Rookie goes for 5 in a row @ Ironman UK week 20/26

Areet?

“Why do you do the Ironman?” asked one of the girls from the office in the week….

“Because i’m fucked in the head” I replied…..

It was tongue in cheek, but I have come to the conclusion that it’s actually true….

The following passage demonstrates the point beautifully….

I had booked a day off work Friday to go and do 2 laps of the Ironman Bolton bike circuit but the weather was an absolute disgrace just like it always is round here…..

Gale force winds, raindrops the size of pineapples, grey skies, freezing temperatures…..

In such shocking conditions, a normal person would have gone for a swim or maybe a gym workout instead…..

Not me……

“Fuck it – I’m going anyway” and off I went….

I was like a drowned rat less than ten miles in and still had 80 miles ahead…….

I got absolutely battered by the elements and at one point even thought I was going to get hypothermia…..

It never stopped lashing it down for the entire 7 hours….

Several times I considered abandoning the effort and returning to base…..

But we never quit…..

We march on…..

I remember one of the legendary Ironmen telling me that you don’t earn your stripes when you are effortlessly gliding along on the bike…..

You earn your stripes on days like this…..

2:30 for the first lap and I was very pissed off….

When you go over sheephouse in reverse, it’s like you enter a portal into another world…..

If you think the elements are bad at ground level, once you get up there the madness is magnified tenfold…..

But you know something…..

There comes a point when you are being pummelled that much you actually begin to enjoy it (told you – screw loose)

The flip side of this is once it’s out the way, anything that isn’t that feels like a relative piece of piss…..

Charged round to Entwistle I did but as always, this is where I start to come unstuck…..

That being said, 2:20 for lap 2 and to negative split the circuit on a day like this is a massive result as far as I am concerned….

Make no mistake…..

If the weather is anything like this on race day, then we are all doomed my friend….

www.strava.com/activities/5342641213

Training this week…..

Mon…26 mile bike to and from work

Tues….26 Mile bike to and from work

Weds…..20km run from work

Thurd…..26 mile bike to and from work

Fri…..10 mile pre loop + 2 x 33 miles laps of the IMUK bike circuit then 10 mile back as above

Sat…Off

Sun…..10k run / mow the lawn not decided yet

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