We swam in the lake this morning to rest tomorrow for Saturday's 3 Mile Fat Salmon Open Water Swim. It was choppy out there -- both ways and a thoroughly unpleasant swim -- despite the wonderful company.

1.4 Mile Open Water Swim @ 00:50:00

Then I bricked it with a ride to work on the Hindenburg. I was tired and cold and definitely in survival rather than strong mode.

12 Mile Bike @ 01:00:00
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I talked Ruth into skipping a PM bike and instead coming to Bellevue and going to Happy Hour with me. We both are really tired and the decision was reinforced by the rain outside as we ate cheap sushi :)

Went to bed last night at 8:15. We are pretty whipped and things have not even begun to get crazy yet!

Katie did hills with me today and that made the workout so much better. We ran Greenlake to the Dog Park area and did hill repeats on gravel paths. I decided to do 4 hill repeats and then added 1 at the end of that to push myself. I have a long way to go but her advice and coaching helped me improve my splits each time. Next time I will do 7 and she advised me to keep the middle 5 at 1:25.

Hill Repeat Run @ 00:55:62

WU @ 16:41
149a, 193m

Hill 1 (not the one I repeated -- it was just there) @ 01:41
132a, 149m

Hill Repeat 1 @ 01:33
130a, 156m

Hill Repeat 2 @ 01:27
147a, 164m

Hill Repeat 3 @ 01:28
150a, 168m

Hill Repeat 4 @ 01:23
151a, 167m

Hill Repeat 5 @ 01:21 (extra credit)!
147a, 197m

CD @ 18:00

Got to swim with Duncan today -- pushed myself quite a bit more trying to keep up with him initially, and that turned into not letting him lap me -- and then that turned into not letting him lap me before I hit the flags. He did 300's to my 250's and 250's to my 200's. Despite the declining dignity, I had a terrific swim, got in more mileage and need to swim with him more.

2650 Swim @ 00:55:00

We had a late afternoon appointment to sign all the condo papers. whew. I had a tempo bike workout on my schedule and opted to just do it on the rollers because I needed things to be simple and easy. I lost the lap information so no HR but it hovered between 128-132 during the tempo portion. That does not seem high but I could not get it up higher than that.

19 Mile Tempo Bike @ 01:00:00

10 Minute WU
45 Minute Tempo @ 19-20 mph pace
5 Minute CD

Then I did a quick home core and weight session.

Weight Training

CORE
5 x 15 Plank (front and side)
3 x 15 Back on Ball
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)

BICEP
2 x 12, 1 x 8 Bicep Curls @ 16 lb weights

TRICEP
3 x 15 Tricep Extensions (behind head)

Two beautiful words:

REST DAY

Katie ran with me today and that made it so much better. I had to run 8 miles today and my legs sure were tired after yesterday...

I ran to her house and then we ran 5-6 together -- then I ran home.

8+ Mile Run @ 01:33:30
141a, 175m

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Another long training week...not much more to say than that...

Went for a RAMROD Training Ride today. After riding a bit with the group, Ruth and I agreed that we are each other's favorite riding partners and were happy to let everyone go ahead, posture and jostle for position while we rode at our own pace.

Got in over 5500 feet of elevation and while we did not finish as spectacularily as we had last week, we ended quite strong. The worst part of the ride was the 2 miles and then 10 miles on I-90. Ruth summed it up best by saying "If I never ride I-90 again on my bicycle, it will be too soon.

116 Mile Ride @ 07:50:00
121a

We need to set our alarm earlier on Lake Fridays...by the time we got to the water, we just missed the gang taking off. I had a good swim though and made it to the 2nd bouy and back.

1.25 Mile Open Water Swim @ 01:00:00
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Got in a quick lift at lunch today.

Weight Training

CORE
Back Extensions 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Slanted Bench
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 12 @ 25 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 2 x 10 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 2 x 15 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 12 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 10 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 15 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 15 Assisted Dip @ 110

Last night, I was still feeling burned and un-motivated so I made the decision to sleep in and get in an interval (4 miles @ 8:20 Pace .25 recovery) run on the treadmill at lunch. It was a good decision even though work was crazy and it was the best I could do to fit it in.

6 Mile Interval Run @ 00:57:21

WU 1 Mile @ 09:38

Mile 1 @ 08:21
147a, 152m

Mile 2 @ 08:20
149a, 157m

Mile 3 @ 08:20
154a, 160m

Mile 4 @ 08:20
155a, 163m

CD .25 Miles @ 04:13
124a, 108e

While it was nice to have Tuesday off, this morning felt like another Monday. But a bit more brutal as I was recovering a bit from yesterday's mango/strawberry margaritas....

So swim was uneventful. There were so few people there that I had my own lane. Tonight we have a bike interval workout planned.

2300 Swim Practice @ 00:50:00
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Went into today's bike interval workout not feeling my best. Ended up doing 4 x 2 Mile Intervals on Lake Washington BLVD. I did not time them -- and did a .5 mile recover in between each one.

15 Mile Bike @ 00:56:00

Today we went for an AM Independence Day Swim and Bike Ride.

Jeff and I swam to the 2nd bouy and back today. It was a nice swim and I got to work on my stroke during the swim.

1.2 Mile Swim @ 01:00:00

Then Jeff, Ruth and I went for a ride around the south end of Lake Washington. I rode for the first time with the new Zipp Wheels -- damn they are fast. I got in a couple of sprints and it was all together an excellent ride!

40 Mile Ride @ 02:30:00

I know I was supposed to take the entire day off, but I was feeling a bit antsy and wanted to get in a workout that will not get me in too much trouble. Plus I am finally starting to get the tiniest definition in my arms and I would be so sad to lose it... So I got in a lift at lunch today.

Weight Training

CORE
Back Extensions 3 x 15 @ 10 lb plate
3 x 15 Legs Up Captain's Chair
3 x 15 Crunch on Machine @ 25 lb
5 x 1:00 Plank (front and side)

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 1 x 12, 1 x 8 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 1 x 15, 1 x 13 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 15 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 12 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 15 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 12 Assisted Dip @ 110

I had a miserable terrible awful dreadful horrible death march disguised as a long run today. It has been a long training week and I looked forward to perhaps a light little run before resting on the Madison Park Beach with Ruth whilst sipping some cold, sweet alcohol laced beverage. After all, we certainly had earned it with all the hard long training we had put in.

Then my coach came over to talk about training for the next month and left me with a 15 mile long run to do before meeting Ruth at Madison. The plan did not sound too bad as I was to do it as a run (10 min) walk (1 min). My first three miles hurt. A lot. Then I started to feel better running around Lake Union until the heat got to me and even though I had water and gatorade with me -- and took a sip of each during the 1 minute walk, I started to get slower and it became harder. Much. I also went off the planned route a bit because I got little lost. By the time I hit the Arboretum, I had to walk for 5 minutes to try to get composed again.

Finished by running straight down Madison for a total finish of about 12 miles. In 2.5 laborious wretched hours. By the time I got to Ruth, I was hot and cranky beyond words -- even though I had plenty of words to describe my unhappiness. Ruth said that I am built for endurance sports (I disagreed today) -- but perhaps the Itiderod might be my race...

12 Mile Run @ 02:29
127a. 229m
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Almost hit 20 hours of training this week. Next week will offer a bit more relief...

We are bone tired but so very proud of ourselves. Today we rode our longest ride ever as part of our training for RAMROD in July. We did the Flying Wheels route with an extra 35 loop in Snohomish that Jeff had shown Ruth last month. The best part was running into Jeff and his daughter Kaitlin on the trail -- perfect timing because he directed us to the right turn-off for the loop.

About halfway through, I was starting to bonk a little as I had nothing to eat since the egg and cheese bagel I had for breakfast. We stopped in Snohomish after the loop and had a nice lunch of turkey sandwich. When that kicked in, I felt really strong again. I am afraid that I may be built for this kind of thing :(

The route was perfect as we hit the worst elevation at mile 100 -- very similar to the RAMROD route although it was no mountain pass, we did get in over 4500 ft of elevation.

139.5 Mile Ride @ 09:00:00
120a, 165m

It sure was a beautiful morning for a swim! There was a bigger crowd at the lake at 5:45 than I have seen all summer. The sun was out and the lake like glass so there were no excuses and we swam to the 2nd bouy and back.

1.22 Mile Open Water Swim @ 00:45:00
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Have an appointment at 5:30 at Speedy Reedy to put on my amazing new wheels. Ruth had an appointment on the East Side so we got to eat lunch together. That left me with little time to get in a lift before heading across the lake in holiday traffic. So I left a bit early and came home to do my living room workout.

Weight Training

CORE
5 x 15 Crunch on Ball (front and side)
3 x 15 Lower Ab Leg Lift
3 x 15 Back on Ball
5 x 1:00 Plank (front and side)

SHOULDER
3 x 12 Shoulder Raise @ 8 lb dumbbells

CHEST
2 x 15, 1 x 10 Push Up on Ball

BACK
3 x 6 Reverse Fly on Ball @ 8 lb dumbbells

BICEP
3 x 15 Bicep Curl @ 16 lb dumbbells

TRICEP
3 x 15 Tricep Extensions Over Head @ 16 lb dumbbells

It has been a very full and stressful week. Last night, Ruth agreed to sleep in if I needed to in the morning. When the alarm went off, I (of course) wanted to go back to sleep but Ruth was awake and got up to go to swim practice. So I joined her and was glad I did.

I swam with Duncan today and it was a good decision as it evened out the lanes and pushed me to work harder. Part of the workout was to do a 10 minute swim and count laps (10:00 @ 625) and then a 5 minute swim and do more than half the laps of the 10 (5:05 @ 325).

So I almost made it...I really need to work on my flip turns as I lose a lot of speed on the wall.

2350 Swim Practice @ 00:55:00
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Today's bike hill workout was tougher mentally than physically. I was hungry and not in the mood at all to do it. But I completed 5 hill repeats on the Hindenburg from Lake Washington BLVD to Pine. Did 1, 3 and 5 seated and 2 and 4 as 8 revolutions standing, 8 seated.

Bike Hill Workout @ 01:07:28

WU @ 11:52
91a, 112m

Interval 1 @ 06:33
140a, 149m

Interval 2 @ 06:52
143a, 157m

Interval 3 @ 06:48
143a, 157m

Interval 4 @ 06:51
146a, 157m

Interval 5 @ 06:55
144a, 156m

CD @ 06:15

Got in a good interval run before before entering meeting hell at work. I did 10 x 400 with 200 walk/jog recovery. My fastest was a 1:39 and slowest was a 1:44. I was happpy that I was able to keep the last few fairly consistent.

6+ Mile Interval Run @ 01:02:00

WU @ 00:18:14
164a, 199m

Interval 1 @ 01:43
173a, 195m

Interval 2 @ 01:39 (fastest one)
151a, 172m

Interval 3 @ 01:43
153a, 175m

Interval 4 @ 01:41
158a, 192m

Interval 5 @ 01:42
162a, 195m

Interval 6 @ 01:44
164a, 194m

Interval 7 @ 01:42
168a, 207m

Interval 8 @ 01:42
159a, 199m

Interval 9 @ 01:42
173a, 203m

Interval 10 @ 01:43
164a, 211m

CD @ 10:57
143a, 211m

Sprint workout this morning. We drove to Lake Washington BLVD and did the same workout as the one last month. However, I shortened my recovery and by accident, I believe I shortened a 1 mile sprint to a .75 - may have done it twice judging from my lap time but I am not sure.


16 Mile Sprint Bike Workout @ 01:44:05

WU @ 11:29
99a, 123m

1 Mile Sprint @ 02:59
139a, 152m
.25 Recovery @ 01:03
130a, 147m

.75 Mile Sprint @ 02:07
139a 150m
.25 Recovery @ 01:01
131a, 147m

.5 Mile Sprint @ 01:31
138a, 148m

Recovery to top of Seward Park Upper Loop @ 03:30
127a, 144m

Upper Loop 4 Laps @ 10:49
143a, 159m
Recovery @ 02:28
117a, 148m

Upper Loop 4 Laps @ 10:49
141a, 161m
Recovery back to blvd @ 03:14
113a, 152m

1 Mile Sprint @ 02:19 (?)
147a, 158m
.25 Mile Recovery @ 01:01
140a, 156m

1 Mile Sprint @ 03:09
152a, 159m

CD @ 09:05
127a, 156m

Commute to Work @ 00:35:21
125a, 160m

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Ended up working late and was not able to leave the office until after 6:00 so I did not get in the planned Open Water swim after my bike commute. So I rode to Madison Beach and hung out waiting for Ruth to get done.

10 Mile Commute @ ??

Got back in the pool today and learned that we were supposed to have access to a shower as they are remodeling the women's locker room but that did not happen. We do have access to a rinse off shower on the deck :(

The other terrible news is that there is a rumor that Sarah has left Swim Seattle for good. I am going to confirm that rumor with her shortly :(

But regardless, I had a good swim practice. I really need to butch up and swim with Duncan again now that Sarah is not swimming as I do not get challenged enough in my own lane.

2500 Swim Practice @00:55:00
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Busy schedule at work! Managed to squeeze in a speed weight training session at lunch.

Weight Training

CORE
Back and Side Extensions 5 x 15 @ 10 lb plate (no weights for side)
3 x 15 Legs Up Captain's Chair
3 x 15 Crunch on Machine @ 25 lb

SHOULDERS
Overhead Press 2 x 15 @ 22.5 dumbbells
Shoulder alternate raise side and front 2 x 12 @ 10 dumbbells

CHEST
Press 1 x 15, 1 x 11 @ 65 barbell
Chest Flyes 2 x 15 @ 30 dumbbells

BACK
Seated Row 2 x 12 @ 90 machine
Lat Pull Down 2 x 10 @ 90 machine

BICEPS
2 x 8 Curl @ 30 barbell
Concentration Curl 2 x 8 @ 20 dumbbells

TRICEPS
2 x 12 triceps kickback @ 12 dumbbell
2 x 12 Assisted Dip @ 110

Happy Pride Day!

Went for a quick run down to and around Greenlake. Didn't feel good until I was on my way up the hill home...perhaps that was how long it took me to sweat out last night's alcohol.

Apparently I need to build up a better tolerance -- we are off to the parade right now and I will work on my alcohol tolerance today :)

6 Mile Run @ 00:57:21
148a, 187m
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It was an honest recovery week with a good ride on Saturday.

We had a beautiful ride from Enumclaw to Chinook Pass. It was sunny, warm and beautiful. It is so interesting how different Ruth and I are -- she always takes off too fast (for me) and I always end a bit fast (for her). When we started the real climb to Chinook, it was quite warm and I freaked out a bit because of the heat and really struggled.

Then Ruth dropped me and when she stopped at 123 and 410, I was quite cranky and feeling as though I might die from dehydration on the ride. Ruth pointed out that my water and gatorade bottles were actually half full but I returned that I was SAVING them for the final throes of the death march and was quite dramatic about the whole thing.

Then she said the magic words "we could turn around -- we did accomplish our mission". That got a very quick and indignant "no" from me and we went up easily to the top where there was snow, and it was much cooler...She had been feeling not so great at the beginning but once she hit some elevation with full sun, she was feeling fabulous. I, on the other hand was feeling good until the full sun and elevation :(

On the way home, she had a brilliant idea. We went into the Safeway we had parked at and got wet wipes, recovery drinks, a sandwich and deodorant. Then we proceeded to "shower" in the car and went straight to The Rose for the Beer Garden and catch up with everyone at Pride weekend. She said that if we came home to shower, it would be all over and we would not go out -- she was right and we had a fun time despite being as sticky as fly paper -- the 4 beers helped.

90 Miles @ 06:09:00
I forgot my HR strap...