So, what happened during my February and March training? Did I stop? Have I given up?

Nope...

Just strained my back in mid-February and had to take a few weeks off. Training has been great throughout March and I'm feeling good about where I am with six weeks to go.

Here's the rundown of the past few weeks of training...

Here's this week's activity log:

MON - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

TUE - nada

WED - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

THU - nada - went to the PeopleSoft shareholders meeting.

FRI - 4 mile run - did it one of my faster practice times (37:30). 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

SAT - Went for my longest ride so far this season - about 2 hours of decent climbing. It was a reverse Palomares, which is a local ride but riding in the opposite direction with most of the climbing in the first half of the ride. Felt decent, but I'm still not up cycling-wise with where I peaked last year.

Here's this week's activity log:

MON - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

TUE - nada

WED - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

THU - nada

FRI - 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

SAT - Decent ride this week - about 25 - 30 miles. Went easy the first 7 and then pushed hard on the middle 15 to try to simulate race pace over some mild hills. Felt pretty good. Passed everyone I saw, but there were big packs of beginners out on the road today for some reason.

Got some slick new wheels for my bike - some Mavic Kysrium Elites.



They're lightweight and a lot stiffer than my previous wheels. My speedometer sensor doesn't fit on the spokes, since the wheel uses bladed instead of round spokes, so I don't know how much my average speeds have gone up. It does feel better - we'll see.

Here's this week's activity log:

MON - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

TUE - nada

WED - 4 mile run. 3 sets of 15 push-ups.

THU - nada

FRI - nada

SAT - My first full race length brick. The ride was just over 20 miles, quick transition, then a 4 mile run. Time was 1:07 for the ride and 39:07 for the run. Joni rode with me, though I waited for her a few times. :> She ran the first 2 miles with me and then got back on the bike and rode along with me for the rest of my run. We chatted a bit and that really helped me finish strong.

I wasn't sure if I was up to going the full 4 miles, but decided about halfway through that I could do it. Not really that sore or tired afterwards. Felt good.