Hindsight

I’ve been a bit disheartened with it all lately; my average miles per hour on my long training rides isn’t fast enough to make the race day cut off points. This doesn’t mean I’ll just take longer or not get a medal, they physically stop you racing. So if you don’t finish the first bike leg in time, that’s it, race over, you can’t carry on. I was telling myself if I can do the first lap fast enough I can ease up a bit on the second one, but I’ve now found out there is a time limit on both laps! I have considered throwing the towel in but part of the reason for doing this was the commitment. So I’m trying to really push myself in the last few weeks and keep my fingers crossed for a miracle on the day. I will however have to push for the entire 112miles, maybe you’re supposed to? But I thought you were supposed to save energy for the run!? – I can’t think about the run, my mind just wont let me, if I don’t cycle my legs off, I wont get to even try the run so I’ll give everything I’ve got on the cycle and worry about the run on the day, as someone told me at the beginning; you only have to do it once.  Going back to the child birth connection; everyone tells you it hurts and you know it will but you can’t really comprehend just how much and its different for everyone. So the run is just something that’s filed in the box at the back of my head that I’ll have to deal with when the time comes.  I’d like to take an hour off the run time allowance and add it to the cycle, but that’s not how it works. I still don’t know why some IM races get 16hours and others get 17, I’d really like the extra hour.

In my moments of gloom I was thinking of how awful being a DNF will be, but I’ve decided to try and be gracious about it. I’ve enjoyed the training and the dream and I’ve broken new goals with my running, this weekend should be 18 miles. The question I don’t have an answer to is; will I feel compelled to try again?

Anyway, onwards and upwards – we did Haywards Heath sprint triathlon last weekend, just to practice putting things together etc, the weather was hideous, I nearly didn’t do it but it eased up a bit to being just horrible so on we went. It felt like we weren’t moving at times the wind was so strong. The rain wasn’t nice but we were already wet from the swim so not too much difference. The run was 4 short but hilly laps and wasn’t as easy as it should have been after all my training but I was probably trying to go quicker than IM pace. Carsten overtook me and finished a lap ahead but I’d expect no less.

…………………………………………………….

How do I feel; I think if we knew at the start of the training what we know now then I would have pushed the cycling a lot more – each session would have been full on to try and pick up my pace.  Like Melanie I worry about the cut-off’s on the cycle leg, but know that if I do make them then come hell or high water I’ll make the run!

We have the Swashbuckler half ironman next week (1900m swim / 55mile cycle / half marathon) and I’m half excited and half worried about it.  Though conversely to the ironman it’s not the cycle but the swim that’s worrying - a 1900m tidal river swim with a cut off of 1hr.  We’ve done a few lake swims this year now (well I’ve done 3 and Melanie’s done 1) and in one of them I did 2000m in 43min, but the last swim was a bit of a disaster.  It was so cold that the first lap was swum with brain freeze! and Melanie had to get out after the second lap as it was so cold.  If it’s that cold for the Swashbuckler we’ll be in trouble.

After that we have 6 weeks to go before the Ironman, and in-between a 100 mile cycle and an Olympic triathlon … roll on … must concentrate on the outcome and continue to use the mantra ‘I will be an Ironman’.