Week 34 2011

This week is the week of the Almere Holland Triathlon. This saterday is the day if been training for whole season. Just this one day will be the day that i have to make an great achievement. I feel good and i believe in myself and my capabiliteits.

The program for this week is limited. Two hours on the bycycle, 1 hours running an 1 hour of training link. For the rest of the week the mean menu will be rest.

Monday was an beautiful day and used the wheaterconditions to clean en prepare my bike. After a while i was satisfied with the result and came to the conclusion that the bike was Long Distance prepared.

The planning was bycycle training on tuesday but the wheater was worse. Lot's of rain give an other dimension to the day. Instead of cycling it became rest on the couch.

What was planned for yesterday, i did today. Easy going cycling. After a while it started to rain and so i cylced for more than one hour in the rain. Once home, i saw that i'd became very dirty. Legs totally covered with durt.  In the planning was also an swimtraining in open water. Arriving in Almere Haven at Surfbeach there was an little surprise. The open water contained blue-green algae and smelled awful. I did'nt want to swim in the open water out of fear to become ill. No risk just before Long Distance.


Thursday morning i received an answer on email that i had send to the organisation of the Almere Holland Triathlon. They were familair with the waterconditions and they were on top of the situation. So far there was no reason to change the swim part to another area.
Also packed my gear for saterday. It looks early but not for my because i know myself. Now i've got time enough and i can double check everything. I'm used to forget things.
Later on the on day i also did an endurance run for 45 minutes. I took our youngest dog also with my and it was the first time he went along. He did very well for the first time. 

Friday was almost the big day. I had to deliver my race bike, cycling shoes and my running shoes to transfer area in Almere Haven. And of course i had to pick up my race number for the Long Distance. The rest of the day it was rest for my.

Saterday was finally the big day. Almere Holland Triathlon was about to begin. My performance on the Long Distance. The hole year training for only one event. The wheater conditions aren't good, an strong wind, and dark clouds. The open water conditions are heavy, big waves are coming towards the coast. Swimming will be tough but overall i'm satisfied with the time. A quick change and on the bike for the cycle part. The strong wind doesn't feel good at all. The first round of the race track went well but the second round is already ten minutes slower. The wind has become even stronger than the second two rounds. So the third round ends above the 2 hours. Again an quick change and on the running track for the last 45.932 miles of running. The first round is good because i got exactly the time i want to run. Unfortunately i'm getting an total relapse and i'm starting to walk. While running there was heavy rain and the temperature went down very quick. It was very cold and quadricpes started to feel very painfull because of the cold conditions. The second round ends in 1 hours and 45 minutes, more than 20 minutes slower than i've had hoped for. The last round is even more worse and ends in 1 hours and 55 minutes. And so i finishing in 12 hours and 8 minutes and 57 seconds. I'm glad i finished but disapointed off the time i've realized.

For the next several weeks i've to examine what went wrong during the race. Probable i've to accept the fact that i'm not strong enough for a time under the 12 hours. Maybe i need to focus on the fact that i've to enjoy the race instead of let the time determine my pleasure.

And now, i'm gone enjoy my rest for the next two weeks.