Complete an Olympic Distance Triathlon in 2006

This event hit a lot of firsts for me: first Olympic triathlon, first time to Ocean Shores, first time being the only person without a wet suit (wimps), first time getting eaten alive by mosquitos before the race, and first time getting to the race early (which actually caused the mosquito thing…guess I won’t do that anymore).

Mostly I am surprised that I liked it so much, I am planning on doing another one in August. My times weren’t terrible, but I could of course use some improvement. And, hey, I wasn’t last, which I secretly feared I would be.

The worst part about it all was that afterwards I went to the beach, and they had OMG PONY RIDES ON THE BEACH!!! But I was way, way too sore to be up for that. Next time, ponies, next time…

I sat down this week to do an honest assessment of how close I am to being ready for this, since the last time I did that was two months ago. I think I am pretty close to where I want to be.

To kick it up a notch for the final almost two months, I made a detailed schedule of workouts and things I need to complete from now until then, which has allowances for a few days when I will be out of town. This helps me make sure I have enough long runs, enough bricks, enough challenging terrain practice, as well as specific weeks to focus on each of the three pieces.

It is a little bit ideal and maybe doesn’t include the right amount of rest, but I am being optimistic here. So with my super busy job and everything else going on, I am hoping to actually hit about 75% of the workouts and routines I have on here. Many of the days have an aerobics component in the morning and then an afternoon endurance, speed or weight session, but it’s not always possible to get away in the afternoon, so I think 75% is a reasonable number to target.

In the end, I went with Ocean Shores, both for the extra time and for the cool location – I didn’t realize it was out on the Olympic Peninsula. Should make for a cool weekend; I haven’t been out there in a while. It’s exactly two months from today – I’m excited!

Weekend vacation plans ruled out the Blue Lake, so it looks like I’m signing up for the Cascades Edge on 6/18. However, I’m a little worried since I haven’t done a long run in a month. I am going to schedule one for this week & see how it goes.

Cascades Edge is still almost two months away, but if the run goes poorly, I will shoot for the Ocean Shores Olympic on 7/7.

I’m ready for this race after two months of hard and consistent training. Which is kind of silly because the race isn’t for 3 1/2 more months. I think I overdid it. The end result of that is that I feel like a tank: not good. I spent some time this week trying to figure out what I did wrong, and I narrowed it down to two likely culprits – too much anaerobic activity (basically all of my training has been at a very high heart rate) & too little sleep (not giving myself enough time to rest & heal).

So for the next month I’m going to take it down a notch & focus on still doing resistance training but less hardcore cardio & more low-key aerobic activity.

Fun! I did one each day this weekend. Turns out I haven’t bicycled in a while… Unfortunately I think I have been running too much & bruised one of my feet, so instead of running this week, I’ll be doing the elliptical, which sucks. I was advised that I might simply need new running shoes, too – that would be much better. I’ll see how my feet are next weekend.

I have narrowed down the races for my first Olympic Triathlon – it is between the Blue Lake Olympic in Troutdale, Oregon (close to Portland) or the Cascades Edge in Enumclaw. They are both in mid June. I was hoping for earlier, but I also don’t want to have to buy a wetsuit.

I am running almost daily and starting bricks next weekend. Need to get the swim into my schedule, though. Hopefully the weather will improve soon so I can do some biking outdoors…I’m too wimpy for this weather.

It’s hard enough to get back into running after a couple of weeks off. But combining that with getting up earlier & taking the bus to work, it is a toxic prescription. I think it will just take a few weeks before I’m into the routine.

6/11 – Sandman Triathlon in Moses Lake, WA
6/25 – Pacific Crest in Sunriver, OR
7/24 – Whisky Dick in Ellensburg
8/5 – Satsop Tri in Elma, WA
8/13 – Tri Without Borders, Blaine to B.C.

I am also looking at a few Sprint ones:
6/3 – Issaquah
7/16 – Seafair
8/26 – Lake Sammamish
9/10 – Escape from the Rock, Mercer Island
9/17 – Kirkland

And some other events:
2/26 – Chilly Hilly on Bainbridge
3/13 – St. Patrick’s Day Dash
4/16 – Whidbey Island 1/2 Marathon
5/1 – Vancouver 1/2 Marathon
5/15 – Great Kilted Run (You have to wear a kilt?!)

Next I need to review these & pick a few to register for. The Kilt thing sounds awesome.

I have spent four summers in Seattle doing different sprint triathlons, but I always bail on my Olympic triathlon plans because I’d rather go on vacation, I’m lazy, I preferred drinking with my friends, whatever. This year, I am going to register early as soon as I find the one I want to do. I will also register for a couple of sprint distance races as well, just to keep myself in check…