Tri-Umphant Weekend

Good morning.

I hope a great weekend was had by all.

Me? I had a terrific weekend. Of course, part of the time was spent triathlon training and racing. It is an interesting merging of training plans. While I am triathlon training I am also training for the Chicago Marathon in October.

On Saturday I headed to Ohio Street Beach for my open water swim. The water was wavy, choppy, unsettled. Kind of like my first OWS. But, I must practice in various different conditions. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I headed north into the teeth of the current. Up and down and bobbing all around. I was timing this swim with my Garmin under my swim cap. I wanted to see how far that one bouy is, the bouy that I swim around to simulate sighting and turning in a race.

Staying horizontal in the water makes you cut through the chop much easier. Relaxing also helps. Just stay relaxed and make purposeful stokes. As I swam, looking down into the green I let my mind wonder. Kind of how you can become lost in thought while running. You can do the same with swimming. The swimming groove.

I could not sight like I usually do because the waves were too high. I had to slow down and breast stroke until a view of the bouy became available. Hey, there it is. I swam around it and headed back.

Going back was easier but I had to fight more to stay on track because the waves and current might push me into the concrete wall. No problem. I also had to sight more and make sure not to run into other swimmers. At one point I had two other tri-swimmers coming at me. They were not sighting. They were more concerned with fighting the churn as they swam north. Who could blame them.

I felt good the whole way. My effort was a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10. The distance swum was 1.5 miles in 46:12. I averaged 2 MPH. No bad for the effort level.

Sunday

This was my 13.1 Half Marathon race day. I felt good. I had not run since Wednesday so my legs were fresh. I had a tiny hip issue but decided to run with it. I also was not sure if I was going to run this 13.1 or race it. I would take a wait and see approach.

I was in the B Wave, second off. We started and I was passed by most of the B runners. No problem, I was sure I would be passing many of them later. It did not take long for me to decide to race. Something just kicks on in my head and I start slowly picking up the pace. I felt good both physically and aerobically. My breathing felt great.

After the second mile I started to pick up the pace. Soon I was running mile splits under 7:20 and still felt good. i just kept going. Running, breathing, form. Cadence, cadence cadence. Passing the runners who previously passed me at the start was enjoyable.

As the run progressed I was maintaining a pace for a longer amount of time that I had never done before. How long can I keep this up? Another mile would go by, another fast one. Getting under 1:40:00 was important to me so I could possibly get a guaranteed spot in the 2011 New York City Marathon. My previous personal best in a 1/2 marathon was 1:43 something.

I just kept up the pace and felt relaxed with my breathing which helped. I thought, one more mile like that and you can coast in and get under 1:40:00. But, the other side of me said, why? Just keep going. It just so happened that my last mile was my fastest. Talk about competitive juices kicking in.

Well, I did it. A new PR for me of 1:36:59 and hopefully a guaranteed entry to New York in 2011. I placed 8th in my 50-54 age group. I need to get down to 1:33:00 or less to really be more competitive in my age group. I think my mile splits are really good, for me.

Split Time Moving Time Distance Elevation Gain Elevation Loss Avg Pace Avg Moving Pace Best Pace Steps Calories
1 0:08:15 0:08:09 1 10 0 8:15 8:09 7:21 0 130
2 0:07:46 0:07:46 1 9 15 7:46 7:46 6:29 0 134
3 0:07:37 0:07:38 1 0 2 7:37 7:38 6:34 0 133
4 0:07:27 0:07:27 1 0 6 7:27 7:27 6:26 0 134
5 0:07:17 0:07:18 1 0 0 7:18 7:18 6:52 0 133
6 0:07:15 0:07:16 1 12 0 7:15 7:16 6:52 0 132
7 0:07:17 0:07:17 1 17 25 7:17 7:17 6:35 0 133
8 0:07:06 0:07:06 1 0 0 7:06 7:06 6:32 0 132
9 0:07:10 0:07:11 1 10 7 7:10 7:11 6:13 0 133
10 0:07:11 0:07:11 1 0 6 7:11 7:11 6:23 0 132
11 0:07:07 0:07:08 1 0 0 7:07 7:08 6:37 0 132
12 0:07:11 0:07:11 1 8 11 7:11 7:11 6:34 0 132
13 0:07:03 0:07:03 1 20 15 7:03 7:03 6:07 0 132
14 0:01:12 0:01:13 0.17 0 0 7:01 7:04 6:26 0 23
Summary 1:37:00 1:36:54 13.17 86 87 7:21 7:21 6:07 0 1,745




Edited by Silentrunner 6/14/2010 6:28 AM

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" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin