REV3 - Guess your finishing time and win a bike rack!

If you are signed up for REV3 Cedar Point you likely got an email along these lines this week.

"REV3 Athletes, Yakima is proud and excited to be the official bike rack of the 2011 Revolution3 Triathlon Series.  To show our love for you folks racing in Cedar Point we propose a little "name your time" competition.  The 3 winners will receive a free bike rack."

Now, part of me really hates the idea of holding my goal out there for all to see.  Yet, for some reason I just can't pass up the idea of winning something.  So of course I went over to the Yakima page, liked it and had to put down a time.

The time was sort of hard for me to come up with as of course I want something realistic, something attainable but yet I want to challenge myself to do what I am capable of. 

While I like the idea of giving myself some cushion so I can say I met my goal. Who does that really?  Do I say my goal is 11:15 when in fact it is to break 11 hours.  That seems like I am just setting myself up for not achieving what I really want.  Then there is also the fact that I don't like the idea of holding it out there if it is not realistic because saying you are capable of X doesn't mean much unless you actually do it.  I wanted to be honest as to what my goal actually was.  So my Yakima time is listed as 10:59:00 as breaking 11 hours is what I am going for.

So here is how I am laying it out in my head.

2010 REV3 Total Time:  11:38:16 - Last year was my first 140.6.  My goal obviously was to finish and my A goal was to break 12 hours and I was happy to do so with a nice cushion!  Yet, topping this goal for 2011 is no easy task because 2010 was a pretty solid performance for me in my opinion.  This year is so much harder because now I feel like I have the benchmark to beat!

2010 Swim:  1:27:13 - Had major panic attack.  Went from one side of field to other where there was a kayaker to tread water and convince myself to keep going.  Started breast stroking and finally got going.  Not a strong swim.  Although my swim is still weak and my shoulder, I think if I put together a relaxed swim based on my 1.8 mile swim, I should be able to swim a 1:20.  I think my secret weapon, the new TYR Hurricane wetsuit will seal the deal...seriously, I just feel like this wetsuit makes me faster!  LOVE IT!

2011 Swim Goal: 1:20

2010 T1:  3:14.  Not too shabby.  If I could do that again, I would take it.  But this year we will even have wetsuit strippers!!!  For planning I will say 2011 T1: 5:00 (hopefully a little cushion)

2010 Bike:  5:47:02 (112miles, 19.36 mph)

Last year I think I did a nice job pacing on the bike.  Splits were 20.5mi at 19.5, 37.3mi at 19.78, 54.2mi at 19.03.  Last year I tried to ride a relatively conservative pace.  I had heard of too many people who blow their run on the bike so I tried to think about that as I watched my HR on the bike.  I am hoping to ride a little more aggressively, but pay attention to HR and RPE and hopefully I can stay closer to 20.0 mph/

2011 Bike Goal:  5:35:00 (20.0 avg mph)

2010 T2: 5:42-  I got off the bike and my hamstrings were soo tight.  I was hobbling badly and not sure how I was going to run.  I had had to pee for a long time on the bike and hit the POP in transition before heading out to run.  Hopefully T2 can be around 5:00 this year and my legs don't feel so wonky when I get off the bike!

2010 Run:  4:15:03 (26.2 mi at 9:44 pace)

In 2010, it took a bit to get going and then I had a pretty steady pace.  I stopped at mile 2.5 to take care of business.  Then I had some issues in the middle of it with my asthma, but I hit my inhaler, took pain reliever and just focused on the task at hand.  I think I was running at a pace that I knew I would have no trouble continuing running.  I wanted to make sure I would not blow up and have to walk.  I was tired but not really pushing by any means.  I think there is a lot of room for improvement here.  My running has been going well and my running legs feel stronger this year.  

2011 Goal:  3:50:00 at 8:46 pace

So the goals are-

Swim: 1:20

T1:      :05

Bike:  5:35

T2:      :05

Run:   3:50

That adds up to 10:55, giving me 5 minutes to play with and still get me in under that 11 hr A Goal.

So there it is.  That is what my goal is.  Now I just need to hope I can put it together.  Last year we were treated to pretty favorable weather conditions, which can be such a factor, so hopefully we luck out again!  

Overall, I just want to finish with a smile and not hurt myself.  Beating last years 11:38 time would be great, beating 11 hours would be totally sweet and a 10:59:00 would get me that bike rack!  :-)