Goderich - pre race

Almost time for my first Olympic tri! Which was originally going to be my main goal race for the year, but has now become a stepping stone to Barrelman. I'm getting really excited for Barrelman - we just booked a hotel room so my husband and kids will be able to spend the day in Niagara Falls while I race, and they will get to come support me on the run and see me finish. I am so excited they will be there!

But that's a few weeks away yet. First I have this Oly to do. How am I feeling about that?

I get it, lazy cat.

Really really happy I'm tapering this week. After Niagara things got pretty intense, training-wise, which has been a lot of fun because I love training, but oh boy I am tired and ready for a few easy days.

Well that's a bit ridiculous. 745 kms of swim-bike-run in 3 weeks.

After Niagara, I did a 15 hour week, an 11 hour week, and I just finished a 14.5 hour week. That's a whole lot of swim-bike-run. It's been going really well. Putting up some big numbers, and starting to feel like this half iron thing isn't quite so crazy.

Swim

Things are clicking along here. I'm not setting any speed records, but I'm enjoying the swimming and I feel like I've really gotten the hang of the open water thing. And my most recent pool workouts have felt really good, too. Nothing to complain about here, other than how temperamental Lake Ontario is, with the suddenly flipping from perfectly nice to too damn cold to even put your feet in. YOU ARE MAKING IT HARD TO PLAN THINGS, LAKE ONTARIO.

I had plans to swim this day. Not so much in those waves.

Bike

Some solid long rides, some shorter more intense rides, and just some general fun. More importantly, perhaps, I'm zeroing in on my nutrition and pacing plan for the bike, which are going to be key to having a good race at Barrelman. I now have an aero bottle to make it easier to take on fluids, and I've experimented with a few different hydration products to see what I can stomach (both in terms of taste and in terms of getting in enough calories and not having my digestive tract rebel).

I'll also be pacing the bike by heart rate - I experimented with that this past Saturday, doing a 96k ride where I tried not to let my heart rate go above the sweet spot zone (although it was a hilly ride, so there were some inevitable spikes), and then I followed up the ride with a 5k run that felt a lot better than I was expecting. After Goderich I'll move my long rides to a flat route so I can both get in more practice holding my aero position and get a better sense of the heart rate based pacing on a flat route.

Run

No complaints about the run. Mostly following my plan, although there have been a few total fails on a couple of the workouts. Oddly, while last time around I had the hardest time with the intervals, this time around it's the tempo runs.

Seeing lots of sunrises at the track. So happy the local track is finally done being resurfaced!

I'm not bothered by not nailing every workout, though. I'm getting in the miles and the intensity, and most importantly, I physically feel great. Running three days a week really does agree with me.

Plans for Goderich

Hell if I know. The distance is new and the pacing somewhat of a mystery (although I found this article that seems pretty reasonable).  My current plan is to take the swim smooth and controlled and keep it easy (it's also only 1k instead of the more usual 1.5, so that's a plus). For the bike I will aim to keep my heartrate just below threshold, although the course elevation (and some race reports I've read) indicate rolling hills, so the trick will be not to burn too many matches on the inclines. The 10k run could feel awfully long (especially since the first 5k is a gradual uphill) if I go too hard on the bike. If I can resist my natural urge to bike like a bat out of hell and instead keep the bike controlled, hopefully I'll be able to lay down a reasonably fast 10k run (and take advantage of the last 5k of the run being mostly gradually downhill!).

The current weather forecast looks hot, but that could change. Hot weather will likely mean a miserable run no matter what, but I can't control that. My main goal here is to pace the race well and practice my fueling strategy. Obviously it's not the same distance as the half iron, but it should still help me figure out what's going to work (and what might now work).

For now, though, I taper and enjoy not doing a zillion hours of training this week! Hooray for sloth!