Did the last long run before the race.  I tried to take it easy on the 10 mile run and not push hard at all.  It was really windy this morning.  I sure am hoping it is not windy on race day.

AP:  8:46
 

I did a real easy brick workout this morning.  I did about 4 1 minute tempo rides while on the bike but kept is very moderate and tried to keep the lets from burning at all.

Followed the ride with a 2 mile run that was at an easy pace.  Every 5 minutes I did a tempo run for 1 minute, so basically did 3 of those.  Ended up running at an AP of 8:30 which was a little fast, but I did not feel like I was pushing hard at all.

Not sure how many yards I swam this morning because I was not concerned with that.  I just wanted to get a nice easy swim in with 25 yard bursts every 3 laps or so.  I swam for about 25 minutes and my arms felt good.  They have had a few days to recover since my last swim.

After the swim I did a 2.7 mile run.  Short tempo runs every 5 minutes for 1 minute.  My legs felt great and really did not feel like I was working them other than the first tempo run going uphill the whole way. 

I sure am looking forward to my race this Saturday!

Easy run and bike this morning.  Did the same thing as Monday with tempo rides and runs along with slower paces.  I realized I was running 8 minute miles and I hardly felt like I was running at all.  I figured it was just 2 miles so my legs should recover just fine.  Tomorrow is a swim day and no running or biking.  Friday will be a really short workout to get the pre-race jitters out.

Not sure how much I swam this morning.  I did a very short (13 minute) swim just to get in the water and have a feeling for how cold the water would be on race day and let my arms get a little time with the swimming motion.  It was pretty cold to start, but after about 5 minutes it felt just fine.  Last swim until race day. 

Day before race day.  Easy bike and run to get the jitters out.

Well, the big day came and went.  I was very excited for the race because my buddy Rhett and I have been training since March for this half Ironman.  It did not go as well as I would have liked but I learned a lot and I felt like I improved a lot in a few areas when compared to my first half Ironman.  I felt very healthy and I had no nagging injuries or problems with my body for the race. 

I got up at 5am after a pretty good night sleep considering I was racing the next morning and headed to the race.  I had half a bowl of oatmeal and half a banana.  I only forgot 1 thing and my awesome wife was nice enough to bring it to me.  I owe her for that one.  I hung out in the transition area for a while just talking with Rhett and a few other people and tried to keep my nerves in check.  About 25 minutes before the swim was to start I put the wetsuit on and gathered what I needed and headed out to the beach.  I was nervous, but not as nervous as I was for my first Half Ironman.

SWIM:  1.2 miles @ 30.13

It was a beach start so after the race director said a few words a mass of people headed out to the water.  It was a mass start so EVERYONE doing the full and half distances started at the same time.  The water was perfect and I really enjoyed the swim.  I tried to stay on the outside of everyone so I did not get punched and kicked too much, but some of the areas of the swim were very crowded so there were a couple times it was tough to get some spacing.  Overall I was very happy with my swim.

T1:  5:18

I thought I got out of the T1 faster than I did but I guess not.  I was not impressed with my ability to get out of my wetsuit and get all the stuff I needed for the ride.  This is an area I really need to improve on and get much faster.  This is a small thing, but can make a big difference in the overall time.  I was faster than last year, but not by much.  I will work on this for next year.  At T1 a took in a 5 hour energy and I think this could have contributed to problems later in the race.  Next year, no 5 hour energy at any part of the race.

Bike:  56 miles @ 2:55:44

I felt really good on the bike and thankfully my bike worked great and had no mechanical problems.  For most of the race I pretty much rode alone.  There was nobody really by me most of the time.  Most everyone I came by I passed pretty quickly.  My legs felt really good up until about mile 48.  At mile 48 I started to feel some sight tightness/cramping in my right quad.  This was a bad sign of things to come.  It really started when I went up the fist steep hill on the second loop.  I decided I should try to let the legs relax just a little so I slowed my pace for the last 8 miles to try to let my legs recover.  I think I could have been about 3-5 minutes faster had I not let my legs rest, but I figured I needed to save my legs for the run.  I felt good with my effort on the bike and I actually was pretty far ahead of most of the people in my age group at this point.

T2:  3:33

By the time I got to T2 I had to pee really bad.  I got my shoes on and took 3 endurolyte pills (I was very concerned about cramping on the run after what I felt on the bike) and used the restroom.  Due to the bathroom break my T2 time was much slower than I would have liked.  Looking back, I should have used the restroom right before I put on my wetsuit.  Yet another lesson I learned with this race.

Run:  13.1 miles @ 2:18:55

This is where things went south for me.  I started the first .5 miles well, but after a very steep part of the run my quads cramped up and boy did they cramp up.  By this time I was very upset and I was actually worried about being able to finish the race.  I stopped for about 2-3 minutes and sat down on the sidewalk.  I got up and started running again and made it about another .25 miles before I started having signifigant pain and cramping.  Again, I had to stop.  A lady game me some salt sticks that I took to try to help with the cramps.  After about 2-3 minutes for sitting on the curb again I got up and started to run again at a very slow pace.  I made it to the first aid station and started to down HEED, water, and bananas.  I sat down on a park bench for about 5 minutes and then started running again.  I was able to run to the second aid station, with the exception of walking up a steep hill, where I took in more of the same stuff I had at the fist aid station.  From there I basically was able to run from aid station to aid station.  At each aid station I would stop and make sure I took in plenty of fluids and pretzels.  My quads were cramping the whole time and it was very painful to run, but I was at least able to run which I was very thankful for.  By about mile 12 my mind and legs were just use to the cramps so they did not hurt nearly as much and I was able to pick up the pace a little and finish the run portion of the race strong.

Race Summary:  5:53:44 (52 minutes faster than 2013 Pumpkin Man Half Ironman)

I was happy to finish and PR the race, but I was disappointed with the run.  I learned a lot that I can use for my Half Ironman next year and I plan to train a little different.  More brick workouts and more running longer distances when my legs are tired.  I felt like my bike and swim improved a lot from a year ago, but my run was almost exactly the same as last year, and I mean within seconds.  Without cramps I likely would have improved substantially on my run from last year and knowing that will bug me for the next year.  Overall I had a great time and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Tried a run but it is too soon after my race.  My legs were not feeling it so I stopped and walked the .4 mile home.

This is my first real run since my triathlon.  My legs took a real beating with all the cramping I experienced and I have been in too much pain to run.  I tried to run yesterday but I was still too sore to run.  I was happy that my legs felt much better today.  I did not track my pace, I just wanted to be able to get out and run.

Pretty frustrating run.  I started to feel like my hamstring was getting strained at mile 5 so I had to stop.  I was hoping to do 10 easy miles, but I was not able to.  I ended up walking about a mile and a half home.

This morning was the first real cold morning here in Havasu.  It was windy and pretty cold but after a couple miles I was nice and warm.  I was able to run 5 miles with no pain in the leg which I was very happy about.  I did not run hard and kept my pace pretty slow for the run, but the goal for me today and the goal for me this week will be to get more miles in at a managable pace and keep the legs injury free.

AP:  8:34

It was a really nice morning.  It was cold, but the wind was not blowing so it was acutally really nice to run.  My legs felt much better than yesterday.  I stretched a lot last night and used a heat pad/massage pad on the hamstring.  I stopped a couple of times when I felt things get a little tight and stretched, but nothing ever hurt during the run.  I ran faster than yesterday, but did not push nearly as hard as I could have.  Tried to keep it just a nice tempo run.

AP:  8:04

It was a beautiful cool morning in Havasu.  I started out on the run feeling better than I have since my race.  The first 2 miles were just great.  After 2 miles I started to feel some tightness in the left quad so I stopped and did some stretching.  The tightness went away and I felt great again.  This was by far the best run since my triathlon and my legs are starting to feel like they did pre-triathlon.

AP:  7:54 (most likely I was faster because I had an 8:26 mile while I was stretching)

I took a rest day today.  My right calf was really tight when I woke up and I felt like I should give the body a day of rest.

I am sure glad I took yesterday off.  This is the first long run since my half ironman and the first run where everything felt pretty good.  The calf was still tight for the first few miles, but I never had any pain with it.  I felt a little twinge in the left quad one time for just a second and then it was gone.  I kept the pace slow so I really didn't feel like I was working hard at all and tried to just get into a comfortable rythem and just run.  It felt great to run with no pain.   And the weather was PERFECT!

AP:  8:23

At 11 I headed to the pool to get a swim in.  I did about 30 laps which took 35 minutes.  Just worked on form and tried to enjoy a little time in the pool.

Easy recovery run.  My legs felt tired at mile 3 so I went another .5 and stopped.  Just walked the .5 home. 

This moring was the first morning of marathon training.  I spent 2 hours yesterday mapping out a 14 week running schedule.  I will most likely modify it, but I at least have an idea of the miles I am shooting for and what type of runs I want to do.  I did 6 miles this morning and the legs overall felt good.  I am still not 100% healthy and each run there seems to be something that gives me a little pain here and there, but nothing hurts enough to stop.  I did slow down on the last mile, but overall I was able to run pretty well.

AP:  7:43

I did interval speed work this morning.  5 miles with 1/2 mile fast and 1/2 mile moderate.  I was shooting for 8:15 slow miles and 7:00 fast miles but I am not sure if that was where I was at.  My fist 3 miles were under 7:30, mile 4 was at 7:40 and mile 5 was just over 8:00.  My legs felt really good and I did not have any areas that felt irritated or hurt.  I rolled and stretched a lot last night. 

AP:  7:37

I did an 8 mile easy run this morning.  My legs felt really good!  I think they are finally recovering from the race.  No pain just the usual tightness I always feel on my left hamstring that goes up to the glutes.  I kept it simple and easy and tried to keep the same pace for the entire run.  Felt good!

AP:  8:10

It was Thanksgiving and my legs felt a little tired so I did a short easy run.  I wanted to save them for my long run on Friday.
 

Had a really good run this morning.  I am finally feeling some confidence with running again.  Since my race my legs have not felt the same, but the legs felt really good with the run today and I was able to do the 15 fairly easily.  I kept my pace nice and easy for the first 10 miles (around 8:30-8:45) and the last 5 miles I slowly increased the speed with my last mile at around 7:38.  My legs felt great at the end of the run.  It was a real confidence booster for me.

AP:  8:33

I finished the week with a 17 mile bike ride with Rhett followed by a 2.5 mile run.  It was nice to get on the bike and get a chance to talk with Rhett for a while.  I really enjoyed riding with him while we were triathlon training.  It will be a nice break on Saturdays.  The ride felt good and we just took it easy.

My run after the ride was done at an easy pace.  I just wanted to get a little run in after the bike.  My legs felt tired after my run yesterday and my right quad was a little tight, but everything else felt fine.  Now I am going to rest the remainder of today and tomorrow.

I hit the 40 mile mark and that was the goal for the week.