4.30.2012

1 More Week

Apr 23 - Apr 29
 
S:  15,348 yds - 3hr 55min
B:  170.19 mi - 9hr 31min
R:  42.93 mi - 5hr 20min
Total:  18hr 46min

Whew!  It was a good week of a more-than-generous amount of intensity on the bike and my normal dose of swimming and running.  Part of me thinks that Brian was trying to see how much threshold riding I could handle on the bike in one weekend before cracking.  Saturday was quite rough, mainly due to temperatures in the high 80's and running out of fluids, but Sunday felt a lot better...probably because I had a good early birthday steak lunch to fuel up before the ride!  What makes this all worth it is that I'm one week away from my 2012 triathlon debut at Rev 3 Knoxville (olympic), and I'm pretty excited to see how it goes.  This year has been a pretty drastic change in training structure; and after racing a half marathon, a duathlon, a 5k, and tracking progress through daily workouts, it's pretty clear that it has been a good change!

4.22.2012

"Get the work done"

Apr 16 - Apr 22
 
S:  15,398 yds - 3hr 51min
B:  140.05 mi - 7hr 33min
R:  44.43 mi - 5hr 47min
Total:  17hr 12min

Probably one of the best weekends I've had in awhile, mainly because I got to see all my favorite people!  I headed down to Tuscaloosa on Friday to watch the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship that would take place the next day.  The race was pretty fun to watch because instead of just mindlessly watching athletes fall all over themselves while they try to mount their bikes coming out of transition (which is actually pretty entertaining), I was tasked with calling out splits for Jay McCurdy as he balled his way to an 8th place overall finish.  Birmingham's own Hallie Blunck took 3rd overall in the female race, and Sara Phelps BEAT DOWN the entire field in the female open race for a 2:30 margin of victory.  Also, Marcus Farris and Kendrick Gibson took 2nd and 6th in the men's open race.  I'm proud to say that my friends straight up dominated this weekend!

I really enjoyed hanging out and watching some racing this weekend...but like it says, that's no excuse to start slacking.  One of the highlights of the weekend was a double run day on Saturday, culminating in a "trip down memory lane" run through campus and around the quad, stopping briefly at Denny Chimes to stretch and soak it in.  Sunday was of course a long ride with K and S through Lake Lurleen State Park and surrounding areas.  And as tradition would have it, the trip ended with a stop at Chipotle for a monster steak burrito...yum!

Denny Chimes

4.16.2012

Asheville!

Apr 9 - Apr 15
 
S:  9,957 yds - 2hr 30min
B:  168.47 mi - 10hr 18min (17,073 ft of climbing)
R:  42.15 mi - 5hr 25min
Total:  18hr 13min

On Thursday afternoon I headed up to Asheville, NC for a weekend of epic cycling and trail running in the mountains.  Luckily, I was joined by 2 solid riders (Oliver and Lancaster), although all the running was solo.  Friday and Saturday pretty much followed this schedule:
  • wake up, huge breakfast, coffee
  • kit up
  • 3.5-4 hour ride, climb as many mountains as possible
  • post ride meal and lounge around
  • head to the forest for a 50-60' trail run
  • shower and clean up
  • steak dinner/local beer
  • sleep
 It's probably best to just show this weekend in pictures:

Rolling out on day 1
The day's agenda: Mt. Mitchell and 7400 ft of climbing
Bikes in a row at Craggy Gardens
Photo shoot at Craggy
Mt. Mitchell: the day's first hard effort
KOM attempt on Mt. Mitchell...BOOM!!
Starting off day 2 with a nice Cat 1 climb
Devil's Courthouse
Another view from Devil's Courthouse
Refueling after day 2 at a bed and braekfast
Nice view of Mt. Pisgah while we ate
View from the daily evening trail run
Ending the week right: "Death by Hops"

4.08.2012

Another Biggest Week

Apr 2 - Apr 8

S:  15,438 yds - 3hr 52min
B:  168.62 mi - 9hr 30min
R:  40.88 mi - 5hr 10min
Total:  18hr 32min

Like it says, another biggest volume week ever.  And if you are wondering why I swam such an odd number of yards, it's because 3/4 of my weekly swims are now long course meters!!  The major highlight from the training week was actually having spring weather for once, which made everything more enjoyable.  Saturday was a great 4 hour ride with some awesome friends.  Sunday was another great day of celebrating Easter with fellow believers at church and then with my family. 

All in all, fitness is coming around quite nicely.  The first triathlon of the season (Rev 3 Knoxville Olympic) is a month away, and I'm pumped to see how things go.  The duathlon a couple weeks ago was a good sneak preview as to what is to come...but based on how things are progressing, I don't even think that was the tip of the iceberg...which is clearly a good thing.

4.01.2012

Rumpshaker 5k, etc

Mar 26 - Apr 1

S:  11,900 yds - 2hr 49min
B:  132.08 mi - 7hr 32min
R:  28.81 mi - 3hr 34min
Total:  13hr 55min

What appears to be a light week is really not so much, at least that's what the legs are sayin'.  Monday and Tuesday were essentially off, so everything was crammed into a Wednesday through Sunday.  As the title says, at the last second I decided to sign up for the Rumpshaker 5k...mainly because of the super cool name.  Since run fitness is starting to develop after 3 months of consistent 40 mile weeks, I really wanted to test out the engine on a flat-ish course.  Not too much to say other than a 9th overall and my first time under 18 minutes for 5k.  Although the 5k was fun, it really made the rest of the weekend pretty tough.  There are plenty of races that trash the legs, but for me a properly executed "pass out at the finish line" 5k really takes it out of me.  Luckily for me, Saturday and Sunday were both 3 hour tough bike sessions, including a great end to the weekend seen below:

"oh my..."