weekend fun: 8k run, 14mi ride, 550m swim

I broke from the training program (bike Saturday, Run Sunday) this weekend to take advantage of an 8k race that my friend Thom was running: the 11th Annual Juana Run in Palo Alto.

So, at 7:15a Saturday morning, I was putting my $30 down at the registration table to get my bib number and mull about in the chilly 35 degree air waiting for the 8:30a start. I was feeling much better about this race than the Turkey Trot 10k I ran last November, and my time showed it: I finished the 5 mile run in 41:25, #224 of 413 participants and #13 of 28 in my age bracket (35-39). Most importantly I felt really good as I crossed the 4 mile mark (the distance of the run in my first triathlon).

Today, I installed the VDO MC1.0 cycle computer my folks had given me for Christmas, and took the bike off the trainer to tackle the hills behind our house. Thanks to the built-in altimeter, I was able to see I logged 1,000 feet of altitude gain on the 5-7% grade roads that surround our home. I wound up doing a little over 14.5 miles in the hour I was on the bike today, and even though the distance seems kind of short, given the fact 4+ miles of it was uphill, I'm pretty pleased.

And as a cherry on top of it all, I was able to squeeze in a 550 meter swim just before dinner today, and I felt good throughout the swim. I think I've learned to relax my pace a little bit as I swim, so I feel like I'm able to go farther between rests at the end of the pool. Necessary progress if I'm going to be able to go the full 800m in the race.

So, even though I did the three events spread out over 32 hours and backwards from how I'd do them in the race, I come away from this weekend's workouts worrying less about whether I'll finish the triathlon on April 13 and more worried about how fast I might be able to do it.

This is fun!