Recovery Week, reflections on the race, and more pics

Thanks so much for all the replies on the race report! I always get such good feedback from fellow athletes and the support from friends and family means so much to me too. :) Thank you! Zach read the comments too and is feeling really good about his performace. He is really looking forward to the Tri now and is getting to be quite the endurance athlete. I'm also looking forward to the Tri and then to my next marathon, California International Marathon in early December (same race I BQ'd at last year).

I got some great feedback from you guys and had a chance to think about my race some more, and I think I made a couple text book mistakes. First, I could have trained harder. Specifically more Lactate Threshold/Tempo runs. The half marathon is run right at your LT basically, so I should have focused more on that. Second, I should have started off slower and saved my energy for the latter half. Yes, this is Racing 101 and yet I make this mistake often. It's the simplest rule yet it is almost impossible to execute. Finally, I should have stuck to my nutrition schedule of eating Clif Blocks throughout the run. I only ate one (which is 1/3 of a serving) at like mile 5 then totally blew the rest off. I guess I thought my problem was mostly breathing-related and not energy-related, but I think I could have used the calories. All in all, it was a learning experience and a heckofa workout as well. :)

Well I have been doing plenty of stuff this week, just not running, as I recovery from the half.

Monday Zach and I took the day off work and while we were a little sore, we got out for a really easy, slow bike ride to the library and to lunch. Did 9 miles total.

Tuesday we went swimming in the lake after work. I swam approximately 1120 yards non-stop (where you gonna stop in a lake??) in about 28 minutes.

Wednesday I did nothing :)

Thursday I got up and went to the gym in the morning. (The pool is CLOSED temporarily :( jerks) I rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes and got a great workout! I might do this more often- it's a little easier to actually DO than riding outside. After the bike I did 10 minutes of weight training- wow that's been a while!! I got a nice upper body/core workout in before hitting the shower. In the evening I got together with Maritza for dinner where we got all excited for her New York City marathon training, which starts soon. Oooh that is going to be SO cool! Check out her blog as she trains using Pete Pfitzinger's program for the first time. You rock Maritza! :)

And then finally!

Friday 3.0 miles/25:04/8:21 average pace

Yay! I missed running so much. :P My legs felt good, but the run wasn't easy since I randomly decided to run a kick-ass pace. Whatever. :)

Tonight I'm going to see Harry Potter the movie, then I'm going to get my book at midnight! YES I'm a huge nerd. We're going for a long bike ride in the morning (officially starting "real" triathlon training) then a bbq and later a party. That's if I can tear myself away from Harry Potter...

Here's a few good pics of the half marathon that I found online. Enjoy!

First, the good luck bouquet from Mom and Dad in Montana :)

Maritza looking strong:

Zach running to the finish line:

Early on I'm feeling great:
I managed a smile, but I'm tired here:

Going for broke: