About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
I'll make you laugh, or break my neck trying. This is usually accomplished with daily bouts of swimming, biking and running. A former "chub-a-holic," I got fit and healthy the good old fashioned way and went from a mid-pack athlete to top age group runner and triathlete. I'm a Writer and USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach. I guess that makes me part Tina Fey and part Jillian Michaels. Visit my coaching site at www.fomotraining.com

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Week 11: Weekend Recap

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Austin's own triathlete Desiree Ficker for her 2nd Place finish at the Ironman World Championships in KONA! She kicked ass crossing the finish line wearing her Jack and Adams visor!! Am I allowed to brag that we have the same Running Coach??

Also, Congratulations to the many Gazelles and my Ohio friends Beth and Pete who ran the Chicago Marathon this morning! From what I hear, it was brutal. It's a damn marathon. Of course it's brutal. Everyone should be commended for their efforts!

A quick recap of my weekend. Because of my "engagement encounter" weekend, I did my long run on Friday with Thon. Our original goal was to run 16 miles total, with about 12 of them at a 7:30 pace...Well...it didn't quite work out that way. For various reasons (namely the fact that we were tired), we cut the workout short to 12-13 miles. I ended up running 10 of those at a decent 7:40 pace. I was just running out of gas, not to mention the fact that it was pitch dark and we spent an excessive amount of energy concentrating on where the hell we were and trying not to trip and fall.

I was able to squeeze a 1-mile swim in at Barton Springs early Saturday morning before heading back to my Marriage Class. I'm vey happy to report that it was one of my best open water swims in a while. My one-hour training with Tracy has really made a difference in my mental and physical technique. I could've done more, but ran out of time! (9:38, 9:45, 9:52, 10:00) Not bad considering I was regressing to 10:15s and 10:20s last week.

Sunday was cold and very windy at the start of the morning. As the day progressed, the temperatures rose, but the wind never really died down. As much as I didn't want to ride in the wind, I, of course, had to convince myself to get on the bike and just suck it up. Who knows what weather I'll have on the Florida coast? I ended up riding 3 large loops in South Austin (a little over 17 miles per loop). So, in just about 52 miles, I averaged a little over 17mph, which was phenomenal for me considering the wind gusts that were just debillitating at times. After I finished the 52 mile ride, I hopped off my bike and ran 3 miles...8:07, 7:49, 7:12...very pleased with today's workout.

1 comment:

LoneStarCrank said...

It was great to see Desiree cross the line in second...and even better to see the familiar J&A visor (had to do a double take when I saw it.)

The wind was a killer yesterday... nice work going 17+ for 52.