Rev3 Sarasota - T-2 weeks

In just over two weeks I will do my third 70.3 of the year, and final race of the year.

A quick recap

• Liberty - Swim went well, bike went well, run felt like death. Finish time 5:39. 
• Chisago - Swim went less well, bike went about the same, run went better, but not as good as I wanted. Emotional low point for the season. Finish time 5:38
• The last short race before this was a high note, won my age group at a Maple Grove. Started training for this race right after that, then bike crash, three weeks off.
• Since then I've gotten some decent trainer biking in, one long run that didn't go so hot, I'll do a long cold bike tomorrow, and the swimming is fine.

The next two weeks.
On Tuesday we will spend 20ish hours driving to FL, we'll get there about the middle of the day Wednesday. I'll miss the Wednesday workout. Then we'll be on vacation, the plus side of this timing is that there are zero workouts longer than an hour, and I can hopefully squeeze those in very early in the morning and not get in the way of having fun with family. So I will probably finish off the training plan as I laid out. It's a different story if it was a good plan, time will tell :)

Where I'm at Mentally
At this point I really want to rely on the several months of base I put in this year, so a month off, while not ideal, probably just means that I won't be 100% on race day, but I'll probably be in the mid to upper 90s, and really that's good. So, now I'm trying to figure out if I'll have a PR in me. First, the course.

• Swim - Likely no wetsuit, that will put me 3-5 minutes slower than Chisago. But probably not any more tired (here's to hoping :). It's in the gulf, which I think means no so choppy, though since I'm a stronger swimmer, chop helps me a little compared to the group.
• Bike - F-L-A-T. I don't know about wind, but F-L-A-T for sure. Both Liberty and Chisago had comparable bike splits. the elevation profile, while different, seemed roughly equivalent. About 1,000 feet of climb in each. Sarasota - 282. I've heard that hills don't factor much into races, and I may actually place less favorably since I worked a lot on hills this year and I pick up places on hills. But it might also mean that without the hills I might have a little more in the tank on the run.
• Run - F-L-A-T. Wind probably won't be a factor, shade won't be a factor, I baked in both of the previous races. The Liberty run had (according to Garmin) 935 feet of climb in it (that's right, about the same as the bike,) and the Chisago run had 450ish. Sarasota - 59. Hills demoralized me on the previous races, maybe no hills and I'll make it the whole way with a smile on my face.

The course seems favorable, so it turns to climate as I live in what is generally considered to be a colder place than FL. BUT - both Liberty and Chisago seemed ridiculously hot. So I looked it up.

On June 9th 2012, near Rockford MN

• Averages
• 69 (min temperature)
• 90 (max temperature)
• 80 (average temperature for the day)
• Humidty 45%
• Estimated During the Race
• 8:15 (bike start) - 70 degrees
• 11:00 (run start) - 80 degrees
• 1:00 (finish) - 90 degrees

On July 22 2012, near Chisago City, MN

• Averages
• 66 (min temperature)
• 86 (max temperature)
• 76 (average temperature for the day)
• Humidity 80%
• Estimated During the Race
• 8:00 (bike start) - 76 degrees
• 11:00 (run start) - 80 degrees
• 1:00 (finish) - 80 degrees

On October 28 2012, near Sarasota, FL (forecasted averages)

• 64 (min temperature)
• 83 (max temperature)
• 73 (average temperature for the day)
• Humidity - 80%

So...
Assuming I'm physically going to be there, I could see breaking 5:30. That's probably best case, the run I had the other night wasn't pretty. The conditions look favorable though, it may come down to just letting go, because I think my brain might be in the way.

When I started swimming in high school I had taken a few years off swimming, and I swam in these pink and purple striped board shorts for practices. EVERYONE thought it was dumb, and I don't recall exactly why I sported these things, but I did. Anyway, every four or five Saturday's we'd put all the timing equipment in and do seven 100 freestyles off the blocks at race pace. For a swimmer a 100 race is an all out sprint, there is no need to conserve energy, it will be over soon, just push. So all out effort, and you'd get about seven minutes of rest between them. This is a true sprinter's workout, just go FAST and don't worry about rest. It was sort of a rite of passage, if you could manage to keep your average time below one minute for all seven, the coach would give you a kick-board with your name on it for use for the rest of the year. Motivation to go hard.

So, I'm a freshman, I'm not getting below a minute on any of them, I'm not even that close. The last one comes up, one of the team captains walks up to me.

Cap: Take those dumb shorts off!
Me: There's nothing under them.
Cap: What!?! ... These are sprints, don't you want to go fast?
Me: Yeah
Cap: On this one, go under a minute.
Me: Ok.

I get up on the block - and off I go. Less than a minute later I'm done. First hundred under a minute. The lesson I pull from this - sometimes it's in your head. Sometimes you just need to let go and let it happen.