LoneStar - Quick Update

CASSIE MCGARVEY
SWIM BIKE RUN OVERALL RANK DIV.POS.

50:48 3:16:33 2:09:40 6:23:12 837 809


LEG DISTANCE PACE RANK DIV.POS.

TOTAL SWIM 1.2 mi. (50:48) 2:40/100m 1032 996
BIKE SPLIT 1: 28 mi 28 mi (1:38:46) 17.01 mph

BIKE SPLIT 2: 56 mi 28 mi (1:37:47) 17.18 mph

BIKE END: 56 mi 3:16:33 17.09 mph 971 935

RUN SPLIT 1: 3.275 mi 3.275 mi (30:14) 9:13/mi

RUN SPLIT 2: 6.55 mi 3.275 mi (32:56) 10:03/mi

RUN SPLIT 3: 9.8 mi 3.275 mi (34:25) 10:30/mi

RUN SPLIT 4: 13.1 mi 3.275 mi (32:05) 9:47/mi

TOTAL RUN 13.1 mi. (2:09:40) 9:53/mile 837 809

TRANSITION TIME

T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 2:59

T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 3:12

Be What You Dream

I discovered my love of Frank Turner last October whenever he opened for Flogging Molly.  Seriously, who doesn't love a Brit with a tattoo in the shape of Texas -- yes, I'm completely serious.  All of his songs have great lyrics, but below is one of my favorites (Journey of the Magi).  It takes a great songwriter to include Moses, Odysseus and Balthazar in a song. 

Moses was old, chill in his bones

Falling apart, he knew in his heart

His time had come.

He lay in his tent, on hot desert sand

He smiled at how he would never see

His Promised Land

He sang "I could've lived and died an Egyptian Prince,

Could've played safe

In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.

 

Odysseus sat, tired and alone

Always held out against all the doubt that

He would come home

Now he was here so found it strange

His wife and his dog, his son and his gods

And everything changed

He sang "I could have stayed and ruled an Ithican Prince

Could've played safe"

In the end, journeys brought joys that outweighed the pain.

 

Now, Balthazar rode for seven long years

Eastwards and far, he followed his star

And it brought him here.

A stable in ruins, some backwater town

To a Virgin defiled, no king but a Child

Too small for a crown

He sang "I could've lived with my gods as a Persian Prince,

Could've played safe."

Paupers and kings, princes and thieves

Singers of songs, righters of wrongs

What you believe.

Saddle your horse, shoulder your load

Burst at the seam, be what you dreamed

And take to the road.

Competition

It can be good, right?  In discussing this with my tri-friends this weekend, I realized that there are two types of competitive people - 1) the type that race to win (i.e., beat others - especially those with whom they train) and base everything on the rankings in the race; and 2) those who are competitive with themselves and like to use other's performances as a benchmark.  For me, if a training buddy does well, that's awesome! If we are training together (at the same pace), then it means that I should be able to do that to - or vice versa.

I'll admit, I like to use my friends as benchmarks.  For instance, Christy and Kathleen both had great races on Saturday at Gateway to the Bay.  In fact, I think that Christy may have had her best race ever - I'm still wondering when she got so fast.  It makes me happy to see them do well - because it means that I can as well - even if they are both much better swimmers than me.

So, for Gateway, I decided to 'game' the system and register as an Athena.  My goal was to see if I could place.  And that I did.  I walked away with a first place finish.... and, a run split that was absolutely fabulous.  My average pace for the run was a 7:42 (I think, definitely in the 7:40s).  I KNOW that this would've been a 5k PR for me... who'd have thought that I'd ever see 7s by my run time... And, I was quite pleased to know that I would've been competitive in my age group as well - granted, I would've had to chase Kathleen down... but, this way, we both win AND we both get rewarded for good races.

Anyway, as for the competition, I think that I'll keep it. I like my version of competition.  For me, its about having fun and doing my best.  And, I really don't see the problem of using others as benchmarks.  Seriously, if they can do it, why can't I. 

End of the day, competition is a way of life.  Yes, I am the type that believes that kids should not receive participant trophies -- you gotta teach the kiddos at a young age that there are winners and losers and that people will be ranked.  Those are the facts of life.  I do think that it is a delicate balance.  Everyone needs to be pushed to be at the top but everyone also needs to learn to fail.  You can't be a big fish in a small pond forever...

Remind me...

I'm just having a minor freak out... I'm doing a HIM in just over two weeks and I don't think I'm really trained...

- I didn't do my long run this weekend.
- The Good Friday bike ride in Brenham was fun but really didn't seem like training.
- I didn't do a long bike the weekend before last.
- I haven't worked out at all the last 4 days... maybe this is the one that is scaring me...hmmm.... 

Here's the schedule for the rest of the week:

Tonight - hard bike ride on the trainer followed by a 3-4 mile run through the neighborhood. 

Thursday - hard swim with Del in the morning and Tour de Bayou + in the evening (10-11 miles)

Friday - Lake Sharks (haven't been in a wetsuit since IMFL)

Saturday - Gateway to the Bay Sprint Tri (I'm registered as an Athena and am hoping to place); I will likely try to get in an easy run on Saturday afternoon/evening

Sunday - bike at race pace in Galveston - this will be interesting... i'll training is now being done on the road bike...