Racing New at Vineman

All of us that race triathlon have heard the maxim repeated over and over from all kinds of sources, its almost like a triathlon mantra: "Nothing new on race day!" Well, in CDA, I broke that rule, I raced in a new kit, I tried pedialyte for the first time and took a veritable pharmacy's worth of OTC drugs at special needs, none of which I had ever trained with and some of which I had never even taken before). Notwithstanding these ill-advised moves, CDA turned out ok, and while the new kit turned out to be a bad idea, the other decisions may have just saved my race!

With all that in mind, I am yet again throwing caution to the wind (I REALLY hope its not windy... you will see why below), and going against what "they all" say, and implementing some new, er... strike that, a great deal of "new" into my race at Vineman 70.3 this weekend. Here is the list:

1. New kit (trained in once) - the other one left me with some gnarly scars on my chest, and while it is undoubtedly true that "chicks dig scars", Gatorade and Coke in open wounds just doesn't feel too nice.

2. New Cycling shoes (ridden in about 7x, ~ 400mi) - Old ones were too big, I am comfortable in these.

3. New Running Shoes (run in about 30mi) - some issues with the sockless fit of my old shoes spurred a switch.

4. New Disc Wheel (ridden about 3 minutes) - I got some wicked peer pressure and an even better opportunity to acquire one, so I did. (Hence the reason I hope its not windy).

5. New 54 tooth Big Chainring (about 30mi on it) - I pedal with a slow cadence and generally push a big gear. I just don't have the high cadence capability. Good news is all that grinding doesn't seem to have a big impact on my run. So 54-11 could be a nice flat/downhill gear!!

So there you have it. Call me an idiot, call me brash, call me ignorant... whatever, I'm just a rebel! hahaha

We shall see. Hopefully none of this comes back to bite me in the ass on Sunday. We have a BIG crew racing up in wine country this weekend, and some wagering has already been set with much more certain to come. Thus, my "new" decisions could turn into expensive ones!! Crossing my fingers.