1 week until my first event

In 6 days, I will have finished my first triathlon of the season. It is amazing to me that I am planning on racing soon, when it has been to cold here in Milwaukee for me to ride outside more than one time. Last year the Bucknell Passionman Triathlon was a very warm spring day and took place in the afternoon. We could not have hoped for better weather. However, this coming Sunday is supposed to be around 60degrees and will be taking place in the morning.

The Bucknell Passionman site: passionman.wordpress.com
- find the course maps and general info here

My final week of preparation will look like most other weeks of training. I will be in the pool Monday - Thursday. I plan to run a 10k today, a 5k tomorrow, and some very light 5ks Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not pushing any of my workouts hard this week. Due to the short length of the Passionman, I don't feel the need to taper into the race. At one point, the bike portion of the race was the least of my concern. However, because of the weather I have been confined to the indoors and not fully tested myself on the bike out on the road. I hope all those spinning classes will carry over well....

My goals for the race are as follows:
Swim: 650m 10 mins
Bike: 13.2miles 35 mins
Run: 3.1miles 21 mins

Last year I had to strategize where I would expend my energy. This year it will be all out for the entire course. A course of this distance requires speed and adrenaline, not endurance and strategy this time around. The real question is what to wear and how to transition. Were it to be another warm beautiful day, I would wear only a tri suit and only change shoes (no socks) at the transition area. At 60degrees and partly cloudy, I might want to look into drying off after the pool and a long sleeve jersey... That will have to be a game time decision.

I am looking forward to this race and hope to beat my goals and possibly bring home the gold metal (for non students) ;)