Week 1. Where has the time gone?

Wow, after some 30 plus weeks of training, my ironman event is only days away! Where has the time gone? Oh, man what have I done?

Being in my second week of tapering still meant training had to be completed, just less volume. To be honest, intensity had reduced somewhat too. The only thing that increased was probably stress and anxiety.

Monday was the start of my final training week and the final week of my tapering. I took a usual run commute to work but started from Bournville instead of Kings Norton which chopped about 3k off my run. My legs felt kinda heavy on this run so was pleased to run a shorter route. Once home my anxieties really escalated as I started to pack my gear up ready for the impending event and hoping I'd remembered everything. Couldn't find my cod liver oil. Hmm, who would have moved that?!

Crazy start Tuesday - I rolled out of bed and headed straight to the pool for a swim. My tapered swim was a 45 minute session and I covered 1400m. Once back home, the panics kicked back in... I had to load my bicycle onto the back of my dads car, pack my bags, faff, (found my missing cod liver oil which the Mrs had moved) and then drove to Southport. Yes indeed, figured I would chill out for a week in Southport with my family and complete my event on the weekend. Hopefully will chill out a little after the event before I have to head back home. Cycled for an hour in the evening - a nice 30k trip along coastal roads. Wednesday saw me complete my cycling and run training sessions. I cycled a quick half hour, 15k route, along the sea front of Sefton. Once off the bike, I ran for just under an hour mostly running along the sea front again. Despite not swimming today, my thoughts were telling me that maybe I'd never swim in Redditch swimming pool again. Wow, there's a thought! Thursday was an easy day with just a 1,100m swim. This was a pool based swim in Southport. This pool charged a whopping £7 something and the pool was pretty minging. I guess the sea wasn't really a better solution.

Friday was a rest day. A rest day of sorts. No exercise took place but I spent a period of time cleaning my bike. My transition bags were also filled with my gear which was a bit of a faff. I tried to rest some and made sure that lots of carbs were eaten.

Early trip to Southport pool on Saturday morning, only to find the pool didn't open till 8 a.m on a weekend. Figured it would have been a good idea to get into water at the same time as my race begins tomorrow. Oh well. Returned to the pool at 8 a.m and it was still closed. Hmm, maybe I wasn't meant to swim today! Re-packed my transition bags (must buy a sports towel) and a little later today will head to Macron Stadium. At the stadium I hope to buy a towel and figure out where I can get a shuttle buss to Pennington Flash tomorrow. My bike will be racked at the transition area in Pennington Flash and my transition bags handed in today. Tonight I will attend a race briefing back at the stadium.  Tomorrow I will have to get up around 3 a.m, add ironman tattoo's to my arms (race numbers) and head to the Macron Stadium. Argh, really not long now until my race. Will keep you all posted! Wish me well!