A lot can be said for varying up the races you do but I love doing races that I enjoyed over and over. It allows you to see how you are improving year after year. I am also not a big one for racing weekend after weekend so it is nice to get out amongst other athletes to see how you compare.
It has been exactly a year since my first triathlon ever. I did the 11 Global up at Sun City last November and am looking forward to going back tomorrow. Looking at my splits from last year I am actually quite impressed with my first outing for a tri. I did a 30:35 swim, a 1:25:30 bike and a 1:01:54 run for a total time of 3:01:49. I remember it being quite hot too so all in all it was a good day out.
I am definitely not as nervous for tomorrow as I was this time last year. Having a few more Olympic distance triathlons, 3 half ironman distance tri’s and an ironman under my belt has definitely given me a bit more confidence. I was hoping a pb (a 2:45 odd) would be on the cards tomorrow but the weather conditions don’t seem to be playing ball. With Gauteng in the grip of another heat wave it looks like it is going to be a scorcher tomorrow. The splits I am hoping for tomorrow are as follows: a 26 minute swim, a 1:15 bike and then a sub 57 minute run.
I tend to be really conservative in the water and I want to see what I can do if I push it in the water. I’ve been working really hard in the pool to get my times down so I’m keen to hammer it in the water and see what happens. You only use your arms for the swim right? It’s what I like to call the “Go until you blow” race strategy. Let’s see it how it goes.