ramblings

I got back from the beach (Carolina Beach - just south of Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach) Friday so I think I'll finally get to settle into a routine. I've gotten just a wee bit nervous about training because this is the 4th week of our 18 week training plan and I haven't been very good about doing all the stuff. So, now that I'm back, I'm looking forward to getting into a routine that will take me, fully prepared, into the half-iron.

Current thoughts about the half-iron: While I don't think the swim is going to be a piece of cake, I think it's totally doable - especially with the training that we're doing. I think the bike is going to be a fun challenge. It's the run I'm most worried about. The bricks we did in our first 18 weeks of training gave me confidence that I can get off of the bike and run, and at a not-so-bad pace, I might add. But, I'm worried about being able to do 13.1 miles after all of that. So, I'm going to focus a bit more on the run - strength training for the run and interval training. I would love to get faster in the run but mostly I just want to be able to do all 13.1 miles - without walking most of it.

Thoughts about biking: I consider myself a pretty good cyclist. My criteria are loosely based on my comfort level on the bike as well as my confidence that I can bike for a long time - NOT on my speed (which is interesting to consider). I haven't thought much about my pace until recently. I've usually approached biking as I gotta ride as fast as I can for the duration of the ride. And, I think I'm finding that my pace is slow. Well, by god, I want to be faster. I don't know what kind of pace to shoot for (except faster) or even how to increase my pace on the bike. I was talking to my mother about this the other day and she suggested that I move my legs faster. Um, thanks mom. The question is what do I do to my training or in my training to help increase my pace. I've learned in running that you do things like intervals to increase your pace. Is it the same in biking?

Totals for the week (pathetic I know):
biking - 2:56:47 (41 miles)
running - 46:49 (3 miles plus 10x100 drills)
walking on the beach - at least a couple of hours

Here's to being back at home, getting back into a routine....