An Olympic Brick.

Yesterday I did two of the three events I’ll have to do July 24th. I rode my bike 23 miles, followed by a 10km run. All told it took me about two hours and forty-five minutes. And it was hard. It was about 81 degrees, and moderately humid. The bike ride was ok, although I stupidly took an excursion that had me going up a ridiculous hill at mile 10, in heavy traffic. But my X-wing is a good bike, and I was able to conquer all the hills and make it back home again.

The run, well, that was hard. I wore my hydration pack, and sucked down about a liter of water during the hour and eight minutes I was out there. It was just hot. And the triathlon is likely to be at least that hot, or hotter. I actually gave up at mile 5.8 (of 6.2) and walked for a hundred yards before deciding I had to finish the brick as I planned. I picked up the pace again and made it home a soggy mess.

I will not be breaking any records this race. My wave starts at 0830, and I have to be off the bike course by 1130. I have three hours to swim a mile and bike 23. Then, I’ll have until about 1pm to finish the run. I’m expecting the swim to take me about 50 minutes. The bike to take me about 90, and then the run? Well the run might take me 75. Add in ten or so minutes for transitions, and I think I’m looking about three and a half hours. Maybe four.

That’s slow. But I think I can hit the cutoff times. All the work I do, and the truth is I’m not in very good shape. I’m a poor athlete, untalented and getting old. I’m not surrendering to my own limitations though. I will never be great. I will never even be good. But running, I have gotten to the point where I am slightly better than average, on a good day. I doubt I’ll do enough triathlons to reach that mark. But I’ll finish.

Probably.