Ironman Mark

I entered this race at nearly the last minute and I have not practiced for it properly.  I’ve only done one long bike ride since Lanzarote in May.  I’ve been injured and ill since then so I have not done much training and I have gained a little weight.  I’ve not tapered as I have not done enough training to taper from.  I’ve probably done only two runs that are only just over half the  distance that I have to run tomorrow.  I have done a couple of continuous swims that are more than I need to swim tomorrow but I am nowhere near as quick as I was in May.  Oh dear.

But this gives me a fantastic opportunity to see how I can do.  All other other middle distance races have been ironman prep.  I’ve had the objective of going well, going steady, finishing without blowing.  Tomorrow, I don’t need to do that.  I can bike harder that normal.  I can run faster than normal and I can see what happens if I blow up big time.  So, tomorrow is about exploring the limits.  And getting up early.

Swim

This will be the same as normal.  Swim hard to start with and then aim to get a good draft so that I can ease off.

Bike

Aim to go moderately hard for the first two hours and then hard for the last hour.  I haven’t ridden the course but it seems to be a rolling-type course rather than flat or hilly.  The idea is to end up with my legs feeling shattered at the end of it.

Run

From what I can see from last year’s results, the course looks to be quite tough and/or long.  The aim is not to negative split the run.  I want to run so fast for the first half that I will be struggling at the end.  I will expect to get pins and needles.  Probably after 25 mins or so.  I’ll try to run through them but will allow myself a minute to massage my foot if I need to.  I think that there are some hills on the run.  I want to run them all.  At no stage do I want to walk. 

So what is success?  Enjoying myself and feeling as if I couldn’t have gone harder (or that I went too hard).