Swim Bike Run

I am on a mission, my triathlon is in exactly 11 days. I've been working out and focusing on this goal for months now. I am SO ready to meet this challenge. I've been thinking about how I want to train for the next 11 days. What do I think I need to work on, what am I comfortable with? What are my time restraints or other obstacles? What is my solution?

Goal - Complete Irongirl Tahoe Triathlon


Swim 400 meters
Swimming is the most challenging part of the 3 sports for me. I have a pool and have been practicing but don't have much open water swim experience. It's hard for me to get in the pool and swim laps on top of my other gym activities and family obligations. The weather is cooling, I've had a lot of problems with my pool in general. This summer, I've swam up to 70 laps, nearly twice the distance I will need to swim for the tri. I'm glad swimming is the first "event" I know it's going to take the most out of me physically.

I decided last night that I was going to get up and swim this morning after dropping off the girls to school before going to the gym. Yeah it's early and it's overcast but Tahoe isn't going to be any better. I swam 40 laps x 40 feet = 0.30 miles = 487.68 meters and I lost count a few times and always restarted on the smaller number of laps, so it's very likely that I swam 500 meters or more. It took me about 18 minutes.

Bike 24 K (almost 15 miles)
I'm very comfortable with the bike portion. I've got a lot of training in at spin. I'm comfortable on my bike and confident I can do the ride. I'm a little nervous about the route rolling hills and short climbs is what is described. It's in the Sierra Nevada's though and those are some killer mountains, and elevation is going to take some time getting used too. I know this bike ride can be tougher than I expect/imagine or it might not be.

I've been doing spin 2-3 times a week now for months creating mock hills by adding resistance. Plus, I have two smaller hills I frequently ride by my house. I'm going to continue what I've been doing and hope it's enough. After swimming this morning, I completed a 55 minute advanced spin class.

Run 5K 3.1 miles
I've been running several nights a week. I've gotten my mileage up so that a 3 mile run isn't a huge challenge anymore, I have doubled that amount. I'm very confident that I can run 3.1 miles any given day. Running is probably going to be my best "event" and is the easiest to practice.

This morning, I completed my own triathlon, yep I ran too. After spin, I decided I would hop on the treadmill to see what it was like on my body to have swam, biked and ran. I set my goal to do 1 mile or running. Now, my pace was a lot slower than normal and I was already winded but I did it, I ran the mile. Obviously less than what is required for the triathlon but like I said, running is my advantage.

Triathlon & Training comparison:
Tahoe Tri 9/19 Swim 400 meters, Bike 24K, Run 5K 3.1 miles
Training 9/8 Swim 486 3eters, Bike 55 minutes, Run 1 mile

I think I'm ready and I'm excited. I hope to get another 2 days of Tri training in before Thursday of next week. Then Tahoe here I come :)