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<\/a><\/p>\nIndulge my memory lane.<\/p>\n
My first race (Feb 09), I wanted to beat 30 minutes.\u00a0 I hit 27:48.\u00a0 I was stoked, and hooked.<\/p>\n
My second race (May 09), I wanted to beat 26 minutes.\u00a0 I ran 27:29 in the rain and was a little disappointed, but happy with a PR.<\/p>\n
My third race (Aug 09), I wanted to beat 26 minutes again, and ended up with 26:31.\u00a0 A pretty good PR.<\/p>\n
My fourth race (May 10), I wanted to beat 25, and I show 25:10 as my time.\u00a0 However, I still question that this result (it wasn’t chip timed, I didn’t have a garmin yet, and both Zliten and I had some really incredible times) and honestly consider 26:31 my PR (until I beat it someday…).<\/p>\n
Then I really started focusing on longer stuff.\u00a0 I ran more 5ks, but never really trained specifically for them.\u00a0 My results were: 27:51, 28:26, 29:16, 27:58, 29:44, and 29:46, from 2010 to 2012 (I ran no 5ks last year).<\/p>\n
My triple brick times of miles in the 7s and low 8s got me questioning how close I was to my 5k PR, and I decided to go out and try it last week to disastrous results due to many factors and ended up with a result of 29:31.\u00a0 This week, I decided to remove some of the crap that went wrong and see what I had.<\/p>\n
I picked a course that was around the house, pretty flat, no gravel, a little earlier (though the heat was still a factor – high 70s and huuuuumid), and I felt way less burnt and tired.\u00a0 Without the normal caffeine and buzz and other people at a race, I was able to pull out a 27:40 – which is right in the middle there of all my 5k results and almost 2 minutes faster than last week.\u00a0 I’m ok with that.\u00a0 If I could somehow pull out an 8:55 average this weekend, I would be more than stoked.<\/p>\n
I’m feeling the inklings of that race hunger back this week.\u00a0 It took two weeks of slack-assing (5.5 hours of training two weeks ago, 7 hours last week), but I’m starting to feel a bit of the butterflies about standing on that beach at Pflugerville and going to hurt myself real bad for about 90 minutes and see what I’m made of here and now. My running has gotten speedier and less labored this week without really trying, so that means a little bit of the funk has lifted, at least.<\/p>\n
Hopefully taper this week (read: pretty much what I’ve been doing for the last 2 weeks) will further send me into the race anticipation zone.\u00a0 And yeah, I know if this is having to be forced, it’s time to end the season.\u00a0 12 days and counting.<\/p>\n
So, as for Sunday, it’s really hard for me to talk strategy, because there is only one way I’ll be happy – laying it all out on the line and PRing this race, and I’ve raced it well the last two years.\u00a0 I’m ready for the unicorns and rainbows.\u00a0 This is home turf, I know every inch of the course since I train there all the time, and I’m going out there to hurt.<\/p>\n
Hurting on the swim means swimming strong and aggressively, not being afraid to get in a decent spot in the pack, and pushing through that suck that is swimming 500m fast.\u00a0 I’ve swam around 11:30 both years, I really think I can beat that.<\/p>\n Hurting on the bike means pushing the flats FAST, trying not to lose too much ground on the hills, don’t get comfortable behind slow people (my wave is pretty late in the day and I spend the entire time passing people – confidence boosting, yes, but also is annoying). 18.1 mph is my best here (last year).\u00a0 While I’d love to beat it, I also think it’s going to be a challenge to do (my watch kept reading 15mph erroneously, so I kept going faster because I was upset at it) so and I’m going to need to hammer this to do it.<\/p>\n Hurting on the run means staying cool (frozen handheld), and pushing that lap around the lake as strategically close to barf-tastic as possible.\u00a0 I’m hoping to see a lot of 8s on my garmin, or at the very least low 9s.\u00a0 28:07 was my best here 2 years ago (and if I remember correctly, it’s a little short of the 3 miles they advertise) and I think I can beat that if I’m smart and fierce.\u00a0 I think today’s double brick runs of 1.67 miles finally helped me dial in 5k race effort so I don’t fizzle boom in the middle.<\/p>\n PRing also means quick transitions, so I’m trying to go as minimal as possible (no bike gloves, sleeves, etc, though I’m not ready to give up my socks or put my bike shoes on my bike just yet) to save time.\u00a0 And I need to practice those this week so I don’t succumb to transition gravity like at the X-50.<\/p>\n Also, attempting to rest a lot, recover, ward off the tireds, not do stupid stuff like stay up too late or have too much fun.\u00a0 Two more weeks.\u00a0 Light, tunnel, and all that.<\/p>\n Eating stuff: After 2 weeks of tracking and caring, I’m back to eating a decent amount of good stuff.<\/p>\n Other stuffs:<\/p>\n I was prepared and ready to run my Savage Worlds story, but we didn’t have enough people that night.\u00a0 Boo.\u00a0 It’s ok, because I know I’m ready next time, and we got to play Zombie Munchkin instead.\u00a0 Although I didn’t win.\u00a0 Boo x2.\u00a0 Or braaaaaaaains.<\/p>\n Celebrated National Running Day by 2 gorgeous post-dark miles after the trainer.\u00a0 High temps are so much more tolerable without the death star in the sky.<\/p>\n Took one of my first post-Saturday workout naps.\u00a0 Usually I’m way too riled up after, but a 5k time trial just knocked us both out.<\/p>\n Went bra shopping and somehow I went UP a cup size in the last few years?\u00a0 Not sure how that happened… I expected to go up in the band because of swimming, but cup size?\u00a0 Anyone want some boob?\u00a0 Apparently I have plenty to go around…<\/p>\n Got to swim (both paddle around and laps) outside and it was glorious.<\/p>\n My gym cut their hours AGAIN, this time with no notice, and now they’re only open until 8pm on all weekdays and 4pm weekends.\u00a0 This is the final nail in the coffin, it’s not if we’re moving gyms, it’s when (maybe time it just right to coincide with season starting again in August to save money).<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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