Let's Make A Deal

OK, Mother Nature. Here's the deal: It can rain all day today. It can rain all day Sunday. But let's just have a little rest from approximately 6 AM on Saturday until about noon. OK? I think that's a fair compromise! I had a rough night sleeping. I woke up about 4 times during the night, which isn't like me at all. I know it's all nerves since each time I woke up, I vaguely remembered some sort of triathlon dream. The worst part was that I think I'm going to go through all of that again tonight, too!

I am mostly excited for tomorrow. I started lying out all of the things I need to take with me in the morning so I won't forget something in my sleepiness. My goal for tomorrow is to finish the race. I don't really know what to expect on the times, but I'm hoping that I can get the whole thing done in about an hour an a half. Really, anything under two hours and I'll be happy. I have no idea what to expect for transition times, but I'm hoping that the second one doesn't take as long as the first.

This is my general plan for the race: Wake up early and eat a good breakfast at home. Finish packing up and get into a cab at about 5:30 to head to Staten Island. Hopefully I will arrive around 6 AM. If the Terrier trailer is there, I will get my bike and head over to the transition area to rack my bike and start setting up my area. I would like to get in a quick run (about 10 minutes or so) and I'd also like to get into my wetsuit and get into the water so that I can acclimate my body before the actual race. If I spend about 5-10 minutes in the water, I think I will be good with that. There is a mandatory race meeting at 7:35, so that will be my time to relax and calm down before the race starts.

I am in Wave #2, which goes at 8:05. My plan for the swim is to start strong and try to stay out in front of the wave of swimmers. I would like to swim hard, but also be relaxed. I don't want to burn all my energy on the swim. As soon as my hand starts hitting while swimming in, I will stand up and start running in while also pushing my goggles up to my forehead. I will then unzip my wetsuit and peel it down to below my hips. If I'm still running to transition, I will take my cap and goggles completely off. Once I get into the transition area, I will pull the wetsuit down the rest of the way and get out of it. I plan on taking the additional time to rinse off and dry my feet as I don't think that I will have a comfortable rest of my race with sand in my socks. To finish up my transition, I will put my socks and bike shoes on. I will clip my race belt around my waist. I will put my helmet on and clip it. If I need my sunglasses, I will take those with me as well. I will then head towards the exit and out for my bike.

Once on the bike, I know the course is supposed to be flat, so I'd like to at least keep my regular average of about 15 MPH. If it's more than that, I'll be extremely happy, but I'd like to keep it at least at my normal level. I will remember to drink as much as possible on the bike course. Especially because I need to make sure that I'm hydrated enough for the run. Ideally, I'd like to finish the bike in 50 minutes or less. When heading back to transition, I will remember to unclip from the pedals before stopping to avoid an embarrassing fall! Once I've racked my bike again, I will take off my helmet, switch from bike to running shoes, grab my running hat, move my race number around to the front and head back out to the course. I will remember that drinking is a good thing and if there is water on the course, I will take it. I hope to run at a 10 minute mile pace. Obviously, if it's faster, that would be fantastic, but anything around 10 minutes/mile will make me very happy. I hope to finish the run strong and sprint towards the finish line with a smile on my face at the finish.

I'll be posting a full race report tomorrow after the race! I can't believe that it's already time for my first race. I know that it's just a sprint and that it's not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but I will say that I'm really proud of myself for getting this far. I had no idea in February what exactly I was getting myself into. I've stuck with the training for the most part and I didn't burm myself out. In fact, I am looking forward to upping the training level a bit for Westchester once Saturday is over. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. One race at a time...