My second year of triathlons kicks off in less than a week with the Rumpus in the Bumpass International Triathlon which takes place in Bumpass, VA, and I find myself getting pretty excited. This will be the first time I have done this particular triathlon, and at last I will be able to see if all the hard training in the off season pays off. I’ve spent so much time in the pool these last 5 months that I feel like a fish (though sadly I still don’t swim like one), but I think I have made some significant improvements since last August when I swam in the Ironman Louisville. My best swim time in the international distance (1.5k) last year was 42:52 (I know pathetic right?), and I am hoping to do around 35-37 minutes at Rumpus (still not great, but good for me).Besides lots of training, I also have made a number of equipment upgrades since my last Tri. Most notably in the bike department. This past Christmas I finally made the financial plunge and added an actual tri bike to my arsenal as opposed to the Trek Modone 3.1 road bike I used all last year. My new bike is a Felt B10 with electronic gear shifters. I named it “Freedom” because everyone kept telling me I needed to come up with a name for my bike and you feel so free with the world speeding by while riding on it. My best bike time on the Trek for the international distance (24.85 miles) was 1:05:03 so I am hoping to break that time next week. I even broke down and got myself an actual aero helmet. I still think they look funny but figured what the hell, a fast bike needs a fast helmet right?
For the run, I haven’t made a lot of changes. My time for my last international distance (10k) was 44:29, but that was on a flat course. If I can do a comparable time at Rumpus, then I will be pretty happy. I have done quite a few running races in the off-season and feel I have gotten faster since last year, but I have slacked a bit on doing any kind of runs off the bike up to this point for my training, so I am afraid that might slow me down a little for this first race.
Last year, when I first started doing triathlons my goal was simply to finish. For this year, I want to be more competitive with my times, and (as I learned a few weeks ago at the Washington DC Rock N’ Roll Marathon where I ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:37 but finished with terrible 4hr time) pacing becomes a lot more challenging. Every instinct screams go full throttle and hammer this thing, only to find you don’t have enough gas to finish strong. I think I learned my lesson at the RnR, but it still is not easy when the adrenaline is flowing and people start running by you when that start gun first goes off.
I hope to have a Rumpus race report up here shortly after next Saturday, wish me luck and hope that everyone racing this year has a great season.
