New Goal!

Remember how I said that the next big thing for me wouldn't be until October?  Well, it was only two days after my half marathon, I was feeling all recovered and thinking that October was really far away!  I wanted something to motivate me to keep up my training.  That's when I noticed a posting on Facebook about the Saratoga Springs Triathlon.

I remembered Erik talking about doing it next year.  Then I noticed the date it is held....

AUGUST 20th!  That is two months away and I thought, 'Hey!  I could be ready in two months, right?'

So I registered!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!

I have planned out a workout schedule that gives me 2 workouts in each discipline each week.

Monday - Weights and Run
Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - Bike
Thursday - Swim
Friday - Weights and Run
Saturday - Bike

That will take me through the end of July.  In August, I'll need to start putting them together in blocks of workouts (like Swim/Bike or Bike/Run) so that I am prepared for the transitions.

You can see from the race logo what the distances are for each segment of the race, but I'll list them here for you in case you don't feel like scrolling.

Swim (Open water in Utah Lake!!!) 600 m.  Right now I have a lot of work cut out for me to build up to that distance non stop.  I am doing 6X100m right now.  Next week I am moving to 4X150m and I'll keep going until I can finally do the entire 600m non stop by the end of July.  At least I have a background in swimming to build on (I was on my high school swim team), so form is not an issue, although open water swimming is bound to slow me down severely!

Bike 12 mi.  I don't have a street bike.  My bike is a mountain bike, which means the tires are FAT and grippy... not ideal for this kind of race.  I haven't decided if I'm going to just tough it out and race on the fat tires, or if I'll rent a bike for the race from a local bike shop (Bill is hooked up in the bike world and will help me take care of it, if I ask).

Run 3.1 mi.  Essentially a 5K.  This is the part that I am most confident about, since I have now finished two half marathons.  Still, I am going to focus on improving time and strength, so that means alternating speed workouts (5K distance, pushing the speeds) and medium workouts (10K at marathon pace).

It is official, by the way.  I am registered and paid.  So now I have lots of motivation to get my workouts in every day!  I AM VERY HAPPY!!!