Karen writes: Next week.
It's next week. Ironman is NEXT week! Saying 9 days sounds slightly better, but reality hits home, it's not 8 weeks away, 5 weeks away, two weeks away, it's just next week.
I'm working on the nit-picky things now. Like, I've emailed the organisers, my lovely cycle helmet has a sticker for an American standard which isn't on the list of accepted standards put out by IM. It would be an awful shame if I had to go and buy a cheap helmet which did have the approved sticker to replace the fancy helmet brought last year because I thought my head deserved some better protection (and it was on special of course).
I have been collecting water bottles, my carefully crafted plan gets down to the number of drinks I need to have access to. I calculate the need for a spare bottle of water and one of electrolyte solution in each of the three transition bags, plus 2 on the bike. These bike bottles will be swapped at support stations so they cant be bottles I am sentimentally attached to (like the one I got first time round lake Taupo). Have you noticed how many different standard sports drink bottles there are? Different lids in particular, you can have a row of bottles and each has a different lid size.
Speaking of plans, got the nutrition component approved by Cate the nutrition lady at IBOD. The carbohydrates and sodium have been calculated...what it comes down to is I shall be carrying a LOT of honey sandwiches, drinking quantities of electrolyte solution and will have to concentrate really hard on eating every half hour...I can just imagine a conversation with myself..."is this a honey sandwich half hour, or a banana one, or was I meant to have a caffeine gel, do I need a drink and will it be water or electrolytes?". I shall have to make myself eat over 3500 Calories over the planned 16 hours not counting the huge breakfast at 4am. That's probably 2 days worth for some people! I usually run out of interest in food after a few hours of exercising, being strict about it will be a bit of a mission, especially important though on the bikeride which is where you store up energy for the marathon.
Also on the plan are lists of 'things', ranging from spare handkerchiefs, to don't forget the bike. What goes into each bag, what will be in the cycle shirt pockets, what to wear under the wetsuit, have I checked the two spare innertubes which have rattled around in the underseat toolkit since I brought them years ago, how am I going to get home at potentially midnight after being checked over in the medical tent when the whanau should be long since asleep?
I guess at least with the training hours having dropped off a bit it means I now have time to think about this stuff. And time to try not to worry!
I'm working on the nit-picky things now. Like, I've emailed the organisers, my lovely cycle helmet has a sticker for an American standard which isn't on the list of accepted standards put out by IM. It would be an awful shame if I had to go and buy a cheap helmet which did have the approved sticker to replace the fancy helmet brought last year because I thought my head deserved some better protection (and it was on special of course).
I have been collecting water bottles, my carefully crafted plan gets down to the number of drinks I need to have access to. I calculate the need for a spare bottle of water and one of electrolyte solution in each of the three transition bags, plus 2 on the bike. These bike bottles will be swapped at support stations so they cant be bottles I am sentimentally attached to (like the one I got first time round lake Taupo). Have you noticed how many different standard sports drink bottles there are? Different lids in particular, you can have a row of bottles and each has a different lid size.
Speaking of plans, got the nutrition component approved by Cate the nutrition lady at IBOD. The carbohydrates and sodium have been calculated...what it comes down to is I shall be carrying a LOT of honey sandwiches, drinking quantities of electrolyte solution and will have to concentrate really hard on eating every half hour...I can just imagine a conversation with myself..."is this a honey sandwich half hour, or a banana one, or was I meant to have a caffeine gel, do I need a drink and will it be water or electrolytes?". I shall have to make myself eat over 3500 Calories over the planned 16 hours not counting the huge breakfast at 4am. That's probably 2 days worth for some people! I usually run out of interest in food after a few hours of exercising, being strict about it will be a bit of a mission, especially important though on the bikeride which is where you store up energy for the marathon.
Also on the plan are lists of 'things', ranging from spare handkerchiefs, to don't forget the bike. What goes into each bag, what will be in the cycle shirt pockets, what to wear under the wetsuit, have I checked the two spare innertubes which have rattled around in the underseat toolkit since I brought them years ago, how am I going to get home at potentially midnight after being checked over in the medical tent when the whanau should be long since asleep?
I guess at least with the training hours having dropped off a bit it means I now have time to think about this stuff. And time to try not to worry!
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