Tri-ing Again

I ended up signing up for another sprint triathlon in Bowling Green, KY this weekend - SUNDAY to be exact.  This tri is a little shorter than the other one: 1/4 mi swim, 14 mi bike, 5k run.  I would have preferred a longer swim and a shorter bike, but it is what it is.  Some family lives in Bowling Green so I am heading down there late Saturday morning so I can A. pick up my registration B. drive the bike course C. hang at my relative's pool.  This morning I got an email from the race director talking about a lane closure/police/traffic things going on during the bike portion and there is no way I am going into that without seeing it first. 

So during the Olympics, my gym held its own Olympics with a different event/challenge each day and anyone could compete.  One day was the plank challenge - who could hold plank the longest?  I figured that I had a shot at getting the gold because we do a five minute plank as part of our warmup in kettle bells.  I asked a trainer what the longest recorded plank was so far and he said it was eight minutes and three seconds.  My initial reaction was that I couldn't beat that time, but the trainer convinced me to try and I ended up holding plank for NINE minutes, three seconds.  They posted the Milestone Olympics results yesterday and my friend took a pic for me:

I guess I will get a gold medal?  Woo hoo! My kettle bells instructor was so proud!

Yesterday I skipped kettle bells in lieu of going running.  The Bourbon Chase is in about 6.5 weeks and I have some work to do.  Ideally I will start running 4-5 days a week until the BC because it is not an easy race.  Even though my mileage is small in comparison to my other teammates' mileage, it is still the equivalent of running three 5ks (and then some) in one day and throwing in some major hills.  Last year I trained like I was running just one 5k, but you really need to train like you're running a ten mile race or even a 1/2 marathon.  So anyway, I got out yesterday and ran over 4.5 miles.  I ran with my Garmin and my times varied from 9:28 to 9:54.  The last 2.5 miles felt good, but it took me forever to feel warmed up!  Does anyone have suggestions on how to get warmer, faster? 

I'm taking today off, doing kettle bells Wednesday, then will do a light combo of swimming/running/biking on Thursday and Friday, then taking off Saturday so I can be rested for Sunday. 

Have a great day!