Until tomorrow...

Just thought we'd pop in and say hi pre-race..

I (Tom) like to post my goals prior to the race and ideally close enough that my mind is completely made up and also we won't have to wait very long to find out how accurate I was. For me this weekend is all about qualifying and that will mean getting inside the top ten of my age group out of around 300+ fellow 35-39 competitors. I've thought and thought and thought over the last week and am confident that ten hours will do the trick and am aiming for the following to achieve that.... 

swim - 55 minutes

t1 - 5 minutes

bike - 5.40

t2 - 5 minutes

run - 3.20

That obviously makes 10.05 which although would be likely to do it (last year 10.15 was enough) I am hoping to sneak another five minutes out of there somewhere, probably spread across the whole thing as the standard is increasing year on year.

How do I feel? To be honest I don't feel particularly fit and and am around 3kgs heavier than for Germany but have trained 65 more hours compared to the last two years, almost all of which has come on the bike, have pb'd in swim, bike and run this year and not missed a single session through illness or injury... so must be there or there abouts - although I don't feel that fit I really do feel very confident of doing what needs to be done to achieve my goal, this time tomorrow we'll know the answer!

Don't forget you can follow us via ironman.com - H is number 77 and I'm number 474. But even better checkout www.twitter.com/tomstraining for photos and updates throughout the race (courtesy of our very own Hawaii Ironman, Ian O). I'll be posting on Twitter from 3am tomorrow morning when our alarm goes of to signal the start of what promises to be an amazing day.

Over to Hells Bels...

In true pre-race fashion I've spent the week uber chilled.  Today I can only describe the way I feel as wobbly.  Nervous, excited, scared and it'll last until the hooter goes tomorrow morning at 7am.  Nothing more to do except wait and it's excruciating.  

There's 24 of us in my age group 30-34 and only one slot so I'm not expecting to qualify for Hawaii at all, that's taken the pressure off me instantly :)  I do however want a great race (who doesn't actually, stupid thing to say!) But what I mean by that is like Tom says, the hours of training and the condition that we are in (albeit a little heavier than we would have liked) is all there and tomorrow it's time to see what that all counts for.

Unlike Tom I can't put the same kind of times on my splits but I'll give you a guestimate, I could be completely wrong but hey tomorrow the truth will be out there!!

Swim: 58mins

T1: 6mins

Bike: 6.30-7hrs

T2: 6mins

Run: 3.56

There you have it, there's my ideal race...all that's left to do is DO IT!!!

Thanks for all of the love, it's much needed for tomorrow :)

Good luck to Jo Ladd & Jevon who'll be half Ironman-ing it at the Beaver tomorrow, hope it goes well guys and look after that back of yours Mr Jevon.

So all that's left to say is Adios and we'll be in touch soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk.

H. x