Race Goals
I can't believe my first triathlon is a week from today! I was feeling pretty confident a few weeks ago, but the past two weeks have not been the greatest training wise, and now I am fairly nervous. We had VBS two weeks ago and I barely got any workouts in, and then I got run down and sick with a head cold/sinus junk which I have been fighting since then. It is awfully hard to run when you can't breathe out of your nose at all. I feel about 80% right now, which isn't the best going into my last week before the race. I just feel run down and super tired, and like I haven't gotten too many quality workouts in for a while. I guess its time to get mentally tough and just think positive!
I know its obvious, but good grief its hot too. This heat and humidity are so draining, and make it so hard to breathe. At least everyone has to deal with it for the race:) My asthma has been acting up the past week or so too, which I think is part of it. Not fun at all. My plan for this week is to get one good quality workout in for the swim, bike and run, and then rest completely on Thursday and Friday before the race. We have reached the point of no return, and I really can't cram any more in, so what I have done has got to be enough at this point. I am excited that several girls I know from town are doing the tri too. Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know anyone else going! I went to bed at 9:30pm last night and got almost 10 hours of sleep. I was supposed to meet some girls for a 6 mile run at 6am, but at 5:30 I still couldn't breathe well and figured a few more hours of sleep would be better for me:) This was one of the only Saturdays in a long time that I haven't worked out. We did do yard work this afternoon, so at least I was still drenched in sweat for part of the day!
On to my race goals, which may or may not change during the week!
Swim: 12 minutes or less. Basically if I get out of the water and am still racing, I will have had a successful swim! This is definitely the part I am most nervous about, and the part I am hoping goes much better than anticipated. I know I can swim the distance, just hoping I feel better this week and can go into it strong. My mantra for my swim alternates between "strong and steady" and "slow and steady." I don't want to go out too fast and wear myself out for the rest of the race.
Bike: 34-39 minutes. I believe this will give me somewhere between a 17 and 20 MPH average speed. I have no clue what speed I can sustain, but it's only 11 miles so I should be able to ride pretty hard hopefully. I love my bike and feel very comfortable on it, hills or flat, so I am not too worried. Plus, I am super inspired from watching every stage of the Tour de France for the past 3 weeks, so I can pretend I am riding for the yellow jersey:) (yes I know I am a dork)
Run: 20 minutes or less. This gives me a 10 minute mile pace. I know I can run faster, but once again, I have never run after biking and swimming, plus it will be later in the day with the heat to factor in, so this is just a good guess. I am really hoping to finish strong by pacing well throughout the race.
Overall time goal will be to finish in 1:15 or less. We will see how close I come, and how the transitions play into my overall time too! Last time I checked there were about 20 women in my age group (30-34) signed up, which is a good little field. I am aiming for a top 10 in my AG finish, and I will be happy with that.
I have to keep reminding myself that this is my first tri, and will mainly serve as a learning experience. That being said, I am so stinking competitive and really do want to do well. I am hoping I feel better this week, or else all the goals will change to just finishing. I am excited and nervous all rolled into one. I still need to practice my transitions, and have really not gotten in the brick workouts that I had wanted to, but such is life:) I am planning to love the triathlon so there will be plenty more in the future hopefully.
I know its obvious, but good grief its hot too. This heat and humidity are so draining, and make it so hard to breathe. At least everyone has to deal with it for the race:) My asthma has been acting up the past week or so too, which I think is part of it. Not fun at all. My plan for this week is to get one good quality workout in for the swim, bike and run, and then rest completely on Thursday and Friday before the race. We have reached the point of no return, and I really can't cram any more in, so what I have done has got to be enough at this point. I am excited that several girls I know from town are doing the tri too. Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know anyone else going! I went to bed at 9:30pm last night and got almost 10 hours of sleep. I was supposed to meet some girls for a 6 mile run at 6am, but at 5:30 I still couldn't breathe well and figured a few more hours of sleep would be better for me:) This was one of the only Saturdays in a long time that I haven't worked out. We did do yard work this afternoon, so at least I was still drenched in sweat for part of the day!
On to my race goals, which may or may not change during the week!
Swim: 12 minutes or less. Basically if I get out of the water and am still racing, I will have had a successful swim! This is definitely the part I am most nervous about, and the part I am hoping goes much better than anticipated. I know I can swim the distance, just hoping I feel better this week and can go into it strong. My mantra for my swim alternates between "strong and steady" and "slow and steady." I don't want to go out too fast and wear myself out for the rest of the race.
Bike: 34-39 minutes. I believe this will give me somewhere between a 17 and 20 MPH average speed. I have no clue what speed I can sustain, but it's only 11 miles so I should be able to ride pretty hard hopefully. I love my bike and feel very comfortable on it, hills or flat, so I am not too worried. Plus, I am super inspired from watching every stage of the Tour de France for the past 3 weeks, so I can pretend I am riding for the yellow jersey:) (yes I know I am a dork)
Run: 20 minutes or less. This gives me a 10 minute mile pace. I know I can run faster, but once again, I have never run after biking and swimming, plus it will be later in the day with the heat to factor in, so this is just a good guess. I am really hoping to finish strong by pacing well throughout the race.
Overall time goal will be to finish in 1:15 or less. We will see how close I come, and how the transitions play into my overall time too! Last time I checked there were about 20 women in my age group (30-34) signed up, which is a good little field. I am aiming for a top 10 in my AG finish, and I will be happy with that.
I have to keep reminding myself that this is my first tri, and will mainly serve as a learning experience. That being said, I am so stinking competitive and really do want to do well. I am hoping I feel better this week, or else all the goals will change to just finishing. I am excited and nervous all rolled into one. I still need to practice my transitions, and have really not gotten in the brick workouts that I had wanted to, but such is life:) I am planning to love the triathlon so there will be plenty more in the future hopefully.
posted by Lauren at
6:50 PM
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