kenj's group closed, training hard and having fun!! (Page 21)

Fantastic! Congratulations!

Having a pacer made a huge difference.  I would have tried to push myself but I suspect that there is a reason that even the guys and gals from Kenya use them.   It was good to have him right there in front of me.  Once he reminded me to cross the road to take advantage of the curve to shorten the path.  Toward the end he offered encouragement and some strategy...hold, hold, hold...now give more if you have it....a mile from the end...give more if you have it.  It was an awesome run.  Sub 9 first mile, sub 9 last mile.  Felt really good. 

Just got back from my long run as well, 14.5 miler.  Might run a 10k race next weekend?

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there.  Hope you have a great day & get all the attention you deserve!

Richard

Sounds like everyone is having fantastic training this weekend - yeah!!!

I just got back from a 20 mile ride - made it all the way up the canyon (2 miles of 10%+ grade) - earliest in the season I have ever made it to the top! Brutal head winds on the way back. Got home and the kids had made breakfast and had a pile of presents to open that they made me. Very cool!

Happy mothers Day to all the mommies!

If I may say 343 calories well worth it 

Hey there friends, I'm back after a week pretty much off completely

Went for a run this morning and pushed myself regardless of the pain.  Most of all I hated it, but there were glimpses of glory.  Mostly I'm glad it's over with and I'm glad I did it.  Waiting for that runner's high to wash over me now.

Have a good one everybody!

Will post a pic of my bike later today.  I need to crop it and size it.

I had a good run and intense bike on Saturday, longer 3.5 hour bike on Sunday. ALl good.  Rest day today.  Back at swimming and hard VO2 on the bike tomorrow.  Y'all have a great week.

Oh, can I relate to that!

First Bric of the season today. 1 hour ride followed by 30 minute run. Maybe I need to ride longer next time, but my legs didn't feel heavy at all.

will try and get a longer run in tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know how my race last Sat went......

I knew this race was comming up for several months and I was training hard for it in addition to training for my tri in July. The night before I packed my bag after checking the weather for the umpteenth time. I had to work the night before so I knew that when I got to the start area the next moring I would already be at a disadvantage to most everyone else.

Of couse was fate would have it I got a late call on the ambulance Sat morning putting my over an hour behind schedule. I had built two and half hours of down time in so this was not really a big deal to me at first. Notice how I said at first. When all my paperwork was finally done and turned in I did a quick change in our locker room and ran out the door.

On my way there I realized that the route that I would normally take was blocked off for the race. I did a quick detour in my head and thanked my street knowledge and soon found my way to the parking lot. When I got there I had to park way in the back. I husseled the over quarter mile to the packet pick up area to get my bib and chip. Then I realized that now I had to do something with my plastic bag so I jogged back to my car, thew it into the trunk and then jogged back.

By now I had just a few minutes, eight to be exact, before start time. Everyone was slowly getting into the starting area and attempting to line up according to pace time. About 20 feet ahead of me I saw one of the city's off duty police officers lined up too. I thought to myself that I would be ok if I could stay withing an arms reach of her. My goal was to do the 5k in 25 minutes or less.

The starting gun when off and we took off. First at a slow jog and as the crowd thined out I was able to pick up speed. In an almost sureal moment I came up on the police officer, said a quick hi then glided past her with ease. At the one 1 mile mark I came up to a guy wearing a green shirt advertising my faviorate beer. We chatted for a few paces and soon I pulled ahead of him too. I thought I was doing great! As I rounded the corner a race official was calling out times. I ran past him a 9:10. I knew that even if I picked up the pace here I probably would not be able to keep it up for 2.1 more miles and that I would not get my finish in under 25 minutes.

With that thought behind me I keep on running passing some and some passing me. As we crossed the highway somewhere between miles 2 and 3 I was starting to get really tired. It was 80+ degrees outside with a high humidy index. This was my first summer/warm weather run and I was feeling the heat. I took a quick one minute break walking counting to 60 to make sure I did not loose to much ground.

I picked up the pace again and as I rounded the corner at the three mile mark I could see the finish line. I crossed at 29:10. After several minutes I say the guy in the green beer shirt finish then the cop finished.

As I look back I realize that it was a difficult race for me because I was up all night working and it was my first warm weather run. But I can't help but feel upset because I did not reach my goal of finishing a 5k in under 25 minutes. Even in cool weather and with me being well rested I can never seem to get beyond the 28-30 min mark for a 5k.

I am due to do a 26 mile bike ride later this month so hopefully that will get me geared up for my ride in the tri.

May Race Round-Up:

Who is racing this month?

What event & when, so we can cheer you on...

R

PS.  Bit slow around here

Are you in the wrong "house"?

QOTD:

Aero position...Who has either a tri bike or aero bars on a roadie?

Are you physically comfortable in Aero? How long can you stay in Aero?  

Are your mentally comfortable in Aero?

Just a little chatting topic...

Richard

Fartleks = faster pace.   Speed work is key on the run, bike or swim, I realize.

For swimming form, check out Total Immersion videos on youtube.  There are plenty of them.  Also, check out Mr. Smooth.  Australian swimming coaches.  They have an avatar that you can download to your desktop.  It is their version of the perfect stroke.