Sunday, August 14, 2011

Ride, Run, & Race Report

Ride - Had a very good 22+ mile bike ride on Friday. I actually averaged 17.2 mph for the first 10 miles. I don't think I've ever averaged that fast for 10 miles, so that makes me super happy. I started getting tired about halfway in and slowed down, bringing my overall average for the ride to 16.2mph. I'll take it! The route was mostly flat, but still this is a good result for me as I'm not a very strong cyclist. I'm convinced that the hill training is paying off!


Run - Met my running partner Saturday morning for an easy 4 miler. Most of the running group was not running at all because of the race the next day (half-marathon & 5K). I was planning to run the 5K mostly as practice for the sprint tri coming up in a few weeks and my running partner wasn't racing at all, so we decided to do any easy run anyway. While running, we also planned to meet up at the live.love.tri site next weekend and scope out the course. This is going to be her first triathlon so she's a bit nervous, but I'm excited about it.


Race Report - Last year I volunteered at the first water station, this year Husband & I ran. The half-marathon started at 6:30 with the 5K having a 7m race start. The location is quite a drive from our house and we expected parking to be challenging, so we needed to get up at 5am.When the alarm went off, I was thinking that it was silly to get up so early just to run 3.1 miles, but did it anyway.


I don't have too much to say other than I thought that the race seemed well organized. The 5K course was well marked, and volunteers were friendly. My race time was so-so for me with an official time of 29:20, 9:26 pace. I think I was 5th in my AG. There is really nothing wrong with this result, but since it was a full minute and a half slower than my last 5K, I admit to being a bit disappointed. However, given that I've only run 6 times in the past 4 weeks due to back issues and vacation, and still pulled off a fairly average 5K result for my abilities, I know that I shouldn't be too hard on myself.


[edited to add: After sleeping on it, I realized that this 5K result was faster than any of the 5Ks I ran in 2008, 2009, or 2010. What seems average this year would have been above average for me in the past. I'm feeling much more satisfied this morning than I was yesterday.]

[edited one more time: offical results are up and I want to note that I finished 23 of 134 women in the 5K which puts me in the top 20%. Happy about that also.]


Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but if I feel okay and the weather cooperates, I might ride my bike after work and save the rest day for Wednesday. We'll see...

16 comments:

  1. Your bike time sounds very fast to me. I am super slow. There is a 12 mile bike ride in September I am tempted to do but I already have a running race on that Saturday. We'll see.

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  2. Awesome job on all the workouts!

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  3. Nice job on your average pace on the bike! I wish I was that fast!!

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  4. Great run! To me anything sub 30 mins is good. Also well done on the bike!

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  5. Well done on the activity this weekend - strong ride and congrats on the 5K!

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  6. Busy weekend!
    I think you did great despite the obstacles you've overcome recently. In my experience 5k performance increases and decreases quickly. Nice job!

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  7. we gotta get up early in this sport to play :-) Well done! ready to tri it seems!

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  8. I know the feeling about waking up for a certain distance. But you did it and that's what is important.....

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  9. Congrats on the impressive run and the great bike ride!

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  10. Looks like great preparation for your upcoming tri! Great job on the bike and race!

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  11. 9:26 is a good pace, in fact you are in the top 20% and 5th in the age group. ...and with few workouts!
    Well done on the ride too.

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  12. yay! good job on the bike! we're both making some progress in that area. i too get tired after about 10 miles but it does seem to be getting faster at least.

    congrats on your 5K! you'll still be VERY strong in the tri. we runners do well at sprint distance. ;)

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  13. I'll take a top 20% finish any time I can get one! Great job on the race. The ride sounds like fun toO!

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  14. You might be on your way to becoming a strong cyclist with speeds like that! Good job at the 5K! I think the time is very respectable, especially with your recent back problems.

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