Thursday 3 November 2011

48hrs

Hey, it’s Thursday morning. Just two days to go! We’re another 24hrs closer to this craziness being over. So what’s been happening?

Chill man, just chill...
I was up at my normal early o’clock, so after bumbling about doing various things (including yesterdays blog) I headed on out for my now regular 4.75mile run. This time I tried to keep my HR as low as possible (below 130bpm) to replicate what I’d like to do at the start of Saturday’s race. It was a real trudge and felt nigh on impossible to do without walking. The pace was still good though and if I can turn along at that pace with that ease on Saturday I’ll gladly mix some walk breaks in to keep things low. Of course it will be a whole heap different then though.
After the run we strolled down to the Ironman Village which seems tiny this year compared to the past. There’s hardly anything there at all, it’s very disappointing. We did manage to time everything we did there perfectly though which was nice! When we got there registration hadn’t opened yet and there was a queue almost out of the car park. I wasn’t having any of that so I headed for the Ironman shop and stalls. We had a quick look around and bought a couple of nicely discounted items (I’m skint remember) and got paid up at the cash tills pretty much straight away. It was fun to spot the first timers with bulging pockets, on woman just ahead of me spend $800 (almost £400). She seemed to almost have one of everything and she was LOVING it.
Busy times in the Iron Village. Ker-ching!!
After the browse around the shops we headed back to the registration tent and guess what………. there was no queue – bonus!! Things there seemed a little slacker than normal too, maybe they were just chilling a little after the initial rush. They even let Shelly come in and walk around with me which they’ve never done anywhere before. Then just as we were about to leave the Iron Village my phone rang……

Our house guest/lodger Stuart had appeared in PCB. A few weeks ago we heard an old BCT club mate from way way back was racing, he was struggling a little with his accommodation plans and ………… well, we’ve got a spare bedroom in our place. So here he is! We met up, got him and his luggage back to our apartment and sat down for a chat and a catch up. It’s been a long time!
Part of the 'tiny' Iron Village. Some of the chosen few!
Once the chatting was over Stuart put his pretty Argon bike together and we headed out for a spin. I was meeting up with fellow Twitter nerds @GardenTri and @trijon who are also racing on Sunday. With both of their real names being Jon it’s slightly confusing, but easy for me to remember at the same time! @trijon brought a couple of racing friends too, so after a little pre meet spin with Stuart we rode a lop of the run course in our little group of 6. It was nicely chilled, an easy pace (except for an effort at the end) and great fun. I got 20miles in altogether and averaged close to 17mph which was amazing, especially considering the stop start nature of the route as it zigzags along the beach road.

After we went our separate ways post ride it was time for food. We were starving!!! So we headed over to Pier Park and ended up in The Olive Garden. It’s somewhere I’ve always fancied but never been to as I’m such a ‘pie & chips’ type fella. It was very different, but very nice. They seem to like their salt there which is ok by me, but I can imagine some folks might find it a little OTT. I enjoyed it though and as an added bonus I fully expect to be ‘cramp free’ today.

Most of my club pals will want these for 2012. Get in :-)
So that’s about it. More of a diary post than anything today. Today, if I get into gear I might manage my first swim in the gulf. Have a browse around the other ‘unofficial’ stalls at Spinnakers and put in my final run before hopefully another meet up this afternoon and the Pre-Race pasta party/race brief. I’ll take my ipod in with me to listen to some tunes for that one.

Enough for now. Go get yourselves training!!!

2 comments:

Healthy Heather said...

Welcome to Florida! I'm cheering for you and hope you have a fab race!

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to tracking you Saturday. WHOOP WHOOP!! xxx