Day 9 (Sat - 1/9)

Ok, time for some nick-names so I can keep track of who I am talking about:

-At work training partner = Flash
-Closest training partner = Duce

I made the running goal this week and feel really good about it even though I did not get on the bike. Duce and I went out for a run this afternoon while the kiddo was down for a nap. I intended to put in a little over 3 miles at a recovery run pace and ended up going 4.69 at more of a tempo pace. I was motivated to go this distance and keep this pace because Duce pushed me. He is a natural athlete and keeps very active. Training sessions with him are always great, but are the best when we are able to push each other. I have never been able to push him on the run, but am looking forward to it this year. We got the distance done in 41:29 which translates to 8:49 miles. I haven’t run that far since high school soccer.

I felt great through the first mile and almost started picking up the pace then thought I would check in with Duce and see how far he was thinking of going. When he said between 4 and 5 miles I took the pace back a few notches. Me legs started feeling heavy around mile 2, but by mile 4 I was pushing a solid pace again. Between mile 2 and 4 Duce gave me something to chase, but didn’t dust me like I know he could of. Again, I can’t say enough about having a good supportive network to reach your goals. I stretched this evening and the legs are feeling tired and a little sore in the calves, but the hamstrings feel good.

I would consider the week a success even though I missed the bike and had a set-back day on Day 7. Highlights include: getting out for 2 runs during lunch at work; including a Saturday run; totaling 13.53 miles in which I averaged 8:42 miles. For reference, the first week of training I did for any triathlon was in April of 2008 where I averaged 10:07 miles. I feel pretty good about my starting point this year.

I did a little math tonight and here are the paces that I will be targeting for the September event if I am going to finish under the goal of 5:45:00:

-Swim (1.2 miles): Average 1:15 labs (50 yards)
-Bike (56 miles): Average 19 miles/hour
-Run (13.1 miles): Average 8:20 miles

This will leave me with a solid 7 minutes of transition time. Doing this math has made me very motivated to make my first appointment with a triathlon coach to set up my training plan.

Next week the goal will be to make the first triathlon coaching appointment, log around 5 hours on the bike, and get out for 5 miles running (get some speed workouts in). Work will take up more time next week as we have a major project happening and I don’t expect to get out and run any distance over a mile until the weekend. I am hoping to kick off the week tomorrow with a nap time ride in the man-cave.