My Current Ability.

Ok, I just started this blog today since I woke up WAY too early last night, but might as well complete the story to date. I've had a couple of months to buy a bike and start riding it outside. So far, I go about 20-22 km most of the time. Haven't done any long rides which I'll try to address in the next couple of weeks. My balance sucks, and I'm way too anxious on the bike to be mistaken for a 'real' triathlete but hopefully I'll get by. My typical speed on the bike has tended to range in the 19-23 km/h range, but I'm hoping that the combination of an empty road and switching my tires for thinner stock should help me complete the 20km in @52-55 minutes. Only 4-7 minutes behind what they can do, but my problem is that their time includes the transition (YIKES!). Oh, and did I mention that I can't drink & drive at the same time? So, I'll either have to stop & drink or get dehydrated.

Swimming started off even worse. I only breathe on my left. My right arm wasn't getting out of the water, and I was winded after 1 lap. Slowly improved to do the 750m in 27 min. In the last couple of weeks I found a new instructor (better late than never), and I'm overhauling my form. Still sloppy, and have lots of room to improve efficiency. Hopefully I'll be ready on race day. Just did a time trial of 360m in 11 minutes. That was still quite hard, but I'm hoping to complete in the low 20's.

Running is my saving grace. I've now completed 4 half marathons with my PB time of 2:08. Leon, the 5 minute man (is that per mile or how long he lasts in bed?) by comparison has a 5k PB in the Tri's of 38 minutes speedwalking. I should be able to gain 10 minutes on him here. Or at least have the satisfaction of making that sucker RUN!

Worse case scenario, I am confident that I'll beat Leon's old time of 1:56. More importantly, I'm confident that Leon will avoid a rematch next year when he'll know that I can take him down. I probably can't beat him yet, but I'll make it competitive, have a blast and make him look bad at the same time.

Go Blue!