Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

Danielle:

Saturday, June 4th, was the King Tiger 5k; the 5th race in the Grand Prix series.  The course features two relatively easy miles, followed by one hellacious mile.  Couple that with the fact that the course is completely devoid of trees or shade of any kind and the race can be rather slow.  However, Rita's is one of the sponsors, so the promise of free Rita's froze custard after the race more than makes up for the tough course and normally hot conditions.  I had the pina colada.  It was delicious. 

Word leaked during the middle of the week that John Compton was not racing.  This didn't mean much for me, but it did open things up on the mens side.  Baring a random fast guy showing up (quite possible), we knew this race was Paul's for the taking.  This left Jay, Chad, Billy, Vincent, Richard, Stephen, and Jim battling it out for the rest of the podium spots.  Stephen ran a phenomenal time on this course last year, so Chad and I figured he would be mixing it up at the front again this year.  On the women's side, I knew Michelle was racing, but that was it. 

Once again, Chad had a great race.  Paul and Jay took off from the start, with Vincent following behind.  Chad settled into a pack with Billy, Stephen, Jim, and Mike.  Richard was trailing close behind, which is dangerous in light of his incredible third mile speed.  By mile two the pack starting breaking up.  Chad, Billy, and Stephen caught Vincent at about 2.5, and Chad was able to find another gear and pull away from everyone up the final hill, to take 3rd overall in 16:55.  Billy was close behind in 16:57, and Stephen ran a 17:01.  Chad is always pleased when he is able to run under 17 minutes, but to run under 17 on a harder course is even better.  He is running very consistently right now, which I think is a good sign.  Another month of 5k specific training and he'll be ready to rip off a new PR!

My race did not go so well.  I've been up and down all year.  Generally with a down following an up.  So I guess I shouldn't be shocked that after a decent Great Harvest performance I stunk at King Tiger.  Michelle ran a solid race to get the win.  Some college girl showed up and finished second (and I can call her a girl because she's still 19 and therefore a child in my world), and I got outkicked by Allyson.  I had been trailing Allyson the whole race and passed her with about a half mile to go.  I didn't realize she was catching up and she just blew by me.  She ran a monster PR and was understandably very excited.  I'm happy she had a great race, but frustrated because I should be 30+ seconds ahead of her without an issue.  I just don't seem to be improving, even though I'm feeling better in workouts and going faster.  My times have been all over the place this year.  I think for Summer Breeze I'm just going to hammer the first mile and see what happens.  I need to stop running so terribly slow, so perhaps forcing my body to run a fast first mile will help.  Maybe not, but at least I'll be able to say I ran one of the miles fast :)

Sunday we headed to Latta Plantation for an open water swim and bike with some friends.  It was my first time in open water, so that was a bit scary at first.  I definitely was breathing hard and panicking a bit, but I felt much more comfortable when we were done.  Next, we were supposed to bike the Latta course twice to get in 30 miles, but I got a flat about 3 miles into the ride.  Sarah was awesome and changed the flat, but her CO2 head was broken, so we had to wait for Chris and Adam to finish their loop (since they were ahead of us when I got the flat) to help us out.  Note to self: Chad and I need flat tire kits.  It's embarrassing to sit roadside with no way to help yourself.  Once the tire was inflated, Sarah took off with Chris and Adam to do some intervals, while Chad and I hung back and checked out the course.  We only had time for one loop at that point, but it was still a very productive morning in that we got to see the bike course and I got to swim a bit.  Chad now has clip on aero bars, which I'm sure he will gush about in another post, but suffice it to say that I hate them.  He now rides faster with no additional effort, so I'm behind him hammering in a vain attempt to keep up.  I need to get myself some aero bars.  I had secretly hoped to average the same miles per hour on the bike at Latta, but with these new fancy aero bars I fear my goal is impossible.  I'll still give it a go though, so hopefully after the race I can razz him about that over mimosas.

We went to Zada Jane's with Chris & Sarah after the swim, bike, run, swim for brunch.  We had never been and now I'm sorry we waited so long to try it!  Both of us had a fabulous meal.  We will definitely be back to Zada Jane's again soon.  I think Chad is hooked on their soy chai latte's and apple butter.  He is threatening to bring his own toast as an appetizer.  I'm not sure how well that will go over, but it would be fun to try. 

Up next is the Latta Triathlon.  It's a huge race with 800 competitors.  Although Chad and I will get smoked, it should be a great time.  Plus we're having some friends over after the race for food and beverages by the pool.  You can't beat that.