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<\/p>\nWorkout, eat, work, sleep.<\/p>\n
Workout, eat, work, sleep.<\/p>\n
This has been my week.<\/p>\n
The good news is that I love what I do, I love training, I love work, and I’ve been sleeping well, so life ain’t so bad.<\/p>\n
The bad news is that leaves very few waking hours for anything else (read: blog posts) so here is my life in the last few days:<\/p>\n
I got older on Saturday\u00a0March\u00a03.\u00a0 It was an awesome day, which included a great 2.51 mile run (25 mins), 10 mile bike (42 mins), 2,51 mile run (24) – goal was to negative split and get some time outside in my saddle.\u00a0 Mission highly accomplished!\u00a0 Also, it included a fancy crab dinner at Truluks and happy fun times with friends at the bar after.\u00a0 We literally took over their whole patio, a billion people came out.\u00a0 It was good times, I felt the luv.<\/p>\n
Blue Norther Duathlon:<\/p>\n
I obsessively checked the weather for a while on this one. It looked disasterous. \u00a0I am not afraid of running in the rain anymore (besides, ya know, lightning and downpours) but this is a du. \u00a0Never have evilbike and I been bffs outside with water.<\/p>\n
Frankly, evilbike and I have not been bffs outside since Kerrville in Oct. As in, the 10 mile ride outside is the first time we’ve hung out since then. \u00a0I mean, I’ve done hills at the gym all winter once a month and we’ve been getting reacquainted via trainer…<\/p>\n
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…but last weekend was the first time we rode outside in 5 months.<\/p>\n
And then the forecast was rain.<\/p>\n
I have never ridden in the rain.<\/p>\n
I was most definitely terrified. \u00a0I got up at 4:30 am with the pitter patter and secretly hoped it would get converted into a 10k. \u00a0I could do that. \u00a0However, the email from the race director said it was ON so on we went.<\/p>\n
You all know the addage – nothing new for race day. \u00a0Well, when you race 2 weekends a month, you don’t always have that luxury. \u00a0When I heard about the weather, we picked up some new tights. \u00a0North Face. \u00a0Because I have a lot of adventures (honestly, the best ones I tried on)…<\/p>\n
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Plus, I picked up a waterproof cycling jacket. \u00a0It zipped the sleeves off which was neat, but it wasn’t my fave color (neon green and white) so it was a maybe. \u00a0I had to be coerced to bring it but\u00a0glad\u00a0I did.<\/p>\n
Full gear list: underarmor lucky sports bra, tx tri short sleeve tech tee, asics sleeves, north face tights, nike dri fit socks, brooks t-5 racers, cep compression leg sleeves, pearl izumi cycling jacket.<\/p>\n
We did a warmup run after setting up transition, and then bathroomed and got to race start. \u00a0 I decided to zip off my sleeves and run with the izumi vest, asics sleeves, and tech tee. \u00a0And… we were off!<\/p>\n
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Zliten started with me until I looked at him and said “9:15s? Really?” and then he dropped back (his plan was 11s). \u00a0Not that I didn’t want to run with him… I just didn’t want him to fizzle boom on the first run that I was ready for. \u00a0This run, as anything USAT sanctioned, is no headphones allowed. \u00a0I was bummed, but honestly, didn’t miss it.<\/p>\n
My goal for the first 5k was a progression run. \u00a0I wanted to start out around 10s and get better from there. I actually blew that shit out of the water… \u00a09:32 the first mile, 9:24 the second, and 9:13 the third. \u00a0I think the course was actually long, so the last .2-.3 was faster (but garmin data was inconclusive becuase dummy forgot to hit splits). Overall, passed about a dozen or so groups on the run, Est. avg. 9:20 min\/mi.<\/p>\n
Then, I picked up evilbike. \u00a0I ditched my sunglasses as they were so rainsoaked I could barely see and got going. \u00a0I was SO FREAKING NERVOUS about this part. \u00a0Never rode in the rain (and why not learn in a race, right?). \u00a0I noticed about half a mile in that I didn’t do anything on my garmin and it was about 33 mins. Oooook.<\/p>\n
Started out really conservatively and cursed myself for leaving the sunglasses as my face was getting pounded with rain. \u00a0I booked when I could and took the turns super slow. \u00a0I always fancy myself a sucky cyclist but I “on your left”‘d a few dozen peeps and only got passed by 3. \u00a0I had mile splits everywhere from 14.2 (ugh) to 18.7 (yay) for an avg of 16.3 mph. \u00a0As much as at first I cursed my lack of hill skillz this year, I have to remember that a 16.3 this early in the season before I’ve done any outside training is actually AH-MAY-ZING. \u00a0Also, very un-winded at transition.<\/p>\n
Sadly, unwinded did not mean a good run start. \u00a0With the coldness and the wetness, my feet actually hurt BAD. \u00a0Like, my lungs and legs wanted to go faster but the unhappy little stumps I was landing on were screaming. \u00a0I sucked it up and did what I could and within .5 of a mile of sad, sad times I was back under 10s.<\/p>\n
I talked recently about my 5k pacing problems, specifically the despair I feel at 1.5 miles and while I didn’t the first time running it as a progression run, I did this time. \u00a0I made it a goal not to hit 10 min\/mi and just did what I could. \u00a0Right around then I also had another issue – my ankle went all wonky. \u00a0I slowed down and limp-ran a bit until I stopped and stretched it out a bit, and continued to limp-run until, magically, it went away. \u00a0No problem since then. \u00a0I think I may have just stepped funny on a curb but it had me worried.<\/p>\n
After getting past mile 2, the eyes were on the prize. \u00a0I passed a few more people and then finally had my eye on a girl up ahead. \u00a0She had passed me on the bike and chatted with me a bit, and all I could think about on the bike was “the people I pass on the bike will probably smoke me on the run”. \u00a0So this was a goal, to do the opposite. \u00a0I kept her in my sights going a fairly comfortable 9 min\/mi and when I saw the finish, I made my move, passing her and sprinting as fast as I could, topping out at about 8:13s.<\/p>\n
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I finished in 1:58:00 garmin time, and went out to cheer Zliten in. \u00a0I had monitored his progress – he got into transition to get the bike before I ran, and had put his bike away before I finished, so \u00a0I knew he was ok. \u00a0Then, before I knew it, he was running it in strong and finished. \u00a0Apparently he \u00a0 \u00a0had me in his sights on a long stretch of the bike but couldn’t catch up (no quarter mother effer!!!!). \u00a0He ran a huge PR at about 30:30 for his first 5k, abut 1-1.5 mph behind me on the bike, and a totally respectable 35 for the last 5k.<\/p>\n
So, I went from thinking I might DFL this race (last years results were ridic – 9 min\/mi was the bottom of the barrel), to thinking I might have placed.<\/p>\n
…well results say I’m 8\/9 but honestly, there are a bunch of errors. \u00a0We’ll see. \u00a0Either way, I’m happy with what I did so onward and upward!!!!<\/p>\n