Sunday, September 24, 2006

Race Week

By this time next week I will have finished my biggest race of the season (until Worlds 10/29). Last week's training was solid and I am defintely feeling pretty good. This week is really mellow so I am really hoping that I feel ready to go for it next Sunday morning. The only that has me concerned is the race day weather. More on that later.

End of last week and the weekend:

Thursday:
PM: Club Aquathlon - 1000m swim/3 mile run - 3rd Place


As usual the race was fun and I found myself in a similar predicament. I was probably 8th out of the water and ran my way to third place. The only people I couldn't track down were Marc and Caue (a local pro). Watching them go head to head was awesome. They are both really strong swimmers and were shoulder to shoulder throughout the run and ended in a sprint finish. Caue just edged out Marc. Good food afterwards.

Friday:
Rest: - Massage

Saturday:
AM: Ride - 2:13/37 mile - Hilly Loop

Solid ride and pushed it quite a bit. My legs were feeling good and I was solid on all the climbs.

Sunday (today):
AM: Run - 71 min/9.85 mile - Negative split - 39 min out/32 min back

I felt really good on the second half of the run. I actually held back quite a bit and ran just over my 10k pace. I am ready to throw down a hard run at Natl's.

My schedule this week has a couple of swims, a run, some pre-riding and that's it. The Forecast for the weekend is highs in the mid 60's and lows down into the upper 30's. By looking at the hour by hour forecasts I am guessing it will be right 40 when the race goes off. The water temp right now is somewhere between 58-60. To say the least it's not going to be warm. I am still trying to figure what I am going to do to try and stay warm. I don't like the cold, especially when I am on the bike.

Here's a comment from the Xterra message board regarding weather for the upcoming weekend...

"
I measured the water temp this morning 9/24 at 9:30am and it was calm and 57 degrees.

It is 10:30am now and 49 degrees outside. Warm in the sun, cold in the shade.

It looks like it's going to warm up some this week, so we might see 70s during the week. Still lows in the 30s.

Bring something to keep your feet warm and dry while you set up transition, just in case there is frost on the Village Green. A beanie and gloves would be a good idea too. Otherwise, I agree with the previous post. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Bring layers."

2 comments:

Habeela said...

Maybe I'm the only one, but I prefer doing tris in cooler weather - you don't have to worry about overheating. Congrats on another awesome finish!

Anonymous said...

Habeela-

I think you are the only. James you know how I feel about cold, like under 60 degrees. Good luck and rest up, can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

-Guernsey