An Olympic-distance triathlon consists of 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run. How fast can you run the 10K at the end of an Olympic distance triathlon? If you're like me, you want to know what you're capable of doing BEFORE the race so you know how to pace yourself and what to expect. Thanks to Michelle Blessing, my triathlon coach and coach of the 2000 US Olympic Triathlon Team, here's a challenging test set to help you figure it out.

WARMUP: 400

READ THE ENTIRE WORKOUT BEFORE YOU START!

If you think it's tricky to figure out how fast to take out your 200 Breast, try figuring out how fast to run the first mile of your next marathon! Sheesh. If you miscalculate your pace for a 200 Breast, the worst that can happen is you die on the final 25 or 50 from too much lactic acid in your bloodstream. You'll have 45 to 60 seconds of PAIN, but you'll probably be able to finish the race. And you'll be able to race again fairly quickly.

In a marathon, however, the stakes are different.

Here's an email I received from a swim student of mine. It's got me a bit worried. Are my articles SO boring that even the kids can tell I reach sometimes? In any case, I'm always looking for interesting topics, and I appreciate her suggestion. I'll do my best to expand on her observations and experience.

Most of the swimmers on our team are doing tris and open-water swims in the next two weeks, so I wanted to let them practice their sighting and their porpoising (for ins and outs on sandy bottoms).

You know what you need to do. At the start of practice, find out who's doing a timed swim, and team up with someone who's doing the same distance as you. Then figure out heats, always leaving at least one lane for the people who aren't doing a timed swim. Those not doing the timed swim will need flippers, so ask the guard to bring them out if they're not on deck.

In this practice, I'm trying to give my triathletes some longer swims at a steady pace, interspersed with 50s that get more challenging, aerobically, as the main set progresses. On the 50s, the idea is to hold your times steady, even as you are getting progressively less rest during the set.

Ever since the days when it became possible to record your favorite songs onto cassette tapes, the Pump-Up Mix has been a vital part of my swim bag for competition. Sure, times have changed, and my Sony Walkman has been rendered completely useless, as has the Milli-Vanilli/ Michael Jackson mix that once twirled on its double audio prongs. Now, we burn CDs...and when those become obsolete, we'll all just program a Pump-Up Mix folder into our iPods.

On the first weekend in June, I joined thousands -- maybe millions -- of other TV fans to watch the Belmont Stakes horse race. I was eager to see if history would be made -- if the heavy favorite, Smarty Jones, would become the first Triple Crown winner in 26 years. In a heart-breaking finish, Smarty Jones was passed in the final 70 yards. As the TV cameras scanned the crowd of 125,000 spectators, it seemed like the wind had just been let out of their sails.

Many of the CCB Masters are doing triathlons with a pool swim this weekend, or are training for open-water races, so I wanted to design a practice that would help them get a feel for a steady, sustainable pace.

Many of the Masters swimmers ran a half marathon over the weekend, or participated in a triathlon, so I wanted to design a practice with no sendoffs, that was easy on the legs, that used a lot of different muscles, and that would still be challenging for those who didn't race.

Growing up as young swimmer, I looked forward each month to a new issue of Swimming World magazine. Long before I even had a chance to be IN the magazine, I'd read about the stars of the sport. I'd read about the Collela's, John Hencken, Shirley Babashoff, and, eventually, started seeing my big brother Kevin's name appear. Seeing your name in Swimming World was like making the BIG TIME!

WARMUP: 400

I wasn't sure how this practice would play out with the team, because I haven't tried it myself, but after the first couple of 200s, everyone got into the challenge of descending the 200s, and it became fun. I didn't assign any sendoffs. Each lane decided on their sendoffs. I was more concerned that they do the 200s with descending times than that they meet a certain sendoff.