Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Pacing and Advice

Decided to swim in the local pool after work. I read in one triathlon website about being a well-rounded athlete. That I should start having the mindset of a triathlete; not a swimmer, not a biker, not a runner. The article went on to mention a few athletes who didn't finish because, although they were very strong at their own events, they did not pace themselves for the other events.
And so I practiced that today. I really paced myself. A couple of girls joined me on my lane and an adjacent lane. And they were sprinting and there was a temptation to keep up with them. But I had to let them pass me because I had to go farther. I was originally planning to only do 70 x 25 yds. But I was challenged by the girls so I pushed it to 100 x 25 yds.! Felt really good! :-)
At the shower room, I saw a guy with an Ironman tag on his bag and asked if he's ever joined one. Come to find out he's done 4, Arizona, Canada, and others. But not Hawaii yet. Since I wasn't confident if I could do the Olympic distance, I asked him if he thinks I can do it. I honestly told him where I was at in training. He said I have ample time to train. He suggests not downgrading to the Sprint distance and just go ahead with the Olympic distance. Asked him about my wetsuit, aerobars, and the specific triathlon route I'm doing (because he's done it too!). He said the running course is challenging, so I need to start focusing on that.

2 comments:

  1. Went on a 7 mi. run and it took me 1 hr. 22 mins. :-( I did a really slow pace practicing the lesson above.
    On mile 3 I remembered why I loved running; you feel free and the feel of the cushion on your heels hitting the pavement! Life was good. But then I hit 6.5 mi. and I was hating life again! Thinking, why am I doing this again? X-| Anyway, I'm hoping it won't be much of a work if I just do it consistently. Looking forward to the next run.
    Tomorrow is Bike-to-work day, so I may end up riding my bike to the train station and back in the evening. We'll see how my legs will feel tomorrow morning.

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  2. Did the bike-to-work thing, and covered around 18 mi. from the house to the train station to the office and back.
    P.S. Tried my wetsuit again the other day. Because of pulling, I made a small tear near the belly area! Bummer! Tried putting vulcanizing glue on it. Will try it this weekend. I really have to try it in the ocean. Till the next blog... :-(

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