Weekend in Review

Back to work today. I think every weekend should be a 3 day weekend by the way. Anyone else agree?

Usually my holiday long weekends fall into one of two categories: I'm either in full holiday celebration mode and replace working out with a lot of unhealthy eating; or, I take advantage of the long weekend by trying to get in some good training. This past weekend was the latter, and with Dan playing in a golf tournament all weekend, it gave me plenty of time to get some good workouts in (and some quality lying/reading by the pool time as well).

Friday: I didn't have Friday off of work, but I got up early to get my longer run in before work and out of the way. Since I was racing a 5k Monday morning I didn't want to run on Sunday, so shuffled my schedule around. 10 miles before work - check.

Saturday: Saturday was a long ride/run. I met up with a friend and we knocked out 46 miles on the bike, which I followed up with a 6.2 mile run. I was really happy to have company on this ride and it went by much faster than the Saturday before when I rode on my own. Despite getting a bit uncomfortable in the saddle towards the end of the ride, I felt great. I felt even better on my run after wards, and am convinced that running after biking really plays to my strength. I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool immersed in a good book (Emily Giffin's novels are my new favorites).

Sunday: Sunday I slept in until 7:30 am (which for me is late considering I go to bed at 9 pm) and headed out for a 20 mile recovery ride on the country roads through Georgetown. After the ride I puttered around for a few hours before heading to Austin for an easy 1600m open water swim in the Quarry at Pure Austin. I'm really enjoying open water swimming much more then pool swimming right now - so much that I want to do all my swimming in open water. Funny how that has changed - 2 years ago open water completely freaked me out, and I would only do it in races (and would freak out even then). Hit Whole Foods for lunch after wards for a $12 salad (this always happens to me at Whole Foods since they charge by the pound) then met up with my friend and his wife to pick up a tri bike that I'm testing out this week.

Monday: Dan and I signed up to run the Nelson 5k, a local race that we've done the past 2 years on the 4th of July. The past two years I've tried to break 20 minutes on this course, and just haven't done it as the heat and humidity usually gets the best of me. Breaking 20 minutes was a pie-in-the-sky goal for me yesterday, but after a running 20:18 5k a few weeks ago, I figured I would come in just over 20 minutes.

I warmed up for an easy 20 minutes and my legs felt surprisingly good. Did some stretching and lined up near the start, ready to go.

3-2-1 countdown and we were off. A few strides in I noticed there was a girl running next to me stride for stride. And, I knew exactly who she was. I always joke with Dan that she is my 'arch nemesis' because this particular girl is in my age group and used to KICK MY BUTT at every single race. Like seriously kick my butt. It would frustrate me to no end. And to top it off, she was never very friendly at all, even when I would congratulate her after wards. Over the past two years, I got faster and she had a baby and got slower, giving me some relief (I could FINALLY beat her). But, lately she's been back strong. And inching closer and closer to me. So, yesterday morning when she was matching me stride per stride, I was determined not to let her get ahead of me because there is no time to play catch-up in a 5k race. Just under a mile into the race we were running just over a 6 min mile pace, which was way faster than I wanted to start out. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable with that pace, but she was breathing pretty hard so I was just praying she would drop back. I refused to be the one to drop back, even if it sent me to the medical tent (just kidding Mom...kinda).

At Mile 1, I got my wish; she slowed down. Once she slowed down, I did a little as well - although not allowing myself to slow down too much not knowing how far behind me she was. I hit the two mile mark and she had not re-passed me. But, I still didn't know how much of a lead I had on her because I refused to look back because that would let her know that I was worried (call it foolish pride I guess). I was feeling pretty worn out at this point, but reminded myself I only had one mile to and vowed not to fall apart. Luckily, around this point a man approached me from behind clipping along at a strong pace, and instead of letting him pass me, I went with him. I hung onto his coattails and came across the finish line in 19:39, tying my 5k PR.

I ended up with more of a lead on my 'arch nemesis' than I thought, and she grabbed second in 21:31. The funny thing is that after the race she asked my co-worker (who was helping out with the race and who she knows) 'who this Erin girl is?'. She said this was the third race I've beaten in lately and 'where did I come from?'. I thought it was particularly amusing that all of a sudden she's aware of my name, but I've known exactly who she is for years. Hahaha. She may get me in the next race, but, yesterday, the trophy was mine :)All in all, it was a great weekend! I'm feeling strong in my running and better in regards to my biking. Still swimming like a turtle, but that's to be expected.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!