I am sitting in my hotel room on Wednesday afternoon trying to avoid too much output. I have done my allotted workouts for the day and don’t start carboloading until tomorrow. So I’m sitting here drinking water. Had some good news on the internet just now, the weather forecast has been amended and doesn’t mention rain anymore. However, it does say that it will be windy. That is a bit of concerm, I went for a ride this morning with my training wheels and they were doing some strange things in the crosswinds. Should prove interesting if there are crosswinds with my race wheels. Still, seeing as we are normally heading up valley, or down valley, it will hopefully be less of an issue.

A few weeks ago, I wrote some thoughts after reflecting on the last nine months.

Great Moments

• Riding on a really hot, clear day with low humidity. I realised that I would be OK no matter how hot the weather was.
• Busting out mile repeats easily on six minutes. This was a big deal for me because this pace was once thought to be unachievable.
• Meeting new friends both in Hong Kong and at the races that I attended.
• Cranking TT work and watching as my legs become more powerful each week.
• Moving up from the slowest guy in the pool to a reasonable swimmer in six months.
• Watching my body fat drop while my weight holds steady.
• All my races. No matter how slow you are or what the weather is doing, there is always something fun about pushing yourself in competition.
• Learning how to manage personal expectations.
• 90% of my sessions. I love to train!

• My accident and wondering if my race was gone. Cutting my leg open two days later and feeling like the whole world was conspiring against my competing.
• Missing sessions or having low quality sessions.
• Getting heat exhaustion a few times and keeling over.

I thought that it would be interesting to lay out my goals in advance of the race. My do-able goals are:

• slower on the swim than Wildflower (at the back of my mind I have been wondering… Was it short?);
• the same as my Wildflower bike split (hope those Centuries will be paying off on race day); and
• 30 secs per km slower on the run. I had a blazing run at Wildflower. In the heat of Hong Kong, this is the pace that I have been able to manage off the bike without much pain.

My Superstretch hopes that the taper kicks in and I can run at Wildflower intensity the whole way. That is a real stretch due to the lack of running that I have been able to do in the heat. However, Wildflower was also a surprise. I always like to have a Superstretch at the back of my mind. I beat it at Wildflower but this goal is a lot more aggressive.

Back Up Goal à Finish at all costs.

Non-time goals. Even thought I have a lottery slot, it would be really great if I could qualify for Hawaii, even via rolldown. Pulling that off moves all the time goals to second position.

Well, I expect it to be hard. My strategy for the swim is to stay out of the main pack. When I am in the main group, I have a tendency to freak out and the mental stress is a waste of energy. Once the swim has settled, I will slowly work my way to the inside and swim with the people who are going at the same speed as me.

For the bike, it is a strategy of head down and steady aerobic pushing. I plan on pushing mentally on the Richter Rollers and the Cawston Out and Back. These were the two most difficult sections of the ride when I did it in June and I think that they will be where I can make up the most time. At the Yellow Lake rest station, I will do my best to pound fluids and some solid food. The downhill into town is an ideal time to get the stomach to clear.

The run is a journey into the unknown. My runs after my Centuries have been suffer-fests in Hong Kong. However, I am sure that it will be cooler in Penticton. This is where I can make up a lot of time with mental strength and keeping a cool head at the start. My hill strategy is the same as always, slow down but don’t walk. Avoid going anaerobic at any stage (except the end). I expect the bottom to drop out somewhere around the turnaround. Maybe before on the climb or maybe after on the return along the lake. The out and back nature of the run is a big boost mentally because there will be plenty of people around. A union of suffering. Remembering my February marathon, KMs 25-35 were the crux. Fear is a good way to describe my view of the run. However, it is my strongest event and I hope to do well.

Well, the taper is in full swing now. Not supposed to do much and therefore am worried about doing any exercise. This gives me a huge amount of time to fill. Going to head up to Penticton tomorrow morning and can’t wait to get there. Short swim planned for this afternoon after the return drive to Vancouver from Whistler. Had a long hot shower and that really relaxed my muscles. Let’s hope that they are getting stronger each day. I have managed to avoid packing on the weight. Three days until the carbo loading begins.

Checked out the forecast this morning and the weather is predicted to cloud over towards the end of the week. I hope we get heat for race day. As the weather is out of my control, there is no point in worrying what the day will bring.

Assembled my bike yesterday and discovered that my right speedplay was stuffed during my accident. The bearing housing was damaged and this creates a lot of friction in the system. Off to the bike store this afternoon to get a replacement. Will also buy a new pair of bike shoes in Penticton. Nine months of hammering has dusted my current shoes.

I saw this at the bottom of an e-mail this morning. "Distance Is the Last Refuge Of the Slow" It makes me smile and sums up the exact reason why I started to go long. The longer you go the more mental and less physical the race becomes.

The swim was pretty rough with lots of waves breaking. However, the water was only about four feet deep so when I got tired I just stood up for a while. Peter Reid did the race and hung around after to hand out medals to the kids. Nice gesture. At the dinner after the race, he signed autographs for the kids. I waited and got a "best of luck on the Big Island" autograph. Must be tough to stay race focused when you have to do sponsorship stuff all week. He’s not racing in Penticton but flying to Chicago to do Mrs. T’s.

Went for a swim this morning in my new Ironman VO2 Max wetsuit. It is a real expensive product but comparing it to my QR it is worth every penny. The collar is very comfortable, no chafing and I can breathe much better. I used to feel like I was getting squeezed to death in my old suit and this sensation is a thing of the past with the new suit. The speed seemed about the same as my QR. It will be real interesting to see how my swim shapes up on Sunday.