Sunday Race Psych Up Post

Me, 10:53 PM, Tuesday, April 6th via web cam. I am wired on a bottle of S.Pellegrino sparkling water. And I may break out the Lemonade if this party keeps going. That said, I do have a good book about the first four women to swim across the English Channel in the 1920's on my Kindle. OK dogs, we can go to bed soon.

So I'm back on the blocks Sunday. I don't know if "blocks" is relevant in this context. Whatever, it's the first thing that popped into my mind. Maybe I am thinking about those things they use for track and field running events, those are called blocks are they not?

Anyway, the race is the Kring and Chung Newport Beach Triathlon.

I did another OWS today. My swim partner bfoyle from the OC Tri Club and BT.com swears I am getting faster. But he said this after he admitted he was getting to the buoy, turning around again to go back about 50 yards and then turning back to the buoy, still ahead of me.

There where dolphins swimming around. Spring is here, though the water is still on the cold side. It was a bit choppy today as well, but it's kind of fun to roll with it. Very zen.

If I can finish this swim off without any side stroke or a complete body shut down, I'll be ahead of the game. It's 1/2 mile this time. I'll be happy with 15-17 minutes and ecstatic with anything faster.

For the bike, I will be piloting my new Specialized Transition Comp for the first time in a race. I've been putting a lot of work into maintaining the aero position. I'm almost there, I think. It's a little tough on the neck, but my shoulders, back, and legs have adapted fine. It's a flat course, and I'm hoping for very little wind, being that the course seems to be mostly behind a bluff to the south and west. We'll see. I'm hoping for 21 MPH, but 20 MPH will do as I am looking for a 45 minute time. In fact, getting out on the run course an hour in to the race will be perfect.

Here is a little side story about the bike. When I first started riding on PCH, I would get passed all the time. Being both male and competitive, I'd be lying if I said that didn't feel a teeny bit shameful. Lately I've been passing riders all the time. Being modest, I'd be lying if I said this doesn't feel a teeny bit shameful. I will never win.

For the 3 mile run, this time I'm going all out. Last race I was running 7:50 miles but I know I have 7:30 in me. So let's call it 22 minutes assuming I can keep pace and then really go all out the last 1/2 mile. There is, afterall, pancakes waiting for me at the post race breakfast spot, which for some reason I can't recall the name of at the moment.

So that puts me at about 1:28 with transitions, probably. If I go by last years race results, that's about 200th of 750. Cool, plus or minus top 25% is my goal this year. I think this is a fair goal to go for.

Well that is it for the moment. I will check in after the race with the results or before that if something random happens between then and now.