Planning For St. Elizabeth Sprint Triathlon 2019

Last year I completed my first ever triathlon. It was the shortest of events known as a “sprint”. Since most people ask, it starts with an open water 500m swim, a 20 km bike ride, and ends with a 5k run. I barely finished in the allotted window, but I finished. It took a lot out of me and I had to cancel plans that evening to meet friends out of town. Instead, I spent the evening asleep as I crashed before 7:00 p.m.

This year I am hoping for better results. My goal is to knock out 30 minutes off of my total time, which means I need to finish under 2 hours, 24 minutes. I hope to pick that time up by trimming 5 minutes off of my terrible transition one time. I’ll make that up by finding a way to get to my bike quicker and changing out of my swim suit. Last year my changing area was right next to the bike takeoff point, and I couldn’t get a towel around me to change and just fumbled for way too long. Eventually I ran into the woods so I could get some privacy (nudity is grounds for disqualification).

My second big pickup is going to happen at the run. Since I didn’t train for the run at all last year, focusing solely on the swim, I think I can get 15 minutes back by having a better pace. I also think I can make up the last ten minutes on the bike. If all goes as planned, I’ll have made my goal.

Here is how I plan on making the above improvements

1. I’m coming into the training season having spent 60 days building a baseline fitness that will help train better
2. I’ve joined a gym on a month to month basis that I can get to at lunch time to train. They have a pool and spinning classes
3. I’ll run in the mornings and work my way up to full distance. Luckily I live in a great running neighborhood.
4. I’ll do a better job brick training so my legs aren’t so swollen before my run
5. I’ll improve my diet by eating food that aren’t inflammatory

I’ll check back in thirty days to see where I’m at with my progress.