tri countdown II: camel packs & wetsuits, strategizing & straggling
my biggest worry is dehydration, both b/c of altitude & the fact that the triathlon is on wide open prairie, and apparently there is no shade and it gets hot early in the day. (it�s supposed to be 94 degrees that day). i would have been more worried except that i no longer have to worry about having the eye-hand coordination to drink & ride. in order not to fall off of my bike like the governor recently did, i've decided to wear a camelbak during the bike portion. my sister tells me her friend did danskin last year and wore one, and reported that many other women had them as well. this way, my i'm basically hooked up to a hydration system on my back (like a backpack, for those unfamiliar w/ outdoor gear), and there's a tube that extends to my mouth that i can suck on as needed! also, i won�t have alcohol or caffeine until after the race. tomorrow evening, i'll just order a Shirley Temple, or some good-old H2O. after it's over (provided it goes as planned), the celebrating can
begin.
i'd thought about swimming in my skin during the triathlon. (NO, sillies! not skinny-dipping, but rather, sans wetsuit). but i've decided to go the wetsuit route. local lake water temps are about 78 degrees, and a swimsuit alone was fine to use for practice here at home. but according to the danskin website, the water temperatures at aurora reservoir (the swim site) range from 66 to 73 degrees, which is cold! so picture me looking sexy in my skin-tight, black wetsuit from here. or maybe not sexy. perhaps i'll look like a porpoise, or maybe just a black stuffed sausage. (mmm, you know you want me now)!
i've been worried b/c i�m new to triathlons, and i'm going in against the odds: there's high altitude, the novelty (i.e. unknown element) of multi-sport, my newness to biking, and my baseline health condition. but as with all races, i think a lot will be mental endurance and poise. it won't be a cake-walk, but surely i can get across the finish line. if people w/ cancer can do it, so can i!. i'm reasonably fit, and think it�ll require hard work, concentration & focus, hope & heart, and luck�and maybe some laughs along the way!
in trying to estimate my finishing time, i determined that i want to aim for a ballpark goal of 2 to 2.5 hours. in a pool, it takes me 15-20 minutes to swim a � mile. not sure how long it�ll take in open water. on flat land, it takes me ~ an hour to bike 12 miles. but throw in some hills and it�s hard to say. i programmed the bike at the gym to give me a hill workout and it was tough and discouraging. so to be generous, let's say it takes me between 1 to 1.5 hours. i typically protect my joints by doing a run-walk in many 5K races, meaning it usually takes 38 or 39 minutes. But those "brick" legs after biking will slow me considerably. let�s allow, say, 45 minutes.
is it do-able? yes. will i do my best? yes. but i also realized that being a 1st-timer, i want to go out and have fun and not kill myself over this and ruin the my 1st tri experience. honestly, i'd rather finish late in the race than get hurt or sick and not finish. finishing really IS winning. and i�ve got a transition zone strategy: i won�t rush & jam my feet into my shoes so the tongue is bunched up at the front of my toes for the entire bike & run. NO. i�ll use my transitions efficiently, but take that time to compose myself and mentally psych up for the next leg.
finally, i know i won't come in last. a woman named sally edwards paces herself to come in last at every danskin triathlon on purpose. cool, huh? i have to admit, i don't want to see sally while i�m on the course b/c then i�ll know i�m a straggler. Imagine having sally come up behind you and tell you to pick up the pace. ha!
this is it! xoxo.
