Signed up for a Tune-up Race.

I will be competing in the Philadelphia Triathlon, at the Olympic distance, in late June. It will be a preparation race for the Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City I’m racing in September. June will be warm and humid in Philadelphia, and I’ve competed in a lot of tough races there. I don’t know much about this race except that it’s been around for about 15 years and I’m excited to get in another longer triathlon before jumping up to the real endurance event of the half-Ironman.

One thing I like about the Philadelphia Triathlon is that it is a “full” Olympic. The New Jersey State Triathlon I raced last summer was short on the bike course by about 5 miles. the true Olympic distances are a 1500 meter swim, a 40 kilometer bike ride, and a 10 kilometer run. That works out to 51.5 kilometers (or about 32.0 miles), which is why Olympic-distance triathlons are sometimes called “5150”s. Funnily enough, that is also the number of a police involuntary psychiatric hold.

Considering I did the NJST in 3:03, and this bike course is a little bit longer (and a little bit hillier, I think), I expect this one to take me maybe a little bit longer. On the other hand, last summer it was also mid-heat wave, and the high was 96 degrees that day. There’s a good chance that this will be 10-15 degrees cooler, and perhaps not quite so humid. That might let me go a little faster. But if not, so what.

Realistically, this will take me a bit longer than three hours and that’s great. I’ll be happy with crossing the finish line uninjured. It’s time to rejoin the local swimming pool, and get my butt on the bike again. I’m still resting my running legs but I’m eager to get myself into fighting shape. The marathon was a month ago. I don’t want to fall out and soften up. Time to gather my girds and loin out. Or whatever.

So I have an ambitious schedule upcoming. A half marathon, a full marathon, an Olympic triathlon and a half-Ironman. Then, some fall races to be determined. And maybe something in mid-May….