... time is flying

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying. It has been more than 3 weeks since my last post. I guess, I must have been busy with work and training. March has been a very good month so far with surprising (for me!) improvements and results showing from a solid base period in January & February. My coach Jen has done a great job in getting me aligned with the key workouts and intensities.

Two weeks ago during my "rest week", I did two 30 minute time trials - one on the bike and one running. These were basically full out sessions to see what distance, pace, watts etc. I can sustain.
In 30 minutes, I was able to run 7.62 KM at a pace of 3:56/ KM and HR between 149 and 162. I was virtually running the same workout 2 days ago at similar pace but an average HR of 147 and max. HR of 152! WOW.
My 30-minute bike time trial was equally entertaining. I did that workout on a computrainer. I had never looked at watts before and was surprised to find out that I was able to push 320 watts for 30 minutes at an avg. speed of close to 40KM/h. The average HR was 150 with a max. of 163.
What does all that mean? Well, I have been told that my aerobic system has adapted being able to run same pace/ speed at lower HR.
With 2 months to go to Oliver Half Ironman, I have signed up for the Vancouver 10K Sun Run on April 17 (http://www.vancouversun.com/2011sunrun/index.html) and the Vancouver Marathon on May 1 (http://www.bmovanmarathon.ca/), I want to know where I am at and what I am capable of running. The goals are clear: 10K in 38 minutes, marathon goal 3 hours! Ambitious but not unrealistic. I have 2 weeks to work on my top end speed and 4 weeks to get some more mileage in.