It's not a fail - it's a lesson.

Remember that crash taper last week? Neither do I.

Oops.

Since the Woodstock Tri itself took me 2:04:11, that means I put in 10 hours and 2 minutes of training between Monday and Saturday on the week of a race. I only managed about an extra half-hour of sleep (over my usual 5.5-6 hours) per night, too. Gee, I wonder why I was a little tired and flat at the race? Apparently this also left me too fatigued to remember that I usually take an extra rest day before a race! In retrospect, even the 22min run, 20min swim and 15min bike the day before were probably more than I really needed - 10mins each would have been enough to keep me loose without taxing my legs.

Still, this is the absolute best time for me to figure this stuff out - well ahead of the priority races. The argument could be made that I'm better off having trained through it anyway, since it was only a B race done for a fun early season tune-up. I still did fairly well all considered, but races are expensive so I really try not to hamstring my performances in them. I'll try to remember to go back and read this post before Welland!

Swedes: not for me.

Another lesson learned this week: I'm not a fan of swedish goggles. When I popped in to Swim & Sports last week to pick up some Seal Cement to fix the nail nick in my wetsuit, I decided I'd pick up a pair of swedes to see if all the hype I hear from the fish bore out for me. The first question that Tanker asked was why, whether it was furniture or goggles, the Swedes always expect you to assemble it yourself? Without being able to give him an answer, I put the goggles together in the "traditional" way (using the string and rubber bit for the nose), and gave them a whack during my easy "fart around and try new stuff" swim on Tuesday night.

Gah! Pool monster!

First length, the right eye cup fills with water. Fuss around a bit, then do a couple of 100's. Ok, but now my right frontal orbital bone (that's the bony ridge over your eye socket, just below your eyebrow) is getting nasty pressure. Re-settle them again, and they leak again. It appears I have two options: they can either leak water, or they can hurt. I suspect part of this has to do with the scar tissue in my right eyesocket area from my eyebrow piercing, which I've had since I was 17, but regardless, I'm not happy. 1,100m and several attempts to make them work later, I give up. Of all the many things elite swimmers can do that I can't, tolerating these bloody goggles is now numbered among them. The damned things kept fogging, too, no matter how many times I spat in them and gave them a quick rinse.

Fast forward to last night - back to the pool, in my Speedo Women's Vanquisher goggles. Perfection! While it took me a bit to get comfortable in the water and I didn't have the best swim, I never once noticed the goggles - they simply worked. Looks like Tanker, who tried the swedes on Tuesday and liked them, just inherited a set of goggles. With all of the other challenges I face in the water, the last thing I need is eyewear that won't cooperate! As I wrote back in March, the best gear lets you forget it exists; my Vanquishers fit that bill, but the much-storied swedes do not.

Lesson learned.