Facebook


We've moved to Facebook! Follow us there!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Tune Ups For The Trip and The Ironman Triathlon

Today we are in South Carolina, near Newberry. I'm competing in a Sprint triathlon, the shortest distance of all the triathlon races. I'm using this race as a tune up for the Ironman race I'm competing in, in July. Races like these are great for working on the mechanics of transitions (from swim to bike, and from bike to run).

Such races are analogous to the weekends we will begin taking in Savannah to practice for sailing around the world. The Sprint triathlon provides a way to experience all the same actions as the Ironman race, but compressed into a 2 hour period. This is exactly how our weekends in Savannah will become. 3 days out on the boat will micro tastes of the trip to come. As August rolls around, we will start taking week long trips on the boat, adding even more to the tune up experiences.

Going for the full distance, even if one has done them before as I have with my past Ironman races, without some tune ups increases the odds of encountering problems. Lower the odds, practice in small containable periods. Plus, you get all the joy of doing what you love.

2 comments:

  1. Good luck on your upcoming Ironman. My brother is a triathlete and did the Lake Placid Ironman about 5 years ago. Check out his web site (I swear I am not spamming you)
    http://www.tdottriathlon.com/
    I personally get tired just watching them race ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @boatbaby: Thanks! Val would agree about being tired just watching. The first Ironman I did took me 15 hours, and Val stuck it out the entire day! KJ was just a baby then, and Val toted her around the whole time. I've done each of the usual lengths (Sprint, Olympic, Half, and Full Ironman) and the family preference is definitely sprint. :)

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.