revisiting old races/rides of the year

I've decided to run the half in December and have a goal of 2 hours or better. We'll see. Yes, I'm too cheap to buy the pic for $60 but I promise I'm not a giant even though I look a foot taller than everyone else. Some great rides this year and some odd rides. Everything from a wiemereiner (whatever the grey dog) causing a 7 bike pileup with some nasty injuries and 2 firetrucks, a couple EMT vans and a couple of cops. Obviously in a small part of town. The HH100 I did with a riding buddy Jeff which turned into a great day with some blistering splits and some not so blistering speeds. We finished and the temp was about 102 or 106 depending on which guage you looked at. I had a great Jack Rabbit Classic in which I did 67 miles in almost 3 hours flat and a horrible start but good finish to the Cotton Patch Classic. Days are shorter but I've gotten to a point where I like the cool early mornings and dimly lit rides. I registered for the NYC tri in July and will do a marathon next year. I'm into a break on the bike for a couple of weeks and find myself cleaning and tuning my bike up. Looking to add some Spinergy Stealth PBO's to the stable and probably upgrade my bars and brakes. That's all for today. Oh, my little half last week was pretty much in Zone 5 so as good as I might be getting on the bike, I'll be able to keep the blog title for a while.

Nice Day to Run a Half

Started out pretty early to get a parking spot and stretch. i-Pod charged, shoes laced and knee free of it's carbon fiber/titanium contraption with too much time before the start. I've only ran that far a couple of times but never more than 3-4 without my knee brace. Too many injuries have been my excuse to not run often but I've always been of the mindset that if you believe-weak you'll be weak. Bye, bye knee braces. (except maybe for hockey) Slow start as too be expected but I started well and had a slow last 3 miles. I finished in about 2 hours but admittedly have ran about 4 times before this as I was trying to hang on to what was left of cycling season. I'm really anxious about the spring so race season will be in full swing. There was a big Harley guy with a cane that I saw 3 times at different points of the race. He was cheering everyone on so after I finished I figured I could do the same. I backtracked the course and cheered everyone on from the 12.5 mile mark. I told them the hard part was over and they did a great job. People were happy that they were almost done so I got about 50 high-fives for my efforts. After a decent showing considering my training for the event, I'm a little torqued that I didn't put in the effort and get a good finish time. I'm thinking of doing the half in December and if I do I'll train. I'd like to run about 1:45 or better so maybe I can use running to jump start the beginning of my bike training. Overall a pretty enjoyable day. I watched the highlites of the NYC marathon and saw Lance finish in just under 3 hours and some other pretty cool stories.

The Half is tomorrow

Okay, after reading a friend's blog and his story of not only running a marathon with stress fractures in his pelvis but qualifying for Boston, I feel a little bad about thinking of running the 10k or whatever the shorter distance is tomorrow. As usual my training has been all bike and a few short runs. I've swam a few times and am adding in some "stealth" training for the NYC Tri in July. I'll update tomorrow and we'll see if I run the 1/2 or chicken out and run the 10k. Either way, I'm not looking for a blistering time. I really can't wait for February when cycling season starts again.