Age Group or Clydesdale

Part of my internet reading today included a site advertising several up-coming triathlons in the Seattle area. My purpose is to look at as many different race web sites I can to see what is unique about each one and plan my competition season. This is a learning process for me. My past experience compels me to not only develop physical skills, but also mental skills. The more details I know the potential for some kind of edge increases. As I looked at the USTA event application I learned that I can enter as an age grouper or a Clydesdale, males 200 pounds and over. Unfortunately there was nothing to help me decide which one I want to be. As my training is progressing at a regular pace, I could register today as a Clydesdale but by the day of the event I might, hopefully, well be under the limit. Now I'm not sure if I want to lose the weight or not. Actually, I think I'll go with the weight loss.

Today's training was difficult. I started out with a 2 mile row on the C2 rower. I then completed my normal resistance training cycle which takes about 30 minutes. The main part of the workout was a 30 min swim followed by a 20 min run. During the swim I went about a half mile, 17 laps. My leg kick was almost nonexistent, most likely a result of the long bike ride yesterday. Also, there was only one lane available and there were three of us there. It was a little hard to develop any rhythm. About half way through the swim the lane cleared and I was able to swim unobstructed. My swim fitness is low, so I can only go two laps without a momentary rest at the turn. I expect this to improve over time. After the swim I was able to transition to the run in about 7 minutes. My pace was normal, I didn't have any difficulties, I just made my way along the Lake Tye path. On the run I may have gone between 1.5 and 1.75 miles. This was a new route so I don't know the distances. It was about 75 or 80 deg. and I enjoyed the outdoor run. After the run I went through my runners yoga, a Nike podcast for stretching.

Plan for tomorrow: 40 min swim. I hope to do better than today. Hopefully the lanes will be less crowded. Still looking for a bike, probably a multi-sport setup. Too bad Cervelo isn't looking to sponser an older mature athlete. Actually there should be a lot of companies who could sponser me. Oh well, keep the vision. See you on the road.