I have my first triathlon of the year tomorrow. It's my first competition of any kind since Ironman France last year.
Luckily, this is just a sprint, and one I've done before, three years ago, in my very first triathlon. Here are my results from that day.
Category position 63 out of 130 entrants
Swim 00:12:46
Bike 00:37:42
Run 00:21:22
Total 01:11:52
My swim was terrible, breaststroke all the way, and I only beat one or two people. I hope to improve on that tomorrow, and if my pool swimming is anything to go by, two or three minutes is possible this year without being any more tired. I've consistently trained in the pool, and never do breaststroke any more. Of course, if I am faster, I won't be in the relative calm at the back, but right in the middle of the 'washing machine'. ( from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article2595015.ece, "The start of a triathlon has been likened to swimming blindfolded in a washing machine as hundreds of swimmers kick, punch and scratch for position" ). That'll be fun!
I'm actually quite happy with my bike time from 2005, and also my transitions (T1 included in swim time, T2 included in Bike time), but according to my race report from then, I didn't push on the bike as hard as I could. So depending on the windspeed, I'd like to take off two or three minutes there too. The bike average speed was in the 32km/h region, hard to tell without removing transition times, so I need to move that up to 34 km/h. The course is completely flat and a bit different to previously, there is no turnaround any more, just 4 long circular laps. So I have to put more effort in all the way. We'll see if my bike commute to work has given me any competitive advantage, if it's possible anywhere, then a 20k bike race is it.
Running is always the scary part, where it really hurts. If I push hard in the first two disciplines, I might start the run knackered. 21:22 is a great time for 5k for me. I'm unlikely to beat that, in fact, I'm still a bit surprised I did it. I have to hope I can match it. Even on a bad day, barring injuries, I think I can manage not to lose more than a minute.
My heart rate monitor is really playing up. It will measure time OK, and altitude, and running pace, though I can never see that while I'm actually running as I'm moving my arms around too much to see the small figures. But the HR itself is very dodgy. I put a new battery in the chest sensor, but on my last cycle, the HR only kicked in about 2/3 of the way through. I like to check my pulse while running (swimming is impossible, and on the bike it's always very low anyway). But I fear I'm just going to go for it by listening to my body - that's not so bad, after so many training sessions I know how I'm getting on.
(this is just a small idea of the multitude of things that go through your mind before a triathlon. I have to manage to get to the event on time (10am start) with bike and optional family. I need to maintain the bike, I need to plan nutrition (not so hard on a short event), bring appropriate clothing (it might pour with rain and I have no experience of that). Putting your head under icy water is not pleasant, so this year I'm thinking of wearing two smimming caps (but this breaks the rule - don't do anything in the race you haven't tried in training) to seem if a double layer helps. Whew!)
If I could take 3 minutes off my time, I could go up about 20 places assuming the same distribution of times as before. If I could take 6 minutes off, I'd get into the top 20 for my age group. That's got to be the aim. But if I just match my time and place, I'll be happy - I will be competing against people three years younger than me this time.
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