And, it's a wrap!

This weekend I think I can say I trained like a wannabe Ironman.  I will count Friday as the weekend in m training endeavours.
Friday was a great speed workout that I talked about yesterday.  Doing a reverse ladder which I surprised myself with.  I did not hold back although the little man was telling me I was riding in the morning.  I pushed him away and gave it my all.
Saturday AM was go time!  Yes, I was out for a ride on my tri bike for the first time this season.  All my outdoor rides have been on my road bike.  So, I was excited about getting out on the tri bike for a good long ride.  The weather was not quite a splendid as promised, it was about 14-15 degrees, but the wind was blowing from the NW like mad.  It seems that every ride this year has so far been in a crazy wind.  It is likely  a good thing, as the IM could potentially be crazy windy so this gets me in good riding form for the event.  The ride was great, with a lot of good rolling hills, good head wind and a good overall test of riding form for this time of year.  The ride ended up being 105k with at an average speed just over 30k.  My HR for the ride was only 129 which I was pleased about.  Next time I need to push myself a little harder, but I was with my training pal who has not nearly enough miles in the saddle yet, so I had to be nice.  Overall riding aero for a 3+ hour ride was awesome, I was happy as could be to be out.  My T-run afterwards was also a blast!  After that kind of ride I thought I might be a little slower getting going, but I was up to speed in not time at all.  My legs felt great running up to speed with no real hard adjust to manage.  Overall it was an awesome training effort.
The evening was a lot of fun with a 10K run with one of the athletes I have coached.  Although not part of what I was doing for training, it was important for me to be out there with her to make sure she did awesome.  So I went out with her and had a great run!  She had set a goal for herself of under 1:15, I knew she had more in her and let her start the run at her pace. What a great run for her! She finished her first 10k run at 55 minutes!  She was delighted with her time and has a great race experience!  I pushed her along faster than she would have wanted to go and she was happy with the end result.  It was an awesome experience to be with someone I have coached to the stat line and past the finish in an awesome time.
This morning the fun continued!  It was my time to get out and run the Mississauga half marathon!  Bright and early I was off to the start with Trish my wife and another one of the athletesI have coached.  It was fun being at an event that I was going to run as well as be there to support some others athletes!  My goal for the day was to use this as a training run.  I do not at this point want to go out and be a madman for the sake of saying I was fast.  I am using these races as a tool to get myself to not get into the race day adrenaline rush and go nuts and die early in the race!  So, I ran a 1:46 which is a 5 minute improve from my best other half marathon and I did it without busting myslef or huge effort.  I was pleased with my run after a couple of days of hard training leading up to it.  My wife and Lisa(girl I coached) had an awesome ran as well.  They crossed the line with glowing smiles and an awesome race experience.  Both will be out for the next training session and another goal event!
Overall this weekend I gained a lot of satisfaction!  I had athletes that I have trained finish races with results better than they believed they  could, that is a great thing!  I personally pushed the envelope with my own training lighting up the miles and intensity, running past the stiff muscles that are sure to be a greater part of this effort!  I am pleased as could be with all of it!
Congrats to everyone out there who has awesome training weekends!  Some great results, great comebacks and a great inspiration for me and others to reach towards!  Way to go!