Thoughts for Saturday

After I did this race last year, I wrote a ridiculously long post!

The numbers I gave there were approximations. I have looked at the official results and can give more precise details. NB the swim was definitely long (I was additionally slowed down by wheeziness, but the course itself was long and there's a pretty long run from the beach to transition); the bike was a non-standard distance, 63 miles; and I think the run course was actually a bit short.

I was 99/103 - my total time was 8:25. It was a pre-season race for me last year; my fitness is probably better right now, certainly my bike fitness, but on the other hand I weigh fifteen pounds more (last year was a bad year for me!), so the two probably cancel each other out in terms of times. The bike course has the same total elevation over the half-iron distance as my IMCDA course has over the whole 112 miles, so it is a very good training race, and I shouldn't worry if my time is very slow - all I can do is see what the day brings me!

Last year's times (but course is different this year, so direct comparisons will have to be on pace and will still be approximate):

Swim: 58:22 (pace: 2:46; place: 96)
T1: 5:10 (place: 87)
Bike (63 miles): 4:41:38 (pace: 13.4; place: 100)
T2: 3:46 (place: 85)
Run: 2:36:09 (pace: 11:55; place: 98)

Total time: 8:25:05

So: goals. Beat last year's swim and bike paces, match last year's run pace, try out all systems and equipment and see what might need tweaking for IMCDA.