A Celebratory Weekend

First, to all of you out there that started and finished Timberman - congrats!  I've already read a few race reports where people PR'ed, did better than they expected and just had an overall great time.  Specifically, check out the great reports posted by Caratunk Girl and Teta...  Awesome!

Second, I was absent from the blogosphere for a few days because I was down on Long Island for a party.  It wasn't just any party, mind you.  This was a family/friends "welcoming" party for my niece.  We had so much fun.  At just over two months old, she is pretty cute and changing every day.  I'm biased, as I am her Godfather. Awesome!

I did make some time to do a tempo run on Sunday before the festivities.  I wasn't sure how I would perform, especially given my last outing.  But, thanks to some good advice and support from you all, I forgot about that valley, slipped on my Newtons, strapped on the HR monitor and off I went.

I started out at a pretty good clip - without a GPS, I wasn't sure of the pace...just knew that it was solid.  I did notice the heaviness of the air, though.  Man, was it humid.  I pressed on - heading to the park for a loop around the lake.  Knowing the route, I kept my pace pretty quick.

I had heard that there was a 10k in the park earlier that morning, but there was absolutely no sign of it but the chalk markers to keep folks on the course.  (So, to the race organizer and clean up crew - thanks! Leaving it like you found it allows us to keep racing in parks/neighborhoods/towns across the country). 

This is a really long post to say that I finished up feeling great.  3.51 miles (thanks mapmyrun) in 27:20 - a 7:47 pace.  Not too bad.  Could've been worse. 

To anyone waiting on my Ironman Lake Placid report and/or an archive of my previous tri experiences (I'm catching up since I'm so new), please be patient.  I'll get it done.  Promise!