Permit me a freakout moment for a little post ...
So, if Kate, who is a strong swimmer and whose half marathon PB is around 20 minutes faster than mine, takes about the time I was thinking I might take to do a half IM, then what am I thinking?
Let's not even mention the fact that I can't SWIM A LENGTH yet. Oh, and then there's the whole aero bar thing. I can't even imagine putting aeros on Cleo, and there's no way I can afford to buy a a tri bike. And a hot, hilly half marathon at the end of all that? What am I doing? Once again ... what am I thinking????
I guess I'm going to be a little selfish and say right now that I'm happy the Buckeye group seem to be planning to return in 2009, because I am going to need all the support I can get.
Seeing that freaking out isn't very helpful, what else can I do to work through this? Well, for a start, I can take advantage of being on holiday for most of January and spend as much of it as possible in the pool or swimming at Oriental Bay. Running the Rotorua marathon will be a huge confidence builder, and with Dave's programme I'll run another two half marathons after that. I just want to finish the marathon, but I want to sub-two hour a half marathon this year as well. I'm only three minutes off that. Perhaps I should aim for a 1.50!
On top of that, I have a huge amount of space for improvement on the bike. I have the Yarrows Round the Mountain, the Grape Ride, the Taupo challenge and any number of lead-up races in the Wairarapa to improve my speed. From what I've read, if I CAN go aero I'll get a big improvement in power. I'm anxious about the refit that would go along with adjusting to an aero position, but I know Shane at Pennys will be able to help with that.
It would help if I didn't have such a strong sense of pride. I know I'm never going to win anything, but psychologically I've always felt a real need to be mid-pack. The way I'm going I'm facing being closer to the tail-end Charlies. There really is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT, and my ego is a terrible demon that I need to squash beneath my Adidas-shod heels.
So, if I can sort out the psychological cr#p, the only thing I need to worry about is not getting injured.
If only I hadn't just spent the equivalent of a new pair of running shoes on a new cell phone!
Help me, Buckeye veterans. Help!
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11 comments:
You're closer than me to a Sub2 hour half marathon!!!! I got 6mins to get off....
You will be FINE. Plenty of time to get sorted and worry about the details. Set yourself up on Buckeye and request to join the team - we'll keep you on the straight and narrow (and give you a good laugh along the way). It really is motivating and encouraging to read about other peoples training.
Just remember, not every session, or every race for that matter, can be a good one - you gotta take the good with the bad - it's part of "the journey" (yeah yeah, I know, corny crap, but IT'S TRUE!!!)
YEEHAAAAAA
Hi Kathy - I'm on Buckey as Pip DG. I added Kate as a friend if that helps. Gah - I'm just stressing myself out about nothing and I do enjoy hearing all about everyone's adventures. We are all only competing against ourselves when it comes down to it.
Perhaps I just like to whinge every now and then!
Oh, come on. Apply some of that project management skill you have.
It's a new project. No-one on the team has done it before, so they have no point of reference. Some of them have done similar things before, but never all together.
So the accuracy of any estimate could be up to 2x whatever they come up with. And there is no way to work it out more accurately until it's being done.
:)
Oh,come ON!!! You'll be totally fine :) (though you're absolutely entitled to freak. I was still freaking 3 months out when I hadn;t really started training...)
The swim is nothing, all you have to do is survive, and then you're on the bike, which you love. Why can't you give Cleo aero bars?? Too much of a roadie at heart? I rode without, I'm a much MUCH weaker cyclist than you, and I came out OK. And the run- you know as well as we all do that your half marathon pb is a big lie. You're capable of much more. Frankly, I'm worried that you're going to eat the course for breakfast and blow my 6:26 out of the water :)
Ride on Sunday would be good. We have some family stuff on, so earlier would be better- and your patience will be appreciated :)
Oh- one more thing. That half-m PB?? It's from 2005. Yeah... I haven't run sub 1:50 since 2006...
Well - I know nothing about Buckeye and I'm a solid back-of-the-packer so I probably shouldn't even chime in - but I'm going to. :D You should definitely not try to squash your ego! Your competitive spirit - that is an important part of you. It's going to push you in the pool, and on those hills, and out of bed on dark mornings. Not wanting to be left behind is a huge motivator and you should use it to your best advantage. Just be sure to temper it with healthy doses of "I know I can, I know I can". Good luck getting past the freakout and into training!
A sub 2 half would be awesome!!! The swimming will come! I feel like I'm in the same boat-swimming is the one thing I hate and I just don't do...I want to do a tri but HATE to swim!!! And I embrace the back of the pack! I just love being out there and am proud and happy that I'm out there at my masters age of 43!!!
Southbay Girl
Heh I know I've already "talked" to you about your freak out but if you just think about where you were in terms of fitness and where you are now and how far you've come, just think how much further you can go!! And you have totally blown me out of the water in the running (oi vey I don't think I'm ever going to get close to 2 hours!) and you'rw a demon on the bike so that just leaves the swimming. If anyone has the stubborness and tenacity to take on a big challenge, it's you Mad Dog , and I'm pretty sure we'll all acknowledge that that is at least half the battle with endurance events!
The swim has the longest (900m) first turn of any half ironman, a bike ride that has 2 killer hills right at the end and a run that has more undulations than your average bike course. So why are you freaking again? ... I can't imagine why :)haha
It's a great course though. Never done it all in one day mind, but I'm gonna put that right next year.
If you want to join the group on Buckeye just click on teams and 'Bloggers at Rotorua' and request to join.
Good luck with the training! I think your nervousness is fear of the unknown - like anything if you do the right training should be good on the day.
I look forward to reading how the training is going.
Good luck!
And Happy Holidays!!
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