The Night Before

It's the night before my first olympic distance triathlon and I did a brief look on one of the internets to see about strategy. I'm not even sure why, really. It's a less than three hour race, consisting of swim bike run. Easy money. And I really didn't find anything helpful.

I think my transitions will be terrible because I spend a fair amount of lolly-gagging on the half iron and iron distance races because it's really a great opportunity to catch my breath, eat and drink something. But since I don't have to plan any meals or really drinking for this race, it seems like I should really worry about wasting minutes on this relatively shorter distance.

I debated whether to wear a wetsuit and really I'm going to wear it because I'm worried about getting cold before the swim, not during. After my experience (miserable) in Coeur d'Alene in '07, I want to do everything I can to stay warm and comfortable before the swim.

So, to predict my time, considering my training has been crap the last two weeks, I'll be happy if I'm out of the water in about 30 minutes, 1:15 on the bike and then :55 minutes for the run, adding in 5 minutes for transitioning time, I'm going to guess 2:45. It could be a bit worse, but doubtfully better. I've spent a lot of time estimating race times and I've never enjoyed the moment when I get to say, "wow, a half hour faster than I thought!" This is both reassuring since I have a good grasp on my times, but depressing because I'm always reading other triathletes who get to exclaim "wow, so much faster than I thought." 

I've got my wetsuit laid out, my black longsleeved shirt, socks, towel, ass pack (for tire fixing gear) and my bike shorts that I'll wear under the wetsuit, I'll be wearing my sneakers. Gave my bike a good cleaning last weekend so it's ready to go. Hmm, that's about it. Oh, right, better get than bike helmet staged. Shouldn't need sunscreen since I'll be off the cross before 11am. I'll revisit this list tomorrow afternoon to figure out what I forgot, which no doubt will be something, but hopefully nothing fatal.

I have to revisit the whole clipless pedal issue because I'm very defensive about this-not that to date I've been mocked by anyone but myself. The other day on my commute home I was riding behind several people with clipless pedals. At stop signs or lights, they were always having to pause and fiddle with getting clipped back in while I, on my platforms, was ready to rock. I realize that in the long-term, the added power (that I don't really believe exists) evens that out. 

Also, I remember a story I heard about a cyclist who crashed down a hill and would have only suffered scrapes and bruises except that he was clipped in. He did come off his bike, but unfortunately, the pedals were still attached to his shoes and he had ripped both achilles tendons in the process. I will go to great lengths to justify my bad decisions.

More tomorrow.