Training Day

So last weekend I ventured down to wimbleball lake for the Ironman 70.3 Training day hosted by a variety of coaches and serious athletes. This weekend also gave me a chance to see the accomadation that ill be staying at race weekend.

The accomadation was very nice and I look forward to spending abit of time there in a few weeks rather than arriving post 8pm and leaving 5.45am the next day, brief to say the least...

So Up at 5.15am and out the door 30 minutes later, around 20-30 drive down to the lake and wanted to be there early to get setup and ready. At around 6.30-7 lots of people started to arrive and by 7am we were ready to go, a quick day overview and then into wetsuits and down to the water. They had mapped out a similar shaped route to race day just a shorter distance, we did a good warmup running up from transition and doing some stretches.

Getting into the water I found to be lovely and warm as the lake in Snowdon would make the polar icecaps seem warm! We were shown the course and then practised a mass start which for me was great, within 4 / 5 strokes I was at the front of the pack (although not at all a race) I was swimming a comfortable pace and finished the course second place, I think in the race I will aim to be somewhere near the front so I can get a clear run.

We then did some swimming drills with the coaches concentrating on breathing techniques and drafting tips which were all very helpful.

Out of tthe water and a quick shower we got geared up for the bike leg and ventured out, very lesuirely pace and chatting to the coaches about certain areas on the route (dangerous corners etc) I found the course to be very nice rolling hills with only 2 major hills which take abit of effort to get up. 1 lap done with a few stops at a very lesiurely 2hours which I am very happy with as 4 hours on race day was my initial target.

We then had a Q+A session with the coaches and race directors where they answered everything that you could possibly want to know on race day so I now feel very prepared.

I sat out of the run lap after the Q+A as my knee is still recovering, after chatting to some coaches regarding my knee it was discussed that my trainers could be the issue (ive had them over a year now_ so that is probably it, new pair will be on the way shortly.

Nice 3 hour drive home feeling confident that I can finish the race with a few main pointers I picked up.

1 - Dont push to hard on the bike
2 - Dont push to hard on the bike
3 - Dont push to hard on the bike

5 weeks from this day till race day!