Pic Spocket

New personal record at the Half Marathon distance last Saturday at the “Martian Invasion of Races” organized by Running Fit in Dearborn Michigan.

My previous time (Detroit 2009) was 1:35:05. We had perfect running weather Saturday morning: sunny and just above freezing point for the temperature. The course was awesome. Final time: 1:32:55. This is actually a few seconds better than what I was trying to do. I paced the race very well and I had some juice left to pick up the pace at the end. Actually, I think I should have increased the pace earlier, but I did not know at that time that I had it in me.

GPS data: HERE

Official Results: HERE

I finished 11/156 in my age group and 92/1880 overall.

 I am very happy with that race. If I can have that fitness level when I get in Orlando in 5 weeks, I will have a good HIM race!

My friend Craig also did the race with me and did awesome, especially since he did not really train for it. But he is young, so he can take the abuse… hehe!  He could have even done a bit better if he did not go for his signature move (push-ups) when we crossed path while on my way back. With a bit of training and seriousness, he could easily shave 8-10 minutes off his time I think. Even more if he cuts on junk food….

Sorry Craig that you had to get up so early… hehe!

I have been pretty good at keeping up with my cycling training all winter on the trainer. I have put over 1700 km on the trainer during the cold season. But after a while, it gets OLD! I passed the last 2 weeks of march in Europe (1 week in Germany, 1 week in France) which means that all my bike sessions were done indoor in fitness clubs.

I was scheduled for a long solo bike session (~3 hours or 90 km) last Sunday, the day after landing back in Canada. I told myself that regardless of the weather, I would do it outside! Unfortunately, the weather was calling for rain that morning. I went out anyway. The route I used is below. You can zoom and pan the map. If you click on “view details“, you will see the new Garmin Connect interface and all the data for the ride (speed, heart rate, elevation, power, etc). Pretty neat!

I could do the first hour without rain, but things got wet after that. Despite the rain, the ride was simply awesome. I was very happy with the results.

My average power for the ride was 249 Watts, about 90% of my actual estimated FTP (Functional Treshold Power - the power I can maintain for 1 hour). I almost maintained an average of 34 km/h and covered the 90 km distance in 2h40 minutes. I also had some life left in the legs after that. Sure, I could have done it faster, but then I would have no legs left for running. If I could match that performance in the bike leg of my upcoming Ironman 70.3 race in May, I would be happy.