Texas Man Taper??

I should be tapering for this coming Sunday's Texas Man Olympic-distance Tri, but instead I seem to have been building up steam the last couple of weeks instead. I guess it feels good to have some "normal" workouts - i.e., having my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS and heart rate data available again (after breaking during the MS-150) and a healing/improving finger (I was finally able to go in the pool after getting the stitches out).

Anyway, here are the workouts from the last week and a half:

Tue, May 5: First training session after two rest days following the "MS-72."  A 2-mile run followed by a 1-hour spin class.  No stats due to my broken watch, but it was a good workout.

Wed, May 6: 60-minute spin and a 500 yd swim. First time in the pool since the Caveman Tri - got my stitches out yesterday.  11:10 - my slowest swim pace for this distance in quite some time.  Oh well, if this is my (re)starting point in the pool, I'll take it.  Post-swim: my wounded fingers are a little sore from rubbing against each other - I may need to bandage them up.

Thu, May 7: 1-hour spin class and 1.5 mile brick run on the treadmill.  Nothing special, just chugging along. 

Fri, May 8: Woo-hoo! I got my replacement "newly overhauled" Garmin Forerunner 305!  Only took $79 and about a week of waiting.  Looking forward to testing it out tomorrow.

Sat, May 9: 6-mile treadmill run in 51:54. Tried to concentrate on base training and keep my heart rate under 150 bpm. I was somewhat successful for the first two miles, but it kept steadily creeping upwards. I increased my pace by 0:30/mi at the 4.5, 5, and 5.5 mile marks - and was running at a 7:30/mi pace at the end. 

Followed my run with 2.25 hours of spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm). Actually, my heart rate was averaging 157 bpm for the first hour or so, but by the 1:45 mark, my right foot started hurting.  I usually don't wear my running shoes for spin class - and this is the reason.  Lesson (re)learned.

Sun, May 10: Texas Man Pre-Tri - about 1,000 yards of open water swim practice (yay, my wetsuit still fits) followed by a 10-mile bike - a well-deserved easy day, I suppose, after yesterday's killer session :-)

Mon, May 11: 6.5-mile treadmill base training run in 55:35. I was able to keep a 150-153 bpm average heart rate for the first 3 miles at my approximately 9:00/mi pace. Unfortunately, at that point, it started to creep up.  But I definitely see improvement versus Saturday's run - with my average heart rate about 3 bpm lower through five miles while running at the same or even slightly faster pace than that of two days ago.

Tue, May 12: 55-minute spin (avg hr = 148 bpm ... must have been tired from yesterday's run) and then 500 yd swim in 10:27. Much better swim pace that last week.

Wed, May 13: 60-minute spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm) and then a 2-mi treadmill run in 18:21 (4 x half-miles at increasing pace: 10:00/mi, 9:30/mi, 9:00/mi, 8:30/mi). The run felt tough even with the overall slower pace, but it was still good to get it in.

Thu, May 14: 70 minutes of spin. My average heart rate for the bike was only 143 bpm.  I tried to push harder - and I think cardio-wise I could have done more - but my legs were just very tired from four days in a row of running and cycling.  After spin class, a 500-yard swim in 9:27.  A lot faster than the last two swims - definitely feeling better and more comfortable in the pool, however to be fair, I also was wearing fast/aerodynamic tri-shorts (and that also helped my speed).

Fri, May 15 (plan): Early morning 3-4 mile run. I need to do some runs outside instead of just on the treadmill (where it's perfectly flat with no humidity and a mild temperatures! :-P)

Sat, May 16 (plan): One more (easy) swim - going to try for 1,500 yards - and then take it easy for the rest of the day.

Sun, May 17: Race Day!!!