Of Triathlons And Track

After several weeks of hot, humid, disgusting weather, we were finally blessed this morning with cool, dry air! It was such a treat to have all the windows open, and not have to listen to the droning of the A/C running all day long.

It made it much nicer to do things outside, too - including running, which I did this morning. Went 3.5 miles, at a pretty average pace (8:25), and the shin felt ok. It still hurts a bit at the beginning of the run, and again at the end, but it does feel like it's getting better. I'll probably not run again until the race Sunday, to make sure that it feels good for the big event.

I am so crazy excited for this race - almost as excited as I was the first year I did it, when it was my first triathlon ever. I think it's more exciting this time because I'm not as terrified. I know full well that I can do it - I did it last year at 17 weeks pregnant, so I KNOW I can do it!  And since it's my third year doing this particular race, it's going to feel very familiar to me, which is nice.

I definitely still have pre-race jitters, but they're the good kind - the fun kind.

Unlike last year, I do have some definite time goals in mind for this year. The swim is still my slowest discipline, but I'm hoping that I can complete it a bit faster than I have the past two years. I swam in the ocean this weekend, and felt so much less nervous and awkward than I usually do when swimming in open water. It still felt a lot harder than swimming in the pool, but for the first time ever, I felt like I was able to really get into a good rhythm and just put my head down and swim! So I'm hopeful that feeling more confident in the open water will translate to a slightly faster swim time. I'm going to be conservative, though, and plan on a good 14 minutes to swim the 1/3 mile.  Still slow, but it would be a full 2 minutes faster than my previous times.

Since I don't wear a wetsuit, T1 should be a pretty quick one - I'll just have to throw a shirt and shorts on over my bathing suit, slip on my socks, bike shoes and helmet, and head out. I'm figuring I can get it all done in less than 2 minutes. 

I know I can finish the 10-mile bike in just about 30 minutes. I know the course like the back of my hand, and it's a fast one. Some gentle rollers, but nothing that will slow me down much, and I've been averaging an 18.5mph pace on my 30-mile rides, so I better be able to finish 10 miles in 30 minutes!

T2 should be even quicker - just have to rack my bike, swap my helmet for my running hat, my bike shoes for my sneakers, and take off! Hoping for just over a minute here.

For the run, I'm hoping I can maintain about an 8:20 pace and finish in approximately 26 minutes. The big unknown here is how hilly the course is going to be. They've changed it from last year's course, so I have no idea if it's any more or less hilly than it's been the past two years. But even if there are some decent hills, I think I should still be able to come in pretty close to 26 minutes.

If I can do all that, I could finish in about 1 hour and 13 minutes!  We'll call that my ultimate, oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-I-did-it!  goal.  Anything 1:15 or under will be my woohoo-I-kicked-some-butt goal, and anything under 1:20 is my pretty-awesome-for-having-a-baby-6-months-ago goal.

Just a quick update on the boys, and then bedtime for me -

Tonight was the second-to-last week of Youth Track, and the boys are just loving it, as always. Gabe continues to seriously compete, and came in first in his heat of both the 100 and 200. Last week he came in first in the 200, despite the fact that his shorts were falling down and he had to keep slowing down to pull them up. This kid LOVES to win, and yes, he definitely gets that from me! 

Dante is too busy waving and yelling hi to everyone to worry about winning : )   I have so many pictures of him waving, it's hysterical. I think it's so funny how their personalities come out so strongly at this event. I think it's great that Gabe is doing so well (running at the same pace as the 7- and 8-year-olds!), but I also think it's wonderful that Dante has so much fun just jogging along and waving and smiling at everyone. They're both enjoying it, and that's what makes me happy. I can't wait to see Carmine out there next year!!!!

Speaking of Carmine, the kid is an eating machine!  He wolfs down his fruit and rice cereal, and a few people have commented on how he looks like he's gained some weight the past week or two, and I think the solid foods have a lot to do with it!  As of right now we're only feeding him twice a day, but I think we might have to bump it up to three meals a day pretty soon.

I'm also going to have to look into making my own baby food. I'll buy some stuff jarred, but there are so many things that I know would be so easy to make myself. I may wait until the fall to start doing that, though - I'll have much more time for it once the boys are back in school.

I'll wrap things up with a funny from Gabe - on the way home from track tonight, he said to me "I know a good place where you can put gold - it's a big square thing with a dial."  I asked him if he meant a safe, and he said "Yes, that's it!"  I'm not sure why he thinks I need to know this information, but if we ever end up with a pile of gold, I'll know what to do with it.

Comments

[Wes]

ahhhhh, we have extra humidity if you need some :-) Time to tri!!