A Productive Week-end

I think I am finally getting myself back to the endurance that I was at at the end of last season... Thanks KT!!!! The track workouts are definately paying off. Saturday was the Scholastic Challenge 5K. It wasn't all that hot but it was extremely humid. I arrived at about 6:45 and ran into Scott, my marathon partner. We ran a mile warmup and talked about a fall marathon. I'm also considering doing Longhorn Half ironman in Austin Texas and I picked his brain about doing both. If I can get 2 midweek longer runs in and a week-end long run in, I can probably do the fall marathon as long as i don't push too hard in the Half.

The race started at promptly 7:30. This is typically a very fast race because of all the HS kids that come to run. The race benefits the local high schools so I think the coaches must have their kids run the event. I was looking for a sub 20:00 (high 19's). As usual, when the race started I took off like a bat out of hell. I was hoping to stay right behing Nyle but as I would find out later, I was about 10-15 seconds ahead of him at mile 1. I only hoped I could hang on. I tried keeping up with Dan/Eric but I couldn't get any closer. At mile 2, some kid (who was maybe 4') screamed past me like I was standing still. I stayed with him until just before the 3 mile (oh, no you don't kid) where I finally passed him for good. Coming into the home stretch, the streets are lined with people. That's when I realized Nyle was right on me. I was hoping to hold him off but he eventually passed me as I was passing that younger kid. Oh well... maybe next time. One thing that's nice about not being the fastest is that there is always someone fast that you can set your sights on as a goal. Maybe next time Nyle :)

I finished strong with a time of 19:50 and some change for a new PR and finished 3rd in my age group. I had to leave right after the race so I had no idea about the 3rd place until I looked at the results.

I woke on Sunday feeling pretty good. I headed out the door at around 7:15 for a long ride. I was ready to tackle another 50 miler. My route had me leaving my house, riding through Spfld., Salisbury, Athens, and then home. I want to take those hills a little at a time. It was a great solo ride. No pressure to ride fast so I wouldn't slow down the experienced riders. I arrived home at about 10:30 with 55 miles and feeling great! The hills were tough but hey... no pain, no gain. My next ride will be from Springfield and will include the hills in Petersburg. Hopefully I do better this time than the last.

Scott Harry is competing in a Half Iron man this week-end. Good luck Scott! You will do awesome!