Thursday, May 16, 2013

It's Race Week...again

So Sunday officially starts my Tri season.  I'm really excited for this race.  Because of Boston, I feel like I'm in such better shape to start this season than I have been in a few years.  All of my workouts are a lot more crisp, faster, and I can push myself a lot better.  I feel like I am going to have a great race this weekend. Now, with all that being said, we all know things can change during an actual race.

My goals for this race are pretty straightforward.  I think they are easily attainable and will lead me to see where I'm at in my Triathlon fitness.  Coming off marathon season and only having 1 month to transition to triathlons, I'm curios to see where I'm at.  Granted this is just a prep race and the ultimate race is in August, but I still want to perform well and know what I'm capable of.

So my goals are:
1) Have a good swim.  I hate the swim.  There is nothing good about my feelings toward the triathlon swim.  I am strong in the pool and can swim for days when training in the pool, but the second I swim in open water, I get so tired.  I know that's common, but it hits me harder than most I think.  So Sunday, I want to have a good swim and finish the quick and easy 500 meter swim in less than 9:15.  That's my goal

2) Push the pedals on the bike.  Looking at the course, it seems like I can duplicate my last bike training ride this past weekend and average about 22 mph.  That would put my time somewhere around 41 minutes or so.  I'd really like to be able to get to that number or even under for the 15 miles.  With full race kit, wheels, aero helmet, I think it can be done.

3) Flying Mount and Dismount.  I've been practicing this a few times and it seems like I've gotten it down, but the easiest way to take time off of a race is in transition, so if I can shave about 1-2 minutes off my transitions from last year's races, then I'll be psyched.  I just don't want to mess up and completely wipe out during the race.

4) Sub 19 minutes on the 5k run.  I've been significantly faster over the past few weeks on my runs and had my fastest 10k time of 37:45 this past week on a day that was supposed to be an easy training run.  My brick workout on Tuesday, I covered the 5k in about 18:45 so I want to be able to hit those numbers on the run.  It's a relatively flat run course, and my 5k time this week was on a hilly course, so I want to do my first mile in 6:25, then hit the next 2 at about a pace of 6:10-6:15 per mile which would be put right around the 19 minute mark.  I've done it before, so I'm pushing to try and do it again

5) Podium finish.  Looking at times from last year, I can probably finish top 2-3 in this event.  The defending champion is racing again this year and I've raced him before at the USAT National Championships, and I'm not afraid to say that he kicked my butt.  We've done a few races together before and he's gotten the best of me each time.  I hope I can change that up this year, but I think just getting on the podium will be a challenge.

6) No podium- win Age Group.  This speaks for itself.  If I can't make the podium, then clearly I want to win my Age Group.  I think this one might be the easiest of the goals by looking at every competitor who is entered into the field.
Either way, a podium finish or win Age group, and I'll be stocked.

7) Take some sweet pictures.  I don't take pictures during a race, but I definitely want to take some before the race, after the race in transition, and if I can possibly get some action shots, that would be awesome.

So with that being said, those are my race week goals.  I'm looking forward to accomplishing some, if not all of them.


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