Tuesday, August 16, 2011

T minus 11 and counting....

We are T minus 11 days until Live.Love.Tri, a local all women's sprint and my personal return to the triathlon world after a 3 year hiatus. This morning I received an info packet in my email. The main thing that stuck out at me was a course change for the bike leg.

It's a fairly short bike segment, only 10 miles. The new route is describes as moderately hilly. My initial thought was "Crud! This was supposed to be an easy bike route." But my glass-half-full nature quickly kicked in. The course change simply makes it better practice for the Patriot which is a longer and hillier route yet. In any event, I'm definitely going to drive the course in advance and capture the profile on my Garmin later this week just so I know exactly what I'm up against. Information is power, or so they say.

This also motivated me to get out on my bike this morning for my ten-mile-double-hill route before work. While I was out there, I started thinking about what my time expectations might be for this race. These aren't goals, but expectations.
  • run - it's a hilly 5K run course so I'm going to say 31:00 although I'd like to see something faster than that.
  • t1 - 2 1/2 minutes, just a total guess
  • bike - moderately hilly 10 mile course, I'm thinking 40 minutes, will adjust guess once I measure the course profile and exact distance.
  • t2 - 2 1/2 minutes, again a total guess
  • swim - it's a 400 yd pool swim, up and back in each lane then over...serpentine style. If the swim were first, I'd say 8:45 +/- 15 sec, but it's last which means the lanes will be congested with folks that are faster than me on land and slower in the water. I'm guessing maybe closer to 10 minutes because of that.
That puts my total expected finish at something like 86 minutes (01:26:00). Guess we'll see how good I am at guessing!

As far as goals, this is what I'm currently thinking:
  • Don't crash/trip/fall or otherwise end up bloody/bruised/broken.
  • Finish strong with a smile on my face.
  • Enjoy the experience and be ready to do it again on a harder course three weeks later.

19 comments:

  1. You have the right attitude! Have fun and enjoy the experience out there. Without hurting yourself. :)

    Interesting with the swim!

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  2. You are going to great! Just keep up that "Can Do!" attitude!

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  3. love the all women's race i think that is really motivating and fun!!

    i like your goals, the don't trip will be top of my list if I can get myself to sign up for a tri :)

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  4. I love your final 3 goals. You will finish with a smile on your face for sure!

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  5. I love your final 3 goals. You will finish with a smile on your face for sure!

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  6. Don't trip is definitely a goal I'd need.

    Have a great time.

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  7. I love the goals, and your attitude about the moderate hills is awesome!

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  8. You forgot the rule I'd have if I was doing a tri: Don't Drown.

    I think you've totally got it. You will do awesome!

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  9. The smile is the most important goal. You've got this!

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  10. Love your attitude! I just found your blog, but I'll be rooting for you.

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  11. As long as you give it your best you won't have to worry about failure. You will do great :)

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  12. Way to use the course change to fuel the fire! You will own those hills!

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  13. Love the last line...words to live by. You are ready to rock this thing!

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  14. laugh in the face of adversity :-) totally got this!

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  15. You got this one nailed. Don't sweat it. Hills? what hills. We don't need no stinkin hills!

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  16. That's fabulous! It will be here before you know it! :0) Hope you have an awesome race!

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  17. Great attitude! You will rock it!

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  18. I soooo need to find me a pool-swim tri (all of 'em out here are in the ocean (sharks-scary) or in the bay (ewwww).

    Good luck! I LOVE your goals!

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