Week 5 Workouts

It is AWESOME to be able to run again! And, I finally got to ride my bike outside. Great week, overall.

Total Run: 17 miles / 4 times (Goal = 6)
Total Bike: 59 miles / 3 times (Goal = 70)
Total Swim: 5000m / 3 times (Goal = 2 times)
Total Gym: 2 times

The highlights:

• Amy, Antonio, Maggie, Robert, Tim, Hector and I did the Lil' Longhorn 5K on Saturday. This was a small, somewhat informal race, filled mainly with students from UT Elementary School. I opted to do it because I wanted to do a race, the shirts were good, and it was cheap. Even though the course was closer to 3 miles than a true 5K, I still finished in 23:25, which was a new PR. And, I took second place female overall to Amy, and I won my age group. Gotta love cherry pickin' races!
• This morning I did a 30 mile bike/3 mile run brick with Claire. We chose the Mopac/SW Parkway/71/Bee Caves Route. Though I am still slow, I didn't struggle nearly as much on the hills as I did last year. I did end up with a really bad flat about 26 miles in and luckily some friendly cyclists stopped to help. I had screw lodged all the way through my tire, so they used a powerbar wrapper to keep the new tube from busting. (cool trick!) Luckily we made it back down Bee Caves safely, though Claire somehow lost her phone on the way. As soon as I reached my doorstep, I grabbed Olive and we ran together - I was pleasantly surprised to feel so great running - took it easy and still did under 9:30s, even with the Rollingwood hills.
• Speaking of this workout, I am so happy to have easy access to great bike routes. I like knowing that I actually don't have to drive myself somewhere to go bike.
• Thursday was our bike time trial for Camp Punishment. First, I was impressed with myself just for meeting the group and doing the workout. Second, I actually didn't do too bad. I'm not fast by any means, but I didn't completely suck either. Good news!
• Glenda and I did a 1000 meter time trial at Stacy Pool yesterday. I was pretty disappointed to see 25:22 for a time, but we later realized that since Stacy is longer, we actually did 1320, which brought my 100 time to 1:55. (Thanks Glenda for doing the math.) I am happy with that - I wasn't pushing it, so I know I definitely could have gone faster, and I also know I have a lot of room for improvement. I'm glad to have something to work for.
• I did my first quality run workout in months. I was going to meet the Bluejackets, but I wussed out and tried to do their workout earlier. The track was closed, so Robert & I did a 3/3, 2/2, 1/1 fartlek - it felt good to push the pace again.
• I took Wednesday off. It was my first concious "OFF DAY" and I managed not to go to the gym or anything. Instead, I joined the Pain Train at happy hour and enjoyed not being covered in sweat for once.

Overall, a fabulous week. I was tested in all three disciplines and was happy with the results. I'm also motivated because I definitely have a lot of room to get faster.