I finally had a weekend day entirely empty; no plans, no travel, just relaxation. So, I planned a mini tri for myself!
After I woke up and had a relaxing slow start to my day, the boyfriend grabbed his fishing stuff and I donned my swimsuit. And grabbed my bike, helmet, water, gels, running shoes, biking shoes, etc. Man there’s a lot of equipment that comes with this sport!
I finally figured out everything I needed and how to carry it. We got into the car and drove to his fishing spot, which serendipitously is only ~400 yards from my gym with the pool. As he walked off for a relaxing fishing session, I walked to the gym with butterflies in my stomach! I planned to do about two-thirds of the sprint triathlon distance I’m doing in September, but I was still nervous about being able to complete it, and to complete it well. I focused on maintaining as close to race pace as I’d like, just to get a gauge on where I’m at. While this is my first tri, and I’m ultimately only interested in finishing and competing with myself, the competitive side of me wants to place so badly.
I managed my swim distance of 600m in 16.30. I got out of the pool feeling pretty good about myself, and focused on my extended transition. I had to get to the locker room, take care of my stuff, towel off a little, and walk back out of the gym the 400yards or so back to the car. Getting my bike out of the car was an ordeal, but I got it out and got the front wheel on relatively quickly. And off I was!
I biked 10 miles on the Mt. Vernon Trail in 40 minutes. During the entire ride I felt so slow and frustrated, because there were so many people out enjoying the weather and clogging up the trail. I can’t wait for race day to fly down the roads uninhibited. However, after I looked at my time and did some mental calculations, the 40 minutes actually wasn’t that bad of a pace.
I then proceeded to put my bike back in the car and change into my running shoes. This transition was substantially shorter than the first one, and I was off and running within three minutes. I hadn’t done a regular brick workout for a week, and did I forget what “brick” meant! I was pretty smoked by the end of the workout, but I pulled out a 9 min/mile. It wasn’t pretty, but I was glad that I made it happen. It also helped me relieve some of my pre-race butterflies I’ve been feeling lately. Nothing like a good workout to beat yourself up with and make you feel better!
My overall times were:
16.30 600m swim
40min 10mile bike
9min 1 mile run
I’m overall pleased with my times, but now I know that I need to work on my run a lot more. A lot more. Oh, and I got Chipotle after that workout today. Ohhh yea.
Just a Girl Training for a Tri 