Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Pre-Race Plans ...

This is a taper week for me leading up to Saturday's LoneStar Olympic Triathlon.  The plan is for Annie and I to leave on Friday and head on down to Galveston and check into our hotel.  It is only about a 70 mile drive but we have to go through Houston traffic so it will probably take about 2 hours.  This is an officially sponsored Ironman event (70.3 on Sunday) so it appears there is going to be a ton of cool things to see.  I will race on Saturday and then we will stay an extra day and cheer on the triathletes doing the HIM on Sunday.  Should be a fun weekend and we'll take a bunch of pictures and I will put up a long race report on Sunday night!

Here are the MAPS for the Olympic distance race.

This will be my first time doing a distance longer than a Sprint and I am feeling pretty good about my training and my overall conditioning for the Olympic Distance. Being that this is my first time doing this distance I want my goals to be both modest and conservative. My goals for the race are as followed:

Swim:  1500M - 30 to 34 minutes:  This is an ocean swim in the Gulf and it is wetsuit legal.  I am not sure what to expect in terms of waves and overall chop for the ocean so I am hopeful it will be calm but prepared for it to be rough.  If I can average around 2:00 to 2:20/100M I will be happy.

Bike:  24.8 Mi - 1:18 to 1:22 minutes:  This bike route runs right along the Galveston Seawall and according to the weather forecast we should be expecting some 20+ mph cross winds.  This is pretty much the norm along the seawall in Galvestion.  And my age group wave doesn't take off until 8:34 am so by the time I am on the bike the wind will be kicking up. With the cross winds I will be happy to average 18-19 MPH.

Run: 6.21 Mi - 46 to 48 minutes:   A 10k on a nice flat route.  If I can keep myself from blowing up on the bike I could make up significant time on the run.  This is about a 7:30-7:50 pace.  I can do this pace and possibly better if the wind doesn't drain me.

Transitions:  6 minutes.  Looks like T1 is quite a distance from the swim exit so a 3+ minutes T1 time is probably going to happen.

Total Time Guess:  2:40 to 2:50 Overall.

Wish me luck and I'll be back on Sunday with my Race Report.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

16 comments:

  1. Good luck on your Olympic! I know you will rock it!

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  2. Oh my gosh, you have another TRi already!?! Good luck to you Jeff:)

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  3. Have fun Jeff (and Annie!), I wish you all the best! I look forward to seeing your race report and all the requisite pics!

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  4. Good luck this weekend! You will do great! :)

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  5. Good luck! I have a feeling you will go faster and surprise yourself. Do the best you can!

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  6. The big race if finally upon you! I am looking forward to your report. You certainly trained hard for it.

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  7. Exciting stuff!
    Good luck.
    I raced one in Galveston when you were about 14... I still remember the cross winds.
    Good plan you got working there...

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  8. You will kill it. GOOD LUCK!!!!

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  9. Very Cool! Love how you layed out all your goals, shows you are really prepared! I am sure you will do great!!!!!

    Good Luck!

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  10. Enjoy your reward for all the hard work out put in.

    You already said, dont blow up on the bike, if that wind swirls and hit you head on, just get thru the bike and save it for the run.

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  11. Best of Luck!~ Excellent pre game report, you know what to do!
    -Derek

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  12. good luck, Jeff I'm sure you will nail it

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  13. Jeff, you are going to do great! You have been working very hard and it will pay off. Have a great time and take some picks of Galveston. Funny comment about Houston, I too have spent long periods of time getting through that traffic. Cheers!

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  14. Have a fab time, and Good Luck!!!!

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