All together now! Sing at the top of your lungs:
We're having a heat wave,
A tropical heat wave,
The temperature's rising,
It isn't surprising,
It's LifeTime Triathlon time!
Last year, the triathlon was held on the hottest day of the summer and this year looks to be the same. Predicted high for Saturday is a whopping 98 degrees.
Last year, when I did the 'measly' sprint distance, my heat was second to last to start. The air temp was in the high 80's when I started the swim; the water temp was 86 degrees. By the time I got to the run portion, it was in the mid-90's.
This year, I'm doing the Olympic distance. I thought I was SO smart to sign up as an Athena, which is a category for us "husky" gals. (Meaning weighing more then 145 lbs). The Athena wave will start the 0.9 swim early in the event -- right after the Pros and Elites.
Well, Ms. Smarty-Pants (aka 'me') forgot that all the age groupers will start the swim after me. So, Ms. SLOW Smarty-Pants (aka 'me' again) will have all those skinny speedsters swimming over me. Should be very interesting.
I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in this whole thing, but I am having some anxiety about the event. Most of my concern is about being able to finish the swim confidently. I've covered the distance (my last long swim last week was 2000 yards), but have done the majority of my swimming in the pool or with the extra mental and physical support of a wet suit.
It will be HOT, but I can handle that relatively well. I'm pretty sure I am not going to wear my tri suit. It is a one-piece and, once sweaty, it will be very difficult to get on and off if I need to use the portapotty mid-race. I've got plenty of PowerAde, gels and other nourishment to fuel me on the course, so that should be okay. It is just the swim that looms heavily.
Fortunately, I've got some new responsibilities at work, which is keeping me very busy during the day and that helps keep the anxiety somewhat at bay...
The goal is to keep breathing, keep relaxed and keep cool (ha ha).
3 comments:
You're my hero, doing an Oly! You simply rock! And I'm sure you will keep breathing -- of that we can all be certain! :)
I can't wait to read the race report (remember, you can never include too much detail in an RR!) I need to go back through your blog -- have you done Olys before?
Good luck and ENJOY YOURSELF!
Hi:
Nope, no other Oly's prior to this one. Gulp! (Gulp is out of fear, not gulping lake water -- I hope!)
Wow, so this is your first! Double exiciting! I can't wait to hear how it goes, I'm sure you're going to really enjoy yourself!
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