Today I decided to time myself swimming 500 Meters to see how I am doing with my Total Immersion Freestyle technique. I used the lap clock that is on the wall of the pool. And my time was 11:00 minutes flat! I focused on just swimming comfortable and did not try and kill myself. I figured this could be a starting point for me to build on and continue to get better. Overall, I was pretty happy with the time. I then checked the results of last years Triathlon and this time would put me right in the middle of the pack of my age group! After the timed swim I decided to do some Interval swimming. I'd swim one lap very slow. Then the next lap a little more rushed and final the last lap as quick as possible. This really got my heart rate going and I am going to incorporate more of this into my training.
Back to my time today. This got me thinking about what I'd like for my goals to be in the Triathlon. Well, when I first began this little journey of mine my goals were twofold: 1 - Just Finish and have Fun; 2 - When standing at the starting line I want my last thought to be, "I am ready" and not, "I wish I trained more!".
But being that I am stat guy and am pretty confident both of the previous goals are going to be accomplished I am now going to add some time per event goals.
Swimming Goal - 10 minutes - Based upon today's time and the fact that I have never done an open water swim (OWS) this is a solid goal for me. In my age group (30-34) wave last years race had 102 people. So chances are I might be a bit freaked with that many people kicking and slapping around and a bloody nose or foot to the jaw may slow me a few seconds!
Cycling Goal - 49 minutes - This is an average of 17 mph over the 14 mile course. From reading the message boards about the race the cycling conditions are not ideal due to the large amount of participants and narrow bike course. I'd be happy to average 17 mph and hopeful I can avoid the crowds and do better than 49 minutes.
Running Goal - 27 minutes - Running right now is my weakest of the three disciplines. If I can average 9 minute miles after swimming and cycling I will be very pleased. I also believe over the next 60 days running is the sport were I can make my greatest gains.
Transitions - 6 minutes - I have been practicing the transitions in my garage on brick days. However, until I do it for the first time I am not sure what to expect! Six minutes for the two transitions is probably more than what I will need but chances are I will screw something up here!
Total time - 1 hour 32 minutes.
Tomorrow is a Running Day. Gonna try and do it in the morning -- bedtime now!
Great goals, Jeff! I like that you have a baseline and reasonable goals for which to shoot.
ReplyDeleteI am still on the original goal... just finish. With only 6 days to go, its too late to make any changes to the original goal.
Btw, you 500 meter time is pretty good!
You are gettting close Boomer! You must be excited/nervous/uneasy - Heck I am for you!
ReplyDeleteI put down my goals basically so I'd have something to keep me focused over the next 60 days. I need a tangible number to go after or I will flounder in my training.