Running in a Triathlon Relay
I’ve been training on and off for the last three months trying to get back into running and was asked by a co-worker if I would run a leg of a triathlon. He and another did the swimming and the biking and I was to run 3.5 miles.
During the 3 weeks prior to the race I was working towards a project at work requiring about 80 hours a week of my time. Needless to say I wasn’t running. I actually only got to workout 3 times during that 3 weeks. I was a little worried about my fitness level and not sure if I was going to be able to meet my go of running at a 6:30 pace.
Well, Sunday rolled around and it was raining and early in the morning. I did a little warm up, some strides, maybe 15 minutes of running and a bit of stretching while our cyclist was out on the road. Both of them did pretty good so I was hoping to not disappoint.
I got the ankle strap (timing chip) and was on my way. The exhilaration of being in a competitive race was taking over and I was excited. I made it to the first mile and clocked a 6:05. A bit faster than the pace I wanted but I felt good. I decided to slow it down a little bit and see what I would feel like at 2 miles. Next mile was 6:57 and I began to feel a little tired but not horrible. I decided to speed it up a bit and made it to the 3rd mile in 6:18. I tried to keep the pace through the next half mile without crashing. I finished the last half mile in 3:09. That gave me an average pace of 6:24 per mile.
I was pleased. It wasn’t great but I reached my goal. I still have a lot to improve on but it got me excited about competing again.