Boulder 70.3-My Race Plan

I'm really excited that I get to race for the first time tomorrow as a member of the X²PERFORMANCE® Triathlon Team. I'm racing Boulder 70.3 tomorrow. It's yet another opportunity to practice for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship that I'm doing in 5 weeks. I have some specific things I want to do tomorrow.

The race plan is simple. What I need is some valuable feedback. There is a new seeding system for the swim. You self seed yourself with the appropriate time you think you will swim for 1.2 miles. I expect to swim between 32-34 minutes so I will be in the 3rd wave of athletes to head out. I will swim a nice, hard effort. I know the swim is my limiter. That being said, I'm going to push the pace a little harder on the bike than I normally would for this distance. Why? Well, it all about Vegas. Vegas will be a non-wetsuit swim making my swim deficiency even more exposed to the good swimmers. I will be in a hole going into the bike. Knowing this and that everyone racing it is a good triathlete based on the fact that they had to qualify to get there, I have to utilize what I consider my biggest strength in triathlon. I only have a power meter for my training wheels so with me using my racing wheels Sunday, I will be basing the extra push on the bike on perceived exertion. I'm not going to do anything crazy but I will push it an extra 5% or so. I want to see what this effort will do to my legs on the run. I've never raced this way so I'm hoping to see little impact and make this part of my Vegas plan. If I see a big drop off on the run, I'll know I can't race this way in Vegas. Time to find out. Also, I will approach the run differently. In a past half Ironman races, I pick my expected race pace and start running that pace from the first step. Tomorrow I will build into my pace over the first 2 miles. That is the only place where there is any kind of climbing so I will build into that race pace as I plateau the only real hill then settle into my pace for the day. I have every intention of emptying the tank so I truly know where I'm at in my Vegas prep. I'm prepared to hurt. That being said, tomorrow is about the process. The time and my overall placing is just the outcome. I'm not focusing on that piece tomorrow. It will take care of itself.