Racing....Unexpectantly

After having a fairly successful event at the Holiday Lake Triathlon, I decided to "jump" into two additional events that I hadn't planned on. This meant I raced 3 weeks in a row....which is something I've never done before. I look at the sprint length triathlons as being good training sessions, especially since I use Saturday and Sundays as my long training days.

The Evergreen Triathlon in Bloomington, IL was a fantastic event! I considered this to be an excellent opportunity to do a "hybrid" event....since the swim and the run where sprint distances, and the bike was an olympic distance. My main purpose however was to get more race experience in the open water swim, and to gain more comfort in my wetsuit. Unfortunately, it was announced just prior to the start that the water temp was 79 degrees....thus not wetsuit legal. We were allowed to wear suits....but would not be eligible for awards. I made the decision to use the suit to gain the experience.

I did the 600 yard swim in 12 minutes and change. The swim split was disappointing from the perspective that I didn't sight well and got off course several times. Nonetheless, I came out of the water feeling pretty good....and had positive feelings about avoiding a panic attack. I covered the 25 mile bike course with an average speed of 21.5 mph, which was a solid bike split considering the wind and the hilly course. The run was slow but uneventful, and I didn't plan to push my effort. My overall time for the event would have been good enough for 4th place in my age group had I not wore my wetsuit.

Last weekend, I raced again.....this time in the Stoneman Sprint triathlon in Springfield, IL. I made the decision to do this event to, once again, get more open water race experience. I also knew the water temp would be warm, and wetsuits would again not be legal. I signed up for the event with the mindset that I would do the swim without the suit.

Warm water....are you kidding me? It was 88 degrees the morning of the race! Certainly not wetsuit legal...and in fact....wetsuits where prohibited. I managed the 600 yard swim by adding a couple of hundred extra yards (refused to sight)....at one point, a guy in a kayak had to alert me to turn 90 degrees to my left to find the rest of the pack! Frustrating...but I survived. For the first time in my swim life, I realized the benefits to swimming in a wetsuit. Not only does it help level you out (so as to not drag your legs), but it also helps you "cut" through the water. With the warm summer, I was happy to force myself to do an event that didn't allow wetsuits....since I expect water temps to be warm for my remaining events.

The bike effort was uneventful....and I cut a 21.3 mph average speed. I came off the bike feeling good and completed the 5k run in 24 mins and change. This overall effort earned me a 3rd place finish in my age category....another good finish for me.

I trained hard this last week....4 open water swim sessions with a major emphasis on sighting, 3 decent bike rides totally 115 miles, and 26 miles of run mileage, with my long run being 9 miles.

Training will be light this week....I will be in Denver Tuesday through Thursday for a work meeting. I hope to get one good run in on Wednesday while in Denver. Tuesday will be a rest/travel day, and Thursday I'll swim when I get back home and then bike on my trainer later that night. I'll use Friday to rest and do some easy running with a few strides, as well as a short swim. Saturday morning will be the DeWitt Crossroads Triathlon....an event I'm looking forward to performing well in!

Summer is going by quickly...don't you think? Guess what? I'm not done yet!

TJ