1/2 Distance Brick - now Taper!

I have my first "A" race of the season 2 weeks from Saturday in Oceanside, California, the California Ironman 70.3. It's a half Ironman distance race and I am really excited to race it. This will be my 3rd race of this distance. The 2nd one was significantly better and easier than the first, I am hoping the 3rd one follows suit. The first two were at elevation in Utah and this one is at sea level, you could definitely assume I am hoping for advantages simply from that!

A couple days ago, on Wednesday, March 14, I did my final large brick of training for this race. I am now in Taper mode!!

Wed was the 4th time in the past 2 months that I was scheduled to bike the 56 miles and then ran 13. There were two other days in January that I was scheduled to do this brick that bad things happened , at least on the first attempt, thus making the 2nd attempt not a possibility. The third time I did this distance brick (bike to run combo) - I made it through just fine but did not enjoy the run at all!

My first ever 1/2 ironman distance race (aug 2010), I rode 56 and ran 9 miles once prior to the race. I felt I was very prepared for the race, and I think I was, my time was under 6 hours. For the 2nd race (a year later - aug 2011) I did the full 1/2 iron brick 2 or 3 times and felt much more prepared, and my time reflected that (under 5:30). SOOOOO . . . . for this one, there are several factors that have me excited: having trained harder and longer, having a full IM under my belt, doing the race at sea level, finally having a coach to train me personally, etc. etc., I am optimistic that it can be a great race. And, Wednesday went very well. I kept my heart rate purposefully low the entire time and still managed decent speeds and times. My bike was 3:20 and my run was 2:10 - all in zone 2 of my heart rate. And I felt great doing it. I biked through Castle Pines North to Sante Fe, then down through Sedalia to HWY 105 that heads toward Palmer Lake. I turned around at mile 28 and came back the same way. There are a few pretty good climbs, but the ride is relatively easy. I then ran an extremely hilly 13 miles, but ran the last 6 miles approximately one minute per mile faster than the first 7 miles (10s on the 1st 7 (more uphill). 9s on the last 6 miles - which were more downhill also), I felt really good finishing and knew I could have gone longer at the same pace, or faster throughout the run.

 My goals for the race are to be under 3 hrs on the bike and under 1:55 for the run, then approximately a 35 min swim, plus a few minutes for transitions, to put me around 5:30 total. Of course that is assuming weather and all external factors cooperate. The Oceanside bike course is more difficult and hillier than the other half ironman I have done (that one is completely flat - hence the faster bike splits) - so my bike time will be longer than previous races.

Gorgeous view from the trail at the Bluffs Regional Park on my run