What a Great Sunday....

to run a half marathon. Let's just say I did much better than I originally thought I would. I had a time set in my head of where I wanted to be at. My goal going into this was to beat my previous half by four minutes which was run almost a year to the date in Indy. Well I not only beat it I killed it by almost ten minutes, a 1:34:48. This is great as it definitely helps show that the training plan is working and things are moving in the right direction. I really think the running with Noel and Rick defiantly helps as they push (or pull) me past my comfort level.

I went out from the start with a plan to just feel out the first couple of miles and see how the legs felt. I was clicking off 7:10 miles for the first two and things felt good so I sat at that pace and pretty much carried it for every mile after that. Each mile was almost identical from the start to finish, this is great for me. I am terrible at setting the pace and usually go out to fast but today things were just working. I had a good nutrition plan for the day as well, I ate a half a bag of GU chomps on the ride down to the race along with a half a water bottle of water, a half a cup of coffee about thirty minutes before the race and a GU gel about fifteen minutes before the start. I followed that up with a gel at the thirty minute and one hour mark. This worked out perfect.

I think this was really the first weekend I have had a chance to run on fresh legs in awhile as we usually ride pretty hard on Saturday and sometimes follow that up with a brick run. Needless to say this leaves the legs a bit drained for the long run on Sunday.

Well this weekend was a bit different as I volunteered to head up the no-drop intermediate ride for the Endure-It Club, this was both a blessing and a curse. At the time of the ride I was bit annoyed as I couldn't really get into a rhythm on the bike as I had to keep turning around making sure we weren't losing anyone but it was the first time I got to get out on my new Pinnarello road bike for a decent amount of time. I hadn't been out on a road bike for a lengthy ride in a couple of years so it was definitely a nice change of pace. One of the good things that came out of doing this was the legs felt really fresh this morning for the race even after riding forty miles yesterday. At times I was a bit annoyed yesterday as trying to keep a decent pace was difficult but overall I didn't really mind as it does encourage others to get out and ride which is always good. If I wasn't training for an Ironman I would do it again but it probably is not going to happen again this year or at least not until September.

Today was great weather wise and after feeling pretty good after the race the family hung out a bit outside . During nap time I was able to mow the yard again for the second time this week as well (I would settle for a sand yard as I hate mowing) finished up the edging and other yard cleanup from the winter.

Once all the yard work was done I headed out for a quick lap around the prairie reserve on the mountain bike for forty minutes or so just to spin the legs out and relax a bit.

Just got done dancing for twenty minutes as well with Landon and man the song Ecstasy by Rusted Root is great for wearing down a toddler.

What a great weekend and looking forward to racing in two weeks!