and this time I paid!
Supposedly it's a bad modem and they'll come by to give me another one...but not until Wednesday...while I'm working. if I want them to come when I'm actually home and can consequently let them in, I have to wait until Friday. grrrrr...
Meanwhile, I'm paying $2/day. Somehow this doesn't seem right.
So, sorry but the posts will be less frequent for a while since I'll have to be relying on internet at friend's houses and work.
Hope everyone had a great weekend. It's been out-of-this-world gorgeous here lately. I went for a bike ride today, even! I only did about 13 miles, but it was enough to remind me that i'm going to have my work cut out for me if i'm going to survive this half-ironman. I managed not to fall, which was definitely an achievement, and even mantained a decent pace...despite my forgetting my pump and therefore being unable to top off the tires. I rode in pancake-flat territory though, and of course Wildflower is anything but flat. But here's the good news as I see it: What goes up...must come down. And so even if I get pathetically slow up the hills, I'll always have the downside coming up soon...even on "Nasty Grade".
Here's what I'm thinking for the Half. Let me know if it sounds not-feasible. I think I can finish under 6 hours. I'd like to do the 1.2m swim in 30minutes or less, but that might be pushing it. So, maybe 35 minutes for the swim. Then, the 13.1m run will take about 2 hours. So, that leaves 3 hours and 25 minutes for the bike and transitions. Take off 10 minutes for transitions, although they really shouldn't take anywhere near that long...but that'll give me leeway for the run. So...that means 3 hours and 15 minutes for a 56m bike, which turns into 17.2mph. I think I should be able to do that. I can't now, especially not on hills, but I think I will be able to by next May. I'm going to start now (even though Coach has yet to give us our schedules) with just getting my base back up. I'm good running-wise, but my biking and swimming has been non-existent. So, I'm going to start swimming twice a week, and biking at least once, preferable twice (even if it means having to go to a spinning class because of the ever-lowering temperature). I'm also going to lift weights at least twice a week. That way by the time I get my 'official' schedule in December, I'll hopefully be back to where I left off in June (before I started marathon training).
That just leaves one thing...I'd REALLY like to do the Mardi Gras Marathon in February. I want to prove to myself that I can, in fact, run a marathon...but more importantly, I want to do something to help the Katrina victims (the proceeds of that race are going to help the rebuilding efforts). My dad and I are definitely going to run the half together, but if possible, I want to run the whole thing. I realize it's not necessary, and it'll be hard to train for both. But. At this point I don't really care about finishing under 4 hours anymore. I just want to finish the damn thing. So, if I just take it 'easy' with my dad for the first 13.1, I just want to be strong enough to finish it, even if it takes me 4 1/2 hours. It would be so much easier if I could convince my dad to run the whole thing with me, eh? He runs 10m a day, every day right now, so he could TOTALLY do it, but he just doesn't want to...and I guess trying to force him just to make my life easier isn't really fair, right?
Anyway. Those are my athletic goals for this year. I can't believe I have 'athletic goals'. Totally weird for me...kind of nice though.
It feels good to write it all down...makes it feel like it might actually happen.
