Last long bike.

In 2 weeks time I'll have jetted over the Atlantic to PCB. 3 weeks from now it'll all be over and I'll be wondering whether it's been worth all the hassle. One thing's for sure, I won't ache much more than I do now.

Saturday was my big Ironman training/viewing brick session and it's wiped me out!! (course below)

First up was the training. The weather forecast was good and there was no great rush to leave the house so I chilled and prepped my bike for most of the morning before heading out for what was only my 2nd century ride this year. I needed to make it a good one and wanted to make it a harder, longer ride than Florida will be. There was only one thing for it, Exmoor here I come!! I planned to hit the hills early and give myself the option of wimping out with some flat stuff towards the end and that was exactly what I did. 3hrs later and I'd only covered 49miles (16mph) but I had climbed most of the rides 7,300ft of ascent.

The following 53miles took 2h50m (18.7mph) which I was happy with, especially as my back was killing me after all the climbing and because I blew a gasket at 90miles and pretty much bimbled home. A fresh and tapered pair of legs on a nice flat course will hopefully see me faring a whole lot better.

There was the tinyest thought in my head that maybe, just maybe I'd pop out for a short run when I got home, but as the return home coincided almost exactly with the starting cannon at IM Hawaii the run was immediatly out of the question. Leg 2 of the brick was about to begin...... almost 10hrs of Ironman Hawaii coverage.

As always Hawaii was great, it's just such a pity that the time difference means that it starts at 5:45pm and every year and I don't get to see my bed until almost 4am. Still at least next year I know the race will be at a sensible time for me and I'll have all my family and friends staying up until the early hours watching out for me (ok, I know!!!!!! Don't ruin it, I've only another 3 weeks to dream). Chrissie was awesome yet again and I think her appearence on the scene will be great for both genders. The women now have to raise their game considerably to get anywhere near her and I can see the men lifting their performances equally in fear that she'll start beating them. Take off the 10mins she spent at roadside with her puncture and she'd have finished in the top 25 overall, that's just scary. Enough for now.