I haven't been blogging much lately.  I was doing nothing other than working for awhile until I finally decided to take some time for myself.  Running seemed like a good option.  I could go out, alone, and run for as long as I could stand to run without any disturbances.  I became addicted.

I decided to sign up for my first triathlon coming up on May 20th, the Ramblin Rose Sprint Triathlon.  A friend of mine convinced me that I could do it.  She assured me that some people even walk the swim portion (it's in a pool).  I guess that was all I needed to hear, because I have committed myself to this race.  I may not be the fastest or strongest swimmer, but I will not be walking either.  As a matter of fact, I have a swim coach - Mickey.  I've spent enough money on year round swimming for him and it turns out, he's a pretty good coach.  I haven't decided yet wether he is just tough or if he is abusing his power over me.  Either way, I'm going to assume it's just going to make me stronger.

Biking - the third piece of the puzzle.  I just bought my first road bike...a vintage Colnago.  My friend, Geof, convinces me that this is an awesome bike and that I got a great deal on it.  I think he is right and he's pretty much a bike expert, so I think I'm in good hands!  I haven't really ridden the bike yet.  I took it out once, by myself, just to get comfortable on it.  My real training begins in 2 days, when I ride the 9 mile tri-course with a few girls.  I'm just glad I finally got padded shorts :)

Overall, I haven't really figured out how to train for a triathlon.  I felt like I was getting pretty strong with the running portion so I started to focus more on the swimming.  About a week ago, I started to feel like my running was suffering which wasn't a great feeling.  I'm awful at swimming, slacking on my runs and hadn't biked yet.  Felt like a recipe for disaster or at least failure.

I decided to sign up for a 5k last week.  I was slightly terrified since my runs had been so bad lately.  I have no idea how, but I actually placed and hit a PR (personal record).  It was a fun race, called the Foxhunt.  The girls, or foxes, started first and the guys started 3 minutes later.  There were a couple of familiar faces in the crowd and my only goal was to not let them catch me since I had a 3 minute head start!

I ended up getting 1st place in my age group (30-39) with a time of 23:19 (7:31 pace).  That puts me in 7th overall out of the girls.  I was and am still shocked.  Thankfully, I met my goal...those familiar faces didn't catch me.

Foxhunt 5k

Position 32 out of 96
Bib 222
Name Amanda Olson
Age 33
Gun Time  00:23:19
Gun Pace 7:31

*1st place overall female ran this race in 18:04 (5:49 pace)
*1st place female (ME!) in my age bracket ran this race in 23:19 (7:31 pace)

Overall Results
Category Results

So...this must have been a fluke.  I was just worried about being caught, right?  I also signed up for another 5k 2 days later, the St. Timothy's Spring Sprint.  Turns out, even though it was pretty hilly and I argued with myself for at least a mile about ducking out, I placed again...this time, 3rd in my age bracket (30-34) with a time of 24:56 (8:04 pace).

St. Timothy's Spring Sprint 5k

Position 62 out of 223
Bib 105
Name Amanda Olson
Age 33
Chip Time 24:56
Gun Time 25:03
Pace 8:04

Race Results

*1st place overall female ran this race in 18:31 (5:58 pace)
*1st place female in my age bracket ran this race in 22:56 (7:23 pace)

I guess I'm feeling a little better about the running portion of the tri...now I need to step up the training for the bike and swim portion!

I often struggle with keeping a consistent training schedule.  I know how to eat healthily, but could be better with training-specific nutrition.  I decided that keeping a blog may help me analyze and organize my routines and habits allowing me to fine tune things a bit.  We'll see how this goes...