Gold Coast Tri, Here I Come

Last weekend I was casually browsing Facebook when one of the ads on my profile caught my eye. Not surprisingly, the ads that normally fill up my sidebar have to do with various running, triathlon, and general fitness topics and businesses. I tend to ignore them, as I'm sure most of us do. But for whatever reason, I was inspired to click on this ad for a sprint triathlon in (on?) Long Island. Port Washington, to be exact. I examined all the details with glee, happy that not only was it easily accessible from Manhattan, it also had a packet pickup here in the city! I clicked through a bit more to get to registration only to find that the race was full. Drat!

But I was in luck, as spots have since opened up an I was taken off the waiting list. I'm pretty excited about it since it's the first tri of the season but also a bit apprehensive. Although my run has improved vastly over last summer, I've very much undertrained on the swim and bike, so it will be interesting to see how that whole thing balances out.

Since the race last Sunday, I've also been thinking about my marathon goals. Now, I'm well-aware that 4 miles is hardly 26.2, but my pace for that race made me think that maybe qualifying for Boston isn't as impossible as it always seemed to be. I mean, clearly it will be a challenge, but it's one I can now see myself achieving some time in the near future, whether it's this year or next (but probably next). As a way to gauge the potential of this, I'm going to train for speed at the Queens half marathon next month. If all goes according to plan, I'd like to break 1:50. I initially wanted to to 1:44, but I think I'll take it one step at a time. If I hit 1:50, I'll aim for 1:44 the following month in the Bronx.

What else does this mean? Well, a lot of things. What I had in mind chiefly, though, is that I'm going to need a pair of shoes for marathon and half marathon training. Now that I've gotten into barefoot running, I think I'd like to try a shoe that's somewhere between a traditional shoe and vibrams. Something minimalist but definitely with some support. But that is a discussion for another day!