Saturday, June 03, 2006

Iron Eagle Triathlon

Tomorrow is my first Tri of the season. It seems odd that it is only my second triathlon ever. My free time is pretty much dominated by triathlon. Triathlon training, reading, research, message boards, blogs... I feel like a veteran of the sport.

The Iron Eagle Triathlon sounds mighty enough, but is actually the finale of a P.E. class at Eastern Washington University. I guess it would be Triathlon 101? While the tri is open to faculty and members of the public, it will probably only have about 60 people in it. I figured that since it takes place on the road in front of my property, it's a "must do" and a good way to kick off the season.

I've got my bike all ready, and all my gear laid out on a towel, just like it will be in my transition area. I'll pack it all in my gear bag tomorrow morning.

I practiced my bike mounts and dismounts a few times, just to remember how my old bike shoes felt. I've decided not to use my Nike road bike shoes for a few reasons. The Nikes are much nicer shoes, but my old cheap shoes, which are a combo road/mountain bike shoe, are much easier to get in and out of. Second, my old shoes have a rubber sole with the cleat recessed into it, which makes running much easier. Third, the rubber sole allows me to unclip but maintain my grip on the pedal and do moving mounts and dismounts by swinging my leg over the saddle. This cool move will more than make up for wearing old geeky shoes.

Being a Virgo, I tend to over think things. I need lists... lots of them. I go through the list, then double check the list, then save the list... just in case I need to go through it again.

I like to practice everything. Like I said, I've got my gear laid out in the living room just as it will be in the transition area tomorrow. I've practiced rolling my socks on, practiced putting on my bike shoes, and finally chose to wear a jersey since I learned that by laying it kind of rolled up like my socks, with the arm holes visible, I can just quickly dive into it. We'll see how that works on a wet body.

Tonight, when I climb into bed, I'll visualize the while race, start to finish. And with that, my preparation and any anxiety will be over.

Tomorrow is all about keeping my nerves under control and being CALM... at least until the gun goes off, then it's time to race, Baby!

1 Comments:

Blogger JC said...

barb, your blogger site is acting up as much as mine is. how did it go yesterday? i am anxiously awaiting the results.

1:10 PM  

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