Discrete as ever!!!

Ironman haircut is here....

Suddenly there's panic

Gone it seems are the day when you rock up at the airport with your bike box and put it in the oversize baggage section without a problem. This was the situation when I flew over to PCB in '04 and '05. So long as it didn't weigh over 35kg all was fine.

Things have changed though!!!!!!!!!!

Knowing that we checked the Delta Airlines website for the new weight limits once my bike box was packed. No baggage over 23kg it said. That's fine, leave my wetsuit out and a few tee-shirts, I'm well under the weight limit.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Add up the length, width and height of your bags. Anything below 62inches is fine, between 63 - 80inches is subject to a freaking $150 fee. ANYTHING OVER 80INCHES IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!! Holy Crap - My bike box measures 88inches (90 if you look at their website).

Plans B, C & D are all being kicked into action. Plans E, F & G are whizzing around my head and if I get to Plan H I'm in deep in the poo.

Fingers crossed that there is a sensible solution forthcoming SOON!!!

Bike's Packed

Probably my last 2 bike rides this weekend before I fly next week 40miles yesterday, 33miles today. Todays ride followed a 4k swim TT in 57:47. IM swim distance came around in 54:54. Why do I seem to be the only person in the world who's slower with a wetsuit than without? Still, I should be ok for a comfy 60mins come race day.

A week from now we'll be here

Calling number 811

That'll be me in 2 weeks time when at this exact time I'll hopefully be all done and dusted, finishers medal in hand and cheering on the other finishers at Ironman Florida.

The first week of tapering has been a nightmare really but hopefully as it's only 3 weeks out my body won't notice too much that I actually only did one training run (which was awful) in the 5 days from Sunday to Thursday. That was followed by a solid 7mile run, a 4k TT swim and a steady 6mile run on Friday and a very comfortable 40mile bike ride today.

With only one week of work left I'm feeling totally chilled about the race. The fact that I know I've done nowhere near enough training to really race to my potential has taken a lot of pressure off and life is just continuing like normal. Far from living the life that most people lead pre-Ironman I'm just as normal. If I want a drink I'll have a drink (there's a glass of wine in front of me as I type), if I want to eat junk I'll eat junk. There has been chocolate, take aways, biscuits, crisps etc etc etc and in truth it's not going to stop.

If you look at it logically then there's nothing to worry about when Ironman time comes around, it's just a long hard training day. In truth there are only a few hardened athletes at the front who are 'racing', if anybody else races it's just going to lead to a shortened race and a trip to the med tent.

Much scarier than any Ironman race is when you go rooting about and find pictures of yourself racing 6 years ago.

It makes you realise how much you've 'filled out' in your old age. Ok so I'm actually quicker now than I was then, but that was because I couldn't ride a bike to save my life, but jeez could I run. Gone are the days when that skinny little frame goes blasting around a triathlon run course at sub 6min/mile pace, luckily I get onto that run course a lot quicker than I used to. Now if I could combine the run of then with the bike of now I'd be a half decent triathlete (only half decent mind).

Two weeks to go. If I have time there will be a quick update on Wednesday evening when the Florida haircut will be revealed. Be afraid, be very afraid ;-)

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.

Train hard folks.

It's nearly taper time - should I train first?

Race Day is getting ever closer and the nagging doubts are already there.

Why have I been so lazy at times?
Why haven’t I got more long stuff in?
Why is my nutrition not nailed down yet?
How the hell am I going to get through this race in a decent time?

So many more questions but it already feels as though it’s too little to late.

Since the last post I’ve got some decent running done (14.5, 13.5 & 10.5miles) and a solid swim (4k TT), my bike is still the weakness though and the thought of going out for 5-6hrs is still a thought that fills me with dread. The amount of times I’ve planned a century+ bike ride and wimped out far exceeds the amount I’ve done. This weekend is planned to be my final long bike ride and I really need to try for 100+ miles just to ease my mind. I feel that when it comes to the crunch I know the swim won’t be a problem, I know I can knock the run out fairly comfortably, but that damn bike…………… 112miles is so far and to get round the distance and still have my running legs attached is my biggest downfall and the cause of all my failures so far. Maybe if it’s playing on my mind come race day I’ll actually err on the side of caution where the bike is concerned and take it even easier than I need to.

I’ve been having a weekly massage, which may or may not be working but there are no injury worries at the moment so I’ll take that as a good thing. My lovely pain mistress Maria seems constantly amused at the state of my legs though. I think she secretly wonders how someone with so many knots and so much lactic build up can actually move their legs up and down. Thankfully though she doesn’t nag me to stretch, she doesn’t nag me to warm up and down and she doesn’t even nag me to shave my legs.

This weekend will hopefully be a century bike ride on Saturday followed by an evening (and early morning) watching Hawaii on the internet. If I get my backside out of bed early enough on Sunday morning then I’ll jump in the car and head off to Wadebridge for the last local Triathlon of the season. It’ll be good to give the muscles a good blast out after what seems like months and months of plodding along at Ironman pace. I might even sneak a bit of extra training in pre-race as there’s bound to be a big wait between registration and my swim start.

One little tiny month

Today is the 1st of October and one month from now it will be race day!!! Holy Cow where has the time gone? It only seems like yesterday that I was frantically emailing NAS trying to get an International Entry because the race had filled quicker up than I could type. Now I'm getting to the point where I start thinking "Why haven't I trained harder?", "Why have I allowed myself to be so lazy and have so many days off?", "Is that just a tired muscle or an inury appearing?", "Can I finally justify myself by doing a decent Ironman?" along with all the other questions that pop into your head as the race draws closer.

I the coming month however there is still the possibility I might get a couple of races in. This Saturday is the Bude Quadrathlon (Swim/Bike/Kayak/Run) which I did last year. Nobody there is going to have to suffer the sight of me in a kayak again but depending on how things pan out I may well head down there to have a play as part of a relay either doing 2 or all of the other 3 disciplines.

The following Sunday is the Wadebridge Sprint Tri, the last local event of the year. It's one of those races that you always hate when you're there because there is so much hanging around, but it's the last chance saloon if you want to pit your wits against the locals and your clubmates. I've a plan this year 'if' I go, I'll take 2 bikes so that while one bike is stuck in T1 while I'm waiting 3hrs for my start time to come along I can go out on the other one and get some training in. We'll see!!! The biggest downer for this race is that it's the day after Hawaii and last year I only had around 3hrs sleep because I'd been watching the live feed all night/morning.

Well it looks as though Summer has finally left us. We've had out 2 weeks of decent weather and now we're back to howling gales and driving rain. Ah shucks :(
The Countdown in ON!!!