Do The Right Thing

Can you tell how edgy I am about tomorrow’s race? The clue’s in how much I’ve been going on about it. Well this is probably the last post where I’ll be talking about it in the future tense, so the end is in sight!

Having spent the day pacing up and down, packing & re-packing my gear, shaving and then making up my fluids for tomorrow in the middle of the afternoon, and generally not doing enough to take my mind off it, I went for a short run this afternoon - to test out the Nathan Speedbelt IV that I bought yesterday. Race day isn’t the day to try out new equipment! Anyway, the Speedbelt worked out fine, so it’s coming along tomorrow.

The run wasn’t especially brilliant though - an easy 7min/1min run/walk for three miles (24 minutes), but both my thighs felt tired and twitchy on the edge of cramp, which has put me in a bit of a sombre mood. But what will be, will be - nothing to do about it now.

So here’s my game plan for tomorrow:

• Swim (2 laps) - keep the pace slow & steady, and LOOK WHERE I’M GOING. 1900m is far enough as it is, without adding in excursions off course. Target time is 48 minutes (10:00 per 400m, and a little to spare) . . . but I’ll be happy just to get out of the water and not be in last place.
• T1 - slow and steady. No mistakes, and remember to have a drink while I’m there - 200ml will be OK.
• Bike - Lap 1 start to wind up the pace, but not too fast. My target is for something between 17.7 & 18mph for the first 29 miles. Drink on 10 minute intervals, and eat a gel (100 cals) on the twenty-past, and a mini Mars bar (200 cals) on the twenty-to the hour. The food’s in a tri-bag, packed in sequence, with the Mars bars opened & chopped into four mouth-size pieces each.
• Bike - Lap 2. Swap out my bottles at the end of Lap 1 (home team waiting at the roadside - already confirmed with the race organiser as being OK), and then if I’m OK, push the pace up a little - target just over 18mph to give me an overall bike speed of 18mph, and a split of 3 hrs 13 mins. I’m willing to sacrifice some of this though - the weather forecast is for an 18mph headwind on the last third of the bike course in the afternoon. Oh, and heavy rain too.
• T2 - Remembering that we’re not at home to Mr Cock-up, take it slow & steady again!
• Run - 2 laps, 6.5 miles (out & back route) each. Run/walk strategy, with run for 7 mines / walk for 1 min. Take my drinks while I walk, and a gel at the turnaround for each lap. I’ve a mini Mars bar in my fuel belt as back-up / cheer-me-up food.
• Finish.

My goals are:

1. Finish
2. Not come last
3. Be outside the bottom 15%

I’ll happily settle for No. 1 - especially the way my legs feel now!

VonSmallhaussen’s arriving soon, and with Wife & Daughter, will be the third member of my support team. I’m not sure if she can post Tweets from her mobile phone, but if she can, I’m sure she’ll post regular updates of how rough I look at various stages of the race.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 07/04/2008
• Time: 20:06:06

Filed under: Triathlon, Friends, Cycle, No More Excuses, Cleveland Steelman