3 Months! What!

This weekend was a lot of good times with the crew although I could tell some people are really getting worn down from some hard indoor training sessions. Three of the four people who joined us for our Saturday ride were either sick or extremely tired, I cut the workout down to 90 minutes and said we're taking next week off. I need the rest as well, I still haven't shaken a stubborn flu that I contracted at the end of January.

Sunday I met Robert and Dennis at the pool for a brief swim/ run and those guys are some of the best triathletes in town but all three of us struggle to maintain some momentum in the pool. I admit I haven't had the best winter when it comes to swim training but those guys are even worse, Robert was saying this was his 4th swim since Ironman! I'm not too worried and I know we'll all be in good swim shape when the season starts but Dennis seemed a little surprised when I mentioned the first race this year starts in three months. I think just like most of us he was just waiting for the outdoor biking season to start and then he'll get into some serious swim training as well. The problem with living in Northern Alberta is if you wait until you can start riding outside you'll probably be waiting until mid-late April.

So the pressure is on me this year, Robert, Dennis and myself have started a tri racing team with Ernies (local sports store) and I want this to be my most successful season ever. I'm confident I can improve on the run and bike. I've been consistently biking very, very well and the computrainer was worth every penny. I set a new PR in December at the Vegas marathon so I know I can run faster too. I just need to get in a good three months of focused swim training and I'll have set myself up for another great year. The first race is the Hinton Triathlon on June 6th and I'm determined to do a sub-24:00 in the pool. I actually had a better swim in 2008 than last year but they've all been around that 24 minute mark. No flats this year and I'm going for the elusive 1:00.00 mark on the bike. It's a very, very tough ride (climbing for 20kms and descending for 20kms) so I'll do my best to get as close as possible to that 40km/hr average speed. Finally a sub-37:00 run will put me very close to the 2:00hr mark, something I never thought I could do. For now the focus needs to be on my swimming and I'm going to make it my mission to consistently get in the water and improve as much as possible. Sometimes it's difficult when I'm on the road but I'll find a way to make it work for me and show up ready to race hard again this year.