Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Austin, 3:05, 1st, and David Beckham

It has been a while since my last training update. It has been a mixture of business and laziness, and probably more the latter. Quite a lot has happened in the last few weeks. The last weekend in Feb. I went down to Austin to catch the Big12 Swimming and Diving Championships. I was at the end of my recovery week and the perfect time for a little weekend diversion. First off, Austin is amazing. It is such an awesome city to train in and also a great place to hang out. Definitely could see myself ending up there. I did three wrokouts while i was there and managed to see Michael Lovato (actually ran him down on the trail, but for fear of being perceived a stalker I cut off after a few miles), i rode into Andrea Fisher and rode with her group for a few hours, James Bonney, and someone else whose name is slipping my mind right now. I also ate at Chuy's which is one of the best Tex-Mex joints around. All in all it was a great weekend. Can't wait to get back!

In other news had my best track workout ever 2 weeks ago, and quite suprisingly it was my first one of the year. I did 5x1k w/ 90s rest. I went 3:07, 3:03, 3:06, 3:06, 3:03. It was super windy and I did it on my own, which gave me a lot of confidence going into this season. To average 3:05 k's for my first ringer of the year is a good sign. All the hard work seems to be paying off.....

Here is my weekly totals since last post:
2/25-3/2: Recovery
Swim: 15,700m
Bike: 6.25 Hrs
Run: 20 miles--too much travel, and nursing my sore calf
Hrs: 14hrs

3/3-3/9: Increase intensity
Swim: 14,400yds
Bike: 7:45 hrs w/ hard trainer ride 6x2min w/1 min recov. Ave HR= 160, Max 171
Run: 48miles w/ 5x1k w/90s (3:05ave) and 6x400 w/60s jog recov @75 as main workouts
Hrs: 17.75hrs

3/10-3/16
Swim: 14,100 yds
Bike: 7 hrs w/ 6x2min hard/2 Ez
Run: 56 miles w/ 2x(2x90hard/90easy, 60/60, 30/30, 15/15)
Hrs: 18 hrs--Sat Race St. Patrick's Triathlon!
No track wkout, but did do a sprint race, and won! I did the St Patricks Day Triathlon for a nice little hitout and to bust out the cobwebs. I did a 4.5 hour hard day the day before so my legs were shattered for the race. I still managed to race ok....My run felt smooth and solid. I neg split it for the 5k so around 8:30 for first 2.5k and 8:18 for second 2.5k for a 16:48 split by my watch.

Super Chuffed! No, I am not becoming British it is just that after the triathlon, I went to the FC Dallas v. LA Galaxy to see David Beckham play. The game was great, and we had awesome seats (15 bucks for 20th row, gotta love soccer in the states). Afterward we randomly ran into their team bus going to their "secret" hotel. As we followed the police escort, parked in a ditch, and then sprinted over to the hotel, we were able to catch Becks himself climbing off. There I stood, next to arguably the most famous sports celebrity in the world w/ no camera or anything to sign. I found my ticket stub, and did manage to snap a pic on the trusty camera phone. It was pretty crazy though. The girl next to me actually fainted when he took his pic with her. funny stuff.
Well sweet dreams ladies! This post is getting way too long so Im out!

cheers,

B