Lewiston Duathlon & St. Paddy's 5

My OChem final was yesterday, so my evenings have heretofore been devoted to less self-promotional activities. Okay, that only partially assuaged my blog-related guilt, so it's time for the weekend race wrap up. In a nutshell, 2 races, 2 wins, so no room for complaint. Unless, of course I was to complain about not having broken my Lewiston duathlon record from last year. In fact, I was 52 seconds slower, which is a bit concerning, since there wasn't any discernable difference in the weather. There were mumblings about the bike course being a hair longer this year, but I think my slower pace was likely due to my legs feeling horrible and dead on the bike. It happens sometimes. Regardless, it was a very fun day. Phaedra and Laura were my traveling buddies, and we shared a lot of laughs - initially at the weather (serious snow storms on the drive down) and later at Hayden's (Phaedra's son) antics.

There was also a fun-loving Spokane-based crew down there and we had a hard time taking ourselves too seriously, as the following pictures might attest.

The next day was the St. Paddy's Five - a classic 5 mile road race on the Spokane running calendar. I hadn't planned to do it because of the duathlon the day before and because I needed to get in a long ride. I knew that this chem final was going to eat up a bit of time over the subsequent few days, so Sunday was my only real window. After my first good night's sleep in ages, I woke up feeling rested and the weather looked WAY too nasty for an early morning ride. My legs felt pretty fresh (thanks to Katie at the Metabolic Institute for helping me with a recovery regimen!), and I knew there was a (small) chance of winning the $1000 spot prize after the race, so I headed over to SCC, where I immediately ran into a lot of my favorite Spokanites. Conveniently, a lot of my favorite people are runners. My only regret was running across a completely water-logged stretch of sod during my warm-up which resulted in my having very wet and cold feet until the race began.

It turns out that 5 mile races are over very quickly. My heart rate reached zones it hasn't seen in years, and I got out-kicked by a fourteen year-old boy down the final stretch, but I did mangage to (barely) eek out sub-six minute miles and the women's win. I didn't win the $1000, but Conrad did, so that was pretty cool.

After heading home and scarfing down a giant bowl of pasta, Conrad swung by to pick me up for a ride. It didn't end up being as long as I had initially planned, but it was quality. An easy zone 2 ride for him and upper zone 3 for me, but really fun. My legs burned from the races, but they felt strong and we managed to ride during one of the few breaks in what has been a pretty icky weather system lingering around the area for the past couple of weeks. There were moments (when we had a tailwind, naturally) that I couldn't keep the grin off of my face. When it's good on the bike, it's phenomenal. When it's bad (today) . . . nevermind.

In other news, Aaron is in Minnesota for the national biathlon championships right now. His first race is tomorrow (March 20) so feel free to send along good luck wishes. I can't wait to have him home, but am excited to hear how it goes!