Got almost 10 hours of sleep last night! Ruth woke me up this morning with a plan to run to and around GreenLake and then go to Starbucks for coffee. We executed it perfectly -- I did not even wear my heart rate monitor and just had nice aerobic run.

Aerobic Run 4.75 miles @ 00:39:40

Will leave shortly to go for a spin around Lake Washington.

Short spin around Lake Washington turned into a ride to Seward Park and back. I just did not feel like doing anything...

Bike Ride 26 Miles @ 02:00:00

Ruth's trail run was today so I did not get a workout in at all. Her run was a complete success, she almost tripled the number of participants from her last run and they were quite complimentary.

Ended the evening on the deck with margaritas and Michele and Cara -- some of our very favorite people (who were also stellar volunteers).

Swim in the lake this AM with Gisela and Beth. Beautiful swim -- Mt. Rainier was a stunning pink.

Open Water Swim 1.2 Miles

Ran the Mercer Slough after work and put in an extra mile by starting at Enatie Beach Park.

7 Mile Run @ 01:03:00

Two plum martinis too many last night at the company party and it showed at Swim Practice this AM...

Swim Practice 2500 @ 01:00:00

Tempo run this AM and will get an aerobic bike in this PM.

Tempo Run 6 Miles @ 00:54:51
WU 1 Mile 00:09:28
127a 135m 135e
Tempo 4 Miles @ 00:33:43
154a 161m 156e
CD 7.5 @ 00:07:06
151a 159m 150e
Walk 2.5 @ 04:33
121a 150m 108e

Swim team practice only today.

2700 Yards @ 01:00:00

Long Run today

12 Mile Run @ 01:50:00

Nice flat ride today around from Log Boom and around Lake Sammamish.

50 Mile Bike @ 03:00:00

Open water swim this AM in Lake Washington. Julie was injured and was kind enough to swim with me. That meant that I pushed myselft pretty hard while she swam very slowly....

She also helped me with sighting so I focused on that.

Open Water Swim 1.2 Miles @ 00:45:00

No time for a run at lunch but managed to squeeze in a 4 mile treadmill run between meetings.

4 Mile Run @ 08:30 Pace

Slept in this morning and skipped swim practice. Did take a good spin around Mercer Island on my bike at lunch though. Was slowed down twice at construction areas during the tempo portion.

Bike Ride 20 Miles @ 01:12:00
WU 00:25:06
126a 155m 142e
East and West Mercer Way Tempo Pace @ 00:34:14
144a 164m 128e
CD 00:14:14
132a 162m 1293

Was going to swim open water tonight with Ruth and the Orcas but got caught up in a work project. Instead I am just going to bike to meet her at Madison and get a ride home.

Bike Ride 13 Miles @ 00:52:24
126a 158m

Did an ladder interval run workout today (.25, .5, .75, .5, .25 with .25 walk recover for each). Life is a little stressful right now and that showed in today's workout :(

Interval Run 5.5 Miles
WU 1 Mile @ 09:43
131a 144m 143e
Interval 1 - .25 Miles @ 01:49
157a 167m 1673
Interval 2 - .5 Miles @ 03:42
154a 170m 170e
Interval 3 - .75 Miles @ 05:36
160a 173m 173
Interval 4 - .75 Miles 05:37
162a 175m 175e
Interval 5 - .5 Miles @ 03:46
157a 172m 172e
Interval 6 - .25 Miles @ 01:52
147a 169m 169e

No swim coach today so Julie wrote us a workout. Not many people showed up so we all had our own lanes. At the end of practice, everyone got out of the pool so I did my last 100, 50 all by myself. Not bad though because I negative split it by 4 seconds over my first in that set.

Swim Practice 2650 @ 01:00:00
WU
200s, 100k, 200p
Main Set
3x200 Swim (EZ, Moderate, 85%)
3x50 Kick
4x50 IM Order
500 Swim for Time (09:30?)
4x25 IM Order
4x:
100 and 50 @ 1:30 each (100 at challenging interval -- go right into 50 recovery)

Went for a long hot run today at lunch from the office and through the Mercer Slough. Completely wiped me out. I HATE running in the heat.

Long Run 10 miles @ 01:28:00
144a 161e

Yesterday we drove to Enumclaw to ride to Crystal Mountain with the cascade group. It was not raining in Seattle so we thought that would be true there -- unfortunately not and the ride was rained out. We did get the cue sheets though and drove home in the rain to eventually just take the day off.

So today we gave it another try and rode to the Crystal Mountain ski resort and back for a total of 76 miles. Beautiful ride although the traffic was a bit heavy as every motorcycle and RV in WA also agreed. Had a tailwind on the way up and a headwind on the way down so we worked both ways with the wind in our favor.

Bike Ride 76 Miles @ 5 hours

Gave blood yesterday so took today a bit easier. Slept in instead of swimming in the lake and went for an aerobic run at lunch.

6 Mile Run @ 00:54:15
145a 163m

Had my own lane at swim practice this AM but the workout was fun.
WU
200s, 100k
Main Set (Ladder)
400 Pull (every 100 -- 1st backstroke and 4th fast)
300 Reverse IM
200 Free (25 fast, 25 slow)
100 Sprint
01:00 REST
100 Sprint
200 Free (25 slow, 25 fast)
300 IM
400 Pull (every 100 -- 1st backstroke and 4th fast)
CD
100k

Bike Ride Around Mercer Island @ 01:10:00
Rode around Mercer Island at lunch. Did a long WU to get to the area. Then pushed it on West and East Mercer Way at a tempo pace. Beautiful day for a ride!
WU @ 00:24:40
119a 150m 144e
Tempo Pace @ 00:33:21
147a 168m 138e
CD @ 00:12:10
138a 165m 140e

Tempo run today at lunch on the treadmill. Did a 1 mile WU, then 3 miles at 8:00 pace and .5 mile walking CD. Definitely would have had a difficult time doing more than 3 miles at tempo pace.
WU 1 Mile @ 00:08:26
134a 146m 134e
3 Miles @ 00:24:00
160a 168m 166e
CD .5 Mile walk @ 00:07:30
127a 166m 109e

Another great swim today. Emily gave us a workout that looked doable but I was pretty tired after. Worked hard to keep up with Duncan and Gary and their pull bouys during the 3x100 sets.

Swim Practice 2900 @ 01:00:00
WU
200s, 100k, 200p
Main Set
3x100 swim
4x50 Kick descending
3x100 Pull
4x50 IM Order
2x:
3x100 Swim
4x50 Swim Descending
3x100 Pull
4x50 Swim Fast
CD
100 EZ

Ruth is biking to Bellevue this PM and will pick up the car while I am bike to Seattle. Then we are meeting at the LunaChix Bike Skills workshop at CycleU this evening.

Good bike after work. Rode from Bellevue over Juanita to the Sandpoint for the cycling skills clinic.
Bike Ride 20 Miles @ 01:17:00

Should have taken today as a rest day but ran with Katie after work. It was not the best idea because I was kind of cranky but Katie put up with me anyway. I also uploaded my training log because I need a better idea of my weekly training. The link to it is on the right.

4 Mile Run @ 00:40:00

Had a really nice bike ride today -- Cheryl let me tag along with her group so I had the luxury of easy to read cue sheets with a map and lots of time riding some beautiful country roads. Ruth worked the ride so I just took off by myself and enjoyed cycling for the first time in a while. Kept the pace EZ and did not push it. Almost felt meditative and I had a chance to come to peace with -- or at least feel some respite from some of the stuff that I have been struggling with.

Long Bike 67 miles @ 04:10:00
126a

Went for a long run today -- same route as last week's long run -- across I5 up to 175th and back. First time running since last week because my blisters from hiking have been so bad. Felt good the whole time. Nothing like a week off of running!

Long Run 11 Miles @ 01:45:17
141a 157m

Swam in the lake today with the team. Wore my zoomers to try to keep up with Ruth and the other fast swimmers but they did not help much at all :(

Rainy day so that ended up being my only workout.

Emily posted a good swim workout this AM -- and Carolyn came in to swim with us so life is very good :) Warm up felt a little rough but I had worked it out by the end of the workout. Ruth is biking over this afternoon to my work and going to drive my car home while I bike home.

2500 SWIM PRACTICE @ 01:00:00
WU
200S, 100K, 100P
Main Set
6x (75, 100, 125 @ 01:55)
6x50 (25 sprint, 25 EZ) @ 01:20

Had a good bike ride home from work. Went around the South end of the lake from Bellevue and watched this guy wipe out in front of me on his lightspeed. He was fine but had been riding pretty squirelly so I was not too surprised. I have lost my HR monitor strap somewhere in my house -- last time I saw it was on Sunday after my long run so I have no idea about my HR.

Tomorrow is a swim in the lake and I am going to wear my zoomers to try to keep up with the fast kids!
Bike from Work 30 miles @ 02:00:00

Did an AM spin on my rollers. Legs STILL sore from Monday's hike -- guess I am not in as good shape as I would like to believe. Hopefully my blisters will heal to the point where I can put on sneakers tomorrow but the one on the right ankle still looks pretty bad. Did a 10 minute WU and then kept my pace at 20 mph for 45 minutes with a 5 minute CD.

18 Mile Ride @ 01:00:00

Decided to sleep in this AM and missed Swim Team practice. Legs are pretty sore today from yesterday's hike. Did the LunaChix bike ride around Mercer Island after work. They called it a speed workout but it really was just a ride. I rode with the lead group who were going about 18-20 mph and hung on pretty easily with them despite the sore quads. I did drop a little when we went around curves on the wet pavement so my apparent weakness is bike handling skills.

Will attend their bicycle handling skills workshop next week.

I still have bad blisters on my heels from yesterday's hike so I am not going to be able to run tomorrow. Will do an AM roller workout instead.

Today we went for a hike up Granite Mountain with the boys. The elevation gain was 3800 feet and the distance up was about 4 miles. Although I was able to climb it without too much difficulty, it was a good ass-kicker of a hike and I have several blisters to show for it. Coming down was much harder and slower for me because I was tired and just am not too nimble on my feet.

No bicycle riding for me this weekend but am doing a speed workout with the LunaChix girls tomorrow after work if the weather cooperates.

8 Mile Hike @ 03:45

Went for a long run today from my house over I5 and up Meridian to 175th. Then back down 5th and then 15th back to my house. Took almost two hours and I got about 11+ miles in.

Long Run 11+ Miles @ 01:50:00
Average HR 134

In the afternoon, we went to Madison Park and lounged on the beach. Got in the water and swam about a half mile but that was all.

Open Water Swim .5 Miles @ 0:20:00

No Ironman Distance racing for me in 2005. Most of the big Ironman races are filled up and I am not enthused about the races (or the associated traveling cost) that I could do this year.

After a lot of thought and consultation with Ruth and my coach, I decided to wait another year before going for the full iron distance. However, I am going to go to IM Canada this year to cheer on my friends who are racing and sign up for IM Canada 2006. That will give me a full year to prepare for a race I can get excited about.

I will plan to race the Black Diamond 1/2 Ironman in September with a sub 5:30 finish and will devote the rest of the summer preparing for that.

Swam in the lake this AM with Gisela who is still nursing an injury so I just pulled the entire time without kicking so we were the same pace. On the way back though, she slowed down quite a bit so I got pretty cold near the end.

Lake Swim 1.2 Miles (to the bouy)

Went for a bike ride during lunch with my friend Sandy around Mercer Island. Because our paces are not the same, I sent her around the East Mercer Way because she does not know the route and I went the opposite way. Once I passed her, I rode a little bit longer and then turned around and caught up with her. So I was able to get in a decent workout. I realized that today was the first time I was on my bike since the race. I have done a couple of spin classes but nothing on the Orbea.

Bike Ride around Mercer Island 01:20:00