Austin half-marathon

What a great weekend. It started off kind of rocky, or should a say a little wet. Seems like it had been raining non-stop all last week. So I was looking forward to getting out of town and do some riding outdoors, but Saturdays weather forecast was not looking good. So I bit the bullet and hit the trainer Saturday morning, and then took off for Austin. After checking in at the Austin Marathon expo I went over to ATC where I learned that I had a time to beat. Adam had laid down a solid 1:21 at the 3M half-marathon. So I knew the time I had to beat. The shop also had a great marathon sale going on and a shiny black Cervelo R3 happen to catch my eye. After I sold my first ever bike (a Fuji), I had been looking for a new road bike to replace it, and this was that bike. Before I knew it, Adam had already fit me on it and after a short test ride on the trainer, I was hooked.

The next day the weather was ideal running weather. With over 15,000 runners, we took to the streets of Austin for the race. I went into this race with no expectations (except to beat Adam's time), and was interested to see how my body had adapted to the last 6 weeks of training. The first 3 miles are slightly downhill and when I looked at my watch, I was holding 5:30s. Yikes! That was fast, too fast, and I knew I would pay the price later. But I let it ride and wanted to see how long it would last. Well, it lasted to mile six, then I slowed to 5:40s where I stayed for the next 3 miles, and that was downhill. So when the hills picked back up around mile 9 I was toast. Slowed down a bit more, but was still able to hold and put down a 1:16 for the half (5:52/mile). This was a 2 minute PR from the last time I raced here, and I had tapered for the race then as well. So, I was happy with this time. Now I just need to be able to hold this after a swim and bike. I've got the Woodlands half in 2 weeks and 2 big training weeks coming up, so I'm interested to see if I can improve this time on a faster course. Afterwards I celebrated by going for a swim in Barton Springs and then had the best Migas and Magnum ever at the TX Chili Parlor, which is a Glauser/Sherwood favorite. Thank you for letting me crash with you and for the meal. Oh, and the cookies, I forgot to mention this, but my pre-race meal was coffee, oatmeal and a large chocolate chip cookie. I may have to do this before a triathlon b/c it seems to work. 

Lack of Sleep on the Training Athlete

Your mind is your most powerful muscle. It uses up to 20-30% of your bodys glucose on a daily basis. It also needs rest and recovery just like the muscles in your legs. Well this week, was a stressful one. I had two exams back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday. I should have spent more time studying over the weekend, but training kind of took over and I paid for it. From Sunday night to Wednesday I got a whoping 15 hours of sleep. Suprisingly, I was able to maintain my workouts Monday and Tuesday, but after my last exam Wednesday, I was mentally spent. I attempted to drag myself to the pool where I had a great swim planned, but not even 1/3 into the workout I was mentally done as well. Looking back on it, I was not physically incapable of doing the workout, but I was unable to mentally push my body. It goes back to my original statement, the mind is the most powerful muscle. This is the 1/2 way point to Galveston 70.3, which means that I've put in 6 hard weeks of training. The excitement and motivation that were there at the begining Januarary has swaned and school has gotton much busier. This is the point where I have to mentally keep my eye on the prize, never settle, and find some root canal (lol).

In an attempt to sprus up my training, this weekend I'm doing the Austin Half Marathon. It's going to be more of a large group run for my 2 hour long run this weekend, but I may end up pushing it a bit. It's going to be a great weekend. I hope to see everyone up in Austin over the weekend.