Another day off. Back at it tomorrow I hope.

It was good to cheer on fellow club members and friends at the Columbia Triathlon during what turned out to be a spectacular day! Alas, the past 2 days and especially yesterday, have pretty much wiped me out. I was very tired upon returning from the event since I did have to get up early to get there. But even without that my head hurts slightly and the sun's effects are lingering. Just shows you how little I've had a chance to adjust to the bright sunshine and 80 degree weather we finally got. So, I'm afraid I'm taking a much needed down day, despite the fact that the outside has been calling me most of the day to get out. I think if I do, I'll just beat myself up more. There's a slight chance I might ride a bit but I'm doubting it considering how I feel as I'm writing this. Tomorrow will probably be another down day as I have an evening event to go to and will most likely not have time. Play the rest of the week by ear.

Well, I sure am glad the race wasn't today. Now granted, route 194 is not flat and there are a few hills along with rollers. Still, I can get up to 19-20 mph on this road. Not today. Legs felt tired as I was going out plus it felt like I had a slight headwind too. Bright sunshine and warm temps up in the 80s taught me a thing about hydration and nutrition here. I was trying not to use too much but it looks like with the effort I have to drink more and also do a bit more nutrition. The bike overall wasn't going too bad but I could feel my legs were having a problem on the way back. The run was going to be an hour and a half and I tell ya, the heat was getting to me. Just not used to it. I did okay going out but not at like a 9:30 pace, perhaps a bit better. That's not going to cut it for a PR. Then as I turn around, my right leg cramped in the left front. Waited for it to subside and pressd on. It was quite an effort to keep moving, unfortunately. Leg cramped one more time and then the run was relatively uneventful the rest of the way. Egads, I really dislike feeling this way on the run which is supposed to be my best part. I've not really had a good run on Half Iron distance. So, I think this tells me that I need to drink more on the bike and perhaps go to my nutrition plan from before. Might need salt tabs too. I may have to practice one more time. Perhaps I need to also strengthen this area but I just think I was low on hydration and electrolytes and possibliy pushed too hard on the bike, not spinning enough. Tired to begin with too. Now on the race, at least I'll have water to cool me down along the way unlike today. So, that will help. Tomorrow I'm watching Columbia and I'm really not sure if I'll be able to do anything considering how my leg feels. Perhaps an easy recovery spin on the trainer.

The rainy weather finally cleared out and while I wanted to go for a ride, too much yard work is staring me in the face. So after work, mowed the grass (which takes about 2 hours). Can't be called yard work as I ride a mower doing it. But, then tackled this other task of moving 11 little trees. 2 hours of digging holes and also digging up the trees and then moving them to the holes. Tired after all that. Tomorrow, I have another task in the morning and then planning on a long brick on 194. Possibly 60 miles riding and then 1 1/2 hours running. Need to stay in zone 2. Sunday is the Columbia Tri and I'll be cheering folks on. So, don't know what I'll be doing then. Monday is a rest day.

As planned, decided on a fast pace on the Ft Detrick 6.5 mile perimeter run. Now the first mile was a 10 pace, believe it or not. Then I kicked it up keeping track of my HR. I found I was comfortable somewhere around 148-153 and probably could maintain this during Eagleman. I figure anything around an 8:30 pace would be good if I can do about the same times for the rest of the race that I've done previously in HIM distances. Now I probably should've cut back but I was interested in seeing what HR areas for what paces I would do. So, I started to go into the 157-164 range later. And realized I was doing somewhere around a 7:30 or better pace here and there. Max HR was due to going up a long steady hill. Probably near the fastest I've done that route. Tomorrow unsure though I should bike if I get the chance. But, I've got a fair amount of yardwork that I want to get done too. So, I might not feel like much later in the day. Depends on the weather. Saturday is looking good for a long brick, but I have a yard errand that needs done during dry weather and that's Sat. Sunday I'll be supporting folks at Columbia, but hope I can go for either a ride or run. Be interesting if there was actually a pool I could use nearby. Might look tomorrow. Monday will probably be a day off as I have an evening event to go to.

I was working at home today and should've done this earlier as I could've done a longer ride. But, I was working on several things and found it a bit difficult to stop. So, when I finally was done with work, I noticed that the line of showers/thunderstorms to the south weren't moving north too fast and I thought perhaps I could get a ride in. So, quickly got my act together and headed out. Boy, it sure did look threatening to the south! Still pressed onward. About 4 miles out, I thought I should turn around rather than going south any farther. I was already getting spritzed a bit by drops. After heading back, turned to look at several points just to track progress of the rain. Yup, it was heading my way! Heard some thunder too. So, now properly motivated, really pressed to get back. Made it home just as the boundary of rain was coming over the house! Funny thing is, the rain passed and sun came back out with blue skies. So, depending on the other patches of rains/storms, I may just head back out for a run/ride a bit later. Yup, it's later! Waited for the roads to dry as long as I could and headed back out for another ride. Roads weren't quite dry though and I got a bit of splash here and there. Decided to do the same loop as I only wanted about the same amount of time, but modified it somewhat. Hmph, shows what proper motivation will do for your speed as this was a bit bit less distance but a bit slower too. But, I did take a slightly slower route too in a couple of spots. Still, definitely worked up more the first time out as indicated by avg and max HR. Tomorrow if the weather will allow, I'd like to try a tempo run around Ft D, meaning for me around 8 min miles after the first warm up mile. Friday unsure as I may take off to get some yard work done. Saturday going to try for a long brick on 194 Sunday is the Columbia Triathlon and I plan to cheer folks on from the club. Might try to ride or run after that.

Had enough time before my tri club meeting to get in a treadmill interval session. After 10 min warmup going really quite slow, I decided to do 2 min of either tempo or above running followed by 2 min rest interval. Got up to a 7 pace for one of the 2 min on. Wish I could hold that for 13.1 miles! But HR got up to 160 for that period. Actually, I could probably hold an 8-8:30 pace okay as HR only gets up into the upper 140s to low 150s. Heck, I maintain that for a while on my bike sometimes. So, we'll see. I'll have to wear my HR monitor to train like that though. The rest of the week really depends on the weather which has just been showers/thunderstorms off and on.