Friday, May 21, 2010

Fear!

Is there really no way I can gracefully pull out of this stupid triathlon thingy now? All week I have been praying for an unexpected storm front with gale force winds that would force them to cancel the swim section, but with half a day to go it looks like that’s not gonna happen. Instead we’ll have a clear, sunny day. That means I’ll be expected to swim from the mainland all the way past dozens of sharks to some island out in the middle of the Atlantic.

Of course I’m woefully underprepared. Swimming was nothing but cross-training to me, and cycling was mainly commuting to work, and even the running has been very low key because I’m still recovering from Connemara.

SLAP SLAP SLAP. Stop crying, you wimp!

Back to reality. On Wednesday I ran another interval workout, 10x400s again with plenty of recovery. I did 87,84,89,84,85,87,86,91,86,87, which makes an average of 86.6, almost a second faster than the previous workout. I call that a success.

Both yesterday and today were easy runs in light of tomorrow’s race. Just as long as I make it as far as the run! I put lock laces on my shoes last night and took them out for a spin this morning. The laces were fine, but I also tested running without socks and promptly got a blister on my left foot. Brilliant! I’ll take socks to the transition area, but still plan on doing without.

The targets for tomorrow are:

Bronze: Survive the swim
Silver: Don’t come out of the water DFL
Gold: Have fun!
19 May
8.1 miles, 1:00:26, 7:28 pace, HR 157
incl. 10x400 in 87,84,89,84,85,87,86,91,86,87
20 May
7 miles, 55:25, 7:55 pace, HR 142
21 May
5 miles, 39:23, 7:53 pace, HR 142

6 comments:

  1. I think your really enjoy the event once you get off the start line, sounds like 'FUN' :]

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  2. I'm sure you'll have 'fun' passing all those 'runners'. Enjoy the day!

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  3. Good Luck Thomas - I'll be watching the rugby at Twickenham but will think of you this afternoon, looks like it might be a hot one!

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  4. top tip: cover yourself head-to-toe in creosote and the sharks and jellyfish are sure to stay away. you'll also have the added bonus of looking suntanned in your race photos. good luck.

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  5. i know i'm a bit late but i'd go for gold if i were you. Smashing day for a swim!

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