I had a few days of basking in the glory.
Monday was a full on rest day. Tuesday: recovery workouts. Today: back to work.
As great as I felt about my race, it doesn't mean that it was perfect. I still have a lot of work to do, but attitude is everything. Some athletes disagree with me when I say, "The only thing you can control is your attitude."
That's what works for me. Think you can control your fueling? What happens when you drop your bottle on the bike course?
With that said, I have things I need to work on:
1.) I can improve my pacing and overall speed. At the race, I didn't realize that the first buoy was the halfway mark. My goal was to pick up speed 2 minutes into the swim. Well, I went halfway at an easy pace which was 4 minutes. That's 2 minutes too long in a sprint. I know I have more speed in my swim. I know I can do a 1:15 pace for a sprint (maybe even better).
For my upcoming Oly: I believe I can swim a 22-23 1500m. Based on my sprint, that's realistic. Again, it requires me to PULL HARDER TEA, not faster (ie: frantically).
2.) The bike: I have YET to get to threshold in a sprint. That's my goal! I know I can get there. I have a problem with focus on the bike. At the race last weekend, I saw what I could do if I stay focused.
For my upcoming Oly: The bike course is made for me. It's rolling hills with the last 2 miles being uphill. A lot of athletes blow up on the hills because the hills can give you a false sense of security on the way out. It's the return that can get you. The return is rolling hills increasing elevation with the last mile uphill.
3.) The run: my limiter. Clearly, the biggest area of improvement. Look, it didn't escape me that I lost the overall podium because of my run. My swim/bike/transitions were are equal to #53. If we were equal on the run, that would have been an entirely different race.
For my upcoming Oly: I started the Peak (my last oly) too fast. I'm going to start my next one slightly more conservatively but then pick up the pace. As I told my coach, I ran consistently at the sprint. Consistency is better than slowing down but not as good as redlining.
My next step is to get faster throughout the run.
Once again, no real time goals, instead I have a few Process Goals just like I did at the sprint.
Now excuse me, I have some training to get done.