Practice Half

I haven't been getting a warm and fuzzy about this 1/2 coming up in, oh, 3 weeks. I had to take a week off recently due to a minor calf tear, which has healed nicely, and I'm still sniffling from my annual end-of-summer cold. So instead of paying attention to triathlon coaches across America that recommend no more than an hour run off the bike for a brick, I figure I'll add my long run for the week in after an easy 50-miler.

I brought my new bike training buddy Greg along for the ride - this guy is a great training partner btw. We work together, and he switched his days off schedule to coincide with mine so that he could ride with me. He shows up when we agree to meet for a ride - on time - and hangs with me for as long as he can - he's up to 37 miles already for his longest ride with me, and we've only been riding together for about 2 months.

Yesterday was one of the windiest days I can remember on 2 wheels. It was too cold in the morning to head out - for us Floridians, 50 degrees is too cold for a bike ride - so we got started around 1pm. Greg hugs my wheel pretty good most days, but the wind proved a bit tough today for him, and by mile 25 he was done. I figured I should go easy since I had done that wicked Hilly Hundred-K 2 days ago, so I kept the HR under 140 for another 25 miles and finished the 50-miler at a 19.5mph pace.

But like I said, I've been anxious about this 1/2 coming up, so I figured I'd go long after the bike and see what kind of pace I could keep. 9 miles seemed to be a good distance. I figured that if I could keep the pace below 11/mile, I'd be doing alright for me. I didn't stop the clock for the 4 water stops I made, at about the 1.5 mile points along the loop - and worked hard to keep my run cadence as high as I could while keeping my hr in the 140's. The kicker to the whole day was the temperature in the 70's and no humidity. What a huge difference!

So I hit the 9-mile marker which coincided with a water stop right at a 10:52 overall pace. For me, that was a huge victory. Another 7 miles on the bike and 4 miles on the run, and I'll have the 1/2 licked. Shoot, I even practiced walking a bit, as it was another 2 miles to the car. This was the confidence booster I needed. I did the whole workout on just water - no Gatorade, no gels - just lunch and water.....so I figure that with support on the course and a couple of gels, plus the adrenaline from being in a race and having other people around (and using my race wheels), it should be a good time.