Thursday, May 21, 2015

Taper? What taper? And giving up on a secret goal

Not much of a taper for Saturday's race.
My first race of the season is this Saturday already! And, um, I'm definitely not tapering.

It was a gorgeous evening for a run yesterday and I had skipped my long run last weekend, so I did 9 miles after work. My legs felt fine and I only got hissed at by one goose.

I found this Triathlete magazine pre-race swim workout, and was planning on doing a short set today, but..... if I'm getting up at 4:40 a.m. and getting into the pool, I'm going to swim my full 3500 yards. I took it relatively easy, at least.

It's a short and easy run tonight -- and I promise it will be short and easy -- and some soft-pedaling on the trainer tomorrow morning and I'll be as ready as I can be for the race. Right now my main concern is that Fishing Notes puts the water temperature at 59 degrees. The race organizers have 67 degrees on their website. I hope they're right.

And... I had to give up on a secret goal this week. I wanted to qualify for Age Group Nationals at this race. I THOUGHT the Olympic-distance race was Sunday, but it's on Saturday. In Milwaukee. My sister-in-law's wedding is that Friday. Far away from Milwaukee. And I'm a bridesmaid. Even if I were to leave immediately after the ceremony, we wouldn't make it in time.

Super bummer!

(This is the second time a wedding has interfered with my race schedule. How dare my friends and family plan their weddings without consulting me first?)

After my 70.3 last summer, I felt like my tri season was over too quickly and I had one more in me for the season. So what I'll probably do is try to qualify at a race later in the summer for the 2016 race. There's no telling where it will be and if I'll be able to attend, but at least it will be a goal, right?

But let's take it one race at a time. Starting this Saturday. In hopefully not-too-cold water.

2 comments:

  1. Well done! I often have to remind myself that while I may be in a race, I'm really only racing myself...if that makes sense. My speed/abilities make it very unlikely that I will podium any time in the near future so I try to enjoy the atmosphere and beat either last year's time or whatever goal I've set. The Riverbank Run was a great example. I still finished well back of halfway through my age group, which is depressing, but it was an almost 30 minute PR so I consider it a good day :)

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    1. Congrats on the PR!

      Yes, the "racing only yourself" is something I try to keep in mind... as long as you learn something from every race it should be a win.

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