Double Race Weekend

It's time to get excited: it's a double race weekend. I'm hoping my legs decide to join the party! Saturday I'll be at the Holland Corn Festival 5k, and Sunday I will be swimming, biking and running at the Lake Pflugerville Sprint Triathlon (500m swim/14 mile bike/3 mile run).

It’s no secret that I’m a little crazy. No secret. For me to sign up for back to back races is no big deal. This is the third time I've raced these events back to back. So this shouldn't faze me. But, I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous about how this weekend is going to pan out. My goal this week was to get plenty of rest, watch my nutrition, dial back the intensity on my workouts. I was pretty much 0-3. I woke up this morning tired and sore, then started stressing out because I'm tired and sore, yadda yadda yadda. My goal today is to get my head back in the game and light a fire under my a$$ to get out there and give it all I've got. No excuses.

So, my goals...

Saturday's 5k: Last year I ran 20:18 at this race. I would like to beat last year's time, but to be honest from my speedwork lately, I am not sure that will happen. I haven't raced a 5k in a really long time, so I am not sure what to expect? The course is an out and back, where you run up a hill to the turn-around point. Unfortunately, you lose some momentum as you make the turn around as you literally run a sharp turn around a cone. So while it's not a terribly difficult course, it's not a PR course either. Not to mention it will be hot as donkey balls. Based on my speedwork, I seem to be hovering around a 6:40 pace for mile repeats, which would mean around a 20:42 5k. Maybe I'll surprise myself.

Sunday's Triathlon: Last year I did this race in 1:23:36. This year I am shooting for a sub-1:23, and I somewhat confident I can attain this. Last year we had horrific weather for this race (incredibly high winds) so if the weather plays somewhat nice this year, I should be able to improve on my time. My big question mark for this race is how I run off the bike. I have always been able to rely on my run strength to carry me to a decent finish in triathlons (bascially my run speed would make up for a sucky swim/bike), but I am not as confident with my run this year, especially given my recent brick workouts. I would love to go sub-7 pace on the run portion, but it will just depend on how my legs respond off the bike. I have no idea what to expect on the bike, and if I can stay on course (I have the tendency to swim off course in open water) during the swim I should do okay.

So there you have it! To be honest, I’ve been somewhat unmotivated to train as of late. I’ve been going through the motions for the most part as the fire doesn’t burn the way it used to. I think this weekend will be great for motivation and inspiration.

Happy training!