Three days until my next attempt at
reaching my first ever podium finish in a triathlon and a berth at the 2014
Ironman 70.3 World Championships.
The past two weeks have only been about 80%
pleasing in terms of the training I have completed and how fit I feel from it
but I have made some simple mistakes which have contributed highly to this.
The training I have missed has been minor
but noticeable. Predominantly, this has been my long ride only being of 3 – 3 ½
hours instead of the desired 4 – 4 ½. This puts a little doubt in my mind about
overall endurance and how fresh I am going to feel when I hit the run during
the race. Also, I have not quite worked on all of the elements of my swim. I
have not put any real time into working on my kick which was meant to be one
area of focus throughout this build up.
There were also the bike mechanical
problems I had. Two weeks ago I had my bike serviced and as soon as I got it
home and began to ride, the SRAM Return-to-Centre gear lever for my rear
derailleur wasn’t able to shift the gears in one direction. This is just one of
those things that can’t be predicted when it will happen. General wear and tear
is to blame, so, back I went to the shop. As this happened just before the
Australia Day long weekend, it meant, getting a new set of levers was going to
take extra-long. I didn’t have my race bike for a total of nine days which left
me to grind out my bike sessions on my not so well maintained road bike. But, I
pushed on and still had some decent sessions. When I got back on my time trial
race bike I was very happy and had a terrific long ride on Saturday. This was
my last big session before my taper and I did my best ever time up the 3km
climb which I go up on my way to Gisborne. I hope this is a good omen for the
undulating bike course at Geelong.
I am glad the race has finally come around.
I have been anxiously waiting for it just so I will know if I qualify for the
World Champs. By about 3:30pm on Sunday, my fate will be sealed at the
qualification ‘Roll Down Ceremony’.
The forecast for Sunday is not looking
pretty. 38 degrees and a northerly wind up to 45 km/h. The race starts between
7 – 7:30am and I will, hopefully, only be out there for about 4 hours 15
minutes so the heat shouldn’t hit me too hard and I’ve had plenty of chances
recently to train for it. The wind doesn’t worry me too much either. On the
bike, if you have a headwind one way then you will have a tail wind coming
back. However, it’s the crosswinds that will play havoc. I feel prepared for
that as I often battle the wind on my rides to Gisborne. Generally it is from
the north-west which means head and crosswinds. Also, I think all of the
strength work I have done riding in a big gear at a low cadence will prove a
vital asset when battling the wind on Sunday.
My taper has been as good as I can remember
for any race. I have only backed off during the final weeks before the race
instead of gradually decreasing the training load over two weeks. I think this
has left me feeling sharper and I don’t feel fatigued at all. I have taken two
full rest days but one of them was due to twisting my ankle last Thursday while
having a leisurely kick of soccer with my Dad. I was very sore for a couple of
days and it doesn’t feel perfect but riding isn’t an issue at all and I can
still run normally. It hurts a little still but nothing that will stop me from
going my hardest on Sunday.
I have trained short and sharp on each of
the past 4 days and will repeat this for each discipline tomorrow and Saturday.
I have, also, had an excellent week diet wise. I have been overeating recently
which has meant I am a couple of kilos heavier than I wanted to be for this
race. But as I have decreased my calorie/carbohydrate intake significantly the
past 4 days in preparation for my carbo-loading tomorrow and Saturday, I have
dropped a kilo and realised what I should’ve been doing all along. I just wasn’t
careful enough with my portion sizes and thought I needed it because I was
training so hard. Still, it’s just another learning experience which I will
benefit from greatly in the future.
And tell me, what is the most important
thing you have learned while preparing for a big race?
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