Today I received my Beach2Battleship athlete event information booklet. The booklet details all of the important details surrounding the race. This particular race is a point to point race and will be different in some respects to all the other triathlons I have done. Instead of one transition area that we use two times (once for swim to bike, once for bike to swim), there are two geographically separate transition areas. Because of this format, there are extra gear bags that need to be checked in the day before the race. On Friday, I will drive up in the morning, attend the race briefing and check in the following gear bags along with my bike.
- Swim to Bike Gear Bag (this bag will contain all of my biking clothing, gear and nutrition)
- Special Needs Bike Bag (this will be a bag that will be waiting for me at the half way point of the bike leg. I plan to have extra nutrition in this bag as well as some extra lube)
- Bike to Run Bag (this bag will have my running shoes and running gear as well as nutrition that I want on the run)
- Special Needs Run Bag (likely I will simply have some more nutrition and more lube in this bag and maybe some biofreeze)
- Optional Post Event Bag. Since my number 1 fan will be there at the end to cheer me on, I will likely not use the Post Event Bag. Instead, I will ask Melissa to have a sweatshirt and maybe a banana for me.
My plan is then to go back to the hotel for a spot of overpriced seafood at the Hilton were we are staying and then try to relax and get a good night sleep. I will also probably try to hit the foam roller in the hotel room before bed.
I still have lots of planning to do but I have all my gear and nutrition purchased and ready to go. I have one more swim, bike, run weekend coming up tomorrow along with a massage with Hands On Wellness MT. Then I have a couple more swim workouts before I head to Wilmington on Friday. It is fair to say I am pretty psyched about this race.
As far as goals go, I have one major goal-to finish. Honestly, barring any major mechanical on the bike, I am pretty sure I can make all the cut-off times. If the current delivers as advertised, I am looking at about an hour for the swim. My bike time really depends on the wind but I am going to ballpark it around 6.5 to 7 hours. For the run, I really don't want to say but I guess I will. I have only done one 3 hour run in my training and lately I have been having some issues with my hip that have unfortunately flared up in the last week. That may slow me down and I may have to do some stretching at some points on the run course. My goal is a 4:30 marathon but it really depends on my hip and how windy the bike leg ends up being.
I am looking forward to this race. If you are interested in tracking my progress during the race, I will be posting a link to the live athlete tracking website where you can register to track me via email or text message updates. Usually these event trackers send out updates at various points in the race. For instance, when I finish the swim, an alert will be generated. As I go through the bike course there might be several alerts that track my progress. And then again during the run and of course at the finish. Wish me luck.
2 comments:
I am so excited for you Jim! I can't wait to hear about it.
We certainly do wish you the best! Sounds very exciting!!
There's a lot of prep and planning involved. Plus, I know, there's a certain amount of excitement just in anticipating the race. You've had lots of experience in dealing with pre-race anticipation, however. We're just praying that you stay healthy both before and during the race!
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