2 Race Previews

Last night was my last workout before the races. I've been taking a taper/recovery week and it's been nice sticking to shorter distances. Wednesday I went 15 miles on the bike in like 48 minutes. Not bad. I had the hills working pretty hard against me, so I feel good about that. Last night was a 5k tempo run, and I did it in 26:36. I just set the treadmill to 7.0 speed (8:43/mile pace) and let it roll. It seemed like I wanted to go faster than that at first, but by 2.5 miles in I was ready to drop it a bit. But that's why it's called a tempo run, right? Got to maintain a consistent pace for the entire distance. Plus I got to watch football on the treadmill tv, so I was pumped up anyway.

Today is a rest day. It's also my grandmother's 89th birthday, so we're having dinner with the folks tonight. Michael's coming into town for the weekend too, can't wait to hang with my brothers again. It's been a while since I've seen him.

Tomorrow is also a rest day, but I'll end up doing lots of gardening and yardwork. The girls are going to a tea party that one of my mom's friends puts on every year. It's an incredibly girly affair, they all put on little sun dresses and white gloves and sit outside for tea and crackers. The photos are hilarious! Bigun really looks forward to it every year. This will be Evil Genius's first time attending.

But Sunday is the day. Sunday's what I've been waiting for for a solid year now. Here's the goals and expectations:

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Greenville Sprint Triathlon

Last year I ran this race; it was my first triathlon ever. I ran a 5k in high school, some cross country stuff, and I was on the track team freshman year. This was my first race since then. When I decided to stop smoking, I joined the gym. That was in December 07. They give you 2 free session with a trainer when you sign up, and I sheepishly admitted that maybe I might be considering thinking about attempting and then backing out of a triathlon. The trainer also ran tri's and she told me to look into the Greenville Sprint. It's local, very beginner friendly, and I had 8 months to train for it. I set the goal = finish. I could do 20 minutes on the elliptical machine before passing out.

I got into training. I had a car accident and training got sidelined for 2 months. Then I picked it back up and kept on training. I could do 3 miles on the treadmill and I thought I was hot shit.

My big huge pre-taper workout was a brick, 15 miles on the stationary bike, and 3.1 miles on the treadmill. Then I knew I could cover race distance and had the confidence to go ahead with the race. After the packet pickup we drove the bike course and kelley started to freak out. She tried to convince me to keep the t-shirt, tell people I did the race, and we could just go out for breakfast instead. I bought Jenny, my first road bike, just 2 weekends before the race. Reset a super secret don't want to tell anyone goal to finish within 2 hours. The race cutoff time was 2 hours 15 minutes. I was in the novice category.

I finished last year in 2:02:30, 10th place out of 10 novices. I was pissed about missing my 2 hour goal, but absolutely addicted to triathlon. I was more pissed about having to wait until the following april to run another one. But at least now I get to set this year's goals with last year's numbers.

400 Meter pool swim: 10:50 last year, 8:30 this year

It's 8 laps in a pool, hit the wall, under the lane rope, come back. Last year I swam with no goggles or swim cap, my form was horrible. I've done 400m in practice in under 6 minutes now, so I think 8:30 is a respectable goal. Time includes running outside from the indoor pool and down a hill into T1.

T1: 6:17 last year, 2:00 this year

Last year I put on bike shorts and a tech shirt, running shoes and socks, took a gel and some water, strapped on the CamelBak and walked to the mount line. This year I will have the tri suit on, so just throw on bike shoes and helmet, and hit the road.

15 mile Bike: 1:10:39 last year, 50 minutes this year

20 minutes faster? really? I didn't know how or when to shift gears last year. I didn't have clipless pedals last year. I didn't get it out of granny gear for the first 5 miles last year. This year I really want to push myself on the bike. I know there are 4 big climbs on this route, and for every uphill climb there is a downhill to coast. Last year I turned a corner 10 miles in, and found 2 large pit bulls chasing me. That scared me enough to slow down I'm sure. This year I expect to make my biggest gains here on the bike.

T2: 2:47 last year, 2:00 this year

I had to take off the bike shorts, refill the CamelBak and head out. This year I'll have to throw on the race belt and change shoes.

5k Run: 32:00 last year, under 30 minutes this year

It's a 2 loop run course with some trail and some roads. The finish line is inside a baseball field. There is no way to tell how my legs will feel after pushing it through the bike course. I'm not going to wear the garmin, I don't normally do that on short tri's. So I'm just going to keep a steady pace and try not to walk.

Last year: 10:50 + 6:17 + 1:10:39 + 2:47 + 32:00 = 2:02:30

This year: 8:30 + 2:00 + 50:00 + 2:00 + 30:00 = 1:32:30

ACTUAL overall time goal is 1:45, and I want to see improvement in every area. I know I'm faster in every area. The SUGOi tri suit will slash my transition times. Clipless pedals, speedy running, and swim goggles have got to help out. The race winners will finish in uner an hour, middle of the pack is around 1:20 - 1:40, and back of the pack thank God I finished is 1:50 + for this race. After my middle of the pack marathon finish, I have high hopes now.

I'm not going to be carrying a camera with me, but Kelley will be there as my race photographer. I know you skirts are all big fans of her work. So monday morning I will post lots of pics I'm sure. Race starts at 7 am, my swim time is 7:22. I must have entered my swim time wrong when I registered. I thought I was going to be near the back of the line, not starting 217 out of 574 swimmers. This is the largest event (# of participants) that this production company puts on.

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Go Drive Run 5k

My official race 5k pr is 30:53, but I have only run 5k's in triathlons. Well, at 5:30 sunday night Kelley and I are both running a standalone 5k. The course is "net downhill" whatever that is. it should be a fast course and I'm expecting a pr. I don't know how I will feel after the triathlon sunday morning, but this is going to be a cool race. It starts at the baseball stadium downtown, and finishes at Linky Park, whatever that is. We then take the trolley back to the stadium. My goal is to be around 27 minutes. I will wear the Garmin, and I'm going to try and keep my pace around 8:30 per mile. This is Kelley's first race since the Myrtle Beach Marathon back in February, so she's just getting scared to be running outside in august.

At 6:30, Bigun is running in her first race. It's the kids fun run with our 5k. She will take a lap around the inside of the ballfield, from home plate to home plate. She gets a finishers medal at the end of the run. She's got pink running shoes all gassed up and ready to go.

The kids run is right before they start the baseball game, so the crowd for the game will all be there to cheer on the kids. The race registrations also include a ticket for the ballgame, and Kelley's mom and my parents will also be coming to the game to cheer on Ella's race.

During the ballgame, I expect to eat hot dogs and drink beer. Lots of beer. After doing two races in one day drinking beer outside and watching a baseball game is a great reward. I can't wait.

I will leave you today with pics from last year's Greenville Sprint. It's amazing how much you can change your body and your mind in only one year.

Starting the swim.... no goggles or swim cap and my whole head is out of the water.

Exiting the swim, slightly dazed.


Exiting T1 on my new bike. I had no idea what I was doing.

This was the end of the bike route. Notice the tennis shoes, I ran in those as well. And I was wearing my only tech shirt.


Crossing the finish line. At the time, I was too nice to chick that guy in the yellow. Now I would gladly blow past him at the finish. Git outta my finish line pic!

Healthy Ashley asked me to guest write a post for her about my proudest moment, and it was crossing that finish line. It's a short but very touching story if you want to give it a quick read.

Have a great weekend everyone! Good luck if you're racing. I know there are a ton of other short races this weekend. Stacey's got a triathlon this weekend. Good luck girl!