2 months to EagleMan

Today marks 2 months to go until my first long distance triathlon – the EagleMan 70.3. 

My preparation has not been ideal, but I am really looking forward to see how I can handle a longer race.  I am also excited to see that some top level pro’s like Craig Alexander and Mirinda Carfrae are competing too (go aussies!).

The organizers of the race have recently posted the swim wave times – I’ll be in the 2nd 40-44 wave starting at 7:26am.  This is great.  The pro men/women start at 6:45 & 6:47 then wave 1 is M55+, Women 50+, Para triathletes @ 6:50, Wave 2 M 50-54 @ 7:10, Wave 3 M 40-44 A-K @ 7:18.  Since the run leg is out-and-back I am hoping that I will get to see them while I am starting the run.  Most of the first 4.5 miles of the run is also on the bike course, so even if I am slower than expected, I should get to see some of the pro’s.  This is the first event I have entered that has a pro field, and the first Ironman branded event.

At the start of this year – I published some race goals – at the time I was hoping for somewhere between 5:30 and 6hrs to finish 70.3 miles. To finish in 5:30 I am going to have to do the following:

• Swim 0:37 (1:45/100y)
• Bike 2:50 (19.76 mph)
• Run 1:55 (8:47/mile)

This allows for 3:00 each in T1 and T2 and I’d be at 5:28 total time.  If I have a great day, I think I can go faster than that – at least for the individual sports.  What I don’t know is how putting all 3 together for the longer distance will change things, especially when including environmental factors such as the heat/wind that is a common occurrence at this venue  and of course whether it will be wetsuit legal.  For me, a wetsuit makes a huge difference.

Over the past year running has been the toughest for me.  I have finally managed to run consistently for the last 6 weeks.  The physical therapy seems to have really worked.  Last weekend I had my longest run of 1hr20mins, and need to get up to 2hrs in the next 6 weeks. 

I have 2 races planned before EagleMan – the Kinetic Sprint Triathlon  on May 15th and a open water swim in Reston on May 29th.  These races should give me a good indication of how ready I am going to be come race day.  My mindset is now not whether I can make the distance, but how much faster can I get between now and race day!