Mine is full of remote control devices because I need to spend time every day in my trainer because anyone who is anyone knows that in triathlon it’s all about the bike and I need to get my bike on, big time.
I have an “A” race coming up but before the “A” race is a “B” race that I almost chickened out of. The “B” race is an Olympic distance event – the Folsom International Triathlon. I can’t quite remember why I signed up but I think it’s because I felt a need to redeem my Wildflower performance. Never mind the lack of need for redemption – that’s how I feel about it and you can’t take that away from me so onward.
After I signed up, I looked at last years results for this race. I was immediately discouraged. In my age group the finishing times ranged from 2:33 to 3:20 – gulp. How was I, a person who had finished Wildflower in 4:38 going to keep from going DFL? I knew this was a flat, fast course but still – how could I knock over an hour off my time?
Then I did a Tri for Fun. I was happy with my performance but I got passed on the bike by so many people and I started to have grave, grave doubts about my ability to manage FIT and not DFL. In fact, I was totally demoralized and had visions of hitting the run with nary a soul around and coping with a pile of self loathing on top of the heat. I went so far as to send an email asking if I could just withdraw since my fee hadn’t gone through yet. They offered a race voucher for a fee of $20 and I decided to think about it. When thinking failed me I turned to the numbers. I found a triathlon pace calculator and using the numbers from the tri for fun plus some liberal padding (since it will be hot and will be longer) I came up with this:
Shablam! That is doable – very doable. If I could keep the transition times down to a total of 5 minutes then I can come in between 3:20 and 3:30 which might be last in my age group but not last of all. So I took it a step further and I did this:
Which gets me in under 3:20 and in under 3:20 = not DFL in my age group. And that makes me happy enough and confident enough that I decided not to withdraw and to just go for it.
This weekend I am going to do an Oly distance brick to see if I can manage that distance in the heat without getting totally nauseated. I’m going to test drive using Endurolytes or… (insert favorite product name here – if you have a fave please comment) Masters (swimming) isn’t until 8:30 on Saturday which means it will be good and hot by the time I get off the bike and head for the run – just what I need. I will then spend the rest of the week doing a couple of light workouts to keep my muscles loose and then it’s show time on August 12.
Guess I’ll have to replace the remote controls with some Cliff Blocks.
21st-century-mom.com 
Ha ha ha! You too? My bento box is always the place where the remotes hide.
I use Endurolytes, and I have also tried Succeed (Bold is a big fan of Succeed) – they are boht great. just remember – water only with gu and clif and stuff. K?
Ha ha ha. Here I thought that you had the remotes in your bento box because you were spinning in the middle of the night to some spin video (they make those, right?)
where are your dust bunnies?
MY first oly distance is the same day as FIT and I too have been agonizing over not coming in DFL – in the Athena category the slowest time is 3 hrs! Anyways, I must find this calculator so I can obsess some more…
Your numbers make sense to me. Crunching the numbers is a great way to get you back to reality. Wildflower was an anomaly and I know you can post a much faster time. Train hard!
I have found that when running a race -I do the numbers easily in my head. I love that calculator for the tri! I am also facing a race next week-end that I will DFL. My downfall is my running–we’ll have to team up sometime.
I have started rinking the hydroBoom mix. I love the taste and it works for me.
Sorry–drinking not rinking
i love those calculators too – you should have seen krista and i trying to figure out what our imcda time was going to be. i had myself winning my age group! 😉 your numbers sound perfectly doable though – good luck, mom!!
i use plain old salt in the packets you get from mcdonalds or the 7/11. the enduralytes didn’t have that high a sodium content for where we train (az).
Cool calculator! I must have it!
I think you made the right decision to do the race – you may just surprise yourself! Besides, doing the race and coming in DFL is way better than sitting at home and wondering if you should’ve gone for it! Rock the Brick and have a great taper!!
DUde, I am SOOO glad you are still in the game!! THAT IS RIGHT!! YOU will take the course by storm!! 🙂 and i definitely giggled at the cliff blocks/remote control replacement line..
SHOW TIME indeedy! Great training…what’s a bento box???/
(I know really, I just don’t have one…guess I had better join the ranks someday!)
I have seen a few DFL’s that come across the line like winners …. i wouldn’t consider them any other way
I have used the endrolyte tablets and the powders for bike bottles. I like and endorse both. I personally would not reccomend straight salt as it is not buffered and if you don’t get used to it you could suffer terrible GI distress. also remember that that your throat and mouth will change consistancy in the middle of a race and the introduction of straight salt could leave a dry mouth in worse shape.
Just a thought.
But endrolytes are great