Monday, August 29, 2011

Preparing for Des Moines

Stan and I are getting ready to leave Wednesday morning for Des Moines to particiapate in The 5150 National Championships. This is the first time this race has been held. But Des Moines has been hosting triathlons for several years and is very proud to be the host city. The 5150 name comes from the total distance of the race.... 1.5 K swim, 40 K bike and 10K run= 5150.

I haven't trained real hard for this race. It is sort of a "B" race for me as my "A" Race is the Florida Ironman on Nov. 5. So this is like a test to see where my training is at this point. When we get back, IM training will kick into full swing.

I think this is going to be fun. An Olympic distance triathlon is short enough that it had ought to not 'kill me off' but challenging enough to push me. No wetsuit swim at this race. The lake water is 82°. I'll not be wearing my arm coolers either because they take too long to put on. I haven't decided whether to wear my Vibrams or my K- Swiss shoes for the run yet. I can certainly run 6.2 miles in my Vibrams ( I call them my toe shoes). I will take both and check out the run course after we get there. I run faster, easier and better and it's more fun in my Vibrams but if I'm running on concrete it might be too hard of a surface. I don't want to get another stress fracture!

We will toe the line Sun, Sept 4 for the 5150. My wave states at 7:15 AM and I'll be done before noon, at least I'd better be! :)

I haven't done an Olympic Distance race in so many years I have forgotten the last time I did one. We actually qualified at the New Orleans 5150 last April but it turned out to be a Run/Bike/ Run race because the water in lake Pontchatrain was too rough for swimming. This should be an interesting experience. I am so used to distance triathlon, I'll have to approach this one differently. I might actually have to go fast!

I'm not familiar with the terrain in Des Moines so we'll check it out as soon as we get there. I'm hoping the bike course is not as hilly as it looks on the graph. We always arrive a couple days early to get settled in and get all the preliminary stuff done.

We have a lot of stuff to do the last day before we leave. We contact the Police and neighbors to keep an eye on our house. The Police do a wonderful job, checking the premises several times a day. Newspaper has to be stopped as well as the mail. Also watering the yard and plants thoroughly to keep them alive for a few days.

Two triathletes traveling to a Triathlon is like moving. There is so much that has to be done. And of course we still have a full day of training to do on the last day. Since we are driving, bikes have to be loaded into the truck and all tri gear packed. Thank goodness this isn't a long trip and we don't have to take a lot of clothes.

One less burdensome article... I've got my new Kindle so I don't have to lug a big book along too. I'll just stick the Kindle in my purse. I never go anywhere with out my book/s
This is just a rambling blog so I'll head off to bed now so I can get everything done tomorrow. First thing is an early morning run before it gets 100°.
'llI write again after the race an sum up how it went.

1 comment:

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