My paces

This is one of those training note-to-self posts. Move along, please.

Training and racing paces at my fifty-year benchmark:

Swimming:
Typical training pace: 11:15 - 12:00 per 500 yards or 2:15 - 2:24 per 100 yards
Best recent race pace: 34:07 for 1500m or 2:04 per 100 yards

Cycling:
Typical training pace: 15.5 - 16.0 mph average for ~30 miles
Best recent race pace: 3:25 for 56 miles or 16.40 mph

Running:
Typical training pace: 11:00 - 11:30 min/mile for 3 to 5 miles
Best recent race pace: 2:19 for 13.1 miles or 10:38 min/mile

The real challenge for me will be to be faster and fitter when I move up into the NEXT age group in five years, compared to now.

Cambridge Practice Triathlon

Today was the practice sprint triathlon with the good folks from Cambridge, hosted at Horn Point Laboratories, same as we did last year.


It was a great day for it with flat water and perfect weather! Unfortunately I'm just getting over this nasty cold and about ten minutes into the swim (after stopping to cough about three times) I realized I was kind of dizzy too, so I decided to call it a day and just take some photos of the other triathletes.

So I took a whole album of photos and put them up here.

Notable among them was Jim C., WHOSE BOSS DOESN'T KNOW HE READS MY BLOG AT WORK. Hi, Jim!!! Love your wheels! HI JIM'S BOSS!!!


Also take a close look at the awesome paint job on this bike in honor of the Flying Tigers - very appropriate for this Memorial Day!


I wish I had been able to get in a better training day prior to Eagleman, but it was still fun to see everyone and get out for a brief swim!

Things I like now that I used to hate

Looking back over the past six or seven years, I've had an attitude shift. Part of it was intentional and deliberate, part of it a side-effect. I used to toss out "I hate this" and "I hate that" phrases all the time concerning fitness activities, either to myself or out loud. They were pretty convenient excuses for sloth, although naturally I didn't think of them that way at the time. These included:

• "I hate exercise." Chronic laziness! Now I hate it when I take an unscheduled day off.
• "I hate running." Now I enjoy it. Knowing that I'm making progress with each step helps. Ambitious race goals also help.
  
• "I hate running in the rain/cold/heat." There are still lots of days when it's not my favorite weather, but now it's a very rare day that I'll reschedule a workout due to weather.
• "I especially hate running on the track." Now I choose to run on the track once or twice per week - yes, it sometimes gets boring, but more often I find it relaxing and often inspiring. Certainly very convenient for me and safer than the roads when I run in the dark. I like to monitor my pace and use the track for intervals.
• "I hate swimming laps." Now it's a treat to have a solid hour free to spend in the pool working on my stroke.

My attitude held me back and kept me on the couch. Which comes first? Change the attitude, change the activities, change the fitness, change the body. They all go together.

There is one I'm hanging on to, though. I can't change everything!

• "I hate getting up early." But I do it anyway.