Last year the 2015 Crystal Palace Tri was my first triathlon EVER and I remember being absolutely terrified for about a month leading up to the start.

One year later, I face the race again. This year however, I had a busier than usual social calendar leading up to the race last weekend and as a result I ended up approaching the 2016 Crystal Palace Triathlon all very nonchalantly. It was kind of nice knowing I could just turn up and enjoy a fun race.

It really goes to show how comfortable I’ve gotten in the triathlon scene and how quickly you can adapt. I never thought I’d be able to race triathlon ‘for fun’ but I guess a lot has happened over the past year…

Last year was a year of firsts… My first wet suit, my first open water swim, my first Sprint triathlon, Olympic distance triathlon and my first Half Ironman. No wonder I was so motivated and focused — it was the fear factor. I enjoyed racing last weekend, but if I want to keep seeing improvement this year than I’ll need to re-focus. With fear clearly out of the equation, I need to find a new source of motivation to keep me on track.

So I’ve taken a step back and come up with some new goals and benchmarks for my 2016 focus in triathlon….

New goals — Transitioning into Year 2 of Triathlon:

1. Stop being so cautious on the swim. Execute a swim where I completely empty the tank and go as hard as I possibly can. I want to achieve a sub 15 minute 750m and sub 30 1500m during a race. Probably more specifically, I should aim for 13 minutes and 27 minutes but I’m scared to write that down.
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2. Bring up my intensity on the bike again and see if I can still hold on in the run. Last year I really pushed myself on the bike and it made my run a bit of a struggle. This year at the Crystal Palace Triathlon I tried to pace my bike a bit better so that my run wouldn’t suffer… I didn’t feel as competitive and my run still wasn’t great. I’m going to stick with the naive approach to racing and see if my run will just deal with it. If anything I’ll learn more about my fitness this way and can re-adjust if/when needed!
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3. Well with the above in mind, I need to make sure I do more Brick training sessions (which means going for a run straight after cycling). With time always being of the essence I have been cutting this short lately but I really need to make sure I starting making time for this. If anything it is probably more important do complete a full brick session than it is just going for ride and separately just going for a run.
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4. And with all the said, try to keep that balance. So far this year I’ve found a good balance with training, social and work. But now I need to learn how to push myself in a race when in the back of my mind I know I’ve been ‘balanced’ and not completely dedicated to training. It’s a different mindset and a different approach to racing, but one that I want to explore.

My next race is on the first weekend of June (two weeks away) and I’m currently on holiday eating pizza and gelato, drinking delicious red wine and enjoying the sites. Number 4 is going to be fully put to the test!

Back to holiday — With love from Italy xx