Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

The answer is not quite, but....as of today, we have pretty much wound up our training and preparation. Although I still have a pretty busy week in terms of training, its really just some shortish sharpish sessions, just to keep the legs and arms turning over. The prep in terms of fitness is done. The strenght training is done, there is nothing more I can do in the next 2weeks thats going to make me any fitter. The one thing I (and the other blokes doing) is to stay safe, and keep thinking about how we are going to race, what we are going to do, and preparing for th trip and the day. FUN! Its actually unblievable that there is only 2 weeks to go. During todays run with Jase and Andrew, we kept reminding each other that we would be either warming up, or in the water, or on the bike, still on the bike etc. It was a crazy thought to consider, we had just run 20km, and had another 22km to go if that was the race.....jeez! The funny thing was I went to a mates house this afternoon to give me hand with my car, and when I was leaving he asked when the race was...i was told him 2 weeks, and then realised, I would still be going at 4pmish....man, I had already run, swum in the ocean, gone to Erina to get lunch, gone to buy bulbs for the car, home agian, and then out to his place, and to think, I will still be out there at that time in 2 weeks time....crazy! It will be interesting to listen to what my family get up to whilst I race, its a tough day out there for them to I reckon. Lets hope I dont keep them waiting too long huh! The 2 drivers for me....family and beer....it was a close run thing, but definately the family at the finish line cheering me through would be sensational! Family with beers in hand............whoa!!
Come to think of it, I dont think I will want beer, in fact I know I wont. not for a few hours afterwards anyway. Beer has not even crossed my mind after any race, so thats just nonsense talk from me. I will probably hunt down coke and fruit salad and ice-cream....hhmm!
My mom arrives this Friday after much stressing about her passport being delivered in time with the visa. It seems a long time ago that she said if I was to do the Iron Man she would come over....and now I am going to pick her up in 5 days.....awesome. Its just a pity dad could not come over, but maybe next time. I am actually happier that she will get to see my kids than the race, but having her there is great. I am very grateful for the sacrifice she has made to come over. This race really is not just about the person racing. Everyone around them sacrifices something in some way....thats why I will celebrate my finish with them when I go down that chute.....man thats gonna be fun and emotional!


So this past week was supposed to in my thoughts be lighter, however it worked out to be pretty heavy going, pretty hard to finish all the sets, and involved me getting little sleep! I had to pick up kids and take to preschool on thursday and friday which meant all my sets had to be shuffted in order to fit everything in. It meant I was up at 2.45am on Tuesday to take the car to sydney for service, and then ride for 3hrs, it meant my wednesday I was riding by 4.45am in sydney, and again running by 5.30 on Thursday. Saturday our long ride started at 5am from jases, and the run this morning 5.15! Man those are some very early starts! The hjighlight of the week though was yesterdays long ride / run. The set was only 125km with 8km run off the bike, but cast your mimd back to last week and remember how I felt, terrible headache, very weak, feeling terrible all round because of poor hydration. This week, I was much better. I still think I need to consume about 1liter per hour instead of the 600mls or so, but I felt 200R% better than last week, and, I was able to run off the bike keeping my heart rate in the 140's at sub 5min pace easily (last week at slower pace it was in the 160's - it was though much hotter.) Regardless, I felt a heap better, and it gave me more confidence that I am able to control my race. I will have to watch myself on the bike. I had race pace sets again, and I was keeping my heart rate in the 130's, which is quite low, but I felt my legs were not strong enough to sustain that sort of speed. Hopefully I will remember that on the day. On Friday, I swam a bit with Matt (hurray he is able to swim), and I pulled the pin at 1800m. Thats a first. It was weird, i just could not breath....I could not suck in enough air each breath, so I was stressed I was coming down with something. I could still feel the tighness on the ride on Saturday, but nothing today, so thats good. I did though get up this morning feeling pretty snuffed, so will take something for that.

The totals for the week are :

Swim : 6.5km 3hrs
Run : 65kms 7hrs
Bike : 230km + 45mins TT : 9hrs
Total : 19hrs

Thats a pretty big week for me, and much bigger than I expected 3 weeks out. I do however feel a lot better for it, more prepared, and pretty excited to be counting down the days now. Its good to know there is a heap of blokes going up to support us all doing it. Rollo, Eddie and his family, Matts wife anne, Allen ALM Peasro, Smithy to name a few....its awesome! Many thanks to all of the people making it up there to support.

The count down is really one now, I am truly excited to finally really know that the end is right there, not long at all now!!