How Hard Can It Be? 5.0

[Veronica]

I've decided to not race tomorrow. The water quality at the venue doesn't meet state standards. The park website says the beach will be open, but don't swallow the water and shower as soon as possible after swimming. The amount of fecal coliforms and e.coli is too high. Yeah, I'd probably be okay, but why risk it?

We're going to go for a bike ride instead up Mt Diablo.

Veronica

[Veronica]

The final days of the year seem to cause most people to reflect on what they did over the past year and what they hope to do in the next year. I’ve never been a fan of “resolutions” as they have always seemed like a dream with no real plan to achieve it. Goals, on the other hand, are driven by a plan.


It never gets easier…

My goal for 2012 was about relaxing and enjoying the journey. Racing had become very stressful and quite honestly, not any fun, and I really wanted to move away from that mindset. In that regard, I was fairly successful. I didn’t hit any of my other goals for racing, but I did decrease the stress I felt on race day. I enjoy the training to race – Masters swim class, running with Thom, pushing myself on the bike, crazy hard sessions with Shawna. It’s about the day in, day out routine, not the event. I like knowing that I am fit, that I can run up three flights of stairs and not be out of breath. It’s good to be flexible and strong enough to crouch in the back of the SUV and lift out the seats. Racing just gives all that training a focus. Still, I like goals.

The focus of 2013 is going to be a little different. My “big” race is not going to be a triathlon, but rather an Aquabike. While I have finally come to enjoy running, I’ve realized that for whatever reason, I’m never going to be very good at it. I’d like to see what I can do when I train for a race that focuses only on my strengths, making Aquabike perfect! I’ll swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and be done. The hard part has been deciding on a realistic goal time, what finishing time will make me happy? The race course is the same course I’ve raced the last five years, so I have lots of data to obsess over. I’ll be content with a time under 3:50. I’ll be thrilled with 3:40! How’d I arrive at those numbers? My fastest swim time is 34 minutes, fastest bike time is 3:18 and I’m estimating a 5 minute transition time. I’ve never done either all out because I wanted to leave something in the tank for the run. In previous years, I never trained for the swim and really didn’t put much focus into specific bike training either. A time of 3:40 means taking 17 minutes off that; the bulk of which will have to come from the bike. It won’t be easy, but setting a goal isn’t about doing something that you can already do. It’s supposed to be a stretch.

Happy New Year!

Veronica