3-Day Triathlon

I had myself a little 3-day triathlon this weekend. Ran 9 miles ( 14.5k) on Friday, biked 52 (83.7k) miles on Saturday, and swam 1 mile (1.6k) on Sunday. Taking the times I did on all of these events, extrapolating them out to the full distance, and I get an 8:03 finish time. That doesn’t include transition times, so add another 5 minutes or so to that. As of today I will not make the cutoff time.

This site is really helpful for calculating that, btw: http://triadtriteam.com/tools/calc_tri_pace.htm

Specifically, my run pace was 12:57mpm (5:32mpk), my bike was 12.8mph (20.6kph), and my swim was 2:45/100m. All of which are quite slow. I have 5 weeks to go. Can this event be salvaged?

Or should I give up, knowing that I can't beat the cutoff time? I would save myself from being pulled from the course by the clowns in the big white ice cream van that comes by and grabs you with a hook after clock strikes 8. Small children dressed as monkeys hang from the corners, rails, and doors of the van, chattering, screeching and mocking you for failing the whole way back to the finish.

I don't want to have to throttle a monkey.

But I committed to do this. A lot of people try and don't succeed, I may just be one of them. I'll get as far as I can get.

I have 5 weeks until the big day. As a friend points out, it's really only 4 training weeks because the last week is tapering. I hate to point out to her that most training plans call for a 2 week taper.

In any event, how do I shave off some minutes in the time I have left? Well, there's room for huge improvement on the run. It seems I've lost interest in running and I don't enjoy it any more. I used to. These things go in cycles, apparently. I can go a lot faster than 12:57, even over 13 miles. It's time to suck it up and work on my running again. 3 runs per week, some speed and tempo work. Get back to at least 11 mpm (6.8kpm) over the full distance. That'll still allow for some run/walking, which I'm sure I will need.

I don't see much hope for the bike. I'm learning that riding a bike fast is all about suffering. I don't like suffering. No. I'd rather ride up a hill in a comfortably difficult gear rather than feeling the extreme burn of muscling up for the sake of speed. Ergo, I will never be a good cyclist.

But I'll improve as much as I can in the remaining time. I figure 3 more long rides, 50-60 miles, with hills, will at least make my legs stronger and give me more of a chance to make it through the run.

I thought I was ok with my training for this course, but as the event gets closer more and more people are talking about how difficult the bike course is. Great. I've always heard it is 1/3 flat, 1/3 hills with 3 steep ones, and 1/3 into a headwind back. Not a great deal different than the course I am riding for training right now. But now people are saying, 'oh no, you'll need to be able to ride double that to do Oceanside!' Great.

The Oceanside course profile is this: Oceanside 70.3. 3 big, steep hills. A fair number of people walk their bikes up at least one of these.

We've signed up for the Solvang ride, 2 weeks before Oceanside, and it will be difficult. I'm doing the Half Century, Basta the full. I'm hoping it'll make Oceanside look easier. http://www.bikescor.com/solvang/route.htm

I don't see much changing on the swim. Pull harder. Faster arm turnover. Blah blah blah. All I want to do is get through the swim without drama or physical stress in under an hour.

At this point I think the biggest thing I can do to improve my time is to lose some weight. Will I get another mph on the bike for every 5 lbs I lose? Every 10? Will my running pace pick up by :15 or :30? It'll surely help.

It's funny, looking back at the changes in Basta's body when he was training for his first half. He lost 10 pounds almost instantly, and he was thin already. I haven't lost a thing. He was probably training more than I, but I'm training a lot. I'm not slacking off here. I just haven't changed my diet much, and I've perhaps fallen into the, 'oh I'm working out hard, I can afford these extra calories' trap. I can't afford to do that any more.

My resting heart rate has gone from 82 last year (yes that's high) to 68 now. I have a 'suzuki heart' and my RHR has always been high. To see 68 is almost unbelievable to me, but now I expect it to go lower. My blood pressure is 95/60. I'm pleased with that. Exercise really does affect your health dramatically. But the body fat? Not so much. I need to get a strong hold on my food intake and drop 10 pounds or more before the event. 5 weeks - 10 pounds (4.x kilos) -- doable. Goodbye, four evil whites (sugar, flour, rice, potatoes). Hello, small portions and lower calories.