I was up at half six yesterday morning and was swimming in Salford Quays before most of my friends were up. It was my first time swimming in the Quays and I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of fish and overall water quality… probably just as well given how much quay water I inadvertently drank!
What I am most impressed with is my current level of fitness in recent weeks: it’s been a difficult balancing act between big days out, short sharp training sessions and enforced days off just stretching out and eating nutritionally-rich foods whilst avoiding the coughs and colds that are doing the rounds. So far, it’s going well. It’s funny, I’m up near Edinburgh today, where my idea of chilling out will has been doing a Tough Mudder obstacle course event with friends.
My prediction for my first Ironman in a fortnight is that I shall be slow on the swim. My open water swimming technique has improved, but I still find myself zig-zagging and labouring whilst others can slither past me effortlessly. I’m just hoping for a nice easy paddle in calm Mediterranean waters, trying to avoid the melee and churn of thousands of swimmers. Fat chance.
I should be able to hold my own on the cycle; statistically from shorter distance triathlons this season I am faster than the average cyclist. As long as there are no sustained steep hills, I should be fine on my time trial bike. The descents should be interesting as I’ve not done many long descents this season. It won’t be physically tiring but will require me to exercise judicious use of the brakes so I don’t come off, slow down unnecessarily or trash the brakes entirely.
For the run, in relative terms I’d have done the lion’s share of the work, so I am hoping that my legs will just carry me through the last 26.2 miles. I did a 21 mile trail run last Saturday, so I’ll just have to eke out an extra five or so miles and I’m there. At times I’m hesitant, other times enthusiastic about the Ironman. At any rate, it’s now officially too late to train, so I just hope the last six months’ training will pay off on the day.
Keep going
GeekintheHills
Geek in the Hills 