Race time!

Although I'm hardly ready it's time to race again this weekend! I'm off to Smithfield, VA for the Smithfield Sprint. The race is a 300 meter pool swim/a 10-mile bike/5-k run. then I travel up to Washington for the cherry blossom 10-miler.

I did this combo back in 2009 and my objectives for this weekend are to be safe, have fun and hopefully go faster than 2009.

As i read my 2009 race report I'm struck by how much things have changed. In the beginning of 2009, I was coming of two very good but ultimately disappointing years where I had failed several times to qualify for Kona. I had basically decided that I need a break from IM racing, I wasn't going to get to Kona, and that my triathlon career was nearing an end and at best I wouild do 1 more IM.

My knee was in very bad shape in early 2009--and frankly, it's (yet again) a limiting factor now. the good news is that I'm in for new injections next week so just 12 weeks elapsed time between cycles....seems like things are getting worse!

Not to be down. Today I'm in a better place for sure. I've done 3 more IM races since then and have 2 more on the docket for this year: Kona and IMAZ. I'm dealing with an increasing crescendo of ailments but I'm still in the game.

For this weekend I just want to go faster than 2009. As for my competition at Smithfiled, if I can go faster then I won't need to worry about anything.

Here are my splits from 2009:

Swim: 300 meters plus ducking under 6 lane lines and moving horizontally another 10 meters. I did the swim in 2009 in 5:09 which was (and still is since I've not done a pool triathlon since) my best ever 300 meter triathlon swim. I have not put a lot of time into swimming yet this year but I would be disappointed if I wasn't faster than this. I'm a better swimmer now. I'm not a good non-wetsuit swimmer but still I would hope to go sub 5...

T1: I did 1:20 in 2009. Happy to so so again provided the transition area has not changed. It's a bigger race now so we'll see.

Bike: I clocked the course at 9.86 miles in 2009. I completed the bike leg in 26:25. I averaged 253 watts and a HR of 162bpm. I know I'm not as strong on the bike as I was early in my life but I'm optimistic I can go faster on Saturday. I'm not in great bike shape--I'm not topped up--but I feel like my bike engine is pretty good and my rig is well optimized.....I would very much like to throw more watts and/or a faster time (wind of course could affect the latter).

T2: 0:59--hope to break a minute again!

Run: 23:40 over a 3.20 mile course. this is a pretty slow result but I'd take it give my fitness now.

Overall: 57:32--If I could do that I'd be happy. In 2009, this resulted in a 44 second victory. I would have won my new (55-59) AG by 2:16....so we'll see.

weather forecast is quite windy but otherwise nice.....

bring it on!