Redding Weekend!

Whew! I'm back in good ol Eugene this morning. Had a great weekend of fun and frolicking down in Redding, CA with my immediate family, my mother and father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. Actually got out in the kick boats on Shasta Lake for some fishing on Saturday morning... the weather was awesome and the fish were... well... not biting! Who cares though... it was awesome to be out on the water with my son! Training didn't suffer at all, and thankfully I have a really supportive family.

Saturday morning I went for a short run at a moderate pace... roughly 40 minutes at about a 7:30/mi pace. It was really nice to be out running at 6:00 am in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts! Quite a nice change from the rain and the cold in Eugene. Then that afternoon I took to the backroads of Redding! It was 73 degrees and sunny... making it my most pleasant ride so far this year. I rode for 1 hour and 45 min covering 36.7 miles averaging 18 mph on flat to rolling terrain. I don't know if that was particularly fast per se... but it really felt good... legs and back felt a bit stiff afterward but I was happy with my performance overall!

Sunday morning was a long run... or at least the longest so far this year. Again... I took off in a t-shirt and shorts in the mild morning sun! It was great! I also strapped on my fuelbelt holding 2 6 oz bottles of a concoction of banana Hammer Gell mixed with water... about a 1 to 1 ratio. I rambled around the neighborhood for a while until I found a REALLY nice nature preserve and finished up there. Brett from Zen and the Art of Triathlon kept me company on the iPod which was really helpful! Overall I ran 1 hr and 10 min. at about a 8 min/mi pace... you can do the math. Legs felt just fine after the long ride on Saturday! Then it was a 5 hour drive back to Eugene! Oh JOY! After we got home and headed to the pool. There I did a 1km time trial... finished in 16 min flat... which is slightly off of the pace that I'd like to race at.

I have to say that I think my training is progressing just fine. I have to remember that I'm only beginning my 9th week of training in a 20 week training cycle! Having said that I think I'm doing well and I just need to be patient. I can definitely tell that my body is adapting to the training b/c I'm just not as sore after my heavy days! That's pretty cool! Today is a day off and then It's time to hit it hard tomorrow!

Breathe!