and getting Ray Nagin out of office...) that they (we) will have forever.

S: 14,500
B: 62
R: 52

I experienced a major motivational downturn this week with swimming.  All of a sudden I was ALWAYS tired in the pool and I lost the desire to go to the pool mid-week.  It seems as though I just got too greedy for a couple of weeks this past month.  It happens.  It's all about finding your limits and pushing through them as best you can.  I found my limit and am now recovering and trying to get re-motivated.  Even with what was a tough week in the pool for the past ten weeks I have AVERAGED around 15,000 yards a week in the pool. Since I began my swim focus in mid-November I have put in roughly 180-190,000 yards.  All of last year I totaled 360,000 or something like that.  Needless to say, I'm swimming my face off.

Got in my regular Monday spin class and a nice outdoor ride on Sunday.  The weather has been pretty bad recently and especially on the weekends so until that changes the riding will continue to be minimal.

Two great run workouts this week: a hill workout on Tuesday and a fartlek-style long run with Kelly on Thursday.  In retrospect I should have spaced those workouts a bit better to allow a bit more recovery but oh well.  Can't do anything about it now.

Next week I'll shoot for whatever swimming yardage I can muster (*hopefully between 12-15,000!!! please body*) and 56 miles of running with two key workouts.

I'm thinking about doing the UNCC Homecoming 5k on February 20th or 21st (can't remember which) since I want to do a 5k and that would be a cheap option since I am a student.  After that it's Corporate Cup half then Atlanta full!

Snow

S: 15,000
B: 45
R: 33
Totals: 11.6 hours

Ahh, a rest week.  Feels nice after 3 rather large volume weeks (but only because of the swimming really...)

I only had 3 real swims this week (technically it was 4 but on Monday I only swam 1000 before deciding that my shoulders/lats were too tired to keep going after Sunday's 6000 yard workout) culminating in a ridiculous 7000 yard workout on Sunday.  That's 2 hours and 20 minutes of training time right there.  It was epic.  The main set was 100x50 yards.  Just thinking about it makes me tired again.  Scott and I were both smoked after that one.

Biking was down again with just two spin class sessions.  Weather has been pretty bad here so that's not helping the bike miles but it's still early in the year so no rush.

My running was laid back as well during the rest week with just a 4 mile tempo effort on Thursday at 6:02 min/mi pace.

This next week will hopefully see roughly 20,000 yards swimming and 50 miles of running with two quality workouts.