time predictions

The more I write in this blog, the more I realize how quirky I am. It's not a good thing. I've spent a lot of time thinking about my goal for my triathlon. I actually have three goals (time-wise). Of course, I know that for every race you should have a goal to do your best and have a good time. (bla, bla, bla..) Now, going past that, I always have three goals. The first is the "This is what I really want my time to be, but it may not be realistic" goal. The second is "I'll still be happy if I get this time" goal. And the third is "Not my best race but still respectable" goal. I do it for every race. I guess it's a way of protecting myself from failing. I usually fall in the second category which I guess is good. I rarely meet my highest goal, but I also rarely get my lowest one.

It's hard to predict my triathlon time because I've never done one. You'd think that would stop me from trying. I know I should go into it with the goal of having a good time. I do want to have a good time, but I also think that having a bigger goal gives me something to push for. I remember when I ran my first marathon I was told by most people not to have a time goal and that just finishing should be enough. The director of the training group I was in wanted us to have a goal, in fact he sat down with each of us to go over our goals. If you went into the meeting without a time goal, he made sure you left with one. I completely agree with him. Again, I had three goals and I met the middle one. I had to push myself to meet that goal and I know I would be disappointed overall if I just wanted to finish. There would always be the question of "Could I have done better?". Having the goals I did, I know I did my best.

I'm not going to put my time goals in print because it's too scary, especially given the fact that I don't know what I'm getting myself into. They might be way off. But, for better or worse, they're there and I hope to at least meet my middle goal.