The Triathlon Goal for 2011

My plan is to compete at Lake Havasu in March, Tempe Town Lakes in May, Keuka Lake in early June and then qualify for the Nationals at the Evergreen Lake Race on July 17, 2011. The Nationals will be sometime in August in Burlington, Vermont.

I'll need to make significant improvements in all areas to achieve the goal. It is attainable, but it is going to take a serious training commitment.
When I started this blog in July 2009, I set a goal to make it to the USAT National Age-Group Championship in 2011 and to finish in the top ten for my age-group, which in 2011 will be 60 to 64.

 I managed to qualify and compete in the Nationals in 2009 in the 55-59 year old age group, but I didn't finish the race, because of hamstring cramps. This year, I competed in three Olympic distance events and two 70.3 Ironman events.

In my July 2009 blog entry I projected that I would need a time of 2 hours 30 minutes to make it to 10^th place in the Nationals. Based on last year's results, I think that a time of 2 hours 34 minutes will be good enough. Here is how I did this year and my what I think it will take to qualify for the Nationals:

RACE

Distance

Date

Total Time

Swim

Time / 100

T1

Bike

MPH

T2

Run

Min/ Mile

Div Place

Lake Havasu

Olympic -Tri

3/20/10

2:51:47

0:28:48

1:45

2:10

1:23:51

17.9

1:50

0:55:07

8:49

3/6

Tempe Intern'l

Olympic -Tri

5/16/10

2:49:19

0:33:13

2:01

2:10

1:18:31

19.1

1:50

0:53:32

8:34

12/22

Keuka Lake Tri

Olympic -Tri

6/6/10

3:05:29

0:39:13

2:37

2:29

1:26:39

17.3

1:50

0:55:18

8:55

6/7

Musselman

70.3 Ironman

7/11/10

6:21:40

0:41:43

1:59

2:50

3:07:26

18.0

4:07

2:25:34

11:07

14/28

Steelhead

70.3 Ironman

7/31/10

6:09:29

0:39:21

2:03

4:42

2:59:26

18.7

4:14

2:21:46

10:50

27/44

Wisconsin

Half-Marathon

5/1/10

1:49:05

1:49:05

8:19

257/1948

Ricky Byrdsong

10K

0:48:48

0:48:48

7:52

4/22

GOAL

Burlington, VT

Nationals

August

2:34:00

0:29:00

1:46

2:00

1:13:00

20.6

2:00

0:48:00

7:53

10th

Without a Trace

My short story, "Without a Trace," is now published on the webzine, the Foundling Review.  This issue features stories by Elaine Chiew, Doug Campbell, Mel Bosworth, Ethel Rohan, Jason Jordan, Ajay Vishwanathan, Nathaniel Tower, Gay Degani and Jack Swenson.

Age Limits

Why do they ride for their money

Tell me why do they ride for short pay

They ain't a'gettin' nowhere 
And they're losin' their share
Boy, they must've gone crazy out there  

Son, they all must be crazy out there

          “Night Riders Lament” by Garth Brooks

“Why?” is a common question for endurance athletes. If we’re not asking it of ourselves someone else is asking us why we do what we do. I used to think that someday I might compete in a full Ironman, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I tell myself that it just takes too much training time, but the truth is I’m starting to think I’m too old for that distance.

There is no denying age in the triathlon world. One of the attractions of the sport is that you compete in your own age group. The only good thing about turning sixty next year is that I get to move up to the 60-64 year age group. I won’t have to compete against all those 55 year old kids.

In the past as I planned for an upcoming season of competition I usually predicted improvements in all events. That wasn’t totally unrealistic. I am relatively new to competitive swimming and my instructors don’t seem to have run out of suggestions for how to improve my stroke. This year my swim times improved significantly. Same thing with the bike. When I started doing sprint triathlons five years ago, my average time on the bike was around 17 mph and that was for twelve miles. This year at the Steelhead 70.3 Ironman I averaged nearly 19 mph for 56 miles. Better equipment has definitely helped and finally this year I actually got out on the road and trained with other competitors. It does make a difference.

Running is where I’ve broken down. Tight hamstrings, sore feet, tired legs. At Steelhead my run time was at an average pace of 10:50. That’s a good walking pace. My goal had been to run that segment at a nine minute pace (or better), but I didn’t come close in either race. I had cramping issues, but even when I overcame them my legs didn’t seem inclined to move very fast.

Denial has always been one of my better qualities. But it’s getting harder to invoke with all the nagging injuries and ailments. I’m not ready to give up, especially not when I get to be the young guy again next year, but there are some days when I ask myself why.

Maybe Garth is right.