Three weeks out...

6/2/2006

Went to the gym to do a swim/run brick. Once again, I swam two four-hundreds, with a short break in-between. The first one was at a reasonable pace, and I finished in 7:40. The second, I was concentrating on slow, easy strokes, gliding, and keeping my head and chest down. I was expecting a longer time on the second 400, but to my surprise, I stopped my chronometer at 7:30. I guess there is something to gliding and proper form after all.

Did a quick change and hopped on a treadmill next to Des. I started with a couple of minutes of 3.5 warmup, then cranked it up to 6.0 mph. I was feeling good, and ran 2+ miles before I had to throttle back to a fast walk for a couple of minutes. I moved it back up to 6.0, then 6.2, then 6.5. I felt a little sloppy at 6.5, so took it back down to 6.2. I was struggling a bit near the end, but still managed to finish the 3.1 miles in 35:18. Still not the pace I was hoping for, but the fact that I can now run 3.1miles without any major calf or knee pain makes my heart sing. >;-]

BTW, Des ran more than five miles after doing a one-hour Pilates class. I better hope she doesn't decide to take up triathlons.

6/4/2006

Des and I decided to do a spin class this morning. She's done several at this gym, this would be my first. We got there with our water bottles, towels, and bike shoes. As we were standing in line, a guy behind us asked if we had already checked in and gotten our hands stamped. This was news to both of us. Des had never gotten a hand stamp before, and this was my first time. When we went to check in, we found out the class was already full. On to Plan B!

We hopped on the regular exercise bikes and I set a fast cadence. My Plan B was to ride a good fast pace for thirteen miles, and see what my time would be. I went pretty hard, and ended up doing 13 miles in 32:53. A pretty good pace for me.

Plan B, Part B: Swim. I changed into my trunks and headed for the pool. My plan was just to do a nice comfortable pace and concentrate on form. I did two 400s, both in my usual 7:40 range. I am going to have to get to the beach soon for an open-water swim.

6/6/2006

Decided to run a bit today. Went to the office fitness center at lunch, warmed up on the exercise bike for five minutes, then jumped on the treadmill. Started at 3.5 for a minute or so, then took it up to 6.0. My goal was to do 1.5 miles at a steady pace, then I realized that was less than half my race distance. I set a new target of 1.6 miles. Kept it at 6.0 all the way through, and finished 1.6 miles in 16:52. Pretty close to my 10:00 mile pace. Felt no fatigue or soreness afterward.

6/8/2006

Today was a good day for a ride. I met co-worker Joel at 6:30am. We headed out for several laps around Westlake lake. I was trying to use my aero position and big ring as much as possible, but it's clear I won't be able to do the entire distance that way. Fortunately, I was able to keep a pretty good pace whether on the hoods, the aerobars, or in the drops. We spent as much time chatting as hauling, so the ~17mph average speed wasn't too bad. Ended up doing 21.5 miles in about 1:14. Felt good afterward, and I probably should have turned it into a ride/run brick. I'll get a run in the next few days, and I don't want to risk overtraining this close to the big day.

That said, I did hit the fitness center at lunch for some stretching and weight training...