It's been ages since I posted anything. The start of the year has been hectic with work and family life but I've kept running and riding (and even swimming a bit). The spring half marathons have been my focus for the past three years, and this year is no different - although in past years I've been aiming to set a PR, I'm in some doubt that will be achievable in 2015. Compared to 2014 I have run and ridden more in the first 3 months of the year mostly aided by the weather which was not as terrible as the "polar vortex" we enjoyed 12 months ago.
For 2015 I've been lucky enough to sign up as an ambassador for UGo Bars - a locally owned & operated sports nutrition business making wholesome energy bars from real, fresh ingredients. They're based in Bloomington, I'm hoping to convince some shops in Columbus to stock the bars! In the meantime check them out online at http://ugobars.com/
For 2015 I've been lucky enough to sign up as an ambassador for UGo Bars - a locally owned & operated sports nutrition business making wholesome energy bars from real, fresh ingredients. They're based in Bloomington, I'm hoping to convince some shops in Columbus to stock the bars! In the meantime check them out online at http://ugobars.com/
For the Quaff ON! running team, I'm competing in the Hoosier half marathon (April 11) and the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon (April 25). The first of these is a hilly workout, definitely not a PR course, but a great race around Bloomington and Quaff ON! is the beer sponsor for the event - we'll have a big after party at Quaff ON Bloomington with all the team members, friends and family to celebrate. The Kentucky race is flat and fast, I set my PR (1:17:45) there last year, winning the 40-44 age group. This year, despite having run more, I feel less prepared. I haven't put in the hard work at the track to build speed, so these races will be a bit of an adventure!
The one key workout that I have managed to repeat is my 3 x 5k run at the start of March. In 2014, I used the Pink Power 5k race to do this, running the course twice before the actual race. This year, I couldn't attend the race but managed to convince Quaff ON! team mate, Danny Fisher, to join me on the people train one Thursday evening for the same workout. We had a strong head wind as we ran towards town making the first half of the 5k harder, while that hurt, the tail wind on the return was very welcome each time we made the turn! It's a truly punishing workout, we ran an average of 5:54.9 per mile for the 9.3 miles, I was pretty broken by the end of it, the slow jog back to town as a cool down run was uncomfortable as my calves tightened and quads ached. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain....
There's 4 weeks until the Louisville race - I plan to get back into our Track Tuesday workouts and build upon what I've got. I doubt I'll run a PR but I hope that I can repeat my AG win, which means something sub 1:19:00.
