CommentaryTriathlon training update - the day before
Also, I get to race around the beautiful Greenfield Lake here in Wilmington. This picture is great, but hardly even does it justice.
Not gonna lie, my thoughts are all over the place right now, like Cooper when we first walk in the door. Seriously, the guy scratches at and jumps into the door until I unlock it, then jumps on us, then runs a few laps around the house, then jumps on us some more, then grabs a toy and runs into us with that, then sort of repeats some variation of that whole process.
Then he goes and eats until he burps, or just flops over onto the ground.
So yeah, I’m pretty jittery right now. Jittery’s a good word to use because I’m excited, but really not nervous or stressed, but I still feel a little, well, jittery. I feel like my sentences are even bouncing around a little bit.
I didn’t expect to be this excited. Really didn’t. That sound weird? Yeah, a little. I guess it’s because I just got back from the pre-race meeting,* where we learned all about what to do when and how we could get penalized and how we’d have to run barefoot a few hundred yards across asphalt (or however long the WAC parking lot is) to get to our bikes.
* (To look extra triathlete-ish, I wore my running shoes with my new bungee laces and my watch. An added benefit, though, was that I got used to them for tomorrow’s race.)
Now Katie’s whipping up a chicken parmesan dinner and I’m typing this blog and being jittery and – oh by the way, funny story ….
So I walk into the WAC for the aforementioned pre-race meeting and run into a Y Dub Tri club member. After meeting Katie and a little small talk, he says, clapping my shoulder all brotherly and such. “So the pressure’s on you tomorrow, huh big boy?”
“What do you mean?”
“What swim time did you turn in?”
Ah yes, the swim times. I’m number 51 out of roughly 300 participants. I’ll be getting in the water at 8:14.30 a.m. (That’s 30 seconds into the minute of 8:14 a.m. in case that was somehow confusing.)
How that works is, when you register, you register a 100-yard swim time. When I first registered however long ago, I said 2:00. Two minutes. I had no idea how fast I could swim 100 yards.
As weeks went by, I bumped that down to 1:35. Then a few weeks ago, I swam a couple of 1:20 – 1:25 100-yarders. After interviewing LeAnne, our running coach and “Podium Warrior Princess” for this column (which explains that amazing nickname), we started talking triathlon strategy. She asked what swim time I’d registered; I told her.
“Oh, please, put down 1:25.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Put down 1:25. You’ll be perfect at that time.”
Wanting to believe her but wavering slightly in my faith, I recorded a 1:28.
(As it turns out, like 70 percent of people record a 1:30 time.)
Anyway, this gentleman from the club I bumped into … I’ve swam (swum? Swimmed?) in his lane before, and I did not win. For 100-200-yard drills? Smoked him. (Well, stayed in front of him.)
“Once he gets over that 200-yard mark,” the guy told Katie, “he starts giving out.”
Awesome dude. Simply awesome.
Nah, seriously, the guy’s a cool guy and I like him a lot. And I respect his opinion, and I’d been thinking that anyway.
So of course, I text LeAnne, telling her what I’ve just been told, and she texts back, “You think I would do that to you? You put down the perfect time, trust me!...”
OK, what’s she gonna say, really? She’s a good coach. It’s the night before my first triathlon. She’s not gonna say, “Oh, you know what, crap … you’re right! You’re totally screwed! Well, good luck, and have fun eating my dust!”
Here’s to hoping adrenalin lasts longer than 200 yards!
One really cool thing about that, though: I’m getting into the pool two swimmers behind Brian Campbell, who’s become an awesome mentor throughout this whole process. He’s loaned me his bike; he road the course with me at the end of this week and gave me some great insight about how to handle the race; he’s been a constant source of advice whenever I had a question about something.
So it’s fitting that I’ll have the chance to pace myself with him. My goal is now to stay with him as possible.
It serves one well, chasing those he’s learned to follow.
Whatever happens, I’m just going to have fun. Katie reminded me, again, that my initial goal with all of this was simply to finish a triathlon. I’ve been getting up at 5 a.m. for four months, preparing for an hour’s worth of exercise that I’ll perform tomorrow morning. When I started I had no ridiculous ideas about winning or losing.
What was that one quote I shared once? In triathlon, we win by enduring. By finishing.
Tomorrow, I’m going to bust it hard through each stage, go fast as I can as long as I can, and try to finish doing the same. Will I? I don’t know.
But it’ll be a blast to try.
Reader Comments (2)
DUDE, i'm just as excited for you!
okay, not JUST ask excited.. as you seem pretty.. "cooper-ish"... but,
still. can't wait to hear how you do:)
"he road the course with me..."
*rode
So proud of you! You've trained hard for weeks at daybreak (which, according to GPA, comes much to early in the morning:)) and by this time tomorrow you and Katie will be discussing how well you did in the triathlon. Hopefully, you won't be too tired to update those of us who can't wait to hear about it. Love you much. GT