First Post

Well today is my fist posting as a newbie blogger. What better to talk about than my favorite activity. Here in the Aloha state we have an ideal climate for training. Although we do have seasons it's not as drastic as in most areas. Our fall and spring seasons are usually the wettest.
Right now I am training for the Honu Triathlon on the Big Island. I'm really looking forward to doing it because it'll be my first half IM. My training is right on track and I have no doubts that I can finish. What I'm apprehensive about is how well I will finish. I want to try and get in under 51/2 hrs so I'll have to push it hard. My runs have been going well and I just did a long run of 13.3 mi. on Tuesday. I felt good and held a pretty good pace @ 8:24 min/mi. I need to work more on my long bikes. I plan to do the Metric Century on 4/30/06 and I included that as part of my training plan.
Also part of my training is the Lanikai Tri which was held last Sunday. Because of the recent heavy rains, the water quality at Kailua beach wasn't very good. The race was changed to a run-bike-run Duathlon. The 2 mi. run to start immediately went uphill. This was a good thing because it quickly thinned out the pack. I've been practicing hills and was able to get out of the main group. I ran conservatively @ 7:20 pace. T1 went well, and considering I really hadn't practiced transitions I was pleased. The bike was good paced and I spun a high cadence on the out portion. The small hill at Kbay was harder than I thought and it took a chunk of time from me. Going back seemed like more of a push but I also used a lower gearing. At T2 I found my insoles slipped out a bit from my run shoes when I kicked them off in T1. I slipped them back in and headed for the run course. It took almost 1 mile to find my run legs but after I felt at ease and was actually getting stronger as I went along. #188 passed me just before mile 2 and I used him to set pace. We were closing in on another athlete at the hill before the finish and I knew I could take them both. I quickly passed both of them on the uphill and squirted down the other side. Entering the boat ramp parking I knew they weren't going to catch me. A small victory for the race. I finished the second run with a 7:09 pace and felt I could have gone longer and perhaps quicker.
Next up is the Honolulu Triathlon which looks to be a fast, fast course.