OK, so now the secrets out my first and main event of the year will be Ironman South Africa. Both myself and Mat Stephenson have entered. Also Pete Norris from Cyprus has entered and for those who have served in Cyprus Haldane has also entered. Mat and I were planning to do Ironman Brazil but it filled up over the Christmas period. It would have been ideal as it was a month after the London Marathon and would have given us 5 months to train for it. We were disappointed when it filled up but we had a chat and decided it would have to be either South Africa or France. Mat didn't want to do France due to the amount of hills on the bike course, which left South Africa. The only down side I could point out was that it was on the 5th April and I thought it wouldn't leave enough time to train for it. So the day came and I decided to go for it, I entered with 84 days til race day. So the race is on now to be Ironman fit by April, the other concern is I will only have 3 weeks exactly to recover in time for the London Marathon. I will either be totally wasted for the marathon or it will feel easy without having to swim 2.4 miles and cycle 112 miles as a warm up! Other key races for 2009 will include the Dambuster, Inter-Services standard distance and middle distance, the Cleveland Steelman and Wensleydale Big Cheese which are middle distance, and a few sprints and olympics spread over the summer. All of these plans are subject to remaining healthy and injury free. This week has been another good week for training, highlights include a 60 mile ride and a 17 mile run plus all the other hours i've put in. I've been using the turbo quite a bit which surprises me and when using it i've been on the new time trial bike. I'm getting used to it and its feeling comfortable but i've not yet used it on the road. I haven't decided if I will use it for the Ironman or the sponsored bike from www.hilderthorpecycles.co.uk I will have to do some tests during training to see which I feel can offer the best balance of speed and comfort. Time will tell.
6 comments:
SA is a beautiful country and on my list of places I must visit - are you planning on making a holiday out of it?
Is the bike course relatively flat? If so the TT bike will undoubtedly be faster and should deliver you on the run in a better condition (nice steep seat angle on the Giant TT bike).
But the BIG question is - are you gonna kick Mat's butt?
T man, just me going with no family, sharing with Mat at the hotel. The course is virtually flat so I know it makes sense to use the TT bike but with the british weather its proving extremely difficult to get on the road on it and see how I feel.
I have a list of prioritys for the race and given the time to train for the event the list is as follows. This list is in order of priority.
1. Get there in one piece and the bike in one piece as I have 3 flights to get there.
2. Don't get eaten by sharks on the swim.
3. Just finish
4. If I finish beat my last IM time of 10:58;08
5. Beat Mat or at least give him a run for his money!
6. After the finish drink beer ;-)
3. Beat Mat
and check properly before leaving comments that I've not left stuff on the bottom after editing.
Hey Daz. I like the sound of that bike run session - 60 mile ride followed by a 17 mile run. that is a good session indeed. If you can get the training on the TT bike on your turbo I would race that bike. If the course is not technical you can just sit on the bike and blast away . . . Oh yes, i forgot; it's 112 miles! Maybe spin away!
OK just to clarify, it says "highlights" of the week. Please note I did the long ride and long run on different days.
Blimey, and I thought that you were a nails northerner!
Says me who rarely runs over 5 miles these days!
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