The race strategy

I am pretty excited about the race tomorrow! Although little nervous at same time.

Let’s analyze.

Swim:  It is only 600m swim in a river with a current (you swim with the current, duh). I have been swimming a lot since May but I do not see any improvement in my speed (sometimes I have a feeling I am getting even slower), although I am definitely more durable. (No problem though. It is all about my long-term goals!!!). So I am not expecting anything great but I hope that since it is only 600m the best girls do not give me more than 3min. Hopefully I can do it under 10min.

And then bike: It is around 27k through German countryside and I hope it is well marked because I have no idea where we are going. Normally I would be confident about my bike but since I have done hardly any biking in last few months I should not expect that I can blast by everyone. Goal is 50min. I will just have to go full speed the whole time. I even brought my aero helmet with me from Slovakia. I need all help I can get.

And run: Well, 7k is a long way to go and I do not feel ready for it. Me being a super confident me, I want to do it in 30min, even after 27k bike time trial. I just need to stop being a puss and push.  I do not think that I can blow up on a 7k run (since it is relatively short. Just not short enough for my liking) even if I go full speed on a bike, can I? But since I will not be wearing Garmin I will not be able to check my pace so time I want to run does not really matter.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the warmest day of the year, they are talking about record temperatures and race starts at 10am. Hope they have aid stations with water. And I am not sure what to wear so I do not melt. I might wear just a swimsuit (show for spectators, I am really not sure whether it will stay where it is supposed to stay).

Yesterday after work I spent over an hour going from one sport store to another and to different grocery stores looking for a sport drink. So unlike the US where they have Powerade even at gas stations. Finally one had some sport drinks, some random stuff and also Powerade. 0.5l for 99cents plus 25cents as a bottle deposit. Forget that! So I just got the random stuff and will mix it with tea and honey into my bike bottle. This is only a 90min race (I hope I can do it in 90min) so I do not need a lot of calories. Just one bottle of sport drink and 1 gel on a bike. I am not even going to bother to carry a gel for a run, I know that I am not going to eat it (can’t eat and breath at the same time).

I also practiced flying mount yesterday. They were all horrible so I will just hope for the best tomorrow. I am sure I won’t wipe out but one never knows. Oh, and I have not ridden my bike for over 2 weeks, except 10min yesterday jumping on and off it.

I am going there with a friend I swim with. He is picking me up at 6:20 and according to my calculations we will be there around 3 hours before the race starts!!! I do not understand it, but I will deal with it.

A colleague at work asked me what my goal for the race is. I said to win of course. Also my PT asked me the same question. I gave the same answer. You know how people always jokingly answer that they want to win when asked this question. So people of course thought I was just joking. They so do not know me:)