Tri-sport Week



Driveway Home Stretch
 We Go to the Right of the Teardrop for the Finish Line

This is the week when I put it all together. Even though the event is two and a half weeks away, I've got to plan my training around some significant interruptions. Members of Joe's family are coming to visit this coming weekend to celebrate his birthday and we are going to a conference for 4 days the following week. During those times I plan to do 30 - 40 minutes a day of a least one sport but there won't be enough time to do all three or a lake to swim in at the conference. When I put together my training plan I knew to schedule around these 7 days of interruption.

Lawn Transition Setup for Me and Joe

This past Monday I did the three sports in sequence for the very first time. Big day! I officially became a triathlete. I was smart enough to do only a short distance of each one and it went very well. My transitions are down to 5 minutes swim to  bike and 1 minute bike to walk which is acceptable to me.

Fortunately, Joe was doing the whole triathlon in his morning workout. That gave me the opportunity to see how it goes when others are on the same routes. Even though I didn't see him a lot, his presence triggered thoughts about where I would be likely to encounter others when we have more participants. 

Joe Starting the Swim on the New Route

As I discussed before, during the swim I expect to be the slowest so will have to watch for others in the first half but not much after that. There will be boats (canoe and paddleboat) to go around so I will need to be watching more. During the breast stroke that's easy but when I back stroke it's a challenge. Update on the swim: Joe has decided to change the route and have us swim to the east of our dock rather than west. The weeds to the west are really nasty and getting increasingly worse, so the new route is better. It does make it harder to judge distances without the three docks for reference.

Last Hill Coming back up the Driveway
Tough on the Bike due to Gravel

During my bike segment, I don't expect much traffic early on although some speedsters could be coming back up the driveway when I am just leaving. Once on 33rd Street, I'll be the only one going my direction except maybe for my sister. (New development: in addition to being a triathlete, I will also be the relay team swimmer for my sister who plans to do the bike and walk but not the swim.) The final part of my bike segment could be quite congested as the runners/walkers will be on the same side of 33rd as I am going the opposite direction.

Yesterday I did longer segments of each sport and had a rough time. It was in the upper 90s and windy. The wind set up quite a bit of chop on the lake which made the swim tougher. The wind also made the biking harder in some sections. By the time I did the walk it was really hot and the walk took me about twice as long as I have done it in other workouts. I did take my water bottle with me which helped but in the heat I really struggled to keep going.

Joe Passing Me on the Run/Walk Segment



My plan is to work my way up to the full triathlon distances by the end of this week. The temperatures are predicted to be in the 80s which will help a lot. Today is an extra rest day for me as we have a Byrne siblings meeting all day. I think that's a good thing after my fatigue of yesterday. Also, my knee is hurting so it could use a rest.