Greater Cleveland Triathlon Goals

Wow! I mean, really, WOW!!! It's here. I can't even believe it. I feel like it was yesterday that I was THINKING about doing my first Olympic distance triathlon this year. And now it's here and I kind of can't believe it. Hmmm..perhaps that's because I haven't really put in the training necessary to really be doing this race. Perhaps it's because instead of weighing considerably less than when I did my tri last year, I actually weight MORE. Perhaps it's because I've been struggling to find my motivation this entire calendar year. BUT guess what?? I'm doing it! I don't back down. When I say I'm going to do something I DO it. That's why when I previously talked about 70.3, I was/am hesitant to say I am going to do it for sure in 2013, because as soon as I say it to myself it's a done deal. It isn't even about the blog or about saying it to other people..it's about me. I guess it was the way I was brought up. If I commit to something, I follow through with it.
So, it's time for me to think about some goals for this little race on Sunday. Obviously the only REAL goal is to cross that finish line. It doesn't really matter what time or if I'm running, walking or crawling! It's the same finish line regardless and I plan to cross it! But, I like to put time goals to what I'm doing just to give me something to strive for. I don't know..maybe I just feel like it's what one does! :) But, this time I'm trying to be smart. I'm setting the bar low....and I mean LOW. I would like to set goals for this particular race that I can likely meet. I don't deal well with not meeting my goals. I find it ends up taking away from the moment of the entire race. If I put a goal to, say finish a half marathon in 2:30, and come in at 2:41 when I know that 2:30 was in no way a reasonable goal....I find myself not really being excited about 2:41 because I'm disappointed that it wasn't 2:30. Following me?

Ok. So here's the deal.....this an Olympic (also called International) Distance Triathlon. (side note - I find it extremely cool that I will be completing my first Oly Tri on the VERY same weekend that real Olympians are competing in the same type of race)!

Swim: 1200 yds....Goal = 34 minutes or less.
T1 - 4 min.
Bike: 23 miles (although the map says 23.88, that's a whole lot closer to 24 miles in my book!) - 1:40 or less.
T2 - 3 min.
Run: 10k (6.2 miles) - 1:30 or less.

Let's see...if we do the math we're looking at....3:51 or less (gee, I hope I did that math right)! We could just round that way up and say that I'll be happy if I finish in under 4 hours. I did my sprint tri last year in 2:15, so finishing a race that is double the distance in less than double the time will be an improvement, right??

I feel like these are doable. However, as slow as those are, they will be a challenge.

Swim
The fastest I did 1200 yds in the pool was just around the 30 min mark. Open water is different. And Lake Erie could have waves. Nothing huge, but more than an indoor pool has! I only did 1 open water swim, but even though I'm slow, I feel like the swim is my favorite part. I'm also not sure how far you have to run from the end of the swim to when we start transition (which will effect my time because you don't cross the timing chip until you enter transition).

T1
I think 4 minutes should be no problem. Last year I did it in under 4 min so this should be OK.

Bike
I'm most nervous about this one. I really think 1:40 is more than enough time. During training I did a pretty hilly 20+ miles in 1:29 and a flat 30 miles in 1:50. My 22 mile rides were around 1:26. I watched a video of this route a while back and remember thinking it looked "pretty flat", but as I was looking at the map on the website it appears that there is one climb that is INSANE. I think it was going from something like 650 feet to 1150 feet in elevation. So, we'll see what happens. I think 1:40 is enough buffer to deal if this is truly the only hill.

T2
Last year I did this in 1:16, but I also didn't change shoes because I wasn't so fancy! So, I'm adding the time to allow for having to change from my bike shoes to my running shoes. Should still be a pretty quick transition.

Run
Ahhh....the LAST leg of the race. For as much running as I do, one might think this is my strongest event. I don't feel that way at all. However, I based my goal time on a 14 min/mile pace. I struggled with my run in the sprint last year, and still ended up averaging around a 12:50 min/mile. Now granted that was only 3.1 miles. So, we'll see. I've also been running considerably slower this year it seems. I honestly think the 14 min/mile might be a struggle, but it's a goal!

Well, those are my goals. Only time will tell how it turns out. And after Sunday my entire focus is shifting to the marathon!

Good night all....