Less Than 48 Hours

The countdown has begun to my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. Hopefully by 11:30am on Sunday I'll be recovering. I haven't said much lately about this event because, truth be known...I'm pretty nervous!

I haven't been sure about my training plan so I've been fairly random in my swim, bike and run amounts based upon my educated guesses...and I think I've been on the conservative side in terms of the distances I've been doing. My pool closed on the 19th for renovations so I haven't been able to swim this week. I know I can do the distance, it's just that I'm worried my arms will feel heavy and tired since I didn't get some short swims in last week.

While I'm complaining I'll mention that I'm afraid of getting totally smoked on th bike due to the elevations...every other race has been "fast and flat" and this one has a lot of hills...A LOT! And then I'm supposed to be fresh enough to do a 10K when I can barely pull of a 10:00 minute mile pace on a 5K after a shorter swim and flat bike! Right! This race doesn't have a Sprint portion so it seems like it's attracting veterans to the sport since most first time racers don't start off with the Olympic distance. I'm probably in a handful of first timers meaning I'm assuming I'll be at the bottom of the pile in terms of times. I wish I didn't care, but I do. I sincerely have a goal of just wanting to do an Olympic and finish it, but these voices in my head keeping stressing me out about how slow I'll be! I know that the run will take me a little over an hour if things go well...6 miles and I'll probably run somewhere around an 11 minute mile pace after the swim and bike...so like I said, somewhere around 70 minutes if I can run the entire thing. I average 16 mph on the bike when it is flat. This course is 23.5 and hilly, so that should be 1.5 hours on a good day! The swim is a little over a mile and I'm thinking it will take me about 30 minutes. So if you do the math I'd be right around 3 hours if I had the race of my life and no transitions...assuming I'm tired and have some issues I'll be pleased if I'm done in around 3.5 hours. The Danskin will be a nice relaxing morning in comparison!

The weather is supposed to be hot and humid...that is the only good thing about the early start time! I'm registering on race day morning between 5:30-6:30AM! The race is about 1.5 hours away in North East, Maryland...that isn't just a general geographic location...that is the name of the town! It's in Elk Neck State Forest and the swim will be in part of the Chesapeake Bay. The water is supposed to be somewhere in the low seventies, so warm enough but cool enough to wear my wet suit which means more buoyancy and speed!

Due to the early start time I'm driving down to the race location on Saturday evening. Brad wants to come with the girls but I feel like it's really selfish of me...you heard how late they sleep...it's a rough morning to 2 times for 2 minute increments in three hours! It' hardest on Daddy...he never complains but I know it's a long morning for him and considering he is planning on running 20 miles on Sunday evening as part of his marathon training I know he would appreciate not being exhausted by lunch! So I have a reservation at a lovely one in a half star motel for myself. NICE. At least I'll be able to sleep in until 4:45!

Weekends like this make me really miss my triathlon girlfriends in Washington. I haven't found anyone out here willing to step up to the challenge. I hope at our next assignment I can find a group to do these events together with...right now I feel I'm challenging myself in another dimension by going solo. The worst thing is having too much alone time with my thoughts which allows more time for the negative self talk. I'll have to be sure to bring my MP3 and try to loose myself in some music.

The one good thing about Sunday is that it's helping me in my goal to do as many races in as many states and countries as possible...this will be my 4th triathlon in 3 states, so I'm off to a good start!