Tri for Joe Sprint Race Plan

Here I am, 2 days away from my first tri of the season. I’m excited to get things underway. However, this is a C race so I’ve been pushing hard all week in my training as well. We will see what comes and take it for what it’s worth. This being a sprint as well means it doesn’t really add much to the training I’m doing for the ½ Iron A races that will come later in the summer/fall. It’s merely for some fun…

That being said, I still like to have a plan in mind when heading into a race…so this is what I’ve pieced together:

Swim (700m): The swim at this race is a mess to say the least…it’s an open water style pool swim. You heard that right, open water pool swim…want to see the course, head over to www.triforjoe.com and take a look for yourself. It’s also only ~700m, but has to be 2 loops. I’m pretty sure I’ll be in an early wave, so hopefully I can create myself space in the first loop before running into the other waves that have started by the time I hit the second loop. To add to the fun…it’s shallow enough to walk ~50% of the swim, and people do. To top it all off…the pool is just being filled and will likely be around 55-60 degrees race morning. I’m laughing just writing all this out. Either way, I’m not going to fight to the front because I’m not the strongest swimmer, but I would like to be near the front of my wave if possible. I’m going to push the swim a bit harder than usual and try and break 10 minutes (last year I was 11:15 or so) and see where they sets me up.
Total goal time: 10:00

T1: I’ve only practiced getting out of my wetsuit 1x this year, but it’s a pretty simple process once you’ve got the form. Hopefully I can get in, out, and on my way in less than 1:30. The run to transition isn’t bad, so it’s doable. I think I was 1:50 last year.
Total goal time: 11:30

Bike (30k--supposedly): I’ve gotten faster on the bike, but I don’t want to go nuts here…however I’d like to hold my own and I won’t hesitate to push harder if I see some of my AG putting time into me. The bike course is a bit short…last year I averaged about 22mph and my CPU had the course at ~17.6 miles, so about a mile off. This year I’m hoping to be over 23mph…closer to 23.5 if possible, getting me home in 45 minutes. I’ll be using 1 bottle of diluted Infinit and a bottle of water on the bike and alternate every 7 minutes.
Total goal time: 56:30

T2: Quick and easy, hopefully under 45 seconds.
Total goal time: 57:15

Run (short 5k): I’ve gained some good speed here in the off-season, but more for mid-distance style racing. I don’t think my top end speed is incredibly improved. However, I’m going to push here and try to break 19:30…last year I was at 20:18 on a short 5k course, so 19:30 should only be about 6:30/mile. I feel like I should be able to do this if I’m feeling decent after the bike. If I’m feeling good, I think I can make a run at 6min pace.
Goal finish time: 1:16:30

Hopefully everything works out. This would give me just under 6 minutes of improvement on the same course in a year. I don’t normally go for placing goals, but I think this should put me safely in the top 25 OA, so I’m making a top 25 placing a goal as well.

As of right now, weather looks good…I’ve tested all my equipment I haven’t used in a while and am ready to go…race report to follow. Hopefully I’ll have pics too, the wife will be photographing and she’s normally pretty reliable for quality shots.

GL to anyone else racing this weekend.