Almost there ...

Last weekend, 3 of us from Tony's group decided to head back to Taupo for our long training sessions, instead of attending the Auckland Ironman Camp. With all 3 of us being Ironman virgins, we wanted to train more on the course, so we could get familiar with it.

It was amazing just how many other athletes were there - more than 2 weeks ago. It felt good training down there, as it made you feel that you were already part of that special bunch of people known as Ironmen (or Ironwomen!).

So our weekend consisted of:

Saturday
35 min swim – OK, but not great – better than 2 weeks ago though!

6:10 cycle – 150kms

25 min run

The weather was lovely with the usual wind coming up giving us some grief on the bike heading back to Taupo - but you get to expect that. The cycle is getting easier with the greater familiarity of the course.

Sunday
50 min swim – did about 2km and was very pleased with myself. I stayed calm, and managed to swim along the buoys. Another friend of mine was down in Taupo doing some training for the Triathlon Nationals coming up soon, and was like a sheep dog and kept swimming in circles around us to keep us together and check on us. Thanks Bronwyn, I sure wish I could swim half as well as you! The water was lovely and flat – very happy with the swim overall. For the first time I thought to myself, YES I can do the swim. I relaxed, sang songs in my head, and just swam from point to point as I was told to do .... now I just need to do this in 3 weeks time!

1:30 cycle - just a short cycle on the course to get the legs turning over.

3:10 run – did about 27-28km. The first lap took 2:15 which is my half marathon pace, so pleased with that – the next 45 minutes was more painful. However, just as we got changed into our run gear and head off, the weather changed from being fine, to being low cloud and very light drizzle. How perfect is that? My perfect running weather!!

So a good training session – the weather was great with the rain coming through just as we started our long run – couldn’t have asked for more than that. We all felt sorry for the athletes that were doing their long ride today in the rain - not the greatest of experiences.

The body was completely shattered when I got home, as sitting in the car for 4 hours straight after a long run is not ideal. However, I had a massage booked for Monday late morning which was just what I needed and felt a lot better after that.

Overall, I have been pleased with my drinking and eating on the bike and run. My stomach seems to cope with the endless gels (very lucky) and I am a lot better at drinking than I used to be a year ago.

I feel that I am as ready as I can be for Ironman on Saturday, 1st March. I must admit that I am so "over" all the training, and just want the next 3 weeks to hurry by .... but I understand that is a natural feeling at this stage of the training. Now - the main concentration is staying healthy and uninjured ... do not trip over anything!!!