Fearing Fearless

A week from tomorrow I have my second triathlon. It's the inaugural Fearless Triathlon, and it's a double one, meaning that I will swim, bike, run, then get back in the water and swim, bike and run the course again. The segments are short (each swim is 250 meters, each bike is 5 miles, and each run is 2 miles). It's pretty much the distance that I did for my first triathlon a few weeks ago (which was a 500 meter swim, about a 10 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run). This one is a bit longer, with the extra mile run, although it's all cut up into shorter segments.

When I got the email about it, literally my first thought was "wow, that looks like fun!" So I signed up. I hadn't even done my FIRST triathlon yet, but I was already addicted to the training, and knew I would love it. I've been quite excited about it---until yesterday.

Why?

Well, yesterday I read the fine print that basically states that the course will be closed 2 hours after the start of the race, and that anyone still on the course after this point will be pulled from the course and receive a DNF (did not finish). Now, I don't know if they will be sticklers to that time or not, but if they are, I'm very nervous about finishing in time.

My time for my first triathlon was a bit over 1:51. IF I have the same speed for my next one, I'll never finish in 2 hours----I still have an extra mile to run in this race, plus there are two extra transitions! In looking back at my splits, my swim was actually decent (middle of the back), my run was slow but my usual run (I'm always back of the pack for runs) but my bike was HORRENDOUS! The only way for me to make up time in this next triathlon will be to go faster on both bike segments.

Unfortunately, I haven't been ON my bike since my last triathlon, which was almost weeks ago! I have still been riding, but travel and rain have taken my bike days inside the gym, rather that outside on my bike. I'm still biking (I even did 23 miles on the bike at the gym this past weekend) but it's not the same as being outside. I plan on a long bike ride on Sunday, and will hopefully get more confident.

The other thing I'm nervous about is my second swim. I am not sure if I'm going to be able to get back into my wetsuit for the second swim--it will be wet, and I will be sweaty--so I might have to go into the frigid water for the second swim without it. And not only would that be freezing and uncomfortable, but it might slow me down (plus the wetsuit adds speed and buoyancy).

I know that if the worst thing happens---and that will be a DNF--then it really isn't the WORST thing in the world. I've been training very hard, usually seven days a week, and am proud of what I've accomplished. And in light of the fact that I just started to bike and swim at the end of June (not even 4 months ago!) and that I don't own a road bike (only a hybrid for now) I'm doing ok.

But I DON'T want to be pulled off the course. I want to finish, and I want to finish strong. Plus, there's my pride on the line. As a sticker I recently saw said, "pain is temporary, but your finishing time posted on the internet is forever".