Inside of 48 hours now. I got up early this morning and hit the Kiwanis wave pool when it opened--I was the only one there. The Kiwanis wave pool is where you want to swim in Tempe pre-race. I, for one, don't feel comfortable chancing swallowing Tempe Town Lake water 24 hours before my race start--if I'm going to get sick, I'd rather it be on Monday....
Normal protocol for me is to take the complete day off two days before my IM but with my Vegas thing going on I thought I'd do my swim this morning. I was hopeful that I would be even faster this morning thinking that I might be slightly better adjusted to my wetsuit (which until wednesday, I had not worn for 5-6 weeks). I swam 15:35 for 1000 yards--essentially the same time as Wednesday. I think that my TYR FON is such a great wetsuit, that it's basically good to go all the time. Anyways, this is a 65 minute pace and certainly indicates I have the fitness potential to swim sub 70 on Sunday. Of course, that was also true last year when I swam 78 minutes.
The Arizona swim is very rough--at least for my pace--much more so than Kona. Also, I probably made some tactical errors last year and this year I plan to start right in the middle of the field, up at the front (last year I was left on the buoy line). Whether or not this proves to be a good idea will probably have a big impact on my time. Still, I have to say that swimming slower than 72-minutes on Sunday would be underperforming...we'll see!
Anyways, I've done some thinking about my race and how I want to wrap my head around it. I'm out here by myself and a Kona slot is not in my control (unlike last year when I was the strongest in my AG). I need some people to have off days to have a realistic chance of getting a slot. I don't expect this to happen and so I really don't feel any pressure to perform. Consequently, the thoughts I'm going to hold in my head are thankfulness and appreciation. I am truly blessed to be healthy (and wealthy) enough to do this. I have a great group of friends and a family that supports me in this self-absorbed hobby. I get to swim, bike, and run all day on Sunday--just like I did when I was a kid....in a sense I'm just a 55-year old kid. And, while I'm no great shakes, I'm not to bad at it. So no matter what happens on Sunday, I'm going to have a big smile on my face--someday I won't be able to do this, but that day has not yet come!
Off to Vegas!
Normal protocol for me is to take the complete day off two days before my IM but with my Vegas thing going on I thought I'd do my swim this morning. I was hopeful that I would be even faster this morning thinking that I might be slightly better adjusted to my wetsuit (which until wednesday, I had not worn for 5-6 weeks). I swam 15:35 for 1000 yards--essentially the same time as Wednesday. I think that my TYR FON is such a great wetsuit, that it's basically good to go all the time. Anyways, this is a 65 minute pace and certainly indicates I have the fitness potential to swim sub 70 on Sunday. Of course, that was also true last year when I swam 78 minutes.
The Arizona swim is very rough--at least for my pace--much more so than Kona. Also, I probably made some tactical errors last year and this year I plan to start right in the middle of the field, up at the front (last year I was left on the buoy line). Whether or not this proves to be a good idea will probably have a big impact on my time. Still, I have to say that swimming slower than 72-minutes on Sunday would be underperforming...we'll see!
Anyways, I've done some thinking about my race and how I want to wrap my head around it. I'm out here by myself and a Kona slot is not in my control (unlike last year when I was the strongest in my AG). I need some people to have off days to have a realistic chance of getting a slot. I don't expect this to happen and so I really don't feel any pressure to perform. Consequently, the thoughts I'm going to hold in my head are thankfulness and appreciation. I am truly blessed to be healthy (and wealthy) enough to do this. I have a great group of friends and a family that supports me in this self-absorbed hobby. I get to swim, bike, and run all day on Sunday--just like I did when I was a kid....in a sense I'm just a 55-year old kid. And, while I'm no great shakes, I'm not to bad at it. So no matter what happens on Sunday, I'm going to have a big smile on my face--someday I won't be able to do this, but that day has not yet come!
Off to Vegas!
No comments:
Post a Comment