Wet Morning

This morning is wet.  It is raining, but also I was able to roll out of bed at 5:15 and head to the pool!  I was able to get in 700 yards of swimming, or 28 lengths of the 25 yard pool.  It was a challenging workout, but I felt very good with my form and I can tell it is improving.  I am still concerned that I feel the need to rest between laps, but I was able to rest less today.  I did 100 yard repeats with about 20 – 30 seconds rest between each.  Normally I would only do 50 yards before resting.  I am also still concerned that I won’t be as comfortable in the  open water (as opposed to a pool swim) when I go to my next three triathlons that I have scheduled. 

Next up is the Recon Off-Road Triathlon and Relay at Ann Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill, SC.  It will be my first open water swim, but I am confident I will be able to swim the short 400 meter course.  It will also be my first off-road triathlon which consists of mountain biking and trail running instead of on paved roads.  It will be nice to run in the shade of the woods in July though!

After that, I will compete in my first international distance triathlon at the Assault on Cherokee at Kings Mountain State Park near Gaffney, SC.  It will be a 1300 meter swim, 26 mile bike ride and a 10K run.  This will be my biggest triathlon event of the year.  It will certainly test out how well my training efforts have paid off.

Then I will compete in the Cane Creek Triathlon in Waxhaw, NC.  It is another sprint distance triathlon, but it looks to be a nice event and it is close to home.  My brother in law, Alex, will also be competing, so that will be fun as well.

My hope is that these three events, combined with the marathon in December, will give me the motivation to continue my training and give me the confidence to do a few international distance triathlons in the spring and early summer of next year and shoot for completing a half iron distance triathlon in the fall.

Next up training wise is a bike ride this evening if the weather holds out as they are calling for storms again today and then a run in the morning.  I will try to get the time on Friday morning to swim and then bike to work.