Florida 70.3 is in the books and my sights are still set on Ironman Wisconsin in September. But once again it’s race week. I’m doing a fun sprint in Lake in the Hills on Sunday. Coach Jen has set up some open water training swims each Wednesday, so I’ve gone to a couple of those which have felt really beneficial especially since I didn’t do ANY open water training last season!
Since LITH is a sprint distance I’m really hoping I can crush it. I told Jen in my race plan that since I’m only swimming 1/2 mile, riding 14 and running 4 I SHOULD be able to go all out the whole way through with out having to conserve too much for the next leg. I ran part of the course the last two Wednesdays and it’s kind of hilly, but that should be good prep for Ironman Wisconsin.
After Lake in the Hills, I’m heading to Lake Geneva Wisconsin for RAM Racing’s BigFoot Triathlon. This one is an olympic distance race, and I didn’t do so well at that distance last year. BigFoot is supposed to be one of the nicest courses in the area. The course is all single loop with the exception of the run which is 2 loops. The run course is supposed to be mostly off road to which should be nice.
Following those two races is about a month of training before I got at another Ironman 70.3, this time in Racine. The course looks to have some rolling hills, but nothing too big and the run course takes you on a “tour of the zoo”. The goal for Racine is to go sub-7. I have an idea
of the time goal I’d like to hit, but I’ll wait until July and after i discuss it with Jen before I share it just to avoid any embarrassment! It would also help to NOT loose any nutrition or hydration on the bike course like I did in Florida. That way I don’t have to start the run dehydrated.
After Racine maybe I’ll do a portion of the Chicago Triathlon as part of a relay team, but other than that it’s training until Wisconsin. It’s hard to believe that the race is only 95 days away. There is a lot of work to do until then!
Phil Castello 