quick race recap x4

Holy crap ya'll.

Training 12-15 hours a week is no joke, and leaves very little time for blogging. I wanted to fill everyone in and let them know that I'm happy with how training has been going. I've now done my longest-ever bike ride at 70 miles, I'm back into double-digit long runs, there are a few grumbly body parts but 3 months out from Coz and 2 weeks out from half rev, I'm pretty happy with where I am. I think I may still struggle through the rev run, but I can live with that.

I still have not posted any race reports, but in one week (the week of my birthday!) I did 4 races. FOUR. I didn't really RACE any of them, though. Highlights:

East Fork Olympic tri:

This one was a big epic fail of a triathlon, but it was good experience and I finished smiling! I watched two of my amazing friends do their first tri...and was so busy enjoying that experience that I missed the start of my race. I MISSED THE START. They actually let me start 30 minutes late and adjusted my time accordingly. The result: a seriously kickass swim time that I suspect may have been a miscalculation (but I still felt awesome about my swim), and I did the whole race by myself. They actually tore down a water stop before I got to it and I nearly cried. What else? Well, I was barely over the flu and I knew I wouldn't be fast anyway, so that was to be expected....but the bike was hillier than I thought. There was a hill I had to WALK. (However, later on I found out that a friend of mine who is a stronger biker than myself had to walk that hill when he tried it, too, so I have forgiven myself for it.) We were between thunderstorms and the humidity sucked. I may or may not have peed all over myself. But I FINISHED, upright and smiling, and happy for the mental test. I figure I can handle just about anything a longer race could throw at me now.

(And while I literally finished last, I did NOT have the slowest time, and I actually PR'd that distance!)

A Midsummer Night's Trail Run:

My first ever trail run and I LOVED it. It was a tough course and I couldn't look away from my feet. The one time I did, I tripped. Still super fun.

Newtown 5k:

I do this every year, so I did it again. I'm still waiting to crush my old 5k PR, because I know I can. Heck, my 10k PR is faster than my 5k PR. However, post-flu and post-injury, I figured I wouldn't even come close. Actually, I kinda did. 30:15 - my second best 5k ever. (I am sooooo not a short-distance runner!) If there hadn't been a hill at the end and/or I'd run more hills lately, I would've had a PR.

Mudathlon:

Same day as the 5k, which also happened to be my birthday!! Ridiculously fun. Way dirty. Loved it.

More to come!! I have much about IM training that I would like to share!!