This Sunday is the Couples Triathlon. I did it last year as my last hurrah
in the world of triathlon before decidedly switching back to a running-only lifestyle. A ton has happened since last year running-wise: I started and completed the Austin Distance Challenge, I ran the Chicago Marathon with Team Volkswagen, I ran on my company’s team for the Cap10K, and I qualified for Boston at the Vermont Marathon! Looking back, it was a big twelve months. Which brings us to now, two days before my first triathlon of what will be a long journey that will hopefully take me across the finish line of an Ironman.
The Couples Triathlon is a pretty typical sprint tri –800 meter swim, 11.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run– that takes place in and around Decker Lake just east of Austin. My goal for this race is easy… do better than last year. That means I better be faster than:
Swim 800 m: 18:15
Transition 1: 3:05
Bike 11.2 mi: 36:05
Transition 2: 1:23
Run 3.1 mi: 23:06
<
p>The “twist” on the Couples Tri is that you sign up with a teammate (friend, spouse, stranger) and then your times are combined for a team time. Last year I signed up with a coworker (and he was way faster than me). This year I just signed up solo, meaning I won’t have a combined team time. I’m excited to see where I stand in terms of fitness with less than 4 months to go until my Half Ironman!