Sunday morning I’m doing the Kirkland Triathlon.
It’s another sprint, running the traditional distances this time:
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1/2 mile swim
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12 mile ride
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3 mile run
That’s about double what the swim was at Lake Sam, and a bit shorter on the ride.
My preparation is a little more than in the past. I’ve been swimming a couple of times a week, and have worked my way up to 1500 yards at a time. I’ve continued my approach to run training – I ran a couple of miles a few weeks ago, but I’m trying to rehab a toe injury that I got in indoor.
The swim course is in Lake Washington, which is likely to be 5-10 degrees colder than Lake Sam was.
I went out last Sunday morning and rode the bike course. The description says “moderate in difficulty with some hills”. That may sound relatively good – it’s only *moderate*. What you have to realize is that course descriptions are always written by the best people who participate in the event, rather than the average or beginning entrant. My polar says that the course has about 700′ of elevation gain in 12 miles. The group that I ride with typically does around 1200-1300′ of elevation in 20-some miles, a ride that we classify as “hilly”.
That’s fine with me – I found the lake Sam course to be pretty boring, and my advantage (relatively speaking) over other entrants is when the cycling part gets harder. The course is pretty cool. All the climbing happens in the first two-thirds, then there’s a long flat to slightly uphill section, and then a screaming 40 MPH descent back down to the finish.
The run is along the waterfront, and on pavement most (if not all) of the way. That’s good because my toe feels better on pavement than grass/dirt, bad because it’s harder on my knees.
Predictions:
I’ve been swimming consistent 1:06 50s in the pool for long distances. That puts me at 17:36. I’m going to go out on a limb:
Swim: 17:00
Given that it might rain and will be cold, I’m going to take the time to dry my back and put on a different shirt to get some protection. Probably.
T1: 2:30
Bike: I did it in about 48:00 when I rode it at a moderate pace. I think there’s a fair bit more to be had there, but we’ll see what kind of legs I have:
Bike: < 45:00
T2: 2:00
I’ll go 25 minutes if I run at the pace I did last time. Barring stomach issues (and assuming I don’t kill myself on the bike and my foot is okay), I’m going to say:
23:00
For a total time of:
1:29:30
So, what do you think ?