My big race is almost here!!

It's hard to believe that it's less than a week til Danskin, the triathlon that started this whole crazy quest! I think I'm pretty prepared for the event and my experience at Wolf Creek really boosted my confidence. I've been sticking pretty close to my training plan the past 2 weeks (I mean not *exactly* but I've been following the spirit of it) and my swimming has really improved the past month. Really the only area I've been deficient is my biking which seems to be a constant refrain. I did put the clip on aero bars back on yesterday (I had taken them off because I decided I needed to become more confident in my bike handling before taking on the unsteadiness of aero position) and practiced in aero and felt pretty comfy with it. Today I'm going to pick up my cycling shoes and though it sounds crazy, I'm going to get pedals, practice this week and go clipless in the race. The worse thing that can happen is I fall trying to mount my bike, fall coming into T2 and bust my ass trying to walk in my cycling shoes. I have no problems making an ass of myself and in either of those situations the only thing likely to get hurt is my pride :)

I heard from Misa and I can't really tell how hard she has been specifically training for the race. I know that she got a new bike and has been taking swimming lessons, and in general she's one of those people who works out every day anyway ... but as far as bike/run bricks or following a training program - who knows? I was a little worried - not that she wouldn't finish or something - but that she wouldn't do as well as her fitness should allow due to unfamiliarly with the whole thing. It turns out she did do a triathlon, and it sounds like she did awesome!! Whatever she's been doing, it's obviously working for her .... looking at her splits it looks like we'll be finishing pretty close to each other which will be fun!!

In other news, I finished my first week of half-marathon training! I'm determined to follow this plan exactly which will mean 4 days of running a week and the all-important long run each week on the weekend. I'm just hoping that I'm able to make the jumps in mileage without getting too sore or hurting myself because I'm really looking forward to finishing the 13.1 upright!!!

In the spirit of the post before my last race, it's time to set my goals. Now that I've been training a few months, and had a few races, I think I'm honing my skills at knowing what I'm capable of.

Swim: This will be a half-mile (approx 800 m) swim and based on my pool times, assuming I'll push harder in a race plus adding the unknown of open water ...
Goal time = 22 minutes

Bike: This is a 12.4 mile course has some rolling hills and is an out and back but I will have the benefit of aerobars and new shoes and pedals for power.
Goal = Avg 16mph which leads to a time of 47 minutes

Run: The run is a flat 5K
Goal = 10 minute miles/31 minutes

Transitions= This is the wildcard because it's a big race with a big transition area so my times will be longer. We'll say 5 minutes or less for both T1 and T2.

Overall race = 105 minutes/ 1 hour 45 minutes

Let the challenge begin!!!