? And the loss of motivation probably is going to help me | Main | Asthma and Allergies, Oh my! ?
September 10, 2006
Square Lake Triathlon
Yesterday I did my first solo Triathlon. I did two others in the past month as part of a relay team, but this time I did all three parts of the race; swim, bike and run. I'm happy that I did it. It was challenging but I knew I'd finish it because I have been training for this race. I came in 77th out of 339 people. I was pretty happy with my times also because I haven't really been training that long, only a few months really. I know that if I continue my fitness plan, I'll push my limits even more next season.
1/2 mile Swim: 21:08
18 mile Bike: 50:08
5 mile Run: 36:50
for biking I calculated my average time to be 21.54 miles per hour and for the run I did 7:22 miles. Now I don't have any goals set, except a general idea that I want to work on my swimming this winter and stay in shape so I can be ready for the Spring triathlons. I'd like to do more events next year and go faster. That doesn't constitute a real plan but I know I have to keep trainign to get there. Honestly, I'd really love to run sub-seven minute miles for a seven-mile run during a triathlon. I know I can do it, but I first need better conditioning. I'm already running a lot better than when I started in the Spring. Actually I'm doing a lot better than I did last year in the few running races I did. It must be the cross-training and the more consistent training plan this year. A 5-K doesn't even seem like a problem for me anymore. And I don't feel bad after yesterday's Triathlon, so I know the training is working.
Now where do I go from here? This is new territory for my athletic training. I have no specific targets set.
Posted by carl1236 at September 10, 2006 03:55 PM | Triathlons
Comments
Those seem like great times to me. The swimming part is really amazing, given where you were a few months ago. Congratulations.
Posted by: Jim at September 11, 2006 09:44 PM
Way to go! :)
Posted by: nathan at September 12, 2006 01:00 PM
Congrats on the successful tri! I'm really impressed and inspired with what you were able to do.
Posted by: Andy at September 13, 2006 09:11 AM
I did the tri too. You rocked. I was the number two Athena. And I too, suffered a major lack of motivation. I am blaming Fall.
Posted by: TriathlonMama at September 15, 2006 02:22 PM
Thank you everyone for your comments! And wow, Triathlonmama! Good job! Even if there are rough spots in training, I totally understand now what these kinds of goals really take just to be able to do them. We don't just wake up one morning and say, "Hey, I think I'll do a triathlon today." What the hey. All kinds of things effect my training, both emotional and physical.
Right now I have no real goals, since the season is pretty much done so I have to figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of the Fall and Winter. Another Triathlete I just met asked me today if I plan on doing and ironman. hmmm. I responded, "No, that's not in my plan. Next season I plan on sticking to the sprint courses, but doing more events and improving my times. I really have not trained for longer distances and don't feel like I have a strong enough base for those races yet." It's true, I cannot recall ever running even 13 miles in training! But I'm not going to rule it out.
I might even like to try pulling together a team of runners for the Edmund Fitzgerald relay race next September. That would be a good end of season race with a longer distance. But doing it as a relay would be more fun. Also, I plan on doing several relay triathlons throughout the season. I discovered those are really fun too and the team aspect of it is great.
But, what to do now? That's the question, haha.
I did discover that I have allergies to ragweed and it messed with my training. I also discovered today that my breathing issues are really asthma. So these will be complications I have to work through this year.
Posted by: John at September 19, 2006 08:25 PM