It's not the end

 Ever since I dreamed up becoming an Ironman I always wondered what I, or anyone competing in such an event, would feel like the night before. It would be the longest and hardest day of my life, would I even be able to sleep? This is a question I am desperate to answer and shall do so upon my return next Wednesday when I am an Ironman. This will be my last post before the event as I leave early Friday morning and from then on have a busy time organising my kit and myself as well as possibly trying to enjoy the experience and the location.

  Before I get to Friday however I am working Wednesday and Thursday. I was due to be doing the float shifts ie. 9am-9pm but I managed to swap shift to the earlies (7am-7pm) so I can get back that bit earlier. This means I can get my kit ready and get to bed early on the Thursday night ready to leave early on Friday. Here is my itinerary for the weekend;

Friday:

     Registration & explore expo - 1130

     Swim session - 1330 - 1400 (time for me to assess the jellyfish situation)

       * Check in at hotel *

     Race briefing - 1700

     Pasta party - 1830

        * Double check bike, sort kit out and put into transition bags *

Saturday:

     Transition bike and bag check in - 0900

         * Pasta meal and early bed *

Sunday:

     Pre-race routine - 0400

     Transition open - 0500

     Ironman Wales start - 0700

     Finish line party - 2200

  As you can see the day I arrive on the Friday is busy but by doing this it gives me a free day on the Saturday so I can chill out with my family and enjoy the area. It will be a huge weight lifted when I have racked my bike up on the Saturday. All I have to worry about then is getting myself down to the start the following morning.

  Instead of looking at the future I am now going to back track to the Reading Olympic Triathlon I competed in on Sunday. I had always wanted to tick this one off as it was were the first triathlon in the UK took place in 1982 with only 22 competitors. Although many experts say to start tapering (reducing exercise in the days before an event) for an Ironman 3 weeks before the event I decided to still compete in this event. For me mentally I had to carry on going for my own confidence. As an Ironman is half mental then I needed to pay attention to that just as much as my body's physical demands. I left alone for the triathlon at 6am (I seem to have done so many now I don't get or need the support a novice would anymore). I registered and began getting my kit racked in transition. I had a male competitor next to me who I can only describe as patronising and slightly sexist. Women were in quite short supply for the Olympic distance so I was surrounded by men. He seemed to stereotypically assume that as I was a female I had no idea what I was doing and was constantly querying and criticising the way I was setting up my transition. A competitor’s transition area is a personal space and I set mine up the same way every time. There were parts of his transition I didn't think worked but I kept stum and rightfully so, if it works for him what do I care? However, by the end of his sideways glances, tuts and comments I wasn't the sweet me anymore and when he queried why I had racked my bike in the direction I had done I snapped and just said because that’s how I like it and demonstrated how I would take it out with ease. I still continued to hear him ask other competitors about what direction to rack the bike properly. I could've screamed that in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter and it's personal preference over anything. By the time I had gone to the toilet and come back he had actually changed the way his bike was racked so it matched mine! He may have had all the gear but he was arrogant and loved the sound of his own voice. Thankfully I didn't see him again. 

  I had decided to try out my Kinesio tape among other things today, however as I hadn't put it on when I woke up I didn't give it time to stick so when I hastily put it on at transition it kept peeling off. When I tried to put on my wetsuit it kept rolling off, today was obviously not the day to try it and I went off towards the swim start tapeless. Whilst lingering by the race briefing location by the lake I bumped into my brothers best friends Beau and Ben. Beau is a somewhat seasoned triathlete, competing in the events for years. I remember when I still lived with my parents we would occasionally bump into each other swimming at Andover leisure centre. He is a good swimmer and I remember battling it out with him in the same lane, so much so at times I made myself feel sick by how hard I was pushing myself to not be swum past. Anyway, he then got Ben involved and they are both yet to persuade my brother to join them. I can honestly say I could never imagine my brother in lycra so they've got a battle on their hands to convince him to become a triathlete. We had a chat about Wales and what events we had competed in over the summer (which I think annoyed some people trying to listen intently to the race briefing) and then wished each other luck. They were in the wave before me so had a head start over me. Last time I raced against Ben it was in April and we were neck and neck during the run until he finally broke away beating me by 10seconds overall (see post 'It's good to be back' 10.04.13).  I was annoyed we couldn't have a proper battle between the three of us to give some extra competition to spur on a PB as well as assess my progress.

  Unsurprisingly with events that operate a wave system it fell behind time. My start time of 8.30am was postponed until 8.45. My wave included male 40+ and all females. The swim started in the water and I placed myself 2 rows from the front as I knew I could get away quick. I think the race organiser may have scared people when he said people will swim over you if you are too slow as I had a massive area of personal space. The swim was relatively painless with no issues, I just kept at a consistent pace. It was around the same pace I would be doing during the Ironman the following week. My transition was slower than I intended at 3m27 (pretty shocking actually) but then I wasn't going for a record breaking race. The bike leg was 2 laps of 22km and was told that it was my 'favourite’ word; undulating. Due to previous experiences I associate this as a euphemism for hilly but today it was the opposite. There were probably only 2 big climbs (per lap) both of which were easily achievable. I instantly noticed when leaving transition that my speedometer was not working on the bike so I couldn't see my speed or distance. I then noticed that my Garmin had not registered as switching sport to the cycle leg and thought I was still swimming so I couldn't see my heart-rate. Now I had no way of assessing myself. My strategy testing was getting rapidly worse and it seemed to be an event to show what can go wrong with kit and technology. After about 10k I had had enough and managed to put the Garmin onto cycle mode by biting the buttons, now I was in business. I had wasted 20 minutes not knowing how I was doing so now I had to make up for it. I kept to my strategy of keeping my heart-rate above 160mph and finished the bike in 1h28. I was still annoyed that I had wasted time and energy sorting the watch out but shit happens. As a further note I hope that the competitor who crashed on a tight corner and was taken to A&E was not too badly injured. 

  So onto the 10k run. I completed transition in another pretty slow time 2m17 and then headed out on the 6 lap flat course. The weather was lovely and I just enjoyed my run. It was a pretty easy course even if slightly monotonous after doing it 6 times but then again I don't mind running laps now (I think 6 may be my limit for enjoyment though). The run was slightly over 10k at 11k and I completed at my consistent run speed in 1h04. This brought my finish time to 3h09 and a PB. The woman who gave me my medal said I still sounded fresh, to which I replied I hope so I've got quadruple that distance in week! To put my PB into perspective I got 3h57 at the Snowdonia Slateman in May. Although it was a much harder course I still thought this was a noticeable improvement. I also got no pain in my knee despite not strapping it up but did conclude that it was hard to tell, as there were no downhill sections, which is when the pain really kicks in.

  I saw Ben and Beau as I was packing my transition up and they wished me well again before saying goodbye until the triathlon season starts again in 2014. Since looking at the results Ben and I both got a time of 3h09! (I did over hear his mates taking the mick saying he still had one lap of the run left, if so that's true it means this one is mine and by a bigger margin of 10 seconds this time!).

  I went straight to work after the triathlon as I had offered to help out due to lots of short staff due to sickness. It ended up being a long day as I didn't get home until 9pm. I have remained true to my healthy lifestyle for a month now and have not regretted it at all but I have never wanted a glass of red wine more than I did on this night. I did not give in as I knew that the Ironman is more important and had a cup of tea before heading to bed. This was a sure sign of my will power and commitment to becoming an Ironman. I am SO looking forward to a beer on that finish line though!

  I had days off on Monday and Tuesday. I had to take my car to have its brakes fixed early Monday and then went for a sports massage in preparation for Sunday on Tuesday. I have never had a sports massage and always have a sore back, which gets increasingly worse when cycling or running for long periods of time. This is probably a mixture of my appalling natural posture as well as the hunched position us road cyclists adapt to on the bike. I was expecting a lot of pain when the woman dug deep into my tight muscles and I was right. Even though she didn't go too deep as she didn't want it to hinder me for the weekend my back still feels bruised. However, after getting some severe cramp in my calves recently, the worst when swimming last week, the massage has worked wonders on my tight calf muscles. She said if I carry on with these events, which is a definite, I should really consider doing a deep tissue massage more often. You need to look after your body especially when I put it through so much stress.

  I had to work on Wednesday and Thursday before going away. On my lunch on Wednesday I decided to go for my 3mile run loop. When I told Dan he was pretty annoyed as he said I should be relaxing. I was just finding it tough to stay still and wanted one final test of my fitness. I ended up getting a nice and comforting time of 34minutes and I wasn’t pushing it at all.

My weight chart

  On another positive note I mentioned that losing weight would hopefully be a natural progression with all my training. The graph shows since January, but particularly in the last few weeks, that it has happened. I am nearly back to my lowest weight. The last time I was there it was over 4 years ago before uni and when I first met Dan. I would like to lose another stone until I get to my ideal weight but with my training and Ironman dreams not fading this should happen. On that note, will I continue this blog after I have completed my road to an Ironman? I have been asked and asked myself this many times and I have decided I will. This blog has been a great way for me to track my progress, increase confidence and let my friends and family know my plans and progress. I have other events to compete in next year apart from Ironman, the DW canoe race and the channel swim and I know my dream for a sub 12hour Ironman will never fade. I won't change the blog name but after Sunday this shall now be my blog for the challenging events I shall put myself through. When my desire to stop testing myself physically and mentally goes then I suppose so does the blog. I doubt I'll be able to write in this length about pugs and babies no matter how cute they may be so lets hope my need to push my limits stays with me for a while to come. So over and out, I'm off to pack for the weekend. The next time I write on here I shall be an Ironman. My road to becoming and Ironman is nearly over but my road to bigger, better and faster things is only just beginning.

Have I got everything?