Rhett

Today I start getting serious about my UVM training.  I think my calf is finally 100%.  Unfortunately my running has seriously suffered over the last couple months with this stupid calf thing.  Since I have such a short time to get ready for the marathon, I've decided to implement my 3 day a week running plan that I did for Boston 2010.  This allows me to run hard on the days I run, and to cross train really hard the other days to boost my cardiovascular fitness.  Therefore my first day of my new marathon training plan today did not include any running. I swam this morning and I'll probably do some core work and jump rope tonight.

AM

16 x 200 m starting each interval on the five minute mark.  I probably averaged just under 3:40 per 200m.  Total swim- 2 miles

PM

jumping exercises making sure calf felt 100% and it did and some core work totaling about 20 minutes while watching the lame NCAA Championship game.  I did have Kentucky winning it all in my bracket though. :)

AM

I got up and went cycling this morning. It was an amazingly beautiful morning riding along the lake with the sun coming up.  I rode for 1 hour 15 minutes and averaged 18.5 mph.  After work today I'm actually going to run. I hope it goes well.

PM

2 mile swim. I thought about doing a 3rd but then decided to call it a day.

Calf raises

30 minutes free form elliptical to get the calf warmed up really well.

5 miles on TM at 8 minute pace. My calf didn't bother me as far as any discomfort goes, but I can tell it isn't at full power yet. I was very careful and did not push hard at all. It felt amazing to run again though without any pain.

PM

Core work

I slept in a bit so I only had time for a short bike ride.

15.5 miles around the island on another beautiful day in paradise.  Avg spd 19.2 mph

7.4 tough miles at the end of a long day.

AP 7:32

Swim

10 minutes warm up

35 minutes doing 100 m repeats starting every 2:30 minutes.  I seemed to be hitting right around 1:40 for each 100m repeat.

15 minutes cool down doing swim drills

Another pristine morning in Lake Havasu City... 15.5 mile bike ride... average speed 19.0 mph.

After work today will be track work and my last quality run before the half marathon this Saturday.  The farthest I have run this year is 12.5 miles and that was back in January.  Saturday could be interesting.

PM at the track

1 mile warm up

5 x 400m at 5K pace with 200m jog recovery:  1:29, 1:29, 1:29, 1:27, 1:26

Cool down

4 miles total. I felt very tired the whole time.

Swam for 1 hour focusing on drills specifically the high elbow catch.  

2 mile easy run as my final run and workout before the half on Saturday.

Tomorrow I will be in Palm Springs all day for continuing education. It will be a very long day.  Then Friday is my mother in laws funeral.  She went home Saturday after a quick fight with lymphoma.  She lives in our ward, so I will conduct her funeral.  Hopefully I can keep it together.  Doone is doing well considering she just lost her mother for a while. 

I had no idea what to expect from this race. It was a nice cool morning for Havasu, 52 degrees with a fairly stiff wind out of the south.  I just ran by feel.  Looking back at my mile splits, I was a bit fast on the first mile, 6:40, but made up for that with a slow second mile, 7:10. Then I found a nice groove and was running everything in the mid 6:50s until I hit 10 miles.  The last 4+ mile were pretty much straight into the wind and I was running with a small group which was helping. I took a gu at the 10 mile aid station and then went to get a cup of water.  The volunteer pulled his hand back right as I went to grab the water and I missed.  after passing the station by a good 10 yards I decided I better go back and get some water since I'd just taken some gu.  By the time I got headed in the right direction again, I was all alone with no one around me.  I was ticked off and running into the wind. I kind of quit for the next 2 miles and ran 7:54, 7:46.  I must have gotten over it by the last mile though, cause I finished strong with my fastest mile of the race, 6:38. 

My final time was 1:32:08 (AP 7:02) which I was pleased with since I haven't been running much due to my calf injury.  The best news is that my calf is feeling pretty good here a couple days later. It will be interesting to see if I'm able to get my mileage up enough to run a good UVM in 8 weeks.

Morning bike ride. I got a flat a little past the 8 mile mark so I stopped and fixed it and headed back so I only got in 16.25 miles

After work I did track work, but not very fast. 

2.75 mile warm up

2 x 1 mile (6:20, 6:50) with 800 m recovery

1 mile cool down

Legs felt tired still from the half and it was 96 degrees out.  No pain from my calf though!

8 x 400m swimming.  The first four repeats I restarted every 8 minutes and averaged about 7:30 per 400 m.  Then the last four repeats I restarted every 9 minutes and averaged about 7:45 per 400m.

Total swim 2 miles

The plan right now is to get miles on my legs.  Today I decided I would run for 2 hours taking it easy and see how far that landed me.  It was a bit warm, 73 degrees, for 5 am, but it was a beautiful morning.  My legs were still very tired from my half, but not sore.  I just pushed along at a nice easy pace and ended up running 14.4 miles in 2 hours for an AP of 8:19.  The best news is that my calf didn't bother me.

26.4 mile bike ride along the lake on a beautiful morning.  

Average speed: 18.1mph 

I took the boys camping Friday night for the annual Fathers and Sons camp out.  It was fun, but like usual I didn't get enough sleep.  By the time we got home Saturday it was 101 degrees so I decided to take my run indoor to the gym.

TM 15 miles at 8:00 pace for 2 hours

It was a really good run. My legs felt strong like I could keep going for a long time at that pace.

AM Swim

4 x 200m starting each repeat every 5 minutes.  I was averaging about 3:25 per repeat for the first 6 and then faded hard to about 3:40 for the last 2.  Then just swam another mile at an easy effort taking 34 minutes.

Total 2 mile swim

PM Run

I won't have time to run tomorrow so I did my speed work tonight.  I ran to the track and then did 4 x 1 mile (6:26, 6:33, 6:27, 6:24) with half mile recovery, then ran home.

Total 9.8 mile run 

Morning Swim

800 m warm up

16 x 100m restarting each repeat every 3 minutes.  Averaged a little better than 95 seconds per 100m repeat

 800m cool down

Total swim 2 miles

2 Hour Run

It was a very windy morning with a storm blowing in.  I planned on seeing how far my legs would take me in 2 hours.  My Garmin died at mile 10. I figured I ran right around 15 miles. The rain was starting as I finished up my last mile. Just after finishing it started coming down really hard. My 2 hour run today felt way better than the one I did last Thursday.

26.4 miles on the bike.  It was incredible this morning... 61 degrees, clear skis, and no wind!

I had to get up at 4 am to take the Scouts to Vegas for a merit badge expo.  I packed my running gear.  When we got there I got them set up with their first class which was 3 hours long, changed into my running clothes and set out on a nice long run.  I found a great dirt loop that was a little over 4 miles long and ran it until I hit 20 miles.  It was my first 20 miler in almost a year.  I finished in 2:37:48... not bad for how little running I've done lately.