Captain Slow getting a little faster

This past week was a decent week for me. The Saturday before last I did my longest training run, 8 miles, and i felt pretty good, as of now I don't run with a watch so I am not sure of my pace, I am running on perceived effort just trying to develop a solid base. I also played 2 hours of tennis immediately after so the legs still had some juice which I was happy about.

On Tuesday, Rico and I went to do this group ride in NJ that I used to do every Tuesday and Thursday. I remember the group being fast and convinced Rico that we should stay with the "slow" guys when they broke off into two groups. The ride was about 23 miles, it was about all we could do before it to too dark, we did stay with the "slow" guys, and averaged about 21 mph. I was able to hang and even took two pulls so my legs are starting to come back, this made me very happy.

Yesterday I did what was supposed to be my first half-marathon, it was the first one i signed up for, but thanks to Rico, it was actually my third (he "encouraged" me to do the two prior). I had set three goals for myself for this race:
Goal 1 - Will be disappointed if I don't accomplish - under 2:10:00 finish
Goal 2 - Will be happy if i accomplish - under 2:05;00 finish
Goal 3 - Probably not likely but will be super happy if - under 2:00: finish

Result - 1:58:27 - I am super happy with that result. I felt pretty good right up until the 11 mile mark, the last two miles were hard but I knew if I pushed I could break 2:00:00.

I am hitting the pool today, swimming is now by far my weakest event, I really need some help.

Tomorrow I am going to try and get back to that group ride, I am going to try every Tuesday if I can, Thursday's would be a bonus, its just tough to get out of the city that early.