The big day is almost here and I finally feel so READY!!!! I had my last long practice before Nations on Monday (1 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 5 mile run) and it was AWESOME! Seriously, after the way Monday's practice went, I have no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to DO IT!
My team had their last long training day on Saturday, but I had to miss due to the back-to-back birthday parties we had for our girls on Saturday. And trust me, I probably exerted more energy on those 2 parties than my team did on the longest brick training on our tri training schedule, LOL! The parties turned out PERFECTLY, by the way, but I'll blog about that later...once I get pics uploaded. :)
Anyway, Monday night I met up with a girl from my team that also missed Saturday's big practice. We wanted to get that last long training day in before the big race, so we met up at Longview Lake Monday afternoon for a mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 5 mile run...and let me just say, I felt like a total bad @$$ afterwards, LOL! Srsly, it was amazing!!!!
It took us about 4 hours, but our transitions were not like they will be on race day. For instance, we had to pack up our bags from the swim beach and go use the showers to wash the sand off our feet. Then we had to load our stuff into the car and unload our bikes (and reload our bikes after we biked). Then we had to move our cars to a different parking lot before the run since the swim beach was going to close and they gate off the parking lot, etc. Plus, we had to stop for traffic on our bikes.
So....we'll see. I really wanted to do the tri in under 4 hours...and I was actually trying to shoot for around 3 1/2...but I don't know how realistic that is. The swim will be hard to predict. Cuz I know I can do that distance in 45 minutes....but I may panic or have anxiety with that many people around me. Unless I can get away from everyone, I'll probably end up wasting time stopping to see if anyone is near me, making sure I don't get kicked in the face, etc. PLUS, if it's windy or if there's a current (it's in a RIVER), it will add time. It'll probably take about an hour. The bike....I usually average about 14.7 mph. I don't know if the course will be hilly...or if there will be wind. If I can kick it up to 18 mph, I can do it in an hour and 15 or 20 min...but I just have a feeling it's going to be around an hour and 45 min. Then to run a 10k after all that....I know that will take roughly an hour and 15 min, just cuz I'm guessing my avg speed will be around 12 min miles since it will be at the end of everything and I'll be tired. But, I may surprise myself with adrenaline. Monday night I ran my 5 miles with an avg speed of 11:18, which isn't bad after all the swimming and biking....plus I had to walk a couple times cuz my IT bands were bothering me the last half of the run. So...I guess we'll just see. I'm really trying not to have any expectations, cuz just finishing the race will be an accomplishment in itself, and I really just need to remember that.
It's just crazy, cuz when I was training for HyVee, which was a 5 month training program, I got up to 3 weeks before the race when I had to drop out due to the stress fracture. That's where I am now - 3 weeks out (actually 2 1/2). I totally did not feel ready at ALL for HyVee and I had been training for nearly 5 months! Now here I am, on only a 3 month training program...and I even missed the first month since I was recovering from my surgery and had not even worked out at ALL for 6 weeks coming into it and I've only been working out again for about 7 weeks, and I totally feel like I have this in the bag. I mean, it may not be pretty or fast...but I know I can DO it! I am soooo excited now! I think I have a new passion, lol.
The only thing is my IT Bands are KILLING me!!! :( But fear not - I'm going to see Dr. Jesse tomorrow (who does Active Release Therapy) and I know he'll get them worked out for me....I just haven't had knee problems since I started running again and thought I'd make it until race day, but I guess not. Oh well. Foam roller, here I come - LOL!
Anyway, it's been a long journey and I can't believe the big day is almost here!!! All I need to do is add about 5 miles on the bike and a 1.2 mile run to what I did on Monday and I'll have completed an olympic triathlon! I'm so close, I can feel the victory already!!! :)
Friday, August 21, 2009: P90X (Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X)
Monday, August 24, 2009: 1 mi swim, 20 mi bike, 5 mi run
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10 comments:
sounds like you got this one in the bag baby! well done. being mentally confident and prepared is half the battle.
Yeah, I'd say you have it in the bag for sure!! I'm so excited for you, I can't wait to hear all about it. You'd better be texting an update afterwards, DO YOU HEAR ME??!!
I agree with the others, it sounds like you'll have no problems finishing the tri under 4 hours. Good luck!
That last long training always feels so good to get behind us, at least with marathons. I assume it is the same for a tri. That is so cool - you are going to kick @ss!
wooo you are going to do GREAT!!!! good luck :)
wow you rebounded fast! Hope that ART helps out tomorrow too!
Can't wait to run together sometime
YOu are so ready! While you are out and about, maybe you want to pick up a foam roller for the ITBand? It's LOVELY!
sounds like you are well prepared for the race...glad you had a great training session monday...
you are going to own it! i'm sure those transitions added up as well as the other factors so i think you can definitely get under 4!!
you are going to GREAT!! WOO HOO!
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