16th of 354 on the bike. The run was short by a lot... only 2.5 miles, but I ran it in 18:11, so for the full 5k it would have put me at about 22:34. Missed both goals, but did manage 1st in my AG in spite of being 223 of 354 on the swim. Happy it was a short swim.  Oh, and it was about 50 deg and raining on the bike... no fast turns for sure.

3/24 - Alpha Delta Piathlon (sprint triathlon) 300m/11 mi/5k - The swim should be interesting... I've swam about 5 times this year, so this is not an "A" race.  Goal - top 10 bike split, and beat my last 5k (22:18) off the bike.

Thanks! I've never really worked together in a race on a run, but when I started riding with a group, I realized what a HUGE difference drafting makes.  A guy was telling me that in a race he was being drafted on the bike and told the guy to back off, but he wouldn't... so he took his bottle with gatorade or whatever the sports drink was, and sprayed it back at him. Haha! That would be NO FUN.

1AG is good Tony.

 

You'll like this story. So at the HM this weekend I fall in with a couple of guys about mile 3. I'm sitting behind them and drafting. After about half a mile I take the front and tell them I can't sit there and just draft and I will lead for a bit. One of them is a tri guy and tells a story about his last full ironman where these guys drafted on him when the marshals weren't looking. Cost him several places to hear it and he wasn't too happy. Told him runners don't do that to work together (like I really know). He laughed and enjoyed the break for about a mile and a half. Then he dropped me and the other guy like 3rd period French. At the finish we found him and he asked why we didn't follow him. Not sure I had a 1:25 in me was my response. Tri guys don't seem to run out of pain.

03/29 - kmark - Good Friday 5k - 19:30

 

I really have no idea.

 

I have been running consistently for 3 weeks now, 3 WEEKS!!! so not sure what to expect.  It hopefully won't be ridiculously cold like the 5k I ran in Feb in 19:5x so I guess we'll see.

Hey now...It turns out I really did have no idea.  Ended up running a 18:53 which was a huge surprise. Still not feeling really sharp or anything but the time tells me things are really coming around quickly.

3/30, "Campus on the run 5K" ; This is a hilly course and there's usually a headwind on the first big uphill. I ran 19:23 last year, so shooting for 19:22 this year.

19:54, 3rd O/A. The race route was changed completely from last year. It was still a very hard hilly route, with a big downhill segment on a dirt road and a 90 degree turn at the bottom in loose gravel onto asphalt. Fortunately for the rest of us, the university track and cross country guys are not allowed to compete in this "fun run".

I started out in 6th position, and moved up to 5th by the first mile, then passed the two young guys who had started in the lead during the long uphill in mile 2.  They finished 4th and 5th. I ran 19:54, which was good enough for 3rd place over-all in a field of about 250. Missed 2nd place by 4 seconds to a 41-YO ROTC officer who I beat last year. He's gotten a bit faster since then, or I'm slower. 1st place was a 20-something honors grad student that I've known since he first started (or got serious about) running a few years ago. This is the first year he's been able to beat me at any race, and now he beats me at EVERY race. He's got a good running future ahead of him. I wasn't happy with my time, but not sure what I should have done differently. I ran very conservatively on the uphills, but if I had hammered them, I would have paid for it elsewhere, I think. 

kmark and Cecil: nice running!

MilkTruck: that's just one fail -- you had the time if not for the hamstring.  Buck up, and heal up!

kmark and Cecil: nice running!

 

MilkTruck: that's just one fail -- you had the time if not for the hamstring.  Buck up, and heal up!

+1 to all three