Texas Monday Vol. 12 (missed 11): Race Week!

This post SHOULD be about how prepared I am for Sunday and how I’m ready to rock the race and how my goal is a PR and blah blah blah. But instead I’m gonna show you pictures my second trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival from this weekend…then I’ll get to the triathlon stuff.

Enjoy the visuals!

 
I thought the couples who dressed together were cute!

I loved how they sold pretzels, although I’m sure it was heavy!

Walking dread-locks!

I don’t think I’ll be messing with his lady!

This guy was great. He had a ‘free beer’ out and was calling ‘here redneck, redneck’!

This guy would sit still for 10 minutes until the kids would come up to him and then he’d scare the crap out of them…it was great and the parents were cool about it.

Anyway, it was fun to go back.

Ok, onward to the triathlon stuff.

Wow, I need to get some triathlon friends around where I live because when stuff goes down and drama hits the fan like the stunt that the WTC pulled, I have no one to talk to about it that can really understand. My friends are great and try to understand, but it would be nice to complain to someone…plus a training buddy would be awesome too.

So, to the elephant in the room. IronStar is on Sunday. Am I prepared? Probably not. Am I still racing? Well, yeah. I’ll be participating, but won’t be racing for anything in particular.

The plain at this point?

Swim like I usually do. Find a good rhythm and some room and settle in for the ride.

On the bike I’ll play it by ear. I’ll go conservative on the hills and hard on the flats and descents like Racine. I would like to use a little more gas than Racine though. My run is going to suck either way, so I might as well expend just a little more on the bike.

The run course is apparently fairly flat, shady and three loops which means I’ll see my family often, which will be AWESOME. Again I’ll play it by ear. I’ll run when I feel good and walk when I feel the need too. I will say this: I would like to see a better run than Racine. So I think my only goal at this point would be to have a pace faster than 13:00.

I’m approaching this race differently than I’ve approached other races. This is just going to be a good day. I’m going to have fun and as if I’m feeling miserable I’ll take a break (i.e. walking or biking slower) until I can get resituated. I’m a mental person so if I stay calm throughout the day, I’ll perform much better than if I was in tip-top shape but mentally unsound.

My mom is going to be there, a family friend is coming with her, some of my classmates might be stopping by so I’m just going to enjoy the swim, get through the bike and look forward to the run when I can see everyone!

But for now, I need to survive past Wednesday when I have a stupid paper due. I promise to be back later this week with more thoughts and thoughts about next season!

Peace Out!