Another 1/2 marathon

Finally I thought it might not ever happen ! A PR at the 13.1 mile distance and never seen it coming. Last weekend at the Naples Daily News Half Marathon here in town, where I had set the old PR a few years ago before deployment. Was a chilly morning, in the mid-high 40's at the start, and nothing above the 60's all day. The race needed to get moving, once I took all the cloths off. The course is a pretty good one, for here in town. Some say its scenic and guess it would be if I didnt live here but it is flat and pretty fast. First 6-7 miles slipped away and all the splits was 6:30's-6:40's and was not sure how long that pace could be held. Thought I would pull it back to the 7 for a couple miles miles then drop it back down. Never happened though, Garmin showed the next 5 was in the 7's although they felt faster. At 12 miles I did the math real fast and realized I had to go sub 7 for the finish and went back to 6:40 to finish. Finishing time was 1:31:14 but that was not the only one for the day.

Nadine also wanted to drop her time from the Disney race, which she did also ! She took off 9 minutes this day, and went the first time under 2 hours. 1:58 would be her finishing time, All along leading up to it I knew she had it in her but the weather really had her down. Total over the first 2 weeks into the new year, we have a combined 4 new PR's and her first triathlon !! Year has started off on a rip and in a few days we are off to the ING Miami Marathon, will it continue is the question. All the training is done, sitting here in taper week. Pictures are from post race in Naples.

HITS Triathlon Series

What a fun weekend this was, they really got something going here. Spent the whole weekend at the race event. Friday I went and ended up spending the entire day , not even meaning to. Saturday I got to watch Nadine run her first triathlon. She ran the sprint after I moved her to that distance on Friday. She did great , even won her AG ! Did find out that she is in need of OWS, this was the first time she had to swim in the ocean and in a wet suit. 

Sunday I ran the HIM race ( should have went with the full !!) and the ran the full at the same time. In all only about 100 people ran between both races, so the small field a PR was in view from the start. Swim was good, a L shape going out then north in the Gulf of Mexico, with water temps at 69. I came out of the water somewhere around 14th, from what I could tell. By far the worst part of the day was the bike. Outside it was only in the 50's and being wet it was brutal for 35 good miles. Never felt my feet at all till the ride back into town, and I needed that to get ready for the run. Came off the bike rolling ! Garmin was reading a 6:39 pace and knew I needed to slow it up a bit, when it finally hit a 7:09 I figured that was good and would hold it as long as I could. Run was a out and back, coming off the bike I was now in 10 overall. Within 3-4 miles I had passed people who passed me on the bike. The turn around I could see how much room I needed t make up and that I was now in 6th. Around mile 9 legs started getting heavy and was able to pass one more guy for 5th place. Never seen the 4th place till there was only about .5 mile to go ! or I would have given it a run at him. Talking to him, he knew I was there and fast approaching him. It was a PR for the day , with a finishing time of 4:54:08 , 5th over all and 1st place int he military division. Splits was good, even with the long in and out of T1 and T2. Swim 36 min (33 min out of water) bike 2:35:17 and run 1:40:00. I have been in recovery, today is the 3rd day and need to move. Was really sore last 2 days, think the weather on the bike had something to do with it. Lots of cranking going on, not much pulling with the legs. In all I cant wait for the next event in Ocala, almost sure its going to be the full. All I do know is, here in 4 days is the Naples Daily News Half Marathon and yep Im in ! Not gonna be a PR but should be a good day if the weather holds out. 

Race week

Things have been going really easy this year so far. Trying to come up with a new goal for the year. Last year I set a 1300 mile running goal, hit it at the end of November. Year ending total was 1437, which was my longest year yet. January is gonna be a pretty easy month, by what im looking at. I have three races this month. This weekend a HIM at the HITS Triathlon Series here in Naples on Jan 8, Jan 15 Naples Daily News HM, then off to Miami for the ING Miami Marathon. Gonna be at the race site from basically Friday till Sunday this week. Gonna work with Nat Friday and I have a meeting later that day and packet pickup. Saturday Nadine and I are volunteering from 4-8 body marking, then she is also racing her first triathlon that day also. Sunday I have to hang around for all that and bike turn in later that afternoon. Weather is not working at all, the cold front has it pretty damn cold here and its gonna be around through the weekend, 50's at race start all weekend and water temps are in the low 60's. Not gonna be a fun day whatsoever, days should be up in the higher 70's but not gonna make up for the swim. Just gonna have to see how things work and deal with it as it happens. Really wanted a PR at this race and think my bike and run are on target for it, the swim i will be the difference and T1 is a good clip from the water. Mental day is all I can chalk it up to, stay in the zone and disregard the weather is the best thing I can try and do.