4 weeks to go

4 weeks today is The Outlaw. Its a real mix of emotions when I think of that. There is a sense of pride in that it is within touching distance, and I know I am in shape to get around. Then there is the nervousness and the fear, tinged with some excitement.

You could always have trained harder and longer, and stretched more, and ate better. However, I am not a professional athlete and I don’t do this for a living, and it was important to try and reduce the impact on friends and family.

On Friday I did my longest open water swim ever of 3km. I do wish I had started using the lake earlier. The lake has a marked course of 600m, and I managed 5 laps. I had never managed even a whole lap without switching to breaststroke previously, but I managed around 2.5 laps this time. That was a massive improvement. The downside was that I started to struggle over the last 2 laps, and the amount of crawl got less and less. It has given me confidence that I will get around. It’s also made me realise that I will be tired getting onto the bike.

I’ll be setting off for my last long run in a bit. I’m hoping to do around 20 miles, which will be my longest for a few years since I last ran a marathon. My legs are heavy and achy, and knees are a sore, but if I can struggle around that will give me another boost.

Next weekend is the Long Course Weekend, and a trial run for IM Wales. I am doing the full Ironman swim on Friday evening (though there is the option to stop after the first of two laps), and the Ironman bike on Saturday morning. The weekend after I’m doing a one day recce of the Outlaw bike and run course.