Hard to believe my first triathlon of the season is just around the corner (to be quickly followed by no. 2 & no. 3 across the Atlantic!). I had hoped I'd be better prepared. But I guess a 38 mile trail run a week out and a complete inability to truly taper don't help the situation. Still, I am looking forward to Liberty Half IM on Saturday. I took part in this event for the first time last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The swim is what it is - I'm hoping to improve slightly on last year and be out of the water in 42 minutes. I should do it given that I've been swimming a lot more this year but we'll see... the bike course is different from last year but I am pretty familiar with it after a few training rides. A few more hills but overall a nice course. Assuming the weather cooperates I'm aiming for something under 3 hours - would love to average 19mph (~2:56) but I think that might be a little ambitious. As for the run - hard to tell as I haven't raced anything on the road in so long. Will my trail miles carry me through? I'm feeling confident I can match last years time of 1:39:47. So with transitions included I guess my goal is somewhere around 5:24. But overall I'll be happy to beat last years time of 5:29. Not ready to PR (5:22 at Pigman Aug 07) and given that I've decided to give Pigman a miss this year (will be time to concentrate on Sawtooth!) I guess that will have to wait until next year...
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