Kacie's Run 5k and GE Irving Marathon 10k; triathlon season

The Rock N Roll Half was the first of 3 races in 3 weekends for me. The next weekend was the Kacie's Run 5k then the following was the GE Irving Marathon 10k.

The 5k was fine, nothing memorable, finished a little under 25 minutes. I felt good going into the 10k though and figured I had a decent chance at a new PR. My previous best was 52 minutes and change so I calculated my goal pace around a sub-52 minute finish. As I hit the mile markers I was feeling good and knew I was on pace for the PR even after stopping at one point to check on a stopped runner to make sure she was okay (she was). 

Around mile 4 or 5 I realized I was likely to finish closer to 50 minutes. Sure enough I made it across the line in 50:08, good for first in my age group. It was a nice finish to my 2013/2014 running racing season.

When I planned out my year I had always intended to build some triathlon training and strength training into my schedule to avoid burnout and keep things interesting. And so after RNR I shifted my focus to preparing for the Playtri Festival International Triathlon this June. With a 1500 meter swim, 22 mile bike, and 10k run it's more than twice as long as the longest triathlon I've done before but the total time should be around 3ish hours, well within my comfort zone. I'm not a fast swimmer and I don't really have my comfort level on the bike yet. Those 2 legs of the event scare me right now. 

I'll enjoy it for its own sake but it's also another step up the ladder toward my first half Ironman and then, someday, the full Ironman. I've tentatively got my sights set on Calgary 70.3 in July 2015 and this year's tri will give me a good sense of how realistic that goal is. The swim is probably the scariest part of the race for me and the furthest I've swam in a tri before is 500 meters. The international distance will be 3 times that, a huge jump up, but if it goes well the jump up to 1.2 miles, or 1.9k, in the half Ironman won't seem nearly as scary. As the saying goes, the best way to eat a big frog is one bite at a time!