Mighty Hamptons – Pre-race
Tomorrow morning, actually about 12 hours from now, Elizabeth and I will race the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon. It’s an Olympic-distance race that we both did last year as well. It was a really great race last year – well-organized, beautiful location on the beach in Sag Harbor, a really nice (and mostly flat) course, and fantastic weather. We’re supposed to have a nice day tomorrow and the rest of the factors that made last years race so much fun should all be the same. So, I’m definitely looking forward to racing tomorrow morning.
But, I have to admit that I’m not as psyched about racing as I normally am. Part of that is because I still feel like I’m transitioning back into “training” since the Ironman and the rest is because I’ve definitely been looking past this race in favor of the JFK 50.
I haven’t been training for these relatively short distances since this time last year. I’m not worried at all about doing the distances, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing the race as fast as I could if I were concentrating on shorter distances and speed. I haven’t tested myself recently to see if I have the “zip” to ride or run fast, but I imagine that if I try to find it tomorrow, my legs might not be too happy! Part of my issue with tomorrow is that this is the only race this season that I also did last year. It would be a nice way to compare year-to-year skills and fitness, but the difference in situation, season and training makes that comparison a little tough. Last year I raced 2:25. My plan is to take it a little easy on the swim, try to push it hard on the bike and then survive the run as quickly as I can.
Speaking of the JFK 50, my training for that race continues to go well. I have been feeling really comfortable with my short runs and strong on my long ones. I’ve run about 29.5 miles so far this week. The main run was Thursday morning, when I got up and went out for 2:45 (about 20 miles). I ran up to the Park and then just cruised around inside it, trying to stay off the pavement as much as possible. I did a loop of the Reservoir and spent most of the rest of the run on the Bridle Path. The run went really well – I felt comfortable and ran easy, averaging about an 8 minute per mile pace. The best news though was that I didn’t suffer for doing it – my foot is still not 100%, but running hasn’t made it any worse recently. (Admittedly not an ideal situation, but I’ll take it for now!)
p.s. Trust me, there are no pictures
Run – September 13
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 2:45
Average heart rate: 145
Course: To Central Park, Bridle Path, Reservoir, back
Conditions: Awesome – partly sunny, low 60’s, light wind
Brick – September 15
Bike
Distance: 12.6 miles
Time: 36 minutes
Average heart rate: 127
Course: Wainscott, Route 114
Conditions: Chilly (low 60’s), rainy, not fun!
Transition: 2:04
Run
Distance: 3.3 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 145
Course: Wainscott, 27
Conditions: Cool, but at least rain stopped