Test Day

So the test day came around - A half ironman in sunny Kent
1.9km swim in a lake
90km bike
Half marathon

I decided in order to be there for the early start I would sleep in the back of the car.  I needed to share this with my bike, so ended up with a greasy black sleeping bag in the morning after spooning with the bike all night!

The buzzer sounded and we were off........

34 minutes for the swim, I was pleased with this, feel I could keep going at this pace for the full ironman, giving maybe a sub 1:10.  Of course dependent on the Welsh coast treating us kindly - currents and swell could be a challenge on the day.

A little long in transition - (3 minutes) I forgot to kick hard in the last few minutes of the swim, so with no blood in my legs they wouldnt do what my brain was telling them and I stumbled around trying to get the wetsuit off like a drunken bum.

Before long I was on the bike - 2:46 for 90km, what I would call "comfortably hard".  I wanted to be capable of running a good half marathon off of it.  Experienced a slight issue with my carb drink as i didnt mix it properly and ended up with chunks of powder floaters, meaning I had to take a swill of carb drink and a swill of water then mix them in my mouth while riding.  Few learnings from that, shake the carb drink properly.........

Onto the run and maybe a little fast at the outset as I checked my watch and was runing 3:54 per km at the outset, I checked this to a more respectable 4.45 and managed to keep this pace for the duration, giving a 1:39.  Enjoyed the heckling by the two blokes in a "hairdressers style" convertable driving up and down the line of runners.  Some really supportive locals on the route, although its torture passing a picnic and a 4 pack of beers.

I needed 6 hours to confirm I was on my plan
In my mind I was sure I was ahead of plan and could beat 5:30
I was ecstatic with 5:05

What else did I learn: Nutrician worked, could maybe up the intensity on the bike a little, hills on the bike will hurt in Wales, if everything goes according to plan (especially not killing my legs on the bike) I should stand a chance of holding a marathon close to 3:30 off the bike and when a dog runs out in the road in front of you, point your bike straight at it, accelerate, shout loudly and it will move.....

So onward and upward...  Training programme now kicks up another gear, completed 18.5 hours this week - a lot of focus on the bike now to create more natural speed without pushing heart rate too high, may break 1000km on the bike this month for the first time!

On child duty this weekend as Emma is away so I need to find ways of keeping the children amused while I do a turbo session.

Looking forward to a rest week next week and a bit of recovery, only triathlon could call a 13 hour training plan a rest week :-)

Its all getting exciting now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel after the last years training.  The seasons started and the real countdown begins.

4 MONTHS TO GO TO IRONMAN WALES!