Why do I do this to myself? (1st Olympic Dist TRI)

Last summer, I did my first triathlon... a mostly sprint distance up at the Boulder Reservoir (click here to read all about it). I forget the name... it was for a charity thing. Anyway, I promised myself that I'd do an Olympic distance triathlon THIS summer. (1500 meter swim, 40K bike, 10K run)

It seemed like a worthy goal... something to shoot for... double the distance.

Well, it's "this summer".

I tried to find the latest one in the season that was still being held in Colorado... because even though I've been training pretty consistently since this winter, my running distances have been WAY less than a 10K. Mostly because of 1) an ankle injury and 2) a 3 or 4 week period where I just stopped giving a shit. I almost totally fell off the training wagon.

Imagine my terror and deep disappointment this week, when I realized that the last Olympic distance TRI of the summer is August 16th -- the Rattlesnake Triathlon. That's like 4 weeks from today.

So... I have 36 days to try and prepare myself for what will most certainly be a suffer-fest for Johnny Boy.

I suppose I could just curl up into a fetal position, in a closet, and star in my own weepy, pathetic meltdown movie scene... But instead, I'm gonna use THIS BLOG ENTRY to get my anxiety under control. And I'm dragging you with me, Dear Reader.

Let's break this thing down, sport by sport:

THE SWIM
Distance: 1500 meters
Mitigating Conditions:
A big ass reservoir -- i.e. deep open water. Oh, and I'll be surrounded by a hungry pack of amped up, semi-professional, amphibious, highly competitive, cardio-honed, hardened triathletes -- the real kind. Imagine that aerial photo: me, semi-drowning but trying to act cool about it, in a churning, foaming, triathlete blender.

My Strategy:
That's a cat's whisker less than a mile. (actually, about 100 meters less, but I wanted to say "cat's whisker"). Yes, I can swim 1500 meters. Not fast... or anything even remotely resembling fast. But I can do it... It's at the top of my swimming ability though... and I'll be doing a lot of breast stroke (as opposed to the more exhausting freestyle)... I use it as basically a rest stroke in the middle of long swims. Faith. I'll have faith in all the swimming I've been doing this summer. And I'll probably let the gun go off and get in the water last... let the fish-men and fish-women fight it out. I just have to stay relaxed and calm. Freaking out and hyperventilating in 50 feet of water is something I'd like to avoid.

THE BIKE
Distance: 40K or 24.8 miles
Mitigating Conditions:
Other than a strong head wind, a flat tire, a gnarly wreck or mega-hilly terrain, I don't think I'll run into any awfulness on the bike.

My Strategy:
This should be okay -- another bike workout I've been doing long rides once a week for weeks and weeks now. Again, I won't be fast, compared to everyone else (are you sensing a personal trend here? I'm SLOW), but this will be the easiest part of the race for me. I just need to get in the zone, knock it out and mentally prepare myself for the run that will be waiting for me, 24.8 miles down the road...

THE RUN
Distance: 10K or 6.2 miles
Mitigating Conditions:
As the third part of the race, it'll be late morning (for me) by the time I get to the run. I'm anticipating the following: 1) it's gonna be FUCKING HOT; 2) my legs will be feeling pretty darn tired; 3) I'll be feeling a little like a loser after spending the last 2+ hours being passed by everyone else in the race -- i.e. low motivation.

My Strategy:
Hmmm... The truth is, the moment I climb out of the water, having successfully avoided a drowning incident in the reservoir, I'll know the rest of the race will be about getting to the run and just gutting it out. I think it will mostly be about me controlling my mind... or... countering my suffering thoughts with strength thoughts. I normally take an hour to do a 10K (told ya I was slow) -- that's when I'm fresh. So I'm preparing myself to be running (walking?) for as long as an hour and a half after being all tuckered out from the swim and the bike. So here are the thoughts I'm pretty certain that I'm going to have during the run:

SUFFER BRAIN: "It's hot"
STRONG BRAIN RESPONSE: It's really not that bad, and besides this is temporary. Stay strong. You'll feel proud and really good when you cross the finish line, strong. Gut it out.

SUFFER BRAIN: "My legs have no energy. My form is shit. I feel clunky and slow."
STRONG BRAIN RESPONSE: It's really not that bad, and besides this is temporary. Stay strong. You'll feel proud and really good when you cross the finish line, strong. Focus on a smooth form and breathe through it... get into a rhythm.

SUFFER BRAIN: "I want to walk."
STRONG BRAIN RESPONSE: No you don't. Quitting feels WAY WORSE than suffering. Think of one of the 5 new songs you just wrote. How would they sound on the new record? Arrangement? Instruments? How should we record each song?

SUFFER BRAIN: "Wow. That 85 year old woman just passed me. I'm a loser. Why did I do this race? I shouldn't be here."
STRONG BRAIN RESPONSE: Bullshit. BEING HERE is what it's about. You're doing great. It's about HOW you do the race, not where you finish. Besides, if you REALLY want to, you can find that old woman after the race and punch her in the spleen. KIDDING!


Hmmm...

I think that helped.

Okay. I gotta go work out now...