Breakthrough Week

So, big surprise, I have not spent much time blogging as I have been very busy swimming, biking and running. And, it's a good thing, too. I'm getting A LOT better.

Back in December, I blogged about my new attitude towards running. That slower was better. Well, slow is still better, but I'm not nearly as slow anymore. Back then, I was running about a 13-minute mile. Today? I ran 6.28 miles in the same heart rate zone in an hour! That is a 9:33 average mile! Now, you runners out there might be laughing at me, but this is a big deal. I have gone from being a snail to being a tortoise. And you know what they say about the tortoise ....

Also, I joined one pace group faster during my Tuesday-night track workout. That means that I did 800s at 7:20-7:40 pace. I think that is the fastest I have ever run in my life. Super pleased with myself.

Also, my swimming has improved quite a bit. At master's swim on Thursday, the coach had me do a set of 6 x 100 at the end of the session. 2 on the 1:55, 2 on the 1:50, and 2 on the 1:45. I am proud to say that I made all of the send-offs.

Then, there is my cycling ... not as impressive. I pushed myself at my indoor training session and 'saved' my legs for the race at Ravensdale Cumberland today, choosing to skip in the infamous IVRR.

About 23 women showed up for today's race. The weather man predicted unpredictable weather for the race so I packed everything—3 pairs of gloves, knee warmers, leg warmers, two base layers, arm warmers ... you get the idea. I ended up wearing the same attire that I've worn for the last few weeks except I traded my half gloves for the full ones. Thankfully, the weather held and we only had semi-wet roads to deal with.

The race started immediately after the neutral rollout. The course begins with a meandering uphill and the pack quickly went from 23 to 15. Then the real fun began—with a lot of attacks throughout until what I like to call the 'kicker hill.'  And the 'kicker hill' was the beginning of the end for me. I should have put myself on the front so that I wouldn't be too far behind after everyone passed me. But, instead, I started the hill near the back and then had to chase back on. I wasn't able to catch the 7 girls ahead of me, but LB from Group Health and I worked to exhaustion trying.

So, long story short, LB and I spent the rest of the race chasing the front 7 and trying to stay away from the 6 behind us. We were successful in the latter endeavor and finished 8th and 9th.

No upgrade points for 8th (they go 7 deep) but I did get a top 10 finish.

Me, sprinting for fun-sies.

Then, it poured on the afternoon races. I was really happy to be a cat 4.